Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)—an 18th-century Austrian classical composer and one of the most famous musicians of all time. Mozart wrote masses, oratorios, symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and more, but he is best known for his operas. These include Don Giovanni (1787), Così fan tutte (1790), and Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute, 1791).

Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg and came from a family of musicians that included his father and sister. He was educated by his father, Leopold Mozart, who was concertmaster in the court orchestra of the archbishop of Salzburg and a renowned violinist, composer, and author.
Mozart had a musically preciously childhood. By the age of six Mozart had become a gifted performer on the clavier, violin, and organ and was extremely skilled in sight-reading and improvisation. He was commissioned to write a serious opera at the age of 14. This work, Mitridate, rè di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus, 1770), produced under his direction at Milan and fully established his extraordinary reputation.

However, Mozart’s young adulthood was characterized by difficulty both in his family and in securing the favor of the aristocracy. Unending poverty and illness beleaguered the family. Mozart’s now-well known operas The Marriage of Figaro (1786) and Don Giovanni (1787) while successful in Prague, were partial failures in Vienna. From 1787 until the production of Così fan tutte, Mozart received no commissions for operas. He died young of typhoid fever, in Vienna on December 5, 1791. His burial was attended by few friends. The place of his grave is unmarked.

“Mozart.” Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Seattle: Microsoft, 2001.

“Mozart.” Yahoo! Encyclopedia. January 2004. http://education.yahoo.com/referenc.../entry?id=11580

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