The Sound of the Past

 Through my eyes I hear the sound of the past. It is a deep longing for something long lost, or maybe never found…    We are vibration. Resonance. Our soul lies in our heart. If this were not so, I wouldn’t feel this bittersweet feeling whenever I see Vienna, breathtakingly beautiful with her majestic buildings, [...]

11 February 1785: the Premiere of The d Minor Piano Concerto

“Heavy snows and freezing temperatures accompanied Leopold and Heinrich to Vienna. They arrived on 11 February 1785 to find the apartment a hive of activity as Mozart oversaw the copying of a new piano concerto he was to play that evening at his first Mehlgrube concert of the season. During the performance, Leopold marveled at the [...]

10 February 1785: The d Minor Piano Concerto is born

“the 10th of February. A Piano concerto. Accompaniment. 2 violins, 2 violas, 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 clarinets, timpani and bass”.   It is Mozart’s entry in his hand-written catalogue of works, on a Thursday the 10th of a cold, harsh February, in Vienna. Two lines announcing the birth of one of [...]

Mozart Week 2012

Every year in January, to celebrate the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg hosts the Mozart Week: a series of opera performances, orchestral, chamber and soloist concerts. World-renowned Mozart interpreters sustain the peerless reputation of this unique event. Between 27 January – 5 February 2012, classical music lovers from all over the world [...]

Walking with Mozart, on his Birthday

It’s been snowing for three days… a long-awaited snow…  The car is stuck in the parking, so yesterday I walked a long way  to the post office,  and it felt wonderful!  I had not walked for a long time,  so long it felt like I was just discovering  the sensation of delicate snow flakes  touching [...]

Happy Birthday, Humanity! Mozart is born!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 and left our world on 5 December 1791. Thirty five years was the time on earth of this wonderful child of humanity. God loved him too much and called him back. The angel who lightened our life returned to heaven. His body rests in the peace of [...]

The Morning of a New Year

The first morning of a new year… Light of commencement, hopes and dreams born in fireworks, thoughts of love for loved ones, wishes of good for those in whose soul Good speaks and Beauty sings…  A new year’s ephemeral morning, with Bach’s eternal music…  “It may be that when the angels go about their task praising [...]

A Winter Wonderland

A Christmas morning dressed in the quietness of snow flakes… a little house adorned with snow… a snowfall from a fairy tale, gentle and pure… from the snowbound street, now and then, tinkling of bells and children’s merry laughter… inside the house scent of fir tree and vanilla, festive lights and Mozart’s music: of commencement and [...]

A Merry Christmas!

A bright, Merry Christmas to all the children of humanity’s most wonderful child: Mozart!   Photos courtesy of Vienna Tourist Board  If you’re looking for the perfect guide to Vienna, look no further than Vienna.info – the online travel guide to the wonderful city!  

Mail from Vienna :)

The other day I was remembering the special feeling of finding a real letter in the mailbox… the thoughts came to my mind while admiring some beautiful stationery: the finest writing paper embellished with an exquisite Florentine pattern. Yes, e-mail is ok, so fast, so convenient, we couldn’t do without it in our time… but [...]

10 December 1791: Mozart lives!

In the evening of 10 December 1791 the Requiem was heard for the first time! Gathered in St Michael’s Church to attend the memorial for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the audience, holding their breath, listened to the heavenly masterpiece that Mozart only heard within himself. As the Requiem unfolded to the world, Mozart was offering humanity his [...]

The night has come…

The papers of divorce  between the world and the genius were deposited in the common grave of the Vienna cemetery on 6 December 1791, there where, to its glory, the World threw Mozart under the  septic lime of final oblivion. And since then the scene has kept repeating.  The night has come,  Mozart…   He [...]

An endless sorrow. Mozart.

It is 5 December. For 220 years humanity has been waiting for you to come back. Your music has survived and will go on. But we miss your living heart, your soul enlightened by a divine feeling of harmony! For you have been His gift, which we have not loved enough when He took you back.  [...]

Happy Birthday, Herr Leopold Mozart!

Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was born on 14 November 1719 in Augsburg and spent the largest part of his life in Salzburg. He was a talented and hard working composer, conductor, teacher and violinist. He received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy and wrote a comprehensive treatise on violin playing, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule - A Treatise on [...]

In loving memory of the wonderful Lucia Popp

She would have been 72 today, November 12. In our hearts she is alive. The miraculous beauty of her voice, the splendid artistry, the breathtaking Mozartian singing, the moving sensibility she expresses in each sound, in each word, in each gesture, she left them all to us, as her gift.  When I hear her sing, [...]

29 October 1787, Prague: Don Giovanni

224 years ago, on October 29, 1787, Mozart was undergoing the last preparations for the Prague première of his opera Don Giovanni. Prague, the city so dear to him, had enthusiastically welcomed the great composer, who in turn had not hesitated to return their affection. “Meine Prager verstehen mich” – “My Praguers understand me” – this [...]