1. Born in Salzburg, Austria on January 27, 1756. Parents were Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Pertl. Maria Anna Mozart was his sibling. Leopold Mozart was a composer and a violinist and concert master. Mozart was named after Wolfgang Nickolaus Pertl and after the saint of his date of birth. BIOGRAPHY OF WOLGANG AMADEUS MOZART

2. The name of the saint of his date of birth is Johannes Chrysostomus. Mozart’s full name is Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Gottlieb Mozart. Mozart started playing the keyboard when he was 3 years old. When he was 5 years old he started composing minuets. In 1764 he wrote his first three symphonies. BIOGRAPHY OF WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

3. By the time he was a teenager he had mastered the piano, violin and harpsicord. He travelled to Manneheim in 1777 on a tour with his mother where he met and fell in love with Aloyisa Weber. In 1778 his mother died. Mozart got married in Vienna’s St Stephen Cathederal in 1782 to Contanze Weber. BIOGRAPHY OF WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

4. They had six kids. He collaborated with librettist, Lorezo du Ponte in creating three operas of which the first was the marriage of Figaro. Mozart’s father died on May 28,1787. Mozart died on December 5, 1791 of rheumatic fever. BIOGRAPHY OF WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

5. The Le nozze di Figaro was premiered in Vienna, Austria on May 1, 1786. He collaborated with librettist Lorenzo du Ponte. The source material was a controversial play by the French writer Beaumarchais titled La folle journee, on le mariage de Figaro HISTORY OF LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

6. Figaro’s character according to French nobility was engaging and supporting class conflict. The combination of the two made Le nozze di Figaro very successfully instantly. HISTORY OF LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

7. LISTENING GUIDE.