If you came to Germany this past year, chances are you came like millions of other tourists from all over the world to take part in one of the biggest celebrations in decades, hoping to be one of the lucky ones to score tickets to one-time only events, where the starring names are known round the world. No, I’m not talking about the FIFA World Cup Championship (although that was quite an experience).
Something even bigger happened this year, and the entire world celebrated: Mozart turned 250! Despite his lack of German citizenship, the country didn’t hesitate to capitalize on his popularity. It wasn’t without good reason: During his extensive travels throughout Europe, he visited dozens of cities and towns in Germany, stopping for a night or two, playing concerts, and impressing the locals. This year, as musicians and marketing heads the world over turned their thoughts to Mozart, Germany joined in on the party in grand style, offering a smorgasbord of events. Here are some of the highlights from the year.
In Germany’s Mozartstadt, Augsburg, birthplace of Leopold Mozart, the festivities carried on the whole year. It was here that Mozart first fell in love and explored the town with Maria Anna Thekla Mozart. The city of Augsburg provided guided tours, following the streets Maria Anna and Wolfgang purportedly traversed together. A special exhibit entitled Mozart’s World was set up, detailing his time in this Bavarian city, featuring diaries and receipts from his travels, Leopold’s violin, and early edition scores. The highpoint of the year in Augsburg, though, was the 55th Annual German Mozart Fest. With performers including Diana Damrau, Tafelmusik and Elizabeth Wallfisch, this seventeen-day festival encompassed concerts, operas, lectures, and a world-famous violin competition.
Offenbach, a small town not far from Frankfurt am Main, also calls itself the Mozart City. Mozart’s music publisher, Johann Anton Andre, purchased Mozart’s estate in 1799 and guarded it in this small town in Hessen until 1854. It was there in 1800 that he printed the piano concerti in lithograph form and started the basis for the Köchel numbering system. Their yearlong festivities centered on a stunning exhibit detailing Andre’s work in the city. Of special mention was the opportunity to “make your own Mozart diary.” In addition to the book, one also received a feather quill and special India ink.
Although less important to Mozart history, Berlin got in on the action as well, with an abundance of performances of all types held throughout the year. Together, the three major opera houses in Berlin performed eight of Mozart’s operas, in old and new productions. The Deutsche Oper, located in the former West Berlin, made international headlines and sparked debate when their performances of Idomeneo were abruptly canceled after an anonymous threat was received. Despite universal backlash from artists and politicians, the opera remains, as of October, shelved.
Leipzig, already claimed by J.S. Bach, celebrated Mozart no less enthusiastically. The Bach Fest, an annual event drawing early music superstars to Leipzig every June and July, chose “From Bach to Mozart” as its theme for the year. The young Wolfgang visited the Thomaskirche, where Bach had been Kapellmeister, on his way to and from Berlin, and returned many times for concerts. During that trip, he put on a concert in the Gewandhaus. On his 250th birthday, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, with Trevor Pinnock directing, re-created the concert. The concert, clocking in at over three hours, was hailed a success by organizers, concertgoers, and critics. Dirk Steiner, the press spokesman for the Gewandhaus, admitted that three hours of anything—even Mozart—could be boring, but the audience reacted well, paving the way for more such concerts in the future.
If sitting in a concert hall for that long doesn’t appeal to you, Germany offered plenty of other options. Mozart Ways, an organization that preserves records of Mozart’s journeys through Europe, collaborated with dozens of cities to organize “Mozart Stays,” travel packages complete with hotel reservations, meals and tours, all related to Mozart’s time in each city. For the sportier tourist, the Mozart Cycle Path offered 450 kilometers of trails snaking through the countryside, complete with posted Mozart Radweg signs. Bicycling is a major German pastime, and it’s no surprise that the tours were a great success.
No matter what your specific tastes, there was something for every Mozart fan this year in Germany. Here’s to 300 years!
