Mozart: The life of an icon
Renowned early on as the darling of the Austrian Empire, Mozart had problems later.
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• You can find a complete listing of Mozart events in Austria at www.mozart2006.net/eng/index. html.
• Mozartfest, Würzburg, Germany, June 2-July 1. www.mozartfest-wuerzburg.de.
• The Power of Mozart, concerts by the Royal College of Music Chamber Orchestra and Choir, through September. On June 27, there will be a 24-hour challenge to write music inspired by Mozart. www.rcm.ac.uk/thepowerofmozart.
• The Berkshire Opera Orchestra, Great Barrington, Mass., July 5, a Mozart Celebration, featuring Metropolitan Opera stars including Maureen O'Flynn. www.berkshireopera. org/mozart.html.
• The 36th annual Mozart Festival in San Luis Obispo, Calif., July 8-24. It offers Mozart and more. They plan to celebrate the year of Mozart's birth with the music of Beethoven and Shostakovich, in addition to Mozart's. www.mozartfestival.com.
• Mostly Mozart Festival from Lincoln Center in New York, July 28-Aug. 11. It will feature the world premiere of a new violin concerto by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg, a new production of Mozart's opera "Zaide" staged by Peter Sellars, and the world premiere of Mark Morris's "Mozart Dances." www.lincoln center.org.
• Mozart Festival in Schwetzingen, Germany, Sept. 9-Oct 10. It will be the 31st Mozart Festival of the Mozart Association. It's held at the Schwetzingen Castle. Among the nonmusical highlights will be a record-breaking "magic flute" in the world in the form of a 165-foot-long cake. www.mozartways.com.
• Almost complete for this year (ends May 28), but well worth noting for the future are the activities of German Mozart Society (Deutsche Mozart-Gesellschaft, DMG) in Aügsburg, birthplace of Mozart's father. It has been holding a German Mozart Festival since 1951. www.mozartstadt.de.
• New Crowned Hope Festival, Nov. 14-Dec. 11, Vienna. Orchestrated by famed director Peter Sellars, who has asked artists from different disciplines - architecture, film, and visual arts, as well as music - to interpret Mozart's works, particularly "The Magic Flute," "La Clemenza di Tito," and the "Requiem." Phone: 011-1-589-22-22, or see www. newcrownedhope.org. (Plans are to present this in London and New York later.)
• A website has been set up to help travelers who would enjoy following Mozart's footsteps around Europe. It spotlights spots in Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Switzerland that have connections to the composer. (Austria is included, too.) Information includes journeys, places, and a calendar, so you can see what might be available on the dates your trip is planned. A helpful feature is listing concerts by country, as well as by dates. An interactive map shows Mozart's extensive journeys crisscrossing Europe and includes a discussion of what that travel was like. www.mozartways.com.
- Compiled by Judy Lowe
