In Salzburg on the trail of Mozart

Table of Contents

There is just over a month left until one of the most anticipated events of Salzburgthe Mozart Weekwhich takes place every year on the occasion of the anniversary of the famous composer’s birth.

The link between the city (and, more generally, Austria) and music in all its forms has a strong and deep-rooted tradition and there are countless events not to be missed among which, indeed, the seven days dedicated to Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart.

Have you found plane tickets? See also on Traveljourn
Read also:Where to stay in Salzburg

Mozart Week, the festival that pays homage to the genius of Mozart’s music

The suggestive and engaging Mozart Week was born in 1956 at the behest of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburgthe most important institution in the world for the conservation and dissemination of Mozart’s great cultural heritage and, since then, has regularly invited citizens and tourists to pay homage to the well-known composer who made the history of music on an international level.

Thus, during the last week of January, in view of the anniversary of his birth on day 27the Foundation creates a series of high-level concertsguided tours, conferences and many other events that take place in various theaters and prestigious spaces in Salzburg, the city that gave him birth.

And for 2024, the exciting event from January 24th to February 4thhosts a great innovation: the Foundation, in fact, wishes to “break” the cycle of events dedicated entirely to Mozart in order to broaden tourists’ knowledge of him and offer them the opportunity to discover, in addition to his works, also other notable composers and Mozart interpreters from all over the world.

In particular, for the next year to arrive, he will go on stage as a co-protagonist Antonio Salierian equally important composer considered by many to be Mozart’s legendary adversary. In reality, it is not clear what type of relationship existed between the two, but Salieri was certainly one too thick figure in the musical panorama of the 18th century: in fact, he taught great composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn.

But not only that.

Anyone visiting Salzburg during the Mozart Week will be able to admire a very important portrait of the composer or Mozart a Veronaand world famous painting which, after years, finally returns to the city within the walls of the Foundation and joins the other jealously guarded works of inestimable value.

The portrait depicts an elegant young man, wearing a jacket: in the portrait, Mozart had just turned fourteen years and it had already been established as successful professional musician. It was, in fact, in Italy that he signed the contracts for his first major works and wherever he went he was acclaimed as a genius and as an exceptional musician.

The painting will be part of the exhibition Mozart: how beautiful! A genius in Italywhich includes fifty pieces of inestimable value: letters, travel notes, scores, sketches of compositions, contracts, diplomas, musical instruments and more, all objects that highlight one of the most important phases in the creative process of genius loci of Salzburgor Mozart’s first visit to Italy.

The Mozart places not to be missed in Salzburg

Walking through the picturesque streets of Salzburg in search of the next concert to attend, you cannot fail to stop and admire some of the city’s beauties inextricably linked to the history of Mozart.
The starting point of the tour can only be his birthplace: called “Hagenauer House“, is located in Getreidegasse 9 and is one of the most visited museums in all of Austria, where he lived from 1756, the year of his birth, until 1773 when his parents decided to move and went to live in Makartplatz.
The Hagenauer has become a real “pilgrimage destination”: here visitors will be able to appreciate the spaces in which Mozart lived, the typical furnishings of that time and his violin.

Even the second house is no exception and hosts inside a museum where you can discover other musical instruments used by the famous composer, such as the hammer piano, portraits and original documents.

In addition to the attractions closely linked to Mozart’s history, the whole city is an authentic open-air museum: they leave you breathless Old Town UNESCO heritage since 1997, the Mirabell Palacealso a UNESCO World Heritage Site which, with its park populated by statues and fountains, enchants adults and children, and the eighteenth-century Tomaselli coffeethe oldest in all of Austria, the perfect place to enjoy a sweet break between one visit and another.

Still, not to be missed is undoubtedly the majestic one Hohensalzburg Fortressreachable both by cable car and on foot: once you reach your destination, you can enjoy a superlative 360° view of Salzburg and the surrounding villages.

Last, but not least, is the DomQuartiera route which, in a single tour, allows you to discover the Gala rooms of the Residencethe Residenzgalerieil Cathedral Museum and the Museum of San Pietrothat is, museums, galleries and important halls that hide works of art, paintings and terraces that offer a panoramic view of the old city.