If Elvis is The King then Mozart is surely The Emperor. Certainly if you happened to be anywhere near Austria at the end of January.
The worldwide celebrations marking the composer’s 250th birthday have been dubbed Mozart mania, such is the scale on which they have been mounted. In his Austrian homeland events will be staged throughout the year, whilst the rest of the world has mostly managed to confine the festivities to the week or so surrounding his actual date of birth.
Mozart mania is obviously far more than just a celebration of a brilliant man and his music.
The public’s continued infatuation with Mozart has been carefully nurtured and catered to for decades. From Deutsche Grammophon to Viennese hoteliers, many individuals and businesses rely on Mozart’s memory being kept alive for their livelihood. Perhaps an equal legacy to his music, contained in the 600+ compositions he wrote in his 35 short years of life, is the industry that thrives in his honor.
Mozart was born in Salzburg on 27th January 1756. He composed his first piece aged four and, after a successful tour around Europe with his father when he was teen, worked for the Bishops of Salzburg. Naturally for a restless and gifted teenager, he couldn’t wait to leave. During his lifetime Salzburgers weren’t all that keen on him either. Ironic then, that the city now has a music foundation, museums, a public square (the Mozartplatz), several statues, and even the region’s airport named in his honor.
Mozart is modern day Salzburg, a fact attested to by, amongst many others, Gabi Burgstaller, Salzburg’s provincial governor, in his speech at the opening concert in the series to mark the composer’s birthday. ‘Mozart would have existed without Salzburg, but Salzburg, this Salzburg, would not exist without Mozart,’ he said.
Similarly in Vienna, where Mozart died virtually a pauper, the tourist industry as worked hard to promote him as a draw card for tourists. He has also gifted successive generations of Austrian musicians a major leg up in their careers thanks to the funding impetus that is part of his legacy (even though he himself rejected patronage in favour of creative independence).
There seems to be a consensus that it is fine to apply modern commercial savvy in developing the Mozart brand, but as more businesses try to jump on the Mozart bandwagon – a process given added impetus by the quarter millennial birthday celebrations – there are those who have begun to question whether things have gotten out of hand.
Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt argues that the flood of Mozart merchandise and memorabilia, which includes chocolates, tea towels, baseball caps, T-shirts, perfume and even baby bottles, is not something locals should be proud of. ‘During this year, Austria is synonymous with Mozart. But this has nothing to do with him,’ he said, ‘I am afraid it is more a matter of money and doing business. We really ought to be ashamed of ourselves rather than being puffed up with pride.’
The parasitic nature of the Mozart industry is not restricted to manufacturers and the tourist industry. As Darryl Accone writes in the UK’s Sunday Independent, every article written about him is guilty of the same intrigue.
Above the hubbub of tourists lapping up the fare dished up by those relishing the opportunity to make a quick buck, it is, ultimately, the music that is resplendent. He may be departed but the spirit of Mozart has far from left the building.
