1756-1791
That's right: the composer. We all know him as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; he was actually baptised (the day after his birth is Salzburg--as 5 of his seven siblings had died very early in infancy) as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart (that's a mouth full!). During his short life time, he personally went by the name "Wolfgang Amade' Mozart." As with any great composer, especially those who lived a died long before the invention of photography, not to mention film; there is no reason to parse through their lives--there are plenty of online resources for that (not to mention print and video medium)! I think most people are aware that Mozart was a child prodigy. That he is one the most well known of composers today. That he composed a large volume of work (apparently over 600 works are credited to him); and that he died young. His death has always been a mystery. The only symptoms that any modern physician has to go on is a rash he developed that resembled millet seeds. Indeed, in the official records, his death is listed as "severe miliary fever" (translated into English from the German)--merely referring to the rash's appearance. Clearly this rash had a serious underlying cause--many have speculated everything from streptococcal infection to a rare underlying kidney ailment that may have been inherited. No one ever seems to suspect a venereal disease, which I find a bit strange. Of course, the popular notion that he was poisoned by fellow composer Salieri due to jealousy still persists, in no small part because of film! [See, of course, Amadeus (1984)--which was based on a very, very successful play that had a long run on Broadway.] Of course, it doesn't help that Salieri confessed to this in real life...in a mental institution many years later--most likely the product of his mind. Mozart died in a state of severe illness when he was only 35 years of age on 5 December in Vienna; he was buried in what was known then as a "common grave," which meant that it could be reused in 10 years, which it never was. It remains to the this day in St. Marx (Marks) Cemetery in Vienna; making his the most visited grave in the resting place. As to film; the very first time Mozart's music was used in film came in a mono filmed performance entitled Charles Hackett Singing "Il Mio Tesoro Intanto", "O Paradiso", with sound by Vitaphone; produced by Warner Bros. However, there was a very, very interesting silent biopic dating from 1921. Mozarts Leben, Lieben und Leiben. I find this film fascinating. It only survives in a partial form, with some degree of restoration; it was produced in Austria and filmed on location in Mozart's birthplace of Salzburg. Mozart is portrayed by Josef Zetenius as an adult (young actor Senta Stillmark portrays him as a "kind" or child). It's original run time was around 90 minutes. Apparently, and I haven't seen, it is quite breathtaking--and that is even with most of the last portion missing.
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| Probably the most famous portrait of Mozart, it was actually painted posthumously. |
For More See:
Wikipedia (with tons of extra links for information!)
For full list of Soundtrack use: see Internet Movie Database.
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