Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. He was born to an overbearing and ambitious father, Leopold, who was more than anxious to exploit his son's extraordinary musical gifts. Mozart began composing at an early age, and he began touring around the same time. Throughout his life, Mozart made many enemies, many his own fault, through his naive arrogance and harsh critique of his musical contemporaries. He worked feverishly, composing symphonies and operas, as well as touring constantly. Mozart died of overwork and kidney failure on the 5th of December 1791 while still ironically at work on the "Requiem Mass" for an unknown patron. Though he lived for a relatively short time, Mozarts prolific musical career, in which he composed hundreds of musical works, gained him a place among the all time greatest composers.Henry Vieuxtemps was born in 1820 in Verviers, Belgium, a fertile ground for violinists. He had his first lessons from his father, a weaver and amateur violin-maker and player. Vieuxtemps made his first public appearance as a violinist at the age of six, playing a concerto by Rode. In 1836, Vieuxtemps wrote his first violin concerto, the Concerto No. 2 in F sharp minor, published as Opus 19. In 1843 and 1844 he toured America and during that time, he wrote his Concerto No. 3 in A major, Opus 25, a work now as a great poem rather than a concerto, influenced by Beethovens Violin Concerto. In his later years, Vieuxtemps devoted much of his time to teaching, but suffered a stroke in 1871, making virtuoso playing impossible. Afterwards, in 1877 he resumed teaching and conducting in Paris. Illness led finally to his resignation in 1879, but he continued to compose, completing his Concerto No. 6 in G Major, Opus 47, and soon thereafter Concerto No. 7 in A minor, Opus 49. He died in 1881 and was buried in his hometown of Verviers.Mostly Mozart Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. ...
