Memory fails when it comes to recalling my first exposure to Mozart. Maybe it was his piano variations of ”Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Or perhaps it was hearing Enzio Pinza on one of my mother`s records singing
”Madamina” from ”Don Giovanni” or ”Non Pui Andrai” from ”The Marriage of Figaro,” two bitingly sarcastic but eminently tuneful arias that I swear I was humming in grade school.
While my early classical music favorites tended toward Tchaikovsky`s First Piano Concerto, Dvorak`s ”New World” Symphony and Wagner`s ”Ride of the Valkyries,” some elemental instinct told me that Mozart represented a higher level of music. It would just take a little longer to get to know him. I haven`t been disappointed. Mozart has become a welcome companion, joining me at some of life`s happier moments. And each winter, no matter the course of world events or my inner tribulations, Jan. 27, Mozart`s birthday, is a reason to celebrate.
My early years were confined to a few of Mozart`s ”greatest hits”: the
”Jupiter” Symphony, some piano sonatas and overtures to his operas. By high school I`d already heard ”Don Giovanni” and ”Figaro” at the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
In college there was an explosion: I couldn`t get enough Mozart. I discovered piano concertos and piano quartets; string quartets and string quintets; a wonderful clarinet quintet and a glorious clarinet concerto; and perhaps his greatest chamber music work, the Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat.
I felt like Salieri in that marvelous scene from ”Amadeus” when, after turning page after page of Mozart`s original manuscripts, he faints, overwhelmed by their beauty and innovation.
It was amazing how each work-and he composed more than 600-could sound so different, making it nearly impossible to overdose. His music is easy to listen to but challenging to the most experienced ear. In newspaper terms, Mozart`s music, even the longer works, is a fast read.
Unlike some of my college proclivities, Mozart was not a fad.
Following graduation, I filled up on Mozart at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and some of New York`s smaller concert halls.
The Mozart section of my classical record collection bulged.
Mozart also proved beneficial to my social life, giving me an air of class and refinement I probably didn`t deserve. Women who often went to rock concerts, ballgames or tennis outings on other dates usually perked up when I invited them to a concert that featured Mozart.
In fact, it was my wife-to-be who remarked, ”Well, it`s not the usual bowling and pizza date.”
At my wedding, Mozart had his honored place. We selected the majestic opening movement of the Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat for the processional, and the bouncy final movement of the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A for the recessional.
Following the birth of my daughter 3 1/2 years ago, as I drove home from the hospital on a steamy Houston night, I switched on the radio just in time to hear the final theme and variations movement from Mozart`s Clarinet Quintet.
A few weeks later, when my daughter`s colic problems were keeping her up all night, I`d play a variety of Mozart piano concertos on the stereo. I don`t know if they helped her fall asleep, but they certainly relaxed me.
This year Mozart`s birthday coincides for the first time with the Super Bowl (and I confess to being a football fan myself), but I learned a long time ago that the incredible penultimate scene in ”Don Giovanni,” in which the ghost of the slain Commendatore announces, ”Don Giovanni, you have invited me to supper and I have come,” contains more excitement than three hours of most Super Bowls.
Happy birthday, Mozart. And thanks for the memories.
