Transforming Mozart into a Media Whore in 2006?

I don’t know if any of you knew it, but Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 250th birthday is coming up on January 27th. There is going to be a big hootenanny in Salzburg, Austria all year long. Yep. You heard it correctly…ALL YEAR LONG! I don’t know if the demographic of “The Matt Largo Show” includes purveyors of baroque music, but I thought that this was an interesting little tidbit that deserved some attention. Out of the 4 Million people that travel to Salzburg every year to find remnants of Mozart, I’m certain that we must have one or two closet Baroque fans.

The organizers of the 2006 “Mozart Year” are trying to convince the world that it won’t be Mozart overload. Some of the items that will be for sale in honor of Salzburg’s prodigal son are: Mozart Milkshakes, “Mozartwurst” (it contains beef, pork, and pistachios), Mozart cake, Mozart beer and wine, Mozart knickers, Mozart golf balls, Mozart bras that play “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” when unfastened.

There are even package Salzburger Festspiele deals consisting of special Mozart Year subscriptions. If you have 60 days to burn during July and August and want to hang out in Salzburg, you can catch 22 of Mozart’s operatic works for a mere €4,995 per person (about $5940 US at the time this post). If Mozart were alive today, he would probably have to think twice about buying a ticket to see the 2006 “Mozart Year” showing of “The Marriage of Figaro”, which will set you back a cool €600 (about $715 US) per person. By today’s standards Mozart would be earning about €38,000 ($45,000 US).

Another interesting tidbit that I found was that there is speculation that Mozart suffered from Tourette’s syndrome. Letters he wrote to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla ("Bäsle") between 1777 and 1781 contain scatological language and he wrote canons titled Leck mich im Arsch ("Lick my ass") or variations thereof (including the pseudo-Latin Difficile lectu mihi mars). Getting back to the man and his music and the festival…

I think that even though the 2006 “Mozart Year” year has all the trappings of an event like the Gilroy Garlic Festival, it fundamentally serves to expose people to music and art. People, who happen to go just to eat a Mozart burger and do Mozart beer bongs, will inevitably leave the festival knowing a few new tunes. “The Matt Largo Show” is tentatively planning to attend the 2006 Salzburger Festspiele in May. If so, I will blog it complete with photos and soundbites.

Check out all of festivities by clicking here: 2006 Salzburger Festspiele

Matt “Magic Flute” Largo