Gratuitous Musickal Posting (TM)

People frequently ask me, "Tom, what do you know about W. A. Mozart's children?"

I've always replied that I knew he had two sons who survived infancy, Carl and Franz, and that Carl had no musical talent whatever. Beyond that, I knew nothing else.

Well all that has changed thanks to Jessica Duchen, who last month reviewed a new CD by Barbara Bonney of 27 songs composed by Franz Xaver Mozart, the second of Wolfgang's sons. It's a fascinating little article. Apparently "Wolfie", as his mother called him, also composed some piano concerti.

According to Bonney, there's some genuine talent and potential in these pieces. Unfortunately, because of a combination of poor judgement (another family trait!) and the extended shadow of his father's reputation, Mozart Jr. was never able to make much of a name for himself.

Yips! to, well, Jessica Duchen.

UPDATE: Remember that Geraldo-like revelation that Austrian tee vee was going to air about the positive identification of Mozart's skull? Well, Al Capone's vault comes up empty again - the scientists involved admitted on the show that they couldn't prove anything.

Mozart's 250th year birth anniversary is only a few days old and already I'm sick to death of it. Feh.

Yips! to Taranto.