mozart, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Its hard to believe but today is the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

I could not believe that while listening to NPR as they were doing a story on it being Mozarts 250th birthday not once did they mentioned the play or movie Amadeus as being a possible contributing factor to Mozarts continued popularity. The movie made Mozart appear to be a fun guy you would like to hang out with. The Mozart in the movie did not fit the stuffed shirt stereotype that one would associate with a classical music.

Anyway, it felt as though the person doing the story did not want to mention the play or movie. It seemed in a sense as though he felt it was beneath him. I felt that his ignoring the impact of the movie and play, Amadeus, was blatantly ignoring the obvious.

Heck, I had not heard of Mozart until the Peter Shaffer play, Amadeus came out starring Mark Hamill. Then after that the much heralded movie came out starring the poster boy for where are they now, Tom Hulce. Oh, well I suppose I should not worry or criticize because after all I do not fit into NPRs primary demographics.

Anyway, my favorite pieces from Mozart are the obvious ones like A Little Night Music and the Overture to The Marriage of Figaro. I also liked a production of The Magic Flute that I saw on PBS a couple of years ago.