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A new European study says it wasn't bad pork chops or a jealous rival: There have been a lot of theories about what killed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at age 35, said Doug Stanglin in USA Today. Was it kidney failure? Undercooked pork chops? Poisoning? But a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests the composer may have died from a simple case of strep throat. This will come as good news to fans of Mozart's "jealous rival, Italian composer Antonio Salieri," said Sue Michaels in Chattahbox. Salieri, after all, is the one rumored to have poisoned Mozart back in...

MONDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) -- It's one of the enduring mysteries of classical music: What -- or who -- killed Mozart at the age of 35 when he was at the height of his creative powers? Now, there's a new theory: He died of complications of strep throat. The latest hypothesis lacks the inherent drama of murder by a rival or suicide, which have both been suggested as causes of Mozart's death. But Andrew Steptoe, co-author of a historical diagnosis published Aug. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, said an infection makes the most sense, considering medical records...

(PARIS) — A French museum has found a previously unknown piece of music handwritten by Mozart, a researcher said Thursday. The 18th century melody sketch is missing the harmony and instrumentation but was described as important find.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - It's probably as revolutionary and groundbreaking as Mozart gets these days. A German-based quartet staged Saudi Arabia's first-ever performance of European classical music in a public venue before a mixed gender audience. The concert, held at a government-run cultural center, broke many taboos in a country where public music is banned and the sexes are segregated even in lines at fast food outlets. The Friday night performance could be yet another indication that this strict Muslim kingdom is looking to open up to the rest of the world. A few weeks ago, King Abdullah made an...

His image in curled wig, embroidered red tunic and lace ruff stares out from kitsch portraits, decorative porcelain and chocolate boxes without number, but nobody really knew what Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart looked like – until now. To the great excitement of musical scholars, two previously-unknown oil portraits painted from life– and which can be traced back to a close friend of the composer’s father – have been discovered. A portrait of Mozart painted in 1783, during his early years in Vienna when he was in buoyant mood after his marriage to Constanze They were identified by Cliff Eisen, Professor of...

Can a picture be worth a thousand tears? Behold Chris Matthews in the depths of despair, reacting to Joe Scarborough's suggestion that Obama the dreamer has lost to Hillary the machine candidate. Schmoozing with Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on today's Morning Joe, Matthews had analogized Obama to Mozart the genius while casting Hillary in the role of the workmanlike but uninspired Salieri. View video here.

A little night music seems too much for pushers, loiterers at two minimarts. At two minimarkets in Sacramento, Beethoven has been enlisted to do what no beat cop could do: drive off loiterers, panhandlers and drug dealers. For good. In two separate cases, the Sacramento Superior Court has told markets identified as trouble spots by police to play music known to discourage loitering – classical music. Reviews of the violin concertos – to be audible for 25 feet around the store, the orders say – are mixed at the Oak Park and Lawrence Park convenience stores. Police and city officials...

Mozart’s lighthearted opera The Abduction from the Seraglio does not call for a prostitute’s nipples to be sliced off and presented to the lead soprano. Nor does it include masturbation, urination as foreplay, or forced oral sex. Europe’s new breed of opera directors, however, know better than Mozart what an opera should contain. So not only does the Abduction at Berlin’s Komische Oper feature the aforementioned activities; it also replaces Mozart’s graceful ending with a Quentin Tarantino–esque bloodbath and the promise of future perversion. Welcome to Regietheater (German for “director’s theater”), the style of opera direction now prevalent in Europe....

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart MOZART'S CHILDHOOD Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, and baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, he was educated by his father, Leopold Mozart, who was concertmaster in the court orchestra of the archbishop of Salzburg and a celebrated violinist, composer, and author. By the age of six Mozart had become an accomplished performer on the clavier, violin, and organ and was highly skilled in sight-reading and improvisation. Five short piano pieces composed by Mozart when he was six years old are still frequently played. In 1762, Leopold took Wolfgang on the first of many successful concert...

Meeting MozartThe Bloomsbury critic, Lytton Strachey, was the father of the modern practice of biography-as-assassination. Writing amidst the cynicism caused by the First World War, Strachey's Eminent Victorians set the model for pathography by taking down four hitherto-beloved 19th century heroes: Florence Nightingale, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, Thomas Arnold, and General Charles ("Chinese”") Gordon. Strachey's victims' posthumous reputations have fared rather better than his, in the decades since Eminent Victorians was published in 1921. Still, the Strachean instinct to dissect (and then deride) men and women widely regarded as admirable and noble continues to this day, as do Strachey's characteristic...

North Korea trades artillery music for Mozart Fri Dec 29, 1:18 AM ET North Korea took a break from its hit parade of rousing songs praising the communist revolution to have a Mozart moment in Pyongyang. The reclusive state, where performances are more likely to include titles like "Let's Support our Supreme Commander with Arms" and "Song of Coast Artillerymen", staged a concert of Mozart's works that included the overture from "The Marriage of Figaro", the official KCNA news agency reported. The event was organised to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, KCNA said late on Thursday. "Artists...

BERLIN - Audience members at Monday's Deutsche Oper production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" will be kindly asked to empty their pockets of all metal objects. And they should be prepared to leave - quickly - in case of a bomb alert. The Austrian musical genius born 250 years ago was noted for an impish sense of humor and some directors take huge liberties with their interpretations of operas. But the security measures for the performance, which include electronic screening of opera goers and evacuation precautions, are not part of the plot. It's a case of art meeting religious sensibility - and...

BERLIN (EJP)--- Deutsche Oper Berlin has said that it might stage the controversial production of Mozart’s opera Idomeneo in December at the earliest after it did a u-turn on its decision to cancel the opera for fear of upsetting Muslims. The Berlin opera house had faced condemnation from German politicians and critics alike, who had accused it of "self-censorship" and kow-towing to violent radicals when it announced last month that it was not going to stage the planned production. Opera house spokesman Alexander Busche said: "The earliest slot for the production is in December, but first we need an okay...

Mozart censor faces a backlashBy Roger Boyes  'Muhammad' opera is becoming test of how many concessions West should make Kerstin Harms has stuck by decision to reject the opera THE German Government tried yesterday to defuse an international row that erupted after a nervous opera house called off a Mozart performance because it featured the decapitated head of the Prophet Muhammad. The opera, Idomeneo, has become a test case of how far the West should go in making concessions to the Islamic world. The Deutsche Oper, one of Europe’s top opera houses, scrapped the production for fear of an...

BERLIN -- One of Germany's foremost opera houses has abruptly canceled a modern production of Mozart's ``Idomeneo" because of fears of a violent reaction to a scene showing the severed head of the Prophet Mohammed. The cancellation, at the urging of security officials, triggered a furious debate over freedom of expression. Muslim groups in Germany voiced satisfaction with the decision, while leading politicians and artists called it a cowardly surrender to religious extremists. ``This is crazy," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told reporters yesterday during an official visit to Washington. ``This is unacceptable." The cancellation comes three weeks after Pope Benedict...

Berlin cancels Mozart's Idomeneo because of fears over religious reprisals Opera criticised for using props of heads of Christ, Buddha and Mohammed Decision comes after Pope’s comments on Islam angered Muslims Key quote Our ideas about openness, tolerance and freedom must be lived out on the offensive. Voluntary self-limitation gives those who fight against our values a confirmation in advance that we will not stand behind them - Klaus Wowereit, Berlin's mayor Story in full ONE of Germany's leading opera houses has unleashed an angry debate over free speech by cancelling a production over security fears because a scene...

Indignation erupted across Germany’s political spectrum on Tuesday after a renowned opera house said it had dropped a controversial production of Mozart’s Idomeneo from its programme because it feared becoming a target of Islamist extremists.Wolfgang Schäuble, interior minister, attacked the decision by Berlin’s Deutsche Oper not to show the 200-year-old work as “crazy”, “ridiculous” and “unacceptable”. Bernd Neumann, culture minister, said it showed “the democratic culture of free speech is in danger”. The uproar threatens to dominate the government’s first conference on Islam, which Mr Schäuble opens on Thursday. Berlin wants the gathering of politicians and community leaders to develop...

Mozart Opera Canceled for Muhammad Scene A leading opera house in Berlin, Germany canceled a 3-year-old production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" that included a scene showing the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad, unleashing a furious debate over free speech. In a statement late Monday, the Deutsche Oper said it decided "with great regret" to cancel the production of the 225-year-old opera after Berlin security officials warned of an "incalculable risk" stemming from the scene. After its premiere in 2003, the production by Hans Neuenfels drew widespread criticism over the scene in which King Idomeneo presents the severed heads not only...

Berlin's Deutsche Oper has removed the provocative staging of a Mozart opera from its schedule for fear of enraging Muslims, the opera house said in a statement. One of three opera houses in the German capital, it cancelled director Hans Neuenfels's production of "Idomeneo", a 1781 drama set in ancient Crete, because authorities warned it could present an "incalculable security risk". In the staging, which sparked audience protests during its premiere in December 2003, King Idomeneo presents the lopped-off heads of Poseidon, Jesus, Buddha and the Prophet Mohammed and displays them on four chairs. German critics saw the show at...

Mirko IlicPOOR Mozart, who died at 35, must have inherited at least the potential for longevity from his parental gene pool. His father, Leopold Mozart, died at 67, a ripe old age in an era when rampant illnesses claimed the majority of European children in infancy. Sadly, Mozart’s indomitable mother, Anna Maria, died at 58 while in Paris, having contracted viral infections and a severe fever during an arduous trip with her rambunctious, opportunity-seeking 22-year-old son. Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, who had also been a musical prodigy, died in 1829 in Salzburg at the impressive age of 78, having well outlived...