Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is not only one of the most famous classical music composers of all time, he is also well-known for having been a child prodigy. Born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1756, per the Redlands Symphony blog, he began showing evidence of his extraordinary abilities at a very young age. 

His father, Leopold Mozart, recognized his son’s talents and jumped at the chance to become what would today be referred to as a stage parent. Wolfgang started playing the violin and harpsichord at just 3 years old and was proficient by age 5. At that point he also began creating his own compositions, which Leopold would help him write down. He referred to his son as “the miracle which God let be born in Salzburg.” Wolfgang’s older sister Maria Anna, nicknamed Nannerl, also showed talent at a very young age, and when Wolfgang was 6 and Nannerl was 10, Leopold put aside his own composing efforts and took his children on a tour of Europe that lasted over three years. The children played for royal patrons around the continent, and Leopold would be paid in jewelry and other expensive items.

In 2006, The New Yorker discussed the tendency of Mozart biographies to discuss his father as an overbearing, abusive figure. Biographer Maynard Solomon referred to Leopold’s “erotically tinged drive to dominate,” and Leopold supposedly got particularly controlling and manipulative when Wolfgang became a teenager, at one point writing, “Your whole intent is to ruin me so you can build your castles in the air.”

Was Leopold Mozart abusive or just strict?

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