2. By the age of 3, Mozart had learned to play a clavier, which was an old-fashioned stringed instrument that had a keyboard. By the age of 5, he was playing the harpsichord and violin as well as a professional. He was playing in front of royalty when he was just 6 years old. Mozart was a rare musical genius.

3. Mozart could write music before he could write words.

4. Mozart wrote half the number of total symphonies he would create between the ages of 8 and 19.

5. Mozart’s nickname was “Wolfie.”

6. Rocker Eddie Van Halen named his son “Wolfgang van Halen” in honor of Mozart.

7. Ludwig von Köchel (1800–1877) produced the first scholarly catalog of the works of Mozart.

8. Mozart composed his last symphony (no. 41) in 1788. It is known as the “Jupiter” symphony.

9. In the largest-ever recording project devoted to a single composure, Philips Classic produced 180 compact discs in 1991 containing the complete set of authenticated works by Mozart. It comprises over 200 hours of music and would take over 6.5 feet of shelving.

10. The soundtrack to the1984 film Amadeus made it to #56 on the Billboard album charts, making it one of the most successful classical music albums ever.

http://weibo.com/peterliu