A Candlelit Mozart Concert in a Baroque Schloss

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg on January 27, 1756. The city has been both enormously proud of and somewhat ambivalent about this ever since. Mozart himself spent years trying to escape Salzburg and its provincial Archbishop; his mature masterpieces were written in Vienna. But Salzburg has done something with its greatest son that few cities manage: kept his music central to its cultural life in a way that is genuine rather than merely commercial, particularly in the chamber performances held in the baroque halls and residences throughout the old town.

The Mozart Serenades concerts, held in the Residenz palace (where Mozart himself performed for Prince-Archbishop Colloredo) or the Mirabell Palace's Marble Hall, are the gold standard: small ensembles, correct period instruments, and repertoire focused on the serenades, divertimenti, and chamber works that represent Mozart at his most playful and immediate. The venues themselves — candlelit baroque rooms with painted ceilings and parquet floors — are exactly as they were when the composer was alive. The effect, when the music starts, is of time behaving strangely.

Salzburg is compact enough to walk entirely in a day — the Festung Hohensalzburg fortress above the old town, the Salzach river dividing baroque from more modern, the Mirabelgarten with its Sound of Music connections — but the city rewards slow return visits. The Salzburg Festival in July and August is one of Europe's great cultural events (and requires booking months in advance). The less formal chamber concerts happen year-round and are the better entry point.