Concert Hall
Concert hall complex of the International Mozarteum Foundation at Schwarzstraße 26, right bank near Mirabell Palace. Built 1910-1914. Paid entry for concerts; garden free.
The Mozarteum’s origins go back to 1841, when Salzburg citizens founded a Cathedral Music Society on the 50th anniversary of Mozart’s death. The society grew into the International Mozarteum Foundation, which by 1870 had split off as a dedicated institution with a mandate to run concerts, maintain archives, and build a proper performance venue.
The current building was designed by Munich architect Richard Berndl, who won the 1909 competition with a plan that separated the public concert halls from the teaching and archival functions. The foundation stone was laid on 6 August 1910. The building opened on 14 September 1914, weeks after the First World War began. The Großer Saal’s interior mixes late-Historicist structure with neoclassical detailing: white walls, gold leaf on balustrades, and green velvet seating. The 1914 organ in the hall was replaced in 2010 by a 51-stop instrument by Hermann Eule.
The Foundation holds the world’s largest collection of Mozart primary sources, including autograph manuscripts, letters, and instruments, accumulated partly through the 1844 bequest of Franz Xaver Mozart (Wolfgang’s son).
In the garden stands the Zauberflötenhäuschen, a small wooden summerhouse where Mozart is said to have worked on Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) in Vienna in 1791. The structure was moved from Vienna to Salzburg in 1875 and placed in the garden here. It is visible from the garden path but not open to the public. Whether Mozart actually used it is part of Mozarteum mythology that the foundation’s own guides openly acknowledge as unverified.
The adjoining Universität Mozarteum is one of the leading music conservatories in the German-speaking world. Bernhard Paumgartner shaped the institution’s identity for decades as director.
Do it here
These experiences include this place in their authored route.
One of the world's great chamber music festivals, entirely Mozart, each January around his birthday (27 January). Organised by the Stiftung Mozarteum. January is low season in Salzburg: a genuine insider reason to visit outside the crowds.
People
conductor1887 - 1971
The man who shaped the Mozarteum and the early Salzburg Festival more durably than almost anyone else. Director of the Mozarteum for over four decades (1917-1959), bridging the Festival's founding generation and the Karajan era.
singerb. 1973
The finest bel canto tenor of his generation and the face of Mozartwoche in Salzburg. His connection to Mozart's birthplace city is deep and ongoing. In 2007 at La Scala, he became the first singer in 74 years to be granted an encore mid-performance.
singer1848 - 1929
The single most important figure in the prehistory of the Salzburg Festival. Not to be confused with Lotte Lehmann. From 1901, Lilli Lehmann organised the Salzburg Mozart Week, the annual series that directly laid the groundwork for the permanent Festival that Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Max Reinhardt, and Richard Strauss would formally establish in 1920.
architect1875 - 1955
Munich architect who designed the Mozarteum main building on Schwarzstrasse (completed 1914), the physical centre of Salzburg's concert life and music education for over a century.
Organizations
One of Europe's oldest summer arts academies. Founded 1953 by Oskar Kokoschka ("School of Vision"). Under Universität Mozarteum. 70+ courses. Music, visual arts, composition. July-August. Adds emerging talent to Festival atmosphere.
Salzburg's civic orchestra. Distinct from the Vienna Philharmonic. Performs year-round. House orchestra for the Mozartwoche. For visitors outside Festival season, the primary way to hear live orchestral music in Salzburg.
Custodian of Mozart's legacy. Founded 1841. Manages Mozarts Birthplace and Mozarts Residence. World's most important Mozart archive. Organises the annual Mozartwoche. Bernhard Paumgartner shaped its identity for decades.
One of the world's leading conservatoires. Founded 1841, university status 1970. Musicians, conductors, stage directors, visual artists. Oskar Kokoschka's "School of Vision" runs under its auspices as the Internationale Sommerakademie.
Read more
The longer pieces where this comes up.
Mozart died in Vienna on 5 December 1791. He was thirty-five. We do not know what killed him. We do not know where he is buried. A skull that spent over a century in the Mozarteum probably is not his. And the family grave in Salzburg contains people who, according to DNA, are not related to each other.
