MOZART: RISE OF A GENIUS ANNOUNCED FOR BBC TWO

From the team behind the acclaimed Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius, comes a landmark series looking at the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

On the fortieth anniversary of the release of the film Amadeus, this series will separate the truth from the mythology surrounding the child prodigy and genius composer who was feted by kings and emperors and whose life was cut short by a bitter musical rivalry. We think we know him: but the truth is very different. 

This series recounts the extraordinary true story of Mozart's life, using a blend of drama and interviews with world-leading musicians, historians and experts to reflect on the twists and turns of the composer's incredible life.

It's a dark family saga of ambition, betrayal, grief and death, from which Mozart emerges as a complex and contradictory character, driven to succeed as a composer on his own terms after being wheeled around the courts of Europe as a musical prodigy by a father who drove him mercilessly from infancy. 

His story is set against the shifting political world of Europe on the eve of the French Revolution, as an archaic system of musical patronage gives way to a world in which genius is recognised for itself.

With Mozart’s extraordinary music as a soundtrack, expert contributors will offer close readings and interpretation of his greatest works, from The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and Piano Concerto No.21 to lesser-known but no less influential pieces such as the Piano Sonata No. 8, A Musical Joke, and Symphony No.31, the Paris Symphony.

Mozart: Rise of a Genius (w/t) is a 3x60' series for the BBC.