Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Mozart’s Final Symphonies

There is a certain air of romantic mystery around the composition and first performances of Mozart’s final three symphonies, all written together in the summer of 1788, when the composer was 32. After enjoying several years of prominence and celebrity in Vienna, Mozart’s career suddenly lost momentum when Vienna declared war on Turkey earlier that year, and to complicate matters further, he was in significant debt. These three symphonies were to be his last symphonic works before the early, tragic death of classical music’s boy genius.