In Vienna last week, 198 years after the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, met officials of the Austrian and German Mozart societies. Their purpose: to plan bicentenary celebrations for 1956.
Proudly the planners listed the main festivals and flourishes ahead:1) a new, 120-volume collection of Mozart's works (subsidized by the Austrian and German governments); 2) new recordings of everything the composer ever wrote, to be issued by Philips of The Netherlands; 3) festivals in 20 of the German cities (including East Germany) Mozart is known to have visited; 4) a year-long festival in his birthplace city of Salzburg, with candles burning in...