“More nonsense has been written about Mozart than almost any historical figure except Jesus Christ.” He was poisoned by a jealous rival, he was a musical manifestation of God, he was an offensive and boorish idiot savant – the myths abound, and they are all demonstrably false. “Every generation has admired Mozart, but some more than others and in remarkably different ways. The changing perceptions of the man and his music are themselves almost a small social history.”