The Places
The tour starts in Northern Italy, in the city of Mantua, once the domain of the Gonzaga family. We visit Cremona, the centre of violin-making, and Milan, where Mozart stayed on more than one occasion during his Italian journeys. Sicily has a remarkably varied history, held by Phoenicians and Carthaginians before becoming part of Roman territory, later to be occupied by Ostrogoths, recaptured by the Byzantines, ruled by Saracens, and held by Normans, Germans, French and Spanish. Only in the mid-nineteenth century was Sicily drawn into the unified country of Italy.
The Music
The music chosen for this tour is by Mozart and includes his final Symphony No. 41, known as the "Jupiter", written in Vienna in August 1788, and the earlier Symphony No. 25, completed in Mozart's native city of Salzburg in early October 1773. Mozart had made three extended Italian tours between 1771 and 1773, and his father Leopold had hoped that his family might be able to settle there, if a position could be found for his son. In this, however, they were unsuccessful, and the third Italian tour was Mozart's last.
