Leopold Mozart and his 13-year-old son Wolfgang Amadeus depart Salzburg, beginning the extended first Italian journey that would shape Mozart’s early operatic training and contacts (notably in Milan and Bologna).
During their first Milan stay, Mozart secures a major professional breakthrough when a contract is signed for him to compose a new opera seria for Milan’s carnival season—work that becomes Mitridate, re di Ponto.
In Bologna, Mozart takes the academy’s demanding entrance examination (supported by Padre Giovanni Battista Martini), an important credential that enhanced his reputation among Italian musicians and patrons.
Following the examination, Mozart is formally admitted as a member of the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna—an exceptional distinction for a 14-year-old and a notable endorsement of his compositional skill.
Mozart’s opera seria Mitridate, re di Ponto (K. 87/74a) premieres at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan, marking his first fully staged opera success and establishing him as a serious operatic composer in Italy.
Leopold and Wolfgang return to Italy for a second journey, traveling to Milan to complete the wedding commission that developed into the festa teatrale Ascanio in Alba.
Ascanio in Alba (K. 111) is first performed at the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan, as part of festivities surrounding Archduke Ferdinand’s wedding celebrations; the work’s reception boosted Mozart’s standing at a major Italian court event.
Mozart and his father set out on the third Italian journey, returning to Milan for a new operatic commission that would become Lucio Silla; the trip continued Mozart’s immersion in Italian theatrical practice and singers’ demands.
Mozart’s opera seria Lucio Silla (K. 135) premieres at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan for the carnival season, representing his most substantial Italian opera to date and a key test of his maturity in the genre.
Mozart’s motet Exsultate, jubilate (K. 165), written during the Milan run of Lucio Silla as a showcase for the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, receives its first performance in Milan—demonstrating how his Italian operatic work fed directly into Salzburg-relevant sacred concert repertory.
The initial Milan performances of Lucio Silla end, closing Mozart’s most intensive third-journey opera production period and enabling his return north after completing obligations to the Milan theater and its singers.
After completing the third journey’s Milan commitments (including Lucio Silla and Exsultate, jubilate), Mozart and Leopold travel back to Salzburg, ending the 1769–1773 cycle of Italian journeys that decisively shaped Mozart’s operatic language and professional network.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Italian Journeys and Salzburg Operas (1769–1773)
