Reflections on Genius

I have been immersing myself in the life and music of W.A. Mozart these past few weeks. Spending hours a day coaching solos and ensembles from "Le nozze di Figaro" (occasionally playing conductor's rehearsals) here at OIO only increases my delight in and admiration for the work. There is no end of detail that reveals the genius of the composer. Brahms wrote this of the opera: "In my opinion each number in Mozart's "Figaro" is a miracle, it is totally beyond me how anyone could create something so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven." If it is beyond Brahms to fathom the genius of the opera, it is certainly beyond us mere mortals!
We all have our favorite parts of "Figaro". The Act II finale, all of ninety pages in the Schirmer score, is a masterpiece of musical architecture and expression. It is matched only by the finale of "Don Giovanni". I especially admire the Andante, 6/8, B flat section. A simple repeated three-note motif meanders through various keys and combinations, takes on a variety of characters to give perfect expression to every nuance of unfolding events and emotions. It is pure genius. And then there is the Act III sextet "Riconosci in questo amplesse" in which the mystery of Figaro's true birth parents is revealed to the stupefication of all. Tua madre? Suo padre? It is at the same time amusing and sublime. Only Mozart could bring that off with such ease.
I have also been exploring the piano concerti chronologically, acquainting myself better, and in context, with the earlier concerti first. Any one of these, even those composed when Mozart was a mere 17 years old, can blow his contemporaries out of the water. Clementi? Hackneyed, boring stuff. Even Haydn wrote no concerti that could even remotely compete with Mozart's output (though Haydn gives Mozart a run for his money in the quartet and symphony departments). Haydn, a kind and generous soul, was once asked to provide an opera buffa for someone in Prague. He basically replied that he could not compete with Mozart, remarking "...how inimitable are Mozart's works, how profound, how musically intelligent, how sensitive...", calling Mozart 'a jewel'.
Lastly, I have been reading Wolfgang Hildesheimer's revealing essays on the composer. He de-constructs the popular mythologies and romanticizations that have encrusted the memory of the composer, digging deep into psychology to debunk many favorite theories. In the end, Mozart is more of a mystery than ever. I am convinced that he had Aspergers Syndrome. The classic symptoms are all there. One can say that Mozart was just passing through this world, leaving us his treasures, disappearing again with hardly a trace. He was a man who rarely revealed himself in his correspondence. There is no portrait that satisfactorily conveys his physical essence. Isn't it fitting that we don't even know where he is buried? Hildesheimer writes: "...on December 6, 1791, when the fragile, burned-out body was lowered into a shabby grave...the mortal remains of an inconceivably great mind were being laid to rest---an unearned gift to humanity, nature's unique, unmatched, and probably unmatchable work of art."