It's ironic that such a large part of Salzburg's tourist industry revolves around a man who felt so stifled by his native city that he couldn't wait to leave. Born the son of Leopold Mozart, a member of the archbishop of Salzburg's chamber orchestra and a respected expert on violin technique, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) was recognized early on as a prodigy, learning the piano at the age of 3, going on to teach himself the violin, and embarking on rudimentary compositions by the age of 5 (although these were heavily revised by his father, so we have no way of telling how good they actually were). Mozart's sister Maria-Anna ("Nannerl"), five years older, was equally precocious, providing Leopold with a child-prodigy package with which he could tour the courts of Europe in search of financial reward. Between 1762 and 1771 the family was almost constantly on the road, visiting Munich, Vienna, Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia), Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris and London to perform for princely houses and society figures. Stints back home in Salzburg were largely spent preparing for the next trip abroad. By the time the Mozarts embarked on the first of three trips to Italy in 1770 Wolfgang was developing a reputation as a composer as well as a performer, and was commissioned to write an opera by the ducal theatre in Milan at the age of 14 (Mitridate, Re di Ponto).

Initially, many people couldn't believe that Mozart was capable of all the feats attributed to him, and subjected him to various tests: both Daines Barrington (a fellow of the Royal Society in London) and Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach in Salzburg shut him up in a room without his father to see whether he could transcribe pieces of music played to him without Leopold there to help. A Neapolitan audience forced him to play without a ring he customarily wore on his finger, which they believed to be a magic charm.

In August 1772, at the age of 16, Wolfgang was appointed Konzertmeister (leader of the court orchestra) by Hieronymous Graf von Colloredo, Schrattenbach's successor as archbishop of Salzburg. The young composer later became Colloredo's organ master, but the relationship between the archbishop and the Mozarts was never to be a satisfactory one. Wolfgang's father Leopold was eager to continue touring the courts of Europe, believing that his son would win further commissions, and perhaps be appointed to a top musical post by some foreign prince if only his talents could be showcased as widely as possible. Colloredo, understandably, had misgivings about allowing musicians who were supposedly in his employ to galavant around Europe and take on commissions from other patrons. Wolfgang himself found life at Colloredo's court dull and uninspiring – the archbishop didn't harbour any great passion for music, such that Mozart compared playing for him and his cronies to performing for an audience of table and chairs, and took to calling the archbishop the "arch-oaf" (Erzlümmel) in his letters. Court musicians were also treated in much the same way as any other servants – Mozart sat next to the kitchen staff at mealtimes – and this rankled with a young composer who had already tasted a degree of celebrity.

In an attempt to find another job, Mozart spent much of 1777 and 1778 in Western Europe, but he re-entered the service of Colloredo on his return to Salzburg in 1779. Relations with the archbishop took a turn for the worse a year later, when Mozart sought six weeks' leave in order to supervise the production of Idomeneo, an opera he had been commissioned to write for the carnival season in Munich. He ended up staying in Munich for four months. In March 1781, Colloredo summoned Mozart to Vienna (where the prelate was visiting his sick father) in an effort to bring the errant composer back into line. By May, having spent several weeks of inactivity in the archbishop's household, Mozart was ready to cut himself loose: cosmopolitan Vienna not only seemed to offer wider opportunities for a freelance composer, it was also the home of Constanze Weber, with whom he was falling in love. When Mozart tried to give his notice to quit, he was literally kicked out of the building by the archbishop's steward. Mozart married Constanze in 1782 and visited Salzburg with her in 1783, but he was never to reside in the city of his birth again.

For more on Mozart's life in Vienna, see "Mozart in Vienna".