Happy Birthday, Mozart

Today Mozart would have turned 250, if he hadn't died of debauchery in his 30s. NPR has been making a big deal out of this anniversary, so die-hard Mozart fans should just go there. We think a lot of Mozart's music is pretty without substance, like a stale wedding cake decked out in a ton of frosting. His dark, brooding Requiem, featured in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, is good stuff, though. So we are going to make the macabre suggestion that to celebrate Mozart's birth, skip the cake and listen to his death mass.