Maria Anna Mozart, affectionately called Nanerl, was the elder and only sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She was born in Salzburg on July 30, 1751, and was a child prodigy, just like her younger brother.
For more than three years, Maria Anna Mozart and her five-year-younger brother toured many European capitals, from London and Paris, to Munich and Vienna, and were noted as one of the best pianists of their generation.
Their father, Leopold Mozart, who was a court musician, began teaching his daughter to play the harpsichord when she was seven years old. Nanerl, just like her brother, was able to play the most complicated works and write down the notes of any composition she heard. In 1764, Leopold wrote in a letter: My little girl plays the most demanding works we have, with incredible precision and so extraordinary. All this says that she, even though she is only twelve years old, is one of the best pianists in Europe.
Marija Ana, Volfgang i Leopold Mocart
Maria Ana Mozart finished touring when she turned eighteen. She was then ready for marriage and was no longer allowed to tour with them. While the two of them traveled around Europe, Nanerl sat in Salzburg and learned women's jobs, such as sewing, waiting to get married. However, she entered the marital waters only in 1784, and in the meantime she was engaged in composing. A surviving letter sent by Wolfgang to his sister from Rome in 1770, in which he admires her composition. Unfortunately, her works are not known.
Her fate was decided again by her father Leopold, when he forced her to reject the marriage offer of Franz d’Ipold, with whom she was in love. Instead of him, Nanerl eventually married Johann Baptiste Franz, who was already a widower twice and had five children. Maria Ana Mozart gave birth to three more.
Her husband died in 1801, and she then returned to Salzburg, where she worked as a music professor. She was in poor health, which blinded her in 1825. Four years later, on October 29, 1829, Maria Anna Mozart died at the age of 78. She was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Salzburg.
Thanks for the interesting story about Mozart's sister.