The pathos and misery of his death, passed down (for example in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus) through legends of poison and a spooky Requiem commission, colour our feelings about Mozart’s last months. His fatal illness at 36 was sudden, and came at a moment when his career was picking up after a rough spell. He died in Vienna only 10 weeks after the premiere in September 1791 of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), his most instantly successful opera.“Last works” have an aura – even though Mozart had no idea the Flute (from 5 February) would be one. But its numinous glow, religiously questing tone and a sensibility and musical style breaking out of classical trammels make you wonder how different the history of music might have been had the composer lived even