In this first programme Charles Hazlewood challenges the accepted belief that Mozart was born a genius, and thus became almost an immortal being.How could Mozart have touched our universal pulse without drawing from the turmoil of every day life himself? And who witnessed this turmoil first hand? The story begins with the composer's father Leopold with whom Mozart conducted a passionate and tortured correspondence. It is Leopold who knows Mozart's secrets. And there is another voice: that of the music itself. Music is the key to unlocking the emotions of Mozart, starting in this film with the great piano works. Without this key, how can we ever understand the emotions that gave birth to some of the most beautiful sounds the world has ever heard?