For 100 years, the Würzburg Residence has been one of the main venues used during the Mozart Festival. This anniversary will not only be celebrated in music, but also visually with the exhibition "Imagine Mozart." It highlights how various artists have beeen influenced by Mozart's work and personality over the past 250 years.

This is how Mozart is supposed to have looked. This portrait created by the Würzburg painter Joseph Lange is considered to be the only authentic Mozart painting. Other portraits are often idealized to fit the mental image of a creative genius, says art historian Damian Dombrowski. "Few dared to show Mozart as unattractive as he actually was — according to those around him."

It was not until 70 years after his death that the first monument to Mozart was erected in Salzburg. On the right-hand side, there is an image of a monument design by Edmund von Hellmer. He placed Mozart on a pedestal surrounded by columns and garlands. The sculptor shows Mozart as a genius caught in a moment of inspiration, his gaze wandering into the distance. But the design was never realized.

Arman was a French-US American object artist of the Nouveau Realisme artistic movement. He became famous for his montages of everyday objects. His "Portrai-robot de Mozart" (Mugshot of Mozart) in 1985 was made from instruments, music books, and clothing. It was meant to serve as an example of how the idea of Mozart is composed not only of his music, but also of myth and image.

Art historian and co-curator of the exhibition Damian Dombrowski finds this bronze by Louis-Ernest Barrias created in the 1880s to be a depiction full of intimacy and empathy. It shows Mozart as a child. "Mozart is completely at home with himself and his violin. He doesn't seem to notice the viewer."

Many images that deal with Mozart are inspired by his operas and their characters, like Cherubino from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" seen here. The role of the androgynous youth is sung by women. The portrait painter Jacques-Émile Blanche put his favorite model Desirée Manfred in the clothes of Cherubino for this portrait, which is said to have been painted around 1903.

"The Champagne Song" by impressionist Max Slevogt is one of the highlights of the exhibition. Slevogt felt a close kinship with Mozart's operas. He surrounded himself with Mozart portraits and drawings. Slevogt's portrait of the opera star Francisco d'Andrade in the champagne-colored costume of Don Giovanni has become one of the most recognized paintings of an opera character.

Expressionist Oskar Kokoschka designed the set and costumes for Mozart's "The Magic Flute" twice — once in the 1950s and once in the 1960s. He combined various informal scenes from his sketches of the opera on this woven tapestry.

Artists of the 20th century were particularly inspired by Mozart's music. "It is quite rare for Gerhard Richter to give a painting a title," says Damian Dombrowski. The curator sees clarity, transparency and playfulness in Richter's color composition — just as is the case in Mozart's music. The exhibition "Imagine Mozart” will be shown at the Kulturspeicher Würzburg gallery until July 11.

22-year-old Esin Yardimli is one of the musicians of the Istanbul University State Conservatory Symphony Orchestra who took part in the Beethovenfest Bonn's Orchestra Campus project. She studies at Istanbul's music conservatory and believes classical music is a sphere in which more emotion can be expressed than in other arts. Music also helps one to understand other forms of art better, she adds.

Burak Dursun, who is 15, saw the trombone in television when he was a child and knew immediately that he wanted to learn to play the instrument. For him, the instrument sounds like the human voice. He was amazed by the public showing on Bonn's market square of the performance of Beethoven's "Fidelio" during the Beethovenfest. "You could see how much Germans like classical music," he said.

When 24-year-old Cagatay Gulec plays the violin, his passion is evident. From the time he was 14, classical music has been the "field from which other styles of music grow." At the Beethovenfest, he said he hoped to pick up something of the proverbial German discipline during his stay.

Toygar Esman is 19 years old and has played the bassoon for the past five years. He was assigned to the instrument when he started studying at conservatory, and took to it immediately. "I like the sound and shape of the bassoon. It's become like a friend to me." He says music is all about emotion for him, and is indescribable. The Beethovenfest represents a chance to learn more for Esman.

19-year-old Ozum Semis says she loves her instrument, the viola, because it brings harmony into the orchestra. "Making music is all I want to do," she says. Turkish classical music is more popular than Western music in Turkey, she adds, explaining that's why she absorbed as much as she could at the Beethovenfest.

Alikaan Uysal, who's 20, has been playing percussion since he was 14. He says he brings all of his emotions to his music when he's playing. "Then I feel rhythm in my heart," he says. "It's wonderful to experience that in front of a German audience, too."

Banu Kara, 20 years old, discovered the bassoon at the age of 11. She's been in love with the instrument ever since, and knew even as a child that she wanted to become a musician. She couldn't live without music, she says: "My dream is to become a soloist one day, but I would also like to become a teacher."

20-year-old Can Davran started playing the clarinet three years ago. "When I hear the sound of the instrument, it sparks my imagination," he says. The highlight of the Beethovenfest for him was the outdoor screening of the "Fidelio" performance. "Turkish people don't know much about classical music or Beethoven. Our mission is to take some of that back to our country," he said.