Pot shots, the mark of a genius

A little sweet Nachtmusik rang out across Notting Hill last night, as the popular historian Paul Johnson celebrated the launch of his new biography on Mozart with a string and clarinet concert at the 20th Century theatre.

“Do you know what Mozart’s absolute favourite thing to do was, other than music?” asked Johnson. The Londoner confesses our entire Mozartian knowledge is based on the Oscar-winning film Amadeus, so obviously our reply was sex. “No!” cried Johnson. “I mean, he liked that — we all do. But what he really loved was billiards.

“He used to take a shot then run to his desk to write five bars of music. Which is just how I wrote the book.”