Written by the composer in the summer of 1782 the two-page letter shows him asking a close friend for advice following a "misunderstanding" with his soon-to-be mother-in-law. Mozart was 26 years old when he wrote the letter, shortly after he arrived in Vienna. "That kind of liberated nature of the way he's behaving" in both his private and professional life Venning describes as "refreshing". Mozart and Constanze married shortly after the letter was written, and were together until his death in 1791 at the age of 35. The letter is part of Christie's Classic Week Exceptional Sale in July and is expected to get the highest price for a Mozart letter to date with an estimated worth of between 300,000 pounds and 500,000 pounds ($380,490 and $634,150).

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Persons: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Venning, Mozart, Venning, He's, Constanze, Sarah Mills, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Thomson Locations: Christie's, London, Vienna