“Mozart! Forgive your assassin! I confess, I killed you!”

Poor Antonio Salieri. Wracked with guilt (at least, according to playwright Peter Shaffer) for having “killed” Mozart.

We’re killing Mozart with kindness this morning on WPRB, as we salute the 18th century master on the eve of his birthday anniversary. However, we won’t hear a single note of Mozart, except perhaps as filtered through the sensibilities of others. It will be a full morning of Mozart tributes, ranging from the composer’s day to our own, as old favorites by Tchaikovsky and Reger exist cheek-by-jowl with works by living composers Calvin Bowman, Jonathan Dove, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts.

It’s a cheeky concept, but you have to admit, it’s a lot more interesting, and certainly a lot more creative, than playing all-Mozart, which will be the case with most classical music stations tomorrow (as I will amply demonstrate when the time comes).

We make the most of Mozart this morning, from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. I forgo contredanses for contrarianism, on Classic Ross Amico.

At 9:00, I’ll be joined by Jerry Kalstein, president of Boheme Opera NJ. Boheme Opera will be presenting semi-staged performances of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” (a.k.a. the prequel to Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”) at The College of New Jersey, this Sunday at 3 p.m., and at Cherry Hill West High School, on Saturday, February 4, at 7 p.m. Tune in to our interview to find out more, or look online at bohemeopera.com.