Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix first and middle name and replacing his last with the band's name "Phoenix". Of the name, Phoenix, Thomas Mars says, "The album title is almost like a childish thing, like you're unleashing a child into the museum and he draws a mustache on the Mona Lisa or something ... It's kind of bratty, especially with me, my mom is German and Mozart is Austrian and in Germany it's like messing with the Pope or something." "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" has been described as an indie pop, pop rock, synth-pop, and new wave album. Co-producer Philippe Zdar hosted the recording of the
Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Magic Flute". Mozart is said to have whispered the following to Constanze in reference to her sister Josepha Hofer, the coloratura soprano who premiered the role of the Queen of the Night: Solomon, while noting that Mozart's biographers often left out the "crueler memories" surrounding his death, stated, "Constanze Mozart told Nissen that just before the end Mozart asked her what [his physician] Dr. Closset had said. When she answered with a soothing lie, he said, 'It isn't true,' and he was very distressed: 'I shall die, now when I am able to take care of you and the children.