The article discusses aspects of the dialectics of genius cults in the nineteenth century, using examples of Mozart's reception: the unveiling of the Salzburg memorial statue in 1842, Franz Grillparzer's texts on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his son Franz Xaver, as well as the artist's novella Der arme Spielmann. The consolidation and popularisation of genius discourse in the genius cults of post-Romanticism exerted unprecedented if latent pressure on producers of art in the period: the cults around prominent figures make great art into an unattainable exception. The article investigates how Franz Xaver Mozart and Grillparzer reacted to this dilemma.