Mozart's women: his family, his friends, his music - Hardcover

GLOVER, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405021217 ISBN 13: 9781405021210

Publisher: Macmillan, 2005

Synopsis

Throughout his life Mozart was inspired, fascinated, amused, aroused, hurt, disappointed and betrayed by women; and he appeared equally fascinating to them. But, first and last, Mozart loved and respected women. His mother, his sister, his wife, her sisters, his patrons, his friends, his lovers and his artists all figure prominently in his life. Jane Glover introduces us to Mozart’s mother, Maria Anna and his beloved and talented sister, Nannerl. We meet, too, Mozart’s ‘other family’, the Webers: Constanze, his wife, much maligned by history, and her sisters Aloysia, Sophie and Josepha. This is their story. But it is also the story of the women in his operas, all of whom were – like his sister, his mother, his wife and entire female acquaintance – restrained by the conventions and strictures of eighteenth-century society. Yet through his glorious writing, he identified and released the emotions of his characters. They hold up the mirror to their audiences and offer inestimable insight, together constituting yet further proof of Mozart’s true genius and phenomenal understanding of human nature. Rich, evocative and compellingly readable, Mozart`s Women illuminates the music and the man, but above all, the women who inspired him.

About this title

About the Author:

Jane Glover is one of our pre-eminent conductors and a Mozart expert. In her long and hugely successful career she has been Music Director of the Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Artistic Director of The London Mozart Players, and has also held Principal Conductorships of both the Huddersfield and the London Choral Societies. She has conducted all the major symphony and chamber orchestras in Britain and appears regularly at the BBC Proms. She is also a regular broadcaster, with highlights including a television series on Mozart and the radio series Opera House. She lives in London.

Review:

‘Jane Glover’s elegant and fascinating book illuminates an aspect of Mozart, and of his work, that has often been touched on but never with such detail and insight. Her vivid portraits enable us appreciate how deeply the remarkable women in his life served as both emotional and artistic muses, and how their spirit informs his masterworks . Glover has lived Mozart’s music intimately, and her knowledge of it and love for it make her a privileged guide to its endless riches, and to how originally and brilliantly Mozart uses it to create some of the most memorable female characters in all of opera.’ Renée Fleming

‘Jane Glover has produced a winner, showing us Mozart from a fresh and fascinating viewpoint: the women in his life. Constanze, for instance, emerges a different creature from the way she is usually portrayed, tempting the reader to revise judgement on her. Written in a delightful, accessible style, this is a book that anyone with an interest in Mozart should have. For the singer it is an indispensable treasure trove of information – altogether, hugely enjoyable’

Dame Janet Baker

‘Nowadays it seems that Mozart’s genius had always existed, fully formed, from the first. But genius does not flourish in isolation. It is Jane Glover’s great gift to show how the women surrounding Mozart – his sister Nannerl, his wife Constanze, and her three talented sisters – all influenced him, making their own contributions to the creation of the most fascinating, dazzling, and complex women on the opera stage’

Judith Flanders, author of Circle of Sisters and The Victorian House

‘Beautifully written and scholarly without seeming so’

Dame Felicity Lott

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1405021217
• ISBN 13: 9781405021210
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 356