From Publishers Weekly
Author of the musical-trivia collection Basically Bach and former music critic for the Atlantic, Kupferberg has put together here 31 short chapters on Mozart's family, friends, associates, mourners and cataloguers. Nine rambling pages on "How Mozart Composed" take care of creative aspects. Otherwise, this assemblage principally consists of anecdotes on Mozart's health, marriage, dog, finances, religion, love of dirty language, associations with Jews and the Mostly Mozart Festival of New York. In "Mozart at the Movies," Kupferberg enumerates falsifications, distortions and omissions in the film version of Amadeus that he says resulted from cinematic and dramatic necessity. His own kitschification of a genius is historically accurate but vapid and trivial. Chapter headings are decorated with silhouettes, a portrait form popular in Mozart's lifetime. 12,500 first printing.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This informative and readable biographical study presents Mozart in terms of his various relationships. Drawing copiously on the Mozart family correspondence, the book is organized into mini-chapters, each treating a specific aspect of the composer's life and career ("Mozart's Dog," "The Fiscal Mozart"); the result is a chronological exploration of Mozart's character and his personal and professional lives. Where appropriate, the author takes a subject to the presente.g., one chapter begins with Mozart's visit to Paris in 1778 and concludes with a performance history of Mozart operas in that city. Kupferberg writes in a compact, informal style that sticks closely to the facts. There are few footnotes, but the author's thorough knowledge of the Mozart literature and of cultural history in general reveals careful scholarship. Susan Kagan, Music Dept., Hunter Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
