Imagining Don Giovanni: A Novel [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Anthony Rudel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2001

Bursting with the light and life of eighteenth-century Prague, Anthony Rudel's captivating debut novel -- based on a historical event -- resurrects three of the most fascinating personalities of all time and a world of romance and imagination. In October 1787, sixty-two-year-old Giacomo Casanova, the notorious lover, and thirty-one-year-old Wolfgang Mozart, the immortal composer, are believed to have met in a Prague coffeehouse to discuss a revolutionary new opera based on the life of the infamous rake Don Juan. From this mere footnote in history, Anthony Rudel has spun a wondrous tale in which the two, along with the poet Lorenzo Da Ponte, work against the clock to complete the operatic masterpiece. A struggle of wills and desires ensues, winding its way through glittering society balls, rustic old-town inns, and majestic opera houses. It is a time of artistic fervor, philosophical awakening, deep friendship, and true love. Indeed, Mozart's fairy-tale marriage to the beautiful Constanze hangs in the balance. In the eleventh hour, the correspondence of an imprisoned French nobleman of questionable sanity illuminates the opera's destiny: the Marquis de Sade writes from his asylum cell to implore the trio to unite in support of Don Giovanni's theme of personal freedom. The flurry of incendiary artistry and explosive clashes builds to the opera's opening night, a crescendo of inspiration, passionate devotion to liberty, and renewed bonds of love. Combining the ingenious storytelling of the best historical novelists with the breathtaking, Old World European atmosphere of the Oscar-winning Amadeus and the Oscar-nominated Quills, Anthony Rudel has mined a glorious past for this fast-paced and sublimely entertaining first novel.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In heritage and career choice (his father is the legendary conductor; he himself is a producer of classical recordings and the author of Tales from the Opera), Rudel would seem just the fellow to embroider on a bit of historical musical trivia. But his debut novel, drawing on a purported meeting in 1777 Prague between Mozart and romantic adventurer Casanova, does not develop into a successful dramatic narrative. Rudel imagines a secret collaboration between the composer of sublime music and the notorious libertine, aided by librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, a creative symbiosis that significantly influences the final version of Don Giovanni. In addition to describing the logistic and artistic complications of writing and staging the opera, Rudel attempts a plot that seems straight out of a morality play: Mozart jeopardizes his marriage by dallying with other women; Casanova takes it upon himself to show Mozart the folly of his ways. ("Give me your hand," Casanova ordered. "We'll make a pact. I'll lead you to the love you need to compose.... You'll turn Don Giovanni into a legend; it will be your payment to me.") Descriptions are often labored, with all the musicality of a pulp fiction bodice ripper. At times, characters seem to deliver history lessons rather than think, feel and speak for themselves. (During a walk in the Prague ghetto, Casanova provides some historical facts about the edicts against Jews.) When the Marquis de Sade sends exhortations from an asylum, the narrative hits its lowest notes. Those attempting to understand what made Don Giovanni such a revolutionary opera may enjoy this fanciful account, but most will feel that even The Magic Flute contains more reality than this lackluster production. Agent, Eric Simonoff at Janklow Nesbit.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Rudel takes a moment in history--when Mozart met Casanova to discuss a new opera based on the life of the legendary lover Don Giovanni--and expands it into a wonderful story of passion and freedom. Mozart and his librettist, poet Lorenzo da Ponte, are on a very tight deadline to finish the new opera, which isn't going well. They enlist the help of another notorious womanizer, Giacomo Casanova, with the hope that his experiences and insightfulness can breathe life into the characters. In the meantime, Mozart's marriage is crumbling, the opera house's manager is demanding that the opera open on time, and Mozart and da Ponte are having a battle of wills over the direction the opera is going. With a couple of letters from an imprisoned Marquis de Sade to spice up the story, the excitement and sexual tension build, culminating with the opening night of Don Giovanni. Rudel atmospherically captures the essence of eighteenth-century Prague, from high-society balls to rustic local taverns. Carolyn Kubisz
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Unknown; 1st edition (September 2, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0871138271
• ASIN: B000BZ6ULC
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,633,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN OUTSTANDING BLEND OF FACT AND FICTION, September 24, 2001

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Imagining Don Giovanni: A Novel (Hardcover)

Using an actual meeting between Casanova and Mozart in October of 1787 Anthony Rudel has imagined a creative, witty and enthralling story of that day and time. The then 62-year-old Casanova and 31-year-old Mozart, so it is believed, met in a Prague coffeehouse to discuss a groundbreaking new opera based on the life of Don Juan, Don Giovanni.

Add to this pair the poet and opera's librettist, Leonardo Da Ponte, another iron willed individual. At the last minute, just as the royally decreed date for the opera's opening performance nears, Mozart and La Ponte disagree - in spades. Work on the opera stops until Casanova arrives with countless stories and eyebrow-raising ideas. As if this cast of characters were not exciting enough - enter the Marquis de Sade.

Rudel's tale takes readers on a tour of Prague, one of the 18th century's most entrancing cities. We visit its elegant society balls, its country inns, and are privy to the thoughts Mozart's wife, Constanze, who seems smitten with the zealous and somewhat overpowering Casanova.

A blend of fact and fiction has worked extremely well in countless novels. With "Imagining Don Giovanni" it is a memorable accomplishment.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical, but Maybe Only for Opera Lovers, April 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Imagining Don Giovanni: A Novel (Hardcover)

I love opera, I love Mozart, I love Prague and I'm intrigued by Casanova, so I really loved this book. It centers around the premier of Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni in Prague in 1787.

The author tells us that Don Giovanni was inspired by none other than Casanova, himself, who set up a meeting with Mozart in a Prague coffeehouse in an attempt to "sell" the great composer on the idea of basing an opera around the figure of Don Juan. That part is factual...I think. That and the characters, dates and delays in staging the opera. The rest of this marvelous book centers around imagined happenings, all contrived to urge Mozart to produce and bring Don Giovanni to fruition.

There are three main characters in this book: Mozart, of course, Casanova, and Lorenzo da Ponte, Mozart's long suffering librettist. All three main characters are wonderfully drawn, but just as wonderfully drawn are the "minor" characters, who really aren't so minor at all.

One of the best of these "minor" characters is Mozart's wife, Constanze, or "Stanzi," as Mozart called her. Stanzi had a few secrets of her own to prod Mozart to work and she often had use them.

Josefa Dusek, the singer, and her husband make appearances in the novel when they host the elaborate parties Mozart loved to attend. The party the night before the opera's premier is especially memorable. Opera lovers will recognize the garden scene in Act Four of The Marriage of Figaro, but this only adds to the whimsy of the book rather than detracting from it. This party night is a night of high tension as well as fun, for Mozart has yet to finish the opera's Overture and more than one character is more than a little anxious.

Even the Marquis de Sade manages to make an appearance, of sorts, in this book. Locked away in Paris, he answers a letter from Casanova and gives his own advice on living a life totally without limits. You can imagine what that advice might consist of. If anything in this book can be construed as being "over the top," it is this, but then Mozart was a genius who was, much of the time, "over the top," himself. I think it is completely within the character of the book to include de Sade and I enjoyed it.

Although Mozart does take center stage in this novel, as he should, he gets stiff competition from Casanova. In his sixties at the time, Casanova may have slowed down a bit, but he is still quite thoroughly a rake. Beautiful women seem to abound in Prague and Casanova seems to make it his quest to know them all, or most of them at least, and to let others know the details of his conquests.

I'm an eastern European and I've spent many happy days and nights in Prague. I loved Rudel's detail of Prague city life as well as his detail of the premier, itself. The details are, in large part, what make this book so charming.

The best thing about this book, however, is the wonderful and loving portrait it paints of Mozart, himself. Rudel has managed to capture Mozart in all his genius and all his whimsy. We see him as he no doubt was...an extraordinary composer, the likes of which the world will never see again, and a man who took tremendous joy in the simple pleasure of life.

This is a gorgeous and fun book, but I don't think it's right for everyone, or even the majority of readers. I do think one has to be a fan of Mozart or of opera to obtain the maximum enjoyment from "Imagining Don Giovanni." If you're an opera fan, like I am, I would certainly recommend this book. While it might not stay with you forever, it will certainly entertain you for a few hours and make your life more pleasant. And, it just might leave you wanting more of Mozart.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Any Mozart or Opera Fan, May 15, 2002

By 

Diana Rubino "Historical and Paranormal Author" (Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Imagining Don Giovanni: A Novel (Hardcover)

I write historical novels, and this novel is everything I look for in a novel when I read one--and everything I aspire to when I write one! It's purely entertaining; historical fiction at its finest. Mozart is characterized as a wonderful blend of naivete and the immortal genius he was; a multi-dimensional character just delightful to read about, especially if you're a fan of Mozart's and have read other biographies of him. I had read that Casanova actually did assist Mozart & DaPonte in the creation of Don Giovanni, and other historical details were very well researched. To me, the best historical novels contain factual information so that the reader can learn a bit about the time period, even if most of the plot is fictionalized. If this were made into a movie, it would blow Amadeus right out of the water!
Now Anthony Rudel has another talent to add to his list--novelist. If this is a debut, it was outstanding. Extraordinary work, Mr. Rudel! Keep them coming! (How about a Beethoven bio now???)