Customer Reviews

Marrying Mozart

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stephanie Cowell's superbly evocative, wonderful novel takes the reader from Salzburg in 1842, where an English biographer is interviewing the last surviving Weber sister, back to the Weber home in Mannheim in the 18th century and the era of Mozart, when their relationships with him all began. It tells the riveting, moving stories of all three sisters and the era itself is evoked in a fascinating wealth of detail, so that we are truly back in it. Ms. Cowell's writing is so exquisite, so romantic and so realistic at the same time that we can even feel the weather and the cold winter snow, so perfectly does Ms. Cowell bring it to life with telling detail. Her characters are living, breathing human beings, and we have a highly credible, complicated, real, completely believable Mozart. Here at last is the little man who wrote the great music, and we can feel his genius and his sensitivity in all its complexity. The Weber family, all of them, including the extended family of in-laws, is a powerful, sensitive evocation of the life of the century with all its differences in customs, and the life of Vienna and the court and the world of music are all engrossingly, lovingly, and magnificently depicted. There are startlingly beautiful scenes and a story that is compelling from beginning to end. You must buy and read and reread this magnificent recreation of a long-gone time and of the brilliant people who inhabit it!

I'd like to begin by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this book & was sorry to come to the end. If I could have, I would have given it 4-1/2*s. So why didn't I give it 5? In the end of the book the author mentions that she took certain liberties with the order of events for the sake of the story. I have studied Mozart for 23 years & wrote 40 pp on the inaccuracies of the movie, Amadeus, & there are liberties that I didn't think were necessary. Mozart & Constanze were married on August 4, 1782, not October. I see no reason to change this. She has Leopold Mozart visiting Vienna & meeting Constanze before her marriage to his son. Leopold did no such thing. He visited only once in 1785 after Wolfgang & Constanze had been married nearly three years. Aloysia shunned Mozart personally when he stopped to see her on his return trip from Paris. I don't recall her having run away to marry Joseph Lange. There were many other little "time shifts", yet this book brought me into the lives of the Weber sisters & life in working class Vienna in a way I won't easily forget. At least one reviewer mentioned that the language did not fit the time. I believe the author mixed a more 18th c tone with dialogue out of a later period. But never did the dialogue strike me as contemporary with all of today's slang expressions. So to me it was never jarring. There are several subplots which add drama to the story but I don't know if they are true. I'm referring to Frau Weber's "secret" regarding her eldest daughter, Josepha; the music store owner & Constanze. Once again, they didn't really bother me or detract from the story for me.

I would say that Mozart was almost portrayed a little too mild in places. He tended to be overly sensitive because of his personal insecurity. In places, such as his interaction with Frau Weber, he almost seemed fully in control of his temper. I can't quite see that. This didn't really bother me-not as much as the butchering of his character in the movie.

I particularly delighted in Fridolin Weber's Thursday night music evenings which Cowell brought to life so well. In the absence of TV or radio these types of evenings were common in 18th c musical homes, & Mozart wrote for, played in as well as hosted them, often. After the death of Fridolin the mother's down-hill slide is very believable. It was mentioned that she "drank more than a woman should." (I guess it was okay for a man.) I liked the way the author began & ended with Novello's visit to Sophia, the last remaining Weber daughter. I have read the book of Mary & Vincent Novello's journey to Salzburg, & it is believable also that she would have told the story of the family to him-although I doubt very much that she would have included the spicier parts.

Any negative comments aside, I would have loved it if this book went on further into Mozart's life as there is so much more to be brought to life there. I would recommend the book to Mozart lovers of course or anyone interested in 18th c Vienna. Those who know the details of Mozart's life may be bothered by the liberties taken & those who aren't will enjoy the story as historical fiction.

Through the four daughters of Fridolin Weber, a poor, but talented, musician who knew just about everyone in the music world of Mannheim, author Stephanie Cowell reveals the rich, musical life of the inhabitants. Every Thursday evening, Weber opens his house to performers, composers, and singers, who entertain an always-enthusiastic audience and an occasional music patron. It is at one of these soirees in 1777, that the 21-year-old Mozart and his mother, visitors from Salzburg, Austria, first meet the Webers. This meeting is the first of many over the next three years, as Mozart falls desperately in love with one sister, lives with the family for a time in Vienna, and eventually marries another sister. So close is he to the family that he writes compositions for the voices of two of the sisters and even creates parts in his operas for them.

Author Cowell portrays the domestic life of late eighteenth century Germany in careful detail, revealing the customs, the lifestyle, and the intellectual life of Mannheim, then Munich, and eventually Vienna. Every homely detail, from the type of stockings the girls wore, to the rags they used to curl their hair contributes to the realism, while on-going, personal insights into the tenuous and highly competitive life of a budding composer, like Mozart, and the role of the prince-bishop as a patron make the music world come alive. The Mozart we see here is very different from the Mozart in Amadeus. Young and in many ways naïve, he is not the petulant and sissified dandy we see in the film. He is, however, somewhat clumsy in his personal relationships and unsure how to obtain the kind of support he needs for his prodigious talent to flourish, and he often has few choices open to him.

Lovers of romance will find plenty to admire here, as the Weber girls individually explore their own world, their potential futures, and their sexuality, while Mozart tries to find an outlet for the music in his soul. This is a love story--showing the passionate love between men and women, and the quiet devotion of parent and child, in a long ago time and in an exotic, often rarified atmosphere. Filled with sensuous descriptions, it is more a study of the four sisters than it is of Mozart, providing their woman's-eye views of music, the place of music in their lives, and the sacrifices they and their spouses must make for art. Mary Whipple

I'm frankly a little surprised to see so many positive reviews of this book. I was intrigued by the story at the beginning, but as it unfolded, the characters seemed more and more wooden and the dialogue became laughable. If I had to hear Mrs. Weber call her daughters "my little fleas" one more time, I vowed to stop reading. I finally ended up skimming the last 50 pages to end my misery, as I really didn't care what happened to the shallow characters. I think Stephanie Cowell has the potential to be a good descriptive writer, but somehow this story fell painfully flat. Kudos to her for the underlying idea, which was a creative approach to telling the tale of Mozart. I would not, however, recommend this book to those who desire a more lyrical--and believable--read.

Marrying Mozart is a richly woven poignant love story of a musical genius and four young women and their collective affection in his music and his passion. Set in Mannheim, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna, the novel is a unique insight into the lives of the four Weber sisters and their relationship with the passionate and resolute composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his early 20s. Intelligent and unpretentious, this is a story of family relationships, longing and belonging, told by Stephanie Cowell in such an excellent manner that's interestingly charming. Alternative in time, after some 60 years, the story is being narrated warm-heartedly by Sophie Weber, the youngest of the sisters.

Deliberately and brilliantly told, it starts when Mozart and his mother arrive in Mannheim from Salzburg and meet Fridolin Weber, a music copyist and father of the four sisters. The second eldest daughter captivates the young Mozart, who finds her singing talent only matched by her beauty. But she dreams of fame and fortune as an opera singer, something the struggling composer couldn't provide. She elopes with a portraitist. Mozart is broken-hearted, little does he know that love lies with another Weber sister who eventually becomes his wife.

Marrying Mozart is a well thought out novel - distinct, eloquent and a confident ode which can only be captured by a brilliant and sensitive literary novelist who is also a coloratura soprano and a musician herself. The descriptions of each of the Weber sisters trying to make sense as related to each other, and their impact on the young Mozart, are particularly beautiful. Never mind that it happened long time ago in Europe, the author's conventional portrayal of the themes of love and family relationship borders on ordinary people like the Weber family, who we can relate to, a real resonance to typical lives of present day situation. Stephanie Cowell possesses a fountain of historical knowledge. She knows how to bring history to life, making it readable and relevant by creating characters that are all too human in their foibles and desires.

Marrying Mozart is as rich as a Mozart music and as demanding as Cowell's task of perfectly blending fact and fiction. She pieces together more than a century's events and experiences, and tells it with impact undiminished through the years. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey back in time. Magnificent.

As a youth, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is acknowledged as a genius, but lasting fame is another question, as well as financial security. Mozart endures years of borderline poverty, while he struggles to find recognition for his work and maintain a decent living. In retrospect, the female roles featured in his operas have impressive depth, as Marrying Mozart suggests, due to the enduring friendship of four musical sisters, Josefa, Aloysia, Contanze and Sophie Weber.

Mozart is introduced to the Weber sisters in Mannheim in 1777, at one of their father?s Thursday evening musical salons. I his element, Mozart blossoms in the musical environment of the Weber?s, to the extent that he becomes engaged to one of the sisters. Fortune intervenes and Mozart?s mother persuades him by to address family obligations, forfeiting a singing tour with Josefa and Aloysia. He also delays his betrothal, traveling to Paris in pursuit of opportunity. Both Frau Weber and Frau Mozart have very specific plans for their offspring, tying the family fortunes to the youngster?s success.

Tragedy strikes both families, leaving them in considerable financial jeopardy.
Grieving over the loss of his mother, Mozart returns to the bosom of the also bereaved Weber family, who moved from Mannheim to Munich. In turn, the girls have lost their beloved father, the aficionado of the musical Thursday evenings who loved each of his daughters deeply. Forced by ever-worsening circumstances to return to Salzburg, Mozart takes a position with his father?s employer, a soul-numbing experience with no hope of career advancement. Unable to stifle his creativity, however, the musical prodigy leaves that position and heads for Vienna, hub of the European musical community.

During Mozart?s absence, everything has changed. His marriage troth broken, Mozart is unable to achieve commercial success or provide for his family and his dreams seem all but impossible. But driven by genius, Mozart composes obsessively. The lives of the Weber girls have fragmented, as well. Only Aloysia is working, a paid singing position in Vienna, although Josefa plays minor parts in the productions. For her own financial security, Frau Weber establishes a boarding house, ruling the lives of the younger sisters with her incessant complaining and ongoing marital schemes. The girls are desperately unhappy, longing to break free from this emotional domination.

This exquisite novel is a joy to read, rich with historical detail. Each girl?s goals, aspirations and frustrations are fully realized, as each vainly attempts to please a mother who will not be satisfied, the mean days of poverty clearly etched on all of them. Yet Mozart is indefatigable in pursuit of career and happiness, ultimately wedding one of the sisters in a satisfying and successful union. As Mozart and the Weber sisters work diligently to survive in an unfriendly world, their lives are enhanced by the warm memories of youthful exuberance, as well as continuing friendships that endure the passage of time. With rich emotional layers, this love story of four girls and one man is a rare pleasure, a peek into a European landscape that birthed a great composer and the women he loved. Luan Gaines/ 2004.

As Mozart turned 250 this January 27th, I was rereading Stephanie Cowell's elegant and humorous novel for the third time. If you're weary of the vulgar and immature Mozart portrayed in the film "Amadeus," this book will warm your heart while correcting the biographical details. In Ms. Cowell's sumptuous version of Mozart's story, the young composer meets the four Weber sisters (Aloysia, Constanze, Josefa, and Sophie), and quickly falls in love with Aloysia, a temperamental diva who became one of his leading interpreters. When the soprano runs off with another man, however, Wolfgang comes to realize that the aptly named Constanze may be his "unsung" true love, an epiphany and plot twist that Ms. Cowell handles with extraordinary grace and charm. The author was an opera singer, and her prose sings with a rhythm all its own. She excels at depicting both the complex family relationships in the Weber household and Mozart's musical struggles as he began to write and produce his first operas. "Marrying Mozart" shows the human side of genius and in that way it is more compelling than many Mozart biographies I've read. I enjoyed this book so much, I may read it for the fourth time before the Mozart year is over.

This is a very enjoyable novel about the four sisters Weber and their relationships: with each other, with their parents and with Mozart. Starting in 1777, when Mozart first meets the family Weber, the story ends some 60 years later as the last surviving Weber sister is being interviewed about the family's relationship with Mozart.

And what a story it is. Ms Cowell develops the individual characters of Josefa, Aloysia, Sophie and Constanze well. Their lives, loves and aspirations are not often in accord with their mother's overwhelming ambition to marry them to noblemen. Mozart's parents are equally determined that he make his name and fortune before marrying.

The journey of Mozart through this world is interesting. But for me, the real story is the life and times of the sisters. Ms Cowell has brought a richness to this novel which comes, I think, from her knowledge and appreciation of the music, society and related politics of the era.

Recommended to those who enjoy historical fiction and highly recommended to those who wish to see Mozart from another perspective.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I read this book after The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland and found reading it fun and refreshing. Marrying Mozart is a fairly quick read but manages to have engaging characters, a fast-paced and slightly surprising plot, and is entertaining. If you want historical details, I'm not sure, haven't done the research. If you want some pleasure reading and to be immersed in another time and locale- this is your book. I often forgot that this book is considered fiction which basically is a sign of good writing. Not something I can say for the Susan Vreeland book.

Very well-written. The dialogue in particular is very believable for the time and place (aside from a few scenes at the beginning where the characters tell each other things they already know). It's obvious that the writer knows a lot about music. The story is both fun and serious. I enjoyed this book a lot, and if you love historical fiction, you will too.