Mozart Question [Paperback]

Michael Morpurgo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2007

This is a moving tale of secrets and survival bound together by the power of music, from a master storyteller.When Lesley is sent to Venice to interview world-renowned violinist Paulo Levi on his fiftieth birthday, she cannot believe her luck. She is told that she can ask him anything at all - except the Mozart question. But it is Paulo himself who decides that it is time for the truth to be told. And so follows the story of his parents as Jewish prisoners of war, forced to play Mozart violin concerti for the enemy; how they watched fellow Jews being led off to their deaths and knew that they were playing for their lives. As the story unfolds, the journalist begins to understand the full horror of war, and how one group of musicians survived using the only weapon they had - music.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–6—Set in Venice in the 1960s, this tale intertwines a famous violinist's boyhood reminiscences with the story of his parents' Holocaust experiences. Usually reticent Paolo Levi gives an interview to a young reporter and the story's narrator, answering the long-standing "Mozart question." When he was nine, Paolo badgered his mother into showing him the violin that was hidden away atop a cupboard, and she made him promise not to tell his father. The boy knew that Papa had once been a violinist, though he'd never heard him play. Soon after, Paolo became mesmerized by the music of Benjamin, a street performer. Longing to play himself, he secretly took the violin to Benjamin, who repaired it and gave him lessons. When the youngster finally confessed to his parents, they shared their own secrets: during World War II, the three adults were in the same concentration camp where they were forced to play music—mostly Mozart—for incoming prisoners to divert them from the horror that awaited them. After liberation, Papa vowed to never play again; however, Mama and Benjamin felt that music had saved them. When Paolo's parents heard how talented he was, they forgave his secrecy. The adult Paolo refused to play Mozart until after his father's death. Morpurgo breathes life into this touching tale, which is conveyed with compassion and honesty. Foreman's watercolors enrich the narrative, capturing both Venice's beauty and the camp's misery. This fine selection offers another view of the Holocaust and music's potential to heal.—Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Survivor guilt is a dominant theme of many Holocaust stories: Why should I escape while others die? This spare, liberally illustrated novel is about a young reporter who discovers why a famous violinist, Paolo Levi, never plays Mozart. It’s the story of secrets kept from him until, at age nine, he discovers the reason his father, also a brilliant musician, set his instrument aside. Foreman uses shades of blue to mark the story’s beautiful Venice backdrop and sepia tones when visualizing Paolo’s father’s memories of living and nearly dying in a death camp, and how he and Paolo’s mother entertained the SS and played to calm prisoners on their way to the ovens. Of course, their music was mainly Mozart. Unlike Anita Lobel’s bitter memoir,  No Pretty Pictures (1998), Morpurgo’s view  of the survivors is a little too glowing, but for middle-grade readers, this novel will still serve as an honest, unsensational account of the horror. Grades 6-9. --Hazel Rochman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens Paperbacks (November 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406312207
• ISBN-13: 978-1406312201
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #993,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Mozart Question, September 23, 2008

By 

Jewish Book World Magazine (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mozart Question (Hardcover)

How and when do you introduce the Holocaust to a young child? Can you tell a story about the Holocaust without ever mentioning the word "Jew"? This book, with its lovely watercolor pictures of Venice and subdued brown and gray paintings showing scenes in the camps, skillfully addresses these questions. The story is told through Paolo, who is currently a famous violinist. Paolo shares his story by means of flashbacks, which are revealed while a young journalist is interviewing him. He remembers how his father was the most renowned barber in Venice. Each haircut was an interlude where his father "... would conduct the music of his scissors with his comb." Although Paolo knows his father had been a violinist, his father never plays the instrument and he will not answer his son's questions regarding it. Finally, the boy's mother shows him the violin that she has hidden away on the condition that Paolo stop asking his unremitting questions. Subsequently, one summer evening, Paolo hears the sound of a violin and runs outside in his pajamas to listen. The violinist's name is Benjamin and Paolo sits at the old man's feet as he entertains the audience. They become friends and in the following weeks the child brings his father's violin to Benjamin, who not only repairs it, but secretly teaches the boy how to play it. All the while, the relationship and the violin lessons are a secret -- until Benjamin insists that Paolo reveals the nature of their relationship to his parents. The child is very upset because he feels his parents will be angry with him. What happens next is both an unexpected twist and a very satisfying and surprise ending. The author reveals each "secret" a little at a time until all the puzzle pieces are in place. The story is powerful but is presented in a way that will not frighten a young child. Paolo, the main character, is particularly well drawn, as is the background information about what it was like to survive in the camps. This well written and illustrated book should be an addition to all holocaust literature for children. Ages 9-12. Reviewed by Marge Kaplan

4.0 out of 5 stars Music during the Holocaust, April 4, 2011

By 

Andrew W. Johns "ResQgeek" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mozart Question (Paperback)

When a young reporter is assigned to interview the famous violinist Paolo Levi, she is told not to ask "the Mozart Question." The problem is that she has no idea what that question is. When see meets Levi, her nerves cause her to babble, and she mentions that she isn't going to ask the "Mozart Question". Instead of immediately ending the interview, Levi unexpectedly tells the story of how he became a violinist, a story that also includes the stories of his parents, who were once violinists themselves, and who used their music to save their lives.

This is a powerful story about the horrors of the Holocaust, and the struggles faced by those who survived. The author doesn't shy away from the brutal reality of the concetration camps, so that while this is a children's book, parental guidance is strongly suggests to ensure that young readers are prepared for this material. These same young readers are likely to come away from this book with lots of questions, so parents also need to be prepared to discuss this topic, as well.

While this book deals with the weighty issues of the Holocaust, it also is a story of survival and of sharing the truth. In the end, these positive messages carry the story, and help to keep it from being overwhelmingly depressing.

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, January 5, 2011

By 

Chris Olden "cocojoh" (CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart Question (Paperback)

i've given this book as a present to quite a few friends. lovely story with nice illustrations.decided it was about time to own it myself!