Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who captured the hearts of northern Europe, but his father Leopold was determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there, and Mozart absorbed Italian culture, language, style, and art, and honed his craft. He met the challenge of writing Italian opera for Italian singers and audiences and provoked a variety of responses, from triumph and admiration to intrigue and hostility. This book reveals how what he experienced during these Italian journeys changed Mozart and his music forever.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 19 September 2024
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Mozart in Italy

At thirteen years old, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who had captured the hearts of northern Europe. But his father Leopold was now determined to conquer Italy. Together, they made three visits there, the last when Mozart was seventeen, all vividly recounted here by acclaimed conductor Jane Glover. Father and son traveled from the theatres and concert salons of Milan to the church-filled streets of Rome to Naples, poorer and more dangerous than the prosperous north, and to Venice, the birthplace of public opera. All the while, Mozart was absorbing Italian culture, language, style, and art, and honing his craft. He met the challenge of writing Italian opera for Italian singers and audiences and provoked a variety of responses, from triumph and admiration to intrigue and hostility: in a way, these Italian years can be seen as a microcosm of his whole life. Evocative, beautifully written, and with a profound understanding of eighteenth-century classical music, Mozart in Italy reveals how what he experienced during these Italian journeys changed Mozart – and his music – for ever.

Weight: 228g
Dimension: 197 x 129 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529059908