Mozart: A Life in Letters by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart: A Life in Letters Reviews

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  Rozonda

  The Mozart these letters reveal is way different from the image we have seen in films and novels. Clever and playful, but also serious, sensible and philosophical, his letters (and those of his parents) talk about a life of struggle and hard work and filled wth tragedy and losses. A very revealing document.
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  Jackson Cyril

  No Mozart biography that I have yet read has satisfied me. Most are panegyrics or so musically dense that they make for tedious reading. But learning about Mozart's life through his own words reveals the sort of playful and sincere guy who is exactly the opposite of the sort of person who emerges from the the letters of a self-absorbed prick like Wagner.
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  Lara

  deleted tiktok coz it force fed me 15 y/o content, yet here i am reading 15y/o mozart content.. the algo knows me better than myself. smh
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  Jim Townsend

  Billy Joel once sang, "Only the Good Die Young". In this 2006 Penguin Classics compilation of letters, edited by one Cliff Eisen and translated from the original German by one Stewart Spencer, we get an intimate portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born 27 January, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria; died, probably of rheumatic inflammatory fever and not, as is commonly thought, of poisoning by the composer Antonio Salieri, 5 December 1791 in Vienna, Austria), arguably the greatest composer of all time. The letters, written in an informal style, provide a fascinating look at the man, his loves, and his methods of composing some of the greatest music ever written. Mozart's complicated relationship with his father Leopold (born 14 November 1719 in Augsburg, Germany [Bavaria]; died 28 May 1787 in Salzburg, Austria), for example, has been written about and is likely exaggerated, for Wolfgang loved his family very much. Though the movie "Amadeus" portrays him as arrogant and conceited, these letters paint a different W.A. Mozart, one who was supremely confident but a devout Christian (and Freemason) and overall a pretty nice guy.
  
  Jim
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  Nazila

  through the letters, I found another Mozart, it's an unknown one. He talks about his feelings and routine life.There was always a child inside him, the child who was repressed and couldn't grow up.
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  Isabelly

  "The last thing he did was to try and mouth the sound of the timpani in his Requiem; I can still hear it now."
  
  Wow! Such a master and dedicated person, yet also playful and humorous. Reading the letters was the best possible way to get to know who Mozart really was, yet it would have been slightly better if more was mentioned about his music towards the end of his life.
  
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  Janice Wright

  An excellent read on Mozart! I would highly recommend to anyone wanting a more in-depth understanding of the man behind the music.
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  Ann

  A most readable collection of letters from the Mozarts. IMHO the absolute best. Will be forever cherished on my shelf.
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  アキ

  高中时候看的，莫扎特很可爱。他作为一个存在过的人、一个虚构的形象曾给予我许多活着的动力与快乐。
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  Judith Johnson

  Poor Mozart, to work so hard, and to struggle all his life to make ends meet, when for centuries to come his music would bring such joy to mankind and bring in such a lot of money! And yet, he seems to have taken death philosophically. I've just also completed Jennifer Worth's In The Midst Of Life, and his attitude to death seems to accord with her writing on the subject. Highly recommend both!
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  Cris

  I'f you've seen the movie "Amadeus" before you've read a bio of Mozart, you will be very surprised. Mozart was a very serious man, a very thoughtful and dutiful man, not the buffoon making poo-jokes, though he did have a slightly more irreverent character with his acquaintances than his father.
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  Sergej van Middendorp

  Beautiful to experience Mozart in first person perspective. And to feel the struggles he went through in periods of his life when he had time to write letters. ;-) And to see him grow and fall again. Real.
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  Greg

  An excellent selection of letters written by Mozart's father, some by his mother, and many by Mozart himself. It also includes his cousin's witnessing of Mozart's death.
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  Uchenk Art

  just write what you can't remember, what you can't tell
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  Chana

  Extraordinary!! Mozart's life in his own & his father's words. You just can't make this stuff up!