Marrying Mozart

The story of the Weber sisters and their relationship with and influence on the young Mozart could be dry and dull - but it isn't. Each of the characters has a clear, distinct personality and their interrelationships are fascinating. And the portrait of the age and the joys and burdens of musicians are also quite well done. Bravo!

A very well written and enthralling historical prospective on Mozart and his relationship with the four Weber sisters. The author presented a far different picture of Mozart than what is typically shown of him. In this novel he was not the crass, lecherous man often seen in popular movies & books but a shy, if arrogant, man who desperately wanted to be loved. Very moving.

Mozart was my favorite composer for many years (and still among my favorites) so I was looking forward to this story that would bring him to life. Unfortunately I felt I got a cardboard Mozart. Although I did enjoy the book because the story was fun to read, I thought the writing was amateurish.

21-years-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his mother arrived in Mannheim in 1777 and mostly ate at the expense of others, mostly musicians. The aspiring young composer seemed to lack the luck to find some commissions and to gain support for his prodigious talents. As soon as he climbed the stairs to the Weber?s apartment on the 5th floor of a building, the four Weber sisters enthralled him as much as his musical talents beguiled the regular circle of composers, musicians and vocalists who gathered every Thursday evening. The sisters became ineluctably entwined in Mozart?s life thereafter.
Fridolin Weber scraped by as a music copyist but he was such a well-rounded musician for what occasions had he not played his numerous instruments at show more which he was adequately proficient. On the side he also gave clavier lessons. It was his penchant for music that rendered him the culprit of his wife?s [persistent complaint and reprimanding. The scheming and calculating Caecilia Weber kept a book of suitors for her four daughters, hoping whose propitious and wealthy marriages to the elites would bring in fortune for her late years.

Mozart, with his uncertain, inauspicious and ho-hum career as some second-rate church composer under the patronage of the unyielding Archbishop, surely did not find favor in Caecilia?s eyes. Mozart?s bigot parents, on the strengths of his ascending career, also disapproved of their son?s cultivating friendship with the Webers, for the two elder Weber daughters sang publicly and would bring disrepute in the Mozart house.

Marrying Mozart is a tale of an entangled love of an elite historical figure from the late 18th century Europe. Fate had destined Mozart to meet the four sisters: he was inspired by Josefa?s high, rich, and dark-toned voice while she secretly admired him; Aloysia?s dazzling beauty and vocal talent captivated him (but she also recklessly broke his heart); Constanze came to play a crucial but surprising role in his life later; and Sophie the witty, discerning, convent nun-to-be, became not only his friend but his confidante.

Marry Mozart is more than a love story. It paints the domestic life of a struggling musical family that placed its hope in the prospect of the daughters. The Weber sisters struggled to explore their passion in life, love, views on music, influence of music in their lives, the heritage of their father, and sexuality. Mozart, on one end obligated to provide for his family, contrived to write music ? symphonies and operas ? that he liked and would not settle for being an in-house composer with no say of the type of music to be composed. Cowell had deftly illustrated, through careful research of history, though dates and events might be rearranged for the novel, the composer?s impregnable effort in writing the opera of Englishwomen being abducted to Turkish harem.

Josefa had truly seen through Mozart: the woman who marries Mozart marries as well the part of him that creates extraordinary music. Therefore, the book bespeaks the kind of sacrifice that the spouse of an artist like Mozart had to prepare to make. Marrying Mozart, in summary, is beautifully written, attending to the minute details of the garbs, cultures, traditions, and emotions. Each of the four Weber sisters is brought alive in their emotionally intricate nuances. It is more a novel of the four sisters at the time of young Mozart?s ascending career. show less

Mozart is a composer whose music I really like so it was great to read this book based on events in the life of the young Mozart. The book tells of his meeting with the four Webber sisters at one of their father's Thursday musical salons, and his ongoing relationship with the family. Frau Webber has great plans for her four daughters to marry well, and Mozart's mother desires to accompany her son on his travels to gain sponsors for his musical career. Mozart feels much at home in the Webber household, falling in love and becoming betrothed to one of the sisters but the marriage never takes place as Mozart is forced to attend to the obligations his family place on him and travel to Paris in pursuit of opportunity. Both families have to show more deal with tragedy. The Webber sisters lose their father, and Mozart after losing his mother returns to live with the Webbers in the boarding house Frau Webber now runs. The book paints a detailed picture of the times, and of the struggles of the Webber sisters, and of course Mozart, who is no longer a child progidy, to succeed in the musical world. The hopes, dreams and frustrations of each of the sisters are well described, and we learn of Mozart's eventual marriage to another of the sisters. Well worth a read! show less

This book centers around Mozart and the Weber sisters (who inspired many of Mozart's female characters and one of whom he ultimately married).It is a light-read, especially for historical fiction, and is fast-paced. Some of the emotional transitions seem abrupt, but this is quickly forgotten as the reader is swept up in the progressing story.This book would have been enjoyable had all of the characters been fictitious, but it is even more so with its nod to history.

An installment of historical fiction. A charming love story based on the lives of the Weber girls: Josefa, Aloysia, Constanze, and Sophie, and (of course) Mozart. A nice, beautiful read, but nothing too spectacular.

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