Mozart's Wife
Online Originals (www.onlineoriginals.com)
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REVIEW BY GREGORY HARRIS
Nearly everyone is familiar with the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the child prodigy whose musical talent placed him among the greatest composers of all time. For many, though, the only perception of Mozart's wife, Konstanze, is from Elizabeth Berridge's portrayal in the 1984 film Amadeus. Even then, the film's screenwriter cheerfully acknowledged it was never intended to be an accurate biography, and many details of the Mozarts' life together are played more for cinematic convenience than historical accuracy. Now a new novel, Mozart's Wife, allows Konstanze to tell her own tale. Author Juliet Waldron brings to vivid focus Konstanze's rather obscure life and provides a fascinating portrait of life in 18th century Vienna. Like the acclaimed film, the novel's value is not so much in historical accuracy -- although the plot hews closely to the actual details of the Mozarts' life -- but in the character of the genius composer and his devoted spouse. Mozart first comes to Konstanze's attention while she is still a young girl, as he courts her lovely elder sister, Aloysia. Konstanze observes their flirtations that occur under the guise of music lessons, but sees something else in the young Mozart -- a gentle yet passionate nature unlike many in Aloysia's crowd of aristocratic suitors. Aloysia rejects Mozart to become the mistress of a wealthy baron, but Wolfgang and Konstanze fall in love. According to legend, Mozart once said, "Since I could not have one sister, I married the other," but the young couple in this tale are truly smitten with each other. Their love, however, endures a number of obstacles. Though far removed from the intrigues of the emperor's court, Konstanze and Wolfgang must still contend with chaperones, tyrannical parents, arrogant and decadent nobles and a rakish seducer who plies Konstanze with gifts on the notion that a musician's fiancee must have loose morals. Their betrothal is a surprising act of parental defiance for both of them, and Konstanze and Mozart marry in 1782. Unfortunately, their union is marked with many trials, including infidelity and the loss of several children. Although Mozart earns a remarkably good living for a musician, his careless and generous nature keeps the couple in debt. After Mozart's death, 30-year-old Konstanze loses both her soulmate and, with two young children to feed, her financial support. Fortunately, help arrives in the form of diplomat Georg Nikolaus von Nissen. This chapter in Konstanze's life recognizes the solace that comes with relationships later in life, relationships that lack the passion of youth, perhaps, but are solid, comforting and no less pleasurable. Based on original sources, including family letters and scholarly biographies, Mozart's Wife is a fascinating work of historical fiction, an entertaining and sometimes erotic look at a remarkable woman who earned the lifelong love of one of historyís most remarkable men. Gregory Harris is a writer and editor living in Indianapolis.
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