Review Of "The Life Of Mozart" By J. Rosselli

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

11-1-1998

Published In

Choice

Abstract

Although many fine books treat all or selected aspects of Mozart's life, Rosselli's welcome biography fills the need for an up-to-date, comprehensive but short critical study designed primarily for students and general readers. It should be read in conjunction with Maynard Solomon's Mozart: A Life (1995), an important, much longer, psychological biography whose thoroughness Rosselli admires but whose interpretive strategies he considers overly speculative at times. An experienced historian, not a musicologist, Rosselli (Univ. of Sussex, UK) is most effective in placing Mozart's life in the context of the great changes in European society ushered in by the Enlightenment. His discussions of the Mozart repertory are decidedly nontechnical, and he manages through adroit poetic and emotional language to make remarkably discerning musical observations that are well integrated with extramusical biographical details. For readers interested in learning about Mozart, this book is unquestionably the best place to start. Paper and binding are of exceptionally high quality. All collections.

Comments

This work is freely available courtesy of Choice Reviews. The review has been reproduced in full in the abstract field.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS