Mozart in Italy: Coming of Age in the Land of Opera

'I couldn't put it down' - Joanne Lumley

'Propelled by Glover's clear passion for the subject, the narrative captivates' Publishers Weekly

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 travelled 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 carnivalesque birthplace of public opera. All the while Mozart was absorbing 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: 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.

Author: Jane Glover
Publisher: Picador UK
Published: 05/07/2024
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.33h x 6.30w x 1.10d
ISBN13: 9781529059861
ISBN10: 1529059860
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Entertainment & Performing Arts
- Biography & Autobiography | Music
- Music | Genres & Styles | Classical

About the Author
In Jane Glover's long and hugely successful career as a conductor, she has been Music Director of the Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Artistic Director of The London Mozart Players, and, since 2002, is Music Director of Chicago's Music of the Baroque. She has conducted all the major symphony and chamber orchestras in Britain, as well as many in the United States of America and across the world. She appears regularly at the BBC Proms and is a regular broadcaster, with highlights including a television series on Mozart. She is also the author of Mozart's Women and Handel in London. Mozart in Italy is her third book. She lives in London.