Constanze Mozart (Women around Mozart Book 1)

Together they indulge in childish games with adult undercurrents of unbridled sexuality. Constanze's only redeeming feature seems to be a basic loyalty to her husband, manifested in a readiness to sleep with his rival Salieri in order to advance Mozart's career. Constanze Weber came from a high- spirited family of talented musicians. Her father, Fridolin, was a musical all-rounder singer, prompter, copyist and an exceptional singing teacher - three of his four daughters were coloratura sopranos of quite remarkable ability. Constanze and her sisters were brought up in Mannheim, a centre of musical excellence.

And, in addition to the sophistication she absorbed from this artistic milieu, she was intelligent - speaking excellent Italian and French as well as her native German. In many ways, she was an ideal wife for a composer. Mozart himself was firmly of that opinion. As he wrote in a careful letter to his father, Leopold: Her whole beauty consists in two little black eyes and a pretty figure. She likes to be neatly and cleanly dressed, but not smartly; and most things that a woman needs she is able to make for herself; and she dresses her own hair every day.

I love her and she loves me with all her heart. Tell me whether I could wish for a better wife. The marriage between Mozart and Constanze was unquestionably a success. There were occasional signs of tension between them, as in any union. But reconciliation was always sweet: In addition to her many pregnancies, Constanze suffered a protracted and almost fatal illness in the late s, and it was probably for this reason that Mozart shielded her from the reality of his developing financial crises.

When, in , Constanze became aware of them, she took them in hand. While Mozart was on a trip to Germany with their brother-in-law Franz Hofer Josefa's husband , Constanze organised a house move, and negotiated loans and publications. Mozart on his travels was aware of her activities on his behalf, and his letters home suggest immense gratitude and relief, in addition to his habitual longing for her. When Mozart died in , Constanze was only She had a seven-year-old son and a four-month-old baby; and although there were no longer any threatening debts, she had no obvious financial stability.

Her mother and sisters were immensely supportive, and many distressed friends rallied round her: Constanze petitioned Emperor Leopold II for a pension, and was awarded a tiny annual sum. But she needed to do much more to stabilise herself. And she was also determined to keep alive the reputation of her late husband. With the continuing assistance of her family, Constanze began to mount memorial concerts in both Vienna and Prague.

The dazzling Aloysia was crucial to these, bringing in her colleagues, taking a major part in the concerts herself and, like all the participants, performing without fee so that the takings could go to Constanze and her children. At one concert, Mozart's D minor piano concerto was played by a certain Ludwig van Beethoven.

And then Constanze revived her own singing career. In the mids she planned several concerts across the major cities of Germany and Austria, for herself and Aloysia together. Nostalgic enthusiasm for Mozart's music was growing fast. That it was to be performed by his widow and her sister, who happened to be one of the finest singers of the time, was irresistible.

Considerable sums were taken, and Constanze's financial security grew.

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Agnes Selby's interest in Constanze Mozart began in Philadelphia when she questioned the unflattering view of Mozart's wife by historians. Her research at the Curtis Institute of Music led to extensive international correspondence and travel to London, Vienna and the Salzburg Mozarteum. Agnes Selby lives in Sydney, Australia and contributes to literary journals. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? This book restores the reputation of Mozart's wife, long maligned by historians as a foolish and self-centered woman.

This strong-minded woman, however, is shown to be of critical support to her husband and after his death, she was largely responsible for keeping his music before the public. She travelled extensively, organised concerts and ensured accurate publication of his works. With her second husband, Nissen she published the first documented Mozart biography. Her business acumen and competence was a rarity in her era. Read more Read less.

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I was up hours past my bedtime reading this book, unable to put it down. Constanze Mozart is one of the great unsung heroines of history. To this small, modest musical woman from a musical 18th century household belongs the credit of preserving a great deal of Mozart's work when he died so tragically young. For the 50 years she survived him she never ceased to work on behalf of his music; she lived it and, even in her very old age when her hands were almost too crippled to hold a pen, wrote letters promoting it, arranged for its publication, and could sing its themes.

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Not only did she win Mozart's love but the love of her second husband, her sons and most everyone whom she met. Her world comes alive in this excellent biography: Vienna during its height and after war had devastated it; Salzburg when no longer an ecclesiastical court but a run down small city with grass growing between the cobbles; her brief but highly affectionate and utterly trusting marriage to Mozart; her telling of stories to him all night so he could stay awake to write the Don Giovanni overture; her kindness and financial support of his sister who was never anything but critical to her; and her return to their rooms after his death, unable to be aired and smelling of emptiness.

She was a widow of not yet thirty years old with two young sons and a pile of debt. The first part of the book ends with his death; the second part follows Constanze's determination to claim the Requiem as Mozart's own and to have it completed from his gathered scraps of paper, her concerts to keep his name alive, the publication of many of his unpublished works, and the gathering of information for his biography, written by Constanze's second husband and published after his death.

This biography should be on the shelves of all Mozart lovers. Mozart was a high strung, impulsive genius.

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Constanze, his beloved wife, gave him the stability he needed. Agnes Selby had written a much needed and beautifully composed biography. What more can I say after reading previous superb reviews? Most of my thoughts echo these eloquent reviewers, but in sincere appreciation to Agnes Selby's remarkable achievement in producing this book, I am compelled to signify my added thoughts. This book is an evocative portrayal of Constanze, beloved of Mozart in the real sense, her world after her husband's death still much revolving about his genius and his music.

Constanze is much historically degraded as the composer's wife.

Mozart - Symphonies No.1- 20

It might be said by other authors that Constanze, in order to survive after Mozart's death, made shrewd use of his manuscripts. Couldn't she have done it out of her profound love for her husband, and not merely to support their two sons and herself?