Rita Charbonnier's Blog: Non solo Mozart, page 17

Mozart's Sister Literary Party

This was a literary party for my novel, Mozart's Sister, in Rome. The video is spoken entirely in Italian but there are some English captions and the music is nice. Enjoy!

Check out Rita Charbonnier's YouTube Channel!

Posted in Mozart's Sister Tagged: Videos, YouTube

Was Nannerl as great a genius as Mozart himself?

— Rita Charbonnier, from the volume Perti, Martini e Mozart published in Italy by Pàtron Editore, R. Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, 2008

Water colour painted by Louis de Carmontelle in 1763 in Paris.

There will never be a definitive answer to this question. Those of Mozart's biographers who mention his sister Nannerl, generally take it for granted that she was a good player, but would absolutely not have been able to compose. I wonder how one can claim to judge a talent that never had the possi

Mozart's Rondò alla Turca, by Paul Barton

I am deeply grateful to Paul Barton for this wonderful performance. On YouTube, the dedication reads:

I made this recording to say a little thank you to Rita Charbonnier, author of  Mozart's Sister. I thoroughly enjoyed Rita's book and recommend it highly as a 'must read' to all lovers of good literature and music.

Check out Paul Barton's YouTube Channel!

>> Are you looking for the score?

Posted in Mozart's music, Mozart's Sister Tagged: Paul Barton, Videos, YouTube

Writers are liars and opportunists!

Amadeus.

I also have a blog in Italian, and when I put the post about the film Amadeus on there, it sparked some fairly lively comment.

Some Mozart lovers felt that authors of historical fiction ought to curb their imagination. The question is whether it is legitimate to create your own story around what actually happened, or whether this is disrespectful behaviour typical of writers who use heroes of the past to their own ends or to sully people's memory of them?

To be honest I don't believe that

Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor, by Paul Barton

A beautiful gift from Paul Barton, an artist, sculptor, photographer, and pianist: the Fantasia in D minor for piano KV 397 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Check out Paul Barton's YouTube Channel!

>> Are you looking for the score?

>> Would you like to read something about the Fantasia?

Posted in Mozart's music Tagged: Paul Barton, Videos, YouTube

The film "Amadeus"

Amadeus, the movie.

Why does Mozart's sister not appear in the film Amadeus? Why isn't there even a mention of her anywhere?

The film is about the last few years of Mozart's life in Vienna. At that time Wolfgang and his sister, Nannerl, were no longer in touch with each other. They lived in different cities and they knew nothing about each other's lives. Neither of them ever saw the other's house, or met each other's children. Nannerl no longer had any place in Wolfgang's life. She was no longer a

Wolfgang & Nannerl Mozart

This little video has been quite successful on YouTube… it displays a few paintings portraying Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his sister, Maria Anna, nicknamed "Nannerl."

The background music is Mozart's Divertimento KV 251 "Nannerl Septett" performed by the Ensemble Wien-Berlin. Enjoy!

Posted in Mozart family, Mozart portraits, Mozart's music Tagged: Videos, YouTube

Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor, KV 397

Portrait painted in 1819 by Barbara Krafft.

One day, some years ago now, I bought one of those cheap Mozart collections off a market stall. When I got home I put the CD on to listen to. One of the tracks was the Fantasia in D minor for piano, KV 397. As soon as I heard the opening notes I was stunned. I stopped what I was doing to listen properly, then I listened to the piece again, and then again, and then rushed out to a music store to buy myself the score. I kept thinking, who wrote this stuff

Why I wrote "Mozart's Sister: A Novel"

Portrait of Mozart's sister. It was painted twenty years ago, by an anonymous artist.

I played the piano from a very young age and I loved Mozart's music. One day I found out that the Maestro had a sister, she was called Nannerl and, from an early age, had been a child prodigy. I was struck by the idea that such an important fact should be so little known.

So I went to find out more. I left for Salzburg with the aim of visiting the Mozarteum library and the places where the Mozarts were born and l