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Mélodie de Vienne
Dans un immeuble cossu de Vienne, en 1888, la famille Alt occupe tous les étages. Leur titre de noblesse? Le piano sur lequel a joué Mozart, construit par Christoph Alt, le fondateur. Des ateliers sortent encore des pièces exceptionnelles. Une réputation qui leur impose de s’astreindre aux règles de la haute société viennoise. L’arrivée dans la famille de la trop belle Henriette Stein – d’origine juive qui plus est – sème le trouble. La jeune femme plonge dans le tourbillon de fêtes et de création qui s’empare de la ville en cette fin de siècle. Un tourbillon où l’on percevra bientôt les fêlures du rêve austro-hongrois : le suicide du prince héritier, l’assassinat de l’archiduc suivi de la guerre de 14-18, l’essor du mouvement ouvrier, la montée du nazisme… Le destin mouvementé de la famille Alt suivra les soubresauts de l’Histoire dans un roman comparé par la critique aux Buddenbrook de Thomas Mann et à La Famille Karnovski d’Israël Joshua Singer.
663 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
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May 17, 2018
Il mondo di ieri.
Tre generazioni di Alt si susseguono al numero 10 di Seilerstätte a Vienna.
Tre generazioni di fabbricanti di pianoforti, chiamati "la Melodia di Vienna", che dalla fine dell'Ottocento, obbedienti alla decisione del capostipite di vincolare tutti gli abitanti ad abitare la stessa palazzina di tre piani, fino all'Anschluss, si danno il cambio nelle stanze e negli appartamenti della signorile palazzina voluta dal suo fondatore, Cristoph.
All'ascesa e al successo della casa musicale, baciata dal tocco magico delle mani di Mozart e di Beethoven e dall'approvazione della casa dell'Imperatore, a quella che sembra essere una fortuna inarrestabile, corrispondono quella che appare come la salda e paterna guida dell'Imperatore dell'Impero austro-ungarico Francesco Giuseppe e l'esempio che l'Austria Felix offre a tutto il mondo.
Il romanzo si apre sulla seconda genarazione, quando l'ingresso in scena di Henriette, di famiglia ebrea (ma non di religione ebraica, come Lothar ci tiene a precisare e a descrivere chiaramente, a testimonianza del fatto che molti ebrei austriaci erano non solo integrati nella vita della società civile, economica, artistica e politica, ma faticarono a capire le ragioni per cui furono successivamente perseguitati), fidanzata del mite Franz, che deciderà in suo onore di costruire un quarto piano, è capace di provocare una frattura insanabile e diventare al tempo stesso punto di svolta e pietra angolare per la storia e i destini di tutta la famiglia.
Pagine bellissime, animate dallo sfarzo e dal romanticismo che permeava la meravigliosa Vienna dell'impero asburgico, di musicalità e dedizione, di nascite e di morti improvvise e tragiche, di amori e passioni nascoste, di feste piene di luci e vicoli bui dove si consumano gli incontri clandestini, di bugie e promesse eterne, di tradimenti e di carrozze che si allontanano nella notte.
Ma la Storia, quella vera, la conosciamo tutti, e l'espediente di Lothar, quello di intrecciare alle vicende degli Alt quelle dei personaggi storici dell'epoca, in alcuni casi romanzandone la storia, ci preannuncia, senza che sia possibile dimenticarsene, come il suono di un pendolo che batte le ore, la caduta che verrà.
La voce di Lothar è nostalgica, come già furono le voci di Zweig - suo amico - e quella di Joseph Roth; innamorata, incredula, incapace di comprendere il nulla che segue alla disfatta in guerra, di dare un senso ai mutamenti che consegnano il paese prima al comunismo, e alla lotta violenta dei lavoratori, poi all'ascesa di Hitler, nella negazione progressiva di tutti quei privilegi e di quelle libertà, innanzitutto di pensiero, che avevano caratterizzato l'Austria libera; e la sua, ancora una volta come quella del suo amico Stefan Zweig, è la voce di chi è costretto, per aver salva la vita, a fuggire, ad abbandonare il suo paese e ad attraversare l'oceano.
Non perfetto, non immune da alcune lungaggini che ne rendono la lettura meno fluida e priva in alcune parti di ritmo, «La Melodia di Vienna» resta comunque un bel romanzo, una meravigliosa immersione nell'atmosfera mittleuropea di fine de siècle, la testimonianza romanzata di quello che Stefan Zweig (mi si perdonerà se lo cito per la terza volta, ma il legame fra i due autori era molto forte) aveva già raccontato, in maniera ancora più drammatica, ne «Il mondo di ieri», la storia e la caduta di un impero che sembrava intramontabile e indissolubile, alla quale Lothar affianca la storia di una famiglia che sembra esserne lo specchio, protetta dalla fortuna e dallo sguardo benevolo dell'angelo musicante.
E anche qui, come già indicato nel mio commento a «La Cripta dei Cappuccini» di Joseph Roth (immediata lettura conseguente a questa), fanno la loro fuggevole e defilata comparsa i banchieri Ephrussi, famiglia protagonista dello splendido «Un'eredità di avorio e ambra» di Edmund de Waal.
«Vienna era la capitale di un regno, e la capitale di un regno doveva avere un regno; che, però, non esisteva più. L'Austria era l'idea dell'unificazione di nazionalità diverse in uno Stato sovrannazionale; nazioni unite prima ancora che esistessero gli Stati Uniti; quell'idea era ormai ridotta al cumulo di macerie.»
Tre generazioni di Alt si susseguono al numero 10 di Seilerstätte a Vienna.
Tre generazioni di fabbricanti di pianoforti, chiamati "la Melodia di Vienna", che dalla fine dell'Ottocento, obbedienti alla decisione del capostipite di vincolare tutti gli abitanti ad abitare la stessa palazzina di tre piani, fino all'Anschluss, si danno il cambio nelle stanze e negli appartamenti della signorile palazzina voluta dal suo fondatore, Cristoph.
All'ascesa e al successo della casa musicale, baciata dal tocco magico delle mani di Mozart e di Beethoven e dall'approvazione della casa dell'Imperatore, a quella che sembra essere una fortuna inarrestabile, corrispondono quella che appare come la salda e paterna guida dell'Imperatore dell'Impero austro-ungarico Francesco Giuseppe e l'esempio che l'Austria Felix offre a tutto il mondo.
Il romanzo si apre sulla seconda genarazione, quando l'ingresso in scena di Henriette, di famiglia ebrea (ma non di religione ebraica, come Lothar ci tiene a precisare e a descrivere chiaramente, a testimonianza del fatto che molti ebrei austriaci erano non solo integrati nella vita della società civile, economica, artistica e politica, ma faticarono a capire le ragioni per cui furono successivamente perseguitati), fidanzata del mite Franz, che deciderà in suo onore di costruire un quarto piano, è capace di provocare una frattura insanabile e diventare al tempo stesso punto di svolta e pietra angolare per la storia e i destini di tutta la famiglia.
Pagine bellissime, animate dallo sfarzo e dal romanticismo che permeava la meravigliosa Vienna dell'impero asburgico, di musicalità e dedizione, di nascite e di morti improvvise e tragiche, di amori e passioni nascoste, di feste piene di luci e vicoli bui dove si consumano gli incontri clandestini, di bugie e promesse eterne, di tradimenti e di carrozze che si allontanano nella notte.
Ma la Storia, quella vera, la conosciamo tutti, e l'espediente di Lothar, quello di intrecciare alle vicende degli Alt quelle dei personaggi storici dell'epoca, in alcuni casi romanzandone la storia, ci preannuncia, senza che sia possibile dimenticarsene, come il suono di un pendolo che batte le ore, la caduta che verrà.
La voce di Lothar è nostalgica, come già furono le voci di Zweig - suo amico - e quella di Joseph Roth; innamorata, incredula, incapace di comprendere il nulla che segue alla disfatta in guerra, di dare un senso ai mutamenti che consegnano il paese prima al comunismo, e alla lotta violenta dei lavoratori, poi all'ascesa di Hitler, nella negazione progressiva di tutti quei privilegi e di quelle libertà, innanzitutto di pensiero, che avevano caratterizzato l'Austria libera; e la sua, ancora una volta come quella del suo amico Stefan Zweig, è la voce di chi è costretto, per aver salva la vita, a fuggire, ad abbandonare il suo paese e ad attraversare l'oceano.
Non perfetto, non immune da alcune lungaggini che ne rendono la lettura meno fluida e priva in alcune parti di ritmo, «La Melodia di Vienna» resta comunque un bel romanzo, una meravigliosa immersione nell'atmosfera mittleuropea di fine de siècle, la testimonianza romanzata di quello che Stefan Zweig (mi si perdonerà se lo cito per la terza volta, ma il legame fra i due autori era molto forte) aveva già raccontato, in maniera ancora più drammatica, ne «Il mondo di ieri», la storia e la caduta di un impero che sembrava intramontabile e indissolubile, alla quale Lothar affianca la storia di una famiglia che sembra esserne lo specchio, protetta dalla fortuna e dallo sguardo benevolo dell'angelo musicante.
E anche qui, come già indicato nel mio commento a «La Cripta dei Cappuccini» di Joseph Roth (immediata lettura conseguente a questa), fanno la loro fuggevole e defilata comparsa i banchieri Ephrussi, famiglia protagonista dello splendido «Un'eredità di avorio e ambra» di Edmund de Waal.
«Vienna era la capitale di un regno, e la capitale di un regno doveva avere un regno; che, però, non esisteva più. L'Austria era l'idea dell'unificazione di nazionalità diverse in uno Stato sovrannazionale; nazioni unite prima ancora che esistessero gli Stati Uniti; quell'idea era ormai ridotta al cumulo di macerie.»
April 9, 2019
It's official, I am obsessed with the Dual Monarchy. After The Snows of Yesteryear, Embers, and They Were Counted, this work is a family saga and a sizable section of the novel occurs in post World War I Vienna. It is successful in illustrating a highly tumultuous half century from 1888 to 1938 forged by Victorian repression, Edwardian charm, and the ruins of a once-proud State. I will confess to having precious little knowledge of Austrian politics, hence supplementary history lessons were plentiful.
Lothar makes it worthwhile though. He is never pedantic, nor does he simplify the complex and delicate events in erstwhile Austria- be they the Mayerling incident, Franz Ferdinand's assassination, the anarchy after the dissolution of the Hapsburg monarchy, or the Anschluss. He is also skillful at sketching secondary characters even if they last for few chapters. The melody of the Alt family parallels the rhythm of the city (which itself is a central character) and her rulers be they the Hapsburgs or the Chancellor.
Henriette is not a model heroine, she is in fact a woman like any other in the later Empire. Hans too is a perfectly ordinary, (a touch morbid even) man. Selma is probably the lone decent person and her appearances are rare. Yet:
"“You were very good to me, and I was unkind to you. I didn't understand things right. Now I do. A love like yours, which trusts even when it suspects, is the best. A love that forgives even when it accuses is a miracle! Forgive me.”
In this chamber of death her words sounded like a confession from the wrong lips. But it was the first complete truth she had ever spoken to him in her life.
A smile hovered around his palsied lips. In his eyes there shone the pride that had always filled them when they fell on this woman. He gazed on her at length. For him time could not alter this face. He did not see the ravages of age. He overlooked the traces of suffering, and even those of despair. For him she was still the embodiment of all beauty, as she was on the first day he saw her."
These words moved me to tears. Perhaps this is where Lothar is a shade different than the others. Simplicity and tenderness flows in many scenes without any garish caricatures.
A magnificent tale of love and loss, betrayal and meaningful philosophy, devastation and hope.
Lothar makes it worthwhile though. He is never pedantic, nor does he simplify the complex and delicate events in erstwhile Austria- be they the Mayerling incident, Franz Ferdinand's assassination, the anarchy after the dissolution of the Hapsburg monarchy, or the Anschluss. He is also skillful at sketching secondary characters even if they last for few chapters. The melody of the Alt family parallels the rhythm of the city (which itself is a central character) and her rulers be they the Hapsburgs or the Chancellor.
Henriette is not a model heroine, she is in fact a woman like any other in the later Empire. Hans too is a perfectly ordinary, (a touch morbid even) man. Selma is probably the lone decent person and her appearances are rare. Yet:
"“You were very good to me, and I was unkind to you. I didn't understand things right. Now I do. A love like yours, which trusts even when it suspects, is the best. A love that forgives even when it accuses is a miracle! Forgive me.”
In this chamber of death her words sounded like a confession from the wrong lips. But it was the first complete truth she had ever spoken to him in her life.
A smile hovered around his palsied lips. In his eyes there shone the pride that had always filled them when they fell on this woman. He gazed on her at length. For him time could not alter this face. He did not see the ravages of age. He overlooked the traces of suffering, and even those of despair. For him she was still the embodiment of all beauty, as she was on the first day he saw her."
These words moved me to tears. Perhaps this is where Lothar is a shade different than the others. Simplicity and tenderness flows in many scenes without any garish caricatures.
A magnificent tale of love and loss, betrayal and meaningful philosophy, devastation and hope.
November 22, 2015
Ernst Lothar was Austro-Hungarian writer, theatre director and producer; he left his homeland in 1938, and then, in exile, he wrote this book, which tangles the history and culture of his country with the story of one family.
It was published in 1943, and it was translated into English in 1944.
Towards the end of the 19th century Christopher Alt was a renowned piano-maker. He was a master of his craft; the best in Vienna, the best in Austria, and quite possibly the best in the world. When his life ended, he left behind a will containing an extraordinary clause. Because he was a strong believer in family, because he wanted his children, his grandchildren and the generations that followed to remain close, his will said that his descendants must live within the walls of the family home at number 10 Seilerstatte to claim any inheritance .
He had hoped to create a harmonious family unit that would live happily side by side and continue the work that he had started, but the reality was rather different. The family members were all very different. They had different occupations, different ideas about politics and society, and very different ideas about how they should live.
They all remained, living their different lives in their different appartments; and the mausoleum remained the same as the world outside changed.
In the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Alt, who his family had believed to be a confirmed bachelor, brought home a fiancée. He built a new storey on to the house so that he could offer a fitting home to his beloved bride. His family mistrusted her. They had heard rumours that Henrietta Stein was a courtesan, that she was entangled with Crown Prince Rudolf.
She was, and that would have consequences for her, for her husband, and for her children.
Those stories, and stories of other members of the Alt family, are tangled up with real history. Their lives are touched and changed by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the First Great War and its fallout, the rise of National Socialism and the annexation of Austria by Germany.
That is done very, very well; and the changing times were so very well caught. But the story of the family was always in the foreground and their characters and relationships were understood and presented every bit as well as the history.
There were small family dramas and there was high drama too. Adultery, a duel, a murder, a poisoning ….
It might sound over-dramatic, but it was utterly believable.
Franz and Henriette remained at the centre of the story, and their very different characters and the love and tensions in their marriage were particularly well drawn.
I found much to enjoy, much to admire, but I was disappointed in the book as a whole.
I felt that I was being held at a distance, that these were people that I had been told a great deal about, not people that I knew. That meant that I never really felt as involved as I would have liked to have been. Had this been a shorter book that might not have mattered, but this book had six hundred pages, and there were times when I turned the pages very quickly, because I just wanted to find out what happened and move on.
I suspect that the author might have been a little too close to the material – his afterword suggests that at least some of the characters were drawn from life – and certainly the book would have been better with a little more editing.
And maybe a little less drama and a little more thoughtfulness.
It isn’t that this is a bad book, and I’m not sorry that I took the time to read it; but I can’t help thinking that it might have been so much better.
It was published in 1943, and it was translated into English in 1944.
Towards the end of the 19th century Christopher Alt was a renowned piano-maker. He was a master of his craft; the best in Vienna, the best in Austria, and quite possibly the best in the world. When his life ended, he left behind a will containing an extraordinary clause. Because he was a strong believer in family, because he wanted his children, his grandchildren and the generations that followed to remain close, his will said that his descendants must live within the walls of the family home at number 10 Seilerstatte to claim any inheritance .
He had hoped to create a harmonious family unit that would live happily side by side and continue the work that he had started, but the reality was rather different. The family members were all very different. They had different occupations, different ideas about politics and society, and very different ideas about how they should live.
They all remained, living their different lives in their different appartments; and the mausoleum remained the same as the world outside changed.
In the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Alt, who his family had believed to be a confirmed bachelor, brought home a fiancée. He built a new storey on to the house so that he could offer a fitting home to his beloved bride. His family mistrusted her. They had heard rumours that Henrietta Stein was a courtesan, that she was entangled with Crown Prince Rudolf.
She was, and that would have consequences for her, for her husband, and for her children.
Those stories, and stories of other members of the Alt family, are tangled up with real history. Their lives are touched and changed by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the First Great War and its fallout, the rise of National Socialism and the annexation of Austria by Germany.
That is done very, very well; and the changing times were so very well caught. But the story of the family was always in the foreground and their characters and relationships were understood and presented every bit as well as the history.
There were small family dramas and there was high drama too. Adultery, a duel, a murder, a poisoning ….
It might sound over-dramatic, but it was utterly believable.
Franz and Henriette remained at the centre of the story, and their very different characters and the love and tensions in their marriage were particularly well drawn.
I found much to enjoy, much to admire, but I was disappointed in the book as a whole.
I felt that I was being held at a distance, that these were people that I had been told a great deal about, not people that I knew. That meant that I never really felt as involved as I would have liked to have been. Had this been a shorter book that might not have mattered, but this book had six hundred pages, and there were times when I turned the pages very quickly, because I just wanted to find out what happened and move on.
I suspect that the author might have been a little too close to the material – his afterword suggests that at least some of the characters were drawn from life – and certainly the book would have been better with a little more editing.
And maybe a little less drama and a little more thoughtfulness.
It isn’t that this is a bad book, and I’m not sorry that I took the time to read it; but I can’t help thinking that it might have been so much better.
August 18, 2018
No. 10, Seilerstätte, is like the most uncomfortable place on earth. When Christopher Alt built a nice piano company with his talent, he also built a house. On his death, he willed the house to his descendants with the stipulation that all Alts have to live in that house alone in a huge joint family whether they like it or not. Taking this as a word from god, the Alts proceed to subdue their natural individualism and knuckle down to the routine of No. 10.
But Austria is changing fast and despite the best efforts of the Alt family, so is No. 10. When Frank Alt marries Henrietta Stein, a Jew who brings scandal along with her, the change begins. The story intertwines the fate of the Alt family with that of the country. The Hapsburg Empire is crumbling and there is nothing anyone can do about it. By the time Hitler comes to power, the values at No. 10 have changed drastically, and not necessarily for the better.
The story features a huge cast of characters, though Henrietta and her son, Hans, are the main characters as the events are mostly seen from their viewpoint. Henrietta is the rebel but No. 10 stifles her. However, Hans too is a rebel who is able to finally escape. The book is an interesting look at the history of Austria from a contemporary viewpoint, since Lothar wrote this in 1944, not many years after the book ended.
The story takes a bit of time to take off, and a bit of patience is required for the first couple of hundred pages. There are also long passages on what it means to be an Austrian, which I found rather boring. The story drags at several places, especially when the characters begin to philosophise. The characters are also kept at a distance from the reader, which prevented me from getting emotionally involved in the fate of No. 10, and its inhabitants.
Ultimately, the book is part political treatise and not a work of pure joyful fiction. There is a sense that you are reading something important but I didn't find it fun to read, except in some parts. I still think it's worth a read, though, especially since these characters are based on people Lothar actually knew. I just wonder whatever happened to the real people?
But Austria is changing fast and despite the best efforts of the Alt family, so is No. 10. When Frank Alt marries Henrietta Stein, a Jew who brings scandal along with her, the change begins. The story intertwines the fate of the Alt family with that of the country. The Hapsburg Empire is crumbling and there is nothing anyone can do about it. By the time Hitler comes to power, the values at No. 10 have changed drastically, and not necessarily for the better.
The story features a huge cast of characters, though Henrietta and her son, Hans, are the main characters as the events are mostly seen from their viewpoint. Henrietta is the rebel but No. 10 stifles her. However, Hans too is a rebel who is able to finally escape. The book is an interesting look at the history of Austria from a contemporary viewpoint, since Lothar wrote this in 1944, not many years after the book ended.
The story takes a bit of time to take off, and a bit of patience is required for the first couple of hundred pages. There are also long passages on what it means to be an Austrian, which I found rather boring. The story drags at several places, especially when the characters begin to philosophise. The characters are also kept at a distance from the reader, which prevented me from getting emotionally involved in the fate of No. 10, and its inhabitants.
Ultimately, the book is part political treatise and not a work of pure joyful fiction. There is a sense that you are reading something important but I didn't find it fun to read, except in some parts. I still think it's worth a read, though, especially since these characters are based on people Lothar actually knew. I just wonder whatever happened to the real people?
December 29, 2018
Magnetico.
September 4, 2019
Ģimenes sāga apvienojumā ar izvērstu Austrijas vēstures tēlojumu - no Franča Jozefa I līdz Hitleram. Nav nekā ne par daudz, ne par maz, bet uz beigām aizvien vairāk jūtama autora sāpe par vecās impērijas bojāeju, kuras vietā izveidojas nesaprotams, pēc identitātes vaimanājošs teritoriālais veidojums. Ļoti cienījama Altu ģimenes sāga, kas ierindojama pie Egletjēriem un Budenbrokiem.
April 19, 2024
A singular city of singular contradictions. Utmost formality and unrestrained gaiety. Democratic but with imperial pride. Tranquil but beset with vestiges of its violent history. This book captures those complicated facets of this extraordinary city piercingly. In choosing to tell this tale, based on truth, through the experiences of several generations of one family, whom the reader comes to know and take great interest in, their history (intimately intertwined with Vienna's) comes alive. I have family living in Vienna and have been there many times. It is a city that one thinks one knows but each time one experiences it differently, making it clear to the visitor that they really don't know the city at all. Endlessly intriguing. The only other writer who has captured this complex, beautiful, ever evolving, yet eternally historical place as well is the masterful Stefan Zweig, There is no better way to understand Vienna than to read Vienna Melody.
November 11, 2021
Now this is what I call a national literary epic. In this case the country is Austria, and like any NLE worth its salt, the action of the novel takes place over several generations and is bound up with key historical moments in the country's past. The setting is Vienna and the central characters are members of the Alt dynasty, a haute bourgeoisie family who have lived in an imposing home in one of Vienna's better districts since the late 1700s. The Alts made their fortune as piano makers to the stars, as it were; Mozart performed The Magic Flute on an Alt piano. The Alt home at 10 Seillerstatte is really a small apartment building that holds several branches of the family, all of whom are well-connected and respected in Viennese society.
The story begins in 1888 with Franz Alt, heir to the Alt piano company, marrying Henriette Stein, the daughter of a university professor and an opera singer. The other Alts are mildly scandalized by this union. Henriette is half-Jewish and, what might be worse, Franz wants to add a fourth floor to the Alt house to accommodate his new bride. Henriette is not in love with Franz, she's simply marrying because that's what's expected of her. She's actually having an affair (platonic, so far) with Prince Rudolf, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On her wedding day Rudolf kills himself and his mistress at Mayerling, the country retreat of the Habsburgs. This symbolic event marks the beginning of the decline and fall of both the Alt family and Austria over the next fifty years.
Henriette's first child is Hans, born in 1890, and it's Hans and his mother who become the main characters in the novel. Henriette is a rebel against the stunted, circumscribed emotional lives of Vienna's upper classes. Her tragedy is that her rebellion finds expression in an adulterous affair that ends in a fatal duel, and, what might be worse, a love for her four children that isn't shared out equally. The children she loves most are Hans and her last child, Martha Monica, the latter being the result of her illicit affair. Hans is also a rebel, although, like his mother, a rather ineffectual one. He doesn't want to join the family firm but can't really find a place for himself in the defeated and ruined Austria that emerges after World War One. Both characters sense and want change, but, like their country, they're trapped in the amber of tradition, social respectability and obedience to authority.
Lothar is a wonderful writer, and it seems odd this book isn't more famous. He's able to switch effortlessly from micro to macro views of Vienna and Austria, the characters are brilliantly realized, the plot is inventive and unpredictable, the era's political changes are smoothly described, and he even manages to incorporate actual characters from history such as Hitler and Freud without any awkwardness. He also created two exceptionally fascinating female characters in Henriette and Selma, Hans' wife; in fact, the pair of them are probably the most interesting and complex characters in the novel. It's also a nice touch that the Alts are in the piano business, since, in symbolic terms, music represents the heart of Austrian culture. The Vienna Melody would also be a great companion piece to The Transylvanian Trilogy by Miklos Banffy, an epic about the Austro-Hungarian Empire set in the decade before World War One.
A word of warning: I read the Europa Editions (picture above) translation of The Vienna Melody, and it was absolutely stuffed with typos. A world record, in fact. Misspelled words, transpositions, words repeated, errant capitalization, it had a little bit of everything. This was either the product of a corrupted Word file or a proofreader suffering a nervous breakdown. It was quite distracting, so if you can find it from another publisher, go for it.
The story begins in 1888 with Franz Alt, heir to the Alt piano company, marrying Henriette Stein, the daughter of a university professor and an opera singer. The other Alts are mildly scandalized by this union. Henriette is half-Jewish and, what might be worse, Franz wants to add a fourth floor to the Alt house to accommodate his new bride. Henriette is not in love with Franz, she's simply marrying because that's what's expected of her. She's actually having an affair (platonic, so far) with Prince Rudolf, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On her wedding day Rudolf kills himself and his mistress at Mayerling, the country retreat of the Habsburgs. This symbolic event marks the beginning of the decline and fall of both the Alt family and Austria over the next fifty years.
Henriette's first child is Hans, born in 1890, and it's Hans and his mother who become the main characters in the novel. Henriette is a rebel against the stunted, circumscribed emotional lives of Vienna's upper classes. Her tragedy is that her rebellion finds expression in an adulterous affair that ends in a fatal duel, and, what might be worse, a love for her four children that isn't shared out equally. The children she loves most are Hans and her last child, Martha Monica, the latter being the result of her illicit affair. Hans is also a rebel, although, like his mother, a rather ineffectual one. He doesn't want to join the family firm but can't really find a place for himself in the defeated and ruined Austria that emerges after World War One. Both characters sense and want change, but, like their country, they're trapped in the amber of tradition, social respectability and obedience to authority.
Lothar is a wonderful writer, and it seems odd this book isn't more famous. He's able to switch effortlessly from micro to macro views of Vienna and Austria, the characters are brilliantly realized, the plot is inventive and unpredictable, the era's political changes are smoothly described, and he even manages to incorporate actual characters from history such as Hitler and Freud without any awkwardness. He also created two exceptionally fascinating female characters in Henriette and Selma, Hans' wife; in fact, the pair of them are probably the most interesting and complex characters in the novel. It's also a nice touch that the Alts are in the piano business, since, in symbolic terms, music represents the heart of Austrian culture. The Vienna Melody would also be a great companion piece to The Transylvanian Trilogy by Miklos Banffy, an epic about the Austro-Hungarian Empire set in the decade before World War One.
A word of warning: I read the Europa Editions (picture above) translation of The Vienna Melody, and it was absolutely stuffed with typos. A world record, in fact. Misspelled words, transpositions, words repeated, errant capitalization, it had a little bit of everything. This was either the product of a corrupted Word file or a proofreader suffering a nervous breakdown. It was quite distracting, so if you can find it from another publisher, go for it.
September 16, 2019
This novel captivated me from beginning to end and I am so pleased I came across it in a Viennese bookshop when looking for a book written by a Viennese author. The Vienna Melody is a sweeping historical saga and I was immersed immediately in the setting of the city I had been visiting for the previous six days. I became totally invested in the generational experiences of the Alt family living at 10 Seilerstatte Straße since 1888 up until the invasion by Hitler in 1938.
Apart from a few sections, the writing was compelling throughout and for me, the novel was a true page turner!
The bookshop owner opposite St Stephens Cathedral in the centre of Vienna assured me that this account was a wonderful read and I can confidently attest he was not exaggerating.
A true pleasure and an unexpected delight!
Apart from a few sections, the writing was compelling throughout and for me, the novel was a true page turner!
The bookshop owner opposite St Stephens Cathedral in the centre of Vienna assured me that this account was a wonderful read and I can confidently attest he was not exaggerating.
A true pleasure and an unexpected delight!
January 27, 2015
una famiglia viennese, bizzarramente legata al palazzo in cui risiede e le storie dei suoi membri intrecciate in modo indissolubile alla storia dell'impero austroungarico. le vicende si snodano nell'arco di quasi sessant'anni e su tutto dominano la paura e il rimpianto- per ciò che si è perso e ciò che non si ha mai avuto- ma anche l'amore per una città (che è una delle protagoniste) vivace e piena di anima. questo romanzo non ha lo spessore dei buddenbrook né il respiro di altre saghe familiari, abbondano le lungaggini e spesso si perde il ritmo- eppure ha un innegabile e discreto fascino, che lo rende una testimonianza importante e una piacevole lettura.
January 17, 2016
I enjoyed The Vienna Melody, a story of a patrician Austrian family amid the height and dissolution of the Austrian empire. But who is the beautiful woman on the cover of the book and is she central to the story?
The Austrian Empire formed in 1804 and its successor the Austrian-Hungary Empire began in 1867 and ended in 1918 following the Empire’s defeat in WW I. The character of the Empire was perhaps most heavily influenced by Metternich. He was a statesman who himself had been molded by the disillusionment accompanying the end of the Enlightenment; he resented liberalism, nationalism or revolutionary thought, believing instead in certain irrevocable fundamental laws to which a nation and its people had to subscribe in order to have a stable and tranquil society. Such a society had therefore to suppress ideas, which he believed were probably false and possibly harmful anyways, and especially any ideas proposing a society not aligned with the fundamental laws. Vienna epitomized this well-structured society, one that was highly class conscious and not so much resistant to change as oblivious to it.
Vienna Melody is about the Alt family who have lived at 10 Seilerstatte since the 1790’s when Christopher Alt, piano maker, received permission from the city to build the house. The story begins on May 9th, 1888 when Franz, a grandson, seeks permission to add a 4th floor for him and his betrothed, Henriette Stein, to live in after their marriage. The story centers on Franz and Henriette and their children living there up until the Anschluss, when Hitler in 1938 annexes Austria making it a German vassal state: so the story is of a family’s and a nation’s decent from Empire to slave, and this made more galling and humiliating because not slave to some magnificent superior state but to the brutal and callous Nazi regime.
The Alts as were the Steins descendants of Metternich and there is a relentless and paradoxical hardness to them all, and when even Henriette dies at an old age, still at number 10, and somewhat heroically, one is left frustrated: not in the story-telling but in the people, that even these well-educated and wealthy patricians were capable of so little. The book waxes eloquently about the presence and greatness of Mozart but one remembers that this creator of near angelic music died at 35 and buried, almost ignominiously, in a paupers grave.
I heard today that even a righteous man sins and as much as seven times a day. Although it is very frustrating especially if one seeks to be righteous, there is nonetheless a sense that when seeking righteousness there is some form of a forward movement, some good happening, of making a difference somewhere and somehow. The illustrious Viennese Mozart may have died an apparent failure but his unconventionality brought such joy to the world: it is as if Austria, or the Alts or Steins and people like them, had used the Fundamental Law – no change please, we’re Austrians (and VIPs to boot) – to punish him.
But all the same I liked the story and all the characters a lot, and Henriette and one of her children, a son, Hans in particular. These two were good people, tender and grasping for something beyond them, beyond what 10 Seilerstatte and Austria had to offer. And who is that beautiful woman on the cover: well, it is Henriette of course, a bright and intelligent woman, engaging and full of life, bursting with possibility and possessing a desire to dance, to party, to drink ‘champagne’, but trapped at number 10, silenced by convention and the safety and stability it seemed to offer.
Edwin
April 12, 2016
Sono molto combattuta sul libro e sinceramente ancora non riesco a decidermi se mi sia piaciuto o meno.. Diciamo che il prologo mi aveva fatto ben sperare in una storia scintillante, cosa che poi non c'è stata, anche perché l'autore ha simpaticamente pensato di far fuori - a riga 5 del primo capitolo, GRAZIE l'unico personaggio che mi aveva conquistato e che sembrava promettere grandi atti di stronzaggine (Sophie è una stronza, la amo!).
La prima metà vola in fretta e mi ha appassionato, ma pian piano il mio interesse (e comprensione) per la famiglia Alt è andato scemando e la seconda metà è pesata come un macigno.. Insomma, alla fine mi pareva davvero di aver corso la maratona!
I personaggi sarebbero tutti da prendere a padellate sulla nuca con cattiveria, eppure ogni tanto mi sorprendevano positivamente per qualche azione/pensiero e tutto insieme li rivalutavo! Riflettendoci a mente fredda, penso però che ciò sia dovuto più ad un loro bipolarismo ereditario e che rimangano comunque dei tristi individui da biasimare, chi più, chi meno: poi ogni tanto la personalità simpatica e intelligente prendeva il sopravvento e riuscivo davvero a sentirli 'veri' e vicini.. Peccato che questi momenti di nirvana siano stati pochissimi, rispetto al prurito generale che mi hanno procurato i personaggi durante la lettura!
Un grande problema del libro alla fine, è come i personaggi in realtà siano un mero pretesto.. Spesso molti fatti vengono nominati in una riga o citati di sfuggita (ma anche cose importanti come gravidanze, morti, ecc), archiviati e superati da altri fatti -soprattutto politico-storici - e ciò che lascia il lettore un po' sfasato (e infastidito :D).
Mi è piaciuto molto però scoprire la Vienna (e l'impero) di fine '800/inizio '900, vedere con occhi austriaci un paese che nei libri di storia è 'una parte della Triplice Alleanza' o 'Gli Asburgo erano al potere' mi ha dato un senso di vicinanza.. I could relate, ecco! :DD
Non lo sconsiglio, anzi lo promuovo.. Sicuramente mi sarebbe piciuto molto di più se fosse stato più breve, ma non si può aver tutto dalla vita :D
PS: La melodia di Vienna, il filo musicale che dovrebbe essere non dico IL focus ma UNO dei.. E' tutta fuffa -_-
La prima metà vola in fretta e mi ha appassionato, ma pian piano il mio interesse (e comprensione) per la famiglia Alt è andato scemando e la seconda metà è pesata come un macigno.. Insomma, alla fine mi pareva davvero di aver corso la maratona!
I personaggi sarebbero tutti da prendere a padellate sulla nuca con cattiveria, eppure ogni tanto mi sorprendevano positivamente per qualche azione/pensiero e tutto insieme li rivalutavo! Riflettendoci a mente fredda, penso però che ciò sia dovuto più ad un loro bipolarismo ereditario e che rimangano comunque dei tristi individui da biasimare, chi più, chi meno: poi ogni tanto la personalità simpatica e intelligente prendeva il sopravvento e riuscivo davvero a sentirli 'veri' e vicini.. Peccato che questi momenti di nirvana siano stati pochissimi, rispetto al prurito generale che mi hanno procurato i personaggi durante la lettura!
Un grande problema del libro alla fine, è come i personaggi in realtà siano un mero pretesto.. Spesso molti fatti vengono nominati in una riga o citati di sfuggita (ma anche cose importanti come gravidanze, morti, ecc), archiviati e superati da altri fatti -soprattutto politico-storici - e ciò che lascia il lettore un po' sfasato (e infastidito :D).
Mi è piaciuto molto però scoprire la Vienna (e l'impero) di fine '800/inizio '900, vedere con occhi austriaci un paese che nei libri di storia è 'una parte della Triplice Alleanza' o 'Gli Asburgo erano al potere' mi ha dato un senso di vicinanza.. I could relate, ecco! :DD
Non lo sconsiglio, anzi lo promuovo.. Sicuramente mi sarebbe piciuto molto di più se fosse stato più breve, ma non si può aver tutto dalla vita :D
PS: La melodia di Vienna, il filo musicale che dovrebbe essere non dico IL focus ma UNO dei.. E' tutta fuffa -_-
May 22, 2021
Finding Austrian literature translated into English isn't all that easy (outside of Stefan Zweig). I've been hankering for a historical novel that took place under the empire, and I found this and bought it months and months ago. 600 pages, and worth it. What an engrossing read - detailing the lives of a particular upper-class family during the Hapsburg era, then the First World War and then the start of the second.
What also made this novel so important to me was that I'm slowly uncovering more and more details about my Austrian line, where they lived, who they were, what they did, and being able to submerge myself into this portrayal of day-to-day life under Francis Joseph was enormously illuminating.
I learned so much, and really got a spirit of the time and place (as much as you can from a book, anyway). I got a sense of what society looked like, what it valued, what the cultural tastes were. I learned what it really looked like to be on the losing end of the Great War, to see a Vienna embattled and embittered, and got a sense of what really happened that led to the Anschluss.
Really, really well done.
One small quibble: The translation was fairly sloppy. Lots of grammatical and spelling mistakes, lots of issues with punctuation, lots of passages where it wasn't clear who was speaking or to whom. But it wasn't such an obstacle that it was unreadable.
What also made this novel so important to me was that I'm slowly uncovering more and more details about my Austrian line, where they lived, who they were, what they did, and being able to submerge myself into this portrayal of day-to-day life under Francis Joseph was enormously illuminating.
I learned so much, and really got a spirit of the time and place (as much as you can from a book, anyway). I got a sense of what society looked like, what it valued, what the cultural tastes were. I learned what it really looked like to be on the losing end of the Great War, to see a Vienna embattled and embittered, and got a sense of what really happened that led to the Anschluss.
Really, really well done.
One small quibble: The translation was fairly sloppy. Lots of grammatical and spelling mistakes, lots of issues with punctuation, lots of passages where it wasn't clear who was speaking or to whom. But it wasn't such an obstacle that it was unreadable.
January 4, 2016
Hans e Franz #mainagioia
June 8, 2025
Una saga familiare, una storia di una famiglia nella prima Austria-Ungheria, nell’impero tanto amato da essi, fino all’avvento del nazismo.
Un libro, diviso in quattro libri che raccontano la storia di questa famiglia e di ciò che hanno vissuto e di ciò che l’Austria ha vissuto. Dalla grandezza dell’impero, alla nullificazione totale del Paese per essere annesso ad uno più grande, di fatto perdendo totalmente la libertà.
La storia di una famiglia alla fine del 1800, con i pregiudizi che c’erano già, con il quasi odio per il diverso. Dal susseguirsi di intrighi e tradimenti. Un intreccio di fiction e storia, che è riuscito a raccontare, con lucidità, ciò che gli austriaci dell’impero hanno vissuto fino all’avvento del nazionalsocialismo. L’autore tiene a precisare che Henriette, una delle protagoniste, è di fatto una di quelle persone austriache che, nonostante fossero nate ebree, non professavano la religione giudaica e che quindi erano ben inserite nella società dell’epoca. Ma i pregiudizi, quelli ci sono sempre stati. Lei era comunque l’ebrea, quella che, di fatto, aveva macchiato la stirpe Alt (anche se c’era già stata una). Non che durante l’impero ci fosse la glorificazione della razza pura, ma il razzismo e le occhiatacce c’erano. Eccome.
In ogni caso, una storia difficile da leggere, ma al tempo stesso bellissima. I personaggi fatti e descritti fin troppo bene, con quella mentalità dell’epoca che al solo pensiero fa accapponare la pelle. Quella mentalità che, chiunque abbia studiato un minimo la storia e abbia un minimo di intelligenza, si chiede come sia possibile che ci fosse una così dilagante ignoranza. Ma, d'altro canto, basta vedere cosa succede in questo preciso momento nel mondo per capire che, forse, la storia non ha insegnato nulla. Perché non c’è peggior sordo di chi non vuole sentire, ma anche cieco. Perché, purtroppo, ancora adesso si parla di razza pura. E la cosa fa ribrezzo.
La vita a Vienna non è facile. Per nessuno, ma soprattutto per Hetti, che per tutta la vita, non ha mai vissuto veramente felice. E quando le è capitato, la cosa è durata meno di quanto le sarebbe stato dovuto.
Un romanzo difficile da leggere, ma anche da digerire. Un romanzo che percorre 150 anni dell’Austria, da prima quand’era impero quando aveva la parvenza di essere una grande nazione, a dopo, quand’era semplicemente un’annessione alla Germania Nazista e non esisteva praticamente più.
Un romanzo pesante, non sicuramente con un andamento veloce, ma uno lento che ad ogni pagina risulta sempre più difficile. Eppure non riuscivo a staccarmi dalla lettura. Nonostante la mole del libro, si è fatto leggere in una maniera veloce, anche troppo. E non ho perso nulla durante la lettura. Ho capito, ho collegato le notizie storiche, mi sono arrabbiatə, mi sono sorpresə per la stupidità e crudeltà di alcuni personaggi (che purtroppo ricalcano persone vere, realmente esistite che hanno fatto cose aberranti). Nonostante sia un libro vecchio, nel vero senso della parola essendo stato scritto e pubblicato a metà degli anni ‘40 del ‘900. Ma che, purtroppo, rimane anche attuale.
Un libro, diviso in quattro libri che raccontano la storia di questa famiglia e di ciò che hanno vissuto e di ciò che l’Austria ha vissuto. Dalla grandezza dell’impero, alla nullificazione totale del Paese per essere annesso ad uno più grande, di fatto perdendo totalmente la libertà.
La storia di una famiglia alla fine del 1800, con i pregiudizi che c’erano già, con il quasi odio per il diverso. Dal susseguirsi di intrighi e tradimenti. Un intreccio di fiction e storia, che è riuscito a raccontare, con lucidità, ciò che gli austriaci dell’impero hanno vissuto fino all’avvento del nazionalsocialismo. L’autore tiene a precisare che Henriette, una delle protagoniste, è di fatto una di quelle persone austriache che, nonostante fossero nate ebree, non professavano la religione giudaica e che quindi erano ben inserite nella società dell’epoca. Ma i pregiudizi, quelli ci sono sempre stati. Lei era comunque l’ebrea, quella che, di fatto, aveva macchiato la stirpe Alt (anche se c’era già stata una). Non che durante l’impero ci fosse la glorificazione della razza pura, ma il razzismo e le occhiatacce c’erano. Eccome.
In ogni caso, una storia difficile da leggere, ma al tempo stesso bellissima. I personaggi fatti e descritti fin troppo bene, con quella mentalità dell’epoca che al solo pensiero fa accapponare la pelle. Quella mentalità che, chiunque abbia studiato un minimo la storia e abbia un minimo di intelligenza, si chiede come sia possibile che ci fosse una così dilagante ignoranza. Ma, d'altro canto, basta vedere cosa succede in questo preciso momento nel mondo per capire che, forse, la storia non ha insegnato nulla. Perché non c’è peggior sordo di chi non vuole sentire, ma anche cieco. Perché, purtroppo, ancora adesso si parla di razza pura. E la cosa fa ribrezzo.
La vita a Vienna non è facile. Per nessuno, ma soprattutto per Hetti, che per tutta la vita, non ha mai vissuto veramente felice. E quando le è capitato, la cosa è durata meno di quanto le sarebbe stato dovuto.
Un romanzo difficile da leggere, ma anche da digerire. Un romanzo che percorre 150 anni dell’Austria, da prima quand’era impero quando aveva la parvenza di essere una grande nazione, a dopo, quand’era semplicemente un’annessione alla Germania Nazista e non esisteva praticamente più.
Un romanzo pesante, non sicuramente con un andamento veloce, ma uno lento che ad ogni pagina risulta sempre più difficile. Eppure non riuscivo a staccarmi dalla lettura. Nonostante la mole del libro, si è fatto leggere in una maniera veloce, anche troppo. E non ho perso nulla durante la lettura. Ho capito, ho collegato le notizie storiche, mi sono arrabbiatə, mi sono sorpresə per la stupidità e crudeltà di alcuni personaggi (che purtroppo ricalcano persone vere, realmente esistite che hanno fatto cose aberranti). Nonostante sia un libro vecchio, nel vero senso della parola essendo stato scritto e pubblicato a metà degli anni ‘40 del ‘900. Ma che, purtroppo, rimane anche attuale.
June 15, 2021
Vienna, 1883 - 1938
A family narrative of a period of unalterable changes, and a view back to a world now lost.
The C. Alt Piano makers' founder built a family mansion in an area more fashionable than the ghetto from which his family emerged, with the stipulation that the family must inhabit the house 'in perpetuity'.
It captures the changes from late-period Imperial Vienna when it was the Capitol of empire to the day Austria itself is swallowed up in Hitler's advance across Central Europe.
What starts out as a bourgeois portrait of the strains of family life becomes what at first glance becomes a Greek tragedy.
The fact that it becomes a political tale instead seems anticlimactic to me.
But I loved getting there. It introduces me to a time and place I, as an American, am generally not exposed to. More of the glories of reading.
I was drawn to this book by its mention in Hermoine Lee's biography of Tom Stoppard, and its place in the formulation of his last play, Leopoldstadt.
That seemed a good-enough recommendation to me, and I was not disappointed.
A family narrative of a period of unalterable changes, and a view back to a world now lost.
The C. Alt Piano makers' founder built a family mansion in an area more fashionable than the ghetto from which his family emerged, with the stipulation that the family must inhabit the house 'in perpetuity'.
It captures the changes from late-period Imperial Vienna when it was the Capitol of empire to the day Austria itself is swallowed up in Hitler's advance across Central Europe.
What starts out as a bourgeois portrait of the strains of family life becomes what at first glance becomes a Greek tragedy.
The fact that it becomes a political tale instead seems anticlimactic to me.
But I loved getting there. It introduces me to a time and place I, as an American, am generally not exposed to. More of the glories of reading.
I was drawn to this book by its mention in Hermoine Lee's biography of Tom Stoppard, and its place in the formulation of his last play, Leopoldstadt.
That seemed a good-enough recommendation to me, and I was not disappointed.
November 29, 2025
Vienne la contradictoire, entre conservatisme et libéralisme, entre ouverture d'esprit et radicalisme... Lothar dessine des personnages en miroir de sa ville d'adoption, sans jamais tomber dans la caricature, de la fin de l'Empire jusqu'au début de l'Anschluss. C'était incroyable.
December 30, 2020
The back cover says this book “ is a Buddenbrooks on the Danube”. It’s not remotely as good as Thomas Mann’s masterpiece and is not classic literature. However, it is an enjoyable family history from 1880-1945 in Vienna, we have the Mayerling incident, the end of the Hapsburgs and rise of Hitler. Set against this backdrop is a wealthy family of piano makers (they never seem to have much to do with pianos - just live off the profit). There’s much inter-family gossip, squabbles and feuding, but they’re all forced to live in the same building due to the will of their grandfather who built the house.
July 19, 2017
A slow burn but beautiful to read and experience the undercurrents of what it meant to be Viennese at a major turning point in world history. I like to think some of this spirit still lives on in what I hold to be Europe's most beautiful city.
April 8, 2020
The folded sleeve of the back cover of Europa Editions' printing of The Vienna Melody contains short bios of its author, Ernst Lothar, and his English language translator, Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood. It does not contain a bio of the novel's proofreader, possibly because he or she is in protective custody pending prosecution for crimes against the humanities. If I had a dollar for every typo, broken line, repeated phrase, and missing word in this edition, I could fund my book purchases for another year. Seriously, there's even a typo in Lothar's short bio.
However, a friend told me long ago that patience is a virtue, and although I am not known for my virtues, I struggled gamely through work and found that the beauty of the story took precedence over the blemishes of its editing. The novel traces the lives of several generations of the Alt family, which, due to the terms of its patriarch's will, are confined together in a home of three stories (later four stories) in the First District in the heart of Vienna. The family's inner politics, the members' struggles for physical space, rank, and authority, take place in a time spanning the latter days of the Habsburg royal house through Austria's nascent republic to the Anschluss of 1938, so that the tale of the family mirrors the conflicts of those turbulent times, political, religious, and economic. In lieu of providing spoilers, I would simply ask readers of the review to consider whether and how they would live in a house with their grandparents, parents, siblings, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and such, especially those who practice different religions and occupy opposing ends of the political spectrum. Love/hate relationships abound in a confined space where peaceful coexistence can only be enforced for so long.
However, a friend told me long ago that patience is a virtue, and although I am not known for my virtues, I struggled gamely through work and found that the beauty of the story took precedence over the blemishes of its editing. The novel traces the lives of several generations of the Alt family, which, due to the terms of its patriarch's will, are confined together in a home of three stories (later four stories) in the First District in the heart of Vienna. The family's inner politics, the members' struggles for physical space, rank, and authority, take place in a time spanning the latter days of the Habsburg royal house through Austria's nascent republic to the Anschluss of 1938, so that the tale of the family mirrors the conflicts of those turbulent times, political, religious, and economic. In lieu of providing spoilers, I would simply ask readers of the review to consider whether and how they would live in a house with their grandparents, parents, siblings, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and such, especially those who practice different religions and occupy opposing ends of the political spectrum. Love/hate relationships abound in a confined space where peaceful coexistence can only be enforced for so long.
August 10, 2018
Ein sehr schöner historischer Familienroman, der den Bogen von der Regentschaft Kaiser Franz Josefs bis zum Beginn der NS-Zeit spannt. Ein Haus (Seilerstätte 10) und seine BewohnerInnen (die Familie Alt, Besitzer einer Klaviermanufaktur) durchleben die wichtigsten Momente der österreichischen Geschichte. Lothar beschreibt nicht nur das Leben und das Am-Leben-Leiden insbesondere von Henriette Alt, geb. Stein, und ihrem Sohn Hans, sondern auch - etwas klischeehaft vielleicht - die Vielfalt der noblen Wiener Gesellschaft zu dieser Zeit sowie deren Selbstgefälligkeit und Unfähigkeit, sich auf die gesellschaftlichen Umwälzungen einzustellen. Vom kaisertreuen Oberstaatsanwalt (kaiserlicher als der Kaiser selbst!) zum künstlerischen Freigeist, vom Nazi der allerersten Stunde zum idealistischen Träumer, von der jungen, flatterhaften Mamsell zur sittenstrengen Tugendwächterin, vom jüdischen Professor und seiner schönen Tochter zur katholischen Nonne - alle sind sie hier vertreten, getrennt nur durch ein paar wenige Stockwerke im selben Haus, verbunden und aneinander gebunden durch das Testament des Familiengründers.
Fazit: Gelegentlich etwas romantisch verklärt, aber dennoch äußerst lesenswert.
Fazit: Gelegentlich etwas romantisch verklärt, aber dennoch äußerst lesenswert.
November 27, 2018
Bonjour les lecteurs .......
Je le savais ..... NON, NON ET NON !!!!
Me voici arrivée péniblement ( mais alors là ...PENIBLEMENT )à la fin de ce pavé
Présente comme le " Downton Abbey" autrichien et ne connaissant pas la série, j'ai voulu tenter l'expérience ...... PFFFF mal m'en a pris!
Voici donc une saga qui se déroule à Vienne.
Nous suivons la famille Alt, réputée pour sa fabrication de pianos.
L'histoire commence sous l'Archiduc François-Joseph, glisse jusqu'à la 1° guerre mondiale, aborde le mouvement ouvrier et la montée du nazisme.
Vaste programme de plus de 650p.
Certes, le travail de l'auteur est considérable et enchantera certainement les amateurs de ce genre de récit à rallonge.
Moi, je me suis perdue dans les descriptions sans fin, j'ai baillé d'ennui, cligné des yeux.. sombré !
J'ai eu beaucoup de mal à trouver de l'empathie pour cette famille qui a traversé le siècle passé.
J'ai trouvé l'écriture poussive et sans grand intérêt ( il y a sur cette période d'autres histoires romancées de bien meilleure facture ).
J'ai lu qu'il y avait eu une adaptation cinématographique de ce récit. Cela est certainement plus attractif.. mais je ne tenterai pas l'expérience du petit écran.
BREF... PASSONS A AUTRE CHOSE
Je le savais ..... NON, NON ET NON !!!!
Me voici arrivée péniblement ( mais alors là ...PENIBLEMENT )à la fin de ce pavé
Présente comme le " Downton Abbey" autrichien et ne connaissant pas la série, j'ai voulu tenter l'expérience ...... PFFFF mal m'en a pris!
Voici donc une saga qui se déroule à Vienne.
Nous suivons la famille Alt, réputée pour sa fabrication de pianos.
L'histoire commence sous l'Archiduc François-Joseph, glisse jusqu'à la 1° guerre mondiale, aborde le mouvement ouvrier et la montée du nazisme.
Vaste programme de plus de 650p.
Certes, le travail de l'auteur est considérable et enchantera certainement les amateurs de ce genre de récit à rallonge.
Moi, je me suis perdue dans les descriptions sans fin, j'ai baillé d'ennui, cligné des yeux.. sombré !
J'ai eu beaucoup de mal à trouver de l'empathie pour cette famille qui a traversé le siècle passé.
J'ai trouvé l'écriture poussive et sans grand intérêt ( il y a sur cette période d'autres histoires romancées de bien meilleure facture ).
J'ai lu qu'il y avait eu une adaptation cinématographique de ce récit. Cela est certainement plus attractif.. mais je ne tenterai pas l'expérience du petit écran.
BREF... PASSONS A AUTRE CHOSE
May 8, 2019
Il mio secondo approccio a Lothar ha confermato la mia opinione su questo autore, capace di scrivere storie anche piuttosto diffuse nel tempo (e nelle pagine) pur mantenendo il suo stile piacevole e di puro intrattenimento.
In questo caso, Lothar intervalla il racconto della trama con digressioni e riflessioni (sempre messe in bocca, o nella mente, dei personaggi) sui grandi temi del periodo affrontato nel corso di questa epopea familiare che vede, sullo sfondo di Vienna, avvicendarsi tre generazioni della famiglia Alt e tre momenti storici fondamentali: l'impero austroungarico, il periodo di transizione dopo la morte di Francesco Giuseppe e l'insediamento del nazismo in Austria.
Grandi sconvolgimenti storici che investono la famiglia borghese degli Alt, storici costruttori di pianoforti, e i suoi membri, dei quali il lettore segue con curiosità le vicende private e famigliari.
Un pò calante in alcuni punti, rimane ad ogni modo una piacevole lettura di intrattenimento.
Il richiamo a Downton Abbey (in fascetta) tiene, e, effettivamente, potrebbe essere un buono scheletro anche per una serie TV come quella ispirata al romanzo di Fellowes.
In questo caso, Lothar intervalla il racconto della trama con digressioni e riflessioni (sempre messe in bocca, o nella mente, dei personaggi) sui grandi temi del periodo affrontato nel corso di questa epopea familiare che vede, sullo sfondo di Vienna, avvicendarsi tre generazioni della famiglia Alt e tre momenti storici fondamentali: l'impero austroungarico, il periodo di transizione dopo la morte di Francesco Giuseppe e l'insediamento del nazismo in Austria.
Grandi sconvolgimenti storici che investono la famiglia borghese degli Alt, storici costruttori di pianoforti, e i suoi membri, dei quali il lettore segue con curiosità le vicende private e famigliari.
Un pò calante in alcuni punti, rimane ad ogni modo una piacevole lettura di intrattenimento.
Il richiamo a Downton Abbey (in fascetta) tiene, e, effettivamente, potrebbe essere un buono scheletro anche per una serie TV come quella ispirata al romanzo di Fellowes.
December 8, 2018
This contrast between the joyful Vienna and the dark Vienna can be found in many novels and short stories. « The Vienna Melody » by Ernst Lothar tells the story of the Alt family, who were already making pianos for Mozart, from the end of the Habsburg monarchy at the time of the Mayerling drama in 1889 until the Anschluss. The lead character is Henriette Stein, the beautiful daughter of a prominent Jewish professor, who might have been one of the Archduke’s mistress before his suicide and who marries Franz Alt, the heir of the piano factory. The reader follows Henriette - at first charming and flighty - and the Alt family across the upheavals accompanying the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: first World War, defeat, social movements and rise of the extremes. Sigmund Freud and Adolf Hitler appear in a few cameos in this impressive family and historical saga. At the end of the novel, when antisemitism comes in the open, Henriette, now a grandmother, realizes that a large part of the Alt family never accepted her.
http://www.travelreadings.org/2018/11...
http://www.travelreadings.org/2018/11...
February 26, 2018
3,5 stars.
I had some trouble getting into this very thick book at first, but it got better. The author gives pretty interesting insights into the Asutrian society at the beginning of the 20ieth century, taking a bourgeois family living together in Vienna (due to the last will and testament of the great-grandfather, who wished for his descendents to forever inhabit the house he built) as an illustration of the country in general.
If some parts were really moving and engrossing, it was sometimes really obvious that the author (who fled Austria just before the Anschluss fearing for his life due to his Jewish ancestry) is trying too hard to make a point about the valor of the Austrian spirit (and the paradoxal greatness of the "man without qualities", who is the quintessential Austrian), to distinguish it as much as possible from the Germans. In those cases, the characters become just a pretext for long political and philosophical developments.
I had some trouble getting into this very thick book at first, but it got better. The author gives pretty interesting insights into the Asutrian society at the beginning of the 20ieth century, taking a bourgeois family living together in Vienna (due to the last will and testament of the great-grandfather, who wished for his descendents to forever inhabit the house he built) as an illustration of the country in general.
If some parts were really moving and engrossing, it was sometimes really obvious that the author (who fled Austria just before the Anschluss fearing for his life due to his Jewish ancestry) is trying too hard to make a point about the valor of the Austrian spirit (and the paradoxal greatness of the "man without qualities", who is the quintessential Austrian), to distinguish it as much as possible from the Germans. In those cases, the characters become just a pretext for long political and philosophical developments.
May 10, 2021
Si legge, a rilento ma si va avanti. In questi giorni "la melodia di Vienma" mi ha tenuto compagnia riportandomi solo con la mente in uno dei miei posti del cuore. Ernst Lothar racconta in modo magistrale Vienna e gli austriaci. La Vienna imperiale di Francesco Giuseppe e poi la Vienna confusa del dopo guerra, dopo il primo conflitto mondiale. Racconta la storia di tre generazioni di Alt. Generazioni diverse figlie del loro tempo.
Ha saputo raccontare lo smarrimento dopo il suicidio del Principe Ereditario Rodolfo e il panico dopo la morte di Francesco Giuseppe. Ha narrato in modo delicato e vero, direi quasi chirurgico, la consapevolezza che nulla sarebbe rimasto come si conosceva, che tutto sarebbe cambiato anche se non si sapeva ancora la direzione.
Questo libro, più che per i personaggi, lo ricorderò per l'atmosfera generale, per quella Vienna che ho visto anche io con i miei occhi, quasi ferma nel suo tempo.
Ha saputo raccontare lo smarrimento dopo il suicidio del Principe Ereditario Rodolfo e il panico dopo la morte di Francesco Giuseppe. Ha narrato in modo delicato e vero, direi quasi chirurgico, la consapevolezza che nulla sarebbe rimasto come si conosceva, che tutto sarebbe cambiato anche se non si sapeva ancora la direzione.
Questo libro, più che per i personaggi, lo ricorderò per l'atmosfera generale, per quella Vienna che ho visto anche io con i miei occhi, quasi ferma nel suo tempo.
June 28, 2021
Très partagée sur cette lecture que j’ai trouvée assez interminable, mais qui m’a pourtant touchée par l’humanité et la profondeur de ses personnages. Je suis également frappée par la lucidité et le recul dont fait preuve l’auteur alors que le roman, qui se termine au début de la seconde guerre mondiale, n’a été publié que 4 ans après.
La saga de cette famille s’apprécie pleinement lorsqu’on en arrive à bout, que le tableau est pleinement formé et qu’on saisit mieux le rôle que chacun a joué. Définitivement pas un « downtown abbey » comme le suggérait le bandeau de l’éditeur, mais il y’a bien quelque chose de très fort qui se dégage de cette lecture. Pour autant je suis soulagée d’avoir terminé ce pavé et de pouvoir enfin passer à autre chose !
La saga de cette famille s’apprécie pleinement lorsqu’on en arrive à bout, que le tableau est pleinement formé et qu’on saisit mieux le rôle que chacun a joué. Définitivement pas un « downtown abbey » comme le suggérait le bandeau de l’éditeur, mais il y’a bien quelque chose de très fort qui se dégage de cette lecture. Pour autant je suis soulagée d’avoir terminé ce pavé et de pouvoir enfin passer à autre chose !
August 19, 2018
Quel soulagement d'avoir enfin fini cette lecture ! Pendant 650 pages, j'ai eu l'impression qu'on me racontait une histoire familiale à toute vitesse, sans me laisser le temps de connaître les personnages, encore moins de m'y attacher puisqu'on ne me dépeint que leurs mauvais côtés... 650 pages ne peuvent suffire à couvrir une histoire familiale s'étalant sur 60 ans, dans un pays comme l'Autriche a fortiori. Les 150 dernières pages sont, de mon point de vue, les meilleures mais sont terriblement frustrantes tant il y aurait eu matière à plus... Néanmoins il faut garder à l'esprit que ce titre est paru en 1944, quelques années à peine après celles qui marquent la fin du roman.
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September 20, 2023I read the ebook. There are lots of ocr/scanning errors; things like "nad" instead of "had" where parts of the letter weren't read correctly in the scanning process. It was still readable.
I enjoyed the book. Understanding when and by whom it was written made it even more authentic. The author is an Austrian and Vienna resident and left Austria during WWII for the U.S., returning after the war. The book is listed as historical fiction, which it is, but it was written (1944) just after the end of the time period in the book (1888 to 1940), so I think more authentic than one written more recently.
I enjoyed the book. Understanding when and by whom it was written made it even more authentic. The author is an Austrian and Vienna resident and left Austria during WWII for the U.S., returning after the war. The book is listed as historical fiction, which it is, but it was written (1944) just after the end of the time period in the book (1888 to 1940), so I think more authentic than one written more recently.
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