Reviews

"Yoshimura's evocations of Japan's cities, jails, and workplaces are precise, and his spare, sensual prose has all of the intensity of poetry...a vivid psychological portrait.-Publishers Weekly (starred Review)
"Reminiscent of Zola and Balzac...A brilliant dramatization of the implacability of fate by an exceptionally good novelist."-Kirkus Reviews (starred)
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With this sprawling, meticulously researched work, Gutman (Richard Wagner) enters the already crowded field of Mozart studies. He succeeds admirably in interweaving the chronology of Mozart's life and musical compositions with essays on the social, political, and religious fabrics of the 18th century, offering extended discourses on the Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, Freemasonry, and other movements that influenced the composer both personally and in his works. Special attention is paid to the tours that Mozart family members undertook to various European locales, the contacts they made there, and the reception of their talents and personalities. Gutman contextualizes rather than analyzes the music; one feels that he has a great deal of respect for the composer's abilities but is not unwilling to be critical. Covering similar territory as Ruth Halliwell's recent The Mozart Family (Oxford Univ., 1998) but with more extensive descriptions of the music, this work is directed at an audience of sophisticated lay readers. Highly recommended for all music collections of significant size, this should set a standard for future Mozart scholars to emulate.ÄBarry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.