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Meet the Book
MOZART
“A full and authentic edition of Mozart’s Letters ought to require no special apology…” — so the book opens, with the 1865 editor’s preface; then the boy himself takes up the pen.
Press Next to step into the middle of the book — Naples, in the summer of 1770.
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From the Middle — Naples, Rome & Bologna
MOZART
Naples, in the summer of 1770: Vesuvius is smoking fiercely, the fourteen-year-old hears Jomelli’s new opera rehearsed, and begs Salzburg to write to him by every post — even if there is nothing to write about. From Naples the road runs on to Rome and Bologna, and the letters only grow warmer, funnier, and more astonishing from here.
Press Next to see everything that is inside the whole book.
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What’s Inside
- Part the First, complete and unabridged — Ludwig Nohl’s editor’s preface and all 58 letters of 1770–1776: Salzburg to Milan, Rome and Naples, Milan and Venice, Vienna and Munich, closing with the letter to Padre Martini. 14,440 words, exactly as the 1865 edition printed them, footnotes at their places.
- 1 hour 34 minutes of narration — Mozart himself stands in golden light in the corner of the stage and reads his own letters aloud: no biographer stands between you and him.
- His own music under his own voice — the Overture and the March of the Priests from The Magic Flute play softly beneath the reading the whole way through: the Overture performed by the Musopen Symphony (CC0), the March by the RIAS Symphony Orchestra under Ferenc Fricsay (1953, public domain).
- Krafft’s Mozart on stage — Barbara Krafft’s famous 1819 portrait, the book’s golden cover, and the bust hang behind him as he reads.
- The barcode rides every stage frame — scan any moment to come back to this bookstore.
- Volumes Two to Four follow — the letters carry on from 1777 toward 1791, the last year of his life.
The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1769–1791), in Lady Wallace’s English translation from Ludwig Nohl’s collection, first published 1865 — read from Project Gutenberg eBook #5307. The letters, the translation, and Barbara Krafft’s 1819 portrait are in the public domain; the text is reproduced exactly, complete and unaltered. The narration is a performed reading made for this edition. Editor: Franklin Langston.
$39
franklinlangston.gumroad.com/l/nfezbu
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