Download Dead, Mr Mozart eBook

by Bernard Bastable

Bernard Bastable Mystery English

ISBN:

031211771X

Author:

Bernard Bastable

Category:

Mystery

Language:

English

Publisher:

St Martins Pr; First Edition edition (April 1, 1995)

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1107 kb

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1642 kb

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Rating:

4.4

Votes:

469

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The murder mystery involved in the book- who killed a young dresser named Jenny-and why- is not especially interesting nor is the solution a surprise.

Ships from and sold by Aardvark Book Sales Company. The murder mystery involved in the book- who killed a young dresser named Jenny-and why- is not especially interesting nor is the solution a surprise. Mozart, is deeply involved in this caper although he is totally innocent and becomes in essence the book's detective. My feeling about the book is that the 64 year old Mozart as a permanent resident of London just doesn't quite gel. Nevertheless, the novel is original and provides very good atmosphere.

Robert Barnard was a well-established crime writer

Robert Barnard was a well-established crime writer. He won the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award as well as the Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards, was been nominated eight times for the Edgar Award and was the winner of the 2003 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for a lifetime of achievement. He also wrote crime novels under the pseudonym of Bernard Bastable. He lived with his wife in Leeds and had over 45 titles published in the UK and US. Dedication.

Had Mozart lived to the age of 73, he might have fallen out of favor, becoming a "largely . This is the second book, the first is Dead, Mr Mozart.

Had Mozart lived to the age of 73, he might have fallen out of favor, becoming a "largely forgotten, neglected, unperformed composer. At least that's the premise of Bastable's historical mystery Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart, in which an aging Mozart is sent to the English court of William IV to tutor 11-year-old Princess Victoria in music. Bastable imagines his characters and their setting so fully and seamlessly and offers such appealing possibilities that readers will wish this slight piece offered Mozart and Victoria more range.

Bernard Bastable is the pseudonym of Robert Barnard. Barnard lived in Leeds, was born in Essex and educated at Balliol. He had a distinguished career as an academic before he became a full-time writer. His first crime novel, Death of an Old Goat, was written while he was professor of English at the University of Tromso in Norway, the worlds most northerly university. He was a writer of great versatility, from the light and satirical tone of his earlier books to the more psychological preoccupations of later ones, such as A Fatal Attachment.

This diverting and perplexing piece of alternative history is a delightful addition to our knowledge of the great composer, and to the output of Bernard Bastable, also known to crime fans as Robert Barnard. Not only fetchingly funny, but also craftily plotted. Great fun is had with real and imagined historical personages. Tremendous period skulduggery’ Sunday Times. Books by Bernard Bastable.

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by. Bernard Bastable. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791 - Fiction, Great Britain - History - 1789-1820 - Fiction. inlibrary; printdisabled; ; china. Uploaded by Tracey Gutierres on May 14, 2012. SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata). Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014).

As "Bernard Bastable", he published two standalone novels and two alternate history books, featuring Wolfgang Mozart – who had here survived to old age – as a detective. To Die Like a Gentleman (1993). Dead, Mr. Mozart (1995). ISBN 978-0-312-11771-9. Mansion and its Murder (1998). Barnard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2003 by the Crime Writers Association for a lifetime of achievement. He said that his favourite crime writer was Agatha Christie.

It is 1820 and George IV has just assumed the throne. Intrigued by the coronation, Mozart is in England.

Robert Barnard, writing his second novel as Bernard Bastable (To Die Like a Gentleman, 1993), has fun with the story of a 64- year-old Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart. The impecunious, self-pitying composer of Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro, living in England from boyhood, yearns still for all things German and feels ill-used by the English-especially by aristocrats like Lord Hertford, who supports the Opera House, and by impresario Mr. Popper (a musical ignoramus in Mozart's eyes), who runs it. The year is 1820; the Prince of Wales is about to ascend the throne.

It is London in 1820, and a certain down-at-the-heels Austrian musician who has been living in England for many years is about to get another chance. That musician is Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart - 64 years old, a Mason, the composer of such peerless operas as Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi Fan Tutte, whose work has not been receiving the renown and remuneration that it deserves. But the King has just died, and it is time to plan for the coronation of George IV - a suitable occasion for a major new opera. Surely this is the opportunity that Mozart has been waiting for, but plans for the coronation are not proceeding as smoothly as everyone had hoped in the face of the scandals swirling around the King and his estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick.When Mozart discovers that his theater is at the center of a plot to discredit Caroline, he uneasily holds his tongue - until the machinations give way to murder, and Mozart's patron orders him to help dispose of the body. This is no work for a great musician, and Mozart is finally goaded to seek the truth behind the intrigues that left a poor servant girl dead on the dressing-room floor.To Die Like a Gentleman, the first period mystery by Robert Barnard writing as Bernard Bastable, was called "sheer delight in the hands of a master of the genre" in a starred review from Kirkus. Now, in his second Bernard Bastable title, the author makes full use of his wit and creative powers in a brilliantly imagined tour de force, Dead, Mr. Mozart.

Yndanol

I would have to consider this an alternate universe novel. Here, Mozart has lived in London since he was seven and is now sixty-four. It's 1820 and the planning is on for the coronation of George IV.

Mozart sees it as his chance to mount a new opera. He hasn't composed anything of consequence in decades, merely trifles to amuse the public. A good bit of his meager income comes from performing while his patron and guests dine, what we might call elevator music these days.

But he gets caught up in backstage machinations among the nobles. George IV is looking to divorce his wife, Caroline, before the coronation ceremonies and Mozart is forced to hide a witness to some of her indiscretions in the theater he works.

Murder happens and he has to help dispose of the body. His patron was standing over the body, though he apparently wan't the killer. Then blackmail notes start arriving and he's forced, for his own protection, to find out what's going on.

Mazuzahn

This is an interesting period piece. Wolfgang Gottleib Mozart is alive and well in 1820 London. (Gottlieb, of course, means the same as Amadeus)."Dead, Mr. Mozart" is repeated throughout the book, first referring to the demise of George III, then the demise of some of Mozart's music popularity and the murder of a young girl.

Mozart eagerly anticipates writing music for George IV's upcoming coronation but gets involved in a series of intrigues within his own opera house company. We meet a lot of the famous personalities of the day and we see the aristocracy with all its idiosyncrasies. We see Prinny, (George IV) the be-rouged, lecherous dandy and his vulgar and rejected wife Caroline. These personality vignettes are well done. The character of Gottlieb Mozart himself as presented in the book is convincing, his chronic indebtedness being a hallmark of his personality as well as his earthiness. and his cheerfulness- and of course, his incomparable talent.

The murder mystery involved in the book- who killed a young dresser named Jenny-and why- is not especially interesting nor is the solution a surprise. Mozart, is deeply involved in this caper although he is totally innocent and becomes in essence the book's detective.

My feeling about the book is that the 64 year old Mozart as a permanent resident of London just doesn't quite gel. Nevertheless, the novel is original and provides very good atmosphere. You can readily immerse yourself in early nineteenth century London with all its tawdriness and all its glory.

Jox

Interesting book, mostly about what it might have been like to be Mozart had he lived to age 60.

Amerikan_Volga

What a delightful historical mystery by the noted mystery author Robert Barnard, in his pseudonymous alter ego. He poses this question: What if Mozart had lived to a ripe old age and then found himself mixed up in murder? Actually, his Mozart is Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart. The book opens with the death of George III and Mozart is encouraged by a patron to believe that the upcoming Coronation might just be a splendid opportunity for a new opera.
Along the way we meet persons already familiar to devotées of the time period: Lord and Lady Hertford, Lord Egremere, Lady Conyngham and more, including an absolutely spot-on interpretation of Prinny, himself, whose estranged wife, Caroline is, of course, coming home to be Queen, and dear Prinny is busy trying to discredit her.
It seems that Mozart stayed in England all these years, dut to having once performed for a much younger George III, who generously and misguidedly paid the young artist 50 guineas. Father Leopold Mozart decided there were better possibilities in England than on the Continent, so they stayed. Thus, Mozart's son is now teaching music near Leeds, his daughter lives elsewhere, and lucky sister Nannerl is back in Vienna. (After all, nothing English is nearly as good as anything German or Austrian.) Mozart and his theater manager have a running rivalry with the Italian composer Rossini and several Italian singers, and there are numerous running jokes (or puns) about subjects for the new opera. Mozart leans toward the Merry Wives Of Windsor (think about it a bit); Falstaff, that fat, old rake, or maybe even Don Giovanni or Il Matrimonio Segreto. In between are jokes about the real music (such as The Magic Flute), Masons, and other real or imagined titles.
Actually, the only confusing thing to me was the music mentioned. Some titles are accurate, while others are merely a pastiche, and it is sometimes hard to know which is which. The chapter titles are frequently titles of known music by the real Mozart. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed this book, laughing out loud on many occasions. It is a literate and witty murder/mystery, fantasy/Regency era novel, with much to recommend it!