Let anyone recently
arrived from the moon be aware that
we are on the cusp of yet another Mozart-packed
year (2006). To get things started,
Naxos offers this attractive volume,
with more than just the contents of
its pages to occupy the purchaser.
In the preface, Jeremy
Siepmann states that he has "attempted
to give the book some of the immediacy
of a novel by allowing its protagonists
wherever possible to relate the story
in their own words". In respect
of the Mozart family he was undoubtedly
fortunate as they always seemed to have
been scribbling down their thoughts
in letters, journals and the like. I
agree with him that this gives "a
far richer and more fascinating portrait
of both the characters and their time
than any amount of subjective ‘interpretation’."
Nothing beats going back to the source,
and this book does so with tremendous
frequency.
This book is anything
but dry, turgid and academic as a result,
which is much to its overall advantage.
Siepmann’s style is clear and his points
are lucidly made. The structure and
layout of the volume also say much about
its overall ambitions: it weaves chapters
of biographical content with interludes
that concentrate on the music. Each
narrative can be followed independently
or sections read in isolation – and
either way the text reads well as it
glides accurately and effortlessly over
the main facts, theories and intricacies
of Mozart and his music.
Siepmann uses the word
‘masterpiece’ with amazing frequency
– I lost count after about the twentieth
time – and were Mozart not the subject
I would take greater exception to it.
It is in any case a word all too often
twisted uncomfortably from its original
meaning. For a book pitched at a generalist
level such a situation might be expected,
however in future greater care should
be taken to both credit the reader with
critical faculties and also help to
inform and develop them.
There seems a slight
discord though between the editorial
direction of the book and the author’s
opinion: the preface proclaims a split
between biography and musical commentary
of about two thirds and one third, but
Siepmann claims on page 153 in the chapter
‘Mozart the Immortal’ that "All
that matters is the music". The
comment comes after briefly touching
on whether or not Mozart had Tourette’s
Syndrome, but taken more widely, the
musical commentary would have been more
rewarding if it had greater equality
of space overall.
It is however, a well
intentioned primer on both man and music,
and as such is likely to be of most
use to one approaching either for the
first time rather than someone like
myself who has spent the last 15 years
or so regularly digesting Mozartiana.
The glossary of musical terms, brief
notes on personalities that appear along
the way of the Mozart story, annotations
to the CD tracks and a short bibliography
are likely to encourage the interested
reader to take things beyond the confines
of this volume.
The website I found
serviceable and informative, showing
that Naxos have purposefully taken a
leaf out of many more scholarly publishers’
current practice. The two CDs cover
in over two and a half hours some 25
examples of Mozart’s music, from his
Minuet in G, K.1 (played by Siepmann)
to the Requiem, K.626. The tracks benefit
from presenting complete works or movements
and many of the artists will be known
to those familiar with
the Naxos catalogue: Jenő Jandó
on piano, Capella Istropolitana or the
conductor Michael Halász, to name but
three. Whilst none of the performances
scales the sublime heights of Mozartian
interpretation, they nonetheless provide
the novice listener with a averagely
decent starting point. Those that expand
their horizons to complete recordings
would in the long run do well to explore
other sources for their purchases, providing
their budget allows.
Mozart and Beethoven
(the subject of another volume also
written by Siepmann) are obvious choices
to launch such a series with, and hopefully
as it grows through taking in major
figures, space will be found to accommodate
some more esoteric names too, thus complementing
Naxos’s approach to recording music.
Mozart celebratory year or not, his
is a story that can never be told too
many times – and having a love of his
music is one of the supreme joys in
life by which few can remain unmoved.
Evan Dickerson
With each Life & Music biography
comes access to a dedicated website
for that composer, containing hours
of extra music to listen to. The works
featured on the CDs may be enjoyed in
full on the website (so in the case
of Mahler, there are seven symphonies
and four major vocal works!) plus many
pieces by contemporaries of the composer.
There is also a substantial timeline
showing the composer’s life beside
concurrent events in arts, literature
and history.
These websites, together with the
book and CDs, make for an unrivalled
multimedia approach the biographical
format and a uniquely rounded portrait
of each composer.
