Rating: 
Summary: (4.5)The marriage of love and genius
Review: As a youth, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is acknowledged as a genius, but lasting fame is another question, as well as financial security. Mozart endures years of borderline poverty, while he struggles to find recognition for his work and maintain a decent living. In retrospect, the female roles featured in his operas have impressive depth, as Marrying Mozart suggests, due to the enduring friendship of four musical sisters, Josefa, Aloysia, Contanze and Sophie Weber.Mozart is introduced to the Weber sisters in Mannheim in 1777, at one of their father's Thursday evening musical salons. I his element, Mozart blossoms in the musical environment of the Weber's, to the extent that he becomes engaged to one of the sisters. Fortune intervenes and Mozart's mother persuades him by to address family obligations, forfeiting a singing tour with Josefa and Aloysia. He also delays his betrothal, traveling to Paris in pursuit of opportunity. Both Frau Weber and Frau Mozart have very specific plans for their offspring, tying the family fortunes to the youngster's success. Tragedy strikes both families, leaving them in considerable financial jeopardy.
Grieving over the loss of his mother, Mozart returns to the bosom of the also bereaved Weber family, who moved from Mannheim to Munich. In turn, the girls have lost their beloved father, the aficionado of the musical Thursday evenings who loved each of his daughters deeply. Forced by ever-worsening circumstances to return to Salzburg, Mozart takes a position with his father's employer, a soul-numbing experience with no hope of career advancement. Unable to stifle his creativity, however, the musical prodigy leaves that position and heads for Vienna, hub of the European musical community. During Mozart's absence, everything has changed. His marriage troth broken, Mozart is unable to achieve commercial success or provide for his family and his dreams seem all but impossible. But driven by genius, Mozart composes obsessively. The lives of the Weber girls have fragmented, as well. Only Aloysia is working, a paid singing position in Vienna, although Josefa plays minor parts in the productions. For her own financial security, Frau Weber establishes a boarding house, ruling the lives of the younger sisters with her incessant complaining and ongoing marital schemes. The girls are desperately unhappy, longing to break free from this emotional domination. This exquisite novel is a joy to read, rich with historical detail. Each girl's goals, aspirations and frustrations are fully realized, as each vainly attempts to please a mother who will not be satisfied, the mean days of poverty clearly etched on all of them. Yet Mozart is indefatigable in pursuit of career and happiness, ultimately wedding one of the sisters in a satisfying and successful union. As Mozart and the Weber sisters work diligently to survive in an unfriendly world, their lives are enhanced by the warm memories of youthful exuberance, as well as continuing friendships that endure the passage of time. With rich emotional layers, this love story of four girls and one man is a rare pleasure, a peek into a European landscape that birthed a great composer and the women he loved. Luan Gaines/ 2004.
Rating: 
Summary: Evocative and Lyrical
Review: Eighteenth-century Germany and Austria are beautifully realized in the expert hands of Stephanie Cowell in her new and fascinating portrait of the four very different Weber sisters and their impact on the life of the young and struggling composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like the very best historical novelists, Cowell paints with a sensual palette: the reader can smell the cakes baking in Mrs. Weber's kitchen; can see the white powder flaking off the men's wigs in the salons; can taste the chocolate treats the Weber girls are always hoarding; and, mostly, can hear the music. Yes, as only an author who also happens to be a singer and musician can expertly evoke, Marrying Mozart pulses with the transportable power of music - from Thursday evenings at the Webers, with strings and clavier soaring in the tiny parlor, often culminating in the sisters' pure soprano singing, to the practice and creation of Mozart's first opera production. Even more difficult to portray is the distinctive voices, both literally and characteristically, of the four sisters, making each of them unique and yet so intrinsically interconnected. Although the reader knows without a doubt that this story takes place in a faraway era and place, Cowell presents timeless issues of artistic integrity and family dynamics that seem as relevant today as they were in the days of Mozart. I highly recommend putting on a Mozart CD, and curling up with this wonderful book. And let the music begin.
Rating:
Summary: A Literary Concerto of Love
Review: From the very first page of this beautifully crafted novel, Stephanie Cowell invites the reader on a journey thtough time. The destination is 19th. Century Austria and the home of Sophie Weber, the youngest of the four sisters and now an old woman. She is waiting for the arrival of a biographer seeking information about her late brother - in - law, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and her sister whom he married fifty years before. The reader is then taken from Sophie Weber's apartment in 1842 to the home of her girlhood in 1777 as she tells the story of how she and her family became intricately woven into the life of the world's foremost composer. Mozart is a young man in his twenties, his prodigy days behind him. He is unemployed and his name is quickly slipping into anonymity. It is at this time that he meets the musician Fridolin Weber who invites him to his home for a Thursday night musical evening. Mozart is magnetically drawn to this family. The four daughters each have charm and in her own way, each captivates him. Marrying Mozart is alive with energy. We learn the intricate details of the characters' personalities, and they become our friends. We are concerned whether Wolfgang will be able to overcome his tyrannical father and the girls' overly possessive mother in order to secure for himself both a livelihood and a life. The overall plot is simply the story of whom Mozart chooses to marry and how it happens. However, the poignancy with which it is carried out moved me from the first page to the last. Marrying Mozart is a book to be owned, read and re-read. It is a treat from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant reading
Review: I am a huge fan of Mozart and knew that I had to read this book. I do have to agreee with another reviewer and feel that this book was mistitled. It is not so much about Mozart's marriage and his relationship with his wife as it is about his early years and the relationship he had with the Weber family (more specifically, the four Weber sisters). I, too would have liked to see it go on further and explore the marriage, itself.
It did start out alittle slow, but after about 75 pages, or so, the pace quickened and the plot got more lively. It is a quick and enjoyable read and I do recommend it. Mozart fans will love it.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and intriguing
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely. It shows us a young Mozart through the eyes of the Weber girls. Four young girls whose lives were very much entangled with Mozart.
The author succeeds in painting a pretty accurate picture of what life may have been like for these poor young girls, their friends and families.
I wish it had gone into a little bit more detail simply because I just didn't want to be finished with this book!
I am a fan of Mozart, but you really don't have to be to read this novel. The characters were fully developed and well written. If this was a 'complete' work of fiction instead if a history-based novel, it would have been just as enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: I read quickly and can devour a book in an afternoon. For this novel, however, I forced myself to slow down and make the pleasure last for two weeks. What a wonderful novel. A must read for any admirer of good writing and the wonderful, enchanting Herr Mozart.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Romp
Review: I read this book after The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland and found reading it fun and refreshing. Marrying Mozart is a fairly quick read but manages to have engaging characters, a fast-paced and slightly surprising plot, and is entertaining. If you want historical details, I'm not sure, haven't done the research. If you want some pleasure reading and to be immersed in another time and locale- this is your book. I often forgot that this book is considered fiction which basically is a sign of good writing. Not something I can say for the Susan Vreeland book.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical fiction mixed with reality...
Review: I really enjoy reading books where the author takes a real person, Mozart in this case, and explores what their life would have been like. However, this isn't just a story of a twenty something Mozart. It's also the story of the four Weber sisters- Josefa, Aloysia (any clue how to say that?), Constanze and Sophie, daughters of a music copyist. The sisters' lives intertwine with Mozart over the course of several years and cities- from Munich to Vienna. I found each of the Weber sisters to be very interesting to read about, they were all so different. The only thing that bothered me was towards the end of the book when the relationships between the sisters and their mother were focused upon a bit too much.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but loses speed
Review: I started this book about Mozart & his relationships with the four daughters of a poor musician with a lot of excitement. The first half of the book is interesting & well-written, the pace is fast enough to keep you interested & the story is intriguing. After the middle part of the book, though, it seemed to get bogged down in lots of boring conversations about different characters, the picture of the daughters starts to sour & make them more dreary & jaded. I just lost interest & finally I didn't care if he ever married one of the girls or got hit by a fast-moving carriage. I skimmed the last fourth of the book just to see who Mozart ended up hitched to & was glad to be done. If you're really into Mozart, you might be very attracted to this book, but if you're just looking for a good read I would recommend that you go elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Stephanie Cowell's Best Book Thus Far
Review: I'd thoroughly enjoyed Stephanie Cowell's earlier historical novels set in Shakespeare's London, but I think MARRYING MOZART is her finest writing thus far. Her experience as a singer and writer shows in the fluent descriptions of both the music the Weber sisters sing and Mozart's creative process. You feel you really are living in Mozart's time and place. Patronage and the business of music were vividly rendered. The book was a real page-turner, too, even if you think you know a great deal about Mozart's biography. The family/romantic dynamics are well, not quite Sex in the City, but exciting and charming. The Weber sisters' father is an outstanding character, beautifully developed. I loved this book and just recommended that Bas Bleu offer it in their catalog!
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