Living in the shadow of a prodigy
— Karen Ann Cullotta, BookPage Fiction Review
Readers who shun historical fiction, dismissing the genre as a literary oxymoron, be forewarned: Rita Charbonnier’s novel, Mozart’s Sister, transcends all the tired stereotypes, winning over even the most cynical readers with its plaintive lyricism and beguiling narrative. To be sure, Charbonnier’s debut English language novel…
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Mozart's Sister
— Piero Mioli, Rassegna Melodrammatica
This is a novel, as such it is presented and as such often gives free rein to fantasy; but it is also a work of history, chronicle, truth, and when it is not actually true it is likely or at least plausible. To the author, who studied piano and sang in the theatre but who is also a journalist and television scriptwriter, it did not seem possible…
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Sonata for a sister
— Kerenn Elkaїm, Le Vif/L’Express Weekend
The Italian Rita Charbonnier uses an arpeggio of words to compose a Requiem for Nannerl, Mozart’s forgotten sister. She too was a musical prodigy, and yet she had to give up her art. What could it have meant, for this woman, to live in her brother’s shadow? Worthy of a symphony, this literary debut has a harmonic and graceful narrative voice.
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Mozart's Sister
— Susan Higginbotham, Historical Novel Society Reviews
Nannerl Mozart, a brilliant musician in her own right, has been close to her brother, Wolfgang, since his birth. Then her father announces that he and Wolfgang are to go to Italy, leaving Nannerl behind to support their ambitions by giving music lessons to the talentless young gentry of Salzburg.
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Wolfgang and Nannerl Mozart
— Cristina Tirinzoni, Psychologies
There was great and mutual support between the Mozart children; an intense emotional closeness. They called each other My King and My Queen. They performed together, travelling around the capitals of Europe. Wolfgang, her junior by five years, had a high opinion of the talent of his sister Maria Anna, nicknamed Nannerl, and would always feel bitterness…
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Amadeus was her brother
— Grazia Giordani, L’Arena
It is not rare that brothers or sisters of artists – although very talented themselves – are put at a disadvantage by having a genius in the house. This was the case for Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart, the gifted Nannerl about whom Rita Charbonnier writes in her first work Mozart’s Sister. A good book…
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Mozart's Sister by Rita Charbonnier
— Laura Sacchiero, Classicaonline
Any music lover knows of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but few, presumably, are aware that he had an older sister: Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart, known as Nannerl. She very soon revealed a talent for music that was out of the ordinary and, considered to be Wolfgang’s musical equal, performed at his side…
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Music is a moral law
— Gli amici della musica
Thanks to Zonta International, the public in the Sala Puerari at Cremona’s Civic Museum had a truly thrilling experience: the writer Rita Charbonnier talking about her novel Mozart’s Sister, introduced by Enrico Pirondini, editor of the daily newspaper La Provincia. The book, brought out for Mozart Year, is of great literary interest…
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Nannerl, sister of Amadeus
— Infinitestorie
Salzburg, 1756. A five year old girl is giving a performance at the harpsichord that stupefies her aristocratic audience. Her fingers are extremely fast, the little hands creating limpid sounds like those of an adult professional. Where’s the trick? No, there is no trick. But there must be! The noblemen draw near to check…
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This is Maria Anna, sister of the genius
— Roberto Bo, La Gazzetta di Mantova
Her brother is considered one of the greatest composers of all time but she, Maria Anna Mozart, known as ‘Nannerl’, had to give up the idea of becoming a musician from the start. There was probably everything necessary in her DNA to follow in the footsteps of her younger brother, but in the second half of the eighteenth century…
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