This is Maria Anna, sister of the genius
— Roberto Bo in La Gazzetta di Mantova, Italy, 08 December 2006
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 a woman was absolutely not at the centre of the universe and so the role of musician was reserved for the opposite sex. Certainly, as a little girl, she performed as a pair with Amadeus for the crowned heads of Europe. But when she grew up she was no longer ‘usable’ as a child prodigy and had to resign herself to giving piano lessons to finance the travel and artistic promotion of her brother. Her life story has produced a beautiful, captivating and romantic novel that in a few months is already on its second edition.
Behind Mozart’s Sister: A Novel is a Mantuan author, today living in Rome. Rita Charbonnier lived in Mantua for many years, went to Virgilio, the secondary school specialised in classical studies, studied the piano with Lucia Lusvardi and sat the Conservatory’s exams. Her book was presented at the Palazzo della Ragione during the festival entitled ‘RintracciArti, women’s rights violated again’. The Mantuan choreographer Chiara Olivieri, head of the CorDuplex dance company, took inspiration from it to create the contemporary dance show Nannerl… I am grateful for your hand.
“Rita Charbonnier’s book” Olivieri says “has been really inspiring for me, sparking off numerous ideas for work, research and reflection. Nannerl, the protagonist, is a character with a debatable femininity, conditioned by the mentality of her time, her social situation and a complex and intricate web of family relationships”.
During the evening of the presentation, the author and the musicologist Elena Bittasi talked about Nannerl Mozart; this was followed by a lauded performance by the CorDuplex dance company.
Roberto Bo in La Gazzetta di Mantova, Italy, December 2006
