Mozart’s sister and Shakespeare’s sister

Portrait of Virginia Woolf by George Charles Beresford (1864-1938), Victorian studio photographer.

Virginia Woolf wrote her famous essay, A Room of One’s Own in 1928 / 1929, reworking ideas from two lectures she had given to her students at Cambridge on the subject of women and literature. One of the most interesting aspects for me was the part about William Shakespeare’s imaginary sister-poetess.

Woolf states that there is a very close link between any artistic creation and the artist’s everyday life. The creative process is fed by sentiment much more than any mathematical or logical process. A scientist can work and get results regardless of his / her state of mind, whereas a work of art clings like a spider’s web to what its creator does – what time they get up, what their preoccupations or problems are – and the way they feel while working on the piece.

Woolf uses this to explain why there are fewer women artists than men, and far fewer women writers. She takes as her example the poet and playwright William Shakespeare and an imaginary sister of his who she decides to call Judith. She analyses the family, social and cultural context that this sister, who was born with the same talent and the same creative desire as him, would have found herself living in.

In England, in the second half of the XVI century, women were not given any kind of education and very few women knew how to read or write. They were more or less the property of their husbands, and were not legally allowed to have, or to earn, money of their own.

 

Italian Historical Fiction

Photo by Sapphireblue.

On her blog A World of Words, Lucinda Byatt writes:

Thanks to Rita Charbonnier for drawing my attention to this great discussion among fans of Italian historical novels and four authors – at the moment of writing this, there have been a total of 428 comments!

[At the moment of publishing this post, there have a been a total of 607 comments!]

It was a real eye-opener to discover the buzz of excitement created by Massimo Maugeri on his blog Letteratitudine when a few days ago he launched an open discussion focused on historical novels led by Andrea Ballarini, Marco Salvador, Cinzia Tani and Rita herself. Filippo Tuena, Andrea Frediani and Giulio Castelli later also joined in.

At this stage, I should explain that I’m the profiles editor for Solander (the magazine published by the Historical Novel Society) and I also lived in Italy for many years and work as a translator. So that explains the twin interest in historical fiction and all things Italian!

[...]

I couldn’t possibly translate all the comments that have been made, but Massimo launched a few key questions to get the discussion going:
1. What are the key characteristics of a historical novel?
2. What should be the aims of a historical novel?
3. On the contrary, what should it avoid doing?
4. How do you view the market for historical novels in Italy today?
5. And in the rest of the world?
6. Survey question – what do you think is the greatest historical novel “of all time” (the most representative of its kind)?

>> Read the full article on A World of Words

 

Book Signing

This was quite an unusual book signing for my new historical novel Alexander Dumas’ Strange Day – published only in Italian, for the moment. I was wearing an 18th century costume! It was during the 2009 Turin International Book Fair and it was so funny to stop passers-by, talking to them in an old-fashioned Italian!… Oh, don’t be afraid: there’s no Italian dialogue in this video. Just funny pics and great music.

Check out Rita Charbonnier’s YouTube Channel!

 

The Mozart Forum

Unfinished portrait of Mozart.

If you are a lover of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music then you will probably be familiar with the Mozart Forum, a wonderful site dealing with the life and works of the great master. You can exchange information and make contact with experts in the field and ask them questions. You will find the link on my website and I recommend any Mozart fan to go and have a look.

Since 12th July there has been ongoing debate about which is the best Mozart biography available on the market. A Spanish user sparked off the topic and then at a certain point she switched the debate to historical novels with this posting:

I have lately seen in internet this book, but I am always afraid and I usually get upset of the novels based on real history, because sometimes one doesn’t know what is invented and what is not. Do you know it? It’s Rita Charbonnier’s “Nannerl, Mozart’s sister”.

This is the curt response from Anne-Louise Luccarini (note the Italian surname).

Rita Charbonnier’s book is an extremely highly-coloured romantic novel, with very little historical or biographical accuracy, I’d be tempted to say none.

(The bold and underline were present in the original text).

Real history. Historical or biographical accuracy. What does this mean? I’ve already discussed the issue but, to summarise, I believe that it’s impossible to create an image of a historical character that will please everybody, fans and experts alike. And that applies not only to fiction but even to essays which claim to tell “the truth”. The views of expert historians are quite often very different and even on the Mozart Forum there has been some heated debate about what Mozart’s father, Leopold, and Mozart’s wife, Constanze Weber, were like. As far as I know it was impossible to reach any kind of consensus.

 

A special rapport between brother and sister

— Rita Charbonnier, from the volume Perti, Martini e Mozart published in Italy by Pàtron Editore, R. Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, 2008

Portrait of Mozart as a child.

When they were children, Wolfgang and Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart were a successful duo, a pair of enfants prodiges who shared exhilarating experiences, such as performing for the kings of Europe, and dramatic ones such as an illness that took both of them to the brink of death. In 1765, in The Hague, Nannerl became ill first with bronchial catarrh and then typhus fever, and her condition soon became so grave that Last Rites were administered. When she miraculously recovered, her father ordered six masses to be said in thanks. Some time later, Wolfgang also recovered from a severe illness but in his case there were nine masses! In this different treatment one can perhaps detect the germ of the conflicts between brother and sister that came out later on.

During their childhood and youth, however, their relationship was very close. From their collection of letters one senses an affection and interest in the good health, thoughts and state of mind of the other; at least in his letters because, unfortunately, hers have been lost for the most part – just as her diary has come down to us in a state of some mutilation. Wolfgang readily directed affectionate and farcical expressions to her, as in this letter written from Milan on 17 February 1770, in which he calls her “Mariandel” (another name of endearment for Maria Anna):

Here I am, all yours, Mariandel, and I’m arse over tit with happiness that you had such a dreadfully fine time; a hundred kisses to you, big and small, on that marvellous horseface of yours.

 

Mozart’s Sister on the phone: scene from an Italian book launch

Arezzo, Piazza Grande. Photo by Monica Arellano-Ongpin.

Venue: Italy, Tuscany, Arezzo (a great city). Situation: we are in an old stately building, the writer of Mozart’s Sister is reading aloud from her novel (the original Italian version). It’s the page where it talks about Mozart’s Fantasia in D minor for pianoforte, KV 397. Behind her, the pianist Patrizio Paoli is sitting at the piano ready to play the piece. The hall is packed and the organizers are looking round, pleased at what they see.

Brriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!!!!

To be honest, you can’t really hear the mobile ring, but the voice of the person talking into it is perfectly audible. A woman with bright red hair, hunched over in her seat with her head down, in the fourth row. Nobody dares say: “Ssshh!” but several people in the audience give her glaring looks, which go unnoticed because the woman has her head down.

What does the writer do? She carries on reading. After all (she thinks), the phone call is bound to finish sooner or later. But the redhead carries on chatting. More and more people in the audience start glaring at her, and some people are beside themselves. But the woman carries on chatting, completely unperturbed. The writer, as she reads, thinks to herself: the reading is nearly finished. If I don’t stop her, she’ll probably chat during the piano part too; and when the evening is over and everyone has gone, she’ll still be here with her ears burning. The woman with the red hair has entered some kind of time warp and doesn’t realize. She needs help.

“Excuse me, could you stop talking on the phone, please?”

 

Alexander Dumas’ Strange Day

I am very happy to announce that my second historical novel is out in Italy: La strana giornata di Alexandre Dumas (Alexander Dumas’ Strange Day). Isn’t the cover beautiful?

A working-class woman who spent her whole life
pretending to be nobility
A young writer who could make a masterpiece
out of every story he heard
A scandal that shocked the French court in the 19th century

Rita Charbonnier's second historical novel.

It would have been a day like any other for Alexander Dumas if it hadn’t been for that strange lady who wanted to tell him what the stars predicted for him for the following year, 1844. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the famous writer realized, however, that the lady had no intention of talking about horoscopes. She had her own story to tell. And this time, he would be the one to listen.

Everything started in Modigliana in Romagna, where the fortune-teller’s mother, Vincenza, had brought her into the world and named her Maria Stella Chiappini. Before long, however, Vincenza realized that the little girl’s shock of red hair and sky blue eyes couldn’t have come from her or her husband, Lorenzo, because they were both as black as coal. She wasn’t their daughter.

When she tried to tell people what she suspected, nobody believed her. Vincenza was forced to search in every corner of the house, ask the neighbours and even question the local Count.

 

Mozart’s Sister Literary Party

This was a literary party for my novel, Mozart’s Sister, in Rome. The video is spoken entirely in Italian but there are some English captions and the music is nice. Enjoy!

Check out Rita Charbonnier’s YouTube Channel!

 

Was Nannerl as great a genius as Mozart himself?

— Rita Charbonnier, from the volume Perti, Martini e Mozart published in Italy by Pàtron Editore, R. Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, 2008

Water colour painted by Louis de Carmontelle in 1763 in Paris.

There will never be a definitive answer to this question. Those of Mozart’s biographers who mention his sister Nannerl, generally take it for granted that she was a good player, but would absolutely not have been able to compose. I wonder how one can claim to judge a talent that never had the possibility of expressing itself. How can a seed that does not fall on ground where it can take root, ever grow to be a plant?

We have few certainties regarding Nannerl Mozart’s musical aptitude but they are significant. We know that she was considered a virtuoso on the harpsichord. As a little girl she performed as a duo with Wolfgang in the international tournées organized by their father, and in the announcements of concerts and newspaper articles she was named – and praised – first. An article in the Augsburger Intelligenz- Zettel of 19 May 1763 reads:

Imagine a little girl of eleven interpreting the greatest Maestros’ most difficult sonatas and concertos on the harpsichord, with great clarity, inexpressible lightness, skill and style. It was a source of wonder to many.

In a letter written on 21 June 1763 from Munich to his friend Lorenz Hagenauer, Leopold Mozart – their father – referred to the elector Maximilian III Joseph as having much regretted not being able to hear Nannerl in concert:

 

Mozart’s Rondò alla Turca, by Paul Barton

I am deeply grateful to Paul Barton for this wonderful performance. On YouTube, the dedication reads:

I made this recording to say a little thank you to Rita Charbonnier, author of  Mozart’s Sister. I thoroughly enjoyed Rita’s book and recommend it highly as a ‘must read’ to all lovers of good literature and music.

Check out Paul Barton’s YouTube Channel!

>> Are you looking for the score?