Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

" [...] Mozart creates an apotheosis of melody, in which one tune seems to flow out of another naturally, spontaneously, organically, as though the melodic material were breeding within the tissue of the work. "

Five years ago I reviewed here Peter Gay's biography of the composer ( Mozart: A Life ). Now another biography, interestingly enough under the exact same title: Paul Johnson's Mozart. A Life (2013). I don't remember much of the book that I had read earlier, but judging from my review I must have liked it a bit better than the current one. Still, Johnson's work is very readable too and I recommend it.

I will not recap Mozart's life here and will focus on the biography instead. I love the clever and descriptive titles of the five chapters: The "Miracle" Prodigy, Master of Instruments, A Married Composing Machine, Mozart's Operatic Magic, and A Good Life Fully Lived.

The author makes a strong point in contradicting many popular perceptions about Mozart's life, such as that he was poor, that he was poisoned, and that Antonio Salieri was his mortal enemy. Obviously, I have no way to conclusively decide who is right, but my natural instinct is not to believe any biographies fictionalized in the movies, even great movies, such as Amadeus, made by great directors, such as Miloš Forman. So, I would rather tend to assume that the whole Salieri's intrigue story shown in the movie is a fabrication.

The author also strongly objects to vilification of Mozart's wife, Constanze, and makes a convincing argument to explain his position. I find quite fascinating the passages that focus on indebtedness habits among married couples in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

I learned many new facts about Mozart from the biography, some of them rather insignificant trivia, for instance, that he was an avid billiards player or that there are over 2,000 books written about the composer. Some others facts are quite illuminating, like the greatly negative influence of archbishop von Colloredo on Mozart's life. Totally captivating is the extended passage on Mozart's use of percussion instruments, especially timpani, in his compositions!

Mr. Johnson has quite distinctive turn of phrase. Many passages in the biography can be enjoyed just for the language. How about "natural effervescence" of Mozart? Or the powerful statement

"Mozart's beauty prevents one from grasping his power."

I also love the ending paragraph:

"[...] his warm spirit always bubbled. He loved his God, his family, his friends, and above all, his work - which he equated with God-service - and that was all a reasonable man, or an unreasonable one, for that matter, could wish for. God bless him!"

The biography concludes with the Appendix Mozart in London, written also by a Mr. Johnson, but it is Daniel Johnson, the author's son, a journalist and a faculty member at Queen Mary University, London.

Three stars.

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