Mozart and the Lost Tomb (eBook)

Thomas Holliday (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
492 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-4360-3 (ISBN)

Infos

This historical fantasy follows Wolf Mozart as a young man on his first trip to Italy. On his journey, he encounters despicable villains, heavenly guides, and famed treasures that transform a professional venture into a mystical adventure.

Thomas Holliday has been a published writer for a half-century, in conjunction with his varied career as an opera stage director, librettist, translator, educator, and lecturer. He has a background in instrumental and vocal music. His work includes productions of over 50 operas for companies in Europe and America; seven original scripts and librettos; 25 English performing translations; supertitles for 14 operas; unpublished fiction and poetry; and annotations, articles, and essays for such publications as Lyric Opera of Chicago's Season Companion and The Opera Journal. His first and well-received full-length published book is 'Falling Up: The Days and Nights of Carlisle Floyd,' the authorized biography of America's greatest and most prolific composer of opera (Syracuse University Press 2013). Learn more about Thomas at www.thomasholliday.com.

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The sham magus and master poisoner Cagliostro schemes to establish world domination with his "e;Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry,"e; using drugs and sex to lure influential supporters; and murder, to eliminate composers, writers, architects, and painters who refuse to glorify him as the order's "e;Grand Copht."e; In the dead of the winter of 1769-1770, on the cusp of turning fourteen, Papa Leopold and I, your humble servant Wolf Mozart, seek court appointments and commissions in Italy. On the road to Milan, Giacomo Cavanaso, an old soldier on Cagliostro's payroll, causes a falling tree branch to crush my skull. I hover between life, death, and the angelic presence Maria Anna, who shows me how composing my most beautiful music will reverse the damage, and heal my wounds and the world that Cagliostro seeks to manipulate. Maria Anna gives me extrasensory powers, and a giant she-wolf familiar, Friede, to unmask my assailants and stop Cagliostro's wanton abuse of humankind-ness. For weeks in Milan, I live on a broad-arcing pendulum between terror for my life, and survive many more exotic attempts to kill me. I incur the animus of MIlan's fanatical Cardinal-Archbishop Pazzabenelli, who petitions the Roman Inquisition to prosecute his claims of miracles and witchcraft that underpin my admittedly dazzling gifts. Nonetheless, I realize my dream of a first opera for Italy, to be premiered in eight months. In addition to arranging this commission, a new human patron, Governor-General Firmian, piques my interest in one of the ancient world's unsolved mysteries: the lost tomb of Etruscan king Lars Porsenna, reputedly located in the countryside near our next destination, Florence. Continuing to elude Cagliostro's minions--including vicious Giovanni Pirani and his supernatural creature Bahar--the English violin virtuoso and composer Thomas Linley and I find the lost tomb at Monte Morello--only to discover it in use for Cagliostro's latest initiation ceremony--with us as impromptu sacrifices. At the last moment, Tom, a handful of allies and I neutralize our persecutors, and launch into an improvisation that turns the crowd against the charlatan magus. As we descend from the mountain, Giovanni attacks me, cutting off my breath--and thus my ability to summon Friede. Tom sets the murderous boy's hair ablaze, a vengeful Bahar slaughters Giovanni for his failure, Tom and I hold up magic bells from the tomb, and the spontaneous music destroys Bahar. On the next adventure!

Textauszug

Cast of Characters

(in alphabetical order)

(Most of the following are comprimari, or “supporting players” in the story. I include everyone, in case you run across the name fifty or a hundred pages later and don’t remember them. Also, it should give you an inkling of how dense and in constant motion Wolf Mozart’s life was. The most important characters are presented below in bold. From author to reader: I would suggest placing markers here and in the glossary at the end for easy reference while reading.)

Affoglii, Peppe, 58: librarian and trombonist at Milan’s Ducal Theatre; also a Cagliostro Watcher.

Alfonso, Brother: priest at the church of San Marco, Milan, who acts as host to the Mozarts in their quarters at the attached monastery.

Amati, Guarnieri, Stradivari: Italy’s famed builder-families of stringed instruments, their activity centered in Cremona.

Anselmo: Milanese apothecary.

Aprile, Giuseppe (1732-1813): renowned Italian castrato singer.

Averardo, Count, Duke of Salviati: Tuscan Grand Duke Leopold’s Chamberlain.

Bach, Johann Christian (1735-1782): the eighteenth child—and youngest son—of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). J.C.’s operas were popular in Italy and England, where he settled, encountering and mentoring Mozart during the family’s visit to the latter country in 1764-65.

Bahar: an ageless infernal presence.

Barisani, Silvester (1719-1810): personal physician to the Archbishop of Salzburg. His family and the Mozarts were socially friendly. Wolf was especially fond of their lively daughters.

Barsanti, Francesco (1690-1775): Italian composer and wind instrument performer who emigrated to London in 1714.

Beccaria, Marchese Cesare (1738-1794): Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher and politician, renowned for his 1764 treatise On Crimes and Punishments.

Bernasconi, Antonia (née Wagerle, 1741-1803): German soprano, stepdaughter of Italian composer Andrea Bernasconi. Created the role of Aspasia in Wolf’s Mitridate, Re di Ponto in 1770.

Boccherini, Luigi (1743-1805): classical composer known chiefly for instrumental works.

Bongiovanni: Cavanaso’s horse.

Borgias: Italo-Spanish family prominent during the Renaissance. Their most notorious members were Roderigo, who ruled as Pope Alexander VI, and his illegitimate children Cesare and Lucrezia. Among other crimes, the family was credited with adultery, incest, and especially murder by poisoning.

Borromeo, St. Charles (1538-1584): Church reformer, Archbishop of Milan for the last twenty years of his life; canonized in 1610.

Boyce, Dr. William (1711-1779): eminent English composer, teacher of Thomas Linley.

Broschi, Carlo, aka “Farinelli” (1705-1782): a castrato superstar.

Cagliostro, aka Giuseppe Balsamo (1743-1795): also uses the alias Francesco Alberti: Mozart’s principal enemy. Founder and “Grand Copht” of “Egyptian Freemasonry,” his own gloss on traditional Masonry. His agents Worldwide are called Watchers. In 1768, he met and married the seductive blonde, blue-eyed Roman beauty Lorenza Feliciani, fourteen at the time, hence eleven years his junior, whom he afterward christened “Serafina,” seraphim.

Castiglione, Count Federico: Director of Milan’s Ducal Theatre.

Cavanaso, Giacomo, aka “Scaler”: At 39, a former soldier and senior Cagliostro Watcher, tasked with killing Wolf Mozart any way he can.

Charles V (1500-1558): Holy Roman Emperor.

Chiaveri, Gaetano (1689-1770): Italian Baroque architect.

Clavering-Cowper, George, 3rd Earl Cowper (1738-1789): former Grand Tourist and unofficial host to English visitors to Florence.

Clement XIV, Pope (1705-1774): born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, he bestowed the Papal Order of the Golden Spur on Wolf.

Coltinelli, Mario, 13: footman at Palazzo Melzi, a Cagliostro Watcher. Dubbed “The Willow” by Firmian.

Corilla Olimpica, née Maria Maddalena Morelli (1727-1800): famed poetess, especially prized as a poetic improviser by Florentine society.

Da Vinci, Leonardo (1452-1519): arguably Italy’s greatest Renaissance artist and polymath.

De Maio, Gian Francesco, “Ciccio” (1732-1770): Neapolitan composer friendly with and appreciated Wolf Mozart during their stay in Naples in 1770.

De Sousa Tavares de Silva, Antonio: noble Portuguese shipping magnate.

D’Este, Beatrice: owner of Palazzo Melzi, Milan, leased to the Governor-General of Lombardy, Karl/Carlo-Joseph/Giuseppe Firmian.

D’Este, Maria Beatrice, b. 4/7/1750; daughter of Ercole III, Duke of Modena, and granddaughter of Francesco III d’Este, Duke of Modena, and his second wife, Renata Melzi (see above). Maria B. was another of Wolf’s most ardent admirers and patrons.

D’Ettore, Guglielmo (c. 1740-1771): Italian tenor; created title role in Wolf’s Mitridate.

Di Antonio Aglio, Andrea Salvatore (1736-1786): Italian painter and sculptor.

Di Medici, Maria (1575-1642): For her wedding to King Henri IV of France in 1600, one of the entertainments was the earliest opera whose music has survived, Peri’s Euridice.

Emilia, 12: a “colomba” or “dove” in Cagliostro’s initiation ceremony on Mount Morello.

Ferrando and Guglielmo: liveried servants at Palazzo Melzi.

Flaminio: palace guard at Poggio Imperiale, Florence.

Friede: spirit wolf assigned by Maria Anna to protect Wolf in moments of dire need.

Gabrieli sisters: Francesca Adriana, who sang as “Ferrarese del Bene” (c. 1755-1799) and Caterina (1730-1796) were renowned divas of their day.

Gavard des Pivets, Giuseppe Maria: Tuscan Grand Duke Leopold’s Finance Director.

Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott (God-Fearing) (1715-69): German poet/philosopher, with whom

Leopold Mozart corresponded for some years. His religious Odes reflect that middle name, and Leopold fervently hoped that Wolfgang would adopt a similarly serious spiritual discipline.

Germani, Fernando: Count Firmian’s Chief Steward. He and his wife Therese were Viennese Italian, and especially generous to the Mozarts.

Germara, Giorgio, 22: Cagliostro’s principal Watcher in Florence.

Giambologna, born Jean Boulogne in Douai, Flanders, today France (1529-1608): mannerist sculptor prominent in service to Medici family in Florence.

Gluck, Christoph Willibald (1714-1787): Bavarian composer with major successes in Austria, Italy and France, a seminal figure in the development of opera.

Goldino, Gianni, 38: Cagliostro’s Watcher in Lodi, Italy.

Grappa, Wenzel, 43, and Ponce, GianLuca, 18: security officers at Firmian’s Palazzo Melzi, Milan.

Habsburg family: Austrian and Holy Roman Emperors from the late 13th century until 1918. During Mozart’s lifetime, the principal rulers were Maria Theresa (1717-1780), the wife and successor of Emperor Francis I (1737-1765, House of Lorraine); and her sons Joseph II (1741-1790); Leopold II (1747-1792); Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1765-1790). The couple’s other children important to this series were Maria Antonia, aka Marie Antoinette (1755-1793, married King Louis XVI of France, executed in the Terror following the French Revolution); Maria Carolina (1752-1814; married King Ferdinando of Naples (Borbone) in 1768); and Ferdinand (1754-1806), Governor of Milan/Lombardy, 1765-1796, and eventual spouse of Maria Beatrice d’Este.

Hagenauer, Lorenz, b. 8/10/1712: The Mozarts’ landlord, friend, financial guarantor, and greengrocer-spice merchant in Salzburg.

Hanot, François (1697-1770): French composer.

Hasse, Johann Adolph (1699-1783): German composer especially beloved in Italy, where they called him “Il caro Sassone,” the dear Saxon.

Incontri, Francesco Gaetano (1704-1781): Archbishop of Florence.

Jacopo: alcoholic Florentine Jew.

Juan Bautista, Brother: Cagliostro Watcher in Cuba.

Kaunitz, Count Joseph Clemens (1743-1785): Austrian Imperial Chamberlain, son of Count Wenzel Kaunitz (1711-1794), Chancellor of State. The entire Kaunitz family were Wolf’s enthusiastic fans.

Keyssler, Johann Georg (1693-1743): German writer whose Travels through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy and Lorraine guided generations of travelers—including the Mozarts—through Europe.

Linley, Thomas, “The Younger,” b. 5/5/1756. Composer-violinist from a musical...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.3.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-4360-3 / 9798350943603