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Виенско ноктюрно
Виенско ноктюрно разказва историята за невъзможната любов между младата оперна певица Ана Стораче и австрийския композитор Волфганг Амадеус Моцарт. Родена в семейството на италиански музикант, преселил се преди двадесет години в Лондон, Ана има шанса да учи оперно пеене при известен педагог. Печели си славата на дете-чудо, след което прави главозамайваща кариера в музикалните столици на Европа през 18 век – Флоренция, Милано и Виена. Светът є се преобръща, когато се запознава с Моцарт и между двамата пламва любов, която ще скандализира музикалния свят на Виена.
Вивиан Шотуел разгръща фабулата на доста детайлен исторически фон, като преплита факти и творческа измислица. Резултатът е творба, която със сигурност ще допадне на почитателите на романтичните исторически романи.
Вивиан Шотуел разгръща фабулата на доста детайлен исторически фон, като преплита факти и творческа измислица. Резултатът е творба, която със сигурност ще допадне на почитателите на романтичните исторически романи.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2014
41 people are currently reading
1711 people want to read
About the author
Vivien Shotwell
3 books28 followersVivien Shotwell’s VIENNA NOCTURNE (Random House, 2014) has been praised by The Washington Post as “intoxicating,” and by Chatelaine as “an exquisite read.” Vivien received her Artist Diploma in opera from the Yale School of Music, and was awarded the Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Prize. She studied music and English at Williams College, in Massachusetts, and received an M.F.A. in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. Vivien writes and sings in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Vienna Nocturne will be translated into ten languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
June 9, 2020
Anna Selina Storace (1765-1817) was an English operatic soprano.
In this book her story begins in 1776 at the age of 11. She plays harp and guitar and sings. At 13, she sings at the Royal Opera House in London. At 15, she travels to Naples with her family to further her career. To their surprise they quickly learn that Italians do not want to listen to someone who is English and probably can’t sing. With someone’s help, a position offer comes for her to sing at the Pergola theater in Florence. Then a letter of invitation arrives from La Scala to sing leading lady in Milan. “She was almost eighteen, and had made more money in the past year than she’d ever dreamed.”
1783, Anna gets a contract in Vienna for a year, where she meets Mozart. Also it happens in Vienna, where she gets into a loveless marriage to conceal her pregnancy.
Right away, as I started reading, it hit me how simple the prose is and I wondered if the book was for teens. But no, it’s meant for women. I can get through a book with simple prose if the subject story is interesting. But that’s not the case here. The characters are one dimensional. The story is very flat, no depth to it.
In this book her story begins in 1776 at the age of 11. She plays harp and guitar and sings. At 13, she sings at the Royal Opera House in London. At 15, she travels to Naples with her family to further her career. To their surprise they quickly learn that Italians do not want to listen to someone who is English and probably can’t sing. With someone’s help, a position offer comes for her to sing at the Pergola theater in Florence. Then a letter of invitation arrives from La Scala to sing leading lady in Milan. “She was almost eighteen, and had made more money in the past year than she’d ever dreamed.”
1783, Anna gets a contract in Vienna for a year, where she meets Mozart. Also it happens in Vienna, where she gets into a loveless marriage to conceal her pregnancy.
Right away, as I started reading, it hit me how simple the prose is and I wondered if the book was for teens. But no, it’s meant for women. I can get through a book with simple prose if the subject story is interesting. But that’s not the case here. The characters are one dimensional. The story is very flat, no depth to it.
December 30, 2015
Smitten from the first chapters, I consumed VIENNA NOCTURNE over three consecutive nights in great, greedy gulps. Anna Storace is a charming, beguiling, and flawed protagonist. Her part in every scene commands the attention the woman herself must have earned on the great stages of Venice, Vienna, and London. Even in her darkest times, Anna is a light because of the vibrant intensity of her spirit, talent, and passion.
In addition to a highly readable story, the writing, itself, is worthy of note–especially descriptions of music. The fact that each chapter is titled is an unexpected pleasure, and one I don’t often see. It is as if each section is a little world unto itself–a small scene in a grand opera–and it is a pleasure to seek the meaning in the titles, deepening the themes of the novel with their inclusion.
Fans of historical fiction will adore the tragic and beautiful VIENNA NOCTURNE. Vivien Shotwell is a debut novelist of enormous talent, and I eagerly look forward to her next book.
In addition to a highly readable story, the writing, itself, is worthy of note–especially descriptions of music. The fact that each chapter is titled is an unexpected pleasure, and one I don’t often see. It is as if each section is a little world unto itself–a small scene in a grand opera–and it is a pleasure to seek the meaning in the titles, deepening the themes of the novel with their inclusion.
Fans of historical fiction will adore the tragic and beautiful VIENNA NOCTURNE. Vivien Shotwell is a debut novelist of enormous talent, and I eagerly look forward to her next book.
February 9, 2014
Since I have a background in opera, this book was a natural for me. Whether or not Anna Storace’s relationship with Mozart progressed to an affair or remained merely friendship is a matter for speculation, as are some of the other personal details in the novel. However, what seemed utterly authentic was the vivid way the author depicted Storace and Mozart’s sense of playfulness and their sheer joy in their music. The contrast of the flamboyant singers with the businesslike Salieri, or with Emperor Joseph II, preoccupied with his chocolate drops and the cost of running his opera company, was also very engaging. Equally convincing was the panic and anguish that singers feel when things go wrong, and the portrayal of a conflicted Mozart, fatigued, yet constantly active; driven by creativity, yet bound by obligations and responsibilities.
The fictitious plot is built around a series of real happenings— Storace’s Bomba in Florence at the Pergola Theatre, the Mozart/Salieri orangery competition in Vienna, the disastrous premiere of her brother’s opera are only a few of the many historical events touched on in the novel—and all are fascinating for anyone with a love of music and opera. Since the book covers such a rich tapestry of historical events, I would have enjoyed more in-depth description and development of the various incidents. However, I can understand the author’s reluctance and feeling of “presumption in writing fiction about Mozart”, which may have held her back from inventing more details about occurrences that were part of real people’s lives. Given my personal interest, the subject matter could have stretched to a book three-times as long. I found the book a very quick read, but in spite of the concise, almost matter-of-fact narrative flow, the characters do come to life, and their triumphs and sorrows are touching. And maybe it was the crisp approach that created the light and airy atmosphere which well suited a story of an opera buffa soprano. As it was, I found the book enjoyable and charming.
The fictitious plot is built around a series of real happenings— Storace’s Bomba in Florence at the Pergola Theatre, the Mozart/Salieri orangery competition in Vienna, the disastrous premiere of her brother’s opera are only a few of the many historical events touched on in the novel—and all are fascinating for anyone with a love of music and opera. Since the book covers such a rich tapestry of historical events, I would have enjoyed more in-depth description and development of the various incidents. However, I can understand the author’s reluctance and feeling of “presumption in writing fiction about Mozart”, which may have held her back from inventing more details about occurrences that were part of real people’s lives. Given my personal interest, the subject matter could have stretched to a book three-times as long. I found the book a very quick read, but in spite of the concise, almost matter-of-fact narrative flow, the characters do come to life, and their triumphs and sorrows are touching. And maybe it was the crisp approach that created the light and airy atmosphere which well suited a story of an opera buffa soprano. As it was, I found the book enjoyable and charming.
May 22, 2014
Am allowed to say this was delightful? I ask because I went to school with the author, who is also an opera singer, and have indelible memories of sitting down to lunch with her only to have her scribble a note saying she couldn't speak because she was saving her voice for a concert, and, upon attending one of these concerts, being flabbergasted that such a quiet person commanded such a powerful, glorious voice. Ergo, I might be biased.
While this is largely a light, breezy romance (probably a great beach read for those of you lucky enough to live in places where reading on a beach doesn't require 17 layers of dead animal parts and a bonfire to reach comfortable levels of warmth IN JULY), it's the kind of well-written romance a picky, groan-prone cynic who not-so-secretly loves love stories like myself can get behind. Plus: history. Who doesn't like that? I believe the NYTimes described it as "frothy," which is kind of the best adjective ever and pretty apt. So go forth, froth-lovers, and read.
While this is largely a light, breezy romance (probably a great beach read for those of you lucky enough to live in places where reading on a beach doesn't require 17 layers of dead animal parts and a bonfire to reach comfortable levels of warmth IN JULY), it's the kind of well-written romance a picky, groan-prone cynic who not-so-secretly loves love stories like myself can get behind. Plus: history. Who doesn't like that? I believe the NYTimes described it as "frothy," which is kind of the best adjective ever and pretty apt. So go forth, froth-lovers, and read.
February 23, 2016
I started reading Vienna Nocturne in January, when I received it as an ARC in the hopes that when I finished, I would write a review. Well, here it is, six months later, because I just now finished.
I wanted to like Vienna Nocturne. In fact, I was really excited to receive an ARC because I am a classically trained singer and the book had me at Mozart. I was thoroughly expecting to curl up with an engrossing read about opera and forbidden romance in 18th century Vienna, and I was sorely disappointed.
Let's start with what I like:
Anna & Mozart - This is where the book really shined. The dynamic and palpable chemistry between the musical genius and his prima buffa is where the magic really lies. Some of their scenes were really tender and magical and those were the parts that I felt really engaged the reader.
The Opera - 18th century opera in Europe was all the rage. Opera singers and composers were the celebrities of their day. They were worshipped and revered. High born or low, they mingled in the courts of nobility and entertained Kings and Queens as well as the masses. The intimate, back stage portraits of this world were the parts of the novel that really stood out.
What I didn't like:
Unfortunately, this list if far longer than what I did like.
Anna & Mozart - Yes, I know this is on my "What I liked" list, but it also made my "dislike" list and may well be my biggest beef with the entire book. Vienna Nocturne - an exhilarating love story between a thirty-year-old Wolfgang Mozart and a young English Soprano named Anna. That's really what this whole book is touted to be about. But the description is a bit of a fraudulent one. Other than a trifling dalliance at a party towards the beginning of the book, we don't get even a whiff of that romance until two thirds of the way through the novel - and even then it is extremely short lived and far from exhilarating. In fact, had I not read the description, I would not have even known this was a story about the relationship between Anna and Mozart until it hit me in the face with less than one hundred pages to go.
The sad thing is, their relationship was when the book finally hit its stride, but it came way too little and way too late.
Anna Storace - Anna herself is one of the least interesting characters in the book but I chalk that up to the writing style of Ms. Shotwell who keeps her readers detached and at arms length from her main character by describing at length how her character feels rather than showing us through dialogue or action. We are given very lengthy descriptions of Anna's feelings and emotions, sometimes entire chapters worth, but rarely are we really allowed to glimpse those emotions in action.
Short Chapters - I'm talking, extremely short. In some cases, no more than a page and a half. Vienna Nocturne is told mostly through scenes - most precariously short - that give you little time to really get into the narrative flow of the story. They also feel disjointed and detached from one another, like looking at a messy collage of pictures rather than one cohesive connective piece. People are most likely to put a book down when they've finished a chapter and sometimes if felt as though there was a chapter finishing on every other page. Perhaps that's why it took me so long to finish.
Eye-Rolling
Dead Space - I'm referring to parts of the book that really had nothing to do with moving the story along and could have easily been removed without compromising the book. There were many, particularly towards the end that I felt we could have done without completely. A good example would have been the scene where Stephen gets thrown in jail.
Those are my main points of interest and disinterest regarding Vienna Nocturne. I give it two stars because it really did start to get interesting towards the end before petering back out into disappointment.
I wanted to like Vienna Nocturne. In fact, I was really excited to receive an ARC because I am a classically trained singer and the book had me at Mozart. I was thoroughly expecting to curl up with an engrossing read about opera and forbidden romance in 18th century Vienna, and I was sorely disappointed.
Let's start with what I like:
Anna & Mozart - This is where the book really shined. The dynamic and palpable chemistry between the musical genius and his prima buffa is where the magic really lies. Some of their scenes were really tender and magical and those were the parts that I felt really engaged the reader.
The Opera - 18th century opera in Europe was all the rage. Opera singers and composers were the celebrities of their day. They were worshipped and revered. High born or low, they mingled in the courts of nobility and entertained Kings and Queens as well as the masses. The intimate, back stage portraits of this world were the parts of the novel that really stood out.
What I didn't like:
Unfortunately, this list if far longer than what I did like.
Anna & Mozart - Yes, I know this is on my "What I liked" list, but it also made my "dislike" list and may well be my biggest beef with the entire book. Vienna Nocturne - an exhilarating love story between a thirty-year-old Wolfgang Mozart and a young English Soprano named Anna. That's really what this whole book is touted to be about. But the description is a bit of a fraudulent one. Other than a trifling dalliance at a party towards the beginning of the book, we don't get even a whiff of that romance until two thirds of the way through the novel - and even then it is extremely short lived and far from exhilarating. In fact, had I not read the description, I would not have even known this was a story about the relationship between Anna and Mozart until it hit me in the face with less than one hundred pages to go.
The sad thing is, their relationship was when the book finally hit its stride, but it came way too little and way too late.
Anna Storace - Anna herself is one of the least interesting characters in the book but I chalk that up to the writing style of Ms. Shotwell who keeps her readers detached and at arms length from her main character by describing at length how her character feels rather than showing us through dialogue or action. We are given very lengthy descriptions of Anna's feelings and emotions, sometimes entire chapters worth, but rarely are we really allowed to glimpse those emotions in action.
Short Chapters - I'm talking, extremely short. In some cases, no more than a page and a half. Vienna Nocturne is told mostly through scenes - most precariously short - that give you little time to really get into the narrative flow of the story. They also feel disjointed and detached from one another, like looking at a messy collage of pictures rather than one cohesive connective piece. People are most likely to put a book down when they've finished a chapter and sometimes if felt as though there was a chapter finishing on every other page. Perhaps that's why it took me so long to finish.
Eye-Rolling
Dead Space - I'm referring to parts of the book that really had nothing to do with moving the story along and could have easily been removed without compromising the book. There were many, particularly towards the end that I felt we could have done without completely. A good example would have been the scene where Stephen gets thrown in jail.
Those are my main points of interest and disinterest regarding Vienna Nocturne. I give it two stars because it really did start to get interesting towards the end before petering back out into disappointment.
April 23, 2014
A classic adage for writers is to “write what you know.” And while some writers find hands-on experience leads to detailed and emotionally-gripping prose, others can become so wrapped up with researching their subject that the narrative structure of the novel suffers. This, unfortunately, is the case for classically-trained singer-turned-author Vivian Shotwell and her debut novel, “Vienna Nocturne.”
Vienna Nocturne is the fictionalized story of 18th-century English opera singer Anna Storace who, at 15, leaves England to make her presence known on the stages of Italy and Austria.
Given Shotwell’s musical background, it comes as no surprise that the novel is filled with beautifully detailed passages about voice and technique.
But there’s also romance and intrigue, as Anna seems to cause scandal wherever she goes, taking married lovers (including Mozart) and using her influence to turn the fortunes of those she holds dear.
While Vienna Nocturne sounds like La Vie en Rose without the heroin, Shotwell moves so quickly from dramatic scene to dramatic scene readers never fully have a sense of who Anna is as a character, making her actions come off as stilted. Shotwell is also spare with period details, describing 18th century Vienna simply as “one of the largest cities in the world” and plopping in period details such as the execution of Franz Zahlheim seemingly as an afterthought.
As a result, the narrative feels as though it could take place in any city – not what readers want from a historical novel.
With a lack of connection to characters and an underdeveloped setting, the climatic scenes where Anna performs the classic arias fall flat and “Vienna Nocturne,” for all its promise, is a disappointment.
This review originally appeared in The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Read more of my reviews at laurafarmerreviews.com
Vienna Nocturne is the fictionalized story of 18th-century English opera singer Anna Storace who, at 15, leaves England to make her presence known on the stages of Italy and Austria.
Given Shotwell’s musical background, it comes as no surprise that the novel is filled with beautifully detailed passages about voice and technique.
But there’s also romance and intrigue, as Anna seems to cause scandal wherever she goes, taking married lovers (including Mozart) and using her influence to turn the fortunes of those she holds dear.
While Vienna Nocturne sounds like La Vie en Rose without the heroin, Shotwell moves so quickly from dramatic scene to dramatic scene readers never fully have a sense of who Anna is as a character, making her actions come off as stilted. Shotwell is also spare with period details, describing 18th century Vienna simply as “one of the largest cities in the world” and plopping in period details such as the execution of Franz Zahlheim seemingly as an afterthought.
As a result, the narrative feels as though it could take place in any city – not what readers want from a historical novel.
With a lack of connection to characters and an underdeveloped setting, the climatic scenes where Anna performs the classic arias fall flat and “Vienna Nocturne,” for all its promise, is a disappointment.
This review originally appeared in The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Read more of my reviews at laurafarmerreviews.com
January 31, 2015
Anna, promettente cantante lirica inglese, dopo aver studiato e preso parte ai primi spettacoli nella capitale inglese, a soli sedici anni si trasferisce in Italia dove si troverà immersa nel mondo del lusso, dei salotti e della mondanità. Man mano che la sua bravura viene apprezzata, la sua fama cresce a dismisura. Anna diviene la cantante che tutti i compositori vorrebbero nella propria compagnia e ben presto per lei giunge il momento di recarsi a Vienna, patria del grande Mozart. Tra i due nasce un sodalizio artistico che culmina in uno struggente amore.
«Cantate per me, Anna» mormorò «e vi bacerò le mani centomila volte.»
Il romanzo storico ha per protagonisti personaggi storici realmente esistiti mentre la storia d’amore tra Anna e Mozart risulta essere frutto dell’invenzione dell’autrice.
Anna è una donna coraggiosa, intraprendente, dotata di talento ma è anche una donna ferita, umiliata, maltrattata. Gran parte del romanzo è dedicata alle vicende professionali della protagonista mentre il racconto della passione amorosa è decisamente scarno, non solo perché mancano momenti d’espressione d’amore ma anche perché l’autrice dedica alle vicende dei due amanti davvero poche righe.
Quello che colpisce positivamente del romanzo è, senza dubbio, l’ambientazione storica fedele all’epoca e l’ampia conoscenza che l’autrice dimostra nei confronti della storia della musica del tempo. Tuttavia l’opera pullula di aspetti negativi. In primis, come già detto, lo scarso rilievo dedicato al sentimento amoroso che, almeno leggendo la sinossi, sembra essere se non il cardine, almeno una componenete importante del romanzo inoltre l’ampia parte descrittiva costringe il lettore a uno sforzo enorme per poter proseguire nella lettura.
L’autrice si serve di un periodare complesso dove abbondano le parti descrittive e “tecniche” ma lascia poco spazio ai dialoghi e alla narrazione delle vicissitudini dei personaggi.
Il coinvolgimento emotivo è altalenante: nella parte iniziale è ampio, il lettore infatti si sente partecipe dei successi di Anna, poi nella parte centrale la narrazione entra in catalessi e infine nel finale torna vivo l’interesse accanto al senso di delusione per tutto quello che il romanzo non narra.
«Cantate per me, Anna» mormorò «e vi bacerò le mani centomila volte.»
Il romanzo storico ha per protagonisti personaggi storici realmente esistiti mentre la storia d’amore tra Anna e Mozart risulta essere frutto dell’invenzione dell’autrice.
Anna è una donna coraggiosa, intraprendente, dotata di talento ma è anche una donna ferita, umiliata, maltrattata. Gran parte del romanzo è dedicata alle vicende professionali della protagonista mentre il racconto della passione amorosa è decisamente scarno, non solo perché mancano momenti d’espressione d’amore ma anche perché l’autrice dedica alle vicende dei due amanti davvero poche righe.
Quello che colpisce positivamente del romanzo è, senza dubbio, l’ambientazione storica fedele all’epoca e l’ampia conoscenza che l’autrice dimostra nei confronti della storia della musica del tempo. Tuttavia l’opera pullula di aspetti negativi. In primis, come già detto, lo scarso rilievo dedicato al sentimento amoroso che, almeno leggendo la sinossi, sembra essere se non il cardine, almeno una componenete importante del romanzo inoltre l’ampia parte descrittiva costringe il lettore a uno sforzo enorme per poter proseguire nella lettura.
L’autrice si serve di un periodare complesso dove abbondano le parti descrittive e “tecniche” ma lascia poco spazio ai dialoghi e alla narrazione delle vicissitudini dei personaggi.
Il coinvolgimento emotivo è altalenante: nella parte iniziale è ampio, il lettore infatti si sente partecipe dei successi di Anna, poi nella parte centrale la narrazione entra in catalessi e infine nel finale torna vivo l’interesse accanto al senso di delusione per tutto quello che il romanzo non narra.
January 18, 2014
This novel begins in 1776, when eleven year old Anna Storace is taken for her first singing lesson with famous Castrato Venanzio Rauzzini. Anna’s father is Italian and her mother English. Her mother is disapproving of her daughter being exposed to the lewd behaviour in London’s theatres, but Anna’s talent and desire to be on stage –plus her families precarious financial situation – mean that she is standing on a Covent Garden stage and captivating an audience at the age of just thirteen.
When she is only fifteen, her teacher informs her that to become great, she must establish herself in Italy, the home of opera. We follow Anna and her mother to Naples, to Florence, Milan, Venice and Vienna. Along the way there are problems establishing herself, as Anna learns to cope with jealousy within the companies and with the desires of men. There are love affairs, a disastrous marriage and mistakes which help Anna to grow from a carefree, and often rather silly girl, to a woman. She gradually learns how to make things happen the way she wishes – there is a delightful scene with the Emperor Joseph which is beautifully understated and yet wonderfully written.
This is historical fiction written the way I most enjoy it; a novel written totally in the time it is set, without dual time lines (so popular now that virtually every new historical novel seems to employ them). However, this novel is set firmly in the era when music and opera reigned supreme, with the main characters Anna, her maid Lidia, brother Stephen and the towering background presence of Mozart – lover and musical genius. We are introduced to many of the fads of the time, such as Dr Franz Mesmer, who practices his miraculous magnetism (as recommended by the Emperor’s sister, Marie Antoinette) when Anna becomes ill. This is a novel about love, ambition and music, well written and with characters you will come to care about.
I received a copy of this book, from the publisher, for review.
When she is only fifteen, her teacher informs her that to become great, she must establish herself in Italy, the home of opera. We follow Anna and her mother to Naples, to Florence, Milan, Venice and Vienna. Along the way there are problems establishing herself, as Anna learns to cope with jealousy within the companies and with the desires of men. There are love affairs, a disastrous marriage and mistakes which help Anna to grow from a carefree, and often rather silly girl, to a woman. She gradually learns how to make things happen the way she wishes – there is a delightful scene with the Emperor Joseph which is beautifully understated and yet wonderfully written.
This is historical fiction written the way I most enjoy it; a novel written totally in the time it is set, without dual time lines (so popular now that virtually every new historical novel seems to employ them). However, this novel is set firmly in the era when music and opera reigned supreme, with the main characters Anna, her maid Lidia, brother Stephen and the towering background presence of Mozart – lover and musical genius. We are introduced to many of the fads of the time, such as Dr Franz Mesmer, who practices his miraculous magnetism (as recommended by the Emperor’s sister, Marie Antoinette) when Anna becomes ill. This is a novel about love, ambition and music, well written and with characters you will come to care about.
I received a copy of this book, from the publisher, for review.
May 8, 2014
I truly enjoyed this fictionalized story of the life of the Opera singer Anna Storace. This author
exhibits a true talent for historical fiction, with an ability to stick closely to facts that are known about Storace, and about Wolfgang Amadeas Mozart, even while making the characters come alive, and without the stilted “reporting” sense that historical fiction sometimes includes. The author blends what is known fact with imagined dialog and intimate relationships that may or may not have developed.
Luckily Anna's Londoner parents recognized her remarkable singing voice, and as a preteen she begins singing lessons; thus begins a journey through the land of opera, and takes Anna through the major cities of Europe. At the same time that she is widely popular and her singing acclaimed, the still very young Anna is hardly equipped with the life skills to handle all that this success brings her way, most of all the men who seek her. This was a wonderful story, not only of Anna's rise to fame, but also of her personal challenges and growing maturity. Her growing love for Mozart, and his for her, while not documented fact, adds to the richness of this story.
It is easy to see this author's love for music; both the vocal and instrumental accomplishments of her characters are given lush descriptions and become almost characters in and of themselves.
I received this book from LibraryThing, and am really glad I had this opportunity to read and review.
exhibits a true talent for historical fiction, with an ability to stick closely to facts that are known about Storace, and about Wolfgang Amadeas Mozart, even while making the characters come alive, and without the stilted “reporting” sense that historical fiction sometimes includes. The author blends what is known fact with imagined dialog and intimate relationships that may or may not have developed.
Luckily Anna's Londoner parents recognized her remarkable singing voice, and as a preteen she begins singing lessons; thus begins a journey through the land of opera, and takes Anna through the major cities of Europe. At the same time that she is widely popular and her singing acclaimed, the still very young Anna is hardly equipped with the life skills to handle all that this success brings her way, most of all the men who seek her. This was a wonderful story, not only of Anna's rise to fame, but also of her personal challenges and growing maturity. Her growing love for Mozart, and his for her, while not documented fact, adds to the richness of this story.
It is easy to see this author's love for music; both the vocal and instrumental accomplishments of her characters are given lush descriptions and become almost characters in and of themselves.
I received this book from LibraryThing, and am really glad I had this opportunity to read and review.
May 7, 2014
A very good first novel, a bit tedious and scattered at times, but entertaining. Also well-edited and proofread apparently, since the only error I found was ""They were accustomed to keeping their own councils" where I would have used "counsels" but maybe that was acceptable usage in Mozart's time. From Amazon: In the tradition of Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife and Laura Moriarty’s The Chaperone comes a sweeping historical love story and a portrait of an age. Vienna Nocturne is a deeply moving debut novel that brings to life two extraordinary figures—a thirty-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a young English soprano, Anna Storace, who was his muse—in prose as spirited, timeless, and touching as Mozart’s greatest compositions.
In late-eighteenth-century London, a young girl takes her first singing lessons with a mysterious castrato in exile. Her life is forever changed. Having learned everything he can teach her, Anna leaves behind all the security and familiarity of home and journeys to Naples and Venice to struggle and triumph in Italy’s greatest opera houses. Only sixteen, she finds herself in an intoxicating world of theaters, nobility, and vice, overwhelmed by her newfound freedom and fame. Her first bitter experience of love and heartbreak inevitably follows.
Within a few years, Anna is invited to sing in Vienna, the City of Music, by the emperor himself. There, in a teasing game of theft and play, Anna first meets Mozart, a young virtuoso pianist and striving, prodigiously talented composer. They are matched in intellect and talent, and an immediate and undeniable charge occurs between the two, despite both being married to others.
As her star rises in Vienna and her personal life deteriorates, Anna experiences an ultimate crisis. During this trying time, her only light is Mozart: his energy, his determination for her, and his art. She, in turn, becomes his hope and inspiration, and his joy, as he writes for her some of his most exquisite and enduring arias—music that will live on as his masterworks.
Rich in historical detail and beautifully wrought by Vivien Shotwell, an author who is herself an opera singer, Vienna Nocturne is a dramatic tour de force of a woman’s struggle to find love and fame in an eighteenth-century world that controls and limits her at every turn.
In late-eighteenth-century London, a young girl takes her first singing lessons with a mysterious castrato in exile. Her life is forever changed. Having learned everything he can teach her, Anna leaves behind all the security and familiarity of home and journeys to Naples and Venice to struggle and triumph in Italy’s greatest opera houses. Only sixteen, she finds herself in an intoxicating world of theaters, nobility, and vice, overwhelmed by her newfound freedom and fame. Her first bitter experience of love and heartbreak inevitably follows.
Within a few years, Anna is invited to sing in Vienna, the City of Music, by the emperor himself. There, in a teasing game of theft and play, Anna first meets Mozart, a young virtuoso pianist and striving, prodigiously talented composer. They are matched in intellect and talent, and an immediate and undeniable charge occurs between the two, despite both being married to others.
As her star rises in Vienna and her personal life deteriorates, Anna experiences an ultimate crisis. During this trying time, her only light is Mozart: his energy, his determination for her, and his art. She, in turn, becomes his hope and inspiration, and his joy, as he writes for her some of his most exquisite and enduring arias—music that will live on as his masterworks.
Rich in historical detail and beautifully wrought by Vivien Shotwell, an author who is herself an opera singer, Vienna Nocturne is a dramatic tour de force of a woman’s struggle to find love and fame in an eighteenth-century world that controls and limits her at every turn.
March 20, 2014
When Opera was the Rage – Musical passions and an imagined love between an opera diva and Mozart (18th century European opera houses in London, Naples, Venice, Milan, Vienna): When an acclaimed flutist and novelist (Eugenia Zuckerman) touts a musical novel about a legendary opera soprano (Anna Storace) who inspired Mozart, written by a mezzo-soprano with an opera degree (Vivien Shotwell) who sang an aria Mozart composed for Storace, you can’t help but take notice. When that novel, “composed” over a ten-year period, is warm and light like a piece of pleasing music – an accompaniment to the “warmth” and “light” Mozart is imagined telling Storace she brings when she graces a room – you’re doubly pleased.
You need not be an opera fan to hear this novel’s music. The prose gracefully sweeps you along through the highs and lows of Storace’s narrative. You may, though, like me be unfamiliar with the language of the opera (messa di voce, motet, cadenza, ritornello, fioratura, recitative, libretto, roulades, ornaments, rondo, singspiel). That’s perfectly alright because the author’s style is intentionally accessible. Shotwell does not want to overwhelm us. She wants us – like all the passionate musical characters in this novel (drawn from real people except for Lidia, Storace’s loving maid, and other servants) – to consider that there may be “no higher art than music and no purer musical form than song.” Even the alluring dusk jacket (sorry e-readers!) embracing the trim 287 pages and short chapters feel designed to please. All part of the artfulness.
The gem of inspiration for the fictionalized story comes from an aria that Mozart composed for Anna in 1787, a duet in which he plays solo piano. An Italian translation includes: “Don’t fear, greatly beloved; for you, always, my heart will remain.” The opera was Mozart’s farewell gift to Storace when she left Vienna to return home to London to be with her fiercely protective brother, Stephen, a violinist; the author offers up a more intriguing reason. By now, Storace’s adulation is regal, leaving in a “four-horse carriage lined with furs and velvet.” She’s 21, the same age Shotwell was when she began to write the novel.
It opens in London, 1776 and traces the meteoric rise of a child prodigy to prima donna over ten years. Eleven-year-old Anna has a voice like a “pearl.” She wants everyone to love her and they do. Her first lesson is with the castrato, Venanzio Rauzzini, who “cherished her” instantly. Without a family, she added meaning to his life, and so he devotes himself to her unconditionally like a loving father. Two years later, Storace is performing at the Royal Opera House “where two thousand hearts lived with hers.” Two more years, age 15, she’s ready to leave London for Naples because “all anyone wanted now were Italian divas.” At 16, she heads to the Pergola Theatre in Venice performing comic opera with Ludovico Marchesi. He does her an enormous favor overshadowing her for she is not to be undone, and on stage, naturally, on-the-spot, she outshines him because she’s also clever and witty. Fired for overstepping her role but she’s now a sensation, she heads to La Scala in Milan, where she meets and befriends an Irish tenor, Michael Kelly. In Milan and then Venice, they are performing “opera buffa,” popularized because it can be enjoyed by everyone as opposed to serious opera (opera seria.) The opera company includes Mandini, Benucci, Saliera, and Francesco Bussani. Storace and Bussani play lovers on stage, which gets Storace into deep emotional territory with him off-stage. Fortunately, she can flee from him with the rest of the company to Vienna, because that’s where a music-loving emperor, Joseph II, who believes music is “the soul of humanity,” is forming his new opera company.
Just as Vienna is thought to have been the musical soul of Europe in the 18th century, Vienna is the soul of this novel. For here is where Anna meets 27-year-old Mozart. He falls in love with her beautiful voice – “listening to her he remembered everything he aspired for in his music” – and she falls in love with Mozart’s music. But were they lovers? Was it only in their music that they found an “intimate meeting place for themselves alone”? Or, were they more intimately involved?
As we reflect on these questions, the author presents evidence. Mozart repeatedly needs to remind himself that he loves his wife, Constanze (and now he’s a father of a son, Karl), but the truth is he had fallen in love with her prettier, opera-singing sister, Aloysia Lange, jealous of Storace. We’re also told that Mozart “learned early and well to disguise his feelings with revelry.” And, it is during this time that Mozart composed The Marriage of Figaro for Storace, perhaps his most beloved opera.
Shotwell delights us with descriptions of Mozart’s brilliance, intensity, playfulness, discipline, creative risk-taking, and complicated compositions. “The walls might have collapsed in flames around them and he would have kept murmuring and analyzing.”
Together, Storace and Mozart win the hearts of everyone. Because of Shotwell’s creativity, we can see why.
An Epilogue dated 1801 and an appreciated Historical Note fill in the missing pieces, satisfying us the way you feel when you’ve bought a ticket to a performance and are so glad that you showed up. Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
August 26, 2021
Written by a Canadian opera singer, ‘Vienna Nocturne’ tells the story of Mozart and his affair with Opera star Anna Storace. This book was well researched and well written, and gave a unique insight into the world of classical music in the 18th century. I loved the historical descriptions, but wanted more in the way of character development and found the ending a bit abrupt and lacking for the kind of lament I thought would come with Mozart’s premature and unexpected death at such a young age. Still, if you enjoy historical fiction and are interested at all in music history, I would recommend this book.
September 12, 2016
I didn’t love this book, I’m not even sure if I liked it all that much. For most of the story, I felt such a strong dislike for the main character, Anna. Sometimes I felt sorry for her because all kinds of bad things were happening to her. But still, I didn’t like her.
In the beginning, she’s writing a letter to her brother, and telling him about how much fun she’s having, and she keeps writing, after every two or three sentences. “I’m such a silly girl!” And for the rest of the book, that’s how I thought of her. Such a silly girl!
Every man who set eyes on her loved her, including the emperor and the happily married Mozart. But I never quite understood what was so remarkable about her. She sang well, amazingly well. But Mozart’s claiming his wife is stupid and Anna is brilliant. What did she do that was so brilliant? I can accept that she was talented, but she didn’t seem all that bright.
I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction recently, quite a few novels about famous artists and writers. What I enjoy about these books is that they give life to these names, and tell the stories behind their work. But I didn’t feel that with this book. The characters all acted like performers in a play or an opera. They never felt like real people to me. Their behavior was too extreme and unnatural.
And maybe part of the problem is unlike the artists and writers I usually read about, I don’t know a lot about Mozart. I’d hoped this book would provide me with a better understanding of him, but he actually has a very small role in this story. I think I was at least 60-70% into this book before his relationship with Anna began. I’d been under the impression this was a book about him and Anna, but mostly it was about Anna.
Also, even though I realize this is a novel, not non-fiction, I expect the actions and events to be for the most part accurate. After finishing this book, I did a bit of reading about Anna Storace, and turns out most of the horrible things in the book didn’t even happen, at least not in the way they’re presented in the novel. I understand it’s the author’s prerogative to take some liberties with history when writing a novel, but these were significant events that served as the basis for the character’s behavior.
Having said all that, the book did for the most part hold my attention. I found the descriptions about how the operas were put together and staged to be of interest. I enjoyed reading about the locations in Vienna because I visited there a few years ago. So when they were at certain locations, I could visualize the settings.
I think someone with more knowledge about music and Mozart might have enjoyed this more than I did. Overall, the story was okay, but not really my thing. Maybe I should stick to historical fiction about artists and writers.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
In the beginning, she’s writing a letter to her brother, and telling him about how much fun she’s having, and she keeps writing, after every two or three sentences. “I’m such a silly girl!” And for the rest of the book, that’s how I thought of her. Such a silly girl!
Every man who set eyes on her loved her, including the emperor and the happily married Mozart. But I never quite understood what was so remarkable about her. She sang well, amazingly well. But Mozart’s claiming his wife is stupid and Anna is brilliant. What did she do that was so brilliant? I can accept that she was talented, but she didn’t seem all that bright.
I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction recently, quite a few novels about famous artists and writers. What I enjoy about these books is that they give life to these names, and tell the stories behind their work. But I didn’t feel that with this book. The characters all acted like performers in a play or an opera. They never felt like real people to me. Their behavior was too extreme and unnatural.
And maybe part of the problem is unlike the artists and writers I usually read about, I don’t know a lot about Mozart. I’d hoped this book would provide me with a better understanding of him, but he actually has a very small role in this story. I think I was at least 60-70% into this book before his relationship with Anna began. I’d been under the impression this was a book about him and Anna, but mostly it was about Anna.
Also, even though I realize this is a novel, not non-fiction, I expect the actions and events to be for the most part accurate. After finishing this book, I did a bit of reading about Anna Storace, and turns out most of the horrible things in the book didn’t even happen, at least not in the way they’re presented in the novel. I understand it’s the author’s prerogative to take some liberties with history when writing a novel, but these were significant events that served as the basis for the character’s behavior.
Having said all that, the book did for the most part hold my attention. I found the descriptions about how the operas were put together and staged to be of interest. I enjoyed reading about the locations in Vienna because I visited there a few years ago. So when they were at certain locations, I could visualize the settings.
I think someone with more knowledge about music and Mozart might have enjoyed this more than I did. Overall, the story was okay, but not really my thing. Maybe I should stick to historical fiction about artists and writers.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
January 3, 2017
Interesting book -- historical novel focused on the personal/professional life of a young woman opera singer, composers and Mozart. Lovely prose. It ended a little too soon - did leave me wanting more - which is probably a good thing.
January 19, 2018
Interesting from a historic context and if you were someone who was interested in classical music and opera you would probably enjoy this more.
The story drew me in at the beginning but as it went on I just felt like I didn't get the point of it anymore. Maybe I was looking for deep meaning where there was none. For me, this book was just ok.
The story drew me in at the beginning but as it went on I just felt like I didn't get the point of it anymore. Maybe I was looking for deep meaning where there was none. For me, this book was just ok.
August 7, 2015
I read this book shortly after I finished the Paris Wife by Paula McClain, as such my appetite for historical fiction romance was voracious. Vivien Shotwell's Vienna Nocturne exceeded my expectations. As we come to love Hemingway's Hadley ever more deeply than the author himself, so to in Vienna Nocturne we fall for the novel's protagonist, Anna Storace, and learn about Mozart through her eyes. Shotwell reveals the cast of characters that comprise Opera Buffa and the behind the scenes' trials and tribulations that allow the reader to empathize with the era's performers. Anna's journey from London to Venice to Vienna is one that is marked by great successes as well as tragic failures. Through it all, Shotwell describes the late nineteenth century Vienna with the same clarity and historical accuracy McClain employs to portray Parisian cafes of the 1920s. Similarities in both atmospheres allow the reader to understand the environments in which history's most acclaimed artists socialized, dreamed and flourished. I found this novel timely, as the New York City Opera recently filled for bankruptcy in October 2013; a testament that society has fallen out of touch with this historical art form. Shotwell’s attempt to raise awareness and interest in opera is completely successful. As a classically trained singer, Shotwell's passages describing Anna's arias come alive with insight. Additionally, we begin to understand what traits made Mozart's compositions avante garde. I found the most interesting performance in the book to be The Marriage of Figaro, which was not as widely received with acclaim in its time as it is today. Shotwell's description of the singer's apprehension towards Mozart's musical complexity is fascinating. In the end as we found Hemingway to be a troubled man with an inability to love anyone but himself, we finish this book with a deep respect for Mozart - a man that loved and respected his family and his career, as well as, his star soprano.
February 16, 2014
Original review found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...
* I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.*
This book is a very easy read. The chapters are all very short and I was continuously telling myself "just one more" and before I knew it I was done. It is a fictional story about Anna Storace and Mozart and although some of the facts, names and timelines are real, the story of Anna and her relationship with Mozart are the work of the authors imagination based on the music he wrote for her. I have to say that Shotwell has a beautiful imagination and the story she created was incredible.
The story itself is filled with hardship, love, lust, heartbreak, friendship and tragedy. I found myself emotionally invested in Anna's character and her struggles as a rising opera singer in the 18th century. So many things happened in her life that I kept forgetting that she was still so young. There were parts in the story (I won't say which ones) that had me teary eyed which is always a good indication that I am enjoying a story. Even though I knew what the outcome would be for Anna and Mozart it didn't stop me from routing for them or shedding a few tears when it came. There was something so tragically beautiful about the way it ended that it will stick with me for a long time.
I knew little about 18th century opera before picking up this book but now I am fascinated with that bit of history. It was a truly pleasurable book for which I am thankful I had the opportunity to read.
* I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.*
This book is a very easy read. The chapters are all very short and I was continuously telling myself "just one more" and before I knew it I was done. It is a fictional story about Anna Storace and Mozart and although some of the facts, names and timelines are real, the story of Anna and her relationship with Mozart are the work of the authors imagination based on the music he wrote for her. I have to say that Shotwell has a beautiful imagination and the story she created was incredible.
The story itself is filled with hardship, love, lust, heartbreak, friendship and tragedy. I found myself emotionally invested in Anna's character and her struggles as a rising opera singer in the 18th century. So many things happened in her life that I kept forgetting that she was still so young. There were parts in the story (I won't say which ones) that had me teary eyed which is always a good indication that I am enjoying a story. Even though I knew what the outcome would be for Anna and Mozart it didn't stop me from routing for them or shedding a few tears when it came. There was something so tragically beautiful about the way it ended that it will stick with me for a long time.
I knew little about 18th century opera before picking up this book but now I am fascinated with that bit of history. It was a truly pleasurable book for which I am thankful I had the opportunity to read.
September 17, 2020
Vivien Shotwell’s Vienna Nocturne is the historical fiction tale of eighteenth-century opera singer Anna Storace. Shotwell explores the private life and lovers that made Anna’s life much like the dramatic operas in which she sang. As a young woman in the European world’s eye, Anna faces so much adversity that at times she fears her trials may overtake her. Still, there is always the natural talent of her voice to thread her along in life. Straining and relaxing Anna’s vocal cords through it all are the men she loves—Francesco Benucci, her great first love; John Fisher, her sweetheart turned abusive husband; and eventually Wolfgang Mozart, her secret affair which espouses a love that can be heard in Anna’s voice for the rest of her life.
Lyrically written and flowing like music, Vienna Nocturne is both tragic and beautiful—it romanticizes the past in a way that is at times like a bildungsroman and at times like a personal diary (though in third person). Shotwell writes Anna’s life through episodes of great regret and episodes of personal growth. The characters are so vivid that the reader cannot help but be moved by their voices as much as the eighteenth-century opera world was moved by Anna’s voice. Shotwell gives the most detail to descriptions of singing and music, which makes sense because she is an opera singer herself, and as a musician I could somewhat follow along—but even when I did not understand exactly what Shotwell’s descriptions of the music meant, I could understand that there was a beauty in both the complexity she describes and the lyrical metaphors she uses. Every page, it seemed, contained a new turn of phrase that I’d never read, and yet I knew instantly that each description fit Anna perfectly and made me understand Anna even better. For example, when Anna and Benucci were put into the small closet to be lifted on stage to play lovers in an opera, Shotwell brilliantly writes hints of their off-stage romance:
“And almost every other night, for more than a month, they could step into that lifted space and
for five or ten minutes be alone together again, alone in their secret, before the door would slide
open and they would come forward, flushed and laughing, to general applause, to sing their last
number and be married for the hundredth, the five hundredth, time, just as all lovers dreamed.”
(p. 35)
Although perhaps those who mostly read in the historical fiction genre would be disappointed by the way Shotwell makes eighteenth-century Europe seem like just any old place (with details of the settings that made them indistinguishable from each other), the sense of familiarity Shotwell lends to the settings of the novel allows the focus to remain on the characterization of Anna, which I appreciated. There are times when the novel reads like a YA novel because it focuses on the truly relatable topics of first love and the regrets of youth. When Anna gives herself over to love too quickly and cries over her teenage heartbreaks, my inner teenager cried right along with her; I found myself constantly moved to tears, laughter, and love by the intense empathy this book evokes.
TRIGGER WARNING: I would like to warn sensitive readers that this book does contain potentially disturbing scenes. The pages contain very dark themes as well, delving into the myriad oppressions Anna experienced—the most harrowing of which is (trigger warning!) marital physical (described) and sexual (implied) abuse. I do not think the summary of the book or the rest of the book prepares us for those difficult moments (it seems like a sudden shift to dark themes), yet it flows with Shotwell’s narration nonetheless.
I rated this novel 4 out of 5 stars, so you are probably wondering what warranted that missing star for me. As a writer myself, I struggled with the lack of plot coherence throughout this novel. Though the entire novel is filled with scenes vital for characterizing Anna, these scenes are not necessarily connected by a main plot but by the personal growth of Anna. It seems to me like a fictional biographical series of scenes, and perhaps a reader of historical fiction (which I am typically not) would like that the coherence is more character-based than plot-based. Personally, I believe the book could have benefited from a central problem or theme other than Anna herself, and I would have loved to see Anna conquering that theme. The description on the back of the book claims that this book is about the trials of a woman in the world of opera, yet the book does not convey a specifically female narrative. Rather, it focuses on individual trials that Anna experienced, and though they were related to her being a woman (marital abuse, pregnancy, etc.), Shotwell does not really make that connection to womanhood. Even without these essences of plot, however, the strength of Shotwell’s characterization drives the story, and the reason I (and likely many other readers) kept reading was because of how connected I felt to Anna. In other words, Shotwell does not make Anna feel like my mother, sister, or daughter who would share in sexist oppression, but like an extension of myself, and I wanted to continue with the story to read about her fate.
So why, if the plot coherence is an issue, does the book still have 4 stars? I can chalk it up to two things: one is my tendency to romanticize a book I’ve read and remember with fondness the relatability and beauty of the book, and the second is that this book is a lyrical masterpiece. If excerpts were taken from this novel and presented as poetry, there would be no expectation of plot, and Shotwell would be widely praised for her amazing command of language. However, because this is a novel, it must have a plot, and I cannot say I was fully satisfied with the level of plot coherence here. In any case, though the plot was a bit scattered, the lyrical prose and realistic characterization is incredibly well-written and will live in your heart much like Mozart remained in Anna’s. To all readers in the high school age range and up who are looking for an interesting, poetic romance, I recommend losing yourself in the life of Anna Storace as told by Vivien Shotwell in Vienna Nocturne.
Lyrically written and flowing like music, Vienna Nocturne is both tragic and beautiful—it romanticizes the past in a way that is at times like a bildungsroman and at times like a personal diary (though in third person). Shotwell writes Anna’s life through episodes of great regret and episodes of personal growth. The characters are so vivid that the reader cannot help but be moved by their voices as much as the eighteenth-century opera world was moved by Anna’s voice. Shotwell gives the most detail to descriptions of singing and music, which makes sense because she is an opera singer herself, and as a musician I could somewhat follow along—but even when I did not understand exactly what Shotwell’s descriptions of the music meant, I could understand that there was a beauty in both the complexity she describes and the lyrical metaphors she uses. Every page, it seemed, contained a new turn of phrase that I’d never read, and yet I knew instantly that each description fit Anna perfectly and made me understand Anna even better. For example, when Anna and Benucci were put into the small closet to be lifted on stage to play lovers in an opera, Shotwell brilliantly writes hints of their off-stage romance:
“And almost every other night, for more than a month, they could step into that lifted space and
for five or ten minutes be alone together again, alone in their secret, before the door would slide
open and they would come forward, flushed and laughing, to general applause, to sing their last
number and be married for the hundredth, the five hundredth, time, just as all lovers dreamed.”
(p. 35)
Although perhaps those who mostly read in the historical fiction genre would be disappointed by the way Shotwell makes eighteenth-century Europe seem like just any old place (with details of the settings that made them indistinguishable from each other), the sense of familiarity Shotwell lends to the settings of the novel allows the focus to remain on the characterization of Anna, which I appreciated. There are times when the novel reads like a YA novel because it focuses on the truly relatable topics of first love and the regrets of youth. When Anna gives herself over to love too quickly and cries over her teenage heartbreaks, my inner teenager cried right along with her; I found myself constantly moved to tears, laughter, and love by the intense empathy this book evokes.
TRIGGER WARNING: I would like to warn sensitive readers that this book does contain potentially disturbing scenes. The pages contain very dark themes as well, delving into the myriad oppressions Anna experienced—the most harrowing of which is (trigger warning!) marital physical (described) and sexual (implied) abuse. I do not think the summary of the book or the rest of the book prepares us for those difficult moments (it seems like a sudden shift to dark themes), yet it flows with Shotwell’s narration nonetheless.
I rated this novel 4 out of 5 stars, so you are probably wondering what warranted that missing star for me. As a writer myself, I struggled with the lack of plot coherence throughout this novel. Though the entire novel is filled with scenes vital for characterizing Anna, these scenes are not necessarily connected by a main plot but by the personal growth of Anna. It seems to me like a fictional biographical series of scenes, and perhaps a reader of historical fiction (which I am typically not) would like that the coherence is more character-based than plot-based. Personally, I believe the book could have benefited from a central problem or theme other than Anna herself, and I would have loved to see Anna conquering that theme. The description on the back of the book claims that this book is about the trials of a woman in the world of opera, yet the book does not convey a specifically female narrative. Rather, it focuses on individual trials that Anna experienced, and though they were related to her being a woman (marital abuse, pregnancy, etc.), Shotwell does not really make that connection to womanhood. Even without these essences of plot, however, the strength of Shotwell’s characterization drives the story, and the reason I (and likely many other readers) kept reading was because of how connected I felt to Anna. In other words, Shotwell does not make Anna feel like my mother, sister, or daughter who would share in sexist oppression, but like an extension of myself, and I wanted to continue with the story to read about her fate.
So why, if the plot coherence is an issue, does the book still have 4 stars? I can chalk it up to two things: one is my tendency to romanticize a book I’ve read and remember with fondness the relatability and beauty of the book, and the second is that this book is a lyrical masterpiece. If excerpts were taken from this novel and presented as poetry, there would be no expectation of plot, and Shotwell would be widely praised for her amazing command of language. However, because this is a novel, it must have a plot, and I cannot say I was fully satisfied with the level of plot coherence here. In any case, though the plot was a bit scattered, the lyrical prose and realistic characterization is incredibly well-written and will live in your heart much like Mozart remained in Anna’s. To all readers in the high school age range and up who are looking for an interesting, poetic romance, I recommend losing yourself in the life of Anna Storace as told by Vivien Shotwell in Vienna Nocturne.
June 21, 2017
I thought it was purely fictional until Mozart showed up - but Anna was a fairly fleshed-out character, even if I disliked her at times. Decent plot, though all the pining and grieving gets a little grating.
June 13, 2015
Yer yer ağır, yer yer heyecanlı ve hareketli... Trajik ama akıcı.
December 9, 2015
Anything with Mozart in it makes me really happy!
November 1, 2016
I enjoyed this historical fiction about Wolfgang Mozart and young English opera soprano, Anna Storace, taking place in the eighteenth-century. The author, herself, is an opera singer.
December 2, 2016
DNF 1/3
The writing style is not working out
The writing style is not working out
March 21, 2018
I finished this two months ago now. I didn't want to review it at the time because it was a group read and then it just got harder and harder to get back to. The book was just okay. Shotwell gave it her best shot and definitely, as a classically trained singer herself, wrote what she knew. For a debut novel it was an excellent effort but for me it was just too disjointed and all over the place. Anna Storace's story was an interesting one and the time period captivating but the short chapters created a choppiness that didn't allow me to immerse myself in the story and didn't allow Shotwell to develop her characters as well as she should have. And there were just too many characters, many unnecessary to the action or cohesive telling of the story.
The writing was beautiful and Kate Reading's voice was perfect for the narration. I liked the occasional break into the epistolary style . I guess the main theme was the affair between Anna and Mozart and many seem to have found that the highlight of the book. I found it distasteful and shabby. I was in Constanze's court all the way. I'm sure I was supposed to feel sorry for Anna and Wolfgang when the family conspired to keep them apart but I was cheering from the sidelines.
I hope Shotwell continues to write. I would read something else from her - I hope she tightens things up in her next novel.
The writing was beautiful and Kate Reading's voice was perfect for the narration. I liked the occasional break into the epistolary style . I guess the main theme was the affair between Anna and Mozart and many seem to have found that the highlight of the book. I found it distasteful and shabby. I was in Constanze's court all the way. I'm sure I was supposed to feel sorry for Anna and Wolfgang when the family conspired to keep them apart but I was cheering from the sidelines.
I hope Shotwell continues to write. I would read something else from her - I hope she tightens things up in her next novel.
May 8, 2018
2018 ULTIMATE book challenge (book set somewhere I'll visit this year - Vienna, Austria)
Anna Storace was an up-&-coming soprano from London. But London was not the place to be for such a prodigy to move up in the music world. For that, she needed to venture further east, first to Italy, then to Austria. Of course this young beauty would have her share of personal hurdles to jump before ultimately finding her true self in Vienna. This is where she would match skills & talent with the popular Wolfgang Mozart. After a few brief listens to this new arrival to the vocal scene, Mozart knew he had a jewel in Anna, & he wrote one of his most memorable operas with her specifically in mind for the lead soprano role of Susanna. And so Anna wrote her name down in music history as the debut "Susanna" in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro". She falls in love with the married Mozart, decides it's best for her to separate herself from what she cannot have, & she & her brother Stephen depart Vienna to go build up the music scene in their home town of London.
If my summary of the book seems a bit blah, that's because that's my feeling of this book. It wasn't all boring. If you have an interest in music, music, history, opera, Mozart, or all of the above, you will find pieces of this story quite interesting. I did like that the book focused on Anna rather than sneaking into becoming a book about Mozart & his "Figaro" opera. It was a nice balance between Mozart, some of the other people on the music scene at that time, & personal/music history. I can't decide whether it's simply that Anna Storace's life does not lend itself to the makings of an good book of if the author just isn't quite the high-caliber writer that can make an amazing story out of a small, very specific piece of history. Either way, the book didn't grab me.
Age recommendation: 14 & older (adult relationships, domestic abuse)
On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 5.
Anna Storace was an up-&-coming soprano from London. But London was not the place to be for such a prodigy to move up in the music world. For that, she needed to venture further east, first to Italy, then to Austria. Of course this young beauty would have her share of personal hurdles to jump before ultimately finding her true self in Vienna. This is where she would match skills & talent with the popular Wolfgang Mozart. After a few brief listens to this new arrival to the vocal scene, Mozart knew he had a jewel in Anna, & he wrote one of his most memorable operas with her specifically in mind for the lead soprano role of Susanna. And so Anna wrote her name down in music history as the debut "Susanna" in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro". She falls in love with the married Mozart, decides it's best for her to separate herself from what she cannot have, & she & her brother Stephen depart Vienna to go build up the music scene in their home town of London.
If my summary of the book seems a bit blah, that's because that's my feeling of this book. It wasn't all boring. If you have an interest in music, music, history, opera, Mozart, or all of the above, you will find pieces of this story quite interesting. I did like that the book focused on Anna rather than sneaking into becoming a book about Mozart & his "Figaro" opera. It was a nice balance between Mozart, some of the other people on the music scene at that time, & personal/music history. I can't decide whether it's simply that Anna Storace's life does not lend itself to the makings of an good book of if the author just isn't quite the high-caliber writer that can make an amazing story out of a small, very specific piece of history. Either way, the book didn't grab me.
Age recommendation: 14 & older (adult relationships, domestic abuse)
On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 5.
April 12, 2018
Before reading this book, I had never known who Anna (or Nancy) Storace was. However, I was intrigued to find out more about her, and her famous brother, once I had started this book. I did find that this book though was difficult to really get into, maybe because of the language, which I found a bit too 'flowery' for my taste, or possibly due to the rushed plot which I found unengaging. I wish that more was discussed about Anna and Mozart's 'love' for one another; much of it was only discussed in passing, which made it seem boring to read, with the inability for the reader to really 'feel' the passion between the two of them. I would have loved to read more about the other famous singers in the book whom were mentioned, many that I didn't even know existed until I picked-up this book. All in all, the book was one that I felt could have used more work in relation to the plot towards the love felt between Anna and Wolfgang. I also wish the language was a bit more relatable to common-day English, which would have made it more enjoyable.
January 10, 2019
Vienna Nocturne is the first novel by a young American classically-trained soprano living in Canada. It is the story of a very young English soprano, Anna Storace, who meets and falls in love with Mozart while she is living and performing in Vienna. Only the very basic facts are known of the life of either of the main subjects regardless of their fame. There is much conjecture and legend about Mozart but very little fact so he especially is fertile ground for authors of historical fiction. The Mozart portrayed by Shotwell, however, does not resonate with me as much as the one portrayed in the wonderful 1984 movie Amadeus. Mozart was a homely little genius the likes of which the world has never seen since. I think he may have had Savant Syndrome which could well have included impediments to his social skills in contrast to this author's portrayal of him as a warm sensitive man, in love with his wife but also capable of an extramarital love affair. It was interesting to learn about Storace, her life and times but I think the Mozart here misses the mark.
May 18, 2017
Vienna Nocturne, Vivien Shotwell
A lovingly rendered novel about passion for music, Mozart, and his love for a beautiful opera singer. The story follows the rise of opera prodigy Anna Storace from her humble beginnings in England to her rise as beloved opera singer in Vienna. Wooed by Emperor Joseph in the 1870's, her trope of Italian opera singers moves to the court of Joseph to become the court's favored and coddled trope. In Vienna Anna meets Mozart, who is struggling to pay the rent while creating magical pieces of music. The two fall in love, but the relationship is not to be since he is married. The book is based on real people but fictional events around the love affair Shotwell imagines based on a real piece of music Mozart wrote for Anna. It is a passionate love story and mesmerizing tale about how music moves people
A lovingly rendered novel about passion for music, Mozart, and his love for a beautiful opera singer. The story follows the rise of opera prodigy Anna Storace from her humble beginnings in England to her rise as beloved opera singer in Vienna. Wooed by Emperor Joseph in the 1870's, her trope of Italian opera singers moves to the court of Joseph to become the court's favored and coddled trope. In Vienna Anna meets Mozart, who is struggling to pay the rent while creating magical pieces of music. The two fall in love, but the relationship is not to be since he is married. The book is based on real people but fictional events around the love affair Shotwell imagines based on a real piece of music Mozart wrote for Anna. It is a passionate love story and mesmerizing tale about how music moves people
March 14, 2020
2.5 stars. (Somewhere in between "it was ok," and "i liked it": I sort of liked it?)
The story held my attention enough, or I would have otherwise abandoned it. I was curious about finding out what would happen... But what I didn't much enjoy was I didn't know what the point was. I didn't get a sense of what they overarching goal of the characters and the story was.
It was written well, about an opera soprano, Anna Storace, who comes a huge star in the Opera world. You go along with her on her trials as she moves through this particular period of her life, and you even see how she changes... But what was the point? What was her ultimate desire and goal throughout the whole? There wasn't really one. It was more of a "this is what happened to this person," in a biographical memoir sort of way.
The story held my attention enough, or I would have otherwise abandoned it. I was curious about finding out what would happen... But what I didn't much enjoy was I didn't know what the point was. I didn't get a sense of what they overarching goal of the characters and the story was.
It was written well, about an opera soprano, Anna Storace, who comes a huge star in the Opera world. You go along with her on her trials as she moves through this particular period of her life, and you even see how she changes... But what was the point? What was her ultimate desire and goal throughout the whole? There wasn't really one. It was more of a "this is what happened to this person," in a biographical memoir sort of way.
October 6, 2022
This was a slow read for me. The story was interesting...but. I thought there would be a lot more of Mozart in the book, though I enjoyed those parts and gained a better understanding of him. The descriptions of the opera scene of that time was interesting as I know almost nothing about that. I found myself wishing I could hear Anna sing as she seems to have had an unusual talent.
I gave 3 stars because I was confused and disappointed by some major points in Anna's life that were altered or fictionalized. These are facts that are so easily researched and readily available that it made no sense to me. It didn't enhance the story in any way, in fact, it was a distraction and left me feeling frustrated. I always feel that if you're going to write about a real person and real events, then keep the facts accurate, even if you're filling in some spaces with fiction.
I gave 3 stars because I was confused and disappointed by some major points in Anna's life that were altered or fictionalized. These are facts that are so easily researched and readily available that it made no sense to me. It didn't enhance the story in any way, in fact, it was a distraction and left me feeling frustrated. I always feel that if you're going to write about a real person and real events, then keep the facts accurate, even if you're filling in some spaces with fiction.
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