What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lost Mozart
Noah Wideman is an overqualified music student trying to graduate with a degree no one asked for. It’s 1987. His parents had hoped for medicine or law—anything with a parking space—but instead, he’s scraping by on odd jobs and the kind of hope only a twenty-one-year-old with a library card can muster. One of those jobs is at Allegro FM, the local classical station, where he stumbles into an unlikely friendship with Bertram Bobker: honey-voiced, immaculately dressed, and somewhere north of eighty.
When Noah is unceremoniously fired, Bertram quits in protest. Soon, Noah is spending afternoons with Bertram’s closest friends: aging gentlemen who sip Poire Williams, collect dusty manuscripts, and speak of dead composers as if they might still RSVP to dinner.
That’s where Noah discovers a handwritten sketch which looks suspiciously—impossibly—like Mozart. An unfinished string quartet. The kind of thing you don’t just find. But Noah is young and full of gumption, so he decides to finish it and bring it to the world, thinking this is the answer to everyone’s problems.
Enter Eos: a fellow student, brilliant and intimidating, with a silence that unnerves professors. Together, they launch a wild plan, part heist, part heartfelt gamble on the power of music, friendship, and second chances. Because who’s to say one more piece by Mozart can’t still upend a few lives, mend a few hearts, and maybe even cover first and last month’s rent?
When Noah is unceremoniously fired, Bertram quits in protest. Soon, Noah is spending afternoons with Bertram’s closest friends: aging gentlemen who sip Poire Williams, collect dusty manuscripts, and speak of dead composers as if they might still RSVP to dinner.
That’s where Noah discovers a handwritten sketch which looks suspiciously—impossibly—like Mozart. An unfinished string quartet. The kind of thing you don’t just find. But Noah is young and full of gumption, so he decides to finish it and bring it to the world, thinking this is the answer to everyone’s problems.
Enter Eos: a fellow student, brilliant and intimidating, with a silence that unnerves professors. Together, they launch a wild plan, part heist, part heartfelt gamble on the power of music, friendship, and second chances. Because who’s to say one more piece by Mozart can’t still upend a few lives, mend a few hearts, and maybe even cover first and last month’s rent?
320 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 4, 2026
This author had me at Mozart. Honestly, there was never any suspense about whether I was going to read this book. The answer was always yes.
Then the author described the moment Noah first heard Mozart’s music, and I knew I had found my people.
Because if you’ve ever seen Amadeus, you know the scene. Salieri is reading the score for Serenade No. 10 and describes it as “hearing the voice of God.” I have watched that scene approximately eleventy-five times, and it never gets old. That moment was actually pivotal for me, too. It turned me into a full-fledged Mozart fan as a pre-teen clarinetist, sending me down the rabbit hole of listening to—and eventually playing—his music every chance I got.
So yes… this book was basically custom-made to hijack my emotions.
The novel is cleverly organized into three distinct movements, and I loved how the structure mirrored a musical composition. Once I started, I didn’t want to stop. I became completely invested in Noah and Bertram, rooting for them with the enthusiasm of someone who has definitely yelled at fictional characters for making questionable life choices.
The mystery unfolded at a satisfying pace, balancing history, music, friendship, and adventure without ever feeling like a lecture disguised as a novel. As someone who appreciates a good classical music reference, every little nod to Mozart felt like an inside joke I was delighted to be in on.
Was every note absolutely perfect? No. But neither was Mozart’s handwriting, and people seem willing to overlook that.
Come for the mystery. Stay for Mozart. Leave wondering why your Spotify algorithm suddenly thinks you’re preparing to conduct an eighteenth-century orchestra.
If your taste in books is anything like your taste in classical music, this one deserves a spot on your playlist… I mean, your TBR.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Regalo Press for this review copy.
Then the author described the moment Noah first heard Mozart’s music, and I knew I had found my people.
Because if you’ve ever seen Amadeus, you know the scene. Salieri is reading the score for Serenade No. 10 and describes it as “hearing the voice of God.” I have watched that scene approximately eleventy-five times, and it never gets old. That moment was actually pivotal for me, too. It turned me into a full-fledged Mozart fan as a pre-teen clarinetist, sending me down the rabbit hole of listening to—and eventually playing—his music every chance I got.
So yes… this book was basically custom-made to hijack my emotions.
The novel is cleverly organized into three distinct movements, and I loved how the structure mirrored a musical composition. Once I started, I didn’t want to stop. I became completely invested in Noah and Bertram, rooting for them with the enthusiasm of someone who has definitely yelled at fictional characters for making questionable life choices.
The mystery unfolded at a satisfying pace, balancing history, music, friendship, and adventure without ever feeling like a lecture disguised as a novel. As someone who appreciates a good classical music reference, every little nod to Mozart felt like an inside joke I was delighted to be in on.
Was every note absolutely perfect? No. But neither was Mozart’s handwriting, and people seem willing to overlook that.
Come for the mystery. Stay for Mozart. Leave wondering why your Spotify algorithm suddenly thinks you’re preparing to conduct an eighteenth-century orchestra.
If your taste in books is anything like your taste in classical music, this one deserves a spot on your playlist… I mean, your TBR.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Regalo Press for this review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Author
“Being a composer was a fantasy that lived in the margins of my notebooks…It was a hunger…I imagined…my own music filling grand halls…I remembered that first time I truly heard (Mozart’s) music- the kind that rewires your brain in an instant…” especially following the newly released film “Amadeus”. -Noah Wideman, a 21 year old music major in the 1980s. According to his parents, music must be treated like a hobby, a diversion. He was expected to find a real profession. Forget his dreams.
Searching for a younger audience, Allegro FM hired Noah for an internship with hope of broadening their audience. The legendary voice of Bertram Bobker, had always been instrumental in sharing his wealth of knowledge of classical music. After fifty years of on air time, he needed to be coddled into implementing changes to the current programming. Bertram’s expertise was never in doubt. The chief revenue officer would have his say, ”Airtime is money. Money, airtime…Don’t mention the key…of Brahms Symphony…takes up too much time, and no one cares.” Bertram’s world was becoming unrecognizable.
In Noah’s orchestration class, he learned “how each instrument had its own idiosyncratic voice…I began to understand that composing wasn’t just about harmony and melody, but about knowing who you were giving the line to, whose voice could carry a certain feeling, whose breath could shift the entire emotional tone of a passage…Suddenly, the orchestra wasn’t some abstract idea: it was a real living thing, and I was beginning to learn how to speak its language.” Class Assignment: Write a small chamber piece in the style of Mozart. More pressure, Bertram was excited about attending my presentation.
Noah’s research in trying to musically create something Amadeus-adjacent led him to the following discoveries. “Mozart would purchase large quantities of (manuscript) paper…each batch of paper distinguishable from the next…all handmade. The leaves…gave specific clues…to the date he wrote the music…but also where he scored it". In the mid 1800s, a musicologist named Kochel catalogued all 630 pieces, in chronological order, numbered one through 626. “Imagine Mozart penning over 630 pieces, starting at age 8, “the same age I was discovering the many structural limitations of glitter glue.”
A special friendship was developing between Noah and Bertram. “Someone had finally turned the dial and found my frequency” unlike my parents. Bertram introduced Noah, a gifted burgeoning composer to his partner Lincoln and his friend Truman, owner of a unique foodery. When Noah was invited to Truman’s home, he was given access to Truman’s collection of manuscripts. A framed, untitled, hand written sketch, with no question in Noah’s mind, was written in the recognizable penmanship of Mozart. Mozart had written a set of three string quartets, “The Prussian Quartets”, dedicated to the King of Prussia, Frederich William II, an amateur cellist. Could this sheet of music, scored for two violins, viola, and cello be part of Mozart’s Lost Fourth Quartet? Thirty-six bars of music. “ I could almost hear the whole piece in an instant.” The sheet of music needed to be authenticated.
Noah felt that he was a member of an exclusive club. Bertram, Lincoln and Truman buoyed his spirits and fed his dreams. For his part, he came up with a solution to his friends’ woes. Bertram was no longer working at Allegro FM, Lincoln needed an operation, and Truman’s foodery was going belly up. How about if they joined forces and combined their talents? Since Noah knew Mozart’s themes and motifs, he could finish Mozart’s Lost Quartet then convince renowned musicians to perform it. To this end, the expertise of Eos, another music student, would be relied upon to check fingering and voicing of the violin, viola and cello.
David K. Israel has written a detailed, very knowledgeable “mystery novel” of the search for the Lost Mozart. The small cast of music lovers have each others’ backs, playfully as well as through hard times, while supporting their mutual quest for discovery and performance.
For the record, Mozart wrote only three Prussian Quartets, no. 21-23 (K.575,589,590) composed between 1789 and 1790. Arguably, there was a fragment in G minor, perhaps intended for a fourth Prussian Quartet.
Highly recommended.
Thank you David K. Israel for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Searching for a younger audience, Allegro FM hired Noah for an internship with hope of broadening their audience. The legendary voice of Bertram Bobker, had always been instrumental in sharing his wealth of knowledge of classical music. After fifty years of on air time, he needed to be coddled into implementing changes to the current programming. Bertram’s expertise was never in doubt. The chief revenue officer would have his say, ”Airtime is money. Money, airtime…Don’t mention the key…of Brahms Symphony…takes up too much time, and no one cares.” Bertram’s world was becoming unrecognizable.
In Noah’s orchestration class, he learned “how each instrument had its own idiosyncratic voice…I began to understand that composing wasn’t just about harmony and melody, but about knowing who you were giving the line to, whose voice could carry a certain feeling, whose breath could shift the entire emotional tone of a passage…Suddenly, the orchestra wasn’t some abstract idea: it was a real living thing, and I was beginning to learn how to speak its language.” Class Assignment: Write a small chamber piece in the style of Mozart. More pressure, Bertram was excited about attending my presentation.
Noah’s research in trying to musically create something Amadeus-adjacent led him to the following discoveries. “Mozart would purchase large quantities of (manuscript) paper…each batch of paper distinguishable from the next…all handmade. The leaves…gave specific clues…to the date he wrote the music…but also where he scored it". In the mid 1800s, a musicologist named Kochel catalogued all 630 pieces, in chronological order, numbered one through 626. “Imagine Mozart penning over 630 pieces, starting at age 8, “the same age I was discovering the many structural limitations of glitter glue.”
A special friendship was developing between Noah and Bertram. “Someone had finally turned the dial and found my frequency” unlike my parents. Bertram introduced Noah, a gifted burgeoning composer to his partner Lincoln and his friend Truman, owner of a unique foodery. When Noah was invited to Truman’s home, he was given access to Truman’s collection of manuscripts. A framed, untitled, hand written sketch, with no question in Noah’s mind, was written in the recognizable penmanship of Mozart. Mozart had written a set of three string quartets, “The Prussian Quartets”, dedicated to the King of Prussia, Frederich William II, an amateur cellist. Could this sheet of music, scored for two violins, viola, and cello be part of Mozart’s Lost Fourth Quartet? Thirty-six bars of music. “ I could almost hear the whole piece in an instant.” The sheet of music needed to be authenticated.
Noah felt that he was a member of an exclusive club. Bertram, Lincoln and Truman buoyed his spirits and fed his dreams. For his part, he came up with a solution to his friends’ woes. Bertram was no longer working at Allegro FM, Lincoln needed an operation, and Truman’s foodery was going belly up. How about if they joined forces and combined their talents? Since Noah knew Mozart’s themes and motifs, he could finish Mozart’s Lost Quartet then convince renowned musicians to perform it. To this end, the expertise of Eos, another music student, would be relied upon to check fingering and voicing of the violin, viola and cello.
David K. Israel has written a detailed, very knowledgeable “mystery novel” of the search for the Lost Mozart. The small cast of music lovers have each others’ backs, playfully as well as through hard times, while supporting their mutual quest for discovery and performance.
For the record, Mozart wrote only three Prussian Quartets, no. 21-23 (K.575,589,590) composed between 1789 and 1790. Arguably, there was a fragment in G minor, perhaps intended for a fourth Prussian Quartet.
Highly recommended.
Thank you David K. Israel for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Imagine this. A graduating music student ,is patching together jobs to make ends meet. They are a mix of an eye opening comical job to one at an FM radio station. He has no financial support from his parents who don’t approve of a music degree when he should have been pursuing something more practical. But he forges ahead. And then the opportunity of a lifetime comes his way...
Noah Wideman is a mix of hubris and insecurity. The job at the Allegro radio station is where the story takes off. It is there that he connects with Bertram Bobker, a well-known classical music DJ with a distinctive voice who also happens to be in his eighties. He is a well drawn character who took me back to the radio days of Robert Lurtzemer who used to begin my mornings with birds chirping and a deep knowledge of the classical pieces he was playing..
This friendship with Bertram brings him into the fold of Bertram’s friends who know music the way Noah does . But have connections and collections. One uncovers a sketch of an unfinished Mozart string quartet that brings the reader into the craziness of their plans and hopes.
While Noah may have confidence in musicology and his abilities as a composer, this is a coming of age book. He is both self deprecating and comical in pursuing his love interest, Eos. He is also troubled by his parents dismissal of his talent and chance of success. He is likable and is able to form relationships with people from college age to octogenarians with comfort. He is at the same time extremely empathetic for a man his age and insecure to an extreme.
This book is a delight to read. The characters are all well drawn, the plot line keeps moving, the belief in a future no one thought you might accomplish is the throughline. However, I think all the musical detail and excitement around the possibilities of a found line of music, may only appeal to a narrow readership.
Israel definitely has the talent and credentials to write a book like this and I look forward to other books he may choose to write in the future.
The publisher donates part of book proceeds to RAINN, a victim services program that has helped over 5 million survivors or sexual violence and their loved ones. Buy the book for that reason alone.
Many thanks to both Netgalley and Regalo Press for the opportunity to read this arc and provide an honest review.
Noah Wideman is a mix of hubris and insecurity. The job at the Allegro radio station is where the story takes off. It is there that he connects with Bertram Bobker, a well-known classical music DJ with a distinctive voice who also happens to be in his eighties. He is a well drawn character who took me back to the radio days of Robert Lurtzemer who used to begin my mornings with birds chirping and a deep knowledge of the classical pieces he was playing..
This friendship with Bertram brings him into the fold of Bertram’s friends who know music the way Noah does . But have connections and collections. One uncovers a sketch of an unfinished Mozart string quartet that brings the reader into the craziness of their plans and hopes.
While Noah may have confidence in musicology and his abilities as a composer, this is a coming of age book. He is both self deprecating and comical in pursuing his love interest, Eos. He is also troubled by his parents dismissal of his talent and chance of success. He is likable and is able to form relationships with people from college age to octogenarians with comfort. He is at the same time extremely empathetic for a man his age and insecure to an extreme.
This book is a delight to read. The characters are all well drawn, the plot line keeps moving, the belief in a future no one thought you might accomplish is the throughline. However, I think all the musical detail and excitement around the possibilities of a found line of music, may only appeal to a narrow readership.
Israel definitely has the talent and credentials to write a book like this and I look forward to other books he may choose to write in the future.
The publisher donates part of book proceeds to RAINN, a victim services program that has helped over 5 million survivors or sexual violence and their loved ones. Buy the book for that reason alone.
Many thanks to both Netgalley and Regalo Press for the opportunity to read this arc and provide an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you Post Hill Press for providing an ARC for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.
Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of classical music! David K. Israel, the author of The Lost Mozart, is a composer and musician himself, so this literary work is deeply infused with musical history, songs, and classical composers.
This is a coming-of-age story about Noah, a twenty-one-year-old college senior trying desperately to figure out how to use his degree—partly to prove his parents wrong, and partly to prove something to himself. While interning at a radio station, Noah forms an unlikely friendship with Bertram, an elderly radio announcer. Noah is welcomed into Bertram’s wider circle of friends, who provide a listening ear, crucial support, and wise guidance during this pivotal time in his life.
While hanging out and discussing music with this eclectic group, Noah unbelievably stumbles across the beginning of an unfinished Mozart string quartet. He decides to complete the piece in an effort to gain notoriety and earn money to help his friends. Getting the piece finished and finding an audience is a bumpy ride, but Noah’s inner circle stays close, and he even navigates a new romance with Eos along the way.
Israel’s personal background in classical music brings an incredibly rich layer to the characters and the overall story. The musical tidbits are woven in beautifully without ever feeling forced, and I came away with a much deeper understanding of the genre. However, readers who are already familiar with—or have a deep love for—the ins and outs of classical music will likely appreciate this the most. While the narrative always expertly circled back to the main plot, there were times when the heavy musical detours caused me to lose track of the story a bit. Still, I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a rich, rewarding, and challenging read.
Read more of my book reviews here...
https://fortandfield.blogspot.com/202...
Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of classical music! David K. Israel, the author of The Lost Mozart, is a composer and musician himself, so this literary work is deeply infused with musical history, songs, and classical composers.
This is a coming-of-age story about Noah, a twenty-one-year-old college senior trying desperately to figure out how to use his degree—partly to prove his parents wrong, and partly to prove something to himself. While interning at a radio station, Noah forms an unlikely friendship with Bertram, an elderly radio announcer. Noah is welcomed into Bertram’s wider circle of friends, who provide a listening ear, crucial support, and wise guidance during this pivotal time in his life.
While hanging out and discussing music with this eclectic group, Noah unbelievably stumbles across the beginning of an unfinished Mozart string quartet. He decides to complete the piece in an effort to gain notoriety and earn money to help his friends. Getting the piece finished and finding an audience is a bumpy ride, but Noah’s inner circle stays close, and he even navigates a new romance with Eos along the way.
Israel’s personal background in classical music brings an incredibly rich layer to the characters and the overall story. The musical tidbits are woven in beautifully without ever feeling forced, and I came away with a much deeper understanding of the genre. However, readers who are already familiar with—or have a deep love for—the ins and outs of classical music will likely appreciate this the most. While the narrative always expertly circled back to the main plot, there were times when the heavy musical detours caused me to lose track of the story a bit. Still, I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a rich, rewarding, and challenging read.
Read more of my book reviews here...
https://fortandfield.blogspot.com/202...
August 15, 2026
Gosh, I'm sorry to say I really can't share the other reviewers' enthusiasm for this book. Frankly, I don't think it should ever have been published. The protagonist is clearly a stand-in for the author, but given wish-fulfillment level powers of musicianship and attraction.
The writing was pretty tortured, with metaphors awkwardly worked into nearly every paragraph. The dialogue was pretty bad overall, but especially bad when coming out of the mouth of the lead female character, who is a sort of even-keeled pixie dreamgirl.
The setting is very much my milieu, and I will give the author credit for some accurate world building in the early chapters of the book. I even think that the overall plot contrivance wasn't a bad one, but man, the workings out, the coincidences, the simplistic character conveniences, the eyeroll-inducing Chekhov's guns... oy vey!! By the time I finished this book, I resented having read it.
The writing was pretty tortured, with metaphors awkwardly worked into nearly every paragraph. The dialogue was pretty bad overall, but especially bad when coming out of the mouth of the lead female character, who is a sort of even-keeled pixie dreamgirl.
The setting is very much my milieu, and I will give the author credit for some accurate world building in the early chapters of the book. I even think that the overall plot contrivance wasn't a bad one, but man, the workings out, the coincidences, the simplistic character conveniences, the eyeroll-inducing Chekhov's guns... oy vey!! By the time I finished this book, I resented having read it.
August 11, 2026
As I literature major in college, I used to read a couple books a week.
Mostly classics and kept reading until my 30s and life got very busy.
Along the way, I would read bestsellers not wanting to waste my precious time.
Now in my 50s, I have more time to read and struggle with modern fiction.
I start and stop, start again and they do not hold me.
Some of the biggest selling books I could not finish, I finished this book in 2 days.
Do not let the title fool you. It is hilarious, touching and insightful view of human nature
as we navigate through the early 20s and try to find our footing in the world and make
something of ourselves. It's a story about pursuing your dreams and taking a chance.
A fantastic read!
Mostly classics and kept reading until my 30s and life got very busy.
Along the way, I would read bestsellers not wanting to waste my precious time.
Now in my 50s, I have more time to read and struggle with modern fiction.
I start and stop, start again and they do not hold me.
Some of the biggest selling books I could not finish, I finished this book in 2 days.
Do not let the title fool you. It is hilarious, touching and insightful view of human nature
as we navigate through the early 20s and try to find our footing in the world and make
something of ourselves. It's a story about pursuing your dreams and taking a chance.
A fantastic read!
July 26, 2026
What a fun read- so full of insight on the inner world of professional musicians! I wonder if this story reflects the lived experience of the author, as his deep knowledge of the struggles of professional musicians was clearly evident in this book. It’s bound to be a favorite for musicians, but very much a “niche” audience, as Mr. Israel goes down rabbit holes that dig deep into the world and the language of radio professionals, music students, composers and performers. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews