Nancy Moser, Mozart’s Sister

Mozart's Sister

Nancy Moser

Bethany, September 2006, $12.99

ISBN: 0764201239

Prodded by their father Leopold and trained since birth to perform, by 1762, twelve year old Nannerl Mozart and her seven year old brother Wolfgang play in public for the first time. Thirty years later Wolfgang is dead not too long after Leopold passed away, while Nannerl reflects back on their lives wondering if they started even earlier, whether his precocious talent would have still overwhelmed her superb skills. Their late father believed this is so, as Wolfgang got all the praise from royal patrons, and especially from their dad. Though she dreams of performing to regal accolades and settles pragmatically in marriage to Johann, she looks back at what might have been.

This is terrific biographical fiction of Nannerl Mozart, who apparently was a very talented musician, but never received any acclaim from patrons or her parents because she performed for the most part alongside her superstar brother. The storyline brings to life late eighteenth century musical Vienna from a different perspective, as readers observe how Nannerl deals with a talented precocious highly acclaimed younger brother, though some say she rivaled him in performing skills. This is a winner, as readers learn the pressures on females to conform, while their artistic male siblings can do almost anything, and like Nannerl (at least in this novel) wonder what if. Nancy Moser provides a powerful insightful tale that has a modern day message of encouraging the young to be all that they can be.