Mozart (vol 1)

Andrew Steptoe

Editions

Review

This is a remarkably good short biography, ideal for the reader who is, say, ready to move on from concert programme notes (excellent though they often are), without having the appetite for a huge biography.  Knowledge of musical notation is unnecessary as the examples quoted refer the reader directly to the accompanying CD’s.  The selected pieces are by no means obscure – the Sinfonia Concertante, Piano Concerto No.23 etc. – but nor are they obvious, and the recordings are mostly all good.  As an introduction to the man and his music, this attractive volume is hard to better. - review by Dan Fenton