Meetings with Mozart
William Charlton-Perkins
The Book Guild
William Charlton-Perkins is well-known in theatre and media circles in KwaZulu-Natal. Once head of publicity at The Playhouse Company in Durban, he moved on to run his own publicity agency, Copy Dog. However, his first love was classical music, particularly opera, and this love is central to his debut novel Meetings with Mozart, which is illustrated with line drawings of the main characters by former Pietermaritzburg resident Christine Stilwell.
The central character is Horace, a former opera director who has retired to KwaZulu-Natal and gathers around him a disparate group of people who all share a love of Mozart’s music. Their plan is to meet once a month to listen to and discuss the composer’s music and life. Each member of the group presents a talk on an aspect of his life and music, and as they do so, they bond together to become a tight-knit band of friends, supportive of each other and involved in each other’s lives. As the book progresses, the reader slowly begins to discover something of their backgrounds, though the main focus remains on Mozart.
The ideal way to read Meetings with Mozart would be with an extensive playlist of Mozart’s works to hand so as each work, whether an opera or an instrumental piece, is discussed, the reader could pause and listen, increasing their own understanding and enjoyment of the work by absorbing some of Charlton-Perkins’ knowledge.
After many of the meetings, when Horace is alone, he relaxes by imagining how Mozart’s life story could be told on stage, from his days as a child prodigy through his tensions with his controlling father, Leopold, and on through his creative years, his marriage and his many friendships. Friendship and love are themes that run through the book – love of life and of people.
While the group meetings take the reader through Mozart’s work, Horace’s mental images of his life story flesh out the story of the composer until his death at a tragically young age.
There is no doubt Meetings with Mozart will mainly appeal to a niche audience, one that has an interest in and some knowledge of the music of Mozart. But it is also a warm portrait of a group of friends who get together to share a common interest, and it is a fascinating retelling of the life of a musical genius.
William Charlton-Perkins tells the story of a musical genius in his debut novel
Image: Supplied
Meetings with Mozart
William Charlton-Perkins
The Book Guild
William Charlton-Perkins is well-known in theatre and media circles in KwaZulu-Natal. Once head of publicity at The Playhouse Company in Durban, he moved on to run his own publicity agency, Copy Dog. However, his first love was classical music, particularly opera, and this love is central to his debut novel Meetings with Mozart, which is illustrated with line drawings of the main characters by former Pietermaritzburg resident Christine Stilwell.
The central character is Horace, a former opera director who has retired to KwaZulu-Natal and gathers around him a disparate group of people who all share a love of Mozart’s music. Their plan is to meet once a month to listen to and discuss the composer’s music and life. Each member of the group presents a talk on an aspect of his life and music, and as they do so, they bond together to become a tight-knit band of friends, supportive of each other and involved in each other’s lives. As the book progresses, the reader slowly begins to discover something of their backgrounds, though the main focus remains on Mozart.
The ideal way to read Meetings with Mozart would be with an extensive playlist of Mozart’s works to hand so as each work, whether an opera or an instrumental piece, is discussed, the reader could pause and listen, increasing their own understanding and enjoyment of the work by absorbing some of Charlton-Perkins’ knowledge.
After many of the meetings, when Horace is alone, he relaxes by imagining how Mozart’s life story could be told on stage, from his days as a child prodigy through his tensions with his controlling father, Leopold, and on through his creative years, his marriage and his many friendships. Friendship and love are themes that run through the book – love of life and of people.
While the group meetings take the reader through Mozart’s work, Horace’s mental images of his life story flesh out the story of the composer until his death at a tragically young age.
There is no doubt Meetings with Mozart will mainly appeal to a niche audience, one that has an interest in and some knowledge of the music of Mozart. But it is also a warm portrait of a group of friends who get together to share a common interest, and it is a fascinating retelling of the life of a musical genius.
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