Mozart's Last Aria

by Matt Rees

Genres: General Fiction

Synopsis

Transporting listeners to the salons and concert halls of eighteenth-century Austria, Mozart’s Last Aria pulls back the curtain on a world of powerful secrets and powerful men—from the enigmatic Freemasons to the secret police to the Austrian Emperor himself—in a detailed story of soaring music, burning passion, and mortal danger.

In December 1791, Madame Maria Anna Berchtold von Sonnenburg, known to her family as Nannerl, receives a letter from her sister-in-law Costanze with devastating news: Nannerl’s brother, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is dead. But Constanze’s letter carries more than just news of the great composer’s death. Months earlier, Mozart had confided to his wife that he believed his life was in danger, and on his deathbed announced that he had been poisoned, though he was never able to name his murderer.

Now, as Nannerl sets off for Vienna to pay her final respects, she finds herself entering a web of suspicion and intrigue involving rival composers, jealous lovers, and sinister creditors, in which even Mozart’s masonic brothers—including Prince Lichnowsky—harbor dark secrets about their one-time friend. And as Nannerl digs deeper into the mystery surrounding Mozart’s demise, the tempo quickens, and her brother’s black fate threatens to engulf Nannerl as well.

Release date: November 1, 2011

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Print pages: 336