Rita Charbonnier: Nannerl Goes to America

I would like to introduce you one of my Italian friends, Rita Charbonnier. She is one of the few Italian authors who will be published also in English. Her novel, Mozart's Sister, a romanticized biography of Nannerl Mozart, will be release soon by Random House publisher.

"On July 22 the paperback edition of my first novel MOZART’S SISTER will be released in the US and Canada. It’s just one week from now. Fingers crossed! And my very best thanks to Rosa is for Romance for asking me to introduce myself to the readers.

I was born in Vicenza, in the north of Italy, and I live in the historic centre of Rome. I started to read when I was four years old and at the age of five I received my first copy of PINOCCHIO as a present; at eight I used a type-writer to produce a little local newspaper for the area, or rather for our block, that I found the courage to sell and that a few people even found the courage to buy.

After high school I went to drama school in Syracuse, in Sicily. In fact, when I went for the admission interview, I didn’t want to be an actress; I was actually thinking of being a playwright or director. However, someone told me that performing on stage for a short period would be a useful thing for me to do. The short period lasted nearly fifteen years.

I worked with various prestigious Italian theatre companies; acting and singing on the stage, and on occasions I also played the piano. I had an important role in a musical with Nino Manfredi, one of the most prominent actors in the “commedia all’italiana” film genre. I also took part in various comedy television programmes. I then went to New York for a few months, where I followed courses at the HB Studio and featured in a musical at the NYU.

But I didn’t like being on tour. As there are no fixed theatre companies in Italy, the only way to act in the theatre is to be constantly on the move, sometimes in a new city every day. However, above all, I had begun to live with the uncomfortable feeling that my artistic life lacked something important. So I started to stick a laptop into my suitcase (it was the 90’s, when laptops were more like tabletops) and I began to jot down my thoughts, wherever I found myself, and to cherish vague plans of writing.

I started working for a theatre review. The first article I wrote, on an idea of mine, was about women directors, playwrights and composers: did they have to struggle more than men to make themselves heard? And why? It was then that I first wanted to tell the story of Nannerl, Mozart’s sister. I only knew that she had been a child prodigy, like her brother, and that at a certain point she sank into oblivion.

That was 1996. Ten years later, MOZART’S SISTER was published in Europe, Canada and America.

What have I done in the meantime? Not only the historical research for the novel. I continued to act and sing for a bit longer, for a year I broadcast a daily live television programme, then I became a journalist, I went on a screenwriting course at RAI (Italian television) and I started to write some TV series. Now I am working on my second and third books.

My latest novel will come out in Italy at the beginning of 2009, published by Edizioni Piemme. Then it will be translated into English and released in the US and Canada, by Crown Publishers. For the moment, this is all I can tell you. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for you on the net and in the pages of my books. Happy reading!"

Rita Charbonnier 



Mozart's Sister (2008)
Written by Rita Charbonnier
Category: Fiction - Historical
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
ISBN: 978-0-307-34678-0 (0-307-34678-1)

Mozart’s Sister: A Novel is the story of a little girl born in Austria in 1751 who was a musical genius. Music came as naturally to this little girl as breathing and nothing gave her greater enjoyment than making music: her little hands would fly effortlessly over the keys of her harpsichord, and she was able to write down any tune she heard from memory. She also had an uncanny ability to transform everyday sounds into music, and such was her sensitivity to harmony that a lack of it was enough to give her an upset stomach.

“What a pity she is a girl”, thought her father, aware that her sex would preclude her from aspiring to a career as a composer. He decided against allowing her to study the violin, composition and improvisation—it would be a waste of time and money.

Then one happy day the couple’s dreams came true and a son was born. It didn’t take the proud parents long to realise that, against all odds, he too was a musical infant prodigy. The children’s names were Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia (affectionately nicknamed Nannerl) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Nannerl’s existence has been largely ignored by Mozart’s numerous biographers; the only times she is mentioned is to emphasise her brother’s genius when comparing it to her presumed slowness of mind. All the same, ample documentation exists of Nannerl’s extraordinary musical talent. We know that she wrote music, even though none of her compositions has survived to the present day. We know that Wolfgang greatly appreciated Nannerl’s virtuosity and always set great store by her opinion.

We also know that Wolfgang and Nannerl loved each other very much.

The siblings’ intense and mutually exclusive support found its true expression in the years of their childhood, during which they performed together for the royal courts of Europe. Love and music were one and the same for “The Mozart Children”. They would see musical forms and daring harmonies in their heads that only they could understand; that only they could share. Wildly enthusiastic about each other’s genius, they never became competitive.

Nevertheless, in the background there was always their father—a man dedicated to promoting only Wolfgang, at the expense of Nannerl. As the siblings matured, Nannerl’s prodigious talent was brushed aside. She was forced to stop performing and become a provincial piano teacher, in order to support Wolfgang’s career.

Nannerl might have submitted to a life in her brother’s shadow were it not for the arrival of an admirer who reawakened her passion for life, love and music; her relationship with him, however, put the stability of the Mozart family and their designated roles at risk.

Mozart’s Sister: A Novel paints a picture of life in the lavish salons of Europe in the eighteenth century and tells the extraordinary story of a woman who succeeds in overcoming the obstacles presented by society and her family to reveal her own true genius.

Excerpt from MOZART'S SISTER written by Rita Charnonnier - Random House, 2008

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307346780&view=excerpt 

Rita Charbonnier: Nannerl Goes to America

I would like to introduce you one of my Italian friends, Rita Charbonnier. She is one of the few Italian authors who will be published also in English. Her novel, Mozart's Sister, a romanticized biography of Nannerl Mozart, will be release soon by Random House publisher.

"On July 22 the paperback edition of my first novel MOZART’S SISTER will be released in the US and Canada. It’s just one week from now. Fingers crossed! And my very best thanks to Rosa is for Romance for asking me to introduce myself to the readers.

I was born in Vicenza, in the north of Italy, and I live in the historic centre of Rome. I started to read when I was four years old and at the age of five I received my first copy of PINOCCHIO as a present; at eight I used a type-writer to produce a little local newspaper for the area, or rather for our block, that I found the courage to sell and that a few people even found the courage to buy.

After high school I went to drama school in Syracuse, in Sicily. In fact, when I went for the admission interview, I didn’t want to be an actress; I was actually thinking of being a playwright or director. However, someone told me that performing on stage for a short period would be a useful thing for me to do. The short period lasted nearly fifteen years.

I worked with various prestigious Italian theatre companies; acting and singing on the stage, and on occasions I also played the piano. I had an important role in a musical with Nino Manfredi, one of the most prominent actors in the “commedia all’italiana” film genre. I also took part in various comedy television programmes. I then went to New York for a few months, where I followed courses at the HB Studio and featured in a musical at the NYU.

But I didn’t like being on tour. As there are no fixed theatre companies in Italy, the only way to act in the theatre is to be constantly on the move, sometimes in a new city every day. However, above all, I had begun to live with the uncomfortable feeling that my artistic life lacked something important. So I started to stick a laptop into my suitcase (it was the 90’s, when laptops were more like tabletops) and I began to jot down my thoughts, wherever I found myself, and to cherish vague plans of writing.

I started working for a theatre review. The first article I wrote, on an idea of mine, was about women directors, playwrights and composers: did they have to struggle more than men to make themselves heard? And why? It was then that I first wanted to tell the story of Nannerl, Mozart’s sister. I only knew that she had been a child prodigy, like her brother, and that at a certain point she sank into oblivion.

That was 1996. Ten years later, MOZART’S SISTER was published in Europe, Canada and America.

What have I done in the meantime? Not only the historical research for the novel. I continued to act and sing for a bit longer, for a year I broadcast a daily live television programme, then I became a journalist, I went on a screenwriting course at RAI (Italian television) and I started to write some TV series. Now I am working on my second and third books.

My latest novel will come out in Italy at the beginning of 2009, published by Edizioni Piemme. Then it will be translated into English and released in the US and Canada, by Crown Publishers. For the moment, this is all I can tell you. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for you on the net and in the pages of my books. Happy reading!"

Rita Charbonnier 



Mozart's Sister (2008)
Written by Rita Charbonnier
Category: Fiction - Historical
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
ISBN: 978-0-307-34678-0 (0-307-34678-1)

Mozart’s Sister: A Novel is the story of a little girl born in Austria in 1751 who was a musical genius. Music came as naturally to this little girl as breathing and nothing gave her greater enjoyment than making music: her little hands would fly effortlessly over the keys of her harpsichord, and she was able to write down any tune she heard from memory. She also had an uncanny ability to transform everyday sounds into music, and such was her sensitivity to harmony that a lack of it was enough to give her an upset stomach.

“What a pity she is a girl”, thought her father, aware that her sex would preclude her from aspiring to a career as a composer. He decided against allowing her to study the violin, composition and improvisation—it would be a waste of time and money.

Then one happy day the couple’s dreams came true and a son was born. It didn’t take the proud parents long to realise that, against all odds, he too was a musical infant prodigy. The children’s names were Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia (affectionately nicknamed Nannerl) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Nannerl’s existence has been largely ignored by Mozart’s numerous biographers; the only times she is mentioned is to emphasise her brother’s genius when comparing it to her presumed slowness of mind. All the same, ample documentation exists of Nannerl’s extraordinary musical talent. We know that she wrote music, even though none of her compositions has survived to the present day. We know that Wolfgang greatly appreciated Nannerl’s virtuosity and always set great store by her opinion.

We also know that Wolfgang and Nannerl loved each other very much.

The siblings’ intense and mutually exclusive support found its true expression in the years of their childhood, during which they performed together for the royal courts of Europe. Love and music were one and the same for “The Mozart Children”. They would see musical forms and daring harmonies in their heads that only they could understand; that only they could share. Wildly enthusiastic about each other’s genius, they never became competitive.

Nevertheless, in the background there was always their father—a man dedicated to promoting only Wolfgang, at the expense of Nannerl. As the siblings matured, Nannerl’s prodigious talent was brushed aside. She was forced to stop performing and become a provincial piano teacher, in order to support Wolfgang’s career.

Nannerl might have submitted to a life in her brother’s shadow were it not for the arrival of an admirer who reawakened her passion for life, love and music; her relationship with him, however, put the stability of the Mozart family and their designated roles at risk.

Mozart’s Sister: A Novel paints a picture of life in the lavish salons of Europe in the eighteenth century and tells the extraordinary story of a woman who succeeds in overcoming the obstacles presented by society and her family to reveal her own true genius.

Excerpt from MOZART'S SISTER written by Rita Charnonnier - Random House, 2008

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307346780&view=excerpt