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The Man Who Wrote Mozart: The Extraordinary Life of Lorenzo Da Ponte
by Anthony Holden
Anthony Holden
The Man Who Wrote Mozart: The Extraordinary Life of Lorenzo Da Ponte
by Anthony Holden
Anthony Holden
eBook
$9.99
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Overview
"During his picaresque, chameleon career, [Da Ponte] was always on the move. Jew and Catholic, priest and womaniser, poet and bankrupt, shopkeeper and university professor, he began his long life in and around Venice and ended it in New York. It is hard to imagine a more flamboyant personal history, a gift to the biographer Anthony Holden, who relishes his subject's sheer exuberance." — Lucasta Miller, The Guardian
"Lorenzo da Ponte was, at various times, a Catholic priest, a gambler, a philanderer, an entrepreneur, a poet, a friend of Casanova, an enemy of the Venetian state, a teacher, a shopkeeper, a courtier and a troublemaker. The tangled yarn of his life would be worth spinning even had he not also written the libretto for Mozart's three greatest operas. In The Man Who Wrote Mozart, Anthony Holden unravels the full nine decades of Da Ponte's picaresque life, eight of which did not involve his friend Wolfgang... Holden's narrative verve spans continents and centuries. His life of Da Ponte is engrossing and bound to be definitive." — Rafael Behr, The Guardian
"[T]he writer who evokes Mozart's world most vividly - albeit obliquely - is the journalist and music critic Anthony Holden... Da Ponte's life... is certainly a rollicking yarn... a riproaring read." — Hugh Canning, Sunday Times
"Anthony Holden writes extremely well, telling the racy story energetically... He provides a rattlingly good read, filled with vivid anecdotes." — Spectator
"Anthony Holden steers through this incredible picaresque story with elan, well paced gusto and a gentle, if not uncritical, eye... Anthony Holden's book is a fine achievement." — The Oldie
"Anthony Holden's... biography, brings assiduous new research to Da Ponte's early and late life and tells his story in journalistic deadpan." — The Tablet
"Holden's companionable new biography is a refreshing take on an old story." — Mail on Sunday
"[E]ntertaining." — The Herald
"He writes with a sincere enthusiasm about the creative partnership with Mozart." — Sunday Telegraph
"The trajectory of Lorenzo Da Ponte's life was remarkable." — London Review of Books
"This is a tale of a literary adventurer, full of mystery... Holden does his readers a favour by making his subject interesting to an audience beyond opera lovers." — Sunday Business Post
"[A] genuine pleasure. At turns amusing, poignant and instructive, it engagingly captures the chemistry between librettist and composer that produced those masterpieces of the operatic repertoire." — Irish Times
"Phew! The only problem with this sparkling biography is keeping up with the headlong pace set by what was really an extraordinary life." — Classic FM Magazine
"Anything biographical or musical that Anthony Holden writes is automatically worth reading, and this exquisitely written book sees him discourse eruditely on both topics." — Observer
"Clear, impartial, accessible and concise." — The Times
"An enjoyable biography of a remarkable man." — The Sunday Times
"Anthony Holden's compelling narrative does justice to the man and to the highs and lows of his unusually varied career." — Waterstone's Books Quarterly
"Lorenzo da Ponte was, at various times, a Catholic priest, a gambler, a philanderer, an entrepreneur, a poet, a friend of Casanova, an enemy of the Venetian state, a teacher, a shopkeeper, a courtier and a troublemaker. The tangled yarn of his life would be worth spinning even had he not also written the libretto for Mozart's three greatest operas. In The Man Who Wrote Mozart, Anthony Holden unravels the full nine decades of Da Ponte's picaresque life, eight of which did not involve his friend Wolfgang... Holden's narrative verve spans continents and centuries. His life of Da Ponte is engrossing and bound to be definitive." — Rafael Behr, The Guardian
"[T]he writer who evokes Mozart's world most vividly - albeit obliquely - is the journalist and music critic Anthony Holden... Da Ponte's life... is certainly a rollicking yarn... a riproaring read." — Hugh Canning, Sunday Times
"Anthony Holden writes extremely well, telling the racy story energetically... He provides a rattlingly good read, filled with vivid anecdotes." — Spectator
"Anthony Holden steers through this incredible picaresque story with elan, well paced gusto and a gentle, if not uncritical, eye... Anthony Holden's book is a fine achievement." — The Oldie
"Anthony Holden's... biography, brings assiduous new research to Da Ponte's early and late life and tells his story in journalistic deadpan." — The Tablet
"Holden's companionable new biography is a refreshing take on an old story." — Mail on Sunday
"[E]ntertaining." — The Herald
"He writes with a sincere enthusiasm about the creative partnership with Mozart." — Sunday Telegraph
"The trajectory of Lorenzo Da Ponte's life was remarkable." — London Review of Books
"This is a tale of a literary adventurer, full of mystery... Holden does his readers a favour by making his subject interesting to an audience beyond opera lovers." — Sunday Business Post
"[A] genuine pleasure. At turns amusing, poignant and instructive, it engagingly captures the chemistry between librettist and composer that produced those masterpieces of the operatic repertoire." — Irish Times
"Phew! The only problem with this sparkling biography is keeping up with the headlong pace set by what was really an extraordinary life." — Classic FM Magazine
"Anything biographical or musical that Anthony Holden writes is automatically worth reading, and this exquisitely written book sees him discourse eruditely on both topics." — Observer
"Clear, impartial, accessible and concise." — The Times
"An enjoyable biography of a remarkable man." — The Sunday Times
"Anthony Holden's compelling narrative does justice to the man and to the highs and lows of his unusually varied career." — Waterstone's Books Quarterly
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940185791943 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Plunkett Lake Press |
| Publication date: | 06/24/2024 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Born in Southport, Lancashire, England, Anthony Ivan Holden (1947-2023) attended two boarding schools before studying English language and literature at Merton College, Oxford, where he edited the student magazine Isis and translated ancient Greek works for the Oxford University Drama Society.
Holden started his journalism career at a regional newspaper, covering the trial of the psychopathic poisoner Graham Young in St Albans. His book on the case, The St. Albans Poisoner, was filmed as “The Young Poisoner’s Handbook”. Named Young Journalist of the Year in 1972, he was on the staff of The Sunday Times (1973–79), was named News Reporter of the Year in 1976 for his work in Northern Ireland, and was Columnist of the Year in 1977. He was Washington Correspondent and US editor of The Observer (1979–81), Assistant Editor of The Times (1981–82), Executive Editor, Today (1985–86), and chief classical music critic of The Observer (2002–08).
His several books about the British monarchy include Prince Charles: A Biography, Their Royal Highnesses: The Prince & Princess of Wales, A Week in the Life of the Royal Family, Anthony Holden’s Royal Quiz, Charles (serialized in The Sunday Times), and The Tarnished Crown. His other books are Laurence Olivier, Behind the Oscars: The Secret History of the Academy Awards, William Shakespeare: The Man Behind the Genius, the memoir Based on a True Story: A Writer’s Life and The Man Who Wrote Mozart: The Extraordinary Life of Lorenzo Da Ponte.
In 1999–2000 Holden was an inaugural Fellow of the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. He served on the Board of Governors of the South Bank Centre (2002–08) and was a Trustee of the Shakespeare North Trust. Holden has also made frequent appearances on television, presenting documentaries such as “Charles at Forty” (ITV), “Anthony Holden on Poker” (BBC 2) and “Who Killed Tchaikovsky?” (Omnibus, BBC 1). In the mid-1980s, he presented a weekly BBC Radio 4 chat show, “In the Air”.
Holden spent a year playing poker professionally while researching his book Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player, which covers his experiences between the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments in 1988 and 1989. His book Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom is a journal of his second stint as a professional player, between the 2005 and 2006 WSOP events.
Holden started his journalism career at a regional newspaper, covering the trial of the psychopathic poisoner Graham Young in St Albans. His book on the case, The St. Albans Poisoner, was filmed as “The Young Poisoner’s Handbook”. Named Young Journalist of the Year in 1972, he was on the staff of The Sunday Times (1973–79), was named News Reporter of the Year in 1976 for his work in Northern Ireland, and was Columnist of the Year in 1977. He was Washington Correspondent and US editor of The Observer (1979–81), Assistant Editor of The Times (1981–82), Executive Editor, Today (1985–86), and chief classical music critic of The Observer (2002–08).
His several books about the British monarchy include Prince Charles: A Biography, Their Royal Highnesses: The Prince & Princess of Wales, A Week in the Life of the Royal Family, Anthony Holden’s Royal Quiz, Charles (serialized in The Sunday Times), and The Tarnished Crown. His other books are Laurence Olivier, Behind the Oscars: The Secret History of the Academy Awards, William Shakespeare: The Man Behind the Genius, the memoir Based on a True Story: A Writer’s Life and The Man Who Wrote Mozart: The Extraordinary Life of Lorenzo Da Ponte.
In 1999–2000 Holden was an inaugural Fellow of the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. He served on the Board of Governors of the South Bank Centre (2002–08) and was a Trustee of the Shakespeare North Trust. Holden has also made frequent appearances on television, presenting documentaries such as “Charles at Forty” (ITV), “Anthony Holden on Poker” (BBC 2) and “Who Killed Tchaikovsky?” (Omnibus, BBC 1). In the mid-1980s, he presented a weekly BBC Radio 4 chat show, “In the Air”.
Holden spent a year playing poker professionally while researching his book Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player, which covers his experiences between the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments in 1988 and 1989. His book Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom is a journal of his second stint as a professional player, between the 2005 and 2006 WSOP events.
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