A crucial episode from the life of the great composer--rendered in
graphic novel form Color illustrations throughout
In 1778, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) leaves Salzburg for Paris.
The French capital promises to liberate the 22-yearold from the
suffocating grip of his father and from a city that is unable to
accommodate his genius. But there is no grand entrance for the former
child prodigy. When Mozart arrives in Paris, he is cash-strapped,
unknown, and his French is limited. His mentor, the critic Baron von
Grimm, introduces him to a number of Parisian nobles. With these
contacts, recognition is still hard-won; the French court appears
indifferent to Mozart's talents and disapproving of his spontaneity at
times.
Tracing the composer's six-month stay in the city of lights, Mozart in
Paris dramatizes the confrontation between a bright-eyed genius and
everyday reality. Frantz Duchazeau spotlights a frustrating yet
formative period of the composer's life--and in doing so creates a
living, breathing portrait of one of history's most gifted musicians.