Cliff Eisen

Billy Joel once sang, "Only the Good Die Young". In this 2006 Penguin Classics compilation of letters, edited by one Cliff Eisen and translated from the original German by one Stewart Spencer, we get an intimate portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born 27 January, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria; died, probably of rheumatic inflammatory fever and not, as is commonly thought, of poisoning by the composer Antonio Salieri, 5 December 1791 in Vienna, Austria), arguably the greatest composer of all time. The letters, written in an informal style, provide a fascinating look at the man, his loves, and his methods of composing some of the greatest music ever written. Mozart's complicated relationship with his father Leopold (born 14 November 1719 in Augsburg, Germany [Bavaria]; died 28 May 1787 in Salzburg, Austria), for example, has been written about and is likely exaggerated, for Wolfgang loved his family very much. Though the movie "Amadeus" portrays him as arrogant and conceited, these letters paint a different W.A. Mozart, one who was supremely confident but a devout Christian (and Freemason) and overall a pretty nice guy.

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