Le sorelle di Mozart

“This is the story of some unique women. Brilliant musicians. Innovative composers. Sublime performers. Unique women able to emerge in a world that would willingly do without them.That considered them unsuitable, shameless, scandalous, incapable. This is the story of some unique women, in a world of men.”

Some were prevented from playing, others could not sign the compositions resulting from their work, while the doors of the conservatories were open only to men, the Church forbade them to sing, society relegated them to an ancillary role, subordinated to the male will… The official historiography of music for centuries has excluded women from its pages, ignoring revolutionary composers, innovative musicians and talented young people. Forgetting, or neglecting, experiences and insights destined to change the course of classical music.

In this book Beatrice Venezi, a young conductor, gives us back their surprising and meaningful stories. We thus discover the life of Hildegard, a brilliant nun who used singing to communicate with God; that of the great Baroque composers portrayed by the Gentileschi; that of the women of the eighteenth-nineteenth century, confined in the house and defined only in their role to men, as Mozart’s sister, or Schumann’s wife; up to the rebellious musicians of the last century and today, to Maria Callas, for example, to Nadia Boulanger, Martha Argerich, Björk, women who, despite the difficulties, have forced the boundaries of the space that was given to them in the world of music, fighting for themselves and for future generations.

This is a story of talent and determination, of resourcefulness and technique: an all-female path that comes from the Middle Ages to the present day, highlighting the mistakes of the past and those in which we still persevere. Twelve examples of courage and determination for all women who, even today, are forced to abandon their passion, to give up a dream, just because someone believes that the job is not suitable for a girl.