Mozart in Vienna

Simon P. Keefe is James Rossiter Hoyle Chair of Music at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of three books on Mozart, including Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion (Cambridge, 2012), which won the 2013 Marjorie Weston Emerson Award. He is also the editor of six volumes for Cambridge University Press, including Mozart Studies (2006) and Mozart Studies 2 (2015), and is general editor of the Royal Musical Association monographs series. In 2005 he was elected a life member of the Academy for Mozart Research at the International Mozart Foundation in Salzburg.

'Simon P. Keefe is one of our greatest experts on Mozart's life and on his music. In Keefe's new book he weaves the two together into an extended narrative showing the many connections between the two. His graceful prose makes this admirable book accessible to anyone – whether beginner, experienced amateur, or professional – who is interested in gaining a fuller understanding of Mozart the man and the conditions under which he produced his extraordinary music.' Neal Zaslaw, Cornell University, New York

• Part I. Beginnings, 1781–1782: 1. Settling in Vienna: exploiting opportunities for instrumental performance and composition; 2. Singers and effects: seeking operatic success in Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Part II. Instrumental and Vocal Music, 1782–1786: 3. Consolidating experiences and expanding horizons: the instrumental music, 1782–83; 4. 'You can easily imagine that I must inevitably play some new things': Mozart's piano concertos and other instrumental works for concerts, 1784–1786; 5. Composing, performing and publishing: the 'Haydn' string quartets and other chamber music for publication, 1784–86; 6. Operas, arias, ensembles, songs and a mass: vocal and dramatic music, 1782–86; Part III. The Da Ponte Operas, 1786–1790: 7. Le nozze di Figaro; 8. In Prague and Vienna: Don Giovanni, 1787–88; 9. The Figaro revival and Così fan tutte; Part IV. Instrumental Music, 1786–90: 10. For publication and performance: solo and chamber music; 11. Orchestral music and concert activities; Part V. Mozart in 1791: 12. New beginnings, continuations and endings: Mozart's last year.