The Black Violin

by Maxence Fermine

Book Overview

There were many musical souls adrift on that raft of silence that is Venice. There was the music of Johannes Karelsky.There was the music of Erasmus, the violin maker. And there was the music of war.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743456858
• ISBN13: 9780743456852
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 133 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

A Black Parable

Johannes Karelsky was a violinist, so the book begins, and he was also a genius. After an all too brief period of notoriety as a child prodigy, Johannes ends up in the napoleonic wars, almost loses his life, and then meets Erasmus. Erasmus is a violin maker of the school of Stradivari, the last of his school. Johannes wants to write the greatest opera of all time. Erasmus wants to make the greatest violin ever made--the black violin. And both of them are strangely haunted by a mysterious womanly voice, the voice of Carla, perhaps the most beautiful voice of all time.This is a short book, easily read in one or two sittings. It is powerfully written, in a simple, lucid style. It is a fable, a parable, not meant to be taken literally. Like any parable it can be taken on many levels. What does it mean to be a genius? What is the point of striving for perfection? What is the price of greatness? Will either man succeed? And if he does, what will it cost him? You will have to read the book to find out; and after reading it, you may want to read it again.An absolutely first rate book which will get you to thinking. Is it a work of genius? I dare not say, but, I do recommend it. Highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

insight into the European Classical period of music

At five years old Johannes Karelsky heard a traveling gypsy perform in a violin and knew that is what he wanted to do. Two years later he is making the rounds of the late eighteenth century European courts receiving accolades as a great violinist though a child prodigy.Almost a quarter of a century later in 1796 Napoleon drafts Johannes to serve on the Italian front. He is mortally wounded during a battle, but instead of dying a mysterious woman gives comfort by singing to him though the night. Somehow that visit gives Johannes the will to live because she and her voice serve as a reminder that he still needs to compose the greatest opera ever. Johannes remains in Venice residing in the home of Erasmus, a maker of violins. When Johannes sees the BLACK VIOLIN he has a deep obsessive urge to play with this exquisite instrument, but Erasmus warns him to look and admire, but don't touch. Will he use the violin anyway; will the woman who rescued him on the battlefield return; and finally what about the most beautiful opera in the world?Though intriguing in terms of insight into the European Classical period of music, THE BLACK VIOLIN at times turns to syrupy in its bittersweet look at the Napoleonic Age in Italy. The key three characters are delightful in different ways so that fans of the period will appreciate this novella especially when it avoids the unnecessary sweetener.Harriet Klausner