Not being an opera fan, or a lover of classical literature, I was unsure of what I would find when I cracked open Rollan Wengert's new book Zaide: Mozart's Lost Opera. Intrigued by the story line, but mostly wishing to support a local author, I agreed to read it with no promise of how long it would take (having little ones tends to limit the reading time). However, I finished the book in record time due to it's engaging story.
The book fleshes out the missing details from Mozart's unfinished opera around 1780. It follows the story of Zaide, a slave in the Sultan's harem, as she meets and grows to love Gomatz, a new slave of Puritan background. Desperate for happiness, and for someone to really care for her as a real person, she schemes to be near him which endangers her position of safety in the Sultan's harem. She must then decide between comfortable safety and knowing real love.
The author went to great pains to develop the story around the pieced together details we have of this incomplete opera. Woven throughout the story are musical references that both set the tone for the current events and remind the reader that this was originally intended to be a musical masterpiece. The story was well developed and contained detailed descriptions of the characters and setting to help the reader experience the story. The ending will leave you wanting another act to be written.
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