This book includes everything about Mozart – even things that nobody knew.

You think you know Mozart? Think again! You will be surprised to find out how little you knew about someone so well known: Did Mozart use a special ruler to draw the lines of is sheet music? What was the name of his riding horse and how much did it cost? What type of corkscrew did he use and what happened to his lottery tickets? What cookbook was used for his meals? What was his favorite soap? And what did his wife’s soap smell like? In more than 300 interesting and amusing entries this book offers insight into Mozart’s life and work, living conditions and traveling habits. The perfect gift for anyone who knows Mozart and all those who want to learn more about him!

“Unruly, witty and uncompromising.” FAZ

During the Roaring Twenties she was the queen of New York. Her sharp tongue and biting humor were legendary. She quarreled with Ernest Hemingway, slept with F. Scott Fitzgerald and got drunk with Truman Capote. Dorothy Parker wrote for “Vogue”, “Vanity Fair” and “The New Yorker” and was a member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table, where the city’s cultural crème-de-la-crème came together. Her sarcastic verses and poignant short stories are revealed as tales of broken dreams and waiting for the phone to ring. She became a successful screenwriter in Hollywood, but her career was cut short when she was put on Senator McCarthy’s blacklist because of her political involvement against fascism and racism. Michaela Karl is the first to present a German biography of Dorothy Parker. She portrays her unconventional life and, behind the cynical façade, discovers a sensitive woman on the quest to finding happiness.

An entertaining pilgrimage report of a different sort

Mixed-breed Pecorino, who has achieved international fame as a photo model, follows the Path of Saint Francis, the patron saint of animals, to Assisi. equipped with the credential and lots of snacks, his pilgrimage begins at the beach in Rimini. Twelve adventurous days take him through magnificent landscapes, across mountains and valleys. Along the 300 km path crossing the Apennines Pecorino has a chance to contemplate his professional career and revisit private memories, accidents and mishaps. He thinks about his relationship to humans and comes to surprising conclusions. But do dogs go to heaven? Pecorino the four-pawed pilgrim is an amusing and humorous travel companion on the path to Assisi.

A biography written in places honoring the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Life first led Gustav Mahler from Bohemia to Vienna, where he would become one of the most famous composers and conductors of his time. Further stations were Ljubljana, Olomouc, Kassel, Prague, Budapest, Leipzig and Hamburg. Both his working and private life allowed him to travel to Scandinavia, Finland, Germany, the countries of the Danube Monarchy, Russia, Italy, Great Britain and the USA. Based on photographs, sketches, letters, memories and registration documents, the authors were the first to fully reconstruct all the places that marked the life of the musician. This included retracing all of Mahler’s home addresses, all music institutions he played at as well as the places he visited – with friends and family, to compose and be alone. The topography at hand uses texts and images to shed new light on Mahler’s life between the “Gründerzeit” era (Founding Years) and Modernism, in both the Old and New World.

A unique collection of sayings by the enfant terrible of classical music – taken from rehearsals and recording sessions

One of Nikolaus Harnoncourt's great secrets is his talent for language, probably unparalleled within his fraternity – his ability to translate musical images into basic, humorous, precise verbal images. Sabine M. Gruber, a member of the Schoenberg Chorus since the early 1980s, has – as both participant and observer – kept a record of Harnoncourt's inspired linguistic innovations over the years. Linking these with comments of her own, she examines the personality of Harnoncourt, artist and man, and the nature of the musical and artistic process. Reflections and remarks on works by Bach, Beer, Beethoven, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Monteverdi, Mozart, Purcell, Schubert, Schumann and Strauss combine in this book, which affords a fascinating glimpse through the keyhole of rehearsal-rooms and concert-halls. These are exceptional and authentic insights into the working methods and the personality of one of the most unconventional musicians of our time – full of humour, musical truth and wisdom.

An extensive biography honoring the 100th birthday of the legendary Austrian politician!

Creativity, the willingness to change things – and the grouchy humor he was known for: Kreisky’s multifaceted personality was reflected in his unusual life. The open-minded intellectual was a key figure in the political and economic rise of postwar Austria. As Federal Chancellor (1970-1983), he implemented fundamental reforms as well as long overdue modernizations, thus helping the SPÖ (Social Democratic Party of Austria) become one of the most successful social democratic parties in Western Europe. Willy Brandt was a close friend. Kreisky was a mediator between East and West, a global political player. A smart analyst who also had the talent of connecting with everyday people. This biography is based on the author’s decade-long engagement with the Kreisky phenomenon, including information from hitherto unknown sources. Wolfgang Petritsch held numerous interviews with international contemporaries as well as private friends to complete the dazzling image of this impressive personality.

A politician with an image, a rebel as orator: passionate, fervent, vehement

Johannes Voggenhuber is an exceptional political orator. For him, rhetoric is an instrument essential in dealing with the world’s contemporary conflicts and main concerns: democracy on all levels of governing, the social structure of modern societies, Europe’s unity. Whether as a city’s politician, in the federal government or as a member of the European parliament, he has always fought passionately for his cause. Consequently, he has achieved and changed a lot in the city he comes from, in his country and in Europe. This book shows him as a vehement proponent, an energetic opponent and as one who is never indifferent.

A fascinating journey through the history of an immortal myth.

They are stuck somewhere between this life and the hereafter, roaming through the night and biting pretty women’s necks. Fantasies and fears manifest themselves in the figure of the vampire, who became world-famous in novels and films, but also appears in TV advertisements, political campaigns and psychoanalysis. The vampirologist Rainer M. Köppl tells us about a fear-filled hysteria between superstition and enlightenment. He describes how vampires first found refuge in romantically idealized literature, were reborn in 20th century film and have become more successful than ever at the dawn of the 21st century. Using vivid examples, the author illustrates the perfection of form and function in the figure of the vampire: as a mirror for our fantasies of sex, violence, fear, blood, death, eternal love and immortality.

What are we doing in Afghanistan?

Democracy, human rights, rule of law – it is in the name of these ideals that the West is fighting a war against the Taliban and against terror. Ulrich Ladurner reports from the sites of conflict, where central values of the Western world are being damaged. His journey leads him through a land full of opposites as he follows the traces of conquests and defeats. He looks back on the lively past of an old battlefield that has been both an American and European obsession and tells us about the lives of its people. His stories help us understand why the Great Powers are failing in Afghanistan. A hi(story) book on enemy images and the power of memory, seeking an answer to the controversial question of what we are doing in Afghanistan.

Is God the better manager? The abbot of the “singing monks” answers questions that affect us all.

The basic motto of Saint Benedict – “work and pray” – is followed in the monastery. Does that make monks happier people? Doesn’t an abbot also have to function a crisis manager? Abbot Gregor Henckel Donnersmarck, who had a successful business career before he heard the calling, tells how he and his community in the Monastary of the Holy Cross deal with the trials and tribulations of everyday life. And why the monks’ prayers on the album “Chant – Music for Paradise” were sold over a million times worldwide. Abbot Gregor bases his beliefs on the three Christian virtues faith, hope and love, which are supported by the four Cardinal virtues temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice. He shares his personal experiences to illustrate why religion, spirituality and values are such important sources of strength in times of crisis.