The Virtuoso
1998 Nominated

The Virtuoso

Translated from the original Dutch to English
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

For one entire opera season, Carlotta, a Neapolitan duchess, sits in her candle-lit box captive to her passion for Gasparo, the tantalizing castrato with whom she has been smitten since their childhood together in a small Italian village. De Moor recreates the world of Italian music and Naples’ fashionable aristocracy with a sensuality that takes the breath away. First published in Holland, and since translated into thirteen languages, this unusual tale of song and sensuality has seduced readers around the world. A novel of sweeping gestures with delicate grace notes, The Virtuoso is a story of an exceptional place and and exceptional passion.

Original title in Dutch De virtuoos, publisher Uitgeverij Contact (1993)

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Margriet
de Moor

Margriet de Moor (born 1941) debuted in 1988 with the collection of stories, "Op de rug gezien" (Seen From Behind), followed by three novellas in one volume, "Dubbelportret" (Double Portrait, 1989). These publications earned her the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize in 1990. Her highly praised first novel, "Eerst grijs dan wit dan blauw" (First Grey, Then White, Then Blue, 1990) won her the AKO Literature Prize, for which "De virtuoos" (The Virtuoso, 1993) was also nominated. She has since published successful novels such as "Hertog van Egypte" (The Duke of Egypt, 1996) and "Zee-binnen" (The Sea Road, 1999).
Margriet de Moor (born 1941) debuted in 1988 with the collection of stories, "Op de rug gezien" (Seen From Behind), followed by three novellas in one volume, "Dubbelportret" (Double Portrait, 1989). These publications earned her the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize in 1990. Her highly praised first novel, "Eerst grijs dan wit dan blauw" (First Grey, Then White, Then Blue, 1990) won her the AKO Literature Prize, for which "De virtuoos" (The Virtuoso, 1993) was also nominated. She has since published successful novels such as "Hertog van Egypte" (The Duke of Egypt, 1996) and "Zee-binnen" (The Sea Road, 1999).

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Ina
Rilke

Ina Rilke is a Mozambique-born translator who specializes in translating Dutch literature and French literature into English.

Born in Mozambique, she went to school in Porto in Portugal, attending Oporto British School. She studied translation at the University of Amsterdam, where she later taught.

Writers she has translated include Hafid Bouazza, Louis Couperus, Hella Haasse, W. F. Hermans, Arthur Japin, Erwin Mortier, Multatuli, Cees Nooteboom, Connie Palmen, Pierre Péju and Dai Sijie. Rilke has won the Vondel Prize, the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the Flemish Culture Prize. She has also been nominated for the Best Translated Book Award, the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and the IMPAC Book Award.

Ina Rilke is a Mozambique-born translator who specializes in translating Dutch literature and French literature into English.

Born in Mozambique, she went to school in Porto in Portugal, attending Oporto British School. She studied translation at the University of Amsterdam, where she later taught.

Writers she has translated include Hafid Bouazza, Louis Couperus, Hella Haasse, W. F. Hermans, Arthur Japin, Erwin Mortier, Multatuli, Cees Nooteboom, Connie Palmen, Pierre Péju and Dai Sijie. Rilke has won the Vondel Prize, the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the Flemish Culture Prize. She has also been nominated for the Best Translated Book Award, the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and the IMPAC Book Award.

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