STAR AND THE MAESTRO

Mozart makes beautiful music with Star, a starling who can imitate many kinds of sounds.

In Vienna, even when unusual pets were all the rage, local birds like starlings weren’t very popular. But the story goes that in the spring of 1784, Mozart heard a starling in a pet store sing out one of his own compositions. Though the bird had a plain appearance—“with a faint purple sheen, / and maybe some green, / And some simple spots on his back”—Mozart had to buy him. Had the avian singer, who once lived on a farm, where he was considered a schädling (pest), learned the tune directly from the composer, who often hummed as he walked around the city? The story is told in light rhyming verse, and whether or not readers know much about Mozart, they’ll enjoy seeing the ordinary bird triumph over the more vibrant and unusual specimens at the pet store. Mozart, in his bright red coat and traditional white wig (it even flies off his head in one spread), stands out in the cartoonish digital illustrations, often brown and black in tone to depict 18th-century Vienna. The pictures are enlivened by the unusual animals for sale in the shop and by peacocks and parrots out in the street. A few modern scenes are included, reminding us of Mozart’s lasting appeal.

Zeroes in on a delightful, quirky aspect of the famed composer’s life.