In 1778, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) leaves Salzburg for Paris. The French capital promises to liberate the 22-yearold from the suffocating grip of his father and from a city that is unable to accommodate his genius. But there is no grand entrance for the former child prodigy. When Mozart arrives in Paris, he is cash-strapped, unknown, and his French is limited. His mentor, the critic Baron von Grimm, introduces him to a number of Parisian nobles. With these contacts, recognition is still hard-won; the French court appears indifferent to Mozart's talents and disapproving of his spontaneity at times.

Tracing the composer's six-month stay in the city of lights, Mozart in Paris dramatizes the confrontation between a bright-eyed genius and everyday reality. Frantz Duchazeau spotlights a frustrating yet formative period of the composer's life--and in doing so creates a living, breathing portrait of one of history's most gifted musicians.