The Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon, on Baroque Musician Agostino Steffani: Music Mystery Review

Position descriptions and working conditions nevertheless differ drastically. Franco Scarpinelli and Umberto Stievani expect Cati to restrict activities to the provided apartment and office, supply all equipment, and terminate everything within one month. Cati finds disappointment tolerable through:

• collaboration with brother-in-law Sergio against a stalker;
• computer from the descendants’ lawyer Andrea Moretti;
• contact with Ezio, Biblioteca Marciana librarian and Clara’s -- second-eldest of Cati’s four older sisters -- best friend forever;
• cooperation of Fondazione Musicale Italo-Tedesca’s acting director, Roseanna Salvi; and
• correspondence with Cristina, nun of 20 years, professor in Germany, and Cati’s third-eldest sister.

Clarifying document references and understanding seventeenth- and eighteenth-century events give Cati excuses to examine anti-English, anti-Hanoverian, and anti-Protestant agendas in northern Germany. 

The plot heads Cati through Baroque music, Church history, and Venetian landmarks. Venice-wise, it identifies:

• Arsenale;
• Bacino, Basilica San Marco;
• Caffè Florian, Calle dei Miracoli, Calle del Fumo, Calle Schiavona, Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Campo Santa Marina, Canale Grande, Castello, Celestia;
• I Greci;
• Lido;
• Madonna dell’Orto, Museo Navale;
• Palazzo Ducale, Piazza, Piazzetta, Ponte della Libertà;
• Rialto, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Ruga Giuffa;
• San Filippo e Giacomo, San Giorgio, San Marcuola, San Michele, San Polo, San Zaccaria, Santa Croce, Santa Maria della Fava, Santa Maria della Pietà, Strada Nuova; and
• Via Garibaldi.

History-wise, it juxtaposes:

• Agostino’s production of chamber duets, operas, sacred works; and
• Nicolò Montalbano’s interactions with Philip Christoph von Königsmarck’s (March 4, 1665 – July 2, 1694). 

Friendship with an unnamed Romanian musicologist keeps Caterina’s story competitive with the novelist’s Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries. Super-familiarity with bridges and buildings leads travel-lovers through Venetian lifestyles. Venetian venues likewise make cuisine-lovers hungry for:

• apples cooked in red wine, covered with whipped cream;
• macchiatone drunk with tuna tramezzino;
• rabbit prepared with artichokes, polenta;
• Refosco served with capers, olives, pasta, tomatoes;
• Ribolla Gialla served with branzino baked in salt, courgette sautéed with tomatoes and zucchini; and
• spaghetti served with scallops, zucchini.

So The Jewels of Paradise nudges culturally enriching, educationally entertaining, geo-historically enthralling insights from:

• Atlantic Monthly Press, publisher;
• Donna Leon, author;
• Josh Libra, jacket photographer;
• Regine Mossimann, portraitist;
• Publishers Group West, distributor; and
• Patti Ratchford, jacket designer. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

In "The Jewels of Paradise" Donna Leon introduces Venetian native Caterina "Cati" Pellegrini, who leaves her position in Baroque music at UK's University of Manchester to return home for an intriguing project.
The Old Quadrangle at the University of Manchester's main campus on Oxford Road
Manchester, south central North West England; Sunday, December 20, 2009, 12:55: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Quadrangle,_Manchester_1.jpg

Agostino Steffani devoted his life to church, diplomacy and music.
1816 lithograph by Heinrich Eduard Winter (1788-December 11, 1829) from unknown original
Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 1st Edition: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agostino_Steffani.png
*Replaced with:
Agostino Steffani devoted his life to church, diplomacy and music.
ca. 1714 oil on canvas by Gerhard Kappers (?-1750)
Wasserburg Haus Welbergen, Ochtrup, North Rhine-Westphalia, northwest Germany: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1714_circa_Gerhard_Kappers,_Agostino_Steffani,_oil_on_canvas,_89_x_69_cm.jpg

Donna Leon's "The Jewels of Paradise" spotlights local cuisine: Everything about Italy's Veneto region is distinctive, including its intriguing cuisine; as one of Italy's premier wine-growing regions, the Veneto excels in wine production.
La Merenda (The Snack); ca. 1570 fresco by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530 – 1572) with detail of bussolà (typical cakes of Vicenza in west central Veneto)
Villa Caldogno, west central Veneto, northeastern Italy: Hans A Rosbach (hans a rosbach), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/hansarosbach/8395660155/

Donna Leon, crime writer and resident of Venice (and, since 2015, Switzerland) with passion for Baroque music
Donna Leon; Monday, November 1, 2010, 12:19: Michiel Hendryckx, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donna_Leon.jpg

Caffè Florian numbers among Venetian landmarks featured in "The Jewels of Paradise."
Caffè Florian, considered Italy's oldest coffee house, in continuous operation since 1720, is located on Piazza San Marco and is a popular venue, not only for cuisine, but also for cultural events such as concerts.
Procuratie Nuove, south side of Piazza San Marco, Venice, northeastern Italy: H9180, Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SNC11617.JPG

Leon, Donna. 2012. The Jewels of Paradise. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press.