Musical Murder

I enjoy a good murder mystery, and lately I have discovered a new writer, Paul Adam, who writes mysteries with musical content.  His lead character, Gianni Castiglione, is a violin maker in Cremona, and his main subject is violins.

He includes a lot of historical detail, including in his latest, Paganini's Ghost, information about Isabella Colbran and her unfortunate marriage to Rossini.  The picture is Colbran with a lyre.  Sorry, no Colbran with a violin.

The thing that attracted my interest was the connection between opera and gambling.  Apparently those enormous useless lobbies found in most opera houses were gambling casinos.  Opera was financed with gambling.  Now there is something to think about.
#ad