This book reminds me of Suskind's 'Perfume' on many accounts. Both are translations into English. Both are set in Europe of the 18th century, and both have left me disappointed. The Virtuoso is the story of Italian noblewoman Carlotta and her love/crush on the male soprano Gasparo, whom she remembers from her village childhood. So far, so good. But i find that i can't feel anything for any of the characters in this disjointed book. De Moor is a trained singer, and fills the book with technical terms. A background of music study at tertiary level meant i could understand what she was writing, but i didn't feel that it added anything to the story. I couldn't help but imagine that someone without a musical background would find it outright annoying. ( )