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Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.īrimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors.

When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Readers and critics were enchanted as NPR commented, "Towles writes with grace and verve about the mores and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change."Ī Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.With his breakout debut novel, Rules of Civility, Amor Towles established himself as a master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction, bringing late 1930s Manhattan to life with splendid atmosphere and a flawless command of style. In his bestselling novel 'A Gentleman of Moscow,' author Amor Towles captures the social upheaval in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, as a Russian. This is the “delightful composition” that Sofia plays to win the student competition at the Moscow Conservatory (despite the Count’s concerns that it might be too delightful). In 1922, on the heels of the Russian Revolution, the Count is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal and sentenced to permanent house arrest in Moscow’s grand Hotel Metropol. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No. Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow recounts the story of Count Alexander Rostov. It is the second of the three Nocturnes that Sofia plays for the Count in the 1954 Chapter, the day he discovers that she has been studying piano in secret. Horowitz, who defected from the Soviet Union in 1925, had his debut in the United States at Carnegie Hall in 1929 playing this piece.įrederic Chopin: Nocturnes, Op 9 No. It is a recording of Vladimir Horowitz playing this concerto at Carnegie Hall that the Count listens to alone in his room at the end of the 1946 Chapter (thanks to Richard Vanderwhile), and which becomes a symbol for him of “the Former” over “the Latter” in the 1952 Chapter. Though The Nutcracker, its spirit, and its various characters (especially Drosselmeyer) are referenced throughout the novel, Act One is featured at the end of the 1926 Chapter in the Count’s list of three important contributions by Russia to the West. Pyotr Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Act One (1892) The following playlist includes five classical pieces referenced in A Gentleman in Moscowlisted below in the order in which they appear in the novel: