New Comic-Book Series Brings Mozart to Life in Modern-Day Vienna
Musikverein, Inc. is an independently published comic-book saga that places Wolfgang Amadè Mozart in present-day Vienna, where he searches for work as a composer and must prove his talent at a modern music and creative agency. In this guest contribution, illustrator Greta Di Raimondo and writer Emanuele Dileone share the personal inspiration, historical research and creative ideas behind the series.
: Guest contribution by Greta Di Raimondo and Emanuele Dileone
Bringing Mozart to modern Vienna: The story behind Musikverein Inc.
What if Wolfgang Amadè Mozart didn’t belong solely to music history, but suddenly found himself navigating the chaos, bureaucracy, and absurdities of 21st-century Vienna?
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
That was the exact question that sparked the creation of Musikverein Inc.
Imagine Mozart—with his voluminous, lion-like mane, a red sweater, black trousers, and an everyday coat—strolling through his elegant Vienna. Picture him catching a tram, listening to music on his headphones, submitting job applications, and striving to land an opportunity at Musikverein Inc., the city's premier music and creative agency. Once inside, amid endless internships and thankless tasks that test his patience to the limit, Mozart finds the stage not only to prove his immense talent to his superiors, but also to realize that, ultimately, no century could ever dim his light.
The idea for Musikverein Inc. was born two years ago from the desire to tell Mozart's story in a different way, paying tribute to him in a creative and unique manner—but in truth, it all began much earlier. It started with a young girl's love for Mozart, who found in him a point of reference, an inspiration and a companion with whom to grow up and shape her very life.
In every page of this comic book saga, there are the memories of first listening to his music, of reading the first pages about his life, and the thrill of imagining him alive today, still a protagonist of our world. There is the joy of thinking of him, but also the deep realization of having shaped one's own life in tribute to his. For this reason, in Musikverein Inc., every page is a love letter that began twenty years ago and that we now offer back to our readers.
That little girl is now Greta Di Raimondo, the illustrator of Musikverein Inc., who together with Emanuele Dileone, the writer of the saga, wanted to approach his figure using a modern language—one that could resonate with today's audience and spark curiosity even in those who have never engaged with his life or music before. Through our work, we set out to show just how surprisingly modern Mozart truly is, proving that he could effortlessly be a real protagonist of our time.
Classic Genius Meets Modern Chaos
In Musikverein Inc., modern Vienna becomes more than just a backdrop; it acts as a stage where the past and present collide head-on. Mozart makes contact with the typical mechanisms of today's working world: internships, grueling tasks, and often delicate relationships with colleagues and employers.
In the initial trilogy, Mozart perfectly embodies the figure of the modern artist, who often finds himself struggling to prove his worth within a working environment. This is how an eighteenth-century man becomes for us an example of resilience, of a freelancer (as he indeed was), capable of fighting to affirm his own identity and his talent, even in the most difficult situations.
Through this premise, we wanted to explore deep, resonant themes: artistic identity, the commercialization of talent, fame, and adaptation.
With a visual trait reduced to the essential, which imitates and conveys the idea of a modern and contemporary environment, we tried to capture the atmosphere of Vienna—its grand architecture contrasting with everyday modern urban life—to make Mozart’s presence feel uniquely out of place yet surprisingly plausible.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Designing Wolfgang: Reconstructing a Face
When it came to bringing Mozart to life on the page, the biggest challenge was defining his visual identity. Rather than creating a generic or stylized caricature, the process was rooted in careful historical research.
The character design began by studying the few authenticated portraits painted during Mozart’s lifetime—such as the famous unfinished portrait by Joseph Lange, Johann Nepomuk della Croce’s family portrait, and the Bologna portrait.
These visual sources were then cross-referenced with written accounts and testimonies from those who actually knew him, as his wife Constanze, his friend Michael Kelly, his sister and other people in his circle. By comparing these historical records, a clear set of recurring features emerged: his strikingly large and expressive eyes, his naturally voluminous hair (who loved to style and leave it natural), his slight frame, his prominent nose, and an underlying sweetness in his facial expression.
Synthesizing these consistent details made it possible to construct the definitive look for Wolfgang in the comic—a design that remains historically faithful to the real man while feeling vibrant, expressive, and perfectly suited to modern sequential storytelling.
The Architecture of the Saga: From Core Trilogy to Expanding Universe
The narrative universe of Musikverein Inc. is designed with a specific, dynamic structure. At its heart lies in the main trilogy, which forms the emotional and plot-driven core of Wolfgang’s journey in modern Vienna. Around this central structure, we are developing expansion episodes—standalone stories that slot directly between the main volumes, much like downloadable content or side-quests in a video game. These expansions allow us to zoom in on specific moments, secondary characters, and hidden chapters of his daily life without disrupting the main narrative arc.
As the saga unfolds, future episodes will continue to blend wild creative reimagining with real historical events from Mozart’s biography. We are grounding the story in actual places and milestones—from his existing connections to Salzburg to upcoming storylines that will take him to Prague—while adapting these historical moments into contemporary equivalents. It is a continuous dialogue between real history and modern fiction: taking the authentic events, relationships, and travels of Mozart’s life and asking how they would manifest in today’s world, all while keeping the imaginative spark of our contemporary setting alive.
Creating Musikverein Inc. has been more than just making a comic book saga—it is our way of keeping a conversation with Mozart alive, bridging centuries through art, humor and, of course, music. We hope that as you turn these pages, you not only smile at his modern misadventures, but also feel the timeless spark of a genius who still has so much to say to our world. After all, brilliant music doesn't belong to the past; it simply finds new ways to play.
The main trilogy of Musikverein Inc. and its expansion volumes are independently published and available internationally on Amazon (in both Kindle eBook and paperback formats, in Italian and English).
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.