O Sole Mio Italian Arias, Song & Mandolins

Between 1769 and 1773, Mozart made three travels to Italy, under the guidance of his father Leopold. The present program traces the stages especially of his first two trip from 1769 to 1771, during which the young Mozart played an important role in Milan's musical life, and reconstructs the most important musical encounters. Arias from Mitridate, Ascanio in Alba (written for the Teatro Regio Ducale Milan) and Betulia liberata (written for Padua) can be heard here. The program is rounded off by the musical background that Mozart found on the peninsula, illustrated by arias from operas by Guglielmi, Myslivecek and Gluck - all representatives of a style and a search for language that was precisely the reason why the "viaggio in Italia" was an essential stage in the training of a young composer.

For more than two decades, Cecilia Bartoli has undeniably been one of the leading artists in the field of classical music. All over the world, her new operatic roles, her concert programs and recording projects – in exclusivity with Decca – are expected with great eagerness and curiosity. The exceptional amount of 8 million CDs sold, more than 100 weeks ranking in the international pop charts, numerous Golden Discs, four Grammys® (USA), nine Echos and a Bambi (Germany), two Classical Brit Awards (UK), the Victoire de la musique (France) and many other prestigious awards reflect the immense success of for example Opera proibita and her solo albums dedicated to Vivaldi, Gluck and Salieri and that she is firmly established as today’s “best-selling classical artist”.

Thomas Quasthoff’s great artistry needs no introduction. Here he follows up his much-raised Bach Cantatas recording with another project perfectly suited to his dark-hued, flexible voice. In anticipation of the forthcoming Haydn year – the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death falls in May 2009 – Quasthoff turns his attention to the Viennese master’s considerable operatic output, with an album of arias drawn from both Haydn’s comic and serious operas.