Roland Topor L’inquilino Del Terzo Piano

Céline Moinet is often asked why she decided to become an oboe player. She was adamant: she did not want to play a brass or stringed instrument or even a piano – it had to be woodwind. After having begun, as most children do, with the recorder, she turned at age 7 to the oboe, which had captivated her from the word go. On her new album she takes a look at Johann Sebastian Bach: "Here, the oboe becomes the narrator."

Giovanni Paisiello was one of the most admired composers of opera in the second half of the 18th century. His reputation was mainly based on his comic operas which he composed while working in Naples. Although not born in Naples, he considered himself a Neapolitan, having studied at the Conservatorio di S Onofri. Paisiello's career can be divided into three stages. In the first he concentrated on composing comic operas, mainly for Naples.

Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel was born in 1750, died in 1817. He first prepared for a service in the church, taking holy orders in 1774. Being musically gifted he was educated on organ and fortepiano and regularly played in the cathedral and at the seminary Stift Neumünster in Würzburg, his native city. When a minister in the service of the Elector of Mainz heard him play he invited him to visit the court in Mainz. Apparently the Elector liked his playing and offered him a permanent position. The political situation was difficult and considerably influenced his career. In 1792 French troops attacked Mainz and the court moved to Aschaffenburg; the chapel was disbanded.

That the four main works on this disc have never been recorded before is no reflection on the quality of the music or the composer. Joseph Martin Kraus, the German-born composer-contemporary of Mozart's working in Sweden, was all but forgotten after his death in 1792 and recordings of his works have been few and far between. And his four Italian cantatas on this disc were nearly completely forgotten after the death of the soprano they were written for in 1790.

Zu Antonio Salieris Schülern gehörten Beethoven, Schubert und Liszt. Er wurde als Wiener Hofkapellmeister bewundert. Und überhaupt galt Salieri zu seiner Zeit als einer der beliebtesten Opernkomponisten Europas. Doch nicht zuletzt dank des Kino-Hits »Amadeus« von Milos Forman verbindet mit man seinem Namen die abenteuerliche Geschichte, er hätte Mozart vergiftet. Dabei schätzten sich Mozart und Salieri. Zudem war Mozart gar von Salieris Oper »La Fiera di Venezia« derart begeistert, dass er 1773 Klaviervariationen über ein Duett aus dem II. Akt komponierte. Dieses Duett »Mio caro Adone« bildet nun auch einen der vielen Höhepunkte in der Weltersteinspielung von Salieris komischer Oper »La Fiera di Venezia«.