Mozart 1786

Volume 4 of the complete survey of Mozart's Piano Concertos undertaken by Naxos in the late 1980s and early 1990s contains two of his most-loved works, masterpieces both. This particular CD was recorded in the Italian Institute in Budapest and produced by Ibolya Tóth (her recordings are almost always entirely splendid) in October 1989. Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K488 is often regarded as one of Mozart's sunniest compositions, but the central Adagio is deep and complex, and the piano part is equally balanced with the orchestra, making the Concerto work on several levels.

Throughout every period of musical history the artistry of outstanding singers or instrumentalists has inspired many composers to write works with their individual characteristics—technical prowess, tonal quality, imaginative range—in mind. Within a period of about twenty-five years—between about 1790 and 1815—the clarinet repertoire in particular was enriched by two major composers—Mozart and Weber—who each wrote a succession of works which remain pre-eminent in their respective genres.

The overwhelming success of the Prague performance of Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in December 1786, led to the commissioning of a new opera. Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte turned to the Don Juan theme, making this promising material the basis for their new opera. In the spring of 1787 Mozart began to compose it in Vienna, and was able to complete it in Prague by the autumn of the same year. Don Giovanni received its first performance, under the composer’s personal direction, on 20 October 1787 at Prague’s Count Nostitz National Theatre.

Boccherini never scaled the heights of his contemporaries Haydn and Mozart, but he was a fluent composer, tuneful, and imaginative in his orchestral scoring. Doubled lower strings in Symphony No. 3 create a deep-pile texture; mandolin/guitar-like pizzicato in the second movement may reflect his employment in Madrid by the Spanish Infante; colourful flutes replace oboes in the minuet (though piercing piccolo solo on this recording is perhaps a quirk too far).

The only out-and-out solo piece is Weber's Andante and Hungarian Rondo… Skinner makes a beautiful sound in the expressive Andante, and hurtles effectively through the virtuoso coda… even if you're not particularly a bassoon buff you'll find this a very enjoyable programme

Mozart+ is an exceptional selection of some of the most beautiful concert and opera arias by W.A. Mozart as well as discoveries of largely unknown arias from operas by Tommaso Traetta, Giovanni Paisiello and Vicente Martín y Soler, reflecting the exchange of musical ideas between Mozart and his contemporaries and getting these three composers out of Mozart's shadow.

Bezuidenhout plays Mozart on the fortepiano like no-one else. Here he performs an assortment of solo works with all the sensitivity, expressivity, flair and stylistic integrity that has marked him out as a supreme master of the early keyboard…and the genius of Mozart is brilliantly and eloquently served.

This 10 CD-Set offers a collection of the most popular Mass compositions from the Viennese Classics up to the romantic period. It includes famous masterpieces like Mozart’s „Coronation Mass“, Beethoven Missa solemnis, Haydn „Harmony Mass“, Gounod St. Cecilia Mass but also rarities like „Missa Sancti Joannis Nepomuceni“ by Michael Haydn, the „Coronation Mass“ by Cherubini, „Missa sacra“ by Robert Schumann and the „Misa solemnis“ of the german romantic composer Friedrich Kiel. Performed by well known artists like the Vienna Boys’ Choir, RIAS Chamber Choir, Tölzer Boys’ Choir, Wiener Akademie and last but not least also includes the spectacular recording of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with conductor Michael Gielen.