Mozart Concert Arias

One of the finest and most charismatic tenors on the international classical music scene, Rolando Villazon’s many best-selling recordings have covered an extraordinary range of musical styles from his great opera roles to the Baroque, Mexican favourites and popular song. For his new solo album, Rolando brings his lustrous Latin timbre to the rarely recorded concert arias of Mozart. He is joined by ‘Britain’s Finest Orchestra’ [The Arts Desk], the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Sir Antonio Pappano.

Fresh from his triumphant onstage success in Paris, Berlin and Brussels singing leading roles in the operas of Rameau and Mozart, tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen presents his long-awaited first Mozart recording. Together with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, he has devised a highly imaginative programme. From the eleven single opera and concert arias for tenor and orchestra that are ascribed to Mozart, the Belgian tenor has selected those that are entirely in the composer’s hand – leaving out the ones completed or reconstructed by others, and adding an exquisite aria from Mitridate, re di Ponto. Mozart was only nine years old when in 1765, during his stay in London, he launched into his first opera aria for tenor and orchestra, to verses from a libretto by Metastasio.

Fresh from his triumphant onstage success in Paris, Berlin and Brussels singing leading roles in the operas of Rameau and Mozart, tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen presents his long-awaited first Mozart recording. Together with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, he has devised a highly imaginative programme. From the eleven single opera and concert arias for tenor and orchestra that are ascribed to Mozart, the Belgian tenor has selected those that are entirely in the composer’s hand – leaving out the ones completed or reconstructed by others, and adding an exquisite aria from Mitridate, re di Ponto. Mozart was only nine years old when in 1765, during his stay in London, he launched into his first opera aria for tenor and orchestra, to verses from a libretto by Metastasio.

Mozart's concert arias are not really generically independent from his operas. They were mostly written for insertion into operas by a singer, often Mozart's girlfriend and then sister-in-law Aloysia Weber, who wanted to display her talents to their best advantage. As such, however, they stand out from other operatic arias as some of the most difficult vocal pieces Mozart composed. Several of these pieces are in Queen of the Night territory, with not just individual high notes but lengthy passages that require the singer to be melodic at the very top of her range. This 1994 release by French soprano Natalie Dessay, just hitting the very top of her game, has been a favorite among aficionados of Mozart's vocal music, and its reissue in Virgin Classics' budget line gives other listeners a chance to try it out. For sheer agility in the top register, it's hard to beat. Dessay not only hits the multiple examples of the E two octaves plus above middle C, she sounds good doing so, and she makes real music as the tune bounces around a few steps below that.

Mozart's concert arias are not really generically independent from his operas. They were mostly written for insertion into operas by a singer, often Mozart's girlfriend and then sister-in-law Aloysia Weber, who wanted to display her talents to their best advantage. As such, however, they stand out from other operatic arias as some of the most difficult vocal pieces Mozart composed.

All are equal before the work, before the mysteries of a score; this was Claudio Abbados heart-felt conviction. For him, the willingness to be open to one another and to the independent life of musical processes was the only prerequisite for making music. In the live performances documented here for the first time, Abbado could be sure of the devotion of these world-class artists: the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, the sopranos Christine Schäfer and Juliane Banse, as well as the actor Bruno Ganz. They shared his credo of listening togetherness (Die ZEIT) that made possible those precious moments of musical truth toward which this great conductor strove throughout his life.

This disc of Mozart's opera arias manages to capture the perfection of Kathleen Battle's first disc of Mozart concert arias conducted under Previn. We are accorded the opportunity and privilege to hear Ms. Battle essay characters that she never did in the opera house, Constanze, Cherubino, and the Countess among them. In "Porgi amor," the CD's opening track, she negotiates the long passages of the Countess' aria with seeming ease. Hers is a smaller voice than we are used to hearing in the role but this is unimportant as her vocal acting is superb, bringing the heartache housed in the libretto fully to life…

By M. Bish