Lucy Crowe celebrates spring in florid Mozartean fashion

THE SONGBIRD: Born in 1978 in Staffordshire, English soprano Lucy Crowe studied voice at the Royal Academy of Music and won second prize in the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 2005. Her operatic debut was as Sophie with the Scottish Opera. In 2007 she joined the ENO as Drusilla and Poppea in Handel's "Agrippina." Her debut at Covent Garden was as Purcell's Belinda in 2009; subsequent appearances there have been Sophie, Gilda, Susanna, Adina, Gluck's Eurydice, and Mozart's Ismene. Engagements at Glyndebourne include "The Fairy Queen," "Saul," Micaela, and Janacek's Vixen. Crowe has made many appearances in concerts and recitals, often focused on baroque and classical music, as well as several commercial recordings, including solo recitals of Handel cantatas, baroque arias and duets (with Mary Bevan), and a highly recommended disc of Debussy's youthful florid songs.

THE MUSIC: Mozart's florid concert aria K.580 "Schon lacht der holde Frühling" was written 1789 for Josepha Hofer (née Weber), his sister-in-law, to replace an aria in another opera. Of course, she needed something showier: Hofer is the coloratura diva who premiered the iconic role of the Queen of the Night in his opera "The Magic Flute." This buoyant da capo aria celebrates the season of spring with a highly ornamental line including final leaping figures to three high Ds.

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