Familiar masterpieces - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Overview of concert arias (1765-91) (2/2)

Introduction to the present series of postings: The Austrian maestro's concert arias are, perhaps, the best introduction to the composer, as they constitute a breathtaking display of Mozart's ease in all matters musical. The numerous alternative pieces for his own operas and a number of independent ensembles notwithstanding, Mozart composed at least fifty four independent arias to be performed as concert pieces or to be inserted into his contemporaries' operas. Considering the concert arias as an informal cycle, none of them can be faulted on a technical level, as they all develop in a manner natural to the epoch, feature at least a few interesting touches in an ornamental coloration or orchestral phrase and work well as showpieces for capable soloists, and ever so often a masterpiece of the most wondrous richness appears among the works. The passionate "Si mostra la sorte", the noble "Io ti lascio", the mesmerizing "Ah, lo previdi", the unearthly "Vorrei spiegarvi" or the bubbling "Per questa bella mano" are just a few examples of Mozart at his most inspired.

In this series of three postings I hope to create as complete an overview of the arias as possible. The first two postings will be dedicated solely to the concert arias proper, as discussed above, while a third upload will include excerpts from the alternative arias Mozart wrote for his own operas, as well as the maestro's independent ensembles. To achieve this, I've reduced the number of concert arias to thirty pieces. There is no strict order in which the arias appear in the uploads; instead, they are placed liberally to provide a contrast to one another, though I did follow the logic of the Kochen catalogue. Each presented piece is prefaced by a description, as well as a link to a full version available on YouTube for further listening.

Recording: There is no definitive version of the concert arias as a cycle, however, the Philips compilation comes as close as one could possibly hope for, uniting a determined principal conductor in Leopold Hager with his fresh Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg and a winning team of well-established singers.

Lilian Sukis - KV 528.
Edita Gruberova - KV 316/368/418/538.
Robert Lloyd - KV 432/513.
Eva Lind - KV 505/583.
Francisco Araiza - KV 431.
Christine Eda-Pierre - KV 580.
Walter Berry - KV 539/612.
Lucia Popp - KV 383.

Hope you'll enjoy =).

P.S. The second posting of the series should appear in about a week =B.

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