Amoretti

14 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 101 Mb

The title of this disc is taken from perhaps the finest aria from Mozart’s first opera buffa, La finta semplice , in which the cupids gambol to the accompaniment of a soft, lyrical bassoon line. Not to ignore such an attention-grabbing title, this disc is really meant to show off the talent of soprano Christiane Karg, not via the usual well-trodden paths of bravura arias from major operas, but rather through exploring some of the lesser performed works of Mozart’s youth. Thus it carves out a niche that provides for an interesting hour or so of listening. Moreover, Karg and conductor Jonathan Cohen have chosen complementary works from two contemporaries, Christoph Willibald von Gluck and André-Ernest-Modest Grétry, both of whom were influences on the young Mozart. It is a pity that more Grétry is not available on disc, for here is a composer who wrote music that is both colorful and imaginative (and whose works include the first ever Beauty and the Beast opera, Zémire et Azor ). Here, one finds arias from the operas La fausse magie, Silvain, and Lucille , all works that were popular at the time but which are hardly known today, even in textbooks. Gluck, of course, is better represented, and the performers have not eschewed excerpts from two standards, the aria “Soumis au silence” from the Paris version of Orphée and the final admonition of Iphigenie, “Adieu, conservez dans votre âme,” from Iphigénie en Aulide , both of which can be found elsewhere in recordings of the complete operas. His other arias, from Il parnaso confuso and Telemaco , however, take the listener back to Gluck’s early career as a composer of Italian opera, showing one of the sources for Mozart’s early inspiration.

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contents:

1. La finta giardiniera, K 196: Amoretti by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2. Ascanio in Alba, K 111: Ferma aspetta by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Ascanio in Alba, K 111: Infelice affetti miei by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
4. La fausse magie: Comme un éclair by André Modeste Grétry
5. Mitridate, rè di Ponto, K 87 (74a): Lungi da te, mio bene by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
6. Orfeo ed Euridice: Soumis au silence by Christoph W. Gluck
7. Il sogno di Scipione, K 126: Biancheggia by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
8. Silvain: Il va venir...Pardonne, o mon juge by André Modeste Grétry
9. Lucile: Au bien supreme by André Modeste Grétry
10. Il Parnaso confuso: Sacre piante by Christoph W. Gluck
11. Telemaco: In mezzo a un mar crudele by Christoph W. Gluck
12. Lucio Silla, K 135: Odo, o mi sembra udir by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
13. Lucio Silla, K 135: Fra i pensier più funesti di morte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
14. Iphigénie en Aulide: Adieu by Christoph W. Gluck

 Christiane Karg, soprano

Arcangelo

dir. Jonathan Cohen