Composer: Antonio Salieri, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Eva Mei, Patricia Petibon, Markus Schafer, Oliver Widmer, Werner Schneyder
Orchestra: Concentus Musicus Wien
Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Belvedere
Catalogue: BVE08035
Release: 2017
Size: 443 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
01. German Singspiel vs Italian Opera – Introductory address by Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Salieri: Prima la musica e poi le parole
02. Sinfonia
03. Scene 1: Duet: Signor Poeta mio – Scene 1: Recitative: Or tant’ è, decidete: sì o no? – Scene 2: Recitative: Deo gratias
04. Scene 2: Cavatina: Pensieri funesti, ah no, non tornate! – Scene 2 Recitative: Chi è questo sguaiato?
05. Scene 2: Accompagnato: Non dubitar, verrò – Scene 2: Recitative: Non sia, signora, per darle molestia
06. Sceme 2: Aria: Là tu vedrai chi sono – Scene 2: Recitative: Oibò! Oibò!
07. Scene 2: Rondo: Cari oggetti del mio core – Scene 2: Recitative: Così non è possibil ch’io vi abbracci – Scene 2: Recitative: V’ho dato dell’abilità mia
08. Scene 3: Recitative: Alfin la prova ha terminato in buffo
09. Scene 3: Duet: Se questo mio pianto il cor non ti tocca – Scene 3: Recitative: Castrato! Cosa diavolo mai dite?
10. Scene 4: Aria: Per pietà, padrona mia, per pietà non – Scene 4: Recitative: Egregiamente bene – Scene 5 Recitative: E il Maestro dov’è?
11. Scene 6: Aria: Via, largo, ragazzi – Scene 6: Recitative: Per carità, finite questa scena
12. Scene 6: Aria: Cucuzze! che concorso! – Scene 6: Recitative: Cessate in grazia, che mi fate pena
13. Scene 6: Aria: Per pietà, padrona mia – Finale Scene: Recitative: Maestro, vi saluto. Addio, Poeta
14. Finale Scene: Finale: Se questo mio pianto il cor non ti tocca
CD 02
Mozart: Der Schauspieldirektor, K. 486
01. Ouvertüre
02. Dialogue: Guten Abend, meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren
03. Arietta: Da schlägt die Abschiedsstunde
04. Dialogue: Madame, ich bin Ihnen für dieses Vergnügen außerordentlich verbunden
05. Rondo: Bester Jüngling! Mit Entzücken
06. Dialogue: Brava! Eine derartige Stimme, eine derartige Sängerin, würde meinem Ensemble wohl anstehen
07. Terzett: Ich bin die erste Sängerin!
08. Dialogue: Ich will gar keine Kompanie gründen
09. Silberklang: Jeder Künstler strebt nach Ehre
Emperor Joseph II was partial to musical contests. In 1786 he decided to regale his visitors with a contest involving what were then the two most popular forms of vocal music for the stage: Italian opera and the German Singspiel. And so he commissioned two works from two composers, both of them outstanding in their respective fields, each work to involve the same basic arrangement. For the Italian opera the choice fell on Antonio Salieri, the director of music at the Vienna Court Opera, while Mozart was chosen to write the German Singspiel. The first performance took place at a magnificent gala at Schönbrunn 1786, when two stages were set up, one at each end of the Orangery. This musical contest produced no outright winner, Joseph II having been astute enough to offer his visitors only the crème de la crème of singers and composers. Salieri’s stature as an opera composer was abundantly demonstrated by Nikolaus Harnoncourt when he conducted Prima la musica at the Mozart Week Festival in Salzburg in 2002 – but at no point was Mozart’s own reputation impugned in consequence.