Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Simone Kermes, Christopher Maltman, Malena Ernman, Kenneth Tarver, Konstantin Wolff, Anna Kasyan
Orchestra: musicAeterna
Conductor: Teodor Currentzis
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Sony
Catalogue: G010003243082C
Release: 2015
Size: 1.92 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Così fan tutte ossia La scuola degli amanti, K. 588
01. Ouvertura
02. Atto Primo: La mia Dorabella capace non è (No. 1, Terzetto: Ferrando, Don Alfonso, Guglielmo)
03. Atto Primo: Una bella serenata (No. 3, Terzetto: Ferrando, Don Alfonso, Guglielmo)
04. Atto Primo: Ah guarda, sorella (No. 4, Duetto: Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
05. Atto Primo: Soave sia il vento (No. 10, Terzettino: Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alfonso)
06. Atto Primo: Smanie implacabili che m’agitate (No. 11, Aria: Dorabella)
07. Atto Primo: In uomini! In soldati (No. 12, Aria: Despina)
08. Atto Primo: Alla bella Despinetta (No. 13, Sestetto: Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Despina, Ferrando, Don Alfonso, Guglielmo)
09. Atto Primo: Come scoglio immoto resta (No. 14, Aria: Fiordiligi)
10. Atto Primo: Non siate ritrosi (No. 15, Aria: Guglielmo)
11. Atto Primo: Un’aura amorosa (No. 17, Aria: Ferrando)
12. Atto Secondo: Una donna a quindici anni (No. 19, Aria: Despina)
13. Atto Secondo: Prenderò quel brunettino (No. 20, Duetto: Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
14. Atto Secondo: La mano a me date (No. 22: Despina, Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
15. Atto Secondo: Il core vi dono (No. 23, Duetto: Dorabella, Guglielmo)
16. Atto Secondo: Per pietà, ben mio, perdona (No. 25, Rondò: Fiordiligi)
17. Atto Secondo: Donne mie, la fate a tanti (No. 26, Aria: Guglielmo)
18. Atto Secondo: Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti (No. 29, Duetto: Fiordiligi, Ferrando)
19. Atto Secondo: Tutti accusan le donne (No. 30: Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo)
20. Atto Secondo: Fate presto, o cari amici (No. 31, Finale: Despina, Coro, Don Alfonso)
Sony Classical continues its major Mozart opera project with conductor Teodor Currentzis and his orchestra & choir MusicAeterna. A ‘no-compromise’ studio recording cycle of Mozart’s three Da Ponte operas. Living in a unique artistic community established on the edge of Siberia, the musicians work and record under ideal conditions towards Currentzis’ stated goal “to show what can be achieved if you avoid the factory approach of the classical music mainstream”.
The recordings represent an unprecedented commitment by the artists in terms of preparation, session and post-production. They embody a radical new approach to orchestral virtuosity as well as to score fidelity, vocal style and performance practice. The second release in the series, Cosi fan tutte, will be released in November 2014.
In 2011, when invited to the post of Artistic Director at Perm’s opera house, Currentzis negotiated unheard-of conditions: unlimited rehearsal time; the freedom to schedule performances depending on the quality reached in rehearsals; the necessary resources to explore with his musicians anything deemed necessary for a fuller understanding of the repertoire, from Baroque dance steps to 20th century poetry and avant-garde cinema.
The orchestra and choir emphatically embrace a non-establishment attitude, constantly questioning themselves and striving for perfection. As important as their musical prowess (many members are laureates of international competitions) is their willingness to undergo exceptional rigours to reach the shared artistic goals. It is an accepted part of these musicians’ daily routine to spend a whole night of work and discussion about its progress at the opera house if necessary – or to devote a full rehearsal to shaping one single chord to perfection.
“The radicality of this recording is its precision. It is through strictest discipline that you unlock the perfume, bring the composer’s text into real life, create all these colours that are impossible on the stage. This is why we spent such a significant amount of time in the studio – because we were pushing to reach our limits, to jump above our limit and reach a new understanding of this music. That is the privilege of a ‘no-compromise’ studio recording. There are so many recordings which convey the general spirit of Mozart’s music. The only point in making a new one is to give the audience a chance to hear and learn about all the magic which this score holds. I made this recording because I wanted to show what can be achieved if you avoid the factory approach of the classical music mainstream. My credo is that every performance you give has to be like a pregnancy. You have to dream and you have to wait until the time comes when you see the miracle happening. If you’re not like that in music, you lose the central idea of music. Music is not a profession and it’s not about reproduction. It’s a mission”.
The soloists’ vocal technique is also markedly different to modern operatic interpretation, with a focus on intimacy and clarity, a use of vibrato remarkably restrictive even by today’s ‘period practice’ standards as well as an approach to melodic ornamentation derived from historic sources which cannot be heard in other performances of these works.
You may have heard about the radical Mozart performances coming out of the provincial city of Perm, Russia, led by conductor Teodor Currentzis. He’s in the middle of a cycle of Mozart’s operas with libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte, with a sure-to-be-explosive Don Giovanni yet to come as of late 2015. This single-album set of excerpts from Currentzis’ reading of Così fan tutte has sold well out of the blocks, perhaps to listeners curious to hear what the fuss is about, but unwilling to invest in an entire box set. With only snatches of recitative and transition, you miss the outrageous continuo group of fortepiano, lute, cello/gamba, and, yes, hurdy-gurdy. That’s a major omission, but all the other aspects of the full opera, and of Currentzis’ gleeful disregard for convention, are amply represented. Consider the garish tempo contrasts, with the blistering overture pushed right up to the boundary of playability, while soon after that in Act One the trio “Soave sia il vento” is glacial. That number is one of the many places where it’s apparent that soprano Simone Kermes, as Fiordiligi, is perhaps Currentzis’ ideal collaborator, able to cope with extravagant musical demands, to deliver fresh characterizations, and generally to enter into the spirit of the thing and make you believe that maybe, just maybe, everybody will be performing Mozart this way in 30 years. In general the characterizations are strong and appealing; Currentzis may be a wild man, but he does not unduly draw attention to himself. And the work of his hand-built Musicaeterna, his historical-instruments group in Perm, is sharp as a tack here: it’s an ensemble that can react to all of this conductor’s demands. You may get a shock from this, but it’s a good kind of shock, and the excerpt album can be generally recommended.