Customer Reviews

Arias, Vocal Ensembles & Canons (Mozart Edition 23)

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This album, from the Phillips label, contains a wealth of rare and popular Mozart concert arias, ensembles and canons. For fans of Mozart opera and vocal music, this is heaven. The cover alone, with a soprano in a miniature opera house, is enough to seduce you. The music is sublime. Mozart had a gift for all kinds of music, period. In opera, in his day, he was the best. It's unfortunate that he died so young and so unpopular. It was not till years later that his musical compositions, which are in the hundreds range, came to public attention. The Phillips series has done a wonderful job of digitally restoring many fine Mozart vocal works.

On this album, we are treated to rare Lieder (written in German by the German speaking Mozart) with such talented Mozartian singers as Edith Mathis, Lucia Popp, Mozartian lyric tenors and baritones such as Robert Lloyd. The concert arias are both rare and usual. "Poppoli Di Tesaglia" is still recorded and sung, as is "Vorrei Spiegarvi O Dio". This is a real treasure and no fan of opera and Mozart should be without it. The vocal ensembles are extremely rare. Most people hear Mozart ensembles only WITHIN his operas- Le Nozze Di Figaro most notably has fine ensembles, Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte and The Magic Flute. Mozart could write different lines and emotions from characters, have them singing at the same time, but the music brought it harmoniously and beautifully together. Some of the ensembles are reminiscient of English madrigals, only sung in German !! In the canons, we get a new glimpse of Mozart. Working with religious music for many years, he was able to write spiritual canons that remind us of how Mozart felt divinely inspired. This is a great album. I hope it gets into stock again. It would make a fine Christmas present.

Well, not exactly every single aria by Mozart out there, but close. The performances are uniformly wonderful. Good news for the Mozart completist, eh? Life's too short to deny yourself of everything that Mozart wrote; go for it.

If you simply must have every aria,alternate aria,oddball vocal work or canon of Mozart then this 8 disc whopper with a hefty price tag is for you.If you just want the main arias then the much cheaper 5 disc set-Mozart:The concert arias-with Kiri Te Kanawa and Dietrich-Fischer Dieskau is a much greater bargain and is of greater quality as well.If you want the Canons there is a set available on the Vox Box label.As for the goofoff and scatological songs you may be out of luck. Overall this is an excellent set but the price is steep.For the hardcore Mozart aficionado only.