Mozart: Arias [Import]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Alceo Galliera (Conductor, Orchestra), Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra, Composer), Philharmonia Orchestra of London (Orchestra), Anna Moffo (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Anna Moffo
• Orchestra: Alceo Galliera, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London
• Conductor: Alceo Galliera
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Philharmonia Orchestra
• Audio CD (July 11, 2000)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Testament UK
• ASIN: B00004T00W
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,712 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The American lyric soprano Anna Moffo, who retired in the mid-'70s (and is still very much alive), was a beautiful woman, a good actress, and an intelligent, sensitive singer, and she possessed natural charm. The voice was a pure lyric, with a succulent bloom at the top, good coloratura ability (she was a successful Lucia and Gilda), and a sometimes useful upper extension. Moffo was a fine communicator as well--all of which is evident on this CD, which was recorded in her early prime (in 1958). The Figaro excerpts show her as a boyish, impetuous Cherubino and a telling, in-control-and-sensuous Susanna, while Despina's two arias from Cosi give us something a bit sassier--just as it should be. Moffo's "Ach ich liebte" from Abduction is acrobatically valid as well as poised. Zerlina's arias vary between coy and knowing--again just the right combination. "Ach ich fühls" starts out a bit flat; Moffo and her unworthy (throughout) conductor Alceo Galliera indulge in some simply wrong rubato, but the last third of the aria, with its melting, high pianissimi, is a knockout. The aria from Il re pastore is beautifully sung--trills and all--and so is the concert aria "Misera, dove son?" The two soprano solos from Mozart's Great Mass (K. 427) find Moffo stretching for the low notes, albeit never unattractively, but they, and the "Alleluia" from "Exsultate, jubilate" are suitably virtuosic. This CD is a real pleasure. Highly recommended. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Primo Moffo, August 3, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart: Arias (Audio CD)

This is wonderful singing. Like all of my favorite Mozart singers, she maintains clarity of line, intonation and rhythm, sustaining drop-dead beautiful tone throughout. Her coloratura on Exaltate Jubilate is crystal clear. This is a thoughful compilation as well, including arias that the Angel CD left out. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is the conducting of Alceo Galliera--in general lacking rhythmic momentum and clarity. Too bad she didn't partner with Giulini on this one since they achieved such stunning results in Le Nozze di Figaro.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Finest Available Mozart Recitals, November 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mozart: Arias (Audio CD)

Anna Moffo was outstanding in a wide variety of music, but her warm, radiant, and flexible lyric soprano was particularly well-suited to Mozart. This collection, recorded in 1958, is exceptional; with Cecilia Bartoli's "Mozart Portraits" and Renee Fleming's all-Mozart disc, it is one of the finest available recitals of Mozart's soprano/mezzo-soprano arias. Moffo's is my favorite rendition of Pamina's "Ach, ich fuhls" from DIE ZAUBERFLOETE. Her ability to maintain a smooth legato (even at Galliera's slow tempo) and to "color" her tone to suggest the pallor of death is amazing (just listen to the final phrase, "So wird ruhe im Tode sein" -- "I must find my peace in death"). I love Moffo's Mozart so much that I plan to acquire the recording of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO in which she sings the role of Susanna. Judging from the rendition of Susanna's "Deh vieni, non tardar" heard here, it should be quite a lovely performance.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gem, July 19, 2000

By 

Mark Boyer (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Arias (Audio CD)

As a Seraphim LP, this disc ignited my love of opera and Mozart vocal music. I've been waiting for years for it to show up on CD. The sound is serviceable and the orchestra and conductor mediocre; but this remains Moffo at her most expressive, with a lush midrange. The recording of Deh vieni is as I rememeber it: the most affecting I have ever heard.