Sunday Brunch – Miah and Ann and John Eliot and Wolfie

Miah Persson, Ann Hallenberg, Peter Mattei, John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir...

...and Mozart. Need I say more? *

*Probably, but I wanted to make sure you had a chance to hear it. Then we can talk!

(If you don’t have a lot of time, at least take a few minutes to check out the soprano duel duet that starts at about 16 minutes in.)

Manic Monday Mozart – Julia Varady sings "Vengo ! Aspatate"

The polar opposite (tempo-wise, at least) of Harnoncourt and Röschmann in Salzburg, this is Julia Varady (from the John Eliot Gardiner La Clemenza di Tito recording again) as Vitellia. No wonder Sesto is so confused; this Vitellia is really a mess: 

I love you, I hate you; kill him, don't kill him; why didn't you kill him? Oh right. I told you not to. OMG why did you try to kill him? Oh right. I told you to...

With this tempo and snappy articulation in the strings, we really feel Vitellia's panic. The first really high note she sings really sounds like a (very musical) scream! I also love her stacatti on those high notes at the end.

Julia Varady was my first Vitellia, so she set the tone for me. She and Dorothea Röschmann are both mezzo-y enough to make a great impact in this difficult role, but are different enough from one another that they both have a place in my heart. 

Sunday Brunch – Ah Perdona (Catherine Robbin and Sylvia McNair) & ASvO Bonus

Two-and-a-half minutes of Mozartean soprano bliss. These ladies need no pardon. Catherine Robbin and Sylvia McNair as Annio and Servilia. Maybe it's because it's my first "Ah perdona.." but I think this is the best I've ever heard.

Ah perdona al primo affetto

This recording of La clemenza di Tito is led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner and also boasts Julia Varady as Vitellia, Anne Sofie von Otter as Sesto, and Anthony Rolfe Johnson as Tito.

OK, so I let the opera keep playing and got to Parto...sung by ASvO. mmmmmmmm!

So here is that one, too:

Parto, parto...

Bach Marathon for Easter Monday – John Eliot Gardiner

Thanks to Intermezzo for alerting us to Sir John Eliot Gardiner's 9-hour Bach Marathon from the Royal Albert Hall on Monday April 1. You can purchase an all-day standing room ticket for £10. It sounds exhausting and wonderful. 

For those of us who can't be in London next Monday, BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting the entire programme. 

Sunday Brunch – Miah Persson Sings Sacred Mozart

Yesterday morning I was daydreaming about Miah Persson singing Lungi da te mio bene from Mozart’s Mitridate. And I wondered to myself: what else could ever be as lovely? I came across this performance of the Et incarnatus from Mozart’s Great C minor mass.  Mozart never completed this mass, and it’s really the most operatic sacred work he wrote—with lots of flashy arias and massive double choruses. It’s kind of Mozart’s answer to the Verdi Requiem (if, indeed, anyone had asked) or Rossini’s Stabat Mater.  If Mozart had completed this Mass, it would rival Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis or Bach’s B-minor Mass  in massiveness (pun intended).

Sunday Brunch – Le Nozze di Figaro: Sull' Aria



Hillevi Martinpelto



Alison Hagley



This musically stylish Le Nozze di Figaro is led by John Eliot Gardiner. I personally find the two-dimensional sets and overdone makeup annoying and a little disturbing. Perhaps in 1993 the production folks didn't think about things like camera close-ups.  And Hillevi Martinpelto (Countess) should sue the wig maker! 

The Otterphile – Mozart: Domine Deus from Mass in C Minor

Anne Sofie von Otter and Barbara Bonney have a sing-off in this joyful song of praise:

Mozart's "Great" C minor Mass

With John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists.

Orphée et Eurydice: The Baroque Stylings of…Robert Wilson? (or Blue Orpheus)

OK, I admit it. On first viewing, I pretty much hated this production. I got the DVD because 1.) I will listen to anything John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir do*; 2.) I really like Magdalena Kožená; and 3.) I absolutely love this opera!

It’s so blue!  And so static!  And Orphée is so strange looking – androgynous. And what’s with the hair, and that robe?  Ironically, the copy on the DVD case says, “…Wilson makes the most of the opera’s balletic possibilities…” But, the word “mesmerizing,” is also used, and I think that is the key to enjoying this performance (that, and patience.) 

Gratuitous Friday – Malin Hartelius – Bach Cantata #78

OK, this isn't opera (and it's not really a real video) but it is marvelous music. Malin Hartelius is joined by countertenor Robin Tyson in this exquisite duet from Bach's cantata number 78, under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Happy Friday!