Anticipation – What I Downloaded Today...

...but don't have time to listen to till tomorrow:

Although I did hear an excerpt here.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 – 1791)

Mitridate, rè di Ponto, K. 87 (74a)

Barry Banks (Mitridate)

Miah Persson (Aspasia)

Sophie Bevan (Sifare)

Lawrence Zazzo (Farnace)

Klara Ek (Ismene)

Robert Murray (Marzio)

Anna Devin (Arbate)

The Orchestra of Classical Opera; Ian Page, conductor

Recorded at St Jude-on-the-Hill, London, England, UK, 12 – 26 July 2013

Ö1 Radio: Broadcasts of Mozart Past – Mitridate, Re di Ponto (1997)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Mitridate, Re di Ponto

Bruce Ford (Mitridate)

Cyndia Sieden (Aspasia)

Christiane Oelze (Sifare)

Vesselina Kasarova (Farnace)

Heidi Grant Murphy (Ismene)

Toby Spence (Marzio)

Larissa Rudakova (Arbate)

Camerata Salzburg

Sir Roger Norrington

Live recording from the 

1997 Salzburger Mozartwoche 

on Ö1 Radio now!

Gratuitous Friday – Miah Persson is Sifare

Richard Croft & Miah Persson

Yes, I know it's only Thursday, but I couldn't wait to re-share this clip. I am re-posting this absolutely wonderful performance—the performance that caused me to fall in love with Miah Persson—for two reasons: 

1.   The original post has been simply slammed with spam. It's very annoying, especially since the post is a year and a half old.
 

2.   I just heard Christiane Karg sing this in a Mozartwoche concert on Ö1 Radio. She was wonderful, but frankly, I just like this performance better. That being said, I do encourage my readers to go listen to that concert. It also includes two symphonies by Muzio Clementi (of piano sonatina fame), one of which (surprisingly) contains rather extensive variarations on God Save the King.

But more importantly to my readers: In between the Clementi symphonies, soprano Christine Karg (whose "big break" was singing in the same M22 festival series of operas that this video clip in taken from) sings a nice variety of early Mozart opera arias, including this one from Mitradate. 

But before you go listen to that concert, listen once again to the lovely and talented Miah Persson sing Lunga da te, mio bene.

Mozart: Mitridate, Re di Ponto – M22 (Part 2: I Can See Clearly Now)

At 14, Mozart had neither the clout nor the maturity yet to write the character-specific music of his later music dramas.  He was required to write pretty, flashy music so the singers could show off. However, many of the arias in Mitridate are quite expressive.  “So," you ask, “Speaking of the arias, how is the singing?”

One might expect the smooth light voice of Bejun Mehta to be overshadowed by all the soprano/tenor brightness, but it's not. His acting skills and agile voice characterize Farnace’s journey from snottiness to maturity. His final aria, much of it sung almost sotto voce, is heartbreaking.

Blindfolded, Farnace finally sees the light.

Interlude – Mitridate: Lungi da te mio bene

The mature Mozart would have taken less time to say the same thing. However I never notice the length* of this gorgeous performance; I am just mesmerized by Miah Persson's voice and the beauty of the melodies.  I just watched the whole opera again on Sunday afternoon; I'll delve further into this strange but beautifully-sung production in a later post (or two).

Miah Persson sings "Lungi da te mio bene" 

From the M22 Mitridate - Salzburg 2006

*Actually, the last minute-plus of this clip is the ovation.