Now this is refreshing: Mozart’s operas without the vocals. Since the music was usually my favorite part of Mozart’s operas, I enjoy listening to this CD. However… Don Giovanni (Tracks 1-13) is boring even without the vocals. The music just doesn’t move me. Of much more interest to me is the music from Die Entführung […]
Entries Tagged as 'Mozart at 31'
Of Operas Sans Vocals (Theatre and Ballet Music, Box 17)
June 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Box 17: Theatre and Ballet Music, Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail, Don Giovanni, K384 (instrumentals), K527 (instrumentals), Mozart at 26, Mozart at 31, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Prague (October 28 1787), Vienna (May 29 1782)
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Of Salacious Books and Stuart Burrows (Box 15, Late Italian Operas)
May 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Box 15: Late Italian Operas, Cherie Currie, Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni (Part III), K527, K527 (Part III), Mozart at 31, Neon Angel, Prague (October 28 1787), Stuart Burrows, The Runaways
I’ve been reading Cherie Currie’s autobiography Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway. It’s the brutally honest account of her life with the all-girls 1970s band the Runaways. I’ve always liked the Runaways. And I think Cherie Currie is wonderful. Her book, though, is sometimes painful to read. It’s salacious in a Lolita sort of […]
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Of Mondays Busy and Mozarts Boring (Box 15, Late Italian Operas)
May 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Box 15: Late Italian Operas, Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni (Part II), K527, K527 (Part II), Mozart at 31, Prague (October 28 1787)
I can’t believe I titled this blog “boring Mozarts.” I waited for a lightning bolt to strike me from the heavens as I typed it. I’m sorry. But not everything Mozart composed appeals to me. Operas bore me because I can’t see what’s going on, and don’t know the language. So all I can go […]
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Of No and Notturni (Arias, Vocal Ensembles, Canons, Box 12)
April 20th, 2010 · No Comments · 1787, Box 12: Arias Vocal Ensembles Canons Lieder Notturni, Dalton Baldwin, Elisabeth Cooymans, Elly Ameling, K346, K436, K437, K438, K439, K476, K506, K517, K518, K519, K520, K523, K524, K529, K530, K531, K549, K579, K596, K597, K598, Lieder (definition), Mozart at 29, Mozart at 31, Mozart at 32, Mozart at 33, Mozart at 34, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Nocturne, Notturni, Notturni (definition), Peter van der Bilt, Prague (July 11 1787), Prague (November 3 1787), Vienna (1787), Vienna (August 1787), Vienna (December 11 1787), Vienna (January 14 1791), Vienna (July 16 1788), Vienna (June 24 1787), Vienna (June 8 1785), Vienna (late 1785), Vienna (May 18 1787), Vienna (May 20 1787), Vienna (May 23 1787), Vienna (May 26 1787)
Like yesterday, the word minimal also describes today’s music. Music doesn’t get much simpler than voice and piano. That’s what the majority (15 of the 21 tracks) of this CD is: Elly Ameling, soprano, and an un-named pianist that I think is Dalton Baldwin. These songs are bunched together as Lieder. Notturni (plural form of […]
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Of Wandering Minds and Rolling Rs (Arias, Vocal Ensembles, Canons, Box 12)
April 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Anton Scharinger, Box 12: Arias Vocal Ensembles Canons Lieder Notturni, Bryn Terfel, Dresdner Philharmonie, Eva Lind, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Jörg-Peter Weigle, Julie Kaufmann, K434, K441, K479, K480, K492, K527, K532, K540b, K577, K579, K584, K625, KApp25, KApp5, Mozart at 26, Mozart at 29, Mozart at 30, Mozart at 31, Mozart at 33, Mozart at 34, Muncher RFO, Peter Schreier, Prague (October 28 1787), Rene Pape, Rudolf Jansen, Sir Neville Marriner, Vienna, Vienna (1785-6), Vienna (1786), Vienna (1787), Vienna (April 29 1786), Vienna (August 11 1788), Vienna (August 1789), Vienna (August 1790), Vienna (December 1790), Vienna (January 1790), Vienna (July 1789), Vienna (Late 1782), Vienna (November 21 1785), Vienna (November 5 1785)
Today’s CD is a fest of rolling Rs. It wasn’t compelling enough to stop my mind from wandering (isn’t that a line from a Beatles song?). But it was entertaining. A few selections from the Marriage of Figaro are represented here. And more songs from the superb Eva Lind. (I wonder if she’s related to […]
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Of Highs and Lows (Arias, Vocal Ensembles, Canons, Box 12)
April 14th, 2010 · No Comments · Box 12: Arias Vocal Ensembles Canons Lieder Notturni, Edita Gruberova, Edith Mathis, Francisco Araiza, K431, K505, K512, K513, K528, K538, K539, K541, K578, K582, K583, K612, Kapp245, Leopold Hager, Lilian Sukis, Lucia Popp, Mozart at 22, Mozart at 23, Mozart at 24, Mozart at 25, Mozart at 26, Mozart at 27, Mozart at 30, Mozart at 31, Mozart at 32, Mozart at 33, Mozart at 35, Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg, Munich (1778) - Vienna (March 4 1788), Prague (November 3 1787), Prague (September 1791), Robert Lloyd, Vienna (1783), Vienna (August 1789), Vienna (December 26 1786), Vienna (March 19 1787), Vienna (March 23 1787), Vienna (March 5 1788), Vienna (March 8 1791), Vienna (May 1788), Vienna (October 1789), Walter Berry
Ugh. After the high note (literally) that was yesterday’s CD, this is quite a let down. When I told my wife how I felt about this morning’s music, she said she noticed something about my Mozart blog. She said that I either love or hate the vocal performances. For example, yesterday I raved to the […]
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Of Shuffles and Sopranos (Litanies; Vespers; Oratorios, Box 11)
April 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Annelies Burmeister, Aspera, Bohemian Rhapsody, Box 11: Mozart: Litanies; Vespers; Oratorios; Cantatas; Masonic Music, Brett Rosenberg, Dagmar Schellenberger-Ernst, Dave Brubeck, Dream Theater, Eberhard Buchner, Glenn Miller, Grateful Dead, Half Light, Herbert Kegel, Hermann Christian Polster, Illusion Suite, Isabella Nawe, K127, K141, K143, K198, K222, K260, K273, K276, K277, K322, K323, Manheim (January-February 1778), Moonsorrow, Mozart at 13, Mozart at 16, Mozart at 17, Mozart at 18, Mozart at 19, Mozart at 20, Mozart at 21, Mozart at 22, Mozart at 23, Mozart at 31, Mozart at 32, Mozart at 33, Munich (Early 1775), Queen, Rosemarie Lang, Rundfunk - Sinfonia - Orchestra Leipzig, Rundfunkchor Lepizig, Salzburg (1774), Salzburg (1776), Salzburg (1777), Salzburg (1779), Salzburg (late 1769), Salzburg (late 1773), Salzburg (May 1772), Salzburg (September 9 1777), Ursula Reinhardt-Kiss, Ute Selbig, Vienna (1787-9)
I don’t know what’s different about today’s music. But it grabbed me by the lapels, shook me out of my slumber, and made me want to know who’s singing. Regina coeli in B flat, K.127, especially Movements 2-4, amazed me. The soprano was doing a lot of vocal gymnastics, which I don’t normally like in […]
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Of Gold and Flutters (Litanies; Vespers; Oratorios, Box 11)
March 31st, 2010 · No Comments · Baden (June 17 1791), Box 11: Mozart: Litanies; Vespers; Oratorios; Cantatas; Masonic Music, Elizabeth Bainbridge, Gwynne Howell, K165, K339, K341, K618, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kyrie, London Symphony Orchestra, Milan (January 1773), Mozart at 17, Mozart at 24, Mozart at 25, Mozart at 31, Mozart at 35, Munich (1780-1 or 1787), Ryland Davies, Salzburg (1780(, Sir Colin Davis, Vesperae solennes de confessore
Yesterday’s music was out of balance. The terrific music came in first and then the vocals, which distracted me. Today’s music is equal parts vocal and instrumental. The music isn’t so good that my mind goes off on a walkabout, only to be yanked back by the vocals. This time – and I don’t mean […]
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Of Short and Sweet (Piano Music, Box 9)
March 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Andante with 5 Variations in G for Piano Duet, Box 9: Piano Music, Ingrid Haebler, K357, K497, K501, K521, Ludwig Hoffmann, Mozart at 30, Mozart at 31, Sonata in C for Piano Duet, Sonata in F for Piano Duet, Sonata in G for Piano Duet, Vienna (1786), Vienna (August 1 1786), Vienna (May 29 1787), Vienna (November 11 1786)
Ahh, now this is more like it. These piano duets are truly amazing. Beautiful melodies. Stellar performances by Ingrid Haebler and Ludwig Hoffmann. This is the kind of music I can enjoy as background for writing or for active listening. I was captivated from the first movement (Adagio – Allegro di molto) of the first […]
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Of X-Files and Unfinished Gigues (Piano Music, Box 9)
March 14th, 2010 · No Comments · Adagio in B minor, Box 9: Piano Music, Eine kleine Gigue in G, Fantasia in D minor, Gigue (definition), K355, K397, K485, K511, K540, K574, Minuet in D, Mitsuko Uchida, Mozart at 26, Mozart at 30, Mozart at 31, Mozart at 32, Mozart at 33, Mozart at 34, Mozart at 35, Rondo in A minor, Rondo in D major, Saddest Key of All, Veipzig (May 16 1789), Vienna (1789-91), Vienna (early 1782), Vienna (January 10 1786), Vienna (March 19 1788), Vienna (March 3 1787)
Pianist Mitsuko Uchida is back. And I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if her playing is truly magical. But these compositions are gorgeous. I’m enjoying all of them. Most of these pieces were written in Vienna in the latter part of Mozart’s life (ages 26-35). One was written in Leipzig. All of them […]
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You can call me Amadeus. But don't expect me to answer to that.