Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered one of the most influential composers of all time. The child prodigy would become the author of some of today’s best loved instrumental works, and a true king of sung drama. La Betulia liberata KV118/74c, the only oratorio he ever produced, was written by a relatively young Wolfgang whose potential is immediately obvious, even in his mid‐teens.

La Betulia liberata, rarely performed or recorded, was commissioned by Don Giuseppe Ximenes, Prince of Aragon, in 1771 while Mozart was undertaking a tour of Italy with his father, Leopold. The text, by Pietro Metastasio, is based on the story of the Book of Judith, which appears in the Apocrypha of the Bible, and the oratorio is written in a seria style.

The work also showcases the beginnings of a composer who would become famous for his employment of dramatic contrast and characterisation, as well as providing a psychological insight to his characters through the music. Two highlights are undoubtedly Nos. 11 and 14; in the former, the noblewoman Amital compares the plight of Bethulia to the desperation of a ship in a storm, portrayed in the music, and in the latter, Amital’s changing mood is perfectly depicted as arrogance turns to docility – a forerunner to Mozart’s more challengingly unstable female protagonists, Donna Elvira and Vitellia.

The recording boasts a wealth of critically acclaimed vocalists. They are accompanied by the Coro e Orchestra dell’Oficina Musicum, directed from the harpsichord by Riccardo Favero.

Swiss pianist Karl Engel was a student of Paul Baumgartner at the Basel Conservatory from 1942 to 1945. After World War II he studied with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique in Paris in 1947-1948. He toured internationally as a soloist with orchestras, a recitalist and as a chamber music performer. He became particularly known for his complete cycles of Mozart piano sonatas and concertos, and Beethoven piano sonatas. He also distinguished himself as an accompanist, often appearing in Lieder recitals with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Peter Schreier and Brigitte Fassbaender. Among his chamber music partners were Pablo Casals, Yehudi Menuhin as well as the Melos Quartet. From 1958 to 1986 Karl Engel was Professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany. He gave famous master-classes in France, Canada and Portugal.

With this CD, dedicated to the friendship between Mozart and Haydn, we are far removed from a studio atmosphere. Recorded live, the recording is very faithful to the concert, to that special communication which exists between a musician and his audience. Following two of the most famous Mozart sonatas, two Haydn sonatas in two movements combine seriousness and exuberance, apparent simplicity and studied sophistication.

Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the Opera de Montreal with a stunning two disc set (at the price of one), the Directors said about this release: “Our great annual celebration of opera gives us the opportunity to present a magnificent showcase of Canadian talent. Brought together on the same stage are some of our finest voices who, along with the Orchestre Metropolitain conducted by Alain Trudel, perform some of the most beautiful arias and ensembles in the repertoire.”

Recorded on the Westchor-Orgel of Mainz Dom (Hans Klais 1928).

Thus did BBC Music Magazine praise Dedicated to Victims of War and Terror (DE3259), one of two previous Delos albums in which Maestro Constantine Orbelian – longtime Director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (MCO) – appears as the featured pianist. The other is Shostakovich – Schnittke: Piano Quintets (DE 1038). The present release, offering engaging concerto performances, is now Orbelian’s third recording for Delos as a pianist. Some fans of Orbelian’s work as conductor may still not be aware of his brilliant career as a concert pianist before he assumed the MCO’s directorship in 1991. Since then – despite his intermittent appearances as a pianist – his immense success as a conductor has overshadowed his reputation as a distinguished keyboard artist. With this sterling reissue, a new generation of listeners should come to appreciate his rare piano mastery. While all of these winning performances are with the MCO, they were recorded in the years just before Orbelian took over the orchestra. The three concertos with single piano were performed under the deft baton of previous MCO director Andrei Korsakov, whose untimely death in 1991 left the vacancy that Orbelian filled. Korean Maestro Nanse Gum expertly conducted the Mozart “Double” Concerto No. 10, also featuring noted American pianist Jonathan Shames. Orbelian’s trumpet partner in the Shostakovich is the Russian superstar Sergei Nakariakov, then only about 12 years old!