Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This 5 CD set, devoted to the outstanding Italian baritone Tito Gobbi, is a further release in the EMI Classics ICON series. The bulk of this set is devoted to all the solo recordings that Gobbi made during his entire career, brought together for the first time.

The first CD begins with seven operatic arias (by Cilea, Leoncavallo, Mozart, Verdi and Puccini), and two songs (‘Musica proibita’ by Gastaldon and ‘Famme sunn’a cu’tte’ by Ruccione) that Gobbi made for the Italian branch of EMI in 1942. The songs were released only in Italy on a 78rpm record that had extremely limited circulation because of the Second World War, and are re-issued here by EMI for the first time.

The programme continues on CD 1 with further recordings that Gobbi made for EMI from 1948 onwards of operatic arias and songs, including two songs (‘La montanara’ and ‘Take the Sun’) that were featured in the 1949 film The Glass Mountain that brought the baritone to a wide cinema audience. He eventually appeared in more than 20 films.

CD 2 contains the rest of the songs and arias made up to the end of the 78rpm era, and finishes with the song ‘Nenia d’amore’ recorded in Italy in 1953 for the film Canzoni a due voci.

In 1955, Gobbi made his first LP recital album (with the forces of the Rome Opera), but it was not released at the time due to concerns about the technical quality of the recording. With the advance of technology the problems were subsequently able to be corrected and Gobbi later gave permission for material from the album to be released in various LP collections. The whole album is now heard here complete for the first time.

In 1964, EMI made a two-LP set called The Art of Tito Gobbi in which each of the four LP sides was devoted to a different genre, namely Operatic Arias, Classical Songs and Arias,

Italian and Neapolitan Popular Songs, and Romantic Songs. The programme repeated some of the repertoire on the as yet unpublished 1955 album but ranged much more widely, especially in the field of song. The operatic arias were made with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Alberto Erede; the classical songs with a small chamber ensemble consisting of harpsichord, cello and guitar; the popular songs with members of the Orchestra of the Rome Opera, and the romantic songs with the distinguished pianist Gerald Moore. This project marked the end of Gobbi’s recording career in solo repertoire.

The rest of the set covers extracts from some of the acclaimed complete opera recordings that Gobbi made for EMI, including Lucia di Lammermoor, Tosca, Aida and Rigoletto with the legendary soprano Maria Callas. Other operas featured are L’elisir d’amore, Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo, Aida, Il tabarro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi. The programme ends with a memorable reminder of one of Gobbi’s finest assumptions, the title role in Verdi’s sublime Falstaff.

The conductor Ferenc Fricsay studied under Bartok, Kodaly and Dohnyani. He conducted many orchestras and opera companies including Houston Symphony, Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic. These recordings were made between 1957 and 1959.

Waltraud Wulz and Antoinette Van Zabner perform piano duets by Mozart, Schubert, Eröd, Ravel and Johann Strauss II. 'Both pianists combine a beautiful sound, splendid technique and sure-handed perception with a distinct stylistic understanding as well as the ability to work and to hear their way into complicated structures' (Krzystof Meyer, composer and writer).

An artist of rare versatility, Angèle Dubeau has had a dazzling career in the great concert halls of the world. With a string of some 30 recordings, many concerts with renowned orchestras and as the conductor of her own ensemble, her talent, passion and musicality have won her uncommon acclaim. This collection includes virtuoso works by Paganini, Mendelssohn, Sarasate, Prokofiev and Sibelius.

American clarinetist Jon Manasse delivers a buoyant reading of the clarinet concertos by W.A. Mozart and Ludwig Spohr (the second of four such works). Manasse receives nimble support from the Seattle Symphony led by Gerard Schwarz.

Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus), K. 87 (74a), is an early opera seria in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine.

Mozart wrote Mitridate while touring Italy in 1770. It was first performed at the Regio Ducal Teatro, Milan, on the 26th of December 1770 (at the Milan Carnival). The opera was a success, having been performed twenty-one times despite doubts because of Mozart’s extreme youth - he was 14 at the time.

No revival took place until the 20th century. This opera features splendid virtuoso arias for the principal roles.

Mozart’s Mitridate is what literary scholars call a heroic historical drama, and the genre was considered the most prestigious theatrical form in the second half of the eighteenth century.