Mozart: Overtures

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The Kölner Akademie is in period instrument guise, and the sound is often suitably thrilling and zippy. — BBC Music Magazine, March 2024, 3 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 19th Jan 2024
Catalogue No: BIS2062
Label: BIS
Length: 61 minutes

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Mozart: Ascanio in Alba, K111: Overture

Work length3:19

$1.00

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$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Idomeneo, K366: Overture

Work length4:46

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$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K492: Overture

Work length4:31

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$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K384: Overture

Work length5:33

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$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Così fan tutte, K588: Overture

Work length4:25

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Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Der Schauspieldirektor, K486: Overture

Work length4:26

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$1.30

$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Mitridate, rè di Ponto, K87: Overture

Work length5:20

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$1.30

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Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: La finta giardiniera, K196: Overture

Work length4:38

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Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Don Giovanni, K527: Overture

Work length6:04

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Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Lucio Silla, K135: Overture

Work length7:19

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, K621: Overture

Work length4:39

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$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620: Overture

Work length6:58

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$1.75

Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens

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From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, the overture became an orchestral piece intended to precede a large-scale dramatic work. This recording brings together twelve overtures from Mozart’s operas. They foreshadow the action, sometimes stylistically, sometimes by quoting themes that will appear later, to create a dramatic impression before we even see anything on stage – think of the memorable overtures to Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte. The twelve overtures brought together here cover 21 years of Mozart’s career: from Mitridate, composed when he was just 14, which testifies to the young composer’s familiarity with the galant style then in vogue, to La Clemenza di Tito (1791), the high point of his work in the opera seria genre that was to disappear with him, not forgetting masterpieces such as Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte. The Kölner Akademie, playing on period instruments, and its conductor Michael Alexander Willens demonstrate Mozart’s unrivalled ability to capture the audience’s attention with these brilliant overtures, some of which are among his most famous works, both on stage and in concert.

Reviews

March 2024

The Kölner Akademie is in period instrument guise, and the sound is often suitably thrilling and zippy.

March 2024

Willens and his period band combine a shrewd sense of character and pacing with a care for inner detail, abetted by ideally clear, glowing BIS sound...if you fancy dipping in, you’ll rarely hear performances that match these in colour, character and sheer athletic exuberance.

Mozart: Overtures

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