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Winner of numerous awards including the Gramophone Record of the Year 2004, this is one of the must-have opera recordings of all time.
"This is the only suitable adjective to define what we are looking for, with our period instruments, our fast tempos, the performance of the recitatives, the ornaments added here and there by the singers, and a few other features that may surprise the audience: an approach that is not ‘Baroque’ – the term would be wholly out of place here – but ‘neo-Classical’, as opposed to the ‘post-Romantic’ one which began to determine our listening habits in the first half of the twentieth century. Every period has its own Mozart tradition; the neo-Classical approach is the fruit of an increasingly intense desire, not to ‘reconstruct’ musical performance practices of Mozart’s time, but to utilise them with the imagination proper to the individual personality of each musician, as important elements that are nevertheless subordinate to an overall vision." René Jacobs
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro - Overture
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Cinque...Dieci...Venti
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Cosa Stai Misurando
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Se A Caso Madama
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Or Bene Ascolta, E Taci
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Cavatina: Se Vuol Ballare
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Ed Aspettate Il Giorno
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: La Vendetta, Oh, La Vendetta
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Tutto Ancor Non Ho Perso
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Via, Resti Servita
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Va Là, Vecchia Pedante
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Non So Più, Cosa Son
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Ah, Son Perduto!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Cosa Sento! Tosto Andate
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Basilio, In Traccia Tosto
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Giovani Liete
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Cos'È Questa Commedia?
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Giovani Liete
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Evviva!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Non Più Andrai
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Porgi, Amor
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Vieni, Cara Susanna
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Quanto Duomi, Susanna
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Voi Che Sapete
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Bravo! Che Bella Voce!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Venite Inginocchiatevi...
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Quante Buffonerie!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Che Novità! Non Fu Mai
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Susanna, Or Via Sortite
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Dunque, Voi Non Aprite?
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Aprite, Presto, Aprite
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Or Guarda Il Demonietto!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Tutto È Come Io Lasciai
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Esci, Ormai, Garzon Malnato
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Signori, Di Fuori
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Ah, Signor...Signor
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 2: Voi Signor, Che Giusto Siete
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Che Imbarazzo È Mai Questo !
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Crudel! Perché Finora
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: E Perché Fosti Meco
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Hai Già Vinta La Causa!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: E Decisa La Lite
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Riconosci In Questo Amplesso
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Eccovi, O Caro Amico
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: E Susanna.. Dove Sono
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Io Vi Dico, Signor
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Su L'Aria.
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Ricevete, O Padroncina
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Queste Sono, Madama
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Ecco La Marcia
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: L'Ho Perduta...Me Meschina!
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Barbarina, Cos'Hai
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Il Capro E La Capretta
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Nel Padiglione A Manca
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: In Quegl'Anni In Cui Val Poco
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Tutto È Disposto.. Aprite Un Po Quegli Occhi
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Signora, Ella Mi Disse
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Giunse Alfin Il Momento.. Deh Vieni, Non Tardar
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Perfida! E In Quella Forma
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Pian Pianin Le Andro.. Pace, Pace Mio Dolce Tesoro
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Non La Trovo.. Si, Madama, Voi Siete Il Ben Mio
Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Gente, Gente, Allarmi, Allarmi
2010
“René Jacobs always brings new ideas to the operas he conducts, and even to a work as familiar as Figaro he adds something of his own. First of all he offers an orchestral balance quite unlike what we are used to. Those who specially relish a Karajan or a Solti will hardly recognise the work, with its strongly wind-biased orchestral balance: you simply don't hear the violins as the 'main line' of the music. An excellent corrective to a tradition that was untrue to Mozart, to be sure, but possibly the pendulum has swung a little too far. Jacobs is freer over tempo than most conductors. The Count's authoritarian pronouncements are given further weight by a faster tempo: it gives them extra decisiveness, though the music then has to slow down. There are other examples of such flexibility, sometimes a shade disconcerting, but always with good dramatic point. The Count's Act 3 duet with Susanna is one example: the little hesitancies enhanced and pointed up, if perhaps with some loss in energy and momentum. Tempos are generally on the quick side of normal, notably in the earlier parts of the Act 2 finale; but Jacobs is willing to hold back, too, for example in the Susanna-Marcellina duet, in the fandango, and in the G major music at the dénouement where the Count begs forgiveness. The cast is excellent. Véronique Gens offers a beautifully natural, shapely 'Porgi amor' and a passionate and spirited 'Dove sono'. The laughter in Patrizia Ciofi's voice is delightful when she's dressing up Cherubino, and she has space in 'Deh vieni' for a touchingly expressive performance. Then there's Angelika Kirschlager's Cherubino, alive and urgent in 'Non so più', every little phrase neatly moulded. Lorenzo Regazzo offers a strong Figaro, with a wide range of voice – angry and determined in 'Se vuol ballare', nicely rhythmic with some softer colours in 'Non più andrai', and pain and bitterness in 'Aprite'. The Count of Simon Keenlyside is powerful, menacing, lean and dark in tone. Marie McLaughlin sings Marcellina with unusual distinction. Strongly cast, imaginatively directed: it's a Figaro well worth hearing.”
2010
****
“René Jacobs conducts one of the refreshing versions of Figaro to be issued in many years...Véronique Gens is one of the most distinguished of Countesses, and Patrizia Ciofi is a sparkling Susanna, while Simon Keenlyside is a superb Count, well contrasted with the strongly acted Figaro of Lorenzo Regazzo.”
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Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro - Overture
