Mozart: Alcandro, lo confesso - Non so d'onde viene, K294

From the outset of his career, bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo has been the pre-eminent Mozart man in his Fach. For his all-Italian Mozart album under Gianandrea Noseda, he delivers numbers famous and rare that brim with vocal distinction and interpretive panache.

D’Arcangelo’s awesome Don Giovanni (“Champagne Aria”) and uproarious Leporello (“Catalogue Aria”) establish his wide emotional range. Excerpts of his much anticipated Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, which goes public in Paris in 2011 (followed by Vienna and L.A.), and his notable Figaro highlight other facets of D’Arcangelo’s command as a Mozartian.

With its unusually prominent writing for the double bass, the concert aria, “Per questa bella mano”, is a composition out of the ordinary; it shows that in addition to being a master of character creation, D’Arcangelo is a master of pure singing.

“Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is a complete knock-out as Leporello − charming, funny, sexy. What a difference a native Italian speaker makes in the role”, says The Independent

Mozart was a mason for the last seven years of his life and the works on this CD include many pieces which Mozart composed for Masonic celebrations; Cantata “Dir, Seele des Weltalls” K429, Cantata “Die Maurerfreude” K471, Maurische Trauermusik K477, and Eine kleine Freimaurerkantate K623. The director of these performances is Bernhard Paumgartner.

The nine large-scale Concert Arias for Baritone and Orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart date for the most part from the composer’s last creative period.

An explanation of the glorious music you will hear on this disc is given by Sir Charles Mackerras in the booklet that accompanies the CD.

"As we approach the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, I feel that it is appropriate to look into two aspects of Mozart’s composition which are not usually commented on but which actually give us new insight into the way this great composer’s mind worked. The first will show Mozart ornamenting his own vocal music in order to teach a young singer (with whom he was in love), how he could heighten the expressiveness or the brilliance of an aria by the judicious addition of extra notes, effects and cadenzas. The other aspect of Mozart, which will be shown on this CD, is that of Mozart the Borrower. He was often inspired by another composer’s work and determined to write a composition in similar style. In doing so, he often transformed a quite pleasant and charming original into pure gold, so that it became a work of genius. Mozart particularly admired the music of his somewhat senior contemporary, Johann Christian Bach. In this recording we will show how Mozart’s borrowings from J.C. Bach were turned into some of his most divine inspirations"

Sir Charles Mackerras with his gifted singers Majella Cullagh, Diana Montague and Elizabeth Futral give us the rare opportunity to hear Mozart’s thoughts on decoration.