Mozart: La finta giardiniera, K196

Set Design by Rolf Glittenberg & Costumes by Renate Martin & Andreas Dornhauser

Early in the Mozart Anniversary Year 2006, Nikolaus Harnoncourt presented his reading of La Finta Giardiniera, a long-forgotten wonderfully tragicomic opera by the young Mozart. Almost a quarter of a century ago Harnoncourt presented his reading of the rediscovered work on CD, but in this version from the Zurich Opera, the great Mozart magician conducted a staged production for the fi rst time, making the premiere an event in itself. TDK is proud to present Mozart admirers with a Blu-Ray of this acclaimed production recorded live in February 2006. Tobias Moretti, a popular Austrian actor with a musical background presented this, his second opera staging, to high praise from audience and critics alike. He sees this opera about mistaken identities and true love within a hierarchical order as a play on societal conditions at the onset of the enlightenment. This interpretation is supported by the simple and effective stage and costume design by the team Glittenberg/Martin/Dornhauser. The mayor’s symmetrical bungalow marks the setting, mirroring a strong hierarchical order and simple props like tables and gauzes are easily recognized in their changing function as wedding-table, later court table and, nuptial bed, or veil and wedding dress – suggesting that the characters’ at the end fi nd themselves in a topsy-turvy world.