Mozart: Der Vogelfänger bin ich, ja (from Die Zauberflöte)

‘Operatic justice’, writes J.B. Steane in his informative and amusing note for this album, ‘is a law unto itself, and the baritone has been prominent among its victims. Unlucky in love, he is seen in the most favourable light as a father-figure and is otherwise all too often the villain of the piece. He may be manly but is rarely heroic. He will have his arias, his moments of glory, yet (uncannily, it must seem to him) their place is rarely at the centre of the opera, or for that matter, part of its last-act climax.’

Beginning with a bracket of Mozart arias, this colourful recital, recorded by Matthias Goerne in 2000, takes us through the terrains of mid- and late-19th century opera – Wagner, Humperdinck, Richard Strauss – to the early 20th-century with the moving ‘Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen’ from Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, to two brief excerpts from Berg’s Wozzeck.

Matthias Goerne both works within the tradition and extends it. Like his predecessors, from Schlusnus to Fischer-Dieskau, he has developed his careers in opera and song side by side, though it is true that his fame and hitherto his work as a recording artist have centred less on opera than on Lieder and oratorio. His operatic recording debut was spotted by Gramophone magazine and described as ‘an impressive appearance’, as Prometheus in the large cast of Braunfels’s Die Vögel.

This magnificent collection features the some of the greatest opera stars of all time:

Cecilia Bartoli, Anna Netrebko, Bryn Terfel, Renée Fleming, Andrea Bocelli Luciano Pavarotti, Dame Joan Sutherland, Plácido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras.

With a carefully chosen selection of perennially popular arias, duets and choruses, this enchanting collection creates the perfect introduction to opera.

With 40 tracks and over 2½ hours of music this collection is outstanding value for money.

Includes Pavarotti’s classic recording of the most popular opera aria of all, Puccini’s ‘Nessun dorma’.

Celebrating the genius of Mozart, this exciting release features 15 of his most celebrated operatic arias, performed by legendary bass-baritone Ferruccio Furlanetto.

The compilation traces Mozart’s four most famous operas and details nine separate characters in the space of an hour. From Figaro’s military-style ‘Non più andrai’ to the Count’s display of jealous insecurity in ‘Hai già vinta la causa!’ – two of four arias from Le nozze di Figaro – Furlanetto also explores the servant-nobleman roles in Don Giovanni, performing the infamous ‘Madamina! il catalogo è questo’ and ‘Champagne Aria’ among others. Così fan tutte, Mozart’s third and final collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, sees the bass-baritone take on the role of Guglielmo, while in Die Zauberflöte, written just a couple of months before the composer’s death, the singer contrasts the naivety of Papageno the birdcatcher (‘Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja’ and ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’) with the wisdom and purity of Sarastro (‘In diesen heil’gen Hallen’).

Representing the pinnacle of Mozart’s mature style, these arias run the full gamut of emotions and reveal Furlanetto’s range of technical and expressive virtuosity. To find the same artist singing such a wide variety of roles in his career, let alone on the same disc, is a rare thing: this recording is a fine addition to the Newton Classics vocal library.

Booklet note by Mozart opera conductor and scholar Ian Page.

Recorded in 1991.