Search - Mozart, Bartoli, Terfel :: Mozart in Love

Like its companion anthology, Puccini in Love, this is a treasury of some of the most inspired and unforgettable passages in all the operatic repertory. Opera heightens the world of emotions, and when it comes to the emotions of love, Mozart was the ultimate sage. His understanding of the infinite variety of psychological states that love induces, from irrational jealousy to compassionate self-denial, has a truly Shakespearean depth and truthfulness. The world of Così fan tutte, for example, featuring biting cynicism side by side with the ecstasy of devotion, comes remarkably close to the multihued vitality of Shakespeare's comedies. Mozart possessed an unsurpassed genius for somehow finding the most convincing, moving, and perfectly balanced musical code to convey these emotions: just listen to the breathless excitement of confused adolescent desire in "Non so più" from The Marriage of Figaro or the outraged betrayal expressed in "Mi tradì" from one of the greatest artworks of all Western culture, Don Giovanni. The excerpts here--all from Universal's archives--feature such artists as James Levine, Bryn Terfel, Anne Sofie von Otter, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Dawn Upshaw. The full-length recordings from which they're taken--with the possible exception of Levine's Figaro--would not be a first-choice recommendation for each of the respective operas. But this is a lovely place to begin an exploration of Mozart's operas, and at a budget price. --Sarah Chin