LDV106

16 MOZART AT THE OPERA ‘Mozart at the Opera’: is the concert aria Ch’io mi scordi di te an operatic aria? The text originally appeared in a tenor aria composed for the Viennese revival of Idomeneo – the special feature of many of Mozart’s ‘concert’ arias is that they could be inserted just about anywhere, even in operas by other composers! This new setting of the same text is special, however: firstly, because of the warm sonorities of the flat keys, which are also found in Figaro or Così . But above all because Mozart adds an obbligato piano to the orchestra – something unthinkable in opera, indicating that this is a true concert aria – and because he dedicated the piece to Nancy Storace, a soprano for whom he certainly had tender feelings. The dedication is unequivocal: ‘für Mselle Storace und mich’ (for Mamselle Storace and myself). And what are the opening words of the aria section? ‘Fear not, my beloved, my heart will always be yours . . .’ What does the Fantasia K475 add to this programme? I would say that it justifies the title of the CD all by itself. The curtain rising in the darkness, the solemn, serious character conveyed by all the strings, the series of striking modulations that anticipate those in the Grave of the Sonata for piano four hands K497. And then the whole operatic mechanism gets underway, admittedly on a greatly reduced scale, but it seems so obvious to me: aria for mezzo, secco interlude from the orchestra, aria for soprano, cadenza with vocalise, duet for soprano and mezzo, orchestral tutti during the change of scene, recitative with orchestra, return to the motifs of the introduction, rather as in Don Giovanni when the Commendatore’s statue sings over the theme heard in the overture.