COMPOSERS: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
LABELS: Deutsche Grammophon
ALBUM TITLE: Mozart: Così fan tutte
WORKS: Così fan tutte
PERFORMER: Miah Persson, Angela Brower, Adam Plachetka, Rolando Villazón et al; Vocalensemble Rastatt; Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
CATALOGUE NO: 479 0641
This concert recording from the Baden-Baden festival in 2012 is the second in the series planned by Deutsche Grammophon of the seven great operas by Mozart. The first, Don Giovanni, was issued last year. The Canadian Yannick Nézet‑Séguin is an experienced orchestral conductor and brings to Mozart’s music springy rhythms and a strong sense of continuity and poise. In common with many other recordings of this work, one of the arias – ‘Ah lo veggio’ for Ferrando – is omitted.
Few recordings can match the team of expert singers who display their talents here. With her luminous tone and great agility, the Swedish soprano Miah Persson is a world-class Fiordiligi who relishes the emotional range from imperiousness (‘Come scoglio’) to tenderness (‘Per pietà’). The American Dorabella, Angela Brower, carves each line incisively through the texture, though does not always colour the voice according to the harmony (as required by the second stanza of ‘Smanie implacabili’). Villazón as Ferrando is captivating, while providing high-octane singing whatever the mood, and the Czech bass-baritone Adam Plachetka as Guglielmo lets us hear every word. Erdmann (as Despina) and Corbelli (as Don Alfonso) add a dash of humour to this pseudo-scientific Enlightenment experiment in human love. The concert performance keeps the textures tight and ensures the singers are completely steady throughout, even if this sometimes produc 4790641es slightly ‘matter‑of-fact’ interpretations (as in the supposedly tender ‘farewell’ Quintet, No. 9 in Act I). In the long recitative scenes (such as Act II, Scene 5), the singers really come alive as actors.
Anthony Pryer