About the time that Mozart was composing Le Nozze
di Figaro, Emperor Joseph II threw a party in the Schönbrunn
palace in Vienna, after which he wanted to hold a musical competition
- two composers would write works that would compete: one a singspiel
and the other an Italian opera. The Emperor commissioned Mozart to compose
the singspiel and Salieri to compose the opera. Mozart’s entry
in the competition was The Impresario, a work the notes to this
recording describe as "long, diffuse, and rather silly". But,
without the dialogues, as it is presented here, this work contains about
twenty minutes of fine music, that certainly recalls Figaro and
other of Mozart’s operas.
Beginning with a grand overture - much more grandiose
than could be expected for such a work; perhaps Mozart wanted to truly
impress the listeners - the music of The Impresario is in five
parts, the four other sections being an arietta, a duet, a trio and
a vaudeville. The performance here is fine, the soloists are all very
good, though the orchestra overwhelms the voices at times, making it
very difficult to actually hear the words they are singing. The bits
of music here are all taken out of context, and should be seen as merely
excerpts from a larger theatrical work. But, as such, they do show a
fine level of composition. (Note that, for a fine recording of The
Impresario, coupled with The Magic Flute, one need look no
further than the Karl Böhm recording on DG, recorded in 1974. With
Arleen Augér, Peter Schreier and Kurt Moll, this is an excellent
performance. Not to mention Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing Papageno
in Magic Flute…)
The second work on this disc is a singspiel,
The Beneficent Dervish, written by a composer in "Mozart’s
circle". Performed in the same theatre where Mozart’s Magic
Flute was produced, one year later, this work was performed by the
same company of singers, and has a similar "fairy tale" theme.
One is told that it "can give us a fascinating new perspective
on Mozart’s great masterpiece". But this work is nowhere near the
level of The Magic Flute. Attractive and entertaining,
this world premiere recording contains some interesting parts, and others
which are merely simplistic filler.
For listeners who are truly interested in the context
of Mozart’s operas, this disk contains an interesting work. The Impresario
is short, though attractive, and The Beneficent Dervish gives
a glimpse of what was being done in Mozart’s circle. While not essential,
this disc is entertaining and well performed.
Kirk McElhearn
Boston Baroque, Martin
Pearlman