Mozart, passionate about theater from childhood, found opera a highly congenial medium and satisfied his desire to write operatic music through concert arias when opera commissions were sporadic.
Interpretation
Lisette Oropesa, the soprano, feels a deeper connection to Mozart's music as a grown woman because the human voice responds to emotional triggers and often has emotionally driven text.
Performer Biography
Lisette Oropesa, the soprano on this album, was a flautist before becoming a singer and approaches this vocal repertoire with the same instrumental mindset.
Composition History
Mozart's concert arias, including some of his finest vocal music, were not always written for concerts but often as replacement arias for existing operas.
Compositional Technique
True concert arias by Mozart tend to be longer and include substantial orchestrally-accompanied recitative, conceived as complete, self-sufficient works, sometimes referred to as 'scena'.
Composer Biography
Two singers, Josepha Duschek and Aloysia Weber, played important roles in Mozart's life and works, inspiring him to write music of extraordinary beauty and dramatic power.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in August 2020 at the Himmelfahrtskirche, Munich-Sendling, Germany.
