Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
First broadcast from 20071203 to 20090306.
10 episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Repeated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20071203 | Rptdtoday8.45pm | Donald Macleod opens Mozart's address book to discover the friends, family and fellow musicians who inspired some of his greatest music. These include a piano sonata written to perform with Mozart's sister Nannerl, and a horn concerto for his virtuoso friend Joseph Leutgeb. Sonata for 4 hands, K381 Martha Argerich, Alexandre Rabinovitch (piano) Die Schuldigkeit Des Ersten Gebots (excerpts) Margaret Marshall, Ann Murray (soprano) Hans Peter Blochwitz (tenor) Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart Neville Marriner (conductor) Horn Concerto, K417 Barry Tuckwell (horn) English Chamber Orchestra Ah, lo Previdi! Emma Kirkby (soprano) The Academy of Ancient Music Christopher Hogwood (conductor) |
| 01 | 20090302 | Donald Macleod explores Mozart's Vienna years, focusing on the composer's arrival in Vienna as he set about establishing himself in all the right circles, in particular, the regular Sunday afternoon gatherings at the home of the diplomat Baron Gottfried van Swieten, who introduced Mozart to the music of Bach and Handel. The music includes two major chamber works: the powerful - and most un-serenade-like - Serenade in C minor, K388, and the String Quartet in E flat, K428 - one of Mozart's six so-called 'Haydn' quartets, written in tribute to the older composer. Donald Macleod looks at Mozart's arrival in Vienna, as he began establishing himself. | |
| 02 | 20071204 | As a child prodigy, Mozart had tasted success at the court of Mannheim. He returned there with his mother at the age of 21 in search of work, but instead found love. Donald Macleod explores Mozart's unrequited passion for the soprano Aloysia Weber - though it was her sister Constanze who became his wife. An aria for the revered castrato Venanzio Rauzzini and a piano sonata for a pupil in Mannheim also feature. Exsultate, Jubilate Felicity Lott (soprano) London Mozart Players Jane Glover (conductor) Non so d'onde Viene Natalie Dessay (soprano) Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon Theodor Guschlbauer (conductor) Sonata in C, K309 Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano) Konstanze! Dich wieder zu sehen! - O wie angstlich, o wie feurig (Die Entfuhrung auf dem Serail, Act 1) Belmonte....Ian Bostridge (tenor) Les Arts Florissants William Christie (director). | |
| 02 | 20090303 | Donald Macleod explores Mozart's Vienna years, describing the visit of the composer's father, Leopold, to his new apartment in Vienna - which was to be the last time they would see each other. The programme features Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, K466, which was undergoing its finishing touches as Leopold arrived. There is also a lesser-known work, Davidde Penitente or The Penitent David, whose music Mozart partially recycled from the mighty Mass in C minor, left incomplete in 1783. | |
| 03 | 20071205 | Donald Macleod explores Mozart's relationship with his nemesis Antonio Salieri with a complete performance of the opera Der Schauspieldirektor, commissioned by Emperor Joseph II for a battle of the Italian and German opera companies in Vienna. But it was Mozart's relationship with the operatic genius librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte that proved more fruitful. Der Schauspieldirektor Magda Nador, Krisztina Laki (sopranos) Thomas Hampson (baritone) Harry van der Kamp (bass) Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor) Marriage of Figaro (finale) Figaro....Bryn Terfel (baritone) Susanna....Alison Hagley (soprano) Count Almaviva....Rodney Gilfry (baritone) Countess Almaviva....Hillevi Martinpelto (soprano) Cherubino....Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo-soprano) Marcellina....Susan McCulloch (mezzo-soprano) Bartolo....Carlos Feller (bass) Basilio....Francis Egerton (tenor) Antonio....Julian Clarkson (bass) Barbarina....Lucinda Houghton (soprano) The Monteverdi Choir The English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Ch'io mi Scordi di Te Christine Schafer (soprano) Maria Joao Pires (piano) Berlin Philharmonic Claudio Abbado (conductor). | |
| 03 | 20090304 | Donald Macleod explores Mozart's Vienna years, focusing on the importance to the composer of Johann Leutgeb, an old colleague of Mozart's from Salzburg days. Leutgeb was a talented horn player and, somewhat bizarrely, a cheese-shop owner, for whom Mozart wrote several works, including the famous Concerto in E flat, K495. The programme also looks at the end of the Viennese public's love affair with Mozart's music, as the fun-loving Viennese struggled to keep pace with the intensity of works like the String Quintet in G minor, K516. Donald Macleod explores the end of the Viennese public's love affair with Mozart's music. | |
| 04 | 20090305 | Donald Macleod explores Mozart's Vienna years, focusing on his growing worries about money, as he dashed off begging letter after begging letter to his wealthy friends and fellow freemasons. It was in this troubled frame of mind that Mozart composed two of his best-known works -the Piano Sonata, K545, and the Jupiter Symphony, which, although sharing the key of C major, are two very distinct pieces. Donald Macleod explores how, despite serious money trouble, Mozart wrote two great works. | |
| 05 LAST | 20090306 | Donald Macleod explores Mozart's Vienna years, and concentrates on the opera that affronted some of the composer's fellow masons, but which has enchanted generations of opera-goers ever since - The Magic Flute. He also focuses on the commissioning of the Requiem Mass, which, as many believe, came about when Mozart received a call from a stranger, who made him an offer he could not afford to refuse. The composer almost certainly had the whole work mapped out in his head, but died before he was able to get it all down on paper. Donald Macleod explores Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the unfinished Requiem. | |
| 20071206 | Rptdtoday8.45pm | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) 4/5. Mozart was an ardent freemason, as were several of his friends. Freemasonry suited his philosophical ideals, his liberal outlook and his sociable nature. Donald Macleod investigates the influence of freemasonry on Mozart's music in The Magic Flute and the cantata Die Maurerfreude (The Mason's Joy). Haydn, a fellow freemason, was the inspiration for a set of six string quartets, including The Dissonance, K465. Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (Die Zauberflote) Queen of the Night....Natalie Dessay (soprano) Les Arts Florissants William Christie (director) Die Zauberflote (Sc 29) Papageno....Anton Scharinger (baritone) Papagena....Linda Kitchen (soprano) Monostatos....Steven Cole (tenor) Three Ladies....Anna-Maria Panzarella, Doris Lamprecht, Delphine Haidan (sopranos and mezzo) Sarastro....Reinhard Hagen (bass) Les Arts Florissants William Christie (director) Die Maurerfreude Werner Krenn (tenor) Edinburgh Festival Chorus London Symphony Orchestra Istvan Kertsz (conductor) String Quartet in C, K465 (Dissonance) Budapest String Quartet | |
| 20071207 | Rptdtoday8.45pm | 5/5. Mozart's friends came in all guises, from fellow musicians to eminent businessmen whose emotional and financial support was crucial to his wellbeing. Mozart repaid them with some of his most sublime music. Donald Macleod features a complete performance of the Clarinet Concerto, written for Mozart's great friend Anton Stadler, the final movements of his Trio Divertimento, written for his financial aide Michael Puchberg, and the Lacrimosa from his Requiem, completed posthumously by Mozart's friend and pupil Xaver Sussmayr. Requiem (Lacrimosa) Bavarian Radio Chorus Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Colin Davis (conductor) Clarinet Concerto in A, K622 Michael Collins (basset clarinet) Russian National Orchestra Mikhail Pletnev (conductor) Divertimento in E flat, K563 (mvts 5 and 6) Leopold String Trio Se il Padre Perdei (II Idomeneo, Act 2) Ilia....Heidi Grant Murphy (soprano) Metropolitan Opera Orchestra James Levine (conductor) |