Mozart: Overtures / Willens, Kölner Akademie

$15.99
Label
BIS
Release Date
January 19, 2024
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    • PERFORMER
      Kolner Akademie
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 19, 2024
    • UPC
      7318599920627
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BIS-2062
    • LABEL
      BIS
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. Ascanio in Alba, K. 111: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    2. Idomeneo, re di Creta, K. 366: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    3. Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    4. Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    5. Così fan tutte, K. 588: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    6. Der Schauspieldirektor, K. 486: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    7. Mitridate, re di Ponto, K. 87: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    8. La finta giardiniera, K. 196: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    9. Don Giovanni, K. 527: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    10. Lucio Silla, K. 135: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    11. La clemenza di Tito, K. 621: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    12. Die Zauberflöte, K. 620: Overture

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Kölner Akademie

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens


From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, the overture became an orchestral piece intended to precede a large-scale dramatic work. This recording brings together twelve overtures from Mozart’s operas. They foreshadow the action, sometimes stylistically, sometimes by quoting themes that will appear later, to create a dramatic impression before we even see anything on stage – think of the memorable overtures to Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte.

The twelve overtures brought together here cover 21 years of Mozart’s career: from Mithridate, composed when he was just 14, which testifies to the young composer’s familiarity with the galant style then in vogue, to La Clemenza di Tito (1791), the high point of his work in the opera seria genre that was to disappear with him, not forgetting masterpieces such as Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte.

The Kölner Akademie, playing on period instruments, and its conductor Michael Alexander Willens demonstrate Mozart’s unrivalled ability to capture the audience’s attention with these brilliant overtures, some of which are among his most famous works, both on stage and in concert.

REVIEW:

The interpretations are very fresh, the playing virtuosic. The historical instruments provide a clear, crisp, and transparent sound, which is reproduced by the sound engineers with good spatiality and balance, with a clean and beautifully present bass.

-- Pizzicato