Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Mozart, You Drive me Crazy!
Golda Schultz (soprano), Kammerakademie Potsdam/Antonello Manacorda
rec. 2023, Teldex Studio Berlin, Germany
Sung texts with English and French translations enclosed
Reviewed as WAV 96/24 download
Alpha Classics 1026 [59]
The title of this disc may seem confusing, but Golda Schultz’s manifesto in the booklet explains:
“Mozart is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and complex composers in the operatic canon. He is also the one that I have probably spent the most time with, as a student, a lover of opera and a professional singer. By all accounts, he was a gifted, mercurial, demanding artist, and his work reflects this. After so many years trying to get to grips with the essence of his work, I have come to understand that it reveals to me one very simple, yet important conclusion – trying to find the balance between the human and the divine is a pursuit of sheer madness. From this conclusion springs the purpose of this album: to show the madness for what it is and to revel in the glorious attempt at this impossible balancing act.”
The complexity of the female characters in Mozart’s operas is best illustrated in the three great da Ponte operas, where Susanna and Contessa, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira and Fiordiligi really stand out as three-dimensional individuals. Golda Schultz manages to catch the essence of each of these five personalities; no easy task, since they are so different. The light, lyrical Susanna has very little in common with the high-dramatic Donna Anna, but Schultz skilfully individualises her tone, even though her voice type is closer to the latter. It was also a brilliant idea to include several ensemble scenes as a counterweight to the traditional recital with a string of arias. The supporting singers are excellent, but only Samoan tenor Amitai Pati is featured prominently in the long duet between Fiordiligi and Ferrando from Così fan tutte (track 8), where his beautiful lyrical tone holds its own well against Golda Schultz’s more powerful voice. Simone Easthope’s Susanna also blends well with Schultz’s Contessa in the little duettino from Le nozze di Figaro (track 11). Milan Siljanov is a characterful Don Alfonso in the sextet from Così fan tutte (track 12). Generally, in the big ensembles, the voices blend uncommonly well.
However, the heaviest burden naturally rests on Golda Schultz’s shoulders, and she impresses greatly. This South African born soprano, now in her early forties, has had a sterling international career during the last decade and appeared both at La Scala and the Metropolitan. Her quick vibrato makes her voice easily recognizable, and she expresses vulnerability just as expertly as anger and joy. Her Donna Anna has steel in her voice, and whatever emotions she wants to express she goes all-in. There are no dull moments in her readings. Maybe Fiordiligi’s Come scoglio with its preceding recitative, a notorious difficult piece to bring off, is her greatest achievement, but when I hear her Contessa, her Donna Elvira and her Donna Anna the tingle factor is there as well. Susanna is not quite in the same division, though I see in her CV that she has sung the role, and it was her debut in La Scala back in 2017, but instinctively I feel that today she has grown away from that voice type. She still sings it with deep insight, and I have returned to it a couple of times with pleasure.
An important factor for the appeal of this disc is also the playing of the Kammerakademie Potsdam under the pliable direction of Antonello Manacorda, which is fresh and beautiful with mainly lively, tempos and features excellent instrumental solos. The recording is also first class; all in all, this is a very attractive disc, that should also be an eye-opener for listeners with limited knowledge of the many fine ensembles, which is such an important part of Mozart’s operatic music – and don’t forget to read the full liner notes, which will further enhance the understanding of Mozart’s/da Ponte’s greatness as dramatists as well as why Golda Schultz is driven crazy by the thought of what is still an impossible balancing act when encountering yet another Mozart role.
Göran Forsling
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Contents
DON GIOVANNI, K.527
1 Quartetto No.9 « Non ti fidar, o misera, di quel ribaldo cor ! » 3’47
Donna Elvira, Don Ottavio, Donna Anna, Don Giovanni
2 Recitativo accompagnato No.10 « Don Ottavio, son morta ! » Donna Anna, Ottavio 3’16
3 Aria « Or sai chi l’onore » Anna 2’36
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, K.492
4 No.28 Recitativo « Giunse alfin il momento » Susanna 1’18
5 Aria « Deh vieni non tardar » Susanna 3’04
COSÌ FAN TUTTE, K.588
6 Recitativo « Temerari, sortite fuori di questo loco ! » Fiordiligi 1’13
7 No.14 Aria « Come un scoglio immorto resta » Fiordiligi 4’20
8 Duetto No.29 « Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti » Fiordiligi, Ferrando 6’26
DON GIOVANNI, K.527
9 No.21b Recitativo accompagnato KV 540c « In quali eccessi, o Numi » Elvira 2’18
10 Aria « Mi tradì quest’alma ingrata » Elvira 3’45
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, K.492
11 No.21 Duettino « Canzonetta sull’aria » Contessa, Susanna 2’38
COSÌ FAN TUTTE, K.588
12 Sextetto No.13 « Alla bella Despinetta vi presento, amici miei » 4’28
Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo, Despina, Fiordiligi, Dorabella
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, K.492
13 No.20 Recitativo « E Susanna non vien ! » Contessa 1’35
14 Aria « Dove sono i bei momenti » Contessa 4’25
COSÌ FAN TUTTE, K.588
15 Recitativo « Ei parte… – senti !… » Fiordiligi 1’26
16 Rondo No.25 « Per pietà, ben mio, perdona » Fiordiligi 7’19
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, K.492
17 Finale. Scena ultima « Gente, all’armi, all’armi! » 5’10
Susanna, Contessa, Barbarina, Cherubino, Marzelline, Bartolo, Figaro, Count, Curzio, Basilio
Other singers
Julie Roset (Soprano): DESPINA (12), BARBARINA (17)
Amitai Pati (Tenor): DON OTTAVIO (1), FERRANDO (8 & 12), CURZIO/BASILIO (17)
Ashley Dixon Santelli (Mezzo-soprano): DORABELLA (12), CHERUBINO/MARZELLINE (17)
MIilan Siljanov (Bass-baritone): DON ALFONSO (12), FIGARO (17)
Simone Easthope (Soprano): DONNA ANNA (1), SUSANNA (11)
Pawel Horodyski (Bass): BARTOLO (17)
Samuel Dale Johnson (Baritone): DON GIOVANNI (1), GUGLIELMO (12), CONTE (17)
