Mozart on DVD and Blu-ray
I recieved the M22 box yesterday, containing all of Mozart's operas. I had read lots of comments about it and found them very controversial. So, I finally decided to see them myself, and make my own judgements. I shall go through them as permitted by my other activities - like work - and post comments accordingly.
I started from the beginning. I had heard both Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots and Apollo and Hyacinthus on LP/CD, but never imagined to see them staged. They certainly haven't ceased to amaze me as compositions by an 11-year-old Mozart. He had, of course, started composing at an even earlier age, but the fact that a child would be able to express the different kind of moods and situations in an opera just beats me.
Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots. I am not sure if this was intended to be an opera at all, perhaps more like an oratorio. I watched "The making of" from the extras and learned that it was the first part of a composition, the latter two composed by other composers, only fragments of which have survived. That explains why the ending is like it is. The story is about the fight of good and evil forces over a common soul and as it ends, the good hasn't yet won. It's a very religious work, as the title let's us to understand. So, although I'm not so religious myself but still having grown up surrounded by Christian values etc., I was more than surprised that this was treated as a comedy. After a few deep swallows, I began to enjoy the performance very much, though. Justice, performed by a Japanese soprano, Michiko Watanabe, with a grey wig and beard resembling some kind of a far-eastern Santa Claus, was perhaps the most over-the-top element. All the singers are new names to me, but none the worse for that. The music is very beautiful throughout, and demanding, the arias for women resembling the more virtuosic concert arias of Mozart. I'm not sure if the recordings on CD are available anymore, if you cannot stand the idea of making fun with a religious subject, but this music is worth hearing on it's own.
Apollo et Hyacinthus. Wake up, all Latinists! There are not operas in Latin around every corner. Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex is the only other one that comes to mind. And I'm not sure if it can be considered a real opera, although it's included in The New Kobbe's Great Opera Book. But here we have a real opera. And a traditional staging (although very baroqueish), at that! The music may not be as memorable as in the Die Schuldigkeit, but very nice still, the duet between Oebalus and Melia near the end being very fine indeed. The story is very simple: Apollo has laid his eyes upon Melia. Zephyrus, in his jealousy, kills her brother, Hyacinthus, and accuses Apollo of his deed so that Melia would send Apollo packing, which she does, and Zephyrus could win back Melia's love. Hyacinthus, for his last words, reveals the true identity of his killer. Apollo arrives and makes a beautiful flower grow on Hyacinthus' grave, bearing his name. There aren't a name known to me among the singers here, either, but they are good, if they won't erase the recording conducted by Bernhard Klee from my mind, my first encounter with this opera.
All in all, a very satisfying experience. The DVD seems to be available separately. If you like Mozart, but are already familiar with his more commonly performed operas, I can recommend this!