Knowing the instrument is considered to sound like the human voice, Mozart was ingenious in deploying it around singers. In this week’s episode, Oliver spotlights instances in both Mozart’s sacred music and opera when the oboe speaks.
Mozart and the Oboe — the Instrument of Love
Mozart at age 6
Playlist
Exsultate jubilate, K. 165 (fragment)
Sylvia McNair, soprano
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Exsultate Jubilate: Works by Handel and Mozart
Philips 434 920-2
“Ah, lo previdi!…Deh, non varcar”, K. 272
Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano
Kammerorchester Basel
Muhai Tang, conductor
Cecilia Bartoli: Unreleased
Decca 4852093
“Great” Mass in C minor, K. 427
“Et incarnatus est”
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Neville Marriner, conductor
Mozart: Sacred Arias
EMI 7-49283-2
Selections from Così fan tutte, K. 588
Aria, “Come scoglio” (fragment)
Duet, “Prenderò quel brunettino” (fragment)
Soile Isokoski, soprano
Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Brilliant Classics 99555
Duet, “Fra gli amplessi”
Karita Mattila, soprano
Francisco Araiza, tenor
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Neville Marriner, conductor
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Philips 422381-2
Aria, “Un aura amoroso” (fragment)
Aria, “È amore un ladroncello” (fragment)
Duet, “Fra gli amplessi” (fragment)
Renée Fleming, soprano
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Frank Lopardo, tenor
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Georg Solti, conductor
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Decca 444174-2
Duet, “Fra gli amplessi” (fragment)
Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Leopold Simoneau, tenor
Philharmonia Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Mozart: Così fan tutte
EMI 7-69635-2
Overture (fragment)
Duet, “Fra gli amplessi”
Felicity Lott, soprano
Jerry Hadley , tenor
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Charles Mackerras, conductor
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Telarc 80728