Mozart – Salieri

Mozart/Salieri Castrato Arias and Motets
An interesting disc in that it pairs the so-called 'rivals' Mozart and Salieri in a genre where they are little known, that is the castrato aria. Arno Raunig is a suitably schooled interpreter and he gives well drilled performances of all works on offer with sympathetic accompaniment by Kobera and his Viennese orchestra. 'Il padre adoratao' from 'Idamante' is certainly rare Mozart and one cannot help but admire the vocal syncopations that permeate Raunig's singing of the proceedings. On the contrary, Sextus' famous aria from 'La Clemenza di Tito' is slightly too thin for my liking although one cannot be so preposterous as to fault such a difficult piece when it is sung with musicality and feeling. The disc follows a similar pattern with three arias and a motet by each composer. One cannot discount Salieri, especially in the beautiful 'Perdermi' from 'Aspasia' which contains much wanton passion and heinous thoughts as is the inflamingly erotic 'Lungi da te' from 'Armida', surely this opera deserves a revival? Of the two motets, I refrain to single out my favourite although it will suffice to say that 'Fremat Thyrannus' was infinitely more welcome than the dreary 'Exsultate Jubilate'. Campion secure a somewhat bassy recording in a fine acoustic and the booklet contains copious notes on the 'sopranist' tradition together with an explanation of this somewhat controversial term. Worth investigating.

Gerald Fenech