Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Josef Mysliveček: Decade

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We have at our disposal today about thirty documents on the relations between Josef Mysliveček and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; from these we learn about their first encounter, their mutual respect as artists, and the sincere friendship, which despite various twists and turns lasted until Mysliveček’s death. Mysliveček’s carnival opera Il Gran Tamerlano is one of the highlights of the first period of his opera writing. Aria of sultan’s daughter Asteria ‘Sento nell alma mia’, is an aria in which Asteria expresses her hatred for Tamerlan. The storm of emotions in which she finds herself is expressed through virtuoso coloratura and like most of Mysliveček’s arias makes enormous technical demand of the artist. The opera Artaserse was first performed in the Teatro San Carlo. Mysliveček expresses precarious situation of conflict involving the four main characters – Mandane, Artaserse, Arbace and Artabano – brilliantly through the dramatically articulated vocal quartet ‘Deh! Respirar lasciatemi…’. The opera Medonte, re di Epiro first opened in the Teatro Argentina. A dramatic highlight of this opera is Seléné’s accompanied recitative and aria ‘Dove, ahi dove son io?. Mozart’s opera Lucio Silla premiered in the Teatro Regio Ducal. The aria ‘Se il crudel periglio’ is sung by the main character Giunia, tormented by her deadly fear for the life of her fiancé, Cecilio. This aria falls into the category of the ‘aria di bravura,’ i.e., extremely virtuoso arias. ‘Geme la tortorella’ is one of the most interesting and emotional arias in Mozart’s opera La finta giardiniera. The vocal line, following a line of perfect aristocratic elegance, soars high above the crystal clear accompaniment of the string ensemble of muted violins and pizzicati on the violas, cellos, and double basses. Just a few days before Mysliveček’s death, Mozart premiered his opera Idomeneo. In the second act of this opera, Ilia in her aria ‘Se il padre perdei’ tries to explain her relationship to Idomeneo.The music is full of surprising harmonic progressions and onomatopoeic passages and contrasts which correspond to the mixed emotions of all the characters involved.