This lovely new CD from conductor Ian Page and his Classical Opera Company takes us on a thought-provoking journey through highlights from fifteen of Mozart's operas. By chance, the composer's first opera is called Apollo et Hyacinthus and the last Die Zauberflöte, hence the 'A to Z' of the title. The delights of this disc are many, both in terms of repertoire and the quality of most of the performances.
In particular, the choice of the number to represent each opera is imaginative, eschewing the obvious and instead presenting one of the less hackneyed numbers, especially in the case of the final six operas. Mark Stone shows a light touch in 'Deh vieni alla finestra', Don Giovanni's diegetic serenade set to a solo mandolin accompaniment (here played with buoyancy by Anthony Robson), and Andrew Staples sings Belmonte's aria 'Konstanze.O wie ängstlich' from Die Entführung aus dem Serail with an admirable moderation of tone. Stone returns as an alert Papageno in the sublime quintet from Die Zauberflöte, 'Hm! hm! hm! hm!', and is joined by the startlingly talented Allan Clayton as Tamino (Toby Spence comes to mind when hearing his easy tone and intelligent rendition of the text); the Three Ladies (Klara Ek, Martene Grimson and Jennifer Johnson) are a delightfully feisty team.
Ex-Royal Opera Young Artist Matthew Rose is one of the stand-out singers on the disc, appearing in three extracts and impressive in all of them. Colas' aria from Bastien und Bastienne is a perfect match for his talents, calling upon him to dress up as a magician and pretend to invoke a spell in a vigorous and agitated tone. He captures the more elegant satire of Figaro's 'Se vuol ballare' equally well, but the surprise, perhaps, is the quality of his Don Alfonso in the quintet from Così fan tutte ('Di scrivermi ogni giorno'): here are signs of a scene-stealing gravitas that could prove compelling in the theatre in future years. The quintet is an unusual choice, because it is the moment of farewell between the lovers in Act One and is more of a transition movement that leads quite quickly into the more famous trio, 'Soave sia il vento'; initially I wondered if it was substantial enough for inclusion on the disc, but I have grown to love it because of the excellent characterisations. The composer's final opera seria, La clemenza di Tito, is represented by the duet between Servilia and Annio, here sung with creaminess by Rebecca Bottone and Cora Burggraaf.
The extracts from the earlier operas are inevitably less familiar on the whole, but for that reason they are more interesting in most cases. I'm particularly pleased about the inclusion of Giunia's aria 'Fra I pensier' from Lucio Silla: it goes deep into the character's psyche and is treated to a resplendent performance by Anna Leese here. The duet 'Natus cadit' from Apollo turns out to be top-drawer Mozart, the soprano and tenor voices both blending and contrasting in this relaxed performance by Martene Grimson and Allan Clayton. On a higher vocal plane is Rebecca Bottone's rendition of Rosina's aria 'Amoretti, che ascosi qui siete' from La finta semplice. Her control of vibrato and floating legato confirm that she has a special talent for Mozart.
The other performances are all equally good. But the highlight is the single contribution from Susan Gritton, a singer of world-class quality who appears at Covent Garden next year in a revival of Carmen. On this recording, she sings 'Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben' from Zaide (an incomplete opera which the Classical Opera Company are restoring for future performance, apparently). The insight she brings to the libretto is equal to the glorious sound she brings to the vocal line; it's worth the purchase price alone.