Yesterday's agenda: Mozart's birth home (on his birthday) and his second residence in Salzburg to visit the museums, Salzburg Castle, a birthday celebration for Mozart complete with live music, cannons, cake, and a parade, and a concert by Camerata Salzburg. What a day!
I had little expectation of the Camerata going in, knowing nothing of the group...then they blew me away! The first half was made up of back to back arias from both the Gluck and Mozart versions of Clemenza di Tito. The second half comprised of Mozart's Prague Symphony, which was cool to see having just left Prague. The orchestra was great and the opera singers were phenomenal!
Andrew Staples, tenor, hails from Great Britain. His voice projected beautifully in the hall and his tone quality was brilliant. He was extremely expressive, only sometimes interrupted by repeatedly looking down at his sore and shaking his head when he sang runs...his performance was still captivating!
Swedish soprano, Malin Hartelius, totally stole the show with her acting skills. She was so fun to watch! Her facial expressions and body movement really added to her character. I am singing a Mozart aria belonging to this same character for my senior recital in April and definitely gleaned some character choice ideas from this performance. This woman's high notes were spectacular! I only wish she'd been in better health...she seemed to have a cold or something that affected her low range. I was distracted by her dress, which was unfortunate, because her outfit would've been perfect without the broken dangly shiny thing in the front. Oh well.
And oh the mezzo...the beautiful, amazing mezzo. I don't think I've heard a voice like hers before. 26 year old
Marianne Crebassa from France can definitely sing. Her voice was almost too strong for the hall, her low and high notes both fantastic, and her acting beautifully understated and great for the small stage. She almost never looked at her score, but turned the pages anyway - this girl knew her stuff! Plus, her dress was perfect.
It was interesting to compare the styles of the Gluck and Mozart arias back to back. Gluck writes much longer pieces with lots of ornamentation, while Mozart sticks to shorter forms and lyric presentations.
Today we went to the abbey from Sound of Music, and while inside the nuns began singing from the next room for a prayer service...how freaking cool is that? I'll be sad to leave Salzburg in the morning tomorrow, but look forward to adventures in Vienna!
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