Search results for ""Author Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart""

With his last opera Mozart created a piece of theatre which defies categorization. In theory it is a Singspiel, a mixture of songs and dialogue, in which the spectacular effects and comedy fit naturally: they appeal today as much as they did when it first opened in popular Viennese theatre two hundred years ago. Rodney Milnes recalls some of the other pieces playing at the time, such as Kaspar the Bassonist, or The Magic Zither. On the other hand, it belongs to a tradition of Enlightenment texts in which a young Prince, destined to be a ruler, learns from his adventures how to behave wisely as a social being. This is a re-working of the Orpheus myth, in the context of the Age of Reason and Freemasonry. David Cairns describes the many beauties of the score in loving detail, taking the reader through the complex plot, to clarify and interpret it. Famous commentaries by Goethe, Berlioz, E.T.A. Hoffmann and G.B. Shaw reveal their enthusiasm for the opera. A useful and unusual feature of this guide is the complete dialogue, in German with an English translation, which is often badly cut in performance. Like so many fairy-tales, The Magic Flute repays careful attention: its music has a charm to inspire the child in every listener.

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Today Mozart's exquisite ÊLe Nozze di FigaroÊ delights and moves audiences everywhere long after its 1786 birth into tumultuous times. The original Beaumarchais play raised a firestorm in France then on the brink of revolution with its dangerous commentary on class relations. However Lorenzo Da Ponte carefully omitted anything political from his opera libretto; what remained when joined with Mozart's sublime and penetrating music was a witty yet profound tale of infatuation heartache scheming and tenderness where complex emotions are laid bare and everyone regardless of class is equally vulnerable to the powers of love.ÞFigaro continues the story of ÊThe Barber of SevilleÊ several years later in a single day of madness. Count Almaviva's love Rosina is now his long-suffering countess and the barber Figaro now the count's valet is about to marry Susanna the countess's maid. But the couple-to-be must first deal with two obstacles: a demand that Figaro pay his debt to an older woman or marry her instead and the count's determination to bed Susanna on her wedding night.ÞSuspicions fly plots are hatched narrow escapes abound and connivers receive their due. Love and forgiveness finally bring order to the craziness and a day filled with torment and worry ends in joy.

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Beethoven's Complete Pianoforte Sonatas, edited by Harold Craxton, are published as part of ABRSM's 'Signature' Series - a series of authoritative performing editions of standard keyboard works, prepared from original sources by leading scholars. Includes informative introductions and performance notes.

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Mozart's Sonatas for Pianoforte are published as part of ABRSM's 'Signature' Series - a series of authoritative performing editions of standard keyboard works, prepared from original sources by leading scholars. Includes informative introductions and performance notes.

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