The great Kiri!

Kiri Te Kanawa sings Mozart

This collection brings together for the first time on CD, Kiri TeKanawa’s complete Mozart recital discs for Decca (with György Fischer) and Philips (with Sir Colin Davis and Jeffrey Tate). Also included are two arias from her celebrated recording of Le nozze di Figaro with Sir Georg Solti, an aria from her sublime recording of Così fan tutte with James Levine, as well as sacred arias, and sacred music conducted by Neville Mariner and Colin Davis.

Here are the track listings for the CD issued on October 4, 2011:

Mozart:
Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben (from Zaïde)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Crudeli, oh dio! (from La Finta Giardiniera)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
S’altro che lagrime (from La clemenza di Tito)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Ei parte…Per pietà (from Così fan tutte)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
L’amerò, sarò costante (from Il re pastore)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Pupille amate (from Lucio Silla)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Se il padre perdei (from Idomeneo)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Ach, ich fühl’s (from Die Zauberflöte, K620)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Et incarnatus Est (from Great Mass in C minor)
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Mariner
Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, K339: Laudate Dominum
John Constable (organ)
London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Exsultate, jubilate, K165
John Constable (organ)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Porgi amor (from Le nozze di Figaro)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
E Susanna non vien! … Dove sono i bei momenti (from Le nozze di Figaro)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Bester Jüngling (from Der Schauspieldirektor)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir John Pritchard
Come scoglio (from Così fan tutte)
Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine
Traurigkeit (from Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
Lungi da te, mio bene (from Mitridate, Rè di Ponto, KV87)
Frank Lloyd (horn)
Or sai chi l’onore (from Don Giovanni)
Peter Bronder (tenor)
Crudele! Ah no, mio bene! … Non mi dir, bell’idol mio (from Don Giovanni)
Martern aller Arten (from Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
English Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate
Misera, dove son? – Ah! non son’ io che parlo! K369
Ch’io mi scordi di te?… Non temer, amato bene, K505
Ah, lo previdi… Ah, l’invola agl’occhi miei, K272
Vado, ma dove? oh Dei!, K583
O temerario Arbace… Per quel paterno amplesso, K79
Chi sà, chi sà qual sia, K582
Non più, tutto ascoltai – Non temer, amato bene, K490
Rainer Küchl (violin)
Bella mia fiamma, addio… Resta, oh cara, K528
Wiener Kammerorchester, György Fischer
Nehmt meinen Dank, ihr holden Gönner!, concert aria K383
Wiener Kammerorchester, György Fischer

Performed by Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano)

While Kiri Te Kanawa was still preparing for that career-defining debut as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, she made her first Mozart disc under Colin Davis: a collection of sacred music, including the Solemn Vespers, KV 339, with its serene setting of ‘Laudate Dominum’, and Exsultate Jubilate. The Countess became one of the singer’s most memorable roles, and she repeated the role frequently in San Francisco and at Glyndebourne.

Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni followed, again under Davis at Covent Garden, before Kiri took her Countess to the Met in New York in February 1976, and sang her first Fiordiligi in Paris, in a production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.

The Paris Opera was also the location of Kiri’s debut as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in 1977. Another leap into superstardom came when she sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana in July 1981. The previous month she had recorded her Countess to disc in a classic recording for Decca under Georg Solti.

Here is Kiri TeKanawa singing the Concert-Aria “Chi sà, chi sà, qual sia” K.582 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Iván Fischer

And now, Kiri Te Kanawa sings La Countessa di Almaviva’s aria “Porgi amor qualche ristoro”, from the opera “Le nozze di Figaro” K.492 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Recorded at St. David’s Hall, Cardiff. With Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Charles Mackerras / conductor

 

Tags: Kiri Te Kanawa, Mozart, arias, Neville Mariner, Colin Davis, Georg Solti

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