Born in Hamburg, Mojca Erdmann began taking violin lessons at
the age of six while also singing in a children’s choir.
Her vocal studies started when she was 14 and among her teachers
the famous bass Hans Sotin can be mentioned. She appears in
many of the important opera houses and is due to make her Metropolitan
debut this autumn (2011) as Zerlina in Don Giovanni.
Her singing of the peasant girl’s two arias on this disc
makes me eager to hear her in the role. She is no newcomer,
though she is still young, and took part in Naxos’s recording
of Kálmán’s operetta The Gypsy Princess
as early as 2002. Her choice of repertoire for the present disc
is bold. Most singers of her kind would probably have opted
for an all-Mozart programme but instead she mixes well-known
and not so well-known Mozart with un-hackneyed arias by some
more or less contemporaneous composers.
She has a pure, bright voice with warm timbre, her top notes
are fearless and secure and she has a rich fund of vocal shadings
and nuances. She seems cut out for a luminous career. It is
a lyrical voice but in the dramatic opening aria, from Zaide,
she has impressive power in reserve and delivers a tremendous
top note. Ruhe sanft, the better known aria from the
same opera, shows her as a sensitive, angel-voiced girl. Her
Zerlina is obviously not to be trifled with and both Susanna
and Pamina are lovely creatures. All these arias have been recorded
innumerable times but Mojca Erdmann can old her own against
even the most legendary names in the catalogue.
Everyone who saw the film Amadeus knows about the rivalry
between Antonio Salieri and Mozart and there were rumours that
the older composer may have been the reason for Mozart’s
premature death. Such speculations apart he was an outstanding
composer in his own right and though his operas are rarely performed
today he was highly regarded during his lifetime and the two
arias from Les Danaïdes are ample proof of his talent.
Among other things he also wrote a Falstaff opera a century
before Verdi. It was once available in a good recording from
Hungaroton (HCD 12789-91) but is at present out of stock. Worth
searching out for those who listen to Mojca Erdmann’s
splendid singing here and want to hear more from this composer.
Another successful composer from the same period was Giovanni
Paisiello, best known for Il barbiere di Siviglia, composed
almost 35 years before Rossini’s opera. But Nina,
premiered in 1789was also popular and has been revived
occasionally. There is even a complete recording under Bonynge
on Nuova Era (6872/73). The aria recorded here begins almost
exactly as Ruhe sanft from Zaide, whether by coincidence
or design is hard to know. It is lovely music.
Johann Christian Bach, or ‘London-Bach’ as he has
often been called was an early influence on Mozart. He is best
known for his orchestral music but he wrote a lot of operas
and other vocal music and Amadis de Gaule, his last opera,
premiered in Paris in 1779, even has its own entry on Wikipedia.
There’s a complete recording under Helmut Rilling on Hänssler.
The elegiac aria recorded here shows that his vocal music is
well worth rescuing from oblivion.
And so is that of Ignaz Holzbauer, born as early as 1711. Anyone
familiar with him? Well, Mozart was. He and his sister even
attended a performance of Günther von Schwarzburg,
which was a kind of early German national opera. Mozart thought
well of the composer in a letter. The two arias here, sung by
Pfalzgräfin Anna, are surprisingly modern. The first (tr.
11) opens with a long and expressive recitativo accompagnato
followed by a really beautiful aria, expertly scored. The concluding
aria should be a hit on any recital programme. Günther
von Schwarzburg is also available in a complete recording
on CPO.
La Cetra, the baroque orchestra from Basel, are truly accomplished
and the recording is excellent. For the lovely singing and for
the many glimpses of today unfairly forgotten music this disc
is doubly welcome. A treasure trove from more than one point
of view.
Göran Forsling
Track listing
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791)
Zaide
1. Tiger! Wetze nur die Klauen [4:47]
Antonio SALIERI (1750 - 1825)
Les Danaïdes
2. Par les larmes dont votre fille [2:37]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Idomeneo
3. Quando avran fine omai [4:05]
4. Padre, germani, addio! [3:58]
Zaide
5. Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben [6:35]
Don Giovanni
6. Ma se colpa [0:48]
7. Batti, batti, bel Masetto [3:46]
Giovanni PAISIELLO (1740 - 1816)
Nina, o sia La pazza per amore
8. Il mio ben quando verrà [7:06]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Le nozze di Figaro
9. Giunse alfin il momento [1:22]
10. Deh vieni, non tardar [3:19]
Ignaz HOLZBAUER (1711 - 1783)
Günther von Schwarzburg
11. Es ist geschrieben [3:55]
12. Ihr Rosenstunden [2:45]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Don Giovanni
13. Vedrai, carino, se sei buonino [3:24]
Johann Christian BACH (1735 - 1782)
Amadis de Gaule
14. À qui pourrai-je avoir recours? [4:52]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Die Zauberflöte
15. Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden!
[4:27]
Antonio SALIERI
Les Danaïdes
16. Père barbare, arrache-moi la vie! [1:36]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
Idomeneo
17. Se il padre perdei [6:25]
Ignaz HOLZBAUER
Günther von Schwarzburg
18. Die Klüfte sausen! [4:44]
Mojca Erdmann (soprano) 
