The music around him: a look at Mozart as he writes Mitridate, Re di Ponto in The Mozartists '1770 - a retrospective' at Wigmore Hall

Mozart in January 1770
(School of Verona, attributed to Giambettino Cignaroli )

1770 - a retrospective - Mozart, Vanhal, GLuck, Haydn, JC Bach, Jommelli; Samantha Clarke, Ida Ränzlöv, The Mozartists, Ian Page; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 9 January 2020 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
A fascinating look at 14-year-old Mozart in Italy and the music that was around at the time

So, we have reached 1770 in Ian Page and The Mozartists ambitious Mozart 250 project which tracks Mozart's progress year by year. 1770 means that we have reached the first of his major youthful operas, the highly impressive Mitridate, Re di Ponto, premiered in Milan, but there was much else happening that year also.

For 1770 - a retrospective at Wigmore Hall on 9 January 2020, Ian Page and The Mozartists were joined by soprano Samantha Clarke and mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv for a programme of music from 1770 with symphonies by Vanhal and JC Bach, plus arias and duets from Gluck's Paride ed Elena, Haydn's Lo speziale and Le pescatrici, JC Bach's Gioas, re di Giuda, Jommelli's Demofoonte and Mozart's Mitridate, Re di Ponto. Music that was premiered in Vienna, London, Esterhaza, Naples and Milan.

We started with the Symphony in E minor by the Vienna-based Bohemian composers Johann Baptist Vanhal, one of around 100 symphonies that he seems to have written. His Symphony in E minor was part of a group published by Breitkopf in 1770. It is a compact, four-movement work. The opening Allegro moderato was elegant with some vigour, followed by a graceful Andante for strings only. The minuet was robust with a trio for wind only. As with other music of this period, I found that there was a sense of slightly too many repeats for the good of the music, and the work only really took off in the finale, which was full of crisp energy and vivid contrasts.

Gluck's Paride ed Elena (Paris and Helen) is the third of his so-called Reform operas written with librettist Ranieri de'Calzabigi. Premiered at the Burgtheater, Vienna in 1770, the opera is full of good things but the story of Paris' wooing and winning of Helen of Troy lacks the element of tragic drama which make Orfeo ed Eurydice and Alceste so intense.

Engagingly youthful: Mozart's Cosi fan tutte from Ian Page and the Mozartists

Playbill of the first performance of Cosi fan Tutte at the Burgtheater, Vienna, 26 January 1790

Mozart Cosi fan tutte; Ana Maria Labin, Emily Edmonds, Matthew Swensen, Benjamin Appl, Rebecca Bottone, Richard Burkhard, The Mozartists, cond: Ian Page; Cadogan Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 6 November 2019 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
A lithe and youthfully engaging account of Mozart and Da Ponte's final, enigmatic masterpiece

The problem with celebrating Mozart's career year by year, is that it leaves a lot of the good things until the end, particularly when it comes to opera. So every so often Ian Page and The Mozartists cheat and take a break from the year by year exploration of Mozart 250 and give us something from Mozart's maturity.

So, on Wednesday 6 November 2019 at Cadogan Hall, Ian Page conducted the Mozartists in a concert performance of Cosi fan tutte with soloists Ana Maria Labin (soprano) as Fiordiligi, Emily Edmonds (mezzo-soprano) as Dorabella, Matthew Swensen (tenor) as Ferrando, Benjamin Appl (baritone) as Guglielmo, Rebecca Bottone (soprano) as Despina and Richard Burkhard (baritone) as Don Alfonso.

Cosi van tutte remains a somewhat enigmatic opera, no amount of research can ever quite put us in the position of those in the first night audience so that we understand the plot in the terms which they or the composer and librettist did. Even the title, one of those which is never translated, is puzzling, is it serious or ironic? It doesn't help that after a handful of performances following the premiere, the theatres were closed owing to the Emperor's death. So we don't have the sort of extensive contemporary comment on the opera that we do for the earlier Mozart/Da Ponte ones.

The advantage of a concert performance is that we don't have to worry as much about production concept, and can concentrate on Mozart's music and Da Ponte's words. Though, of course, that places a lot of onus on the performers and whilst I have enjoyed countless concert performances, I have also been to plenty where the opera failed to cross the footlights.

Thankfully there was no problem with that here, the cast were uniformly involved and engagingly direct in their performances. Whilst the singers were using scores, no-one had their head buried one or used it for protection, and instead dialogue was just that, dialogue between two people, statements could elicit reactions and there was a delightful sense of ensemble in this most ensemble of Mozart operas. Ian Page's programme note pointed out that we have to wait a long time for the first large-scale aria, and that the first time a singer is really alone on stage for their aria is not until the second act, prior to that the entire piece has been acted ensemble.

This was a youthful and lithe performance, starting with Ian Page's lively and stylish account of the overture. We have reached the point where period instrument performances of this music are relatively common, but I still find the range of colour and timbre that a good performance brings, to be completely magical. Textures were light, but everything was full of colour and transparency did not imply lack of emotional depth.

Into 1770 - Classical Opera and The Mozartists 2019/2020 season

The Mozartists and Ian Page (Photo Benjamin Ealovega)

Ian Page, Classical Opera and the Mozartists 2019/20 season will take them into the year 1770 as part of their Mozart 250 series. The season opens with soprano Regula Mühlemann, who took the title role in La finta semplice for Classical Opera in 2018, joining The Mozartists at Wigmore Hall on 19 September 2019 for three Mozart concert arias and Susanna’s ‘Deh, vieni’ from Le nozze di Figaro. In November, Ian Page conducts performances of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte with soloists Ana Maria Labin, Emily Edmonds, Rebecca Bottone, Matthew Swenson, Benjamin Appl and Richard Burkhard.

Mozart 250 moves into 1770 with 1770 - A Retrospective at Wigmore Hall on 9 January 2020, with music by JC Bach, Johan Baptist Vanhal (one of Mozart's Czech contemporaries), Gluck, Haydn and Mozart, with soloists soprano Samantha Clarke, this year’s recipient of the Guildhall School’s Gold Medal, and mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv who, following studies at the Royal College of Music (where she was memorable in the title role of Handel's Faramondo, see my review), is now a member of the opera studio at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

There is a three-concert series Mozart's Keys with pianist Ronald Brautigam combining operatic arias with major orchestral works and concentrating on the keys which inspired Mozart most! And Mozart's Czech contemporaries are explored in Mozart's Czech Mates at Wigmore Hall, with music by Vanhal, Leopold Koželuch, Gluck, Josef Mysliveček and Jiří Benda.

The Mozartists' will be travelling to Paris, to perform at La Seine Musicale in a programme of Mozart and Haydn with soprano Chiara Skerath.

Full details from the ensemble's website.

1769: A year in music

Saverio dall Rosa: Mozart aged 14 in January 1770

Mozart, Arne, Paisiello, Gluck CPE Bach, Haydn, Leopold Mozart; Chiara Skerath, James Newby, The Mozartists, Ian Page; Queen Elizabeth Hall Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 29 January 2019 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★)
Ian Page's Mozart 250 project has reached tthe teenage Mozart, here performed alongside an intriguing selection of music by his contemporaries

It is 1769, and young Mozart turns into a teenager. Having written his first full-length opera (La finta semplice) the previous year, this year is a quieter time for composition with only three orchestral serenades. But in the wider world, there is plenty of music going on with works by Arne, Paisiello, Haydn, CPE Bach and Gluck.

This is the context for Ian Page and the Mozartists' 1769: a year in music at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, on Tuesday 29 September 2018 for the fifth year of their Mozart 250 project. The orchestra was joined by soprano Chiara Skerath and baritone James Newby to perform Mozart's Symphony from Cassation in G major K.63, two airs from Thomas Arne's An Ode upon Dedicating a Building to Shakespeare, Mozart's aria Cara, se le mie pene, arias from Pasiello's Don Chisciotte della Mancia, Haydn's Le pescatrici, CPE Bach's Die Israeliten in der Wuste and Gluck's Aristeo, the first movement of Leopold Mozart's Symphony in G major 'Neue Lambach' and Haydn's Symphony No. 48 in C major 'Maria Theresia'.

We started with the symphony which Mozart extracted from his Cassation in G major. A cassation was a type of serenade, and Mozart re-used four of the movements to create a symphony. First a crisp and perky 'Allegro' with prominent horn parts, then a lyrical 'Adagio' with a prominent solo violin part. This movement though seemed to almost outstay its welcome. The third movement minuet was brisk, with a trio played by a smaller concertante group, and finally a lively 'Allegro assai'. A very creditable piece, and quite a piece of work for a thirteen-year-old, but the music does not yet dig very deep.

The main thing is to sing well and be a good performer: I chat to soprano Chiara Skerath, associate artist with The Mozartists and Classical Opera

1768 in Retrospect - Chiara Skerath with Ian Page and the Mozartists at the Wigmore Hall in 2018

The soprano Chiara Skerath has recently become an Associate Artist with The Mozartists and Classical Opera, artistic director Ian Page, and I was able to chat to her recently when she was in London to record a new CD with Ian Page and the Mozartists. This will be her second CD with them, she has already recorded one, Mozart's Il sogno di Scipione [see my review] as well as taking part in last year's concert at the Wigmore Hall, 1768 in Retrospect [see my review], and singing in Mozart's La finta semplice [see the review in OperaToday.com], all as part of Classical Opera's Mozart 250 project. Chiara will be back in London later this year with Ian and The Mozartists for the 1769 in Retrospect concert at the Southbank Centre on Tuesday 29 January 2019, and for performances of Hasse's Piramo e Tisbe later in the year.

Chiara Skerath recording with Ian Page and the Mozartists earlier this year

The Hasse opera is entirely new to Chiara, she had sung the aria before but has all the recitative to learn, but she finds it exciting to be trying out new repertoire. She comments that Hasse, who rather loved himself, said that Piramo e Tisbe was the best opera that he had ever written. (The work was premiered in 1768 when the composer was nearly 70).

Ian Page's Mozart 250 project is working through the composer's life, year by year, so that last year we celebrated 1768 and this year it is 1769. Each year Ian and The Mozartists give a retrospect concert pulling together both music by Mozart and the music by other composers written at the same time, that Mozart would probably have known. Chiara feels that the music in last year's 1768 in Retrospect concert was rather stronger than that in this year's concert looking at 1769, but that there is always something of interest.

She has great admiration for the way Ian Page researches the music for the concerts, going into libraries and digging up scores, she feels that he is very passionate about the music and is very sympathetic and inspiring to work with. A lot of music of the period has been forgotten and Ian's retrospective concerts enable us to see the highlights. Last year Chiara sang an aria from a Jomelli opera, Fetonte the 26th of his 27 operas, at the 1768 in Retrospect concert and this proved very popular, she points out that sometimes the arias are the highlights and the whole operas might not be to the same standard, and of course nothing can beat Mozart.

Chiara has done a lot of Mozart, having sung most of the 'maid' roles (what she calls the 'As', Zerlina, Despina, Barberina, Susanna, Servilia, Ninetta, Papagena etc), and she will be completing the list by singing the First Lady in Die Zauberflote in Opera de Paris in Summer 2019. She is still having so much fun doing the maids that she does not see herself moving 'upstairs' yet, and points out that once you have performed the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro there is no going back to Susanna. When Chiara sang Ninetta in Mozart's early comedy La finta semplice with Ian Page last year she did what she always does in such operas and starts with a plan, who is married to whom, who loves whom, to enable her to get a handle on the complex plots, and she adds that there is so much in these early Mozart operas and all he needed was a Lorenzo da Ponte, a good librettist!

Chiara Skerath, Gwilym Bowen and Ida Ränzlöv are the new Associate Artists of Classical Opera and The Mozartists

Chiara Skerath, Gwilym Bowen and Ida Ränzlöv are the new Associate Artists of Classical Opera and The Mozartists

Swiss-Belgian soprano Chiara Skerath, British tenor Gwilym Bowen and Swedish mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv [who we caught in the title role in Handel's Faramondo with the Royal College of Music last year] have been announced as the new Associate Artists of Classical Opera and The Mozartists, artistic director Ian Page, and all three will be joining the company during 2019 for its explorations of 1769 as part of the Mozart 250 project. 

Chiara Skerath, who made her UK début with Ian Page and The Mozartists at Wigmore Hall in January 2018 [see my review], is joining them again for their annual Mozart 250 retrospective 1769: A Year in Music at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 29 January 2019. The three new Associate Artists will all feature in the UK première of Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe at Cadogan Hall (28 March 2019).

Gwilym Bowen later joins Ian Page and the ensemble for two eagerly awaited performances of the UK première of Gluck's rarely performed 1769 version Orfeo ed Euridice, which gives the role of Orfeo to a soprano (originally a castrato), plus GLuck's Bauci e Filemone and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (29 & 31 May 2019).

Full details from The Mozartists website.

A pastoral delight: Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne in its original version from The Mozartists

Mozart as a child

Mozart Bastien und Bastienne, Haydn Symphony No. 49; Ellie Laugharne, Alessandro Fisher, Darren Jeffery, The Mozartists, Ian Page; Wigmore Hall Reviewed by Anthony Evans on 18 September 2018 Star rating: 3.5 (★★★½)
Mozart's early singspiel in its original version, alongside music from the same year

Classical Opera and The Mozartists opened their 2018-19 season this Tuesday 18 September 2018 at the Wigmore Hall with a concert that culminated in a performance of Mozart’s pastoral comedy the one-act singspiel Bastien und Bastienne. Following the rediscovery of the 1768 autograph manuscript this was, it’s claimed, the first performance of the original setting since its premiere 250 years ago. Ian Page conducted The Mozartists with Ellie Laugharne and Alessandro Fisher as the titular Bastienne and Bastien and Darren Jeffery was the local quack Colas.

The programme kicked off with some musical context, a performance of Haydn’s Symphony No.49 also dating from 1768. From the opening portentous Adagio, Ian Page was determined to bring out the intensely expressive dynamics. Perhaps the sombre opening is the reason the work attracted the epithet ‘La passione’, but I didn’t buy the idea that overall this is a tragic piece, and certainly not as Robbins Landon would have it, depicting a “winding line of penitents”. The passion and vitality of Ian Page’s reading were exultant, there was an ebullience that belied the minor home key and the turbulent expressiveness that propelled us on to the magnificent Presto.

1768 - a retrospective

Claudia Skerath, Ian Page and The Mozartists at the Wigmore Hall

Haydn, Jomelli, Mozart, JC Bach, Vanhal; Chiara Skerath, Katy Bircher, The Mozartists, Ian Page; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jan 13 2018 Star rating: 4.0
Ian Page explores the music of 1768 in the latest instalment of the Mozart 250 project

Ian Page and The Mozartists' Mozart 250 celebration has reached the year 1768, and the 12 year-old Mozart is in Vienna with his father trying, unsuccessfully, to get Wolfgang's opera La finta semplice produced. Page will be conducting staged performances of La finta semplice later this year, but in the mean time he present the ensemble's annual round-up of the music that was around Mozart at the time. So, on Tuesday 23 January 2018 at the Wigmore Hall, Page conducted the Mozartists, with soprano Chiara Skerath and flautist Katy Bircher in Haydn's Symphony No 26 in D minor 'Lamentatione', an aria from Jomelli's Fetonte, JC Bach's Flute Concerto in D minor, two arias from Haydn's Lo speziale, the overture and an aria from Mozart's La finta semplice, an aria from Hasse's Piramo e Tisbe and Vanhal's Symphony in D minor (d1).

With three symphonies and a concerto (the Mozart overture was in fact a re-working of one of his symphonies) the programme was a little too sturm-und-drang classical symphony heavy, and it was the varied arias superbly sung by Chiara Skerath which were the highlights. Skerath's lively personality shone out in all her singing, and a sense of her delight at being there.

We opened with Haydn's Symphony No. 26. In 1768 Haydn was 36 and working for Prince Esterhazy, he would have a long career and many more symphonies ahead of him.

Exploring early Mozart: Classical Opera in Grabmusik and Apollo et Hyacinthus

Mozart: Grabmusik - Benjamin Appl (Photo Classical Opera)

Mozart Symphony No.45a, Grabmusik, Apollo et Hyacinthus; Gemma Summerfield, Benjamin Appl, Benjamin Hulett, Klara Ek, Tim Mead, James Hall, dir: Thomas Guthrie, Classical Opera, cond: Ian Page; St John's Smith Square
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jun 13 2017
Star rating: 4.0
Three early works by Mozart show his remarkable emotional range

For their final exploration of Mozart's 11th year, Ian Page and Classical Opera presented a triple bill of works which included Mozart's first opera. At St John's Smith Square on 13 June 2017, they presented Mozart's Symphony No. 45a, Grabmusik and Apollo et Hyacinthus with Gemma Summerfield, Benjamin Appl, Benjamin Hulett, Klara Ek, Tim Mead, and James Hall, in productions directed by Thomas Guthrie, and designed by Rhiannon Newman Brown.

Mozart: Grabmusik - Gemma Summerfield (Photo Classical Opera)

St John's Smith Square does not lend itself ideally to staging, and Guthrie's production was simple and generally effective, with Rhiannon Newman Brown opting for stylish yet neutral modernism in the costumes.

We opened with the early Symphony No. 45a, a short but charming piece which was full of vigour and life. The characteristic slow movement showed the young Mozart's way with expressive melody, though it did slightly out-stay its welcome. The piece effectively formed an overture, and during the latter part of the symphony, Guthrie started to introduce people onto the stage, and this moved directly into the Grabmusik.

1767 - a retrospective: eleven-year old Mozart in context

Gemma Summerfield, Ian Page, Stuart Jackson, orchestra of Classical Opera
Flickr photo credit treble2309 (Andrea Liu)

1767 - a retrospective, Mozart, Gassmann, Gluck, JC Bach, Abel, Haydn, Arne; Gemma Summerfield, Stuart Jackson, Ashley Riches, orchestra of Classical Opera, Ian Page; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jan 17 2017
Star rating: 4.0
Over view of the music from Mozart's eleventh year, including some of his first major pieces

Ian Page and Classical Opera's Mozart 250 project has reached 1767, and on Tuesday 17 January 2017, Ian Page and the orchestra of Classical Opera were joined by soprano Gemma Summerfield, tenor Stuart Jackson and bass baritone Ashley Riches for a survey of music from that year. From the pen of the 11-year old Mozart we heard his Symphony No. 6 in F major K43, Grabmusik K42 and the duet 'Natus cadit' from Apollo et Hyacinthus K38. Other music from that year in the programme included arias from Gluck's Alceste, Gassmann's Amore e Psiche, JC Bach's Carattaco, and Haydn's Stabat Mater, plus Abel's aria Fena le belle lagrime (notable for its use of an obbligato viola da gamba) and Arne's Symphony in C major.

Ashley Riches, Ian Page, orchestra of Classical Opera
Flickr photo credit treble2309 (Andrea Liu)

1767 saw Mozart and his family back in Salzburg after their extensive travels of the previous year. Mozart's compositions for the year would include his first operas and oratorios as well as his first keyboard concertos. Mozart's Symphony No. 6 was written in Vienna in late 1767, and was the first of his symphonies to use the Viennese model of four movements (with a minuet and trio) rather than three. It is a remarkable work for an eleven-year old, not up to the standard of Mozart's mature symphonies, but certainly on a level with much of the music going on around him. The opening Allegro had a lively charm and was robust and vigorous, whilst the lyrical Andante had a lovely texture. The Menuetto & Trio was again robust, briskly striding and there was an infectious Allegro finale.

Next we had a sequence of arias from operas premiered in 1767, two from Vienna which Mozart would have either heard or heard about, and two from London by composers whose work he would have heard during his visit in 1766. Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729-1774) was a native of Bohemia, his Amore e Psiche premiered in Vienna in 1767. We heard the aria 'Bella in in vago viso' sung by Gemma Summerfield, a delightfully lyrical piece about happiness and love. There were attractive orchestral textures, and lyrical vocal line sung fluidly by Summerfield with some stylish passagework. Not an earthshattering piece, but charming.

Gluck's Alceste, premiered in Vienna in December 1767, was more ground-breaking being the second of Gluck and Calzabigi's reform operas. The best known music from the opera, and the most excerpted, are the arias for the title role and then we know the work better in its later French incarnation. Tenor Stuart Jackson sang Admeto's aria 'No, crudel, non posso' from Act Two, when the character has just learned of his wife's sacrifice of her own life for his. We plunged straight in with some dramatic recitative, where Jackson made the words count, and in the aria there was a lovely combining of text and expressive line with an intense climax. Despite a fine performance,  the piece did not tell quite as much as it might have done perhaps because it is not an easy piece to excerpt as it relies for its effect on the dramatic context and even the climax seems to be leading into further drama.

Intimate and text-driven: Handel's Messiah from Ian Page and Classical Opera

Handel by Balthasar Denner

Handel Messiah; Sarah Fox, Angela Simkin, Stuart Jackson, Neal Davies, Classical Opera, Ian Page; Temple Winter Festival at Middle Temple Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Dec 19 2016
Star rating: 4.0
Relatively intimate account of Handel's oratorio which had the text to the fore

The Temple Winter Festival came to a close on Monday 19 December 2016 with a performance of Handel's Messiah in Middle Temple Hall, with Ian Page conducting the choir and orchestra of Classical Opera plus soloists Sarah Fox, Angela Simkin, Stuart Jackson and Neal Davies.

Messiah was a work which was notoriously flexible during Handel's lifetime as he adjusted it to suite individual performers. Ian Page's edition of the score was largely traditional, in his note he says that he sought to 'incorporate Handel's lasting preferences'. We also had the versions of 'But who may abide' and 'Thou art gone up on high' which Handel created in 1750 for the castrato Gaetano Guadagni, bringing a little touch of opera seria bravura into the work. So 'But who may abide' was sung by the alto, 'Thy rebuke', 'Behold and see' and 'But Thou didst not leave' were sung by tenor, 'Thou art gone up on high' by alto, 'How beautiful are the feet' by soprano, 'Their sound is gone out' by chorus.

Charles Jennens
by Thomas Hudson

This was a relatively intimate account of the work, with a choir of nine young professional singers and an orchestral ensemble based on nine string players. This meant that the soloists could take advantage of the relatively favourable balance, and this was a very text-based performance as it should be. Ian Page favoured quite brisk speeds, particularly in the choruses as he was able to take advantage of the high degree of flexibility and technical expertise from his small group of choristers.

The overture moved from intimacy to grandeur, ending with a nicely perky fast section. The smaller string contingent meant that we got a lovely experience of Mark Baigent's oboe.

The following recitative and aria introduced us to what was, for me, the stand out performance of the evening from tenor Stuart Jackson. Jackson sang with barely a glance at his music and whatever the narrative context, he always brought out the meaning of the words. Oratorio should be as much about words as music, the text was there to convey a message and with Jackson it really did. Not that there was anything skimped about the musical values as he could spin a fine line, produce lovely even runs and sing with lyric beauty, but always allied to the sense of the drama.

Youthful genius: Classical Opera's 2016/17 season explores the young Mozart

Mozart painted in 1763

Classical Opera's 2016/17 season continues the Mozart 250 exploration of the year 1766 before moving on to 1767 including the first two major stage works by the young composer himself. 

1766 concludes with La Cantarina, a performance of one of Haydn's first operas along with arias from Josef Myslivecek's opera Semiramide, plus Haydn's Symphony No. 34. Ian Page conducts the Orchestra of Classical Opera at the Wigmore Hall on 19 September 2016 with soloist Ailish Tynan, Rachel Kelly, Kitty Whately and Robert Murray.

1767 opens with a retrospective at the Wigmore Hall on 17 January 2017. Ian Page conducts a programme of arias and symphonies by Mozart, JC Bach, Gluck, Haydn, and Arne all coming from works performed in 1767, with soloist Gemma Summerfield, Stuart Jackson and Ashley Riches.

Mozart's first stage work, written when he was eleven, was The First Commandment and Ian Page will be conducting a staging of the work, directed by Thomas Guthrie, at St John's Smith Square on 21 & 22 March 2017. Sung in Nigel Lewis' translation, it will feature Rebecca Bottone, Rachel Kelly and Alessandro Fisher. In fact we will be only hearing one third of the work, as the final two parts are lost. The company will return to St John's on 12 & 13 June 2017 for another of Mozart's stage works from 1767, his Apollo et Hyacinthus which will be staged by Thomas Guthrie with Ian Page conducting soloists including Tom Verney and Gemma Summerfield.

Pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout will be joining Ian Page and the Orchestra of Classical Opera at the Wigmore Hall on 16 May 2017 for a programme of Mozart's earliest keyboard concertos, the eleven-year-old Mozart's orchestrations of existing keyboard works. Soprano Anna Devin will also be joining the ensemble two perform two arias from the same year.

All is not quite Mozart 250, Ian Page,  and the Choir and Orchestra of Classcial Opera are joined by soloists Sarah Fox, Angela Simkin, Stuart Jackson, and Neal Davies for a performance of Handel's Messiah in Middle Temple Hall on 19 December 2016 as part of Temple Winter Festival.

Full details from Classical Opera's website.

Vivid and intense - Mozart's Don Giovanni from Classical Opera with Jacques Imbrailo in the title role

Jacques Imbrailo - Don Giovanni - Classical Opera
photo Benjamin Ealovega

Mozart Don Giovanni (Prague version); Jacques Imbrailo, David Soar, Ana Maria Labin, Stuart Jackson, Helen Sherman, Ellie laugharne, David Shipley, Bradley Travis, Classical Opera, Ian Page; Cadogan Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jun 17 2016
Star rating: 5.0
A sense of propulsive drama in Ian Page's account of Mozart's original version showcasing the impish charm of Jacques Imbrailo's Don

David Soar - Don Giovanni
Classical Opera - photo Benjamin Ealovega

Ian Page and Classical Opera gave a highly anticipated performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Cadogan Hall on 17 June 2016. The company is currently recording the complete Mozart operas for Signum Classics and this was our first chance to hear their encounter with one of the greatest. A strong cast featured Jacques Imbrailo as Don Giovanni, David Soar (replacing an indisposed Darren Jeffrey) as Leporello, Ana Maria Labin as Donna Anna, Stuart Jackson as Don Ottavio, Helen Sherman as Donna Elvira, Ellie Laugharne as Zerlina, David Shipley as the Commendatore and Bradley Travis as Masetto. Ian Page conducted the Orchestra of Classical Opera, leader Matthew Truscott with continuo from Pawel Siwczak, Luise Buchberger and Timothy Amherst, and the Philharmonia Chorus.

The version used was Mozart's original Prague version from 1787, which gives us the composers first thoughts, so no Dalla sua pace, no Mi tradi and no Leporello and Zerlina duet (which is hardly ever done) all of which were written for the Vienna performance in 1788. When I interviewed Ian Page last year (see my interview on this blog) he talked about how his instinct was usually to perform the original version and, when recording, relegate the subsequent changes to an appendix. So we must wait for the recording to hear Dalla sua pace and Mi tradi.

Another point Ian made in the interview was the importance of recitative and devoting enough rehearsal time to it. It was clear that this was true of Don Giovanni as the recitative was full of character and colour, and at no point did it simply chug along. Instead, the singers all brought the drama vividly to life within the text. Though this was a concert performance with the singers using scores, there was a sense of dialogue and drama between the characters; the recitative involved characters interacting, and where the drama called for it arias were sung to someone, never to thin air.

The sense of colour and drama started from the opening notes of the overture. Never has Mozart's writing here sounded so remarkable; it is not so much that Ian Page pushed the music, though speeds were quite brisk, but instead he encouraged the players to explore the full range of timbres and colours available to the period instruments. There was a vividness and unvarnished directness to the music which made it remarkable.

Remarkable rediscovery - Classical Opera showcase Niccolo Jommelli's dramatic opera Il Vologeso

Ian Page and Classical Opera at Cadogan Hall

Niccolo Jommelli Il Vologeso; Rachel Kelly, Gemma Summerfield, Stuart Jackson, Angela Simkin, Jennifer France, Tom Verney, Classical Opera, Ian Page; Classical Opera at Cadogan Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 29 2016
Star rating: 4.0
Reform before Gluck, Classical Opera unearths Jommelli's remarkable 1766 opera

Often, the greatest art is made not by revolutionaries but by synthesizers, people who take remarkable developments and to create something really special. Monteverdi's L'orfeo was built on the foundations of the many lesser operas created in Florence from the 1590's, and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice was preceded by experiments from other composer interested in changing opera seria, and introducing French elements into Italian baroque opera. 

One such was the Neapolitan composer Niccolo Jommelli, who worked for the last 20 years of his life at the court of the Duke of Württemberg, giving him the score to experiment. Jommelli's operas are generally only experienced nowadays from recordings, if at all, so it was wonderful to find that as part of their Mozart 250 project, Ian Page and Classical Opera performed Jommelli's Il Vologeso at Cadogan Hall on Thursday 28 April 2016.

The young cast included Rachel Kelly as Vologeso, Gemma Summerfield as Berenice, Stuart Jackson as Lucio Vero, Angela Simkin as Lucilla, Jennifer France as Flavio and Tom Verney as Aniceto. Ian Page conducted the Orchestra of Classical Opera.

Il Vologeso was premiered in February 1766 in the brand new Schlosstheater at Ludwigsburg. The libretto was by Mattia Verazi, a long-time collaborator of Jommelli and someone whose texts could be a long way from the poised and cool classicism of Metastasio. The result sounded to me like Gluck at his most vigorous; in his article in the programme book Ian Page referred to the 'pungent dynamism' of Jommelli's music. Granted, secco recitative did tend to chug somewhat and Jommelli seemed to lack Handel's flair here but where Jommelli scores is in his use of accompanied recitative. In moments of stress, and there are many in the opera, the music breaks out into highly imaginative accompagnato. The other striking feature is that the first two acts each end in a remarkable vocal ensemble, and here you really do seem to feel Jommelli is looking forward.

Neither Jommelli nor Verazi seemed interested in preserving the conventions of opera seria in aspic, so that the exit aria convention (whereby a character leaves the stage after a major aria) is sometimes flouted, and Jommelli is not slavish in his use of full repeats in da capo arias. (Here I have to be a bit careful because in the version performed, Ian Page not only trimmed off three arias but another three lost their B sections and da capo repeats). That said, the plot seemed to be remarkably expeditious and almost dramatic.

Varying editions, the importance of recitative and events beyond Mozart - the second part of my encounter with Ian Page from Classical Opera

Ian Page and Classical Opera

Ian Page and Classical Opera have just started their second year of their 27 year project, Mozart 250, exploring Mozart's life year by year, starting last year, with 1765 which was the year Mozart visited London. In the the first part of our interview we talked about plans for this year's festival along with exciting plans for future festivals, and in this second part of the interview we discuss Mozart's operas and the problems of which edition to record, the importance of recitative and devoting rehearsal time to it, as well as the company's continuing non-Mozart related activities.

Ian's instinct is to present the opera as it was originally performed 

Ian and Classical Opera will be performing all of Mozart's operas over the years as part of the festival, and all of the concert arias. He also hopes to perform most of the symphonies. Running in parallel to this is Classical Opera's project to record all of Mozart's operas. These are not being recorded in chronological order, partly because in order to tempt people some of the better known operas have to be included early on (La Clemenza di Tito will be recorded quite soon). But in 2018, Mozart's La Finta Semplice comes up in the festival and this has not been recorded by Classical Opera yet so in all probability performance and recording will be linked. But Ian sees this as a tricky issue, because it also makes sense to have their recording out in time for the performance.

Regarding the edition which they record, Ian's instinct is to present the opera as it was originally performed and add any extra music in appendices; this is what was done with Mitridate Re di Ponto where the extra material was particularly substantial (see my review). So for Don Giovanni they will perform and record the Prague version. This means that the Zerlina Leporello duet, written for Vienna, will be relegated to an appendix but unfortunately so will Mi Tradi and Dalla sua pace. With Idomeneo they will record the version Mozart seems to have intended in Munich, before the cuts applied simply because of its length. Ian does not think they will record the Vienna version (which uses a tenor Idamante rather than a mezzo-soprano), but the festival will enable them to perform both operas in the respective years 1781 (in 2031) and 1786 (in 2036), thus giving people the opportunity to compare and contrast.

He was extremely surprised at how little time was given to the recitative

Telling a story through programming, my encounter with Ian Page of Classical Opera

Ian Page and Classical Opera

Ian Page and Classical Opera have just started their second year of their 27 year project, Mozart 250, exploring Mozart's life year by year. The project started last year, with 1765 which was the year Mozart visited London. This year 1766 is explored and there has been a retrospective concert (see my review) with further performances to come including the British premiere of Niccolò Jommelli's opera Il Vologeso. I caught up with Ian to chat about the project and about Classical Opera; in this first part of our interview we talk about plans for this year's festival along with exciting plans for future festivals.

The idea of a Mozart festival lasting 25 years, exploring the composer's work year by year, arose out of Ian's love of contextualising things, of telling a story through programming. He is fascinated by the associations between works and feels that in the larger context of the festival with more works being performed, things really resonate. So when they performed JC Bach's Adriano in Siria last year (which premiered in London in 1765 whilst Mozart was there), or perform Jommelli's Il Vologeso (which premiered in 1766) then it enables Ian and his performers to look sideways at Mozart's own music, and he feels that it takes them on a journey. Not everything they perform will have been heard by Mozart (there is no record of him hearing Il Vologeso but he met Jommelli in 1763), but what the festival does is give listeners a taste of the music that was around, the sometimes surprising ideas that were in the air. Later on in our conversation we comment on the music of Franz Ignaz Beck whose symphony Ian and his ensemble performed at the Wigmore Hall in the 1766: A Retrospective concert, a work that was almost Beethovenian 34 years before Beethoven's first symphony.

'beautiful but old-fashioned'

1766: a retrospective - Ian Page and Classical opera

Mozart, Haydn, JC Bach, Jommelli, Guglielmi, Beck, Vanhal; Louise Alder, Benjamin Hulett, Classical Opera, Ian Page; the Wigmore Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jan 19 2016
Star rating: 4.0
A striking survey of the 10 year old Mozart's musical world, continues this remarkable 25 year project

Ian Page and Classical Opera continued their 25 celebration of Mozart's music with the year 1766. 1766 - a retrospective at the Wigmore Hall on 19 January 2016 provided an over view of music from that year, including not only Mozart but works by Jommelli,  Vanhal, Haydn, Guglielmi, Beck and JC Bach. We heard two of the symphonies that Mozart wrote that year, along with concert arias sung by Louise Alder (soprano), and Benjamin Hulett (tenor), plus an aria from Jommelli's opera Il Vologeso, and an aria from Guglielmi's opera Lo spirito di contradizione, the Et incarnatus est from Haydn's Missa Cellensis in honorem BVM, symphonies by Vanhal and Beck, and a song by JC Bach written for Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.

Not all the music was heard by the 10 year old composer, and not all of the pieces were masterpieces but it gave us a wonderful view of music from the period to set alongside Mozart's remarkable development.

We started with Mozart's Symphony No. 5 in B flat major K22, a work premiered whilst Mozart was in the Hague in January 1766. In three movements, it is a confident and compact piece with a lively opening which uses the idea of an opening pedal note with a great deal of imagination: the cellos and basses play the same repeated note over a long span. As the movement developed it was clear that the young composer enjoyed contrasts both of texture and of dynamics. There was a shapely, elegant Andante and a lively, dance-like Molto allegro finale which had a view rumbustious elements.