Mozart - Il Sogno di Scipione (K 126)

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART(1756-1791)

Il Sogno di Scipione (K 126) 1772

Malin Hartelius, Lisa Larsson, Christine Brandes (sopranos)

Bruce Ford, Charles Workman, Jeremy Ovenden (tenors)

Gottfried von der Goltz: (conductor)

Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

This is probably Mozart’s least interesting opera–if indeed it is an opera at all. Composed at the end of 1771 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Salzburg’s Archbishop Schrattenbach, its performance was cancelled due to the archbishop’s sudden death. Mozart re-dedicated it to the new archbishop (Colloredo). There is still doubt as to whether it was ever performed. It’s in one act of just under two hours and is concerned with the Roman general Scipio, who in a dream is made to choose between the godesses Fortune and Constancy to guide him through life. Needless to say, he chooses Constancy over luck, and we don’t care.

The arias are big and need good singers to do them justice; but as drama, forget this piece altogether. We, of course, only have to sit through the music, and as such it’s a fine experience. This is a very well performed set (particularly given that it was taped live), somewhat better than the Leopold Heger performance that was part of the complete Philips Mozart Edition. Scipio is sung by the American Bruce Ford; he uses his handsome voice with authority, is nicely declarative in the recitatives and comes to a bit of grief only in his final, far-too-florid-for-its-own-good aria. Malin Hartelius is a fine Constanza, with excellent staccatos, a good-sized voice, and a seeming interest in her duty. Much the same may be said for Lisa Larsson’s Fortuna, but she adds a touch more warmth to the picture. Christine Brandes sings the two arias allotted to Licenza (the personification of homage–or sucking up to the archbishop) stunningly (one was an alternate, composed a bit later but included here). The other two tenors are fine in their unnecessarily difficult arias. Gottfried van der Glotz leads a refined performance–his period band is very good. If you need this opera in your collection, this is the set to own.