MOZART MORVAI EUROPEAN CHAMBER SOLOISTS MATT - APOLLO ET CD

SKU/Barcode: 842977031270

As late as the 1970s, Apollo et Hyacinthus was the one Mozart opera that listeners couldn't find at all on records -- the record companies presumably figured "after all, how good can it be? Mozart composed it when he was 11." Indeed, Leopold Hager was the first conductor to record Apollo et Hyacinthus in 1981, and its fortunes have hardly improved since then. This Brilliant Classics recording, made for a gigantic Mozart Edition in 2006 by Nicol Matt leading the pseudo-anonymous European Chamber Soloists, is only the fourth studio recording of the work ever made -- an unimaginably low total for a Mozart opera. Brilliant has done well to single out its recording of Apollo et Hyacinthus for separate release, especially as it is the only recorded version of the opera available outside of large, multi-disc collections of Mozart's operas or works in general. Nevertheless, that doesn't answer the question as to whether Apollo et Hyacinthus is any good or not. Surprisingly, it is -- the recitatives are accomplished and do not dog the pace of the opera as they do in similar works by Mozart's fully adult contemporaries. It also includes a number of attractive arias, particularly the first-act aria for Hyacinthus, "Saepe terrent Numina," sung here by Anna Haase, and there are many quirky touches native to the output of Mozart's childhood, such as the Galamathias Musicum. The orchestral accompaniment, limited to chamber dimensions here, is quite good, as is the general pace of the opera as presented. One aspect of the production that is somewhat second rate is the quality of the front-line singers, who are adequate but don't bring a lot of spirit into the production and sometimes sing with the strain that results from reading a score with which one is not very familiar. The slim booklet provides an English-language summary of the slight plot of the opera and the whole libretto in Latin. For an outstanding performance of the work, you'll still need to seek out the Hager recording, which is now only available as part of Philips' various Mozart boxes. But to just hear Apollo et Hyacinthus and satisfy one's curiosity about this formative Mozart opera the Brilliant set will do.