Monday With Mozart

Don Giovanni (K. 527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga (now called the Estates Theatre) on October 29, 1787.  The work was rapturously received, as was often true of Mozart's work in Prague.  One particular piece of music within the opera's first act was a duet between Don Giovanni and Donna Zerlina, "la ci darem la mano".  This brief duet is light, whimsical, romantic, extremely popular in its day and endures with that popularity today.  Here is "la ci darem la mano" performed by Conductor Michael Halasz leading the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia with Soloists Baritone Bo Skovhus and Soprano Regina Schorg.

The underlying tune was extremely popular in the public houses as the operatic production was on stage.  This little ditty penned by Mozart went on to inspire other composers to produce works based on Master's Music.  When Beethoven modeled works on those of Mozart, he never did so slavishly, even in his earliest works like the C and E Flat Major Piano Quartets.  In his variations written in 1795 for 2 Oboes and English Horn on 'la mano', he exploits the tune's popularity as much as revealing his stylistic debt to Mozart.  With these Variations, Beethoven made a contribution of his own to the arrangements of operatic melodies for wind ensembles that were so popular at the time.  Herewith are Beethoven's Variations in C Major on La Ci Darem La Mano brilliantly performed by Heinz Holliger and Hans Elhorst on Oboe and Maurice Bourgue on English Horn.

Frédéric Chopin's Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" for piano and orchestra, Op. 2, was written in 1827, when he was aged only 17.  It was one of the earliest manifestations of Chopin's incipient genius. It inspired Robert Schumann's famous exclamation, Hats off, gentlemen! A genius!  The work was premiered on 11 August 1829 at the Vienna Kärntnertortheater, with Chopin as the soloist.  It received very positive audience and critical acclaim.  The work is in B-flat major throughout, except for the Adagio of Variation 5, which is in the minor key.  Here it is performed beautifully by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Eliahu Inbal with Claudio Arrau at the Piano.

More melodic Mozart may be heard over on my tumblr with his String Quintet in C Major, KV515 featuring a live performance from the Delft Music Festival in the Netherlands by  Liza Ferschtman, Alina Ibragimova, Amihai Grosz, Jakob Koranyi, and Gijs Kramers.

Finally on this Monday, be sure to check out my indulgence in my obsession with my man Marlon Teixeira down below and the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!