Mozart Arias

476 5949
Sara
Macliver
MOZART ARIAS
TASMANIAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SEBASTIAN LANG-LESSING
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791
1 Non curo l’affetto (I have no interest in the affections of a timid lover), KV74b
4’39
2 Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! (O Heaven! I wish I could tell you), KV418
7’12
3 Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben (Rest gently, my dear one) from Zaide, KV344
6’42
4 Overture from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), KV620
7’01
5 Ach, ich fühl’s (Alas, I feel it) from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), KV620
4’17
6 Schon lacht der holde Frühling (See how fair Spring is laughing), KV580
7’35
9 Giunse alfin il momento…Deh vieni non tardar
(At last the moment is coming…Ah, do not delay) from Le nozze di Figaro
(The Marriage of Figaro), KV492
0 Batti, batti, o bel Masetto (Beat me, O handsome Masetto)
from Don Giovanni, KV527
3’42
! Porgi amor (O Love, give me some remedy) from Le nozze di Figaro
(The Marriage of Figaro), KV492
7 Durch Zärtlichkeit (Through tenderness) from Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(The Abduction from the Seraglio), KV384
8 Overture from Don Giovanni, KV527
3’24
3’55
@ E Susanna non vien!...Dove sono i bei momenti (And Susanna’s not here!...
Where are the beautiful moments) from Le nozze di Figaro
(The Marriage of Figaro), KV492
6’21
Total Playing Time
Sara Macliver soprano
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Sebastian Lang-Lessing conductor
2
4’40
3
6’34
66’25
The plot of Zaide is loosely similar to the later,
greater Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The
Abduction from the Seraglio) – indeed, its full
description is ‘A Singspiel with libretto by
Schachtner after F.J. Sebastiani’s “Das Serail”’.
The path of love, at least on stage, is more
difficult when it crosses over east and west.
Zaide may have faded into the unused pages of
the Köchel catalogue were it not for one
beautiful aria, Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben.
The heroine of the title sings this rapturously
sweet music over the sleeping body of the man
she loves – it is an adult lullaby. Jane Glover
notes the prominent use of the oboe, an
instrument she believes Mozart associated with
seduction, for it appears remarkably often in
such a context. She also draws a parallel with
the aria’s demands for an exquisite, secure,
silvery top to the voice, mixed with an ability to
project the text, and the fact that these
characteristics are strongly associated with the
vocal style of Aloysia Weber – surely she was
still on the composer’s mind?
Salzburg court poet, trumpeter and friend of the
Mozart family Johann Andreas Schachtner
recorded how, in a rather inauspicious beginning
for a collaborative partnership, his instrument had
terrified the infant composer. ‘Merely to hold a
trumpet in front of him was like aiming a loaded
pistol at his heart.’ Fortunately for posterity, the
family friendship survived these early hiccups
and in 1780 the grownup Mozart and Schachtner
began work on Zaide, KV344, a Singspiel or
comic opera with spoken dialogue. They seem to
have had no set performers or occasion in mind,
and the work was never finished; only 15
numbers are extant. (Luciano Berio and Chaya
Czernowin are but two of the more recent
composers to attempt some sort of conclusion.)
At the time of composing, Mozart was only just
back home in Salzburg after a long journey
which had encompassed much sadness: the
death of his mother, who was his travelling
companion, and the end of his infatuation with
the noted young singer Aloysia Weber. On this
tour he had also encountered Georg Benda’s
melodramas, featuring spoken German dialogue
with musical accompaniment. Mozart seems to
have used this device only in Zaide, so the
connection appears relevant. In many of the
extant numbers, Mozart tried out for the first
time several new things which would appear in
his later works, including writing ‘serious’ sung
music in German. (Previous works of this calibre
had all been in Italian.)
Aloysia and the oboe feature again in Vorrei
spiegarvi, oh Dio, KV418. It was written in June
1783, by which time life had moved along for
Mozart – he was living in Vienna, becoming part
of the entrenched musical scene there, happily
married to Aloysia’s younger sister Constanze,
and expecting the imminent arrival of their first
child. (Wolfgang remained good friends with
Aloysia and her husband Josef Lange.)
4
Further mystery surrounds Schon lacht der
holde Frühling, KV580. Historical convention
(though no conclusive documentary evidence)
associates it with Josepha Hofer, youngest of
the Weber sisters and therefore Mozart’s sisterin-law. The style of the vocal line would have
suited her, with its high tessitura and demanding
coloratura. (Josepha would become a renowned
Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte.) More
expressive drama emerges in the softer, slower
sections, reminding us that all the singing Weber
women were praised to some extent for their
acting abilities. Around September 1789, the
presumed date of composition, Josepha was
the prima donna soprano at the Theater auf der
Wieden in Vienna. The theory surrounding Schon
lacht der holde Frühling is that Josepha had
requested a replacement aria for a performance
of Paisiello’s Barber of Seville, although any
trace of such a performance has been lost. The
manuscript score is incomplete (the inner parts
are missing) but Mozart did not as a rule record
mere fragments in his own list of works, so we
assume that what we have is a true record of
the complete aria as it was intended, and not
merely a draft.
Aloysia was shortly to appear at the Burgtheater
in Anfossi’s Il curioso indiscreto (Unwise
Curiosity). In keeping with the custom of the
time she turned to Mozart to write two new
arias suited to her, which could be inserted into
the existing work, either in place of or in addition
to the scheduled items. No, no, che non sei
capace, KV419 is rarely if ever heard now and is
not included here, but Vorrei spiegarvi was an
immediate success, with its delightful contrasts
between passages of delicious softness and
heartstopping agility. The librettist is unknown,
but the text is similar to many such arias of the
time and may have been constructed by Mozart
himself, or indeed even Aloysia.
Little is known about the circumstances
surrounding the composition and premiere of
Non curo l’affetto, KV74b. The text is drawn
from Metastasio’s Demofoonte, where it is
given to the character of Creusa, Princess of
Phrygia, who is trying to incite a callow young
suitor to kill his own brother, whom she believes
to have insulted her. This aria was most likely
written in early 1771, although some place it still
earlier, perhaps for a concert performance in
Milan in March 1770. Both in date of
composition and in style it sits comfortably
alongside its contemporary, the opera seria
Mitridate, and is intent on showing off the
singer’s coloratura. The teenage Mozart was
astonishingly young to be creating something of
such confident style.
Paisiello’s Barber was immensely popular in
Vienna. The libretto was drawn from the play by
Beaumarchais, and is of course the first
instalment in the adventures of the barber
Figaro; it is better known to modern audiences
through Rossini’s version. When in 1786 Mozart
5
was looking for a new opera text, he and
Lorenzo Da Ponte gleefully chose to capitalise
on the public interest in Paisiello’s success, and
adapted Beaumarchais’ second tale of Figaro.
Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) was
something of a risk, given the ‘upstairs/downstairs’
tension of the plot and the growing social unrest
across Europe – indeed the play had been
banned for some years in Vienna and Paris – but
it was a risk which paid off. Part of the success
may have been the inclusion of many of the
same cast members who had appeared in the
Paisiello forerunner, though not always in the
equivalent role.
requires an excellent sense of line and
considerable acting ability to make it really
successful, as Susanna is playing a duplicitous
game. She and her mistress the Countess are
colluding to punish the Count for his wandering
eye, and she is in theory singing to him;
however she is well aware that her fiancé Figaro
is hiding within earshot, and wishes to have a bit
of a dig at him for his lack of trust. The ambiguity
of her song has been subject to many different
directorial interpretations as a result.
The Countess, on the other hand, is a more
straightforward character. Mozart and Da Ponte
were clever in their adaptation of the play: in the
opera, the Countess appears rather late into the
work, but with her stunning, heartbreaking aria
Porgi amor is instantly introduced to the
audience and to their sympathies. Everything
about her situation is made clear. The feisty
Rosina of The Barber of Seville has become a
haunted, nervy woman made desperate by her
husband’s frequent betrayals. (It’s not clear to
what extent ‘Droit de Seigneur’, or the unwritten
right of the local lord to have first pick of any girl
who caught his eye, was actually practised in
Europe, but in cosmopolitan areas its more
metaphorical implications of power and status
would have been understood in the context of
the performance.)
Nancy Storace, a dear friend of Mozart’s, was
the 21-year-old prima donna who undertook to
create Susanna. She and her character seem to
have shared many of the same qualities of
intelligence, wit and generosity. Indeed the
whole opera is notable for the sympathetic
portrayal of women, which was not always the
case at the time. Susanna was considered the
principal role, as she appears more often; in
modern times there has been a slight tendency
to focus on the Countess, perhaps due to the
more lyrical beauty of her music or even a
certain lingering snobbishness.
Susanna’s major aria Giunse alfin il
momento…Deh vieni non tardar is
superficially simple, demanding a good middle to
the voice but no pyrotechnics. However it
The Countess reaches a dramatic peak not in a
moment of high, loud coloratura, but in a
6
training) was a good friend of the ultimate reallife ladies’ man, Casanova. Indeed, Casanova
attended the premiere performance in Prague on
29 October 1787.
particularly solemn recitative E Susanna non
vien!. Here she soliloquises on her unhappy
situation, culminating in the acknowledgement
that she has had to resort to the humiliation of
asking her maid, a mere servant, for help. This is
the stuff of social revolution. Dove sono i bei
momenti, the aria which immediately follows, is
justly famed for its emotional intensity.
Mozart and Da Ponte brought opera buffa to a
new height. Their works combined comedy and
tragedy in a deeply satisfying and even
revolutionary way. And as with Figaro, the
women in Don Giovanni are for the most part
portrayed sensitively and as people of
intelligence, although this is more dependent on
the director than in the earlier work. A case in
point is Zerlina’s clever handling of her jealous
boyfriend Masetto – Batti, batti is her response
to his anger over her perceived infidelity with the
Don. Although the text seems violent, the music
is all cajoling softness, and no one can doubt she
will win him round without too many tears.
Figaro was hugely successful at Vienna’s
Burgtheater, and was then presented in Prague
in January 1787. Mozart himself described the
local reaction best: ‘Nothing is played, sung or
whistled but Figaro. No opera is drawing like
Figaro. Nothing, nothing but Figaro. Certainly a
great honour for me!’
Such overwhelming acclamation led Pasquale
Bondini, director of the Prague National Theatre,
to ask eagerly for a new opera from the
Mozart/Da Ponte team. His wife Caterina had
played Susanna, so it is no surprise that the new
opera, Don Giovanni, also contained a very
suitable role for her: the peasant girl Zerlina,
who attracts the passing interest of the Don.
Mozart’s instinctive understanding of how to use
music to enforce dramatic tension is
demonstrated in the opening sections of Don
Giovanni. The gripping Overture, and the
following introduction and duet all hover
relentlessly around D major and minor and the
related keys of F and B flat. Because the music
is corralled in this one tonal area, listeners
become as trapped as the characters
themselves, and (probably subconsciously) as
keen for some sort of resolution.
Da Ponte collaborated with Mozart on three of
his finest operas: Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan
tutte and Don Giovanni. The parallels between
the womanising Don Juan and the faithless
Count Almaviva of Figaro will be obvious, and as
infidelity is a major theme of Così too, it
becomes even more fascinating to learn that Da
Ponte (himself no saint despite his seminary
This exceptional feeling for the interaction of
music and drama had been apparent even in
7
such early works as Zaide, where Mozart had
considerable input into Schachtner’s text. But it
was with his ‘other’ east/west opera, Die
Entführung aus dem Serail, that he really had
the chance to participate fully in shaping all
aspects of an opera. He wrote with immense
satisfaction to his father, noting that he was
working very happily with Gottlieb Stephanie on
the plot and words: ‘[He] is arranging
[Bretzner’s] libretto for me just as I want it.’
Stephanie was the director of the German
National Theatre, controlled by the Viennese
court. He and Mozart began work together in
1781, when the young composer was lodging
with the Weber family and developing a growing
interest in Constanze, a daughter of the house.
Letters to his stern father tended to focus on
strictly musical matters.
the style of the later Susanna and Zerlina, and
for the premiere performances was sung by
Therese Teyber, who would eventually perform
all these roles to great acclaim.
The womanly strength of these heroines found
a new incarnation in the gentle, well-brought-up
Pamina, central figure in Die Zauberflöte (The
Magic Flute). This Singspiel was in so many
ways a new departure for Mozart. It was the
result of an intense collaboration between
himself and his friend Schikaneder, who by this
time (1791) had established his own performing
company in Vienna. An all-round theatre
professional – he was an acclaimed serious
Shakespearian as well as comic actor and writer
– Schikaneder knew how to attract a house, and
filled his productions with fabulous costumes,
special effects, live animals and so on. His
troupe included many of Mozart’s favourite
singers, including his sister-in-law Josepha.
The story of Die Entführung concerns the
heroine, also named Constanze, who is held
prisoner in a harem by the Pasha Selim, who
adores her and hopes she’ll come round to
adoring him. She pines for her lover, Belmonte,
who attempts to rescue her and fails; but the
Pasha magnanimously gives the pair their
freedom. Constanze’s maid Blonde also has to
fight on several fronts, warding off the
attentions of the harem overseer Osmin and
encouraging those of Belmonte’s manservant
Pedrillo. Durch Zärtlichkeit is Blonde’s dismissal
of Osmin, where she soars far above him in
every respect. She is a character very much in
The two men were Masons, and Masonic
symbolism abounds throughout the opera. But
unusually (though as we have seen,
characteristically of Mozart) there is little of the
rank chauvinism that permeated the Masonic
societies of the day. Once again Mozart gives us
intelligent, multi-dimensional female characters;
and his men, too, are not the cardboard
stereotypes that could easily have invaded what
on one level is a mere ‘rescue opera’. Prince
Tamino is sent by the Queen of the Night to
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this. Within a year of being widowed, she had
single-handedly got herself and her two young
sons out of debt and onto some sort of firmer
domestic footing. Could her personality lurk
unseen behind many of the characters
presented in this diverse recording?
rescue her daughter Pamina from the clutches
of Sarastro; however, the young couple (who
have fallen in love at first sight) find they respect
the older man and Tamino applies to join his
order. He must pass through three trials in order
to be accepted and to move on to a happy life
with Pamina. (The whole plot is riddled with
‘three’ symbolism, as indeed is the Overture,
with its striking three-chord opening.) His
companion Papageno, a birdcatcher, seeks only
a bride and a quiet life. Three ladies, three boys
and a menacing slave called Monostatos also
play their parts in the drama. Yet much of the
most sincere emotion rests in Pamina. Mozart’s
first Pamina was Anna Gottlieb, a mere 17 years
old, and of the appropriate beauty and
innocence to make a huge impact in this role.
Unaware that Tamino has taken a vow of silence
as part of his initiation, Pamina is utterly
desolate when, at what should be a joyous
reunion, he refuses to speak to her. Her
soliloquy Ach, ich fühl’s is a short, quiet,
absolute showstopper. Elisabeth Söderström
once suggested in a memorable insight that the
pulsing accompaniment should imply a
heartbeat, beneath a vocal line that pours
straight from the soul.
K.P. Kemp
Mozart’s heroines tended to be intelligent and
brave, and where possible tried hard to be
virtuous as well. As so little is definitely known
of the true character of his wife Constanze, it is
tempting to assume she was at least a little like
9
Creusa:
Zaide:
1 Non curo l’affetto
I have no interest in the affections
of a timid lover
who holds so little valour
in his breast,
who trembles if he must
use a sword,
who is bold only when
the talk is of love.
d’un timido amante
che serba nel petto
si poco valor,
che trema se deve
far uso del brando,
che audace è sol quando
si parla d’amor.
3 Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben,
Rest gently, my dear one,
sleep till your happiness awakens.
Look, I’ll give you a picture of myself:
see how it smiles at you like a friend!
You sweet dreams, rock him to sleep
and may the delights
of his dreams finally bloom
into ripe reality.
schlafe, bis dein Glück erwacht;
da, mein Bild will ich dir geben,
schau, wie freundlich es dir lacht!
Ihr süssen Träume, wiegt ihn ein
und lasset seinem Wunsch am Ende
die wollustreichen Gegenstände
zu reifer Wirklichkeit gedeihn.
Pietro Metastasio
Johann Andreas Schachtner,
after Franz Josef Sebastiani
Clorinda:
2 Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!
qual è l’affanno mio;
ma mi condanna il fato
a piangere e tacer.
Arder non può il mio core
per chi vorrebbe amore
e fa che cruda io sembri
un barbaro dover.
O heaven! I wish I could tell you
what I am suffering,
but fate condemns me
to suffer in silence.
My heart cannot burn
for the man who seeks my love
and cruel duty
makes me seem heartless.
Ah conte, partite,
correte, fuggite
lontano da me.
La vostra diletta
Emilia v’aspetta,
languir non la fate,
è degna d’amor.
Ah stelle spietate!
nemiche mi siete.
(Mi perdo s’ei resta, oh Dio!)
Partite, correte,
d’amor non parlate,
è vostro il suo cor.
Ah, Count, leave me,
run, fly
far from me.
Your beloved
Emilia is waiting for you;
don’t make her suffer,
she is worthy of love.
O pitiless stars!
you are my enemies.
(If he stays, I am lost, O heaven!)
Go, run from me,
do not speak of love;
her heart belongs to you.
Pamina:
5 Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden,
Alas, I feel it – it has vanished,
love’s happiness is gone forever.
Those hours of gladness will never
return to my heart.
Tamino, look: these tears
are flowing for you alone, beloved.
If you do not feel love’s longing,
then I will find my peace in death.
ewig hin der Liebe Glück!
Nimmer kommt ihr, Wonnestunden,
meinem Herzen mehr zurück.
Sieh, Tamino, diese Thränen
fliessen, Trauter, dir allein.
Fühlst du nicht der Liebe Sehnen,
so wird Ruh’ im Tode sein.
Emanuel Schikaneder
6 Schon lacht der holde Frühling
auf blumenreichen Matten,
wo sich Zephire gatten
unter geselligem Scherze.
See how fair Spring is laughing
over the meadows rich with flowers,
where the breezes come together
in playful company.
Wenn auch auf allen Zweigen
sich junge Blüten zeigen,
kehrt doch kein leiser Trost
in dieses arme Herz.
But though on every branch
the flowers are budding,
no soft words of comfort
return to this poor heart.
Anonymous
10
11
Da sitze ich und weine
einsam auf der Flur,
nicht um mein verlornes Schäfchen, nein,
um den Schäfer Lindor nur.
Anonymous
I sit here and weep,
alone in the fields,
not for my lost lamb, no,
only for the shepherd, Lindor.
quì ridono i fioretti, e l’erba è fresca,
ai piaceri d’amor quì tutto adesca.
Vieni ben mio, tra queste piante ascose,
vieni, vieni, ti vo’ la fronte incoronar di rose.
here the little flowers laugh, and the grass is fresh,
everything is here at love’s service.
Come, my love, here in the concealing shadows
of this grove I long to crown your head with roses.
Lorenzo Da Ponte after Pierre-Augustin
Caron de Beaumarchais
Blonde:
7 Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln,
Gefälligkeit und Scherzen,
erobert man die Herzen
der guten Mädchen leicht.
Doch mürrisches Befehlen,
und poltern, zanken, plagen,
macht, dass in wenig Tagen
so Lieb’ und Treu entweicht.
Through tenderness and flattery,
courtesy and pleasantries,
one easily conquers the heart
of a good maiden.
But surly orders
and blustering, scolding, pestering –
in only a few days
they’ll make love and faithfulness drain away.
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner
Susanna:
9 Giunse alfin il momento
che godrò senz’affanno
in braccio all’idol mio.
Timide cure, uscite dal mio petto,
a turbar non venite il mio diletto!
Oh come par che all’amoroso foco
l’amenità del loco,
la terra e il ciel risponda,
come la notte i furti miei seconda!
At last the moment is coming
when I shall lie in the arms of my beloved
in delight, free from anxiety.
Timid thoughts, begone from my breast,
do not come to spoil my joy!
Oh, how it seems that these lovely surrounds,
heaven and earth in their beauty,
respond to the flame of my passion,
just as the night furthers my ruses!
Deh vieni non tardar, o gioja bella,
vieni ove amore per goder t’appella,
finchè non splende in ciel notturna face,
finchè l’aria è ancor bruna, e il mondo tace.
Quì mormora il ruscel, quì scherza l’aura,
che col dolce sussurro il cor ristaura,
Ah, do not delay, fair joy,
love summons you to pleasure; answer his call,
until the shining moon has set
till the sky lightens again, and the world falls silent.
Here the murmuring brook, the playful breezes
heal the heart with their sweet whispering;
12
Zerlina:
0 Batti, batti, o bel Masetto,
Beat me, handsome Masetto, beat
your poor Zerlina:
I will stand here like a little lamb,
waiting for your blows.
I will let you strike my head,
I will let you tear out my eyes,
and then I will gladly
kiss your dear little hands.
Ah! I see, you don’t have the heart.
Hush, hush, my beloved,
let’s spend our time in gladness and joy,
both night and day, yes,
night and day.
la tua povera Zerlina:
starò quì come agnellina
le tue botte ad aspettar.
Lascierò straziarmi il crine,
lascierò cavarmi gli occhi,
e le care tue manine
lieta poi saprò baciar.
Ah! lo vedo, non hai core.
Pace, pace, o vita mia,
in contento ed allegria
notte e dì vogliam passar, si, si,
notte e dì vogliam passar.
Lorenzo Da Ponte
The Countess:
! Porgi amor qualche ristoro
O Love, give me some remedy
for my suffering and my sighs!
Either give me back my beloved,
or let me die.
al mio duolo, a miei sospir!
O mi rendi il mio tesoro,
o mo lascia almen morir.
Lorenzo Da Ponte after Pierre-Augustin
Caron de Beaumarchais
13
The Countess:
@ E Susanna non vien!
Sono ansiosa di saper
come il conte accolse la proposta.
Alquanto ardito il progetto mi par,
ad uno sposo sì vivace e geloso!
Ma che mal c’è?
Cangiando i miei vestiti con quelle di Susanna,
ei suoi co’ miei
a favor della notte – oh cielo!
A qual’ umil stato fatale io son ridotta
da un consorte crudel!
Che dopo avermi con un misto inaudito
d’infedeltà, di gelosia, di sdegno!
prima amata, indi offesa
e alfin tradita
fammi or cercar da una mia serva aita!
And Susanna’s not here!
I’m anxious to know
how the count took the proposal.
The plan seems rather rash to me,
and with a husband so edgy and jealous!
But where’s the harm?
Switching clothes with Susanna,
and she with me
under cover of darkness… O heavens!
See what a sorry, wretched state I am reduced to
by a cruel spouse!
With an unheard-of mixture
of infidelity, jealousy and scorn
he first loved me, then insulted me,
and finally betrayed me
and now here I am forced to turn to a servant for help!
Dove sono i bei momenti
di dolcezza e di piacer,
dove andoro i giuramenti
di quel labbro menzogner!
Perchè mai, se i pianti e in pene
Where are the beautiful moments
of sweetness and pleasure,
where did the promises go,
that came from those lying lips?
For me everything has turned
per me tutto si cangiò,
la memoria di quel bene
dal mio sen non trapassò?
to pain and weeping –
why then does the memory of that bliss
still linger in my breast?
Ah! se almen la mia costanza
nel languire amando ognor
mi portasse una speranza
di cangiar l’ingrato cor.
Ah! if only my constancy
in fainting for love of him even now
could bring me hope
of changing his ungrateful heart!
Lorenzo Da Ponte after Pierre-Augustin
Caron de Beaumarchais
Translations by Natalie Shea
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15
Sara Macliver
Recent engagements have included the roles of
Aphrodite and The Thracian Woman in the world
premiere of Richard Mills’ opera For the Love of
the Nightingale (2007 Perth Festival), Mozart’s
Mass in C minor (West Australian Symphony
Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra),
Mozart’s Betulia Liberata (University of Western
Australia), Mozart arias, Mendelssohn’s
Lobgesang and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4
(Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra), Mahler’s
Symphony No. 2 Resurrection (The Queensland
Orchestra), Orff’s Carmina burana (Adelaide
Symphony Orchestra), a recital at the Perth
Concert Hall and J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion
(Sydney Chamber Choir and Sydney
Philharmonia Choirs).
Sara Macliver is one of Australia’s most popular
and versatile artists, appearing in opera, concert
and recital performances and on numerous
recordings. She is regarded as one of the leading
exponents of Baroque repertoire in Australia.
Sara Macliver trained in Perth with Molly
McGurk. She was a Young Artist with West
Australian Opera in 1996 and her roles for the
company have included Micaela (Carmen),
Pamina and Papagena (The Magic Flute),
Giannetta (The Elixir of Love), Morgana (Alcina),
Ida (Die Fledermaus), Nannetta (Falstaff),
Vespetta (Pimpinone) and Angelica (Orlando).
Sara Macliver is a regular performer with the
West Australian, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide
and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and The
Queensland Orchestra, as well as Musica Viva
Australia, Melbourne Chorale, Australian Chamber
Orchestra, Australian Bach Ensemble, Australian
Brandenburg Orchestra and Sydney Philharmonia
Choirs among others. Career highlights have
included a performance in the presence of Diana,
Princess of Wales, a recital concert in Japan, a
five-city tour of Italy with Ola Rudner and the
Haydn Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with
Edo de Waart and the Sydney Symphony, and a
program based on the life of Jane Austen, with
pianist Bernadette Balkus for Musica Viva. She
also appeared in Pinchgut Opera’s productions of
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Purcell’s The Fairy
Queen to great critical acclaim.
Sara Macliver’s recordings for ABC Classics
include Fauré’s Requiem and The Birth of Venus,
Carmina burana, and a CD of Haydn arias with
the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Ola
Rudner. She is featured in the joint ABC
Classics–ABC Television production of Handel’s
Messiah, which has screened several times on
national television as well as being available on
CD and DVD. She has released two discs of
duets with mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell:
Bach Arias and Duets, nominated for an ARIA
Award in 2004, and Baroque Duets (including
the Pergolesi Stabat Mater), winner of the
ABC Classic FM Listener’s Choice Award
in 2005. Her recording of Canteloube’s
Songs of the Auvergne was released on
ABC Classics in 2006.
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released numerous CDs with the TSO on ABC
Classics, including a complete set of the
Schumann symphonies, a disc of Romantic
overtures, and music for piano and orchestra by
Saint-Saëns and Franck with Duncan Gifford.
His discography also includes the world
premiere recording of the complete
symphonies of Guy Ropartz.
Sebastian Lang-Lessing
Sebastian Lang-Lessing is Chief Conductor and
Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Symphony
Orchestra. He was Music Director of the
Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy from 1999 to
2006. He served for eight years as Conductor in
Residence at Deutsche Oper Berlin at the
invitation of Götz Friedrich, and his relationship
with that company enabled him to build a wide
repertoire and work with internationally
renowned singers and stage directors.
As music director of Opéra National de Nancy, he
has conducted Tristan und Isolde, Tannhäuser,
The Flying Dutchman, Der Rosenkavalier,
Arabella, Fidelio, Der Freischütz, Wozzeck,
Jenůfa, Peter Grimes, Carmen, Manon Lescaut,
The Tales of Hoffmann, Simon Boccanegra, Don
Giovanni and The Magic Flute. In 2006 the
French Government recognised his work with
Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy and Opéra de
Nancy by awarding it national status.
Sebastian Lang-Lessing studied conducting at
the Hamburg State Conservatory. After being
awarded the Ferenc Fricsay Prize in Berlin he
worked as assistant conductor at Hamburg
State Opera then as First Kapellmeister at
Rostock Opera.
His international career began in Paris at the
Opéra Bastille. In 1997 he made his American
debut at Houston Grand Opera; recent
engagements with the company have included
performances of Carmen and Faust. He has also
appeared with San Franciso Opera and Los
Angeles Opera. In Europe he has worked
regularly at opera houses including Oslo
Opera, Hamburg State Opera and Stockholm
Royal Opera.
In addition to concerts around Tasmania,
Sebastian Lang-Lessing directs an annual
Sydney Season with the TSO at City Recital Hall
Angel Place and has led the orchestra on a tour
of Japan as part of Asia Orchestra Week. He
also initiated a series of performances at the
Port Arthur Historic Site in 2006.
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Established in 1948, the Tasmanian Symphony
Orchestra is acclaimed as one of the world’s
finest small orchestras. Resident in the purposebuilt Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, the TSO
Sebastian Lang-Lessing is also active as a
conductor of symphonic repertoire, and has led
major orchestras all over the world. He has
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In 2003 the orchestra launched its Australian
Music Program under the direction of Richard
Mills. Since then the TSO has released eleven
titles and recorded a further five discs as part
of the TSO’s Australian Composer Series on
ABC Classics.
presents more than 60 diverse concerts across
Tasmania and mainland Australia each year.
German-born Sebastian Lang-Lessing has been
the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Artistic
Director since 2004.
With a full-time complement of 47 musicians,
the TSO’s core repertoire is the music of the
Classical and early Romantic periods. It is,
however, a versatile orchestra, equally at home
in jazz, popular music and light classics, and
recognised internationally as a champion of
Australian music.
Recorded 8-11 March 2006 in Federation Concert
Hall, Hobart.
Executive Producers Robert Patterson, Lyle Chan
Recording Producer Brooke Green
Recording Engineer Veronika Vincze
Mastering Virginia Read
Editorial and Production Manager Hilary Shrubb
Publications Editor Natalie Shea
Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd
Cover Image Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841)
The Palace of the Queen of the Night –
set design for an 1816 Berlin production of
The Magic Flute. All photographs of Sara Macliver
by Frances Andrijich.
ABC Classics thanks Alexandra Alewood and
Melissa Kennedy.
2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in
Australia and New Zealand by Universal Music Group, under
exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of
copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion,
public performance or broadcast of this record without the
authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.
For the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Managing Director Nicholas Heyward
Manager, Artistic Planning Simon Rogers
Orchestra Management Mariese Shallard
www.tso.com.au
The TSO presents annual subscription seasons
in Hobart and Launceston, and since its
inception has regularly toured regional Tasmania
and mainland Australia. The orchestra appears at
major Australian arts festivals and in 2005
initiated an annual Sydney Season. International
touring has seen the TSO in North and South
America, Greece, Israel, South Korea, China,
Japan and Indonesia.
The TSO regularly records for radio, CD, film
and television. Its recordings on international
and Australian CD labels have garnered critical
praise, and the TSO is the only Australian
orchestra to have released a complete set of
the Beethoven symphonies, conducted by
David Porcelijn, and a complete cycle of
Schumann symphonies, conducted by
Sebastian Lang-Lessing.
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