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On the Verge of Greatness
Mozart's 'Lucio Silla' at Buxton,
heard by MIKE WHEELER
The description opera seria has often been regarded as the the kiss of death; for all I know it still is in some quarters. But, as the Handel revival of the last fifty years or so has shown us, there's more to the genre than the stereotypes — convoluted plots featuring impossibly magnanimous rulers, the anti-dramatic, stiff formality of all those da capo arias — would have us believe.
Mozart composed Lucio Silla at sixteen, and of course, at that age he can't hope to rival Handel, but what he can do is flex his wings ready to take to the air in Idomeneo eight years down the line...
Copyright © 19 July 2017
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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