Mozart: Betulia liberata Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, Sandrine Piau, Teresa Iervolino

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima:
• 1 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Overtura 04:01
• 2 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "Popoli di Betulia, ah qual v'ingombra" (Ozia) 00:51
• 3 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "D'Ogni colpa la colpa maggiore" (Ozia) 07:10
• 4 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "E in che sperar?" (Cabri, Amital) 01:30
• 5 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "Ma qual virtù non cede" (Cabri) 03:59
• 6 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "Già le memorie antiche" (Ozia, Cabri, Amital) 03:28
• 7 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "Non hai cor, se in mezzo a questi" (Amital) 04:48
• 8 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "E qual pace sperate" (Ozia, Amital, Coro) 02:39
• 9 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "Pietà, se irato sei" (Ozia, Coro) 04:04
• 10 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "Chi è costei, che qual sorgente aurora" (Cabri, Amital, Ozia, Giuditta) 03:02
• 11 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "Del pari infeconda" (Giuditta) 06:45
• 12 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "Oh saggia, oh santa, oh eccelsa donna!" (Ozia, Cabri, Giuditta) 02:16
• 13 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "Pietà, se irato sei" (Ozia, Coro) 04:10
• 14 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "Oh saggia, oh santa, oh eccelsa donna!" (Cabri, Amital, Ozia, Carmi) 02:52
• 15 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria " Terribile d'aspetto" (Achior) 03:24
• 16 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Recitativo "Ti consola, Achior" (Ozia) 02:46
• 17 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: Aria "Parto inerme, e non pavento" (Giuditta) 06:51
• 18 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte prima: "Oh prodigio! Oh stupor!" (Coro) 02:07
• Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda:
• 19 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "Troppo mal corrisponde" (Achior, Ozia) 05:47
• 20 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Aria "Se Dio veder tu vuoi" (Ozia) 11:19
• 21 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "Confuso io son" (Ozia, Achior, Amital) 01:20
• 22 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Aria "Quel nocchier che in gran procella" (Amital) 06:22
• 23 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "Lungamente non dura" (Ozia, Amital, Cabri, Coro) 08:12
• 24 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Aria "Prigionier che fa ritorno" (Giuditta) 09:16
• 25 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "io cedo" (Achior, Giuditta, Ozìa, Popoli, Amici) 01:21
• 26 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Aria "Te solo adoro" ( Achior) 04:06
• 27 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "Dia tua vittoria un glorioso effetto" ( Ozia, Amital) 00:42
• 28 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Aria "Con troppa rea viltà" (Amital) 05:30
• 29 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "Quanta cura hai di noi, Bonta Divina!" (Cabri, Carmi, Ozia) 02:25
• 30 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Aria "Quei moti che senti" (Carmi) 01:57
• 31 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: Recitativo "Seguansi, o Carmi, i fuggitivi" (Ozia, Amital, Cabri, Giuditta) 00:57
• 32 Betulia liberata, K. 118, Parte seconda: "Lodi al gran Dio che oppresse" (Coro) 05:51
• Total Runtime 02:11:48

Info for Mozart: Betulia liberata

Composed in 1771 to a libretto by Metastasio tracing the well-known biblical story of Judith and Holofernes, Betulia liberata was Mozart’s first oratorio.

The Assyrians have led siege on Bethulia and its people is losing hope that the city will be freed. Judith, a beautiful and deeply religious widow, succeeds in penetrating the enemy camp and seduces Holofernes, before killing him during his sleep.

Many painters and musicians, among them Vivaldi, Scarlatti and Jommelli, Veronese, Titian and Caravaggio, found inspiration in the biblical myth of Judith and Holofernes. After exploring the various musical embodiments of this biblical figure in the company of Delphine Galou, Christophe Rousset now sets out to present in extenso to audiences Mozart’s oratorio Betulia liberata.

Many pages in this score composed by a fifteen-year-old youth testify to Mozart’s precocious maturity. The oratorio was probably performed during Mozart’s first Italian journey, to Padua, for Lent in 1772: it is cast in a form compatible with the constraints of a religious calendar that prohibited staged works.

The great Italian poet Metastasio uses the biblical story in which Judith murders Holofernes in order to liberate her people and Bethulia, her besieged city. Judith succeeds in entering the enemy camp, and in seducing, intoxicating with drink and finally beheading the general, Holofernes. The libretto describes the incredulity of the Jews, doubting the possibility of liberation by a member of a gender deemed to be weak. “Con troppo real viltà” the aria in which Amital repents, is one of the work’s great successes.

Sandrine Piau, soprano (Amital)
Amanda Forsythe, soprano (Cabri & Carmi)
Teresa Iervolino, mezzo-soprano (Giuditta)
Nahuel Di Pierro, bass (Achior)
Pablo Bemsch, tenor (Ozìa)
Accentus
Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset, direction

Christophe Rousset
the founder of the Les Talens Lyriques and an internationally renowned harpsichordist, is a musician and an orchestral conductor inspired by a passion for opera and the rediscovery of the European musical heritage.

After harpsichord studies at La Schola Cantorum in Paris with Huguette Dreyfus, followed by the Conservatoire Royal in The Hague with Bob van Asperen (winning, at the age of 22, the prestigious First Prize in the 7th Bruges Harpsichord Competition), and followed in turn by the creation of his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991, Christophe Rousset has a perfect grasp of the richness and diversity of the Baroque, Classical and Preromantic repertoires.

After initially attracting attention for his extraordinary talent as a harpsichordist, he soon made his mark as a conductor, with invitations from around the world to perform with his ensemble (Opéra de Paris, De Nederlandse Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Pleyel, Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro Real, Theater an der Wien, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Aix-en-Provence and Beaune Festivals, to name but a few venues).

Alongside this, he has continued to pursue an active career as harpsichordist and chamber musician, performing and recording on the most beautiful period instruments. His complete performances of the works for harpsichord of F. Couperin, Rameau, d’Anglebert and Forqueray and various recordings of pieces by J. S. Bach (Partitas, Variations Goldberg, Concertos for harpsichord, English Suites, French Suites, Klavierbüchlein) are considered landmarks. His most recent recording of another musical monument by the German Cantor, the 2nd book of the Well-tempered Clavier (Aparté) – a recording made in the Château of Versailles on a Joannes Ruckers harpsichord (1628) – has been awarded a number of honours, including a “Choc” from Classica magazine and CD of the week from Britain’s Radio 3. The instruments of the Paris Museum of Music have also been entrusted to him for the recording of three CDs of music by Royer, Rameau and Froberger.

Teaching is also an aspect with major importance for Christophe Rousset, who conducts and organises master classes and academies for young people (Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, CNSMDs Paris, Académie d’Ambronay, Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroques, Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Britten-Pears Orchestra) and he devotes himself with great energy, alongside the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques, to introducing young secondary school pupils in Paris and the surrounding region to the world of music.

Christophe also has a career as guest conductor (Liceu Barcelona, San Carlo Naples, La Scala Milan, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Orquesta Nacional de España and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, among other orchestras) as well as the active pursuit of musical research, with the production of critical editions and the publication by Actes Sud of a study on Rameau in 2007.

Christophe Rousset has been awarded the French honours of Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite.

Booklet for Mozart: Betulia liberata