Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The music includes two major chamber works: the powerful - and most un-serenade-like - Serenade in C minor, K388, and the String Quartet in E flat, K428 - one of Mozart's six so-called 'Haydn' quartets, written in tribute to the older composer.

Sei du mein Trost', K340b

Barbara Bonney (soprano)

Geoffrey Parsons (piano)

Teldec 2292-46334-2, Tr 7

Serenade in C minor, K388 (1 Allegro; 2 Andante; 3 Menuetto in canone - Trio: in canone al rovescio; 4 Allegro)

London Winds

Michael Collins (conductor)

Onyx 4012, Trs 8-11

String Quartet in E flat, K428 (1 Allegro ma non troppo; 2 Andante con moto; 3 Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio; 4 Allegro vivace)

Alban Berg Quartet

Teldec 4509-95495-2 CD 2, Trs 5-8.

Donald Macleod looks at Mozart's arrival in Vienna, as he began establishing himself.

Der Zauberer, K472

Edith Mathis (soprano)

Karl Engel (piano)

Novalis 150 010-2, Tr 8

Se vuoi, puniscimi; Fra l'oscure ombre funeste; Tutte le mie speranze; Chi in Dio sol spera (Davidde penitente, K469)

Krisztina Laki, Nicole Fallien (soprano)

Hans-Peter Blochwitz (tenor)

Nederlands Kamerkoor

La Petite Bande

Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor)

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi GD77045, Trs 7-10

Piano Concerto in D minor, K466 (1 Allegro - Cadenza by Beethoven; 2 Romance; 3 Allegro assai - Cadenza by Richard Goode)

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Richard Goode (piano/director)

Nonesuch 7559-79439-2, Trs 4-6

Cadenza by Richard Goode.

Donald Macleod looks at the visit of Mozart's father to his apartment in Vienna.

The programme also looks at the end of the Viennese public's love affair with Mozart's music, as the fun-loving Viennese struggled to keep pace with the intensity of works like the String Quintet in G minor, K516.

5 Contredanses, K609 (No 1 in C; No 3 in D)

Wiener Mozart Ensemble

Willi Boskovsky (conductor)

Philips 464 780-2, CD 13, Trs 30 and 32

Horn Concerto in E flat, K495 (1 Allegro maestoso; 2 Romance: Andante cantabile ; 3 Rondo: Allegro vivace)

Bournemouth Sinfonietta

Michael Thompson (horn/director)

Naxos 8.553592, Trs 7-9

String Quintet in G minor, K516 (1 Allegro; 2 Menuetto - Allegretto; 3 Adagio ma non troppo; 4 Adagio - Allegro)

Grumiaux Trio:

Arthur Grumiaux, Arpad Gerecz (violin)

Georges Janzer, Max Lesueur (viola)

Eva Czako (cello)

Philips 470 950-2, CD 2, Trs 5-8.

Donald Macleod explores the end of the Viennese public's love affair with Mozart's music.

It was in this troubled frame of mind that Mozart composed two of his best-known works -the Piano Sonata, K545, and the Jupiter Symphony, which, although sharing the key of C major, are two very distinct pieces.

Gigue in G, K574

Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano)

BIS CD 1633/36, Tr 6

Sonata in C, K545 (1 Allegro; 2 Andante; 3 Rondo)

BIS CD-837D, Trs 4-6

Symphony No 41 in C, K551 (1 Allegro vivace; 2 Andante cantabile ; 3 Menuetto (Allegretto); 4 Molto allegro)

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Philips 426 315-2, Trs 5-8.

Donald Macleod explores how, despite serious money trouble, Mozart wrote two great works.

He also focuses on the commissioning of the Requiem Mass, which, as many believe, came about when Mozart received a call from a stranger, who made him an offer he could not afford to refuse. The composer almost certainly had the whole work mapped out in his head, but died before he was able to get it all down on paper.

Four German Dances, K602 (No 3 in C)

Wiener Mozart Ensemble

Willi Boskovsky (conductor)

Philips 464 780-2, CD 13, Tr 19

Requiem in D minor, K626 (1 Dies irae (chor); 2 Tuba mirum (sop, alt, ten, bas); 3 Rex tremendae (chor); 4 Recordare (sop, alt, ten, bas); 5 Confutatis (chor); 6 Lacrimosa (chor)

Christine Schafer (soprano)

Bernarda Fink (alto)

Kurt Streit (tenor)

Gerald Finley (bass)

Arnold Schoenberg Chor

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 82876 58705 2, Trs 3-8

Bald prangt, den Morgen zu verkunden; Der, welcher wandert diese Strasse voll Beschwerden; Tamino halt! ich muss dich sehn! Wir wandelten durch Feuersgluten; Papagena! Papagena!; Pa-Pa-Pa-; Nur stille! stille!; Die Strahlen der Sonne vertreiben die Nacht (The Magic Flute, K620)

Three Boys - Damien Colin, Patrick Olivier Croset, Stephane Dutournier

Pamina - Rosa Mannion

Two armed men - Christopher Josey, Laurent Naouri

Tamino - Hans Peter Blochwitz

Papageno - Anton Scharinger

Papagena - Linda Kitchen

Monostatos - Steven Cole

Three ladies - Anna-Maria Panzarella, Doris Lamprecht, Delphine Haidan

Reinhard Hagen (Sarastro)

Les Arts Florissant

William Christie (conductor)

Erato 0630-12705-2, CD 2, Trs 17-24.

Donald Macleod explores Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the unfinished Requiem.

Today's programme charts the extraordinary course of the three-and-a-half-year journey around Western Europe that has come to be known as the Mozart Family Grand Tour, on which the 7-year-old Mozart embarked with his father Leopold, mother Anna Maria and sister Nannerl in June 1763.

Donald charts what has come to be known as the Mozart Family Grand Tour.

Donald Macleod eavesdrops on Mozart as he returns to his native Salzburg.

Donald explores Mozart's late-flowering success in Prague.

This week, Donald Macleod dips into five key years of Mozart's life, and presents five of his chamber works for solo wind and strings. These works span Mozart's entire career, ranging from his four exquisite flute quartets to the late clarinet quintet - arguably one of the greatest chamber works ever composed.

We begin in 1777, the year Mozart came of age. After a dazzling career as a child prodigy, his mature genius was beginning to flower in works such as the Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat ('Jeunehomme') and the dramatic concert aria 'Ah, lo previdi'. Increasingly frustrated by the limits of his position in Salzburg, the ambitious young composer set off for Mannheim - with mixed results.

This week, Donald Macleod dips into five key years of Mozart's life, and presents five of his chamber works for solo wind and strings. These works span Mozart's entire career, ranging from his four exquisite flute quartets to the late clarinet quintet - arguably one of the greatest chamber works ever composed.

1781 was the year Mozart finally escaped the petty frustrations of working for his patron, Archbishop Colloredo. He travelled first to Munich and then to Vienna. His opera Idomeneo was Mozart's major success on stage that year, and he also found time to compose several beguiling chamber works, including the second of this week's featured works for wind and strings: his Oboe Quartet in F.

Donald Macleod concentrates on the year Mozart arrived in Vienna, 1781.

This week, Donald Macleod dips into five key years of Mozart's life, and presents five of his chamber works for solo wind and strings. These works span Mozart's entire career, ranging from his four exquisite flute quartets to the late clarinet quintet - arguably one of the greatest chamber works ever composed.

1782 was a pivotal year for Mozart, as he wed Constanze Weber in a ceremony that attracted ill-feeling and familial strife from all sides. Meanwhile, this year saw him compose two utterly contrasting, yet enchanting, chamber works: the delightful variations on 'Ah Vous Dirai-Je Maman' (better known as Mozart's variations on 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'), and the notoriously lewd canon for six voices, K.231. Completing the events of this turbulent year, Donald Macleod introduces a complete performance of Mozart's Horn Quintet in E Flat - written for the virtuoso Joseph Leutgeb.

Donald Macleod on the events of 1782, when Mozart married and composed his most bawdy song

This week, Donald Macleod dips into five key years of Mozart's life, and presents five of his chamber works for solo wind and strings. These works span Mozart's entire career, ranging from his four exquisite flute quartets to the late clarinet quintet - arguably one of the greatest chamber works ever composed.

1787 saw Mozart visit Prague for the first time, where he was received with both a rapturous welcome and a new operatic commission - Don Giovanni. Yet amongst the year's tremendous success, he suffered the loss of the most influential figure in his life, his father Leopold. Donald Macleod introduces two perennial favourites, 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' and the 'Catalogue' Aria from Don Giovanni, as well as Mozart's exquisite Flute Quartet no.4.

This week, Donald Macleod dips into five key years of Mozart's life, and presents five of his chamber works for solo wind and strings. These works span Mozart's entire career, ranging from his four exquisite flute quartets to the late clarinet quintet - arguably one of the greatest chamber works ever composed.

Donald Macleod ends his survey of Mozart's works for solo wind and strings with one of his last, the Clarinet Quintet in A. The year it was composed, 1789, saw Mozart spiral increasingly into debt, even as his marriage to Constanze found itself under the strain of jealousy and infidelity.

Mozart's life in 1789, a year of financial turmoil. With a late chamber masterpiece.

He took the 'land of the clavier', Vienna, by storm, becoming something of a pioneer in composing piano concertos, this week Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. From his early beginnings in Salzburg as a child prodigy, being paraded by his father around Europe performing for kings and queens, and up until his early death in Vienna, Mozart was a prodigious composer in many genres including chamber music and opera. It was his talent as a pianist that really had audiences speechless in Vienna. He organised subscription concerts in the Auergarten, arriving on stage in a succession of fancy coats, and then proceeded to amaze his listeners with his latest piano concertos. This week Donald Macleod focuses each day on one of Mozart's piano concertos, and the period in which it was composed.

Nannerl said of her brother Wolfgang, that he had to be restricted from composing or practicing the keyboard at all hours. The child Mozart was a prodigy, and was keen to show off his talents. His father Leopold took Nannerl and Wolfgang on a number of trips around Europe, where they performed for the nobility and royalty. Mozart's main instrument was the harpsichord, but he also took to the violin. One of his first works to appear in print was his sonata for keyboard with violin accompaniment in C major K6.

Leopold described his son as a miracle which God caused to be born in Salzburg. However Leopold realised that Salzburg was too small a place to restrict the talents of his prodigy son, so he made sure Mozart's abilities were recognised far and wide. It was whilst on tour in London that Mozart composed his early Symphony No 4 in D major.

Donald Macleod explores Mozart's early life and is joined by pianist Martin James Bartlett

Relations between the Archbishop of Salzburg and one of his employees, young Mozart, were not going well. The Archbishop found Mozart insubordinate and rebellious, and forbade him to compose any further symphonies. Instead Wolfgang was expected to regularly churn out suitable entertainment music for his employer including serenades, marches, and divertimenti, including his Divertimento in F major No 10 K247.

Mozart however pushed against the boundaries where he could, including writing a series of violin concertos. He also had the opportunity to compose much liturgical music including his Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento K243. It was however for a visiting French pianist that Mozart composed the first of his great piano concertos, No 9 in E flat major K271. He wrote this work in the month that he turned twenty-one, and there was a sense of dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra, which was quite new for listeners at that time.

Donald Macleod focuses on the period in which Mozart composed his Piano Concerto No 9.

In the early 1780s, Mozart was making his way as a freelance musician in Vienna. He'd finally left the employment of Archbishop Colloredo in Salzburg, and was now dazzling Viennese audiences with his music, such as his the Rondo in D major K382 for piano and orchestra. His latest opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail also had quite an impact in Vienna, even though Emeperor Joseph II was supposed to have said that the music was too beautiful, and 'a monstrous many notes'.

On top of Mozart's growing popularity, there was another reason for his interest for remaining in Vienna. Wolfgang had previously fallen in love with Aloysia Weber, but she was now married. His affections turned to her younger sister Constanze, whom he then married. During this same period, Mozart's career as a virtuoso performer in Vienna was in the ascent. In partnership with a musician called Martin, he organised and gave a number of subscription performances. At these concerts which often included in the audience the Emperor, Mozart wowed his public with his artistry, performing his latest works including the Concerto No 13 in C major K415 for piano and orchestra.

Donald Macleod focuses on Mozart's time as a freelance musician in Vienna.

In 1786, Mozart organised a number of subscription concerts at the Burgtheatre in Vienna. At these events he performed his latest music, including the Concerto No 23 in A major K488 for piano and orchestra. His popularity as a concert pianist had by now peaked, and Mozart was frustrated that he'd still not been able to secure a position at court.

Mozart now cancelled any further subscription concerts, and considered moving to France or England where he thought the prospects were better. The Emperor Joseph II upon hearing the rumours that Mozart was planning to leave, promptly offered him the post of chamber musician. Set against this good fortune, was the tragic news that Mozart's father Leopold had died. Around this time of grief Mozart composed relatively little, but he did complete his opera Don Giovanni K527.

Donald Macleod considers why, disheartened in Vienna, Mozart considered moving to London.

The year 1790 began well with the premiere of Mozart's opera Cosi fan tute. It was a success in Vienna which earned him a fee of two hundred ducats. Unfortunately his finances were not in a good state, and one friend found Mozart and Constanze dancing around their apartment simply to keep warm. Through an act of generosity came a commission, for which Mozart composed his String Quintet in E flat major K614.

1791 would prove to be Mozart's last. It was then that he completed his final piano concerto, No 27 in B flat major K595, although the paper he used to write this work, suggests that this concerto dates from an earlier period. Money remained tight for Mozart, and so he accepted a mysterious commission for a Requiem. In the last hours before his death, Mozart dictated this work to his pupil Süssmayer, and puffed out his cheeks imitating the sound of the timpani passages.

Donald Macleod on Mozart's final years and the completion of his final piano concerto.

There is no place where Mozart's name is more feted than in his home city of Salzburg. Mozart's own feelings about the city of his birth were ambivalent at best. He was often unhappy there; frustrated by the limitations of musical life in Salzburg and increasingly at loggerheads with his overbearing employer, the high-handed Archbishop Colloredo. 'How I detest Salzburg', he wrote, and sought to escape the place on many occasions. Nevertheless this was the place where he spent his formative years, where he composed many great works, and where he developed into the composer we now celebrate as one of the greatest of any age. All this week Donald Macleod explores the story of Mozart's relationship with the place where his genius was forged.

Mozart's childhood was spent as much away from Salzburg as at home. Colloredo's predecessor, old Archbishop Schrattenbach, tolerated, even encouraged the young prodigy's trips abroad with his father to visit royal courts across Europe. He must have suspected, though, that the Mozart family was even then planning their escape from provincial Salzburg.

Don Giovanni: Overture

La Cetra Barockorchester Basel

Andrea Marcon, conductor

Coronation Mass K317 (Kyrie, Gloria & Credo)

Susan Gritton, soprano

Frances Bourne, mezzo-soprano

Sam Furness, tenor

George Humphreys, baritone

Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge

St. John's Sinfonia

John Challenger, organ

Andrew Nethsingha, conductor

Church Sonata K.67

Margaret Faultless, violin

Simon Jones, violin

Andrew Skidmore, cello

Kate Aldridge, double-bass

Symphony No.8 in D major

English Chamber Orchestra

Jeffrey Tate, conductor

Regina coeli K108

Lynda Russell, soprano

St Paul's Cathedral Choir

St. Paul's Mozart Orchestra

Andrew Carwood, conductor.

Donald Macleod explores Mozart's childhood, spent as much away from Salzburg as at home.

Archbishop Colloredo took over as ruler of Salzburg in 1772, and immediately moved to curb Mozart's regular jaunts around Europe. He was determined that the child genius should contribute more fully to musical life at home and put Mozart to work writing for the church. If it rankled, taking what was in effect a servants job, after all the adulation he'd enjoyed abroad, Mozart didn't show it...yet.

Il Sogno di Scipione (Aria 'Se vuoi che te reccolgano')

Claes H. Ahnsj怀, tenor (Publio)

Salzburger Kammerchor

Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg

Leopold Hager, director & continuo

Exsultate, jubilate, K165

Emma Kirkby, soprano

The Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood, director

Serenade in D major, K203 (last 2 movts)

Tapiola Sinfonietta

Jean-Jacques Kantorow

Piano Concerto No 1 in F major, K37

Arthur Schoonderwoerd, harpsichord

Cristofori

Emilio Moreno, concertmaster.

Donald Macleod on Mozart's service for the church in Salzburg under Archbishop Colloredo.

Mozart spent the entirety of 1774 kicking his heels in Salzburg; the longest continuous period he'd spent at home since he was six. A brief diversion presented itself when he was asked to produce an opera for Munich but, ultimately, he found his theatrical ambitions once again thwarted. Mozart's frustrations with his position in Salzburg were becoming obvious.

Bassoon Concerto, K191 (1st movt)

Eckart Hübner, bassoon

Kurpf䀀lzisches Kammerorchester

L'amer , sar  costanta' (Il re pastore, Act 2, Scene 2)

Reri Grist, soprano (Aminta)

The Orchestra of Naples

Denis Vaughan, conductor

Epistle Sonata in C, K328

Catherine Mackintosh, violin

Miranda Fulleylove, violin

Jennifer Ward Clark, cello

Andrew Lumsden, organ

Missa Brevis in C, K220 (Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei)

Ruth Holton, soprano

Charles Brett, countertenor

Andrew Tusa, tenor

Henry Wickham, bass

The Quiristers of Winchester College and Choral Scholars

The Amadi Orchestra

Julian Smith, conductor

Violin Concerto No.4 in D, K218

Simon Standage, violin

The Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood, conductor.

Mozart's frustrations with his position in Salzburg become increasingly obvious.

After yet another ill-judged request for an absence of leave, Colloredo finally lost his patience with Mozart. He rudely dismissed the composer from his Salzburg court. Mozart set out for Paris to seek his fortune but disappointment and tragedy would follow. He was forced to return, chastened and bereft.

Concerto for Flute and Harp, K299 (3rd movt)

Patrick Gallois, flute

Fabrice Pierre, harp

Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Vespers, K339 (Beatus Vir, Laudate Pueri, Laudate Dominum, Magnificat)

Elin Manahan Thomas, soprano

Ruth Massey, mezzo soprano

Mark Dobell, tenor

Roderick Williams, baritone

The Sixteen

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Harry Christophers, conductor

Sinfonia Concertante, K363 (II. Andante)

Isaac Stern, violin

Pinchas Zukerman viola

English Chamber Orchestra

Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Idomeneo: Act II, Scene 6

Werner Hollweg, tenor (Idomeneo)

Trudeliese Schmidt, mezzo soprano (Idamante)

Felicity Palmer, mezzo soprano (Elettra)

Mozartorchester & Chor des Opernhauses, Zurich

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor.

Mozart is dismissed from the Salzburg court and sets out for Paris.

In 1781, Mozart finally broke free from Salzburg after an acrimonious parting with his employer, Archbishop Colloredo. Vienna would be his new home and the place where Mozart would finally blossom into the great opera composer he had always wanted to be. He visited his home just once more, taking with him one of his very greatest sacred works.

Serenade for 13 winds, K361 'Gran partita' (3. Adagio)

Members of the Orchestra of St. Luke's

Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

Symphony No 32 in G major

London Mozart Players

Jane Glover, conductor

Die Entführung aus dem Serail: 'Welcher Kummer herrscht in meiner Seele....Traurigkeit ward mir zum Lose

Lucia Popp, soprano (Constanze)

Munich Radio Orchestra

Leonard Slatkin, conductor

Mass in C minor, Gloria (Qui Tollis to end of Gloria)

Sylvia McNair, soprano

Diana Montague, mezzo soprano

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Cornelius Hauptmann, bass

The Monteverdi Choir

English Baroque Soloists

Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

String Quartet No 16 in E flat, K428/421b (2. Andante con moto)

Emerson String Quartet.

Mozart finally breaks free to start a new life in Vienna.

When Mozart found himself forcefully ejected from his position at the Salzburg court of Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo, it was just what he wanted; he had become bored with the cosily comfortable but suffocating confines of life in livery and was itching to try his luck as a freelance composer and performer in the musical capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna. His first priority was making a living, and the fastest route to doing that was to take private pupils. One such was Josepha Auernhammer, a musically gifted but - at least in Mozart's eyes - personally unprepossessing young woman who quickly developed a crush on him. Her feelings were not returned, but Mozart did toss off a dashingly galant masterpiece to perform with her: his Sonata in D for two pianos, K 448. Much more serious in tone was his contribution to what was traditionally considered a somewhat light-weight genre; the Serenade in C minor for pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons is more of a symphony for wind instruments than the usual brand of superior aristocratic background music. The month after he wrote that serenade, his persistent serenading of a young soprano, Constanze Weber, finally paid off when she became Constanze Mozart. As Mozart had explained in a letter to his father Leopold - who was not at all happy with the match - his disposition was 'inclined to a peaceful and domesticated existence', and evidently Constanze was the key. She had, Mozart said, 'no wit', but she made up for it with 'enough common sense to enable her to fulfil her duties as a wife and mother'. Praise indeed!

Rondo in A for string quartet, K 464a

Emerson Quartet

Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, (pianos)

Serenade in C minor for 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons ('Nacht Musik'), K 388

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

A sonata for a love-struck pupil, some serious serenading and Mozart gets married.

Mozart's attendance at the regular Sunday afternoon gatherings of the diplomat Baron Gottfried van Swieten was more than just a matter of social networking; it was here that he encountered for the first time large-scale works by Bach and Handel that had fallen into widespread neglect since the composers' deaths. The effect on Mozart's writing is palpable, but it's an influence that he absorbed fully into his own musical language - a language so distinctive that it's surprising anyone could have been taken in by his attempt to pass off his magnificent Duo in B flat for violin and viola as a work by his old Salzburg court colleague Michael Haydn - a gifted composer, but hardly in Mozart's league. Haydn had run into a spot of bother with his employer, Archbishop Colloredo, who had commissioned him to write a set of six duos; but because of illness he'd only managed to complete four. Mozart obliged by dashing off the missing pair and allowing Haydn to claim them as his own. As Donald observes, 'the richness of texture and ideas that Mozart manages to conjure from just half a string quartet is truly remarkable.' Difficulties of a different sort were posed by the ensemble he wrote for in his Quintet in E flat, K 452. It's written for the unusual combination of piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn, which created problems of tonal blend for which Mozart found ingenious solutions. He was clearly delighted with the result, describing it in a letter as 'the best thing I have ever written in my life'.

Fugue in C minor for 2 pianos, K 426

Andrကs Schiff, Peter Serkin (pianos)

Duo in B flat for violin and viola, K 424

Antje Weithaas (violin)

Tabea Zimmermann (viola)

Quintet in E flat for piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn, K 452

Andrကs Schiff (piano)

Heinz Holliger (oboe)

Elmar Schmid (clarinet)

Klaus Thunemann (bassoon)

Radovan Vlatkovic (horn).

In December 1784, Joseph Haydn, the man considered by many to be the leading composer of the age, escaped the gilded cage of Eszterhကza - a mini Versailles set deep in Hungarian marshland, where he was director of music for the opera-mad Prince Nikolaus Eszterhကzy - to spend the Christmas season amidst the bright lights of Vienna. The following February he was guest of honour at a soir退e at his good friend Mozart's swanky new apartments near St Stephen's Cathedral - not any old soir退e, but the occasion on which Mozart unveiled three of the six brand new string quartets that would in due course come to be regarded as cornerstones of the Classical repertoire. They quickly became known as his 'Haydn Quartets', in view of the warm and respectful dedication to the older composer that Mozart included in the published edition. We know the dedicatee was impressed, because Mozart's father Leopold, who was visiting Vienna at the time, was also present at the performance, and proudly recorded Haydn's words to him in a letter to his daughter Nannerl: 'I say to you before God and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me in person and by reputation: he has wit and taste and what is more, he has the most thorough knowledge of composition.' Included on the programme that evening was Mozart's Quartet in C - the one that's acquired the nickname 'Dissonance', due to the extraordinarily forward-looking harmonies of its slow introduction.

12 Variations in G for piano and violin on 'La Berg耀re C退lim耀ne', K359

Ingrid Haebler (piano)

Henryk Szeryng (violin)

String Quartet in C, K 465 ('Dissonance')

Quatuor Mosaques.

Featuring one of the string quartets that caused Haydn to declare Mozart 'the greatest'.

In 1791, a blind musician called Maria Anna Antonia Kirchgessner came to Vienna on the latest leg of a long-running tour of Europe. She was then one of the leading virtuosi on her instrument - the glass harmonica. She must have commissioned Mozart to write a piece for her, because he took time out from work on The Magic Flute to produce an ethereal Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello - thereby making a valuable addition to the repertoire of music for the family of 'autophone rubbed instruments'. The claims of insanity may not have been entirely without foundation: the glass used contained 40% lead, so lead poisoning must have been a real danger. Another now-defunct instrument prompted Mozart to compose a work that has secured itself a much firmer footing in the repertoire: his Clarinet Quintet in A, K 581 - or, as it should perhaps be known, Basset Clarinet Quintet in A. The basset clarinet was devised by Mozart's friend and fellow-mason the clarinettist Anton Stadler in collaboration with an instrument-maker called Theodor Lotz. Essentially a regular clarinet with a downwards extension of range, it survived - just - into the 19th century before going into a long spell of retirement, until its revival in the 1950s for a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which was also written for the instrument's basset variety.

Larghetto in B flat for piano and wind quintet, K 452a

Mitsuko Uchida (piano)

Neil Black (oboe)

Thea King (clarinet)

Julian Farrell (basset horn)

Robin O'Neill (bassoon)

Adagio and Rondo in C for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello, K 617

Bruno Hoffmann, glass harmonica

Aur耀le Nicolet (flute)

Heinz Holliger (oboe)

Karl Schouten (viola)

Jean Decroos (cello)

Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

Thea King (basset clarinet)

Gabrieli String Quartet.

A late masterpiece and music for an instrument said to drive its performers insane.

All this week, Donald Macleod explores the relationship between the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Mozart was honoured to obtain a job at the court of Joseph II. His salary however was still not enough to cover Mozart's outgoings. The Emperor's reputation for tightness with money, his interest in cultural reform, and even his re-organisation of the way people were buried, would all greatly impact upon Mozart's life and his music.

In 1762 when Mozart was only six years old, he performed for the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. Her son Archduke Joseph was also present. Mozart's next imperial visit was in 1767, but his reception then was less promising. Joseph however suggested that Mozart might like to compose and conduct an opera. Mozart worked hard to court the favour of the future Emperor, but he also realised that Joseph's tastes in music were severely lacking.

Minuet in G K1

Dejan Lazic, piano

Symphony No7 in D K45

English Chamber Orchestra

Jeffrey Tate, conductor

Missa Solemnis in C minor K139 (Credo)

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

RIAS Kammerkor

Marcus Creed, conductor

Sonata for two pianos in D K448

Martha Argerich, piano

Daniel Barenboim, piano

Producer Michael Surcombe.

Donald Macleod explores Mozart's early encounters with Joseph II.

All this week, Donald Macleod explores the relationship between the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Mozart was honoured to obtain a job at the court of Joseph II. His salary however was still not enough to cover Mozart's outgoings. The Emperor's reputation for tightness with money, his interest in cultural reform, and even his re-organisation of the way people were buried, would all greatly impact upon Mozart's life and his music.

Today we follow Mozart to Vienna, having left the employment of Salzburg's Archbishop Colloredo. He was seeking to secure a court position, although these posts were occupied for life and so very hard to come by. Joseph's musical tastes didn't seem to stretch to 'opera seria' but he did enjoy the sound of wind instruments. Mozart composed a Serenade K375, adding a pair of oboes to accommodate Joseph's own court ensemble. The Emperor was also very interested in many of the precepts of the Enlightenment, and Mozart's next opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, is a kind of Enlightenment essay celebrating virtue as a source of happiness. For many Viennese spectators, Joseph himself was at the heart of the opera's story.

Fugue K153

Sang Woo Kang, piano

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Violin Sonata K 379 (Finale)

Rachel Podger violin

Gary Cooper, fortepiano

Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail K38 (Act 1)

Thomas Quasthoff, bass (Selim)

Diana Damrau (Konstanze)

Rolando Villazon, tenor (Belmonte)

Paul Schweinester (Pedrillo)

Franz-Josef Selig (Osmin)

Vocalensemble Rastatt

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor

Producer Michael Surcombe.

Donald Macleod on how Mozart sought the favour of the imperial court.

In Composer of the Week, Donald Macleod explores the relationship between the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Mozart was one of the greatest composers in the Western Classical tradition. He was a child prodigy and a highly prolific composer whose music would influence generations to come. Yet despite these accolades, Mozart's life was not one of untold wealth and splendour. He was often financially strapped, and frequently looked to his friends for help. Upon the death of the composer Gluck, Mozart at last obtained a job at the court of Joseph II. His salary however was still not enough to cover Mozart's outgoings. The Emperor's reputation for tightness with money, his in interest in cultural reform, and even his re-organisation of the way people were buried, would all greatly impact upon Mozart and his music.

Mozart became a Mason, motivated by his conviction that the improvement of the human race would arise through self-perfection. His song Ihre unsre neuen Leiter was composed to open and close the inaugural session of a Masonic Lodge in 1786. It was also through Masonic connections that Mozart made contact with the clarinettist Anton Stadler, with whom he would go on to collaborate. Emperor Joseph II had a more guarded approach to Freemasonry. He sought to curb the Lodges' powers, to prevent as he saw it, the spread of the contagion of atheism and radicalism.

It was around this time that the Emperor commissioned a new opera from Mozart. The outcome was The Marriage of Figaro, and Joseph was greatly impressed deeming the opera to be divine. Then in 1787 the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck died, leaving a vacancy at court. Mozart was appointed Royal and Imperial Court Chamber Composer, although at a far reduced salary in comparison to what Gluck had received. Mozart had long sought a salaried position at court, and at last he had achieved this.

Ihre unsre neuen Leiter K484 (Masonic Song)

John Heuzenroeder, tenor

Willi Kronenberg, organ

Michael Alexander Willens, conductor

Cologne Academy male voices

La Nozze di Figaro K492 (Act 3, Sc 11-14)

Lorenzo Regazzo, bass (Figaro)

Patrizia Ciofi, soprano (Susanna)

Simon Keenlyside, baritone (Il Conte)

Veronique Gens, soprano (La Contessa)

Collegium Vocale Gent

Concerto Koln

Rene Jacobs, director

String Quartet in B flat K458 (Adagio)

Hagen Quartet

Adagio in B flat for 2 basset horns K411

Netherlands Wind Ensemble

A Musical Joke K522

Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble

Producer Michael Surcombe.

Donald Macleod surveys Mozart's ascending status with the Holy Roman Emperor.

In Composer of the Week, Donald Macleod explores the relationship between the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Mozart was one of the greatest composers in the Western Classical tradition. He was a child prodigy and a highly prolific composer whose music would influence generations to come. Yet despite these accolades, Mozart's life was not one of untold wealth and splendour. He was often financially strapped, and frequently looked to his friends for help. Upon the death of the composer Gluck, Mozart at last obtained a job at the court of Joseph II. His salary however was still not enough to cover Mozart's outgoings. The Emperor's reputation for tightness with money, his in interest in cultural reform, and even his re-organisation of the way people were buried, would all greatly impact upon Mozart and his music.

A salaried position with the Imperial Court has at last been offered to Mozart. He became Composer of Chamber Music to the Emperor Joseph II, and part of his duties included composing music for the palace balls. Around this time the Emperor Joseph, in support of his Russian allies, had gone to war with the Ottoman Empire. This focus on foreign affairs proved exceptionally expensive, and there were rumours that Joseph II was going to disband the Italian opera company. With this in mind, Mozart turned his attention to writing more chamber music. Joseph did continue to take an interest in opera, and was concerned that Mozart's new work Don Giovanni would be much too difficult for the singers. After hearing the opera, the Emperor remarked that is was not the kind of thing suitable for his Viennese.

Handel arr. Mozart

Acis and Galatea (Overture)

Handel and Haydn Society

Christopher Hogwood, director

German Dances K567

Tafelmusik

Bruno Weil, director

Piano Trio in G K564

Rautio Trio

Don Giovanni K527 (Act 2, Sc 13-16)

Johannes Weisser, baritone (Don Giovanni)

Lorenzo Regazzo, bass-baritone (Leporello)

Alexandrina Pendatchanska, soprano (Donna Elvira)

Olga Pasichnyk, soprano (Donna Anna)

Sunhae Im, soprano (Zerlina)

Nikolay Borchev, bass (Masetto)

Alessandro Gueronzi, bass (Il Commendatore)

Kenneth Tarver, tenor (Don Ottavio)

RIAS Kammerchor

Freiburg Baroque

Rene Jacobs, conductor

Fantasy in D minor K397

John di Martino's Romantic Jazz Trio

Producer Michael Surcombe.

Donald Macleod follows Mozart composing to meet public demand.

In Composer of the Week, Donald Macleod explores the relationship between the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Mozart was one of the greatest composers in the Western Classical tradition. He was a child prodigy and a highly prolific composer whose music would influence generations to come. Yet despite these accolades, Mozart's life was not one of untold wealth and splendour. He was often financially strapped, and frequently looked to his friends for help. Upon the death of the composer Gluck, Mozart at last obtained a job at the court of Joseph II. His salary however was still not enough to cover Mozart's outgoings. The Emperor's reputation for tightness with money, his in interest in cultural reform, and even his re-organisation of the way people were buried, would all greatly impact upon Mozart and his music.

During Mozart's final years, the worry over finances was never far from his mind. His wife Constanze had fragile health, and required expensive medical treatment. By this time Emperor Joseph II was not in good health either. He was aware of Mozart's financial situation, and behind the commission of the opera Cosi fan tutte, we can glimpse the discreet hand of Joseph coming to Mozart's aid. During the Emperor's reign he sought to change many things culturally and socially. In the interests of economy and hygiene, the burial system throughout the empire had been updated. Although Joseph II had died before Mozart, the impact of Joseph's reforms were still felt after his death. Mozart's own burial was symbolic of Joseph's restructurings. The composer was buried, sewn into a linen cloth and laid in a simple grave with other bodies. Headstones had been banned, so there is no marker for the grave.

Ave Verum Corpus K618

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, director

Cosi fan tutte K588 (Act 1, Sc 14-16)

Simone Kermes, soprano (Fiordiligi)

Malena Ernman, soprano (Dorabella)

Kenneth Tarver, tenor (Ferrando)

Christopher Maltman, bass (Gugliemo)

Konstantin Wolff, bass (Don Alfonso)

Anna Kasyan, soprano (Despina)

Musicaeterna

Teodor Currentzis, conductor

Fantasia in F minor K608

Thomas Trotter, organ

Thamos, King of Egypt K345

Cologne Academy Orchestra

Michael Alexander Willens, conductor

Producer Michael Surcombe.

Donald Macleod surveys Mozart's final years, including his financial troubles.

The characters Mozart creates in his operas are some of the most acutely observed heroes, heroines and villains ever to grace the stage. They reflect both the strengths and the weaknesses of humanity in ways that are still easily recognisable more than two hundred years later.

Born in 1756, the theatre was a life-long passion for Mozart. Starting at the tender age of just 11, in the space of 22 years he produced an astonishing 24 theatrical works. His destiny was to follow in his father's footsteps, as a court musician. Instead, by 1781, after a disagreement over his frequent absences from court, Mozart parted ways with his employer, the Elector of Cologne. He left Salzburg and servitude behind, to set himself up in Vienna, a thriving centre for music. The following year he triumphed with his comic singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The succession of works that followed include many of the mainstays of operatic repertory, among them The Magic Flute, which was completed in the year of his death, at the age of 35 in 1791.

This week Donald Macleod finds connecting points between the characters Mozart created for the stage and the composer's own experiences in life. He examines how Mozart struggled to be a dutiful son, and how he tackles honour and duty in Idomeneo, Lucio Silla and Mitridate. The ideas of enlightenment that influenced Mozart's own views find expression in the balance of power he depicts between servants and the ruling classes in The Marriage of Figaro. The composer's thorny path to marriage with Constanze also finds him examining the complexities of love in Die Enführung aus dem Serail and Cos쀀 fan tutte. The series ends with Mozart's masterly representation of temptation and evil, as characterised by the ultimate bad boy Don Giovanni and the scheming and manipulative Queen of the Night.

Today, Figaro and Susanna are busy planning their forthcoming nuptials, but their boss, the Count, has some ignoble ideas of his own. Despina teams up with Don Alfonso in a ruse to trick sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and Don Giovanni's servant Leporello is fed up with his lot in life. He always gets the boring jobs to do.

Overture to Le nozze di Figaro

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Georg Solti, conductor

Le nozze di Figaro (Act 1)

Cinque, dieci - Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino

Lucia Popp, soprano, Susanna,

Samuel Ramey, baritone, Figaro

La finta giardiniera (Act 1)

Appena mi vedon

Dawn Upshaw, soprano, Serpetta

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director

Cos쀀 fan tutte ( Act 1, Sc 3 excerpt)

In uomini, in soldati - .alla bella Despinetta

Hanny Steffek, soprano, Despina

Walter Berry, bass, Don Alfonso

Alfredo Kraus, tenor, Ferrando

Giuseppe Taddei, baritone, Guglielmo

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano, Fiordiligi

Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano, Dorabella

Philharmonia Orchestra

Karl B怀hm, conductor

Don Giovanni (Act 1)

Notte e giorno faticar

Luca Pisaroni, baritone, Leporello

Diana Damrau, soprano, Donna Anna

Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, bass, Don Giovanni

Vitalij Kowaljow, bass, Il Commendatore

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Yannick N退zet-S退guin, conductor

Ah! Chi mi dice mai...Madamina, il catalogo 耀 questo

Joyce di Donato, mezzo-soprano, Donna Elvira

Producer Johannah Smith for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod celebrates the servants in The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Five years before Mozart's premature death aged 35, the composer felt at the top of his game. He was performing regularly in Vienna and his music was beloved throughout the city. However, the Austro-Turkish War between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire would soon have a negative impact on Mozart's prospects, along with changing musical taste in the Austrian capital. The nobility had more important things to do than hold concerts and commission new music. Money was in shorter supply. As a composer for hire, Mozart had to change tack and write chamber music for publication and for performance in middle class homes, rather than concertos for the nobility.

In this episode Donald Macleod explores why Mozart's extraordinarily prolific working life underwent such a significant gear change between 1786 and 1787. From being beloved throughout Vienna, a string of great works flowing from his pen, Mozart now found himself searching for any paid work, trying to find new students to teach, even offering the furniture in his house as collateral for a loan. This period marked the culmination of the most productive in Mozart's life. The composition process of The Marriage of Figaro had been challenging, but it unleashed a flood of creativity that found its expression in the non-operatic works Mozart wrote at this time, now acknowledged as unique masterpieces. But a string of events would transform Mozart's prospects for the worse. And he could have had no idea what lay around the corner.

Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major, K. 495

I. Allegro maestoso

Dennis Brain, horn

Philharmonia Orchestra

Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491

Alfred Brendel, piano

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Charles Mackerras, conductor

Sonata for Piano 4 Hands in F major, K. 497

I. Adagio - Allegro di molto

George Malcolm, piano

Andrကs Schiff, piano

Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 `Prague`

Academy of Ancient Music

Christopher Hogwood, conductor

Why did Mozart's prolific working life undergo a dramatic change between 1786 and 1787?

Born in 1756, the theatre was a life-long passion for Mozart. Starting at the tender age of just 11, in the space of 22 years he produced an astonishing 24 theatrical works. His destiny was to follow in his father's footsteps, as a court musician. Instead, by 1781, after a disagreement over his frequent absences from court, Mozart parted ways with his employer, the Elector of Cologne. He left Salzburg and servitude behind, to set himself up in Vienna, a thriving centre for music. The following year he triumphed with his comic singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The succession of works that followed include many of the mainstays of operatic repertory, among them The Magic Flute, which was completed in the year of his death, at the age of 35 in 1791.

This week Donald Macleod finds connecting points between the characters Mozart created for the stage and the composer's own experiences in life. He examines how Mozart struggled to be a dutiful son, and how he tackles honour and duty in Idomeneo, Lucio Silla and Mitridate. The ideas of enlightenment that influenced Mozart's own views find expression in the balance of power he depicts between servants and the ruling classes in The Marriage of Figaro. The composer's thorny path to marriage with Constanze also finds him examining the complexities of love in Die Enführung aus dem Serail and Cos쀀 fan tutte. The series ends with Mozart's masterly representation of temptation and evil, as characterised by the ultimate bad boy Don Giovanni and the scheming and manipulative Queen of the Night.

In today's episode, Don Giovanni shamelessly celebrates a virtueless life, while Konstanze sticks to her moral principles. Life isn't running smoothly for the Count and Countess Almaviva as Susanna and Figaro challenge the status quo of their employers.

Don Giovanni (Act 1)

Champagne Aria

Simon Keenlyside, baritone, Don Giovanni

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Act 2)

Martern aller Arten

Christine Sh䀀fer, soprano, Konstanze

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, director

Le nozze di Figaro (Act 2)

Esci ormai, garzon malnato - Signore! Cos'耀 quell'stupore?

Anna Moffo, soprano, Susanna

Eberhard W䀀chter, baritone, Conte

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano, Contessa

Giuseppe Taddei, baritone, Figaro

Piero Cappuccili, bass, Antonio

Philharmonia Orchestra

Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor

Le nozze di Figaro (Act 3)

Hai gi

Five years before Mozart's premature death aged 35, the composer felt at the top of his game. He was performing regularly in Vienna and his music was beloved throughout the city. However, the Austro-Turkish War between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire would soon have a negative impact on Mozart's prospects, along with changing musical taste in the Austrian capital. The nobility had more important things to do than hold concerts and commission new music. Money was in shorter supply. As a composer for hire, Mozart had to change tack and write chamber music for publication and for performance in middle class homes, rather than concertos for the nobility.

In today's programme Donald Macleod finds Mozart struggling to support his sickly wife Constanze. Those rejuvenating baths at Baden didn't come cheap.

Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K. 543

I. Adagio - Allegro

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Adagio in B minor, K. 540

Alfred Brendel, piano

Divertimento in E flat major, K. 563

II. Adagio

Trio Zimmermann

Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

II. Larghetto

J怀rg Widmann, clarinet

Arcanto String Quartet

Piano Sonata No. 17 in B flat major, K 570

I. Allegro

Mitsuko Uchida, piano

As the sands shifted, how could Mozart keep his family afloat? With Donald Macleod.

Five years before Mozart's premature death aged 35, the composer felt at the top of his game. He was performing regularly in Vienna and his music was beloved throughout the city. However, the Austro-Turkish War between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire would soon have a negative impact on Mozart's prospects, along with changing musical taste in the Austrian capital. The nobility had more important things to do than hold concerts and commission new music. Money was in shorter supply. As a composer for hire, Mozart had to change tack and write chamber music for publication and for performance in middle class homes, rather than concertos for the nobility.

In this episode Donald Macleod explores Mozart's late operas. Today we see these works as creative triumphs. It's hard to believe they were not received as such by audiences of their day. However, these late masterpieces were inherently provocative. 1786's Le nozze di Figaro mercilessly attacked a bigoted aristocracy from the perspective of a servant. Cosi fan tutte's depictions of the ambivalence of human emotions skirted the boundaries of contemporary morality, and 1791's The Magic Flute dealt with freemasonry - many Viennese saw it as an allegory for the French Revolution. What lay behind these bold statements of intent? Was Mozart deliberately biting the hand that fed him?

Gigue in G major, K. 574, 'Leipziger Gigue

Mitsuko Uchida, piano

Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492 (Overture, Act I Scene 1: Duet

Act I Scene 1: Recitative; Act I Scene 1: Duet)

Patrizia Ciofi (Susanna)

Lorenzo Regazzo (Figaro)

Concerto K怀ln

Ren退 Jacobs, conductor

Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, 'Jupiter`

II. Andante cantabile

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Don Giovanni, K. 527 (Act II Scene 12: Rondo; Recitativo accompagnato e Rondo; Act II Scene 13: Finale)

Carmela Remigio (Donna Anna)

Uwe Heilmann (Don Ottavio)

Simon Keenlyside (Don Giovanni)

Bryn Terfel (Leporello)

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Cos쀀 fan tutte, K. 588 (Act I Scene 2; Act II Scene 1)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Fiordiligi)

Hanny Steffek (Despina)

Christa Ludwig (Dorabella)

Walter Berry (Don Alfonso)

Philharmonia Orchestra

Karl B怀hm, conductor

Die Zauberfl怀te (The Magic Flute), K. 620 (Act II: Allegro)

Gerald Finley (Papageno)

Constanze Backes (Papagena)

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Born in 1756, the theatre was a life-long passion for Mozart. Starting at the tender age of just 11, in the space of 22 years he produced an astonishing 24 theatrical works. His destiny was to follow in his father's footsteps, as a court musician. Instead, by 1781, after a disagreement over his frequent absences from court, Mozart parted ways with his employer, the Elector of Cologne. He left Salzburg and servitude behind, to set himself up in Vienna, a thriving centre for music. The following year he triumphed with his comic singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The succession of works that followed include many of the mainstays of operatic repertory, among them The Magic Flute, which was completed in the year of his death, at the age of 35 in 1791.

This week Donald Macleod finds connecting points between the characters Mozart created for the stage and the composer's own experiences in life. He examines how Mozart struggled to be a dutiful son, and how he tackles honour and duty in Idomeneo, Lucio Silla and Mitridate. The ideas of enlightenment that influenced Mozart's own views find expression in the balance of power he depicts between servants and the ruling classes in The Marriage of Figaro. The composer's thorny path to marriage with Constanze also finds him examining the complexities of love in Die Enführung aus dem Serail and Cos쀀 fan tutte. The series ends with Mozart's masterly representation of temptation and evil, as characterised by the ultimate bad boy Don Giovanni and the scheming and manipulative Queen of the Night.

In today's programme, bird-catcher Papageno and the kidnapped princess Pamina reflect on marital love. For Princess Electra, love has turned to jealousy. The depth of Fiordiligi and Dorabella's love for their absent fianc退s is put to the test, and Countess Almaviva despairs of receiving her husband's affection. Forgiveness is the order of the day for Konstanze and Blonde.

Die Zauberfl怀te (Act 1)

Bei mannern, weiche Liebe fühlen

Dorothea R怀schmann, soprano, Pamina

Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Papageno

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Idomeneo (Act 1)

Estinto e Idomeneo - .tutte nel cor vi sento ..Pieta! Numi pieta!

Hillevi Martinpelto, soprano Elettra

The English Baroque Soloists

The Monteverdi Choir

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Cos쀀 fan tutte (Finale to Act 1)

Ah che tutta in un momento - Dammi un bacio

Monserrat Caball退, soprano, Fiordiligi

Janet Baker, mezzo soprano, Dorabella

Nicolai Gedda, tenor, Ferrando

Wladimiro Ganzarolli, baritone, Guglielmo

Ileana Cotrubas, soprano, Despina

Richard van Allan, bass, Don Alfonso

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Colin Davis, conductor

Le nozze di Figaro (Act 2)

Porgi Amor

Kiri te Kanawa, soprano, Countess

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Georg Solti, conductor

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Act 2)

Wenn der Freude Tr䀀nen fliessen - Ach Belmonte! ach mein Leben!

Ian Bostridge, tenor, Belmonte

Christine Sch䀀fer, soprano, Konstanze

Ian Paton, tenor, Pedrillo

Patricia Petibon, soprano, Blonde

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, director

Donald Macleod looks at Mozart's treatment of love in all its guises in his operas.

Five years before Mozart's premature death aged 35, the composer felt at the top of his game. He was performing regularly in Vienna and his music was beloved throughout the city. However, the Austro-Turkish War between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire would soon have a negative impact on Mozart's prospects, along with changing musical taste in the Austrian capital. The nobility had more important things to do than hold concerts and commission new music. Money was in shorter supply. As a composer for hire, Mozart had to change tack and write chamber music for publication and for performance in middle class homes, rather than concertos for the nobility.

In this programme Donald Macleod looks at Mozart's last year. Indebted, insecure, worried, but creatively fertile, Mozart was hustling for concert subscribers while fretting about finding the money to support his family. He essayed a new style of church music: unadorned, devotional, easily understood, with touching directness and simplicity. We also see Mozart meeting his older colleague, Joseph Haydn, for the final time, the senior composer presciently announcing to his friend that they would never meet again. Did Mozart feel the end coming? Does this explain his frantic urge to compose in his last 12 months?

Ave verum corpus, K. 618

Anna Maria Panzarella, soprano

Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto

Christoph Pr退gardien, tenor

Nathan Berg, bass-baritone

Les Arts Florissants Chorus

Williams Christie, conductor

Six German Dances, K. 600

No. 1 in C Major

No. 3 in B-Flat Major

No. 6 in D Major

Vienna Mozart Ensemble

Willi Boskovsky, conductor

Kyrie in D minor, K. 341

English Baroque Soloists

Monteverdi Choir

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, Op. 17, K. 595

I. Allegro

English Chamber Orchestra

Murray Perahia, piano, conductor

String Quintet No. 6 in E flat major, K. 614

I. Allegretto di molto

IV. Allegro

Hausmusik London

Born in 1756, the theatre was a life-long passion for Mozart. Starting at the tender age of just 11, in the space of 22 years he produced an astonishing 24 theatrical works. His destiny was to follow in his father's footsteps, as a court musician. Instead, by 1781, after a disagreement over his frequent absences from court, Mozart parted ways with his employer, the Elector of Cologne. He left Salzburg and servitude behind, to set himself up in Vienna, a thriving centre for music. The following year he triumphed with his comic singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The succession of works that followed include many of the mainstays of operatic repertory, among them The Magic Flute, which was completed in the year of his death, at the age of 35 in 1791.

This week Donald Macleod finds connecting points between the characters Mozart created for the stage and the composer's own experiences in life. He examines how Mozart struggled to be a dutiful son, and how he tackles honour and duty in Idomeneo, Lucio Silla and Mitridate. The ideas of enlightenment that influenced Mozart's own views find expression in the balance of power he depicts between servants and the ruling classes in The Marriage of Figaro. The composer's thorny path to marriage with Constanze also finds him examining the complexities of love in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Cos쀀 fan tutte. The series ends with Mozart's masterly representation of temptation and evil, as characterised by the ultimate bad boy Don Giovanni and the scheming and manipulative Queen of the Night.

Today, Donna Anna identifies the man who sullied her honour. In ancient Rome, honour is put to the test by the unscrupulous behaviour of the Consul Lucio Silla. Aspasia and Sifare decide to suppress their feelings for each other for the sake of their honour. In the face of temptation Sextus finds himself straying from his principles, while his friend Titus is torn between friendship and duty.

Don Giovanni (Act 1)

O sai che l'onore

Diana Damrau, soprano, Donna Anna

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Yannick N退zet-Seguin, conductor

Lucio Silla - Overture

Danish Radio Sinfonietta

Adam Fischer, conductor

Lucio Silla (Act 1)

Dall sponda tenebrosa

E tollerare io posso

Il desio di vendetta

Simone Nold, soprano, Giunia

Lothar Odinius, tenor, Silla

Mitridate, R耀 di Ponto (Act 2)

Lungi da te, mio bene

Miah Persson, soprano, Sifare

Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Sebastian Weigle, conductor

horn Bengt Oler䀀s

La clemenza di Tito (Act 1)

Come ti piaci imponi

Bernarda Fink, mezzo, Sesto

Alexandrina Pendatchanska, soprano Vitellia

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Ren退 Jacobs, conductor

La clemenza di Tito (Act 2)

Deh per questo istante solo

Ove s'intese mai più contumace

Se all'impero, amici Dei

Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano, Sesto

Mark Padmore, tenor, Tito

Sergio Foresti, bass, Publio

Donald Macleod explores the themes of honour and duty in Mozart's operas.

Born in 1756, the theatre was a life-long passion for Mozart. Starting at the tender age of just 11, in the space of 22 years he produced an astonishing 24 theatrical works. His destiny was to follow in his father's footsteps, as a court musician. Instead, by 1781, after a disagreement over his frequent absences from court, Mozart parted ways with his employer, the Elector of Cologne. He left Salzburg and servitude behind, to set himself up in Vienna, a thriving centre for music. The following year he triumphed with his comic singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The succession of works that followed include many of the mainstays of operatic repertory, among them The Magic Flute, which was completed in the year of his death, at the age of 35 in 1791.

This week Donald Macleod finds connecting points between the characters Mozart created for the stage and the composer's own experiences in life. He examines how Mozart struggled to be a dutiful son, and how he tackles honour and duty in Idomeneo, Lucio Silla and Mitridate. The ideas of enlightenment that influenced Mozart's own views find expression in the balance of power he depicts between servants and the ruling classes in The Marriage of Figaro. The composer's thorny path to marriage with Constanze also finds him examining the complexities of love in Die Enführung aus dem Serail and Cos쀀 fan tutte. The series ends with Mozart's masterly representation of temptation and evil, as characterised by the ultimate bad boy Don Giovanni and the scheming and manipulative Queen of the Night.

In this final episode, The Queen of the Night has a fit of vengeful rage, Osmin is the shady overseer of the Pasha's harem, Marcellina and Bartolo team up to cause trouble for the engaged servants Susanna and Figaro. Monostatos gets his come-uppance, Electra's venomous rage is given free rein, and hell awaits Mozart's most famous baddie, Don Giovanni.

Die Zauberfl怀te (Act 2)

Der H怀lle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

Erika Mikl　sa, soprano, Queen of the night

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Act 1)

Solche hergelauf'ne Laffen

Alan Ewing, bass, Osmin

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, director

Le nozze di Figaro (Act 1)

La Vendetta - via, resti servita

Kurt Moll, bass, Bartolo

Jane Barbi退, mezzo soprano, Marcellina

Lucia Popp, soprano, Susanna

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Georg Solti, conductor

Idomeneo (Act 3)

Ha vinto amore - d'Oreste, d'Aiace

Luca Tittoto, bass La voce

Richard Croft, tenor, Idomeneo

Bernarda Fink, mezzo soprano, Idamante

Sunhae Im, soprano, Ilia

Kenneth Tarver, tenor, Arbace

Alexandrina Pendatchanska, soprano, Elettra

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Rene Jacobs, conductor

Die Zauberfl怀te (Act 1, finale)

Wie stark ist nicht dein zauberton ...Es lebe Sarastro! Sarastro soll leben

Christoph Strehl, tenor, Tamino

Dorothea R怀schmann, soprano, Pamina

Hanno Müller-Brachmann, bass baritone, Papageno

Kurt Azesberger, tenor, Monostatos

Ren退 Pape, bass, Sarastro

Matthias Bernhold, Martin Olbertz, Tobias Beyer, actors, slaves

Arnold Schoenberg Choir

Don Giovanni (Act 2 Finale II)

Five years before Mozart's premature death aged 35, the composer felt at the top of his game. He was performing regularly in Vienna and his music was beloved throughout the city. However, the Austro-Turkish War between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire would soon have a negative impact on Mozart's prospects, along with changing musical taste in the Austrian capital. The nobility had more important things to do than hold concerts and commission new music. Money was in shorter supply. As a composer for hire, Mozart had to change tack and write chamber music for publication and for performance in middle class homes, rather than concertos for the nobility.

The sheer concentration of Mozart's creative efforts during his final year is hard to convey. From contemporary accounts we see a man consumed by his work. He never stopped composing, even in the midst of a game of billiards. He produced two ground-breaking operas during these months, finishing one in just 18 days. Mozart also wrote some of his most beloved music during this time, including the opera La Clemenza di Tito and his Clarinet Concerto. Plus, he received a commission for a new Requiem that remained shrouded in mystery until as recently as 1964.

Fantasia in F minor for mechanical organ, K. 608 (arr. for wind quintet)

Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet

La Clemenza di Tito, K. 621 (Act I: Quintetto con poro)

Anne Sofie von Otter (Sextus)

Catherine Robbin (Annius)

Sylvia McNair (Servilia)

Cornelius Hauptmann (Publio)

Júlia Vကrady (Vitellia)

Monteverdi Choir

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

Michael Collins, clarinet

Russian National Orchestra

Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

Requiem in D minor, K. 626 (completed by F.X. Sussmayr) (Introit: Requiem aeternam; Kyrie eleison; Offertory: I)

Miriam Allan, soprano

Anne Buter, mezzo-soprano

Marcus Ullmann,

Martin Snell, tenor

Gewandhaus Chamber Choir

Leipzig Chamber Orchestra

Morten Schuldt-Jensen, conductor

Donald Macleod explores Mozart's last months.