“The Salieri Album” / Cecilia Bartoli, Age of Enlightenment Orchestra

Released in 2003 in anticipation of the Mozart Year 2006, 11 of the 13 tracks on this album are said to be first recordings. It is still fresh in our minds that the 1984 movie “Amadeus” suddenly triggered a “Salieri boom”. In keeping with the current trend, Bartoli has, as usual, “discovered” and recorded Salieri’s previously unpublished opera arias. Salieri was a court composer in the service of Emperor Joseph II of Austria, and at the time reigned supreme as a musician, with highly successful operas in Paris, Milan and throughout Europe. His style is close to Gluck’s, as this CD confirms: the aria “La Scuola Dei Gelosi” on the second track is reminiscent of Gluck’s “Che farò senza Euridice?” from “Orfeo ed Euridice”.

Whether in Peter Schaeffer’s play or the movie “Amadeus”, Salieri is supposed to have been jealous of Mozart, but in reality, Wolfgang and Leopold were probably more jealous of Salieri. Moreover, he was a man of considerable character, organising charity concerts for poor musicians and doing a fine job of teaching younger musicians, such as giving free composition lessons to the young Beethoven and Schubert. It is a pity that he has been living cold for more than 250 years only because of wide-spread and irresponsible rumours, so to speak, that he poisoned Mozart. #baroque #salieri #bartoli #片山俊幸