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Whatever I think in theory, when I am actually hearing some of the duets, trios and small ensembles from Mozart's greatest operas - these seem to me the height of musical achievement.
I am thinking of things like the parts of Act 1 with the three ladies and/or three boys in The Magic Flute, or Papageno and Pamina's duet; or Soave sia il vento from Cosi, or the Letter duet and Act 4 Finale from Figaro...
Of these, above all I perhaps love the little scene where Tamino and Papageno get their flute and bells.
I mean this section - albeit not this performance nor the recording quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYHZipQ-wwk
Presumably this says a lot about me! but the lightness, the little orchestral touches and transitions, the harmonization of voices, the simplicity and sentiment, humanity and glimpsed divinity... well, only Mozart could do this; and perhaps this kind of thing is for me a higher achievement than any other in music.
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Yes. You are getting close to the old Bernard Levin argument that Mozart was a conduit with God pouring in music at the top.
ReplyDeleteMind you, the most heart-lifting thing in all music is the overture to the Marriage of Figaro. It says - just you wait, there's some delight in store.