U. spotlights Mozart's gems

MOZART AT HOME, Thompson Chamber Music Hall, University of Utah, Monday.

As part of its ongoing Mozart Festival series, the University of Utah's School of Music presented a concert of the Austrian composer's chamber music, songs and arias Monday. The amiable confines of the Thompson Chamber Music Hall provided the ideal setting for this evening of Mozart's music on a smaller scale, although by no means lesser scope.

Mozart's "Kegelstatt" Trio, for example, which closed the concert, is one of his major chamber works, written on the same scale as the string quartets from the same period. The Trio was played by U. musicians Kathy Pope, clarinet, and Robert Baldwin, viola, along with pianist Paul Dorgan.

The one segment of the concert Monday that spotlighted a compositional area of Mozart fairly unfamiliar today was his concert arias and German songs.

Mozart wrote a large body of arias independent of any of his operas, but with certain singers in mind. These aren't performed with any frequency today — unfortunately so, since they are pure gems in the vocal repertoire.

The second half of the concert featured a set of four such arias ("Due Pupille amabili," K. 439; "se lontan, ben mio," K. 438; "Ecco quel fiero istante," K. 436; and "Luci care, luci belle," K. 346).

This quartet of arias was sung wonderfully by soprano Julie Wright-Costa, mezzo-soprano Margaret Bragle and baritone David Power, all of whom are on the School of Music's faculty. They were accompanied at the piano by Dorgan, whose idea it was to present this genial concert.

The first half of the program included four of Mozart's numerous German songs, sung by soprano Carol Ann Allred, accompanied by Dorgan.

The four selections showed the range of these songs, from those of operatic character ("Abendempfindung," K. 523, and "Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte," K. 520) to those that have become part of the German folk song literature ("Das Veilchen," K. 476, perhaps Mozart's most famous song). Others, such as "An Chloe," K. 524, have characteristics of both.

Allred gave a wonderfully dynamic performance of these captivating pieces. Her luminous voice and seamless phrasings gave these songs depth and texture and captured the lyrical beauty of the music effortlessly.

The concert opened with the Sonata in B flat major for Piano Four Hands, K. 358, played by Dorgan and Melissa Livengood. The two pianists gave a sparkling reading that captured the robustness and wit of the outer movements and the charm of the Adagio.

Also on the concert was the Violin Sonata in F major, K. 376, played by Utah Symphony violinist Barbara Scowcroft. Dorgan once again was the pianist. The two gave a delightfully lucid reading of the work that was fluid and textured. Their articulate playing also brought out the lyricism and eloquence of the music dynamically.

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