MOZART: Finta giardiniera (La) (Zurich Opera, 2006) (NTSC)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
LA FINTA GIARDINIERA

Eva Mei, Isabel Rey, Liliana Nikiteanu, Christoph Strehl
Rudolf Schasching, Julia Kleiter, Gabriel Bermudez
Orchestra "La Scintilla" der Oper Zürich
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
Tobias Moretti, stage director
Recorded at the Opernhaus Zürich, 23 and 25 February 2006

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: All Region
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Booklet notes: English, French, German
Running time: 187 mins
No. of DVDs: 2

"Harnoncourt, 76, brings a lifetime of revolutionary musical thought to the neglected work. The strings utter each note like a different word in a witty sentence, the winds sigh or taunt, the horns flare up in brassy rage. And the vocal lines blossom above, never swamped." Bloomberg

• Almost a quarter of a century ago Harnoncourt presented his reading of this rediscovered work on CD, but in this version from the Zurich Opera directed by well-known Austrian actor Tobias Moretti, the great Mozart magician conducted a staged production for the first time in an acclaimed production recorded live in February 2006.



• The Zurich Opera gathered a superb cast for this production: Italian soprano Eva Mei sings the Countess Violante, known as Sandrina, the feigned gardener of the title. Spanish soprano Isabel Rey is her opponent Arminda, and Arminda's former lover, the melancholy Cavaliere Ramiro, is sung by Romanian mezzo Liliana Nikiteanu.



• Moretti's staging presents the action in a modern villa in a hierarchical world of the rich and famous.