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In 1786, the Marriage of Figaro was first performed in Prague, where Mozart was
much more celebrated than in his chosen home city of Vienna. His father Leopold
was delighted to witness the quality of this opera, and thrilled by the success it
brought his son. During the previous few years, Leopold had disapproved of
Mozart's life style, and his marriage to Constanze, but Mozart dearly loved his father,
and the real affection between them never waned. Mozart's rich spiritual life and
mature philosophy of the brotherhood of man gained or cemented through his
membership of Freemasonry, was partly due to the contemporary thinking in Vienna,
but surely much of this must have been due to the upbringing he had. There had
always been a sense of fun in the Mozart household, but also a great drive to be one's
best, and to look to the higher things in life.
In spite of the great success of Figaro,Mozart's finances were not healthy. The
composer would have just been paid for the composition, and in those days there
were no royalties, so no matter how successful a piece was, and how often it was
performed, the composer did not benefit financially to any great extent. But,Mozart
was in his creative prime, and continued to compose numerous works, constantly
refining and developing his ideas. Mozart's life, reflected so well in his music, was
one of fascinating contrasts: he could be frivolous and sparkling as demonstrated in
the many letters to his sister and his wife. Constanze was no intellectual, but this did
not seem to put a strain on their emotional relationship: she was a companion full of
fun, who could laugh with him, and entertain him in the bedroom.Mozart was a
man of paradoxes which are fully embodied in all his compositions. The apparent
transparency of some of his works belies the depth of feeling underneath, but
occasionally the real passion surges to the surface, leaving the listener in no doubt
that Mozart had a great and noble mind.
The two Quintets on this disc date from Mozart's final years, an early example of the
genre having been written in 1773, after which Mozart had composed no further
Quintet until the series of KV515, 516 and 406(516b) of 1787. The C major Quintet
(KV515) was completed on 19th April, to be followed only weeks later by KV516 on
16th May. As mentioned above, the masterwork that is "Figaro" was now behind
Mozart and ahead was to be the much darker world of "Don Giovanni". It is that later
opera which perhaps throw light on the styles of the two Quintets of the Spring of
1787.
Unlike KV516, the C major work is generally an untroubled work. It is in four
movements with both the opening and closing movements marked simply Allegro: in
between come an Andante and a Minuet and Trio. Despite the approach of "Don
Giovanni" it is "Figaro" which pervades the opening Allegro. The Andante is a fine
dialogue between the first violin and viola to the accompaniment of the other strings.
The following Minuet is notable for the length of its trio section and finally,Mozart
rounds off the piece with what is his single longest instrumental movement, a
mixture of Rondo and Sonata forms.
The D major Quintet (KV593) is Mozart's penultimate work in the form and was the
result of a commission from an anonymous Hungarian admirer and although the
work follows the usual four movement plans of the earlier Quintets, its opening
movement is somewhat unique in its juxtaposition of Larghetto and Allegro sections.
The following Adagio takes ideas from the opening Larghetto and the Minuet and
trio is one of Mozart's finest movements of its type. The final Allegro opens with a
difficult chromatic figure, simplified on publication and builds up to several fugato
movements, some of Mozart's most masterly writing for the Quintet.
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