#119 The Smell of Dominance

Figaro, pretending he's obliging and ready to please, shows his prevalence here. It's an accepted challenge: Oh, you would like to dance (read: sleep with my wife)? My pleasure! But be prepared, my dear, because I'm the cat and you're the mouse in this game.

D'Arcangelo is a great Figaro (and Leporello). He's combining satire and menace into an amusing mix. All for fun!

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Work: The Marriage of Figaro, "Se vuol ballare, signor Contino"
Recording: Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

#96 The Smell of Knowing Better

Do you smell it? Leporello's predominance, his advantage? How safe he feels he is, how confident? And the music is totally clear: it's a game, it's a twiddling: randy cat and half-dead mouse.

The period instruments of EBS give the aria rough edges; it's wild, not so rounded. Donna Elvira should have known better.

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Work: Don Giovanni, "Madamina, il catalogo è questo"
Recording: Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, The English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner