The Jewel Box
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer, 1756-1791) established a European reputation as a child prodigy, both as pianist and composer. His works covered nearly all the available genres of the time, and in most he extended the range of expressive possibilities well beyond the established conventions of the current classical style. His 22 operas range from the juvenile Der Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots to Die Zauberflöte in his final year, as well as numerous interpolations composed for operas by his contemporaries. He worked in the genres of opera seria, opera buffa and singspiel.
Paul Griffiths (librettist, 1947- ) was educated at King Edward's School Birmingham and Oxford University, where he studied biochemistry. His career as a writer and music critic started by accident in 1971; two years later he joined the editorial team of The New Grove. He was chief music critic of The Times of London (1982-92), music critic of The New Yorker (1992-6), and a regular contributor to The New York Times (1996-2003), all the while producing books on music, novels and librettos. He also appears as a lecturer and occasional reciter.
Press
brilliantly performed... MusicOMH.com
Jewels indeed Opera, November 2006
Top-drawer
Mozart, served up with panache Opera
Now, January 2007
