Mozart in Italy

Paisiello was one of Italy’s most famous and respected opera composers of his time. Later in life, he became the favorite composer of Napoleon Bonaparte. His style in composing opera was simple and direct, with wit and humor as well as drama. He knew Leopold Mozart and spent some time teaching young Wolfgang. As a result, he strongly influenced Mozart’s operatic style. Many operatic composers wrote chamber works in between their more ambitious operas: this flute quartet is one of six he composed.

Nardini’s violin sonata, one of his very best creations, was more technically demanding than most of his works, but was still true to his nature — sentimental and melodious. Nardini was a friend of Leopold Mozart and his contemporary, so it was inevitable that young Wolfgang would have benefited from his instruction.

Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto, while still a relatively early work, was a mature composition. His interest in the flute was undoubtedly influenced by Paisiello, but he didn’t really like the flute. “You know that I am quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear,” he wrote to his father in 1778, the year he wrote this concerto. During Mozart’s time in Paris, he heard the Duke de Guines playing flute, well enough that Mozart had kind words for him. The Duke’s daughter “plays the harp magnificently” — and those were the inspirations for this piece. This concerto is completely charming; the writing is brilliant. Endless charm and disarming invention grace this work.