Concerto In B Flat Major For Piano And Orchestra 	(23:15)
1 	Allegro Moderato 	11:52
2 	Adagio 	7:15
3 	Tempo Di Minuetto 	7:42
Concerto In D Major For Piano And Orchestra 	(19:20)
4 	Allegro 	7:59
5 	Larghetto 	5:57
6 	Andantino 	5:10

Aldo Ciccolini - piano
I Solisti Veneti
Claudio Scimone - conductor

Only two unimportant works by Antonio Salieri are listed in the current Schwann Catalogue. But that does not mean the music of Salieri is entirely unobtainable on records. The enterprising music-lover can investigate import companies, such as International Book and Record Distributors.

There he will be able to purchase two disks of Salieri's music, one containing the Piano Concertos in B flat and C, played by Aldo Ciccolini and the Solisti Veneti conducted by Claudio Scimone (Italia ITL 70028) and the other containing the ''Sinfonia Veneziana,'' the Sinfonia ''Il Giorno Onomastico,'' and the ''Variazioni sull'aria La Follia di Spagna,'' with the London Symphony under Zoltan Pesko (Italia ITL 70052).

There is, of course, much current interest in Salieri, thanks to Peter Shaffer's play ''Amadeus.'' Was the Italian-born Viennese court composer as mediocre a creator as Mr. Shaffer makes him out to be? The two pieces in the American catalogues - a concerto for flute and oboe, and a short orchestral work - are not very interesting. Are those two pieces entirely characteristic of Salieri's music?

No. The two piano concertos suggest that Salieri was a more substantial composer than history has indicated. They are interesting as well-made works in the galant classic style, and even more so as anticipations of the great Mozart concertos.

Both Salieri concertos were composed in 1773 - four years before Mozart's first great piano concerto (E flat, K. 271). Listening to them, one can see the roots of Mozart almost at the topsoil. Salieri often did, in these concertos, work in the musical small change of the day. He was not a very imaginative composer.

But he did have craft. And in the slow movements, where he seems to be at his best, there is a fine fund of agreeable, and sometimes even personal, Italian melody. The slow movement of the C major Concerto is a direct anticipation of the great second movement of Mozart's A major Piano Concerto (K. 488). Could Mozart have heard it? Most likely. He was in Salzburg or on the road in those days, but he kept in close touch with musical developments everywhere, and he would have been especially interested in any new works by the great Antonio Salieri.

The performances by Mr. Ciccolini and the Solisti Veneti are splendid. The first-movement cadenza of the B flat Concerto, brilliantly played by the pianist, is by Salieri. Presumably the other cadenzas were supplied by Giovanni Carli Ballola, the editor of the scores. Mr. Ciccolini always has been a tasteful, fleet-fingered pianist, and the running scales of this kind of music were made for him. The recorded sound is tops: clear, natural, unforced, with noiseless surfaces; and the same can be said of the symphony disk. ---Harold C. Schonberg, nytimes.com

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CD1
1. Les Danaïdes, opera: Ouverture 
2. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Toi par qui, sans tereur 
3. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Approchez-vous, mes chers neveux 	
4. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Descend du ciel 
5. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Strumentale 
6. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Loin de nous, jalousie affreuse 
7. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Danza 	
8. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Je vois, jeunes époux 	
9. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Jouissez du destin propice       play  
10. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Hypermnestre! 
11. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Oublions tous ces jours de peine 
12. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 1. Descend du ciel 
13. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. Où sommes-nous? ô ciel! 
14. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. Divinité, de sang avide 
15. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. Je vous vois frémir de colère 	
16. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. Quand tes soeurs ont juré 
17. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. par les larmes dont votre fille 
18. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. Fille indigne de la lumière 
19. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 2. Foudre céleste! je t'appelle

CD2
1. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Célébrons à l'envi 
2. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Strumentale 
3. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Descends dans le sein d'Amphitrite
4. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Strumentale 
5. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Aux dieux qui suivent l'hyménée 
6. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. L'Amour sourit 
7. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Prends ce gage sacré 
8. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Rends-moi ton coeur, ta confiance 
9. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Mon courage est au bout 	
10. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Reprends tes esprits et tes sens 
11. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Strumentale 	
12. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. Pour nos devoirs 
13. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 3. L'Amour sourit 
14. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Introduzione 	
15. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Ecoutez-moi, mon père 
16. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Ses gardes, moins cruels 
17. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Vous qui voyez l'excès de ma faiblesse 
18. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Lyncée, à tes genoux 
19. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Ma force m'abandonne 
20. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 4. Hélas! que ne puis-je te suivre 
21. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 5. Où suis-je! 	
22. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 5. Père barbare 
23. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 5. Ma vengeance est-elle remplie? 
24. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 5. Gloire! Gloire Evan! 	play  
25. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 5. Sous nos coups pressés 
26. Les Danaïdes, opera: Act 5. Rendons grâces

Hypermnestre - Montserrat Caballé
Danaüs - Jean-Philippe Lafont
Lyncée - Christer Bladin

Orchestra e Coro della RAI di Roma
Gianluigi Gelmetti, 1983

If today no one questions the greatness of Mozart, the most famous composer in Europe at the end of the 18th century was probably Antonio Salieri. For many years court composer of the Austrian Emperor, Salieri wrote an enormous amount of music, some of the best of which remains that composed for the theatre. Les Danaïdes was premièred at Paris’s Opéra on 26th April 1784 and met with a triumphant success. The present recording, qualitatively very high also from a technical point of view, dates from 1983 and features an extraordinary Montserrat Caballé in great vocal form. Gianluigi Gelmetti conducts the renowned RAI Orchestra.---arkivmusic.com

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Disc: 1 
1. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Sinfonia 
2. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 1. Qui dove scherza l'aura 
3. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 1. Chi di noi più felice 
4. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 1. Perdermi? E chi potria 
5. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 1. Per te solo, amato bene 
6. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Non mi seccar, biscroma 
7. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Coperto di sangue 
8. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. E'ben ver quel nome amato 
9. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Ne'più vaghi soggiorni dell'asia 
10. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Si vada subito 
11. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Pietade signore, del misero Atar 
12. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Soave luce di paradiso 
13. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Dove andò quel maschio ardire 
14. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 2. Irza bella, e che ti arresta? 
15. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Tu fa che intanto uniscasi 
16. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. O divina prudenza 
17. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Da qual nuova sciagura 
18. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Tu nel mar la cara sposa 
19. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. V'andrò, tutto si tenti 	
20. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Come ape ingegnosa 
21. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Marcia 
22. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Re del persico mar 
23. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Atar il giovinetto 
24. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 3. Non partir, la scelta è ingiusta

Disc: 2 
1. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Introduzione 
2. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Cosa veggio! 
3. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Non borbotto, parlo schietto 
4. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Come leon feroce 
5. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. De sposarme ti ha promesso 
6. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Nato io son nello stato Romano 
7. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. In mezzo al mare 
8. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Salvo son, il merto n'hai 
9. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Pien d'amoroso foco 
10. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Misero, abbietto negro 
11. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Viva, viva irza ritrosa 
12. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Dio difensor de'miseri 
13. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Come fuggir fiammetta 
14. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Son queste le speranze 
15. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Salva me da tanta infamia 
16. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Di questa donna, o muto 
17. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Guardami da lontano 	
18. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 4. Dunque un muto tu non sei 
19. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 5. Idol vano d'un popol codardo 
20. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 5. Morir posso una sol volta 
21. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 5. Non imputar la pena 
22. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 5. Barbaro, il mio coraggio 
23. Axur, Re D'ormus, opera: Act 5. Misero, i falli suoi

Axur - Andrea Martin
Atar - Curtis Rayman
Aspasia - Eva Mei
Biscroma - Ettore Nova
Brighella - Ettore Nova
Fiammetta - Ambra Vespasiani
Smeraldina - Ambra Vespasiani
Arteneo - Massimo Valentini
Altamor - Michele Porcelli
Urson - Mario Cecchetti
Elamir - Sonia Turchetta
Arlecchino - Giovanni Battista Palmieri

Orchesta Filarmonica di Russe
René Clemencic – conductor, 1989

Antonio Salieri is still better known today for the renowned composers with whom he was associated than for his own many and varied compositions. While he cannot be ranked among the great masters himself, he has nevertheless come into view as an underrated and important composer deserving of closer attention. Salieri was the dominant figure in Parisian opera from the mid to late 1780s. Axur, re d'Ormus is a tragicomic opera in five acts and was considered one of the finest operas of the eighteenth century. he libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte, the Italian-born poet and priest who was responsible for the texts of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Così fan Tutti, and Don Giovanni.

The premiere took place in January 1788, in honor of the wedding of the Archduke Franz. It was highly successful, both with the royal family and the Viennese public, and was performed over 100 times between 1788 and 1805 in Vienna alone.

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CD1
1. Falstaff: Overture: Allegro di contradanza	4:14
2. Falstaff: Act I Scene 1: Introduction: Viva il comune amico
 (Falstaff, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Slender, Slender, Guests)	3:17
3. Falstaff: Act I Scene 1: Sia pur l'ultimo bicchiere (Falstaff)	2:54
4. Falstaff: Act I Scene 1: Ma gia l'alba s'avvicina (Mistress Ford)	1:58
5. Falstaff: Act I Scene 2: Vedete che capriccio ? (Bardolf)	0:49
6. Falstaff: Act I Scene 2: Accompanied recitative: Non reggo piu dal sonno ? 
(Bardolf)	5:00
7. Falstaff: Act I Scene 3: Mangiar da principe ? 
(Bardolf) - Duet: Con molta degnazione (Falstaff, Bardolf)	2:23
8. Falstaff: Act I Scene 3: Da scrivere (Falstaff)	3:19
9. Falstaff: Act I Scene 4: Li porto o non li porto? ? (Bardolf)	0:44
10. Falstaff: Act I Scene 5: Cavatina: Vicino a rivedere 
(Ford) - Di dubitar di lei non ho motivo ? (Ford)	3:18	
11. Falstaff: Act I Scene 6: Oh, tinozzo ambulante! ? (Mistress Slender)	0:45
12. Falstaff: Act I Scene 6: Aria: Vendetta, si vendetta (Mistress Slender)	2:01
13. Falstaff: Act I Scene 6: Comare, in questo punto ? (Mistress Slender)	0:50
14. Falstaff: Act I Scene 6: Duet: La stessa, la stessissima
 (Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender)	1:12
15. Falstaff: Act I Scene 6: Ma parlando serio ? (Mistress Slender)	0:51
16. Falstaff: Act I Scene 7: Ho capito, ma spero che non sara poi vero ? 
(Slender)	1:25
17. Falstaff: Act I Scene 8: Quartet: Oh, quanto vogliam ridere
 (Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender, Ford, Slender)	5:00
18. Falstaff: Act I Scene 9: Eh! Mia moglie, compare ? (Ford)	0:54	
19. Falstaff: Act I Scene 9: Aria: Venga, venga pure il cavaliere (Slender)	3:19
20. Falstaff: Act I Scene 10: A un uom della mia sorte ? (Falstaff)	0:57
21. Falstaff: Act I Scene 11: Guten morgen, mein Herr ? (Mistress Ford)	1:41
22. Falstaff: Act I Scene 11: Aria: Oh, die Manner kenn ich schon				             play
 (Mistress Ford)	3:14	
23. Falstaff: Act I Scene 12: E che ti par, Falstaff ? (Falstaff)	3:56
24. Falstaff: Act I Scene 12: Aria: Nell' imperto di Cupido (Falstaff)	3:19
25. Falstaff: Act I Scene 12: Accompanied recitative: Ah, vile! Ah seduttore! ?
 (Ford) - Aria: Or degli affanni i palpito (Ford)	5:22	
26. Falstaff: Act I Scene 13: Restate la vicini ? (Mistress Ford)	2:05
27. Falstaff: Act I Scene 14: Finale: Bricconcella, alfin t'ho colta (Falstaff)	7:45

CD2
1. Falstaff: Act I Scene 14: Finale: Si. Son geloso a torto (Ford)	8:34	
2. Falstaff: Act II Scene 1: Sentite pure ? (Betty)	0:49	
3. Falstaff: Act II Scene 1: Trio: Nell'acqua il buzzone
 (Betty, Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender) - Questa a buon conto ? (Mistress Ford)	2:46	
4. Falstaff: Act II Scene 2: Ehi! Bardolfo! A chi dico? ? (Falstaff) - Act II Scene 3:
 Corpo di Satanasso! ? (Falstaff)	2:21	
5. Falstaff: Act II Scene 4: E preparato? ? (Falstaff) - Duet: Ah, Signore, se sapesse
 ((Betty, Falstaff)	0:58
6. Falstaff: Act II Scene 4: Si degni almen di legger qusto foglio ? (Betty)	0:39	
7. Falstaff: Act II Scene 4: Trio: Si mi vedeste il core (Betty, Falstaff, Bardolf)	3:27
8. Falstaff: Act II Scene 5: E il nostro Signor Broch ? (Falstaff) - Act II Scene 6:
 Il Signor Broch vi attende ? (Bardolf)	0:59	
9. Falstaff: Act II Scene 7: Se un pranzo non vi basta (Ford)	1:21
10. Falstaff: Act II Scene 7: Accompanied recitative: Che sento! ? E quando ei venne ?
 (Ford, Falstaff) - Or dunque quella bestia ? (Falstaff)	1:12
11. Falstaff: Act II Scene 7: Cavatina: Nella stanza in un cantone (Falstaff, Ford) -
 Or, quando fui nel cesto ? (Ford)	1:29
12. Falstaff: Act II Scene 7: Cavatina: Io, sotto titolo di roba sudicia (Falstaff)	0:41
13. Falstaff: Act II Scene 7: Signor, son penetrato del piu vivo dolor ? (Ford)	1:20
14. Falstaff: Act II Scene 8: Accompanied recitative: Stelle sogno o son desto? ?
 (Falstaff) - Aria: Furie che mi agitate (Falstaff)	2:23	
15. Falstaff: Act II Scene 9: Presto Betty, che torna gia l'amico ? (Mistress Ford)
 - Duet: Su, mio core, a gioir ti prepara! (Mistress Ford, Falstaff)	2:48	
16. Falstaff: Act II Scene 10: Ma siam sicuri? ? (Falstaff) - Act II Scene 11: Ehi, comare presto! ?
 (Mistress Slender) - Duettino: Pre carita, celatevi (Mistress Ford, Falstaff)	1:02	
17. Falstaff: Act II Scene 11: Siete sola? ? (Mistress Slender)	1:38
18. Falstaff: Act II Scene 11: Trio: Primo ancor che Mastro venga
 (Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender, Falstaff)	1:03
19. Falstaff: Act II Scene 11: Ma dunque, care amiche? ? (Fastaff) - Act II Scene 12:
 Ha, ha! Sarebbe bella se cosi travestito ? (Mistress Ford)	2:39
20. Falstaff: Act II Scene 13: Accompanied recitative: Ecco, amici! Ah! Ribaldo! ? (Ford)	0:33
21. Falstaff: Act II Scene 13: Ensemble: Che vedo! Oh, me infelice!						play
 (Betty, Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender, Ford, Slender, Friends)	2:51	
22. Falstaff: Act II Scene 13: Orben, colui che cerco ? (Ford)	1:43	
23. Falstaff: Act II Scene 13: Duet: Benedetto quel bastone (Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender)	0:49
24. Falstaff: Act II Scene 14: Aria: Sorte pettegola, meco la vuoi (Falstaff)	1:35
25. Falstaff: Act II Scene 15: Se in Londra si sapessero le mie delusioni ? (Falstaff)	0:57
26. Falstaff: Act II Scene 15: Aria: La sua fede si gradita (Ford)	1:37
27. Falstaff: Act II Scene 15: Arietta: Sorte pettegola, meco la vuoi (Falstaff, Ford) - Chi dite mai?
 ? (Ford) - Arietta: Sorte pettegola, meco la vuoi (Falstaff)	0:55	
28. Falstaff: Act II Scene 16: Che dici? ? (Falstaff)	1:08
29. Falstaff: Act II Scene 16: Consolatevi amico ? (Falstaff)	1:02
30. Falstaff: Act II Scene 17: Aria: Reca in amor la gelosia (Slender) -Zitto: vien qualchedun ? 
(Slender)	2:53
31. Falstaff: Act II Scene 17: Finale: Siete gia qui
 ((Mistress Ford, Mistress Slender, Falstaff, Ford, Slender, Spirits)	7:25
32. Falstaff: Act II Scene 17: Fate verdi, turchine e bianche e nere (Mistress Ford)	7:32

Sir John Falstaff - Romano Franceschetto
Mistress Ford - Lee Myeounghee
Master Ford - Giuliano de Filippo
Master Slender - Fernando Luis Ciuffo
Mistress Slender - Chiara Chialli
Bardolf - Filippo Bettoschi
Betty - Natalia Valli

Guido Cantelli Orchestra Milan
Milan Madrigalists
Alberto Veronesi - conductor, 1997

Amadeus, a great movie, made Antonio Salieri a sort of celebrity, but in terms of his value as a composer, it was misleading. This first recording, long overdue and very welcome, should help readjust Salieri's reputation. By far the best opera based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, is Verdi's Falstaff. But the lazy, cowardly, greedy, overweight, alcohol-soaked, sexually predatory, and somehow (despite everything) endearing antihero is big enough for more than one opera. Salieri's Falstaff is much simpler and smaller in scale than Verdi's, less inventive and energetic. But this is a sophisticated, funny, brightly performed treatment of Falstaff's attempt to woo two married women with identical love notes. --Joe McLellan

Falstaff, ossia Le tre burle (Falstaff, or The Three Jokes) is a dramma giocoso in two acts by Antonio Salieri, set to a libretto by Carlo Prospero Defranceschi after William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.

One of the earliest operatic versions of Shakespeare's play, Salieri's Falstaff is notable for a general compression and streamlining of the original plot, note the absence of the two young lovers, Fenton and Anne, and the addition of a scene in which Mistress Ford pretends to be German to charm Falstaff (actually two such scenes exist, one in a separate score by Salieri was probably omitted from the original Viennese productions). Defranceschi moves the plot and structure away from Elizabethan drama and closer to the standard conventions of late 18th century opera buffa.

Highlights include the Sinfonia (overture) in the style of contra dances. The entire opera shows the influence of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, which was being successfully revived at the time. Among the musical highlights, besides the sinfonia, are Falstaff's strutting Act I patter aria, the quartet in Act I, the duettino "La stessa, La stessissima", the technically brilliant "laughter" trio in the opening moments of Act II, the canonical duet of Mr. and Mrs. Ford toward the end of Act II (featuring a rare late 18th century cello solo) and the grand finale to Act II. Throughout the score Salieri employs careful tone painting, parody of opera seria conventions, a more harmonically interesting structure for the secco recitative, and more involved counterpoint; traits that have helped return Falstaff to the playing boards.

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01 - La secchia rapita
02 - Les Danaides
03 - Palmira Regina di Persia
04 - La fiera di Venezia
05 - Axur Re d'Ormus
06 - La Grotta di Trofonio
07 - Ouverture in Re maggiore
08 - Europa Riconosciuta
09 - Variazioni sulla Follia di Spagna

Moldavian National Symphony Orchestra
Silvano Frontalini – conductor

Antonio Salieri is still better known today for the renowned composers with whom he was associated than for his own many and varied compositions. While he cannot be ranked among the great masters himself, he has nevertheless come into view as an underrated and important composer deserving of closer attention. Salieri was the dominant figure in Parisian opera from the mid to late 1780s. Tarare (1787), generally considered his finest achievement in the genre, is a masterpiece. He also wrote significant instrumental, sacred, and vocal compositions, and shaped the Viennese musical world that would produce so many important composers for a century and a half. Salieri's illustrious students included Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Hummel, and Czerny. There is no evidence to support the durable legend that he poisoned Mozart and created intrigues against him. One of his students was Wolfgang A. Mozart, Jr., whom he would probably not have selected for instruction had he harbored such malice toward his father.

Salieri was born in Legnago, Italy, in 1750. At an early age, he took his first lessons, on both violin and harpsichord, from his older brother, Francesco. Later on he studied violin with local organist Giuseppe Simoni. At 15, Salieri lived for a brief period in Padua with another brother, a monk, after his parents' deaths. But his already formidable musical talents had drawn notice, and a family friend, Giovanni Mocenigo, arranged for his continued musical education in Venice. Salieri studied for a year there with Giovanni Pescetti and Ferdinando Pacini.

Impressed by his talents, visiting Vienna Court composer Florian Leopold Gassman took him back to the Austrian capital in 1766, where he taught him composition and introduced him to the court of Joseph II. By 1768, Salieri had composed his first opera, La vestale, probably not a success and now lost. His first surviving opera, Le donne letterate, was good enough to have impressed his new friend Gluck. Armida followed in 1771 and achieved wide success, assuring Salieri recognition in the highest Viennese musical circles.

Salieri was appointed court composer upon the death of Gassman in 1774. In addition, he became conductor of the city's Italian opera company. He was now one of the most influential figures in European music, holding a position of eminence that Mozart and other talented composers of the day would never attain. Salieri went on to score triumphs in Milan (L'Europa riconosciuta; 1778) and in Venice (La scuola de' gelosi; 1778), while he was on leave from the Vienna court for two years. He surpassed these successes with his next operas, given in Paris. With the help of Gluck, Les Danaïdes (1784) was performed to enthusiastic audiences there, but was far overshadowed by the sensation of Tarare (1787). Salieri would never have a finer moment.

In 1788, Salieri became court music director, and he retained the post following the death of Joseph II in 1790. Over the next decade-and-a-half, he did not explore new directions in his operatic style, thus falling out of fashion even before the turn of the nineteenth century. Aware of his own conservatism, he wrote no operas after 1804. He served as court music director until March 1824, remaining active in the musical life of Vienna and teaching many students. He also continued writing sacred and instrumental music.

Salieri fathered eight children and by all accounts was a decent man. Near the end of his life, he was placed in an asylum owing to his deteriorating mental and physical states. He died in Vienna on May 7, 1825. --- Robert Cummings, Rovi

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1.   Introitus - Kyrie
2.   Dies Irae
3.   Offertorium
4.   Domine Jesu Christe
5.   Mater Jesu
6.   Sanctus   Benedictus
7.   Agnus Dei
8.   Libera me, Domine

Philharmonia Orchestra
Pietro Spada – conductor

Antonio Salieri composed a Requiem Mass in 1804 for his own obsequies twenty-one years before his death in 1825. Advance preparation of funeral music by a composer for himself is an unusual act. One other composer who did this was Guillaume Dufay, who left instructions in his will for the performance of his Requiem pro defunctis on the day after his funeral. Of course, there are examples of a Requiem commissioned by a patron, which, because of circumstances, took on a personal meaning for the composer.

Here, we think of Mozart and possibly Michael Haydn. As Haydn composed his Requiem for Count Schrattenbach, who died in December, 1771, he surely thought of his only daughter, who had died earlier that year before reaching the age of one.

Salieri's reasons for writing his death mass at this point in his life are unclear. Rudolph Angermuller believes it to be "his way of withdrawing from public life as a composer," citing the end of his operatic work and his turn to church music and more intimate forms. So, did a retirement from the hurly-burly world of opera prompt him to contemplate his own mortality and think about his funeral service? Possibly. At the same time, religious faith may have motivated Salieri to anticipate his departure from the temporal world and to prepare for his entry into the next world. Evidence for this is examined below.

He also may have had in mind the fate of Florian Leopold Gassmann, his mentor and predecessor as Hofkapellmeister. Gassmann died prematurely, like Mozart, leaving his Requiem Mass incomplete. It has been suggested that Gassmann, who had been ill for at least a year before his death, was thinking of it for himself. One can also believe that Joseph Eybler's masterful setting of the Requiem, written in 1803, affected Salieri as well. Eybler, who became Vice-Kapellmeister in June 1804, enjoyed the special patronage of Empress Marie Therese, who commissioned numerous works from him. She requested the Requiem for a commemoration of the death of Emperor Leopold II (d. 1792). Salieri, whose music seemingly did not interest the Empress, probably attended the performance of this work. Eybler's masterwork perhaps inspired him, although the lack of favor by the Empress must have pained him. While Eybler was the more experienced composer of church music, Salieri was, after all, the imperial Kapellmeister.

In this capacity for thirty-six years, Salieri probably directed the liturgy of the Todesmesse numerous times. The court celebrated not only actual funeral Masses, but kept a regular cycle of memorial Seelenmessen, that is, anniversary Requiem Masses commemorating late monarchs, their families, other royal personages and dignitaries, as well as members of knightly orders, such as the Stephansordensritter and Sternkreuzordensdamen. The annual liturgy of Allerseelen on November 2 also called for a Requiem Mass. Between 1820 and 1900, Requiem Masses were performed in the Hofkapelle 641 times.

Although comparable records for most of Salieri's tenure as Hofkapellmeister are not extant, we may be sure that this practice was equally common, if not more so. Court music collections include a great number of Requiem settings by musicians affiliated with the Hofkapelle and also by "outside" composers. Among the former are Georg Reutter (at least four), Giuseppe Bonno (four), and Josef Krottendorfer (one). "Local" non-court composers included Leopold Hoffmann, Joseph Preindl, Johann Hasse, and Christoph Sonnleithner.

The one-year anniversary Seelenmesse for Gluck, whose actual funeral had been conducted in silence, took place in 1788 under Salieri's direction. For this important service, the newly-appointed Kapellmeister chose the Requiem by Niccolo Jommelli, perhaps because it was the most widely performed Requiem setting of the time. Another Requiem produced by Salieri took place during the Congress of Vienna, for which, as Hofkapellmeister, he had charge of the musical activities. ---questia.com

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