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Mozart Piano Concertos 1 to 6
Terrific and full score.Now I shall be able to appreciate this wonderful composer even more.Thank you Amazon. ... Read more

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Complete in Italian and English, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ideal for following a recorded performance, or for familiarizing oneself with a libretto before a live performance, this volume contains the complete libretti of three of Mozart’s most popular operas. Excellent line-for-line English translations face the Italian texts. Also included are introductions, plot synopses and lists of characters for each opera. Translated by Robert Pack and Marjorie Lelash.
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Customer Reviews (4)

Shame Dover, shame
The Cosi Ran Tutte libretto was what I read first after purchasing this Dover book--I have not checked the others. Here and there chunks of Cosi are missing --it is not "complete"as the title claims.

Inaccurate presentation, unexplained omissions, mistakes in the translation
This is an awful edition of these libretti.

First of all, the editors have given us, not the libretti themselves, but a record of what is sung in the opera. That is, if a character repeats a word, the editors have correspondingly repeated that word in the text, as many times as the character repeats it, even if in the libretto as it was written, each word appeared only once. This unnecessarily bloats the text, since words tend to be repeated in this opera with a surprising frequency. For example, on p. 64, during the Act II Finale, the editors print an exchange between Figaro and the others as follows:

FIGARO: Nol conosco.
SUSANNA: Nol conosci?
FIGARO: No!
LA CONTESSA: Nol conosci?
FIGARO: No!
IL CONTE: Nol conosci?
FIGARO: No!
SUSANNA, LA CONTESSA, IL CONTE: Nol conosci?
FIGARO: No! No! No!

This is not only unnecessary, it is not even an accurate record of how the passage is sung: The first line of Figaro's should be "Nol conosco, nol conosco." Furthermore, it obscures the structure of the text, hiding the rhymes and making many lines scan improperly.

Of course, even without the repetitions, you would have difficulty scanning the lines anyway, because the editors have inserted the line-breaks incorrectly. For example, on p. 12 the Duet between Figaro and Susanna is printed as follows:

FIGARO: Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama --
Din, din, din, din --
In due passi da quella puoi gir.
Vien poi l'occasione
Che vuolmi il padrone--
Don, don, don, don --
In tre salti lo vado a servir.

The correct lineation is:

Se a caso Madama
La notte ti chiama:
Din din: in due passi
Da quella puoi gir.
Vien poi l'occasione
Che vuolmi il padrone,
Don don in tre salti
Lo vado a servir.

This is not a merely technical objection. The faulty lineation and unnecessarily repeated words obscure the structure of the text, hide the rhymes, and undercut the ingenious way in which words and rhythm are united in the music. And they are rife throughout the book.

In the Foreword, the editors, perhaps in an effort to justify these peculiarities, write that "our texts approximate as closely as possible what our readers will actually see and hear, since this book is intended not as a scholarly work but as an attempt to make the riches of Mozart's operas more accessible to a less specialized audience." I agree with these goals, but I think that introducing faults into the work was not the way to achieve them. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect. The "scholar" and "expert" will be able to correct the lines and restore their original harmony: it is the "less specialized" man who loses out in the end by having "the riches" of the work obscured.

Last but not least, as a previous reviewer noted, the editors have introduced arbitrary cuts into the work. Not only No 28 of Cosi Fan Tutte (Despina's aria "E amore un ladroncello"), but also the preceding number is cut (Ferrando's recitative and aria "In qual fiero contrasto... Tradito, schernito"). There appears to be no reason or system behind these cuts. In Marriage of Figaro, Marcellina's aria "Il capro e la capretta" is included with the footnote "usually omitted in performance", but Basilio's following aria, "In quegli anni, in cui val poco", which is omitted from performances with equal frequency, is cut from the text without even a note. These are only some of the more glaring excisions, which are widespread, and sometimes even lead to mistranslations.

For example, on p. 106, in a bit of Figaro's recitative, the Italian text reads "In questo stesso loco celebrerem la festa della mia sposa onesta e del feudal signor" meaning "In this very place we will celebrate the wedding of my honest wife and the feudal lord", but this phrase has no translation on the English side. Instead, the English side reads: "Hide yourselves, and don't come out until I whistle", presumably a paraphrase of what would have been the following line: "Voi da questi contorni non vi scotate; ... a un fischio mio correte tutti quanti", which, however, was cut from the Italian text without any mention. In other words, the editors printed one part of the Italian text, but translated the other part. This has one slight benefit: it allows us to reconstruct the portions of the text that have been left out.

Here is one further example of the awkwardness of this edition. It is the very first page of the very first opera in the book, The Marriage of Figaro:

FIGARO: Cinque -- dieci -- venti --
Trenta -- trenta sei -- quarantatre.
SUSANNA: Ora si, ch'io son contenta,
Sembra fatto in ver per me.
FIGARO: Cinque.
SUSANNA: Guarda un po', mio caro Figaro!
FIGARO: Dieci. Venti.
SUSANNA: Guarda adesso il mio cappello!
FIGARO: Quarantatre.
SUSANNA: Guarda un po' mio caro Figaro.
Guarda adesso il mio cappello!
FIGARO: Si, mio core, or e piu bello.
Sembra fatto in ver per te.

First of all, the first two lines are incorrectly printed: "Trenta" belongs at the end of the previous line, giving it its full count of eight syllables, and rhyming pleasantly with "contenta". Secondly, all the material betwen "Sembra fatto in ver per me and Susanna's last "Guarda un po'" is unnecessarily repeated text. We do not need it. The passage should read:

FIGARO: Cinque -- dieci -- venti -- trenta --
Trenta sei -- quarantatre.
SUSANNA: Ora si, ch'io son contenta,
Sembra fatto in ver per me.
Guarda un po' mio caro Figaro.
Guarda adesso il mio cappello!
FIGARO: Si, mio core, or e piu bello.
Sembra fatto in ver per te.

Here the rhymes (cappello -- bello, trenta -- contenta, me -- te) pop out, the rhythm of the lines is preserved, and the structure of the text is much easier to grasp.

These may seem minor problems, but they add up throughout the text, and with the amount of crossing out and rearranging that you will have to do in order to understand the real structure of the text, you might as well write down the words yourself.

These Dover libretti do not even have the advantage of matching the Dover score, despite the Bibliographical Note at the front of the book claiming that "The Italian has been tacitly corrected to conform with the Dover full scores of these operas." If you try to use the Dover score together with these libretti, you will notice some discrepancies, and not only in cases where some text that is present in the score has been cut from the libretto. Sometimes a passage, present in both the score and the libretto, has a different wording in each. For example, on p. 106 of the libretto, Bartolo asks "Ma che guadagni?"; at the corresponding place in the score, he asks "Ma cosa nacque?"

Furthermore, the scene numbers, present in the Dover score, have been left out of the libretti. It may well be the case that "the system of beginning another 'scene' every time a new character is introduced seems antiquated and confusing," but it is even more confusing to try to line up the Dover score with the Dover libretto. We are left to turn pages in a vain search for a piece of text, which we will never find anyway because it has been cut out or changed.

I would give this zero stars if it were possible. It deserves the lowest rating. Don't buy it.

mariage of figarodon giovanicosi fan tutte
verygood

"Complete in Italian and English" is misleading
I picked up this book, because I was writing a paper and thought that having the libretto of Cosi Fan Tutte would be helpful. I would not have bought the book had not the word "complete" been on the front cover. However, it is not complete: Aria N. 28, which was the reason for my buying the book, was completely cut out. I found this very irritating.

Other than that, I found this an easy and pleasent read, and facing pages of Italian are always nice ... Read more

Product Description
This concerto was unavailable for a long time, but now this Kalmus edition will bring it back to concert stages everywhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Two-piano score
Don't get fooled as I did by this one: it is NOT (as I had thought) the orchestral pocket score, but a two piano/four hands reduction. Product info is totally uninformative about this, and the only way I could have known would have been to look REALLY carefully at the product photo. ... Read more

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Exactingly reproduced from the authoritative Breitkopf & Härtel edition, this superb full-score edition offers music lovers a rare opportunity to study and follow performances of this great comic opera, one of the most engaging and least pretentious masterpieces in the repertory.
Amazon.com Review
Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail--the Abduction from theSeraglio-- was one of Mozart's first operatic hits, and receivedperformances all over Europe, even if the emperor did think itcontained too many notes. Too many tenors is closer to the mark (themale roles include two tenors, one bass, and one character who onlyspeaks), but this singspiel is a bright and bubbly work, endearing inits comic scenes and impressive in its serious moments. This score isone of Dover's reprints of other publishers. That means that it's notthe most up-to-date edition available, that the words appear in Germanonly, and that it's not as suitable for singers to use as a plainpiano- vocal score would be. But this is a reasonably priced versionthat gives the student or enthusiast the opportunity to check out justhow Mozart achieved that great "Turkish" instrumental color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Solo lines written in strange clefs
This score has the soprano parts written in D clef. Yes you heard me right. That means anything above a D that would usually be on the staff is now a ledger line above.Other solo parts are written in various clefs none of which seem to be G or F.It might be fun to follow along when listening to a recording, but learning a part is made harder by the unnecessary amount of ledger notes.Would not recommend this score to anyone hoping to learn a part.Also, the words in this score differ significantly from the Barrenreiter.

Grand Opera!
Mozart's opera that Premiered in Vienna to welcome the Turkish Ambassador, is absolutely beautiful. This score, is the perfect score for the Mozart lover.The score contains a table of contents, and the complete dialog.(The dimensions up in the info. box, is not relly true, it is about thesize of the score of La Traviata) The score is pure genius, showing thepure genius of Mozart, and spice given to him to empress audiences today,from the Ouverture, to "Marten Aller Allen" to the geautifulturkish finale "Bassa Selim gethan" pure genius! i was soimpressed when i saw the score, that I had to buy a recording the same dayI bought the score! Buy this score! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Gem!

This is a fine diminutive work by a man who was arguably the giant of the 20th Century Christian theologians, about the man who is arguably the most brilliant of classical composers.What a terrific combination that is!

Karl Barth tells us that he began each day with Mozart and he confesses that when he arrives in heaven -- if such a happy lot is his -- that he will first seek out Mozart, before St. Augustine and the other great theologians of the past.So we know the high admiration Dr. Barth has for Mozart.

Some observers are a bit put off by Dr. Barth's scholarship and profundity in others of his works, and that is their prerogative, of course.But in this small volume, he does something that he does in other places as well -- recognize the value of sacred music to the developing soul of a Christian.One need only to recall the famous response he gave to the question about what was the greatest theological truth he had discovered.Dr. Barth's answer was to repeat the simple yet profound lyrics of Anna B. Warner, "Jesus loves me, this I know..."

There have ever been and will always be those who have been drawn to the faith by hymns and anthems, as well as those who have become followers of Christ, not because of theologically brilliant arguments, but rather because of the deeply conveyed truths of sacred music.Barth argues that Mozart has a remarkably high ability to do this.

He also argues that Mozart knew how to play -- which is entirely in keeping with what we read in the many biographies of the composer.Into adulthood, this former child prodigy kept the child-like ability to find enjoyment and convey it to others.No wonder so many are captivated by his music.

If you can get your hands on this little gem, do so. It will be well worth the effort.

Fans and non-fans alike, this one's for you.
Karl Barth, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Eerdmans, 1956)

Karl Barth, never the world's most orthodox theologian, released a small number of monographs on Mozart during his life, culminating in a keynote speech at a Salzburg festival honoring Mozart's 200th birthday. Eerdmans reprinted the lot of them not long after the festival. So what is it, exactly, that a theologian, no matter how unorthodox, would have to say about one of history's greatest iconoclasts?

Barth makes the argument that Mozart was quite the opposite, the living voice of God on Earth. He attempts to understand the glory of Mozart's music (and in the process refute various tunnel-vision styles of Mozart scholarship popular at the time) in light of Mozart's single-minded, exclusive dedication to music (pointing out a number of times that Mozart was almost impervious to other forms of media, as well as current events). Not an original response to Mozart, but one that, perhaps, had never previously been codified-Barth gives us an understanding of Mozart from the gut, running it through the brain in order to translate it into words.

Barth is always a good writer. Where many of his books in English fail is in the translation; German can be a nasty language viewed from the perspective of English speakers. The translation here is hands down the best I've ever seen in a piece of Barth's work. The book is easy and accessible. Too bad the same translator didn't work on the Dogmatics.

Wonderful stuff, highly recommended not only for Mozart fans but also for those who want to gain an understanding into why Mozart's music is so revered. **** ... Read more

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Chorus parts only
The product description is a bit misleading- I thought it was the entire Faber score.As it turns out, I am stuck with chorus parts only. ... Read more

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Formerly released as a collection in one volume (50481735), these individual concertos are now available to musicians at affordable prices. The editions are by Barry Tuckwell, the most promiment French horn player of his generation. Parts are included for

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Provides new English translations and the original librettos of Mozart's seven most popular operas. ... Read more

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Containing The Italian Text, With An English Translation And The Music Of All The Principal Airs. This Book Is In German. ... Read more

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This sheet music was newly engraved from early and authoritative editions. ... Read more

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Preface * I. Molto Allegro * II. Andante * III. Menuetto / Trio. Allegretto * IV. (Finale). Allegro assai ... Read more