DESCRIPTION:
This video is from the Senior Recital of Shawn Patrick Fletcher on April 26, 2012.

To call Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) a prodigy is almost an understatement. At age four Mozart had begun playing pieces from his sister's piano book, and at age 5 he had already composed some small pieces of his own. Learning primarily from his father, Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang was able to travel frequently during his youth and into his adult years. As a result, Mozart's style became a combination of Austrian, German and Italian traditions. He then used these different foundations to create music with beautiful melodies, elegant structure, and very rich textures and harmonies. These elements set Mozart's music apart from his contemporaries, and it has been said that he was the only composer of his time to master every style of composition he attempted.

One style that highly influenced Mozart was Italian opera. By the time he was twelve years old, Mozart had composed four operas and displayed a profound understanding not only of the music he wrote, but also in the relationships and the characters he wrote about. It is no wonder that as he continued to mature Mozart wrote some of the most widely loved operas in the world. One of his later operas, Così fan tutte is a wonderful example of Mozart's ability to write music that tells the story through the incredibly colorful characters he creates. In this opera buffa about the fickleness of love two officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo are talked into testing the faithfulness of their lovers. They pretend to be shipped off to war, only to come back in disquise in an attempt to woo the others love. This aria comes after their first attempt fails and Ferrando is both overjoyed and awestruck by the power of love. Eventually, the two girls do give in to the advances of the "strangers" and the deception is revealed. However, in the end, all is forgiven because "Così fan tutte," all women are like that.

Un'aura amorosa
From Così fan tutte

Un'aura amorosa del nostro tesoro
Un dolce ristoro al cor porgerà.
Al cor che nudrito da speme, d'amore
Di un'esca migliore bisogno non ha.

Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte

A loving whisper

A loving whisper from our beloved
Gives a sweet refreshment to the heart.
The heart that is nourished on love's affection
Needs not a better sustenance.

Translation by Herbert Grossman