Although in Antonio Salieri’s time there was no controversy about his competence as a composer, today our opinion of this one-time teacher of such luminaries as Schubert and Beethoven is obscured by his unfounded connection to the death of Mozart and a supposed jealous, consuming rivalry with his younger colleague. As this interesting recital shows, Salieri, who was a renowned composer of operas, certainly did have a talent for melody and for applying it to works for the soprano voice. At first listen, you might even be inclined to wonder if these are scraps of Mozartian origin, such as they convey numerous above-average dramatic and expressive qualities. But as we go along, we realize the functional, routine nature of the songs, registering them as examples of customary entertainment of the period, designed for temporary amusement, not for the careful scrutiny of posterity.
Soprano Krisztina Laki has a very pleasing, light quality that’s perfectly suitable for these songs, especially appropriate in combination with the fortepiano accompaniments provided by her able partner Gábor Kósa. This is not music that demands extraordinary technical accomplishment or unusual artistic gifts, but it does show the kind of workaday effort that most of 18th-century Vienna’s composers contributed to that city’s enviable cultural life–and as such gives an interesting view of what you could get away with if you weren’t Mozart. It’s certainly not essential listening, but for the curious or for those wishing to fill in historical gaps, it’s worth a brief visit.
