Over taxing Mozart

Mozart's Mitridate is an uneven affair but under Adam Fischer the beautiful moments shine even if the singers sound overtaxed

Composer: Mozart
Repertoire: Mitridate, re di Ponto 
Artists: Soloists, Danish Radio Sinfonietta/Fischer
Rating:  3/5
Genre: Opera
Label: Da Capo 6.220580-82

Mozart was only 14 when he wrote Mitridate and sometimes his lack of experience shows. The role of King Mitridate, a despot who rules his family with an iron fist, occasionally employs inappropriately comical musical tropes, for example. But there are some beautiful things, too, and you couldn’t hope to hear them played with more fire or subtlety than under Adam Fischer. Of the singers, only Henriette Bonde-Hansen is on top of her coloratura-rich role. The others all sound dramatically and vocally overtaxed.