Sir Charles Mackerras concluded his series of concert performances of Mozart operas with this rarity. No attempt was made to provide a plot or a narration, and the music was left to speak for itself - no bad thing when the cast assembled was well up to the usual standard. Kate Royal was the least known, at the time, but her lovely 'Ruhe, sanft' made it clear that her career would quickly take off. Sadly, the evening does not seem to have been recorded, leaving a conspicuous gap in the Mackerras recorded legacy.
The evening began with a real curiosity in the form of the 'duodrama' Ariadne auf Naxos by Georg Benda. This introduced the audience to the idea of melodrama - high-flown speech delivered to musical accompaniment, delivered by the actress Dagmar Manzel as Ariadne. This was a fascinating piece, if without much prospect of a fully staged performance.
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