Opera Scotland

Prima la musica e poi le parole 2007Edinburgh International Festival

Read more about the opera Prima la musica e poi le parole

Back in 1786 Prima la musica was an after dinner entertainment mounted as a companion piece for Mozart's equally frivolous Impresario. In the right circumstances that pairing might just work again. Perhaps something else might be suitable. What became clear in this instance was the fact that, even in a performance as good as this, Salieri's little soufflé fell remarkably flat after a powerful performance of Dido and Aeneas. Will we ever get a chance to taste it again?

The excellent cast worked hard, and the orchestra was superb under McGegan's direction. But it was difficult not to sit there thinking of other works their employment might have justified. Perhaps something by Haydn?

It seemed as though the main reason for performing this work, other than curiosity, was the potentially valid one of comparing it to the similarly-themed Richard Strauss Capriccio to be staged later in the Festival. Unfortunately that production's inadequacy made any such exercise futile.