2005: L’oca del Cairo, Vienna, Orfeo Orchestra

At the 2005 “Toujours Mozart” festival in Vienna-Salzburg, we premiered my Mozart orchestration, L’OCA DEL CAIRO (The Goose of Cairo), commissioned by György Vashegyi.

Mozart had worked on this comic opera with Giambattista Varesco, the librettist of Idomeneo, and had sketched Act I, but was so dissatisfied with the libretto that he stopped working on it after a while.

Eight movements in draft survive, in very different stages of completion: the 4th Aria-Terzetto is practically complete, fully orchestrated, while the only part of the No. 8 Biondello aria is the vocal solo (not even an orchestral bass).

The addition was performed to great acclaim as part of a major Mozart programme at the Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna and at the Residence in Salzburg.