[piano intro] - [Announcer] Funding for "Love According to Mozart" provided by Deerfield, Gillespie Dental Associates, Frugal Framer, Mercy Urgent Care, Laborde Eye Group, BlackBird Frame & Art, Gould Killian CPA Group, Tops For Shoes, HomeTrust Bank, Groce Funeral Home, Asheville Eye Associates.

[soft orchestral music] ♪ - Hello and welcome, my name is Darko Butorac.

I'm the music director and conductor of your Asheville Symphony.

Tonight's program features the music of Mozart.

Mozart wrote so much music during his relatively short life.

He's known for his symphonies.

He's known for his string quartets, for his piano concertos.

Above all, Mozart was a stage composer.

If we look at his output, the amount of opera takes up such a significant portion and really still dominates in the repertoire until this day.

The reason this is, is because Mozart touches the most basic key points of what it is to be human.

And so tonight we'll do a little survey of some of the most popular works from his operas, the great operas, "Don Giovanni," "Marriage of Figaro," "Cosi Fan Tutte" and even a little selection from "Magic Flute."

Enjoy the show.

[audience clapping] ["Marriage Of Figaro"] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] I'm very excited to be with you here today at the Diana Wortham Theater.

I welcome baritone, Corey McKern and soprano, Christina Pier Cornin, welcome.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- To me, what I love about Mozart is...

These works have relevance because they deal with the most basic human needs, emotions, fears.

What is it like for you two to work with Mozart?

I'll start with Christina.

- Well, and it's interesting on this concert because we're singing a lot of different Mozart characters.

So to have a span, really of, you know, Zerlina to Pamina to Fiordiligi to The Countess and Donna Anna...

It captures a whole wide range.

And they are all topics on love.

Some of innocence, some of being a little bit more... You know, an older woman who maybe is a little bit wiser and kind of handling situations herself.

But it really is timeless.

I think that all of the threads, the situations may be a little bit antiquated.

You know, certainly with the Count, for example.

But the themes and the feelings and the emotions, I think, are all still very, very relevant today.

And accessible also.

- Yeah, I mean, Mozart is so well written for the voice.

He was obviously, undoubtedly, a genius.

And so the way his vocal lines fit with the orchestra is in my opinion, second to none.

So it's so wonderful to sing and not easy to sing.

You know, you really have to pace Mozart in a certain way.

And then there's also this lightness.

You know, the stories can be very dramatic but they're very concise and you're able to tell them in a very direct manner.

[audience clapping] ["Marriage of Figaro"] ♪ ♪ [Christina singing in Italian] [audience clapping] Yeah, I have to say the Hai già vinta la causa, the Count's aria.

- Yeah.

- Is such a great piece dramatically and it has a long arc to it and has a really great accompanying recitative at the beginning.

Lot of fun to sing.

- Different characters.

- Yeah.

- The character is really going through kind of a revelation.

- A lot.

- And you get to see the change from the beginning to the end of the aria.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- And the orchestra is reinforcing everything.

No, I, we talked earlier, actually, how this is the Mozart aria for baritone.

[audience clapping] [Corey singing in Italian] ["Marriage of Figaro"] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] In addition to Mozart, we feature a couple of other composers this evening.

The second set will open with a piece by Boccherini, an Italian composer who made his career in Spain and the piece is called "La Casa Del Diavolo."

Translates to "The House of the Devil."

It's a very dramatic piece.

That actually was stolen from Willibald Gluck, a opera composer from his ballet called "Don Juan."

"Don Juan," "Don Giovanni."

Gluck wrote the ballet.

Boccherini stole the music for his symphony and Mozart wrote the opera.

Boccherini takes it and readapts it in his own way but ultimately it's based on the same story as the opera that Mozart deals with.

["La Casa Del Diavolo"] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] ["Marriage of Figaro"] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [audience clapping] ["Don Giovanni"] [Corey singing in Italian] ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] ["Don Giovanni"] [Corey singing in Italian] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] [Corey singing in Italian] ["Don Giovanni"] ♪ [Christina singing in Italian] ♪ [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Corey singing in Italian] [Christina singing in Italian] [Corey and Christina singing in Italian] ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] ["Cosi Fan Tutte"] ♪ [Corey singing in Italian] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] ["The Magic Flute"] [Christina singing in German] [Corey singing in German] [Christina and Corey singing in German] [Christina singing in German] ♪ [Corey singing in German] ♪ [Christina and Corey singing in German] ♪ [Christina and Corey singing in German] ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] We're working on Mozart.

We call this concert "Love According to Mozart."

What's your favorite number this evening?

If I can ask.

- Probably "Come Scoglio" or "Don Ottavio Son Morta."

Those are just really juicy, dramatic pieces to sing.

- Yeah.

- There's a lot of emotion that happens fast and I love the strength of those women.

And so for me...

The recitative, you know, which is the action going into the arias which is more a reflection, I think, on the emotion is... Really fun to get to play that wide range.

["Cosi Fan Tutte"] [Christina singing in Italian] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [audience clapping] [orchestral music] ♪ ♪ - [Announcer] "Love According to Mozart" was created in partnership with Worthham Center for the Performing Arts, Kimpton Hotel Arras, Asheville, North Carolina Arts Council, Explore Asheville, The Payne Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Bolton, University of North Carolina, Asheville, Asheville Symphony Guild, Asheville Symphony Symphonettes.