Mozart's Top 5 Beautiful Arias for Female Voice - #5 Ruhe Sanft

Song Details: Two years before Mozart's first successful operatic masterpiece "Abduction from the Seraglio," Mozart began to write "Zaide," a German "rescue" opera that deviated from the norm of a male hero rescuing his lady in distress (like Belmonte rescuing Konstanze in "Abduction") and instead told the story of a heroine, Zaide, who rescues her lover Gomatz. Mozart never finished "Zaide", and the music was not performed until long after he died. Yet Mozart's unmatched genius comes to life in this, Mozart's most lyrical aria, "Ruhe Sanft" ("Sleep Safely"). Performance Details: This production is from the M22 Opera Collection. It is special because this is the debut performance of Mojca Erdmann, a relatively new singer to the stage in 2006, at the Mozart Salzburg Festival. I have heard several different performances of this aria, and only Natalie Dessay matches Erdmann in heart and emotion. Johannes Kalitzke and the Austrian Ensemble for New Music provide orchestral accompaniment.