Sylvia McNair - Mozart: Concert aria K.383 Nehmt meinen Dank, Live 1987

THE SONGBIRD: American soprano Sylvia McNair was in the top tier of singers from the late 1980s through the turn of the century. At Indiana University, she studied with coloratura soprano Virginia MacWatters and legendary soprano Virginia Zeani. McNair was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1982 and then sang frequently in concert work and operas with some of the era's leading conductors. She made over commercial 70 recordings, including four solo recital discs for the Phillips label. Honestly, I was never a huge fan as I found her tone too pallid and generic, and her style overly placid -- but I confess this live rendition of Mozart's charming concert aria K.383 "Nehmt meinen Dank" is done with a beguiling warmth and a gentle smile in the voice.

THE MUSIC: K.383 is an outlier in the body of work Mozart composed for Aloysia Weber. Aloysia was an incredible virtuosa coloratura soprano and all of the arias, ornaments, and roles he wrote for her are exceptionally showy, festooned with coloratura tricks and adorned with extreme high notes. Not so K.383. This simple, appealing piece was written in April 1782, around the same time as his "Abduction from the Seraglio," which premiered in July that year. It is a subtle and intimate "encore" type of aria that is intended to close a concert, with nary a high note in sight and a vocal range of just over an octave. I believe Aloysia was pregnant at the time (hence she was not cast in Abduction, as might have been expected) which might be part of the reason this aria is quite modest in scope, and yet so effective because of it.

[mfaqd]

This was lovely. My favorite recording of this is by Felicity Lott, with Jane Glover, well worth looking for.

[SimonWright]

What are rarity!! What else did she sing in this concert ?