# Thamos, King of Egypt - Mozart



## RedRaider (Jan 16, 2021)

I recently got a copy of Thamos, King of Egypt for a good deal. I'd never heard of it up to then. But, quite frankly, I found it to be rather enjoyable. Of course it's not quite as famous or popular as The Magic Flute, or Don Giovanni, etc... but it's still a nice and pleasant piece which certainly has it's moments. Quite frankly, I find it to be rather underrated. Perhaps it's because I'm just a little bit partial to Mozart's works in general. 

Interestingly enough, I searched high and low to find posts regarding this very undermentioned work. To my surprise, there are all sorts of threads dedicated to various Mozart works.... except Thamos. 

So... here we go.

Inquiring minds want to know: What do you really think of it?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

This work is not an opera, but incidental music, btw. Aside from the added ballet music, which was written in 1779? (essentially a sturm-und-drang symphony in 4 movements), I didn't really find the vocal stuff memorable. (I haven't listened to it for a long time actually.) Some vocal stuff in early Mozart I find decent: La finta giardiniera K.196, "Ah lo previdi! Ah, t'invola agl'occhi miei" K.272, and the "Neapolitan" missae breves, which I think truly show Mozart's "traits", which would be more fully realized in his later instrumental works:

Look at this part of Bernstein's lecture on Mozart's symphony in G minor K.550: [ 8:07 ]
"Do you realize that, that wild, atonal-sounding passage contains every one of the twelve chromatic tones except the tonic note G? ... Take my word for it, that out-burst of chromatic rage is Classically-contained, and so is the climax of this development section, which finds itself in the unlikely key of C-sharp minor, which is as far away as you can get from the home key of G minor."
> and then look at this modulation from G minor to E major in
missa sancti trinitatis K.167 [ 3:52 ]

Look at - Bernstein: [ 2:03 ] "But notice that Mozart's theme is already chromatically formed. And even more so when it repeats."
> and then look at these passages in
missa brevis K.275 [ 3:07 , 3:18 ] , [ 10:33 , 10:58 ] , [ 14:00 , 14:37 ]
missa brevis K.257 [ 3:57 , 4:10 ] , [ 8:22 , 9:50 ]

Look at - Bernstein: [ 2:59 ] "There's that Classical balance we were talking about -chromatic wandering on the top, firmly supported by tonic-and-dominant structure underneath."
> and then look at these passages in missa brevis K.258 [ 2:53 ~ 3:31 ]

Look at - Bernstein: [ 6:02 ] "Even this lead-in to the home key, is chromatically written, firmly held in place by a dominant pedal." 
> and then look at this passage in
missa brevis K.275 [ 7:12 ~ 7:21 ]

Look at the introduction to the K.465 "dissonance" quartet,
> and then look at this contrapuntal passage of chromatic fourths in 
missa sancti trinitatis K.167 [ 10:47 ]

Also compare K.551/iv with K.192/iii

Luchesi or Salieri, for example, ([E.M.], [H.M.], [R]) don't orchestrate like this: 
spatzenmesse K.220 [ 2:30 ~ 4:00 ]
"On the other hand, for the French, Mozart was certainly not 'one of us' from a national point of view. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, before Berlioz's time, some influential critics - for instance, Julien-Louis Geoffroy - rejected Mozart as a foreigner, considering his music 'scholastic', stressing his use of harmony over melody, and the dominance of the orchestra over singing in the operas - all these were considered negative features of 'Germanic' music."
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## RedRaider (Jan 16, 2021)

I will definitely explore this more.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

simple and elegant yet so full of sorrow (I think the more recent recordings/performances butcher the work by playing too fast)

Nowadays, I can't listen to it without thinking about




(truly Mozart is indebted so much to him)


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I've got the one from the Philips Mozart edition. nice work.
Mozart: Thamos, König in Ägypten, KV 345


Karin Eickstaedt (soprano), Walter Weih (oboe), Theo Adam (bass (vocal)), Eberhard Büchner (tenor), Gisela Pohl (contralto), Hermann Christian Polster (bass (vocal))
Rundfunkchor Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin
Bernhard Klee
Recorded: 1973-10
Recording Venue: Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

hammeredklavier said:


> the more recent recordings/performances butcher the work by playing too fast






(Harnoncourt also does the same, like his take on the Hostias from the Requiem, it ends up being disaster, in my view). Is this the "right way" to do it? I think many conductors don't have good understanding of what Mozart meant or intended with certain gestures.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Maag gets it right


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