Although it was only with his da Ponte trilogy that Mozart’s subtle characterization became famous, he already displayed in his early opera, ”La finta giardiniera”, his ability to express in music the most delicate shades of characterization.

Long walks in the garden cannot cure the melancholy poet Ramiro of his sadness, nostalgia and painful love-sickness. He comments ironically on the unfairness of the world. But the prospect of being able to hand over Count Belfiore to the court, his hated rival for the affections of Arminda, on a charge of murder gives him undreamt-of energy - and at the same time plunges his feelings into confusion. The young Italian mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli makes her recording debut for TELDEC CLASSICS in the part of the young man torn between hope and despair. After successfully completing her studies at the Conservatorio di Pescara, she attracted considerable attention with her debut in 1986 as Cherubino in Spoleto. Two years later she returned to Spoleto as Dorabella and laid the foundations for an extremely successful career centred on Mozart operas: ”Don Giovanni” in Rome, ”Le nozze di Figaro” at the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and the Salzburg Festival, "Lucio Silla" in San Francisco and "La finta giardiniera" at the Vienna State Opera.

The cause of Ramiro’s emotional confusion is Arminda, the poet’s former fiancée. Dominating and aggressive in character, the noble lady from Milan thinks she is certain to become the Count's bride. Anyone who comes near her may be sure of a violent rebuff: the servants and her former and even her future fiancé. She is prepared to use any means, even slander, to further her selfish interests in love as in other matters. The dramatic coloratura and sudden changes of emotion in this part are in the best possible hands with Charlotte Margiono, who has taken part in Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s master classes. Born in Arnsterdam and already one of the leading Mozart singers of our times, she has recently been catapulted into the international élite of Mozart singers by her celebrated intcrpretations of Fiordiligi, Countess Almaviva, Vitellia, Pamina and Donna Elvira. A graduate of the Arnhem conservatoire, Charlotte Margiono has had a brilliant career in the opera houses of Hamburg, Aix-en-Provence, Amsterdam, Paris and La Scala, Milan.

One of those who suffers particularly from Arminda’s capriciousness is Countess Violante Onesti, who is living incognito under the name of Sandrina on the Podestà's country estate, disguised as a gardener. She is suffering from deep shock, because her fiancé, Count Belfiore, has stabbed her in a fit of jealousy and fled. When he suddenly appears before her, she is bewildered and tells the thunderstruck Count that Violante is dead. Torn between contempt and forgiveness, she reveals herself in the course of the murder investigation, only to withdraw her admission the next moment. She takes refuge in madness. Edita Gruberova, who for many years has set the standard for contemporary coloratura sopranos, sings the part of the confused Countess. Soon after her debut in 1970 as the Queen of the Night at the Vienna State Opera, the Slovak singer’s star began to shine, and with Zerbinetta in the same opera-house she laid the foundation stone of an unique artistic career. From New York to Milan, from London to Paris, from Barcelona to Munich the praises are sung of the fine artistry of the Austrian ’Kammersängerin'. On film she performed the part of Gilda opposite Luciano Pavarotti; she recorded Violetta and Donizetti's Lucia with Neil Shicoff for TELDEC CLASSICS, she sang Strauss's Adele on stage and Rosalinda in the studio and recently had a triumph with Donna Anna with Thomas Allen and Gösta Winbergh at the Bavarian State Opera.

Fleeing from himself and the consequences of his jealous rage, Count Belfiore, Countess Violante’s fiancé, also arrives at the Podestà's country estate. In his vain self-love he makes great play with his family tree, boasts uninvited of numerous imaginary love affairs, considers himself the most faithful of lovers - yet has lately set his cap at Arminda. The sight of Violante whom he believed to be dead, her denial that she is herself, the impending murder trial and Arminda's jealousy also drive Belfiore to the verge of madness. In this recording Count Belfiore is sung by Uwe Heilmann. Born in Darmstadt in 1961, he made his debut at the Stuttgart State Opera before turning to the great Mozart roles - Belmonte, Tamino and Don Ottavio. A pupil of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, he fascinated audiences in Geneva and at the Vienna State Opera; his 1990 début at the Metropolitan, New York, was so successful that the Chief Conductor, James Levine, immediately engaged him for some other productions.

The only ally of Countess Violante (alias Sandrina) in this strange place is her servant Roberto who calls himself Nardo and pretends to be a gardener. Unfortunately his passionate wooing of the Podestà’s maid Serpetta leads to constant bickering and he also finds the hopeless confusion among all the participants difficult to bear. Anton Scharinger began his career with Mozart, having made his debut at the Landestheater in Salzburg as Guglielrno, and the Salzburg composer's operatic characters have remained his stock in trade. He founded his reputation as a Mozart singer in Harnoncourt's and Ponnelle’s famous Mozart cycle in Zurich and the highlight of his career to date has been his Papageno in Sir Georg Solti’s ”Magic Flute” at the 1991 Salzburg Festival.

Serpetta would like to be much more to her master, the Podestà, than just a maid servant. That is why she keeps a jealous watch over his wooing of Sandrina and misses no opportunity to give vent to her displeasure with the ”gardner” and also with the innocent Nardo. Dawn Upshaw is one of the American continent’s finest singers. Equally famous as an operatic and a Lieder singer, the soprano won the sought-after Grammy Award both in 1989 and in 1991 and can already look back on a remarkahle recording career, including Celia in "Lucio Silla” under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt for TELDEC CLASSICS. Following a sensational début as Donizetti’s Adina at the New York Met, Dawn Upshaw is in demand as a guest in all the world's leading opera-houses.

A very special character is the Podestà - Mayor, land owner and an ageing lecher, who is none too particular about his promises of marriage. Thoroughly puffed-up, he has a predilection for his own employees - about which both Serpetta and Sandrina can tell a tale - gladly dropping his class-consciousness, but naturally only when it is to his own advantage. Everyone is scared of the Podestà, though he is worthy of no respect whatsoever. Thomas Moser, a graduate of the University of California and a pupil of Lotte Lehmann, Gérard Souzay and Martial Singher, concentrated on the Mozart and Strauss repertoire soon after his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1977; though his career was founded on Tamino, Don Ottavio, Tito and Flamand in ”Capriccio", its highlights include his appearance as Florestan at La Scala, Milan and at the 1990 Salzburg festival, as well as Idomeneo at the Opera de la Bastille in 1991 and the Emperor in Strauss’s ”Die frau ohne Schatten" under Sir Georg Solti at the 1992 Salzburg Festival.

”La finta giardiniera” is Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s seventh recording of a Mozart Opera for TELDEC CLASSICS. Born in Berlin 1929, the initiator of the movement for the performance of early music on original instruments in 1953 founded Concentus musicus, an ensemble specializing in historic performance practice, and made his opera debut in 1972 with Monteverdi’s "ll ritorno d’Ulisse in patria”. Between 1975 and 1979 he fascinated the musical world with his brilliant Monteverdi cycle at the Zurich Opera (in co-operation with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle), followed in 1980 by the first work in a Mozart cycle. Harnoncourt, who in recent years has turned increasingly to the Classical and Romantic concert repertoire, has also directed new interpretations at the State Operas in Vienna and Hamburg and at the Amsterdam Opera House; since 1972 he has also taught Performance Practice of Early Music at the Conservatoire of the Salzburg Mozarteum.