During the 18th century, not only those in the fine arts considered a stay in Italy to be de rigueur; musicians, as well, held it to be part and parcel of an extensive artistic education. And of course, the Italian sun witnessed a great deal of exchange between northern Europeans of the widest possible origins. The young Mozart, for example, met Thomas Linley there, a British violinist his own age. Johann Adolf Hasse – who was practically considered an Italian – was a generation older. Immediately after his festive opera Ruggiero, Mozart’s Serenata Ascanio in Alba was performed – to much greater acclaim.

Mozart wrote his famous Exsultate, jubilate specifically for castrato Venenzio Rauzzini, who later became a successful composer in London. Flemish violinist Franz Lamotte was sent to Italy to study by his sponsor Maria Theresia. Like Mozart, he traveled to Naples, where he waited in vain – as did Mozart – for an audience at the court.

Reinhard Goebel has intensively studied Mozart’s musical world and those with whom he had contact. For this album, he has put together a program that illuminates the diverse relationships and reciprocal influences of the northern Europeans in Italy, including violin concertos by Linley and Lamotte