Summary: Mozart composed “The Liberation of Bethulia”, based on the Book of Judith, when he was 15 years old, while his family was returning to Salzburg from a musical tour of Italy. Commissioned by the Prince of Aragon, it is the only oratorio Mozart ever wrote. The work’s 2 parts are comprised of 16 arias, with solo or choral parts, choir and orchestra. This ambitious work was never performed in Mozart’s lifetime, however, this work was known to exist by other composers. As a curious note, Mozart’s famous nemesis from the movie “Amadeus”, Antonio Salieri, assigned one of his students a compositional exercise to set an aria from this work for four voices in November of 1812. This student would become the famous composer, Franz Schubert. This exercise was published in 1940 as a composition by Schubert. The story behind this oratorio revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She then sets out to the enemy camp, with her loyal maid and slowly develops a very trusting relationship with the enemy general, Holofernes. Gaining his complete trust, she is allowed access to his tent. One night, while the general is in a drunken stupor, Judith enters the tent and decapitates him and takes the head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, lose courage and return to Assyria, saving Israel. Though Judith is courted by many, she remains unmarried for the rest of her life. This production, by the CMD Grand Opera Company of Venice, is now available at ClassicalRecordings.co
