A birthday memory (about Mozart)

It is my birthday today, I have the venerable age of 35. I didn't know exactly how to blog about it, I mean blogging it differently than how I did it before. And then I just thought about some memories I have from my birthdays. As an adult, a birthday is just one extra day, you are one day older than before, unless you start thinking that you are getting old. But as a child, it is something magical.

So for some reason today, I had in mind a precise birthday gift I had: when I was 9 or 10 (or maybe younger), I received the life of Mozart on a disc, narrated by Gérard Philippe, from the collection Le Petit Ménestrel. They still sell it, but in CDs. My first Petit Ménestrel was the life of Beethoven, which turned me into a fan, but I think Mozart had a lasting impression on me, for one single reason: there was Finch'han dal vino, an aria from Don Giovanni, on it. It got me hooked on the opera, which I received at my next year's birthday. Since then, Don Giovanni is my favourite opera. My brothers and I used to play the last scene. And it all started with this single aria, which I have been listening to today. So I decided to upload it here, my birthday gift to my readership. It is sung by the baritone Simon Keenlyside. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it when I first heard it.