Ekaterina Lekhina unspools one of Mozart's most beautiful arias

THE SONGBIRD: Ekaterina Lekhina is Russian and studied in Moscow at the Academy of Choral Art. She won first prize in St. Petersburg (2005) and at Operalia (2007). Her professional debut in 2006 was with the Vienna Volksoper as Madame Herz. She also sang Queen of the Night there, a role she has done frequently including in Munich, Berlin, Hanover, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Beijing, Hong Kong, Treviso, Geneva, Tel Aviv, and Moscow. She was Olympia at Covent Garden in 2008. Other coloratura roles have taken her to Chile, Aix, Monte-Carlo, Brussels, London, Canada, Madrid, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Karlsruhe, Tokyo, and Verona, and she has performed regularly in Russia in both opera and concerts.

THE MUSIC: "Zaide" is an unfinished opera by Mozart, composed in 1780, but abandoned when a commission for "Idomeneo" came in from Munich. "Zaide" is a singspiel on a Turkish theme, very similar to his "Abduction from the Seraglio" composed in 1782. The music for "Zaide" was discovered by Mozart's wife Constanze after his death, among his music manuscripts. Though incomplete, there is still plenty of music, including three arias for the title character, a soprano. The most well-known aria from the work, and one of Mozart's most beautiful, is the placid, long-breathed slumber song, "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben."