Mozart: Six German Dances K. 509; Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major K. 364; Divertimento for strings in F major K. 138; Symphony in D major, ’Paris’ K. 297. Clara-Jumi Kang, violin; Timothy Ridout, viola. Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Andrew Manze Conductor
This was a nicely balanced programme with several work of Mozart’s earlier years (one a masterpiece – the Sinfonia Concertante) and the German Dances.
As far as I can work out, this orchestra is a subset of a larger Salzburg regional orchestra, and their strings have a traditional Austro-German sweetness and rich warmth of sound, Though I could be doing them disservice, nothing I could see or hear suggested in their Mozart guise this is a period instrument band, and I suspect they have probably been playing Mozart in much the same way for a very long time. The acoustic of the hall is quite a lively one – the sound is almost overwhelming when the trumpets, horns and timpani pile into the orchestral texture. I thought that Andrew Manze did very well to keep the textures of these works clear and not muddied, so you can hear the underlying shifts in harmony – helped by splitting the violins, and also to keep these works at speeds which makes them animated but without the gabble that that sometimes mean. I thought he did a very good job with an orchestra that probably seems them come and go all the time.
The Sinfonia Concertante, which is by far the best of these pieces, was particularly effective. The two soloists were obviously listening closely to each other and responding to each other’s intuitions. The slow movement in particular was treasurable
John's musical journey 