Post by erik on Sept 6, 2023 8:38:11 GMT -5
Despite an overcast early evening, it was still "Mozart Under The Stars" at the Hollywood Bowl last night.
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Bomsori Kim, violin
Mozart: OVERTURE TO "DON GIOVANNI"
Mozart: VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 5 (TURKISH)
Mozart: SYMPHONY NO. 38 (PRAGUE)
Nicholas McGegan, the British-born Conductor Laureate of America's premiere period-instrument orchestra, the Bay Area-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, was on the podium for this all-Mozart program, explaining with dry British wit some of the particulars of the first two works on the evening's program. The first was the overture to what is by far the darkest opera in Mozart's oeuvre, the 1786 opus "Don Giovanni". It is a very inverted kind of opera overture, beginning with the two gigantic ominous chords in D Minor which presage the appearance of the giant statue of the Commendatore at the opera's end who helps drive the libertine, ne'er-do-well titular character to an incendiary demise, before getting into the somewhat jollier main body of the overture, which is in the key of D Major. What was somewhat unusual about the main body of the overture was that Mr. McGegan chose to conduct this at a slightly (but still somewhat jarring) slower pace than is typical for performances of the piece.
After a little bit of orchestral reconfiguration (trumpets and timpani were given a rest here), we had the Korean-born violinist Bomsori Kim come on for Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 (he had written all of his five concertos for the instrument in 1775-76). In fact, Ms. Kim played as if she were a member of the orchestra itself for the first 60-75 seconds of the work before assuming her solo parts, which were very complex and full of well-thought-out violin cadenzas. The Adagio movement, which allowed Ms. Kim the opportunity to display the tenderness of her instrument, was in the very unusual neighboring key of E Major. The finale itself, besides affording Ms. Kim more opportunities for violin virtuosity, was one which integrated elements of Turkish military music, which was how the work was given its nickname, the Turkish concerto.
Following the intermission, we got one of Mozart's most elaborate symphonies, the "Prague" symphony, #38 in his canon. Premiered in the city of Prague (hence the nickname) near the end of 1786, after his opera "The Marriage Of Figaro" had been given a huge standing ovation there, the work, at thirty-two minutes in length (with the expositional repeats in the outer movements), allowed for plenty of dramatic gestures, though there were more tranquil feelings in the middle movement Andante. Meanwhile, the finale, with its rapid-fire velocity, was as exciting as all-get-out; and it may have given Sergei Prokofiev ideas for the finale of his Classical Symphony, which came a little over 130 years later and which was very much an homage to the Mozart//Haydn era.
Even though it cooled off a fair amount with the cloud cover wafting into the sky, it was still another great night of music-making in the hills above Hollywood.
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Bomsori Kim, violin
Mozart: OVERTURE TO "DON GIOVANNI"
Mozart: VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 5 (TURKISH)
Mozart: SYMPHONY NO. 38 (PRAGUE)
Nicholas McGegan, the British-born Conductor Laureate of America's premiere period-instrument orchestra, the Bay Area-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, was on the podium for this all-Mozart program, explaining with dry British wit some of the particulars of the first two works on the evening's program. The first was the overture to what is by far the darkest opera in Mozart's oeuvre, the 1786 opus "Don Giovanni". It is a very inverted kind of opera overture, beginning with the two gigantic ominous chords in D Minor which presage the appearance of the giant statue of the Commendatore at the opera's end who helps drive the libertine, ne'er-do-well titular character to an incendiary demise, before getting into the somewhat jollier main body of the overture, which is in the key of D Major. What was somewhat unusual about the main body of the overture was that Mr. McGegan chose to conduct this at a slightly (but still somewhat jarring) slower pace than is typical for performances of the piece.
After a little bit of orchestral reconfiguration (trumpets and timpani were given a rest here), we had the Korean-born violinist Bomsori Kim come on for Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 (he had written all of his five concertos for the instrument in 1775-76). In fact, Ms. Kim played as if she were a member of the orchestra itself for the first 60-75 seconds of the work before assuming her solo parts, which were very complex and full of well-thought-out violin cadenzas. The Adagio movement, which allowed Ms. Kim the opportunity to display the tenderness of her instrument, was in the very unusual neighboring key of E Major. The finale itself, besides affording Ms. Kim more opportunities for violin virtuosity, was one which integrated elements of Turkish military music, which was how the work was given its nickname, the Turkish concerto.
Following the intermission, we got one of Mozart's most elaborate symphonies, the "Prague" symphony, #38 in his canon. Premiered in the city of Prague (hence the nickname) near the end of 1786, after his opera "The Marriage Of Figaro" had been given a huge standing ovation there, the work, at thirty-two minutes in length (with the expositional repeats in the outer movements), allowed for plenty of dramatic gestures, though there were more tranquil feelings in the middle movement Andante. Meanwhile, the finale, with its rapid-fire velocity, was as exciting as all-get-out; and it may have given Sergei Prokofiev ideas for the finale of his Classical Symphony, which came a little over 130 years later and which was very much an homage to the Mozart//Haydn era.
Even though it cooled off a fair amount with the cloud cover wafting into the sky, it was still another great night of music-making in the hills above Hollywood.