HAYDN–MOZART PLUS II: MOZART, CIMAROSA, GRANDJANY, HAYDN

About this event

The Budapest Festival Orchestra presents the last concert of the Haydn–Mozart Plus series, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy. The programme draws an arc from lighthearted entertainment to moving drama. In between Mozart’s Serenata notturna, calling for an unusual orchestral configuration, and Haydn’s “passionate” symphony, the evening will feature a pair of rarely-heard double concertos.

Serenades often begin or end with (or begin and end with) march music, symbolizing the entrance or exit of the musicians. The Serenata Notturna also opens with a march; but for the finale, Mozart chose a tune popular in the streets of Vienna at the time, to emulate the sound of the orchestra moving away. The overture of the work written for two ensembles — a solo quartet and a string group joined by a timpani — assigns a key role to the timpani, while the central minuet showcases the strings in an exchange of elegant and mocking phrases.

Domenico Cimarosa often looked into the compositions of the Viennese masters for inspiration and his Concerto for Flute and Oboe also includes some mockery. One of the great figures of late-18th-century comic opera, Cimarosa snuck several farcical elements into the piece, originally composed for two flutes and arranged for flute and oboe by Heinz Holliger.

One of the most influential harpists of the 20th century, French-American Marcel Grandjany, played a significant role in expanding the harp literature – to which Mozart also contributed. Today’s concert will feature his rarely-performed Symphonic Poem for harp, French horn and orchestra.

Haydn's Symphony No. 49 "La Passione" was written in the spirit of the Sturm und Drang movement, known for its extreme passion. With the exception of the peaceful third movement, the gloomy F minor music is fuelled by stark emotions all the way through. The slow opening movement, rich in contrasts, immediately creates drama, which only grows in the second movement, dominated by large leaps. Following the third movement, the finale marks a return to the gloomy atmosphere which, unusually in a work by Haydn, remains dominant until the end of the piece.

Your ticket purchase will directly support the participating artists through IDAGIO’s Fair Artist Payout Model: IDAGIO pays 80% of the net revenue directly to the performers.

This stream is available to watch until May 1, 2021.

Programme

• 1. Concert – approx. 120 min programme

Repertoire

1. 1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Serenade No. 6 in D major KV 239 “Serenata notturna”

2. 2. Domenico Cimarosa: Concerto for Flute and Oboe in G Major, G. 1077

3. INTERVAL

4. 3. Marcel Grandjany: Symphonic Poem, Op. 6

5. 4. Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F minor Hob. I:49 “La Passione”

Gábor Takács-Nagy, conductor

Anett Jóföldi, flute

Johannes Grosso, oboe

Zoltán Szőke, horn

Ágnes Polónyi, harp

The concert is streamed live from Liszt Academy, Grand Hall, Budapest, Hungary.

If watching a live-streamed event on catch-up, you might need to fast forward to the beginning of the concert.