Angela Hewitt Plays Mozart
Delicate. Bright. Toe-tappingly good.
Who’s on Stage
A very special guest joins Royal Northern Sinfonia for this concert – pianist Angela Hewitt, a expert in the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
What they’re playing
Wall to wall Mozart! What’s not to love? Two piano concertos plus the Prague Symphony.
Need to know
Price: £17 – £43
Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes, including a 20 minute interval.
Discounts: Save if you’re local, unemployed, a first timer.
Age: Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
Concert programme: revel in the music with your free PDF programme
What you'll hear
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 6 (20’)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 (31’)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 38 ‘Prague’ (26’)
Who's playing
Angela Hewitt director/piano
Maria Włoszczowska director
Royal Northern Sinfonia
It's better live
Mozart’s music is sometimes dismissed as being ‘just’ pretty and without depth, but while it’s maybe TOO familiar from background music or your dreaded ‘your call IS important to us’ music, there’s nothing like a live performance to remind you of its genius, and to hear its various layers. You can enjoy it for its prettiness, but there are often more profound things going on under the surface.
What's going on in the music
You get that prettiness straight away in the sixth piano concerto. It’s like the musical equivalent of a chocolate box village. Perfection. But even though he wrote it when just 20, there’s poignancy and wistfulness too, especially in the middle of the concerto. His Piano Concerto No.24 is more grown-up. Muscular, angular, and assertive right from the start, even a bit dark. His Prague Symphony is a fun-filled end to the night with an ending which is hard to resist.
We're going hands free
Whisper it, but you don’t always need a conductor. Sometimes, with a smaller orchestra, like that used in Mozart’s music, you’re just fine without. In Mozart’s Prague symphony, Maria will direct the orchestra from the lead violin. She’ll give some cues and keep things in check, but otherwise, this is collaborative, with group decisions made in rehearsal on things like speeds and variations in how loud or soft the orchestra is. Teamwork in action.
