Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante
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- What you'll hear
- About the music
- Take a listen
Memories. Subversion. Sweet sweet melody.
Who’s on stage
Our very own Royal Northern Sinfonia, with our brilliant violinist Maria Włoszczowska in charge and joined by special guest viola player Timothy Ridout.
What they’re playing
The heart of the concert is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante – which is basically one great tune after another. Following that is Franz Schuberts Death and the Maiden. The dramatic title is more than matched by the actual music, especially as we’re playing Gustav Mahler’s bigger, full-fat version.
Need to Know
Price: £17 – £43
Running time: 1 hour 50 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.
What you'll hear
Lera Auerbach Sogno di Stabat Mater (12’)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra (30′)
Franz Schubert (arr. Mahler) Death and the Maiden (40′)
Who's playing
Maria Włoszczowska director/violin
Timothy Ridout viola
Royal Northern Sinfonia
What’s going on in the music
Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden started life as a string quartet. Full of emotion, but small scale; neat and manageable. Gustav Mahler, a composer not known for subtlety or for doing things by halves (he wrote a piece called ‘Symphony of a Thousand’) decided that it could all do with a bit more oomph, upsized it to a full string orchestra and amped up the emotion.
Half concerto, half symphony
Ok, so we often play symphonies – amazing showcases for the full orchestra. And often play concertos too, a vehicle for a star soloist. A Sinfonia Concertante basically takes the best bits of both – you’ve got soloists, but they’re on an equal billing with the orchestra. Everyone gets to shine.
Teamwork
You might notice that tonight we don’t have a conductor. Truth is, we don’t always need one. Instead our violinist Maria is stepping up and doing a bit of direction instead. She won’t be standing in front of the orchestra but will keep things in check from her position at the front of the orchestra. Rather than rely on the conductor to keep everything on track this means tonight is more about teamwork, everyone looking out for each other. Impressive.
Take a listen
See Timothy Ridout performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with our pals at Manchester Camerata.
