Grand and powerful music – both brilliant and entertaining. A concerto and a symphony from Mozart, and Britten’s Sinfonietta.
Mozart was a young spark, just 22 years old, when he began writing a concerto for piano and violin. He didn’t finish it, but he did finish a sonata for violin and piano and there’s every sign that these two pieces came from the same creative inspiration. Philip Wilby has done the detective work to turn the concerto fragment into a lively and satisfying whole using music from the sonata.
Benjamin Britten was another young spark, and he’s pushing the envelope with his official first composition, the taut and sophisticated Sinfonietta.
Then there’s some more clever recycling with a three-movement symphony that the enterprising Mozart put together from his ambitious Posthorn Serenade. This is music that’s too grand and powerful to be simple background music, and Mozart brings it into the concert hall as a symphony that’s both brilliant and entertaining.
MOZART Concerto in D for piano and violin, K315f (reconstructed by Philip Wilby)
BRITTEN Sinfonietta
MOZART Symphony in D (from the Posthorn Serenade)
Dene Olding violin-director
Andrea Lam piano
AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – BRITTEN Sinfonietta: Tarantella
Wiener Oktett with Werner Tripp (flute) and Karl Mayrhofer (oboe)
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 2406
Track 2 – MOZART Symphony from the Posthorn Serenade: Andantino
Track 3 – MOZART Symphony from the Posthorn Serenade: Finale (Presto)
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Peter Maag
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 9701
Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.
Available for purchase: Posthorn Serenade