Mozart

“Whenever I play Haydn or Mozart with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, I feel as though I become younger,” says Gábor Takács-Nagy. This time, he will take and administer only one of the two composers whose music he considers spiritual medicine, but in triple dosage. The program of the concert draws an arc from Mozart, the young genius, through the last completed work of the mature composer to a divertimento spanning half of the evening. The opening piece performed only by strings will be followed by the familiar tunes of the Concerto for Clarinet, but this time on viola. The solo part will be played by Máté Szücs, former principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and currently professor at the Geneva University of Music. The concert will conclude with a composition for which the conductor's words are absolutely true: “It has an incredible amount of positive energy and vitality”.

Although Mozart became acquainted with Haydn’s genre-defining string quartets only in 1773, he had already been interested in composing for small formations. In 1772, while resting between two tours of Italy, he composed three divertimentos in Salzburg, which some analysts regard as Italianate symphonies or string quartets. On the one hand, as opposed to traditionally multi-movement divertimentos, all the pieces have three movements (there is no minuet in them) and, on the other hand, they were written for four string parts, so they can also be performed by a string quartet. The joyful and lively first movement of the final piece in the series opens with a unison theme, and then foreshadows the mature Mozart with its intense and creative harmonies. The slow movement abounds with exciting dissonances and even the bright rondo finale is full of contrasting changes of mood and keys.

One cannot be grateful enough to clarinetist Anton Stadler for providing the inspiration for Mozart, who composed his “Kegelstatt” trio for him, along with his clarinet quintet and clarinet concerto. The composer originally conceived the latter as a piece for the basset horn, but changed his mind and wrote it instead for the clarinet, an instrument with a special deep register, of which Stadler was a virtuoso. Completing the piece barely two months before his death, Mozart never heard its premiere. The composition, characterized by calm and reserved virtuosity, includes no oboes, and even the double bass is used sparingly in support of the bass. The soft tone is further refined due to the three-movement piece having no typical fast movement. It does, however, have rich colors, a peaceful song and a gentle, lush finale. This time, the concerto will be performed as arranged for viola in 1802. The range of the viola allows the part to be played in the original register written for the clarinet, without octave changes.

In 1777, there was a most special name-day celebration in Salzburg. Countess Maria Antonia Lodron, a friend of the Mozart family received several musical pieces from Mozart on the occasion. The festive compositions included a concerto for three pianos for the Countess and her two daughters, who were pupils of Mozart, as well as two divertimentos, often referred to as the Lodron Serenades. The Divertimento in B flat major composed for two horns and strings consists of six delightful movements. Its lyrical opening movement gently sets the mood with its sweet tone for the most expansive part of the work. This includes half a dozen variations on the composer’s own theme, and then is followed by one of the two inventive minuets of the piece. The other witty minuet is preceded by a slow movement with some eerie details and a mysterious ending. The divertimento concludes with some drama and a romantic finale which starts slow and then turns into a fast ending.