Amadeus on tap

davisenterprise.com ^ | 9/23/05

[Borges]

All hail the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus.

Musicians and performers from Sacramento to Salzburg, Austria, are preparing to do just that by performing selected works from Mozart's hundreds of compositions.

Beginning in 2006, the Salzburg festivities will include operas, concert series, festivals, galas, expos, special exhibitions and discussion forums that will - as the press releases proudly proclaim - "revolve around our beloved, one-of-a-kind musician."

Salzburg saw the birth of its favorite son on Jan. 27, 1756. The boy, baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus, was the son of Leopold, vice-kaprellmeister to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg.

The senior Mozart, an accomplished violinist and composer, marked his own career by authoring a violin method book in 1756 titled "Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing." Leopold was his son's adviser and critic until his death in 1787.

Showing exceptional musical ability quite early in life, Mozart began playing a piano-like instrument called the klavier at age 3. He was composing music by the age of 5, and some of his earliest compositions for the klavier were written in a music book belonging to his sister, Anna Maria, and titled "Notebook for Nannerl."

At 6, Mozart toured Europe with his father and sister. Sporting blond curls and a polite manner in public, the child prodigy was loved by his audiences. The boy was an accomplished performer, playing the violin, viola and organ as well as the klavier. He had learned the violin without formal teaching; as a young violinist, he received commendations from other musicians of his day.

Later, after abandoning the violin in favor of playing chamber music on the viola, Mozart went on to become a virtuoso klavier player. Although this instrument eventually dominated his career, he also played other keyboard instruments such as the harpsichord and fortepiano.

Mozart once said, of his playing: "Above all things a player should possess a quiet, steady hand, the natural lightness, smoothness and gliding rapidity of which is so developed that the passages flow like oil."

Michael Kelly, who sang in the first performance of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro," is reported to have said that, "(Mozart's) feeling, the rapidity of his fingers, the great execution and strength of his left hand ... astounded me ... he was so very particular, when he played, that if the slightest noise was made, he instantly left off."

After reaching his adult years, Mozart resumed touring. No longer a "child wonder," he returned to Salzburg and worked for the Archbishop. After a confrontation with this worthy in 1781, Mozart resigned.

In 1782, Mozart married Contanze Weber, the daughter of Fridolin Weber, a court musician in Mannheim. They remained married until Mozart's death.

During these final years of his life, Mozart composed a vast quantity of music ... but - ironically - his financial situation worsened. It is said that he made little money and wrote letters requesting small loans from publishers and friends. He began teaching, in an effort to make ends meet.

Mozart died in December of 1791, from what officially was listed as "severe military fever," a term that obviously is out of date by modern medical standards. This vague and nondescript pronouncement has lead to considerable speculation over the years.

Today, it's commonly believed that Mozart died of rheumatic fever, although other theories endure, starting with the more dramatic notion that Mozart was poisoned by a rival named Antonio Salieri. This story became the basis of the Peter Shaffer play "Amadeus," which later inspired the Academy Awarding-winning film of the same title.

Although the actual circumstances of his death are up for debate, this much is known: Mozart, fabled as being penniless and forgotten when he died, was buried in a communal grave in Vienna. Nobody really knows whether his financial situation arose from a lack of funds or poor spending habits. Tales vary from the romantic view - that after knowing he was fatally ill, he slowly declined and died - to reports of a sudden death that shocked his family and friends.

Adding to the romanticism, Mozart was working on his final composition, a Requiem, when he died. Many historians have wondered whether Mozart knew he was dying while writing the Requiem, and perhaps intended to compose it for his own death. Since the piece was unfinished when Mozart died, a student is said to have completed it.

Although Mozart lived only a short 35 years, he remains known for the sheer volume of inspired works in each genre. During his lifetime, he composed 41 symphonies, 23 string quartets, 27 piano concertos, 17 piano sonatas and seven major operas, along with numerous other instrumental and vocal works.

Mozart also influenced other composers. Rossini is said to have remarked, "He is the only musician who had as much knowledge as genius, and as much genius as knowledge." Beethoven is said to have paid homage to Mozart by composing a set of variations on several of his themes, and in 1887 Tchaikovsky wrote "Mozartiana," the subtitle of his Suite No. 4 for Orchestra .

Even now, centuries later, we get a sense of Mozart's great accomplishments from the amazing roster of musical celebrations planned for the upcoming season.

The list of international groups and organizations is impressive. Just a small perusal of the Internet reveals concerts of chamber music in Edinburgh, Scotland; a Mozart series performed by an orchestra in Toronto, Canada; the "Mozart 250" at Arizona State University; and a program titled "Mozart 250 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra," in Great Britain.

The events planned in Vienna are too numerous to mention.

Even Steinway & Sons is having a Mozart birthday sweepstakes.

Davis and Sacramento are not left out of the list, and several noteworthy efforts are scheduled for this area (see sidebar).

The Mondavi Center is getting a head start by kicking off its season with a new series, "Sundays with Mozart."

Mondavi begins its Mozart birthday celebration Sunday afternoon with local pianist Lara Downes, who appreciates the distinction: "I feel really honored that this is the first concert at the Mondavi Center for the year."

Her program - "Perspectives: The Wunderkind" - features some of Mozart's first works, along with piano sonatas written in his late teens and early 20s.

"The piano sonatas are his earliest," Downes explained, "and are so important to his output, that I wanted to go that far to show the development from childhood through his first attempts at really large forms."

Downes brings some interesting perspective and background to this season debut.

"I have an intimate experience with Mozart," she said. "A lot of my studying was done in Vienna and Salzburg. I studied this music with a direct line of teachers from that whole tradition.

"Although not the focus of my performing career - I've tended to spend more time on Romantic and early 20th century composers - it's nice to revisit the classical period at a different point in my life, now having some distance from the time when I was a student."

Downes feels that she now brings a freedom of approach to the material: "a freedom I probably didn't have when I was in my late teens and studying so devotedly."

"Back then, I was more consumed with the perfection. The challenges - or what stood between me and performing a lot of Mozart in the past - were these stylistic parameters that are so clearly defined that you can only let go of them just so far.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with that now, than when I was younger."

But Downes still studies the music intently. "The technical demands are not the toughest; the toughest demands have much more to do with clarity and expression within appropriate stylistic boundaries.

"The notes themselves aren't the big problem, it's what's 'between' them."

Downes, who complements her ambitious performance schedule as director of UC Davis ArtsBridge, a school educational outreach program, has a desire to engage the local community in classical music.

"What intrigues me, being an artist in a university community, is that the audience potentially would have many different interests that would tie into the music in a way that a strictly 'musical' audience would not. I have this idea of presenting concerts in context with references from visual arts to politics."

For now, though, it all comes back to Mozart.

"It's a really nice way to start out the season," Downes concluded, "looking at the music that Mozart wrote when he was so young. It's such joyful music. It's so alive, 250 years later. I hope to provide some humor and insight into what creates the mind and capabilities of a prodigy."

The "Sundays with Mozart" series will last throughout the Mondavi season, with Downes splitting the schedule with the Alexander String Quartet. The quartet, along with narrator Robert Greenberg, will begin their programs on Oct. 9, with Mozart's String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, along with some works by Haydn.

The Mondavi "Sundays" series is Davis' contribution to the Sacramento Mozart Festival 2006. Other participating groups in the area include the Sacramento Ballet, the Sacramento Opera, The Sacramento Theatre Company and the Sacramento Philharmonic.

So take heed, Mozart fans: This is your year.

You should be happy for many months to come.

Upcoming local Mozart events:

- "Sundays with Mozart"

UC Davis Mondavi Center: 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday

Lara Downes - "Perspectives: The Wunderkind"

- "Sundays with Mozart"

Mondavi Center: 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 9

The Alexander String Quartet, accompanied by Robert Greenberg

- Sacramento Philharmonic Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra concerts

Oak Hills Church, Folsom: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11

Temple Or Rishon, Orangevale: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12

Crest Theater, Sacramento: 2 p.m. Nov. 13

- Sundays with Mozart

Mondavi Center: 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 11

Lara Downes - "Perspectives: Mozart in Vienna"

- "Amadeus," by Peter Shaffer

Sacramento Theatre Company: Jan. 25 through Feb. 19

- The Sacramento Philharmonic

Community Center Theater, Sacramento: Feb. 18

All-Mozart valentine salute

- Lara Downes Family Concert: "Mini Mozart"

Mondavi Center: March 19

- "Sundays with Mozart"

Mondavi Center: 2 and 8 p.m. March 26

The Alexander String Quartet, accompanied by Robert Greenberg

- "Modern Masters"

Sacramento Theatre Company: April 28 through May 7

The Sacramento Ballet

- "Sundays with Mozart"

Mondavi Center: 2 and 8 p.m. June 11

Lara Downes and the Alexander String Quartet, accompanied by Robert Greenberg

For further information, check out the Sacramento Mozart Festival 2006 at www.sacramentomozart.org.

Mozart: fast facts

1756: Born Jan. 27, in Salzburg, Austria

1762: Began the first of many tours of Europe ... at the age of 6

1770: Produced the opera "Mithridates, King of Pontus"

1770: Was made a chevalier of the Order of the Golden Spur, by Pope Clement XIV

1778: Mozart's mother dies

1781: Debut performance of the opera "Idomeneo, King of Crete"

1781: Left his post in Salzburg and spent the last years of his life composing and teaching in Vienna

1782: Married Contanze Weber, the sister of a woman he had unsuccessfully courted a few years earlier

1786: Debut performance of the opera "The Marriage of Figaro"

1787: Mozart's father dies

1787: Debut performance the opera "Don Giovanni"

1790: Debut performance of "Cosi fan tutte"

1791: Composed "The Magic Flute"

1791: Died Dec. 5 in Vienna, Austria, and buried in an unmarked grave

During his lifetime, he composed more than 600 works.

[Borges]

PING

[dfwgator]

Rock Me, Amadeus. (RIP Falco)

[mmercier]

Mozart is the best liberalrat repellent I have found yet.

The music offends their sensibilities and they flee like roaches when the lights go on.

Others who can not flee become sullen or belligerent, depending on their personality.

[Pyro7480]

"Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius".

[cloud8]

[sitetest]

Thanks for the ping!

Classical Music Ping List ping!

I expect that for the next 15 months or so, we'll have a lot of Mozart pings. ;-)

This is a moderate volume ping list, typically a few per week to one a day or so. If you want on or off, let me know via FR mail.

Thanks!

[SoDak]

I'd like to be added, please.

[sitetest]

Will do!

[GadareneDemoniac]

A lot of Mozart pings - that's good news!

Thanks for the work you do in putting these pings together!

[sitetest]

Thanks. I enjoy it.

[ZinGirl]

you'd be so proud of me.....at work the other day, I was alll by myself when the phone guy came to install new "hold" music for the phone lines. YEP! I skipped over all the others and chose their 'classical' selections. It was really quite nice...the current selection sounded very baroque...and the boss liked it! yippee!

[neb52]

Can you please add me to your Classical Music Ping List. Thank You

[neb52]

I think it was Toshiba that when calling their Tech Support I would always tell them to put me back on hold. They always played wonderful pieces on their on Hold Music. :P

[sitetest]

Sure!

[sitetest]

Dear ZinGirl,

You've made the world a little better place. ;-)


sitetest

[neb52]

Just wanted to post this link to a good online Classical Radio station.

http://www.classicfm.com/index.cfm?nodeId=35&sw=1024