Another week in May has passed by and that means another week of inconceivable music- making with
Maestro Muti and the CSO has finished. The alternate week of this spring occupancy featured a classical
program, including Cimarosa’s preamble to Il matrimonio segreto, Mozart’s Violin Concerto № 4( w/ CSO
concertmaster Robert Chen as soloist), and Mozart’s Serenade № 10 for 13 instruments( else known as the Gran Partita).

The connections between the Neapolitan academy( suppose melodists like Cimarosa, Paisiello, Jommelli, Scarlatti,etc.) and Mozart have always been explosively apparent, and to have Maestro Muti lead the preamble to Cimarosa’s pieces, Il matrimonio segreto( a dramma giocoso) was such a perfect way to protest off this classical Mozartian program. analogous to last week with Wagner’s preamble to Tannhäuser, whenever Maestro Muti conducts melodramatic pieces, you can always anticipate him to find and bring out the essential drama and singing lines of the piece, which always makes these preludes such a pleasure to hear.

This transfers right over to Mozart’s euphonic work, which are really all melodramatic in nature. In fact,
Maestro mentioned that all of Mozart’s euphonic workshop should be conducted operatically, whereas all his melodramatic workshop should be conducted with a euphonic emphasis. This principle surely applies to the Mozart Violin Concerto № 4( it’s so clear that the solo violin lines, for illustration, in the alternate movement, are basically Mozart writing for a songster) and the Gran Partita, which was one of the absolute highlights of this season. The Gran Partita is scored for 13 instruments( 12 winds and 1 double bass), and to have the CSO musicians play this piece under Maestro Muti was pregnant, to say the least. First of all, this work is a complete masterpiece — the way Mozart is suitable to produce so numerous different atmospheres, moods, and colors with the different registers and timbres of the winds is phenomenal you just have to ask yourself how on earth a human was suitable to write similar inconceivable, refined music.

As Maestro Muti always says, when they asked Rossini who the stylish musician was, he answered “ Beethoven ”, but when they asked about Mozart, Rossini replied to the effect that Mozart was simply on a different aeroplane , advanced than all of us. While utmost people know this work due to the third movement Adagio being prominently featured in the film Amadeus, which of course, is a sublime piece of music, my absolute favorite part of the entire work has to be the sixth movement Tema con variazioni especially the fifth variation. How the solo oboe( Will Welter is absolutely amazing then) enters in amongst the mist of the clarinets basset cornucopias cornucopias- like an arising light in the darkness, as Maestro Muti so eloquently described to us latterly is just one of those moments that makes time stop. And it was super cool( and rare!) to see Maestro Muti conducting in the more intimate chamber setting, which worked so well since he could shape and balance the intricacy of the individual voices throughout each of the movements.

And how he brought the melodramatic drama to the van( similar as in the fifth movement Romanze( Allegretto), the fourth variation in the Tema con variazioni, and the seventh movement homestretch) just masterful. Bravissimi tutti! Anyways, there’s one
final week of this May occupancy left( sad how these weeks go by way too snappily). hereafter, Maestro
Muti leads a Civic Orchestra trial of Mussrogsky’s filmland at an Exhibition and on Tuesday, one final
performance of this Cimarosa/ Mozart program. And also latterly in the week is the featured program
Mozart’s Divertimento in F-major, Kraft’s Timpani Concerto, Respighi’s Antiche danze ed arie( Suite I), and
Respighi’s Pini di Roma. It’s going to be a excited week( since I ’m also trying to finish up my thesis
donation slides haha) but in the end, it ’ll all be worth it! To calm the impending stress( as my defense date looms near and near), I shall be harkening to the Gran Partita in the meantime