Druga, płyta z cyklu koncertów skrzypcowych Mozarta wykonywana przez skrzypaczkę Julię Fischer. Płyta wydana przez wytwórnię Pentatone, znaną z audiofilskiego brzmienia, nagrywającą w formacie Super Audio CD.Opera senza paroleIt is likely that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart planned the three violin concertos he composed between October 12 and December 20, 1775 as (part of) a cycle. This is indicated by both the proximity of the dates of these works and the systematic design of the keys – G major, D major and A major: in other words, covering three of the open strings of the violin. Furthermore, the last movement of all three concertos is a French “Rondeau”. Strangely enough, after writing his Concerto in A, Mozart appears to have lost all interest in the genre. The following year, he added a kind of violin concerto, consisting of an Andante, Minuet and Rondeau, to his Haffner Serenade K. 250, but that signalled the end of his interest in the violin. From that moment onwards, the piano was the instrument he preferred to use in expressing himself. This caused his father, Leopold, great displeasure, by the way: more than once, he admonished his son as follows: “Du weisst selbst nicht, wie gut Du Violin spielst...”.Although as a rule Mozart’s letters provide an excellent insight into his life and ideas, we have no idea what caused this sudden loss of interest in the violin. Was it just a case of the adolescent rebelling against the authoritarian father? Or did Mozart associate the violin too closely with the oppressive Salzburg court of archbishop Colloredo, who in fact dismissed Mozart summarily in the August of 1777?Perhaps the reason is a far simpler one: the young composer just fell under the spell of a new toy – the fortepiano. The letters sent home by Mozart from Augsburg in November 1777 point in the latter direction. During that tour, he enjoyed great success as a violinist. Among others, he played a violin concerto by his colleague Johann Baptist Vanhal: “Ich machte eine Sinfonie und spielte auf der Violine das Konzert B von Vanhall mit allgemeinem Applaus.” But he also placed one of his own violin concertos, the so-called Strasburg Concerto, on the music stands: “Auf die Nacht beim Souper spielte ich das Strassburger Konzert; es ging wie Öl; alles lobte den schönen reinen Ton.” But that is all Mozart had to say about his violin-playing. His other letters from Augsburg contain an impassioned account of the new pianofortes being built by Johann Andreas Stein, from which Mozart succeeded in coaxing an as yet unprecedented range of expression.Pastoral concertoAs far as Mozart was concerned, the instrumental solo concerto was closely related to the operatic aria. This is apparent from the numerous oratorical figures which turn up especially in his piano concertos, such as the recitative-like passages in the slow movements, with the first – and most beautiful – example in the famous Jeunehomme Concerto K. 271 dating from 1777. Furthermore, it is not so much Mozart’s symphonies as his piano concertos and operas which demonstrate the development of his style of writing for the orchestra. One of the most remarkable facts here is that Mozart continued to develop in the opening movements of his solo concertos the thematic structures and proportions he had previously employed in his early opere serie. He also applied the principles of rhetoric to instrumental music.His violin concertos in G and D contain many theatrical elements. Thus Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G, K. 216 – completed on September 12, 1775 – begins with an orchestral ritornello, which directly quotes the aria “Aer tranquillo”. This was taken from his serenata Il Re Pastore, which had received its première earlier that year on April 23. In this aria, the protagonist from the opera, the shepherd Aminta – unaware of his royal descent – sings of his love of rural life. It would not be too far-fetched to state that the simplicity and aristocratic air of the violin concerto is similar to that of the aria. Another remarkable fact is the greater independent role played in this concerto by the wind instruments, and especially by the oboes – which from time immemorial have been considered “pastoral” instruments. Furthermore, the short recitative played by the solo violin just before the recapitulation sounds like a “refugee” from an opera.The pastoral character of this concerto also continues into the second movement. Here, the oboes have been replaced by flutes and the violins con sordino are supported by pizzicati in the double-basses. The well-known Mozart-connoisseur Alfred Einstein justly characterised this movement as “ein Adagio, das direkt vom Himmel gefallen zu sein scheint.”The concluding Rondeau is interrupted by a section in 2/2 time which assumes the character of a French gavotte. This is followed by a waggish melody with a bagpipe-like bourdon accompaniment “a la musette”. According to some experts, this is a quote from a popular song known as the Strassburger and this was the concerto performed by Mozart in Augsburg in 1777.Searching for the Strassburg ConcertoNot only the Violin Concerto in G, but also the Violin Concert in D, K. 218 can lay a claim to the title of Strassburg Concerto. This concerto, which Mozart completed in October 1775, has a far more virtuoso and festive character. The music bears clear traces of the Italian violin tradition of Pietro Nardini, Gaetano Pugnani and Antonio Vivaldi, whose works Mozart must have known and probably also performed. The violin part is restricted to the higher registers, and even soars to the d’’’’ in the finale: the highest note ever demanded by Mozart in his violin concertos.The first movement begins with a dotted martial motif, which regularly appeared at the beginning of a concerto and was known in Mozart’s day as the “Mannheimer Orchestervorhang”. The curtain rises: the – instrumental – opera begins. The structural innovations in this concerto catch the eye. For instance, the violin starts off the development in B minor before returning to the main key, and the recapitulation begins with the second phrase of the solo violin. The slow movement is written in sonata form; however, it lacks the development. The coda was added later by the composer.Once again, it is the final movement – Rondeau: Andante grazioso – which gives rise to speculation. Mozart alternates between passages in 2/4 and 6/8 time. In the middle, he inserts a new Andante grazioso, this time in 2/2 time. Here too, he quotes from a folk melody with an accompaniment “a la musette”, which also appears in one of the symphonies of Mozart’s colleague Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, entitled Ballo Strasburghese. In that case, perhaps the Strassburg concerto about which Mozart wrote was not the concerto in G, but this concerto in D? We will never know. Nevertheless, this is clearly a quote from a highly popular melody. After all, Mozart also used it in the second of his Two Contradances, K. 269b, which he probably wrote that year for Count Czernin. As a rule, this kind of dance was written for the festivities held during carnival season, and composers liked to base the dances on immediately recognizable melodies.The use of a motif from the Mannheim school and the French character of the last movement indicate Mozart’s sublime gift for charming his audiences. It so happened that Mozart brought his violin concerto on the lengthy journey he undertook in the autumn of 1777, which led him to Paris via Mannheim. Thus, he must have deliberately gambled on audiences appreciating his subtle allusions to their own musical traditions.SubstitutesMozart was not easily satisfied. He often spent quite some time perfecting his compositions, or adapting them to the demands and technical prowess of a certain musician. He did this in his operas as well – for instance, in Idomeneo, for which he wrote an entirely new version with extra arias for a performance in Vienna. But on occasion he would also substitute entire movements in his solo concertos. He wrote the Adagio in E, K. 261, in 1776, probably at the request of the Salzburg leader Antonio Brunetti, to replace the slow movement of the Violin Concerto in E, K. 219. Perhaps he also wrote his Rondo in B flat, K. 269, for Brunetti, as a replacement for the finale of the Violin Concerto K. 207, which was also written in that key.
- Wykonawca Fischer Julia
- Data premiery 2005-09-26
- Nośnik CD
