Mozart Week – cabbage, turnips and Mozart
really right now? Mozart’s “Little Night Music” as a prelude to the Requiem! You rubbed your eyes on the Tuesday before the concert at the Mozart Week in Salzburg – and afterwards too. There is no plausible reason for this pairing. The Mozart Week programs this year not only look a bit like cabbage on paper (in any case: meatless). The Requiem can be heard twice, now with the Concert de Nations and the Capella Nacional de Catalunya under Jordi Savall, on Saturday with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Singverein under Thomas Guggeis. Both times in the Süssmayr version. The Little Night Music will also come again, on Sunday with the Mozarteum Orchestra. This is perhaps good for getting to know the piece better, because a sizeable group of visitors seemed surprised on Tuesday that the well-known first movement was followed by more. In any case, early applause after the opening Allegro – Mozart connoisseurs are out and about in Salzburg! Perhaps it was the same people who applauded the final chord of the Requiem. Happy mood destroyer.
Other observations on Tuesday: The violinists of Le Concert des Nations should practice the trio of the “Kleine Nachtmusik” and there was no need to rattle about the final movement. You can also play beautifully without vibrato. In the Requiem, which musicians die evidently remembered better, Jordi Savall relished theatrical effects. Setting up the natural trumpets and narrow-bore trombones between the rows of five people per section was a tried and tested means of doing this. The choir sang from memory, powerfully and precisely articulated.