32 Bit Mozart

Martin Wahlberg and his Orkester Nord complete their recording series dedicated to French opéra-comique with Die Zauberflöte. Surprising, yes, but research has shown that Mozart’s masterpiece is directly descended from the French tradition and from an initiation tale of the Enlightenment.

Martin Wahlberg and his Orkester Nord complete their recording series dedicated to French opéra-comique with Die Zauberflöte. Surprising, yes, but research has shown that Mozart’s masterpiece is directly descended from the French tradition and from an initiation tale of the Enlightenment.

When in December 1812 the French violinist Pierre Rode (1774–1830) first visited Vienna, Beethoven wrote a work for Rode’s appearance before the “Associated Cavaliers” in the Palais Lobkowitz, his Violin Sonata op. 96, which received its premiere with Archduke Rudolph at the clavier: Beethoven, lover of humanity and advocate of peace among all nations, chose to stay at home and sulk, presumably so as not to have to offer his hand to a famous colleague.

Although Mozart’s five violin concertos represent only a very small part of his output (when compared to the 27 piano concertos and the 41 symphonies), they nevertheless belong to the core repertoire of all violinists. As with his piano concertos, Mozart’s violin concertos were all written in his younger years and are built on a constant dialogue between the solo instrument and the orchestra.

Le Requiem de Mozart n’est présenté à Paris qu’en 1804, dans une version légèrement différente de celle composée par Mozart.

"All of these Mozart recordings featuring the remarkable young violinist Julia Fischer have been favorably reviewed on this site and elsewhere.

Towards the end of his life, short of money and heavil y in debt, Mozart had the opportunity to visit King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia – a famous patron of the arts and a keen and above-average musician.

"Mozart is a touchstone of the heart. If I want to do something especially dear to someone, I sit down at the piano and play them a piece by Mozart." With these sentences, the great Mozart interpreter Edwin Fischer has said something essential. From every note of Mozart speaks an extremely sensitive and delicate, loving and at the same time masculine powerful character, which expresses itself with inventiveness and a mastery perhaps only comparable to Bach.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s six ‘Milanese’ quartets constitute a milestone in his artistic activity. Written between Bolzano and Milan between 1772 and 1773, they came a few years after the Quartet K80/73f that he had composed in Lodi during his first Italian visit. More than that work, these six pieces – conceived before Mozart left the Milanese public with his third and last work for the Lombard capital, Lucio Silla K135 – constitute one of the first organic sets of string quartets ever conceived. Though based on the model of Haydn, they reveal Mozart’s modern spirit, capable of following a new path and enriching it with his own personal contribution.

Violinist Arabella Steinbacher studied her first Mozart Violin Concerto in G major at the age of eight. The legendary pianist Arthur Schnabel mentioned that the piano sonatas of Mozart are too easy for children yet too difficult for adults. In Steinbacher’s words: In Mozart one must always make sure that it’s powerful, but at the same time never sounds aggressive and that the sound always remains beautifully pure and almost angelic.