Robert Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 101 in D major, Hob. I:101, “The Clock”
***
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, KV. 551, “Jupiter”
According to
Nicolas Altstaedt, Joseph Haydn was one of the least understood and at the same time one of the most exciting musicians in the history of music. It is therefore not surprising that as a cellist and conductor, together with his orchestra the Haydn Philharmonie, he is committed to presenting the opus of this composer and revealing the layers of his compositional expression and message. Among the true admirers of Haydn was also Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with whom Haydn developed an almost father-son relationship. Both composers had a lot in common, sharing the same time period, experience, living space and also certain worldviews. Thus, for example, Mozart continued his own professional path where Haydn, a long-standing court musician, had ended his – as a celebrated composer with a strong international career, independent of the good graces of the highest social class. Mozart thus became the first true free-lance musician. Also, Ludwig van Beethoven had a similar take on the musician’s status – the artist should be elevated to the highest spiritual position, which must be reflected accordingly in his social status and not be limited to the mere admiration of his talent.
As their lives entered the sphere of the legendary, the works of all three composers acquired the unfathomable quality of the consecrated. Mozart’s last symphony was later even given a divine name, though not thanks to the composer, but most probably by a concert organizer who wanted to express its magnificence in words and at the same time consolidate Mozart’s position at the very top of Parnassus of composers. Despite this promotional gesture, the name reveals a deeper meaning. Mozart’s achievements as well as Haydn’s and later Beethoven’s creativity had the effect of Jupiter’s lightning on the composers of the 19
th century, who worried that the three composers had already expressed everything that is possible to express in music. Among them was Robert Schumann, who like his contemporaries, was in awe of the great tradition of his predecessors, whilst looking for his own path. He found it in the fusion of the »divine« inspiration of his predecessors and the experience of his own time or in the nobility of man’s interior life and graceful intimacy penetrating the hearts, unaided by divine arrows.
"The very first time I had the feeling that I had heard the score and the true voice of the Schumann Cello Concerto was at a concert by Gidon Kremer, where he performed the piece on the violin. The marked tempos and articulations, and hence the character of the piece, only became audible due to an interpretation on a different instrument. This is not so far-fetched, as Schumann himself created a version for Joseph Joachim, but it shows how visionary and far ahead Schumann (Elgar’s “ideal”) was with this composition, which remains the most enigmatic and fascinating of all cello concertos."
Nicolas Altstaedt
*
Tickets: 25 € / Pre-sale 20 € / Senior 20 € / Students, Disability 12,50 €
Discounted tickets can be purchased at the Information office of Narodni dom Maribor or at the concert venue up to an hour before the concert.
