Zubin Mehta conducts the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" overture and Symphony No. 40.

01:05 Marriage of Figaro, overture

Symphony No. 40
06:35 I movement: Molto allegro
15:30 II movement: Andante
23:40 III movement: Menuetto. Allegro - Trio
28:25 IV movement: Finale. Allegro assai

From the program notes: In search for a new libretto, W. A. Mozart met the poet and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, who had just arrived to Vienna from Venice and served as the court poet for Emperor Joseph II. Mozart hired him to adapt the Beaumarchais play The Marriage of Figaro, which was the start of an important and long collaboration between the poet and the composer, the kind of which was recorded in music history only several more times.

The overture of The Marriage of Figaro was famously composed a day before the opera's premiere, and apart from the jubilant atmosphere of a celebration, contains no music materials from the opera score itself. Three themes play one after the other, maintaining the same joyful character.

After the failure of the Viennese premiere of Don Giovanni, Mozart was not a favorite among the music circles of the Austro-Hungarian capitol. His confidence lost, the artist turned to composing some of his most famous works, whose publishing and premieres he did not live to see. In the summer of 1788, three of Mozart's last symphonies were written - according to biographers, "as in one breath".

Symphony No. 40 in G minor was already a sensation based on its key alone. Mozart rarely composed in minor key, and this was just his second venture in this direction within the symphonic genre. The symphony's orchestration was another sharp turn from norm, with originally no parts for clarinet, trumpet or timpani. With this famous work, Mozart left tradition and standards set by Joseph Haydn, through bold harmonies, tight form on both macro and micro levels, and the beginnings of counterpoint; these tendencies would all culminate in his Jupiter symphony.

Concert date: October 12, 2024.
Recording by: Radio-televizija Srbije (RTS)

Beogradska filharmonija | Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
www.bgf.rs

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