SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Mostly Mozart (6)-Mozart and Haydn: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC, 19-08(SSM)


Christine Schornsheim, (fortepiano)
Kathrin Tröger, (violin)
Javier Zafra, (bassoon)
Brian Dean (director)

MOZART: Symphony No.16 in C major, K.128
HAYDN: Concerto for Fortepiano and Violin in F major, Hob.XVIII:6
MOZART: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, K.191
HAYDN: Symphony No.52 in C minor, Hob.I:52


What an exceptional concert, delightful in all respects! Here is a group of players each of whom is a virtuoso in his or her own right. Except for Christine Schornsheim, the other soloists are regular members of the orchestra. The musical pieces that were chosen, except for the Bassoon Concerto, are almost never heard in concert. I would rank the pieces in the same order as they were actually played, increasing in both musical craftsmanship and complexity as the evening progressed.

I have always found the early symphonies of Mozart to be very slight works. Even with the advent of early music groups and their application of period standards, they still seem formulaic and superficial. This is true of the Symphony No. 16, although it has several intriguing moments such as the key changes in the development section of the first movement and the closing fuguetta of the second movement. As for the final movement, any theme that can be hummed after only one hearing is not very impressive. Mozart could have used the main theme of the finale as a parody of a lesser contemporary composer's work, as he did with the simple-minded music of other minor composers in his Ein Musikalischer Spass. However, the quality or lack of quality thereof had no effect on the performance – it was excellent. Tempos were moderate and as marked in the score. No attempt was made, as is common in other Baroque orchestras (particularly some well-known Italian groups), to see who can most strain the limits of the composer's tempo markings.

The second work on the program was Haydn's Concerto for Fortepiano, Violin, and Strings, a piece of music I was hearing for the first time. It is a strange situation that most of Haydn's concerti are not well known except for the two cello concerti, the trumpet concerto, and only one out of about 11 piano concerti that Haydn wrote (D major Hob.XVIII/11-1780). All of Mozart's concerti are known and C.P.E. Bach's 40 or so piano concerti will one day be rediscovered as being of Mozartean quality. I've never been sure that this is the case with Haydn's concerti. The additional 10 piano concerti, three violin concerti, one horn concerto, five concerti for lira organizzate (when infrequently played, flute and oboe are substituted for this extinct hurdy-gurdy-like instrument) have never struck me as particularly interesting pieces. Perhaps I've been wrong. The double concerto performed here was delightful, with a wonderful catchy opening ripieno later bounced back and forth between the two soloists. The second movement, marked Largo but not unpleasantly played as Adagio, is one of those lovely slow movements that are often found in Haydn's piano trios. With an orchestral accompaniment mostly of string pizzicati, the soloists embellished the theme with great elan, ending with a short but heartfelt cadenza. The final movement was less interesting, but played energetically by the orchestra and soloists, marred only by a wrong note hit by the violin soloist which kept her slightly off-balance for the rest of the concerto.

Another soloist from the orchestra, virtuoso bassoonist Javier Zafra, played the youthful upbeat Mozart Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, K.191. Not much is certain about this piece's origin and there are few precedents of concerti for this instrument, certainly none of which Mozart could have been aware. Vivaldi had written 40 or so concerti, but there is no evidence of Mozart having heard any of them. It is Mozart's finest concerto to date, the first he wrote for winds during a period when his earliest masterworks were being written including the Symphony in G Minor, K.183, Exultate Jubilate, K.165, and the five violin concerti. Mozart uses the full range of notes available to the bassoon and in the hands of Mr. Zafra, on an original instrument, the bassoon changed from its occasional role as a producer of comic sounds to one capable of singing delicate, silky songs. I heard sounds I never knew this instrument could create, as if the player were disregarding the limitations of the keys and of the early design of the reed. The orchestra sensitively accompanied the somewhat frail output of this historical bassoon, never overpowering or drowning out even its lowest notes.

The concert ended with the last of Haydn's Sturm und Drang symphonies, the Symphony #52 in C minor. It is not as famous as some of the other Haydn symphonies during this unusual artistic period, perhaps due to the simple fact that it doesn't have an appellation as do most of the others (#26-”Lamentatione,” #39-”The Fist,” #48-”Maria Therese”, #59-”Fire,” etc.). This symphony, a marvelous piece of music, makes use of dynamic jumps, irregular and unbalanced (at least by period standards) themes, rapid bass passages, and pregnant pauses ending in loud orchestral outbursts, qualities that are common to this short musical period between the late Baroque and the Early Classical periods. The second movement, although in 3/8 time, sounds like an adulterated minuet filled with sudden volume changes. The third movement, a minuet, often in Haydn the most rigid of forms with the simplest 3/4 time themes, is written here with off-beat syncopation in both the minuet and trio sections. The finale could have been written by C.P.E Bach, so similar is it to his String Symphonies, with syncopated rhythms, a contrapuntal bass line carrying its own melody, and surprising jumps from piano to forte. Although the final movement is scored for strings and winds, winds barely get a workout, not joining in until the 46th measure. The orchestra members played with all stops out, racing to the finish-line and being met there by an appreciative audience bursting with bravi.  


Stan Metzger