Feel free to enjoy! Life with concerts
File.9 mozart
Kozaburo Mori ( music writer)
At the end of each year, I scour all the concert information to find a fun concert where I can listen to Mozart in the new year.
Classical music fans go to see the ballet ``The Nutcracker'' at Christmas and listen to Beethoven's ``Ninth'' at the end of the year. On New Year's Day, I was feeling tipsy and watched the ``Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert'' on TV.
But for some reason, in my case it's Mozart.
At the beginning of the year, I wanted to be healed by the light and refreshing music of Mozart rather than the heavy music, but most of all, I was exposed to Mozart's "genius" and as a music fan, I started to get serious about music this year as well. It also has a healthy meaning of ``Let's go.''
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
A great composer who was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756 and died in Vienna at the young age of 35. Over 600 works ranging from opera to instrumental music to religious music. There are anecdotes that while he was writing the notes on the music sheet, he was composing a different song in his head.
Needless to say, the song is incredibly beautiful.
And his unrestrained personality.
He liked to tell ``not very elegant'' jokes, and in his later years, his income decreased and he became a spendthrift, and he reportedly left letters asking for debts. Incidentally, there also seems to have been a letter left with a series of ``not very polite words.''
“Why did God give such a common man such a special talent?”
When you watch the play/movie ``Amadeus,'' which depicts the jealousy and conflict of Salieri, the pious Vienna court Kapellmeister, you get a good sense of Mozart's life, and it's funny, even if it's a lot of exaggeration. Actually, I'm a little surprised.
The masterpiece ``Amadeus'' is of course a work of fiction, but it is true that at the time Salieri was rumored to have poisoned Mozart, and that rumor haunted him until his death.
Poor Salieri. I just realized the “truth of music”!
*Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)
“Genius” Mozart.
It's difficult to put that music into words.
Mozart was said to ``compose as if he were breathing.''
The configuration is quite simple. It mostly follows the grammar now called ``classicism,'' established by his predecessors Haydn and others, and I don't really feel Beethoven's desire for innovation or his struggle with self-expression. In fact, there are hardly any traces of rewriting in the musical score.
Mellow, refreshing, and incredibly beautiful music.
That's already more than enough, but...
For example, the second movement of Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major.
A quiet and melancholy piano solo is followed by an orchestral ensemble that can be heard from somewhere far away. Immediately after that, the piano plays an indescribably mysterious tune...
Just when I was feeling uneasy about something, I heard a slightly more cheerful phrase, and then the opening melody that kept repeating.
"Music is a temporal art." But when I listen to this song, I feel the complete opposite. In other words, it seems that Mozart used seven minutes to depict a single moment.
All kinds of murmurs, such as anxiety and faint hope, that come and go in your heart in an instant.
Mozart does not give us a beginning, development, development, and conclusion.
*A recommended album containing Mozart Piano Concertos No. 23 & 26. Gulda (piano) & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (conducted by Harnoncourt)
For example, the opera Don Giovanni.
The "victims" hunt down Giovanni, a womanizer and murderer. It's strange to think that the main character, whom they are supposed to hate and want to kill, may actually be in love with him.
There is a phrase that is often said about piano music.
"Mozart is too easy for children, but too difficult for adults"
Although it is not difficult to improve a child's technique, because of its simplicity, when an adult's thoughts are added, the innocence of Mozart is ruined.
In fact, I have been exposed to such performances many times.
There is a CD here. A violin sonata composed by Mozart when he was 10 years old and given the opus number K30. Great performance by Podger and Cooper.
The “Adagio” movement is a beautiful piece with an impressive violin singing. There are no ``techniques'' that a mature Mozart would use in a flash, but what exactly is the sad atmosphere that can be heard in the background that seems to have mastery? It's never negative, it's like a gentle embrace.
Mozart, an innocent boy who is said to have told Marie Antoinette, who was 7 years old at the time, ``When I grow up, I will make you my wife,'' ended up creating this kind of music. Or perhaps I should say that someone had them made.
Ah, the “natural talent” that made Salieri jealous.
Mozart's music has a ``demonic'' fear.
This is an expression often used by music connoisseurs.
*6-year-old Mozart in formal uniform
The listeners are usually unaware of the emotions that lie deep within their hearts, the truth that they don't want to realize yet. I give a glimpse of such troublesome things, let them touch upon them briefly, and without knowing them, they become beautiful and dreamy again.
Some mysterious person who makes such music be made. That's scary.
Is it something far away, or is it ourselves?
so.
There are two Mozart concerts recommended for the beginning of the year.
"New Year Concert" at Philia Hall on Saturday, January 11th.
Three piano concertos performed by master Yukio Yokoyama with NHK Symphony Orchestra members.
Number 23 above will also be played.
Even so, it's amazing that there are 3 songs by Mozart alone.
(C) Earl InfiniThis event has ended.
《New Year Concert “Mozart Feast”》
[Date and time] Saturday, January 11, 2020, 15:00 start
[Venue] Philia Hall Yokohama City Aoba Civic Cultural Center
[Performance] Piano: Yukio Yokoyama, Orchestra: Chamber orchestra composed of NHK Symphony Orchestra members (Concertmaster: Hiroyuki Yamaguchi)
[Price] S 7,500 yen, A 6,500 yen
* Click here for details
And ``Mozart Matinee'' at Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall.
This is Saturday, January 18th.
You can enjoy the works of his youth, played by violinist Shunsuke Sato, who is now one of Japan's proud musicians.
This is a great project where you can also listen to the works of CPE Bach, the second son of the great Bach, who was an influence on Mozart.
©Yat Ho Tsang
This event has ended.
《Mozart Matinee No. 39 》
[Date and time] Saturday, January 18, 2020, 11:00 start
[Venue] Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall
[Performance] Violin: Shunsuke Sato (playing), Orchestra: Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
[Fee] General 3,500 yen, U25 (elementary school students to 25 years old) 1,000 yen, Friendship group 3,150 yen
* Click here for details
It won’t be scary if everyone listens to it!?
Now, let's enjoy Mozart!
