Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis, Nikolaj Znaider: Mozart
Lo spettacolo
Throughout the world there are some orchestras that have been able, despite the vicissitudes of history and the pressures of fashion, to retain a colour, sound and personality that are theirs alone. The Staatskapelle of Dresden is one of these.
Founded in 1548, this orchestra was one of the first in Germany, and came under the direction of Heinrich Schütz, Carl Maria von Weber, and Richard Wagner, the very incarnation of the great German symphonic tradition. It was also a favourite of Richard Strauss, who dedicated to them numerous works. With Sir Colin Davis and Nikolaj Znaider, they will contribute to the Mozartian month of May at the Dijon Opera with two works that are among the most admired from this composer of unlimited genius. The Violin Concerto No. 5 is without contest Mozart’s most famous and most accomplished in the genre: impregnated with a gallant style then in fashion yet breaking the mould – the Hungarian rhythms of the csardas so dear to Haydn make their appearance in the finale – it offers a recapitulation of the many styles that Mozart encountered during his travels throughout Europe.
The penultimate Symphony No. 40, one of the few in a minor key, is one of the most tragic he ever wrote: even in the final measures, nothing comes to resolve the tension, calm the fever, appease the distress. But there is also no trace of resignation to the tragic that one finds with the Romantics: here we find courage in the face of adversity, in a score whose unequalled emotional power prepares the way for the unbridled victory with which he begins his next and final symphony.
