CONCERT 1: The Audition
Intro
Following Ian Page’s highly acclaimed ‘Mozart in London’ five years ago, The Mozartists celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s first trip to Italy with the first ever major retrospective of this important and formative year in Mozart’s life. Italy was still widely regarded as the home of opera, and in coming there to further his studies Mozart was following in the footsteps of such esteemed compatriots as Handel, Gluck and Johann Christian Bach. The tour lasted for over a year, culminating in the triumphant première of Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan on 26 December 1770.
THIS CONCERT
The first concert in this fascinating exploration includes two orchestral works that Mozart is thought to have composed to showcase his talents during the course of his travels through Italy, as well as a selection of arias and a dynamic trio from an opera that he heard in Verona on 3 January 1770. Using compelling recent research, the second half reconstructs the audition concert that Mozart gave in Milan on 12 March, a concert which led directly to him receiving the prestigious commission to write Mitridate, re di Ponto.
PROGRAMME
Mozart Symphony in D, K.100/62a
Guglielmi Aria, “In un mar di tante pene” from Ruggiero
Aria, “Degna non è d’un soglio” from Ruggiero
Aria, “Ah, spiegar non posso” from Ruggiero
Aria, “A morte, men vado” from Ruggiero
Trio, “Ingrata mi sgridi” from Ruggiero
Mozart Symphony No. 9 in C, K.73/75a
Concert aria, “Se tutti i mali miei”, K.83/73p
Concert aria, “Ah, più tremar non voglio”, K.71 (fragment)
Concert aria, “Misero me… Misero pargoletto”, K.77/73e
Friday 6th March: 7:30 pm
Samantha Clarke
Soprano (Associate Artist)
Rachel Kelly
Mezzo-soprano
Stuart Jackson
Tenor (Associate Artist)
Ian Page
Conductor