Description
Music from the brilliant boyhoods of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Britten.
Could you have composed a symphony at 14 years old, or penned the most popular bassoon concerto ever at just 18? Mendelssohn and Mozart did just that while the rest of us were skinning our knees climbing trees or struggling with calculus assignments. Mendelssohn’s teenage string symphonies are tributes to his idols: Mozart, Bach, Haydn and Beethoven. Even at 14,
the hallmarks of his lighter-than-air style are here. In Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto the soloist is a character from a comic opera: jolly in the first movement, expansively lyrical in the second, then finally proving himself to be an elegant dancer. Sydney Symphony Principal Bassoon Matthew Wilkie takes to the stage.
Composed when he was 24, Britten’s Variations catapulted him to international fame and became a landmark of 20th-century string writing. The variations range in mood from tragic to satirically humorous and all are a testament to the brilliance and energy of youthful genius that would have done his teacher Frank Bridge proud.
Medelssohn
Sinfonia No.10 in B minor
Mozart
Bassoon Concerto, K191
Britten
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge