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Three violin players stand playing the violin in the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room

Mozart & Harrison

10 & 11 October 2025

In the Utzon Room

Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Classical Music

The combination of clarinet and strings is a perfect match, the mellow woodwind balanced beautifully against the sprightly strings.

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Lively and enticing

Mozart was the first to explore this combination in his Clarinet Quintet of 1789, written for Anton Stadler, the most gifted clarinettist in Vienna at the time. Across four exquisite movements we hear a gentle lullaby, a lively dance and lyrical passages that could almost be opera arias; while the clarinet is first among equals, all five instruments shine in this exquisite piece.  

Nearly 250 years later, Australian composer Holly Harrison continues the tradition with Spitfire for clarinet and string trio. Inspired by music of the 1930s and three pivotal musical figures in Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli and Benny Goodman, Harrison describes the piece as ‘a feverish mix of jazz, Appalachian folk, blues and swing, with a touch of vaudeville’. All brought to life by the superb musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the picturesque Sydney Opera House Utzon Room.

Presented by Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Programme

Holly HARRISON Spitfire
MOZART Clarinet Quintet

Artist information

MUSICIANS OF THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Please note, the musicians featured in the photo above may not appear in this concert.

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