Join us as we spend an afternoon in the Classical period in the company of Mozart and Haydn, with conductor Moritz Gnann and pianist Martin Roscoe.
We begin with one of Joseph Haydn's greatest works, his Symphony No. 92 ‘Oxford’, filled with whit, energy and joy. Haydn supposedly composed his Oxford Symphony for the conclusion of a ceremony of his honorary degree at the University in 1791. The famous symphony was in fact, written two years earlier for a performance in beautiful French capital, Paris. His trip to Oxford symbolises the international success Haydn attained in his late fifties.
Today, we also hear Mozart’s twenty-first piano concerto which he completed relatively late in his career, when he was 29 years old and only a few years prior to his death. Like so much of Mozart’s work, Piano Concerto No. 21 has an enduring appeal with modern audiences who often recognise this piece from the films on whose soundtracks it features. Perhaps the most famous and definitive example of this is its inclusion in the 1967 film, Elvira Madigan, where the theme of the concerto's second movement so perfectly sets a poignant, bittersweet mood for the ill-fated lovers. In fact, the concerto has been known as the 'Elvira Madigan concerto.'
