TOULOUSE
It cannot be emphasised enough: Mozart is no well-behaved little boy! Beneath the elegance of his music, intense emotions run deep! Of course, he is a ‘classical’ composer, committed to elegance in both melody and form. But he was already swept up in the Sturm und Drang, the German movement that foreshadowed Romanticism. And that is no doubt why we never tire of him.
Yes, you can play Mozart as hold music on a telephone switchboard, and listen to it only with half an ear. Yes, there is a soothing side to Mozart. But there is another Mozart. And this one, if you listen closely, will draw you into his inner turmoil, far removed from the elegant salons of his employer, Archbishop Colloredo.
We are not particularly surprised that he composed one of his finest works for the clarinet. This is a very ‘Mozartian’ instrument! So gentle, so elegant, yet capable at any moment of letting its hair down, as jazz has amply demonstrated. Patrick Messina has kindly agreed to join us for this series of concerts. He is one of the finest clarinettists of our time and shares our desire to make ‘classical’ music a living art form for today’s audience.
