At 7:30pm, at the Großes Festspielhaus :

WIENER PHILARMONIKER / GUGGEIS / YONCHEVA

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Thomas Guggeis : Conductor

Sonya Yoncheva : Soprano

Program :

– J.S. Bach : Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major BWV 1046 ;

– G.F. Handel: Cleopatra arias from Julius Caesar in Egypt HWV 17 (“Se pietà di me non senti”,

“Non disperar, chi sà”, “Piangerò la sorte mia”);

– W.A. Mozart: Adagio and fugue in C minor K. 546.

Mozart’s musical genius is such that we think of him as an isolated phenomenon. In reality, the Austrian composer stood at the crossroads of eras: one foot in the Baroque Age of Enlightenment, the other (already) in the Romanticism of the 19th century. This concert by the legendary Vienna Philharmonic conducted by the prodigious Thomas Guggeis (the Finnish conductor is undoubtedly the new star of the coming years) presents a Mozart in touch with his two elders: Bach on the one hand, but also Handel, whose splendid operatic excerpts are sung by the glorious Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva. A magnificent start to our visit to Salzburg

At 7:30pm, at the Mozarteum :

MAHLER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA / UCHIDA

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Mitsuko Uchida : Piano and Conductor

José Maria Blumenschein : 1st violin and Conductor

Program :

– W.A. Mozart : Concerto pour piano n°18 en si bémol, K. 456;

Concerto pour piano n°21 en do majeur, K. 467;

– G.F Handel : Concerto grosso en si bemol op. 3/2, HWV 313.

In 1784, Mozart was at the height of his fame. The composer had been living in Vienna for two years, and success was finally smiling on him. Listening to Concerto No. 18, Emperor Joseph II shook his hat and said “Bravo Mozart!” Concerto No. 21 is one of the Austrian composer’s supreme masterpieces. Used in countless films and advertisements, the melody of the slow movement is a famous languid, undulating reverie (“traumerei” in German). This sublime masterpiece will be performed this evening by the immense Japanese specialist Mitsuko Uchida, alongside a superb concerto grosso by Handel.

At 7:30pm, at the Haus für Mozart :

ORPHEUS, by C. Monteverdi

Arpeggiata Ensemble

Philharmonia Chor Wien

Christina Pluhar : Conductor

Nikolaus Habjan : Staging

Rolando Villazón : Orpheus

Alice Rossi : The Music

Céline Scheen : A nymph and Proserpine

Tamara Ivaniš : Eurydice

Luciana Mancini : The Messenger

Eric Jurenas : Shepherd I and Hope

Cyril Auvity : Shepherd II, Spirit , Apollon

Alessandro Giangrande : Shepherd III and Spirit

João Fernandes : Charon and Pluto

Orpheus is a milestone in the history of music. It may even be the most important event of the last five centuries, since Monteverdi’s work symbolises (wrongly, since other works preceded it) the birth of opera. For this pinnacle of Western music, Mozart Week is inviting a highly acclaimed production from Dresden, directed by Nikolaus Habjan. Christina Pluhar, at the head of her ensemble L’Arpeggiata, no longer needs to prove her affinity with this repertoire, and in the cast we must of course salute Rolando Villazón‘s Orpheus (also director of Mozart Week), especially as he will be accompanied by such seasoned Baroque singers as the French Céline Scheen as the nymph and Cyril Auvity as Apollo.

At 11am, at the Mozarteum :

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF EUROPE / TICCIATI / DAVIES

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Robin Ticciati : Conductor

Iestyn Davies : Countertenor

Program :

– G.F. Händel: Ode for Queen Anne’s Birthday “Eternal Source of Divine Light” with obbligato trumpet, HWV 74 ;

Concerto for Ottone, King of Germania (Act 1), HWV 15;

Recitatives, Arias and Overtures from Julius Caesar in Egypt HWV 17, Rodelinda HWV 19, Alcina HWV 34, Saül HWV 53, The Triumph of Time and Disillusion HWV 46°;

Trio Sonata in G major, Op. 5 No. 4, HWV 399

Partenope (Act 3), HWV 27 ;

– W.A. Mozart: Recitatives and Arias from Mithridates, King of Pontus, K. 87 ;

Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385.

In 1782, Mozart finally settled in Vienna! The break-up with Prince-Archbishop Colloredo had been stormy, but the composer had not forgotten his home town. He wrote a serenade in honour of Sigmund Haffner, the mayor of Salzburg. Written on the heels of the premiere of the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, the symphony impresses with its gushing, imperious force. Mozart is often compared to the classicism of Haydn, but towards the end of his life the Austrian composer developed a passion for the music of Handel, particularly through the opera seria The Clemency of Titus. It is this prestigious lineage that the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Robin Ticciati highlights in this remarkable concert, featuring the voice of countertenor Iestyn Davies in Handel’s sublime Triumph of Time and Disillusion.

At 7:30pm, at the Großes Festspielhaus :

WIENER PHILARMONIKER / LYNIV / FLÓREZ / HONECK

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Oksana Lyniv : Conductor

Juan Diego Flórez : Tenor

Rainer Honeck  : Violin

Program :

– D. Bortniansky: Suite from the opera Alcide

– W.A. Mozart: Concert aria, K. 431 and two arias from Tito’s Clemency, K. 621

– G.F. Handel : Music on Water, Suite No. 3 in G major, HWV 350

– W.A. Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183

How can you resist the voice of Juan Diego Flórez? The Peruvian tenor performs here in a selection of top-flight Mozartian arias. But this concert by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by the excellent Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv is not the only treat on offer, as it includes one of Mozart’s masterpieces for violin as well as Handel’s magnificent Water Music. This ‘music on water’ was composed by Handel for a festival on the Thames in honour of King George I on 17 July 1717. A beautiful summer evening, richly decorated boats filled with lords and ladies and an orchestra of 50 musicians playing on board a huge barge. Almost 300 years later, this masterful music has lost none of its freshness.

At 11am, at the Mozarteum :

CAPELLA ANDREA BARCA / SCHIFF

Cappella Andrea Barca

András Schiff : Conductor

András Schiff : Piano

Wolfgang Breinschmid : Flute BWV 1050

Wally Hase : Flute BWV 1044

Erich Höbarth : Violin

Program :

– J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 ;

Triple concerto in A minor, BWV 1044

– W.A. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503 ;

Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491

At the end of his short life, Mozart developed a passion for the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. With its rich contrapuntal writing, the magnificent Concerto No. 25 bears the marks of this discovery. The immense Hungarian pianist András Schiff plays and conducts from his keyboard this superb, majestic concerto, which opens the door to Beethovenian Romanticism. At the head of the Cappella Andrea Barca, the musician will continue the enchantment with one of the most beautiful Brandenburg concertos and a triple concerto by Bach.