Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

The magnificent quintet which opens the concert is one of Mozart's greatest pieces. After the first performance the composer wrote excitedly to his father "I consider it to be the best thing I have written in my life".

The piano concerto which follows is written on a grander scale than before, and was a huge hit in his 1784 season. The Linz symphony was written in 1783 for a concert in that town he gave while travelling back to Vienna.

With trumpets and drums to the fore, even in the elegant slow movement, it's a bright and festive work.