The Auditorium Parco della Musica was full for the first of three nights of this Mozart-Bruckner double bill, honouring the return to Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of its former Music Director (now Director Emeritus), Sir Antonio Pappano.
The two parts of his programme could at first appear unrelated, not linked by much more than the country of origin of its composers. Composed 80 years apart, Mozart’s Symphony no. 41 in C major (1788) was his final symphony and the epitome of classicism; Bruckner’s Mass no. 3 in F minor (1868) is a religious choral work with elements distinctive of the Romantic era, although steeped in tradition. The brilliance of the first also clashes with the spirituality and depth of tone of the second. But on closer inspection we soon spot the similarities, although in a mirrored sort of a way. With their grand musical architectures, a solemn tone and the common use of the counterpoint, both works celebrate a form of “divinity”. Both also alternate melodic moments or subtle introspection with sudden explosions of energy.
The concert started with the Mozart, posthumously nicknamed Jupiter as it seems to celebrate a pagan god, one made of light and unstoppable vital force. Pappano directed his Santa Cecilia forces with confidence and attention to detail throughout its four movements. In the Allegro vivace he effectively handled the sudden swing from the pianissimo of the string melody to the fortissimo of the orchestra at full force. The start of the Andante cantabile was emphatically slow, while he highlighted the classical perfection of the Minuet. The Molto allegro finale overwhelemed with its energy.
Bruckner’s Mass naturally introduced a sharp change of mood. A rarely performed work (only previously played by the Santa Cecilia in 1972 and 2002), it is definitely worth hearing. It features a peculiar contrast between light and darkness: the depth of the chorus versus the brightness of the violins and the choice of the opposite registers for the four voices.
With a few exceptions, this monumental work was given a worthy reading by Pappano. The Coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia showed general cohesion, especially in the more powerful moments, while it was slightly unsatisfying in the pianissimos of the Credo preceding the explosion of “Et resurrexit”. There was the impression, also, that the focus was unbalanced towards orchestra and chorus, rather than soloists Natalya Romaniw, Szilvia Vörös, Pavel Cernoch and Giorgi Manoshvili. Nonetheless, the latter certainly left his mark. Overall, a successful pairing and an execution of two complex works that elicited a strong audience response.
