Ian Page and The Mozartists are ten years into their gloriously ambitious Mozart 250 project. Running until 2041, they are performing music each year by Mozart and contemporaries composed exactly 250 years ago. We’re now in 1775, and tonight they performed two violin concertos, a relatively obscure unnumbered symphony, and Haydn’s Symphony no. 66 in B flat major.
Page speaks of three received rules in programming Haydn. First, don’t – it’s not good box office (not so tonight). Second, perform a nicknamed symphony. Finally, don’t just treat Haydn as a warm-up. Tonight, un-nicknamed Haydn opened, but Page and The Mozartists’ instant energy and commitment convinced that this wasn’t a warm-up exercise, or an ‘also-ran’. Racing violins and rasping horns, and a bounce in Page’s step showed they meant business, and the development’s spicy falling suspensions also showed that this was not Haydn on autopilot. The spare slow movement was expressive, with an injection of weight arriving from the woodwinds and horns (more secure second time around). The energetic Menuetto had a swing, and the woodwinds shone in the lighter Trio. There were just a couple of stumbles in the scurrying finale, the antiphonal violins briefly not quite in synch and slightly wayward horns in the final passage, but this sprightly reading still demonstrated that we need to hear Haydn’s non-nicknamed symphonies more often.
Rachel Podger is a highly expressive violinist, approaching Mozart from her expertise in earlier repertoire. The Second Violin Concerto opened with a jolly Allegro, Podger’s face radiating pleasure, her solo line singing above the orchestral texture. She danced along with the horns, and her virtuosity shone in the Bachian cadenza. Yet it wasn’t all light: the slow movement’s plaintive insistence also showed in her face, Podger’s falling chromatic line ached with yearning. All sadness was forgotten for the playful finale, however, and she went to town toying with the audience, teasing up-and-down scale passages prefacing each return of the Rondo material.
Between the concertos, a brief ‘symphony’. As its K numbers would suggest, it’s a hybrid, two movements from La finta giadiniera’s overture, with a new finale. It is a brief affair, with an expectant opening, a graceful middle movement and an energetic finale. Delightful, with nimble violins and robust woodwinds, all over in a flash.
In the “Turkish” concerto, following the opening’s coiled energy, Mozart suddenly brings everything to a halt for the solo violin. Podger’s singing entry gripped, before the orchestra returned to the opening material, now accompanying her lyrical line. But once again, she was having great fun, enjoying the rustic horns, responding with birdlike bright tone, in constant connection with Page and the band. The slow movement is a beauty, and Podger delivered a sensuous line that weaved its way through the band’s gentle dance, crunching oboe suspensions leading to her soulful cadenza. In the finale, Podger et al gave the gracefully dancing Minuet a swing. She looked almost surprised as the orchestra lurched into the minor key episode, and her response had an improvisatory freshness. And when they reached the “alla turca” section, they were all having great fun. Podger enjoyed the surging waves, taking Page and the orchestra with her, whilst the cellos and double bass added percussive slaps. But the episode is relatively short-lived, and it was her coquettish cadenza that led back to the opening material for a gently graceful conclusion.
A joyous evening, with incisive and energetic playing throughout.
