Tales from Vienna

Schubert’s Fifth Symphony is a brilliant achievement – from the breath-stoppingly original opening gesture and effervescent themes to the grand harmonic strategy and the polyphonic skill upon which the powerful development is built. Everything about it suggests a contented spirit of its youthful creator. Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.3 has a beguiling purity of melody and timbre, emphasizing the golden tone of the solo instrument supported by an understated accompaniment. This jewel-like serenade is one of Mozart’s most familiar and frequently played works. Not a deep work, it is however, an exemplar of Rococo elegance – charming and warm-hearted, graceful and effervescent. A dramatic scene for soprano and orchestra, Ah! perfido is a monologue for a woman who has been deserted by her lover. In the recitative and aria, she vacillates between asking the gods to punish him and wanting them to show him mercy.