Style and substance in Mozart and Schoenberg

By Hugo Shirley, 09 April 2017

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Reviewed at Philharmonie: Großer Saal, Berlin on 7 April 2017

Mozart, Symphony no. 35 in D major, "Haffner”, K385

Schoenberg, Chamber Symphony no. 1 in E major, Op.9

Mozart, Symphony no. 41 in C major, "Jupiter”, K551

Daniel Barenboim, Conductor

Vienna Philharmonic

Wrangling the octopus: Mahler’s Ninth with Sir Simon Rattle

Chanda VanderHart, 17th April

Less a symphony, more a force of nature, Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in a turbulent, yet spacious reading of Mahler's Ninth Symphony in the Musikverein.

****1

Shared language and living history: Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Phil

Chanda VanderHart, 19th March

Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman and the Vienna Philharmonic meet in repertoire they know intimately, illuminating it through mutual understanding.

*****

Vienna Philharmonic closes Carnegie residency

Edward Sava-Segal, 1st March

Andris Nelsons pairs Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra with Sibelius’ Second Symphony to conclude the Vienna Philharmonic's latest Carnegie Hall residency.

****1

Contemplation and exuberance: Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall

Susan Stempleski, 28th February

Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in the New York premiere of a solemn, modernist work paired with two high-spirited symphonies from the 18th and 19th centuries.

****1

A vanished Old World with the Vienna Philharmonic in Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 20th January

A Vienna Philharmonic evening conjures a vanished world: Strauss’ muscular drama and intimate humour, Haydn’s inward gravity and a graceful waltz to close.

****1

The Vienna Philharmonic explores Central Europe with Jakub Hrůša

Chanda VanderHart, 11th December

At the Konzerthaus, the Vienna Philharmonic travels across the Austrian borders with Jakub Hrůša into the varied sound worlds of Hungary, Bohemia and Moravia.

****1

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Barenboim and the Vienna Philharmonic offer style and substance in Mozart and Schoenberg