Word: mozart
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...classical music world is no stranger to child prodigies. The best musicians, it seems, always have mind-numbingly early starts: Chopin's compositions were first published when he was 15, Beethoven gave his first public recital at age 8 and Mozart began composing at age four. Even now, musicians who don't have firmly established performance careers by age 20 will probably never achieve the same success as those...
Chang's interpretation of Mozart's Sonata in C Major, K. 296, was not so graceful. Her bright, biting tone cast an unforgiving light on the piece which, like most of Mozart's work, requires a light touch. Mozart sonatas are meant to be played with an almost off-hand ease: the bubbling passages and sweet melodies cannot be trudged through. The ringing intensity of Chang's playing was not at all suited to the delicate and almost childlike sonata. Chang's high notes blossomed in this piece as in all the others, but the low notes were swallowed...
Unfortunately, the Mozart was the first piece on Friday night's program and thus negatively colored the rest of the recital. The Strauss came second and somewhat restored the audience's faith. On the other hand, programming the Strauss after the Mozart clearly indicated Chang's underlying problem: she plays the same way all the time. The triumph of the Strauss was diminished by the overwhelming notion that the piece was chosen not for its inherent musical qualities but because it coincidentally contained musical elements at which Chang excels. Had the Strauss been programmed first, the overall feel...
...that's what interests them, that's fine. If they weren't interested already, it's not for not having heard the music, although many profess to hate classical music without ever really having heard it. But I see a lot of kids jazzed up about going to see Mozart operas, and I think that's amazing...
Anyone accusing early Mozart of levity should listen to the second moment of this concerto from the composer's 21st year. Though here and elsewhere Mozart (wisely) rejected the melodrama of the salon, only here does he replace it with fine arioso writing. The music lost some of its poignant punch, frankly because of some tuning problems in the orchestra, but was still smile-inducingly lovely...