Word: mozartism
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...years old, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston has been named "one of the top three orchestras in the state" by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and it fully deserves its ranking. Directed by the dynamic Gisele Ben-Dor, this professional cooperative chamber orchestra gave an inspiring Mostly-Mozart concert at Sanders Theatre last Sunday. The concert also featured guest soloist Max Levinson '94, a Resident Tutor at Lowell House and winner of the 1997 Dublin Piano Competition. This was his only solo appearance this season in Boston...
...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...