MOZART AND HAYDN
Maestro Alexander Lonquich on the podium of the Opera Carlo Felice Genoa, for a concert dedicated to Mozart and Haydn
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Armida: Overture Hob. Ia:14
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Concerto for piano and orchestra n. 20 in D minor K. 466
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Concerto for piano and orchestra n. 22
in E flat major K. 482
Conductor and soloist
Alexander Lonquich
Orchestra of the Opera Carlo Felice Genoa
Armida was Haydn's most successful opera. At the service of the Esterházy court, the composer dedicated himself to it in 1783 and the opera was staged for the first time in Eisenstadt on 26 February 1784. Prince Nicolaus was particularly enraptured, so much so that it required an impressive number of revivals, as well fifty, in the following years. The subject is taken from Jerusalem Delivered, the plot evolves around the emotional torments of the protagonist, the Muslim sorceress Armida, and of Rinaldo, hero of the Christian army, which had already inspired the homonymous works by Monteverdi, Lully, Vivaldi, Händel, Gluck, Salieri and others. Haydn was one of the composers who had the greatest influence on the development of the symphony genre, his aptitude for orchestral writing is evident even in the operatic context. The orchestra has in fact significant importance in the moments of accompaniment that follow each other between arias and recitatives, to emerge definitively in the pieces entirely dedicated to it, ie the overture and the initial scene of the third act. With this overture, the composer combines his now more than solid symphonism with a distinctly dramatic vein,Armida has often been described as a 'reformed' opera, referring to Gluck's reform of opera. According to Gluck, it was essential that the overture be wholly relevant to the action, that is, that the musical content be used exclusively to anticipate the themes and affects which would then define the dramaturgical content. Haydn actually follows this principle, writing an overture which can also be performed autonomously, but which finds its main dimension as part of a dramatic unit of great impact.
The Concerto for piano and orchestra K. 466 was composed by Mozart in 1785. The composer had by now completely established himself also in Vienna, so he could finally devote himself to much more experimental and personal research in all musical fields. The genre of the concert for piano and orchestra had been particularly congenial to the introduction of the composer to the Viennese public, it was in fact he himself who performed at the piano showing both his compositional talent and his charisma as an interpreter. Concert No. 20 played a singularly important role in the development of this genre, expressing great innovations both in piano writing and, in particular, in the relationship between piano and orchestra. Here the incipit in D minor of the Allegro already takes the listener by surprise, accustomed to openings in major keys, to outline a character of great intensity and tragedy. It is clear, right from the first movement, how much the dimension of the ensemble and the soloist enter into dialogue, sometimes even in contrast, as never before, determining an almost dramaturgical level. This trait will be of particular inspiration for Beethoven and for romantic composers, who will often frequent the genre of the concert for piano and orchestra, which gradually became more and more popular during the nineteenth century. It will be Beethoven himself, a great admirer of the Concerto n. 20, to write a final cadence for the Allegro, which has now become canonical. The second movement, a romance, is very different from the first in its thematic simplicity, the theme is presented here by the piano, and then taken up by the whole; the 'question and response' between piano and orchestra remains central, in this case through a linear melody with a strong expressive charge. The Rondò takes up the bloodier character of the Allegro, with a pressing rhythm and greater tension, which flows into the Allegro assai section in D major, a tonality with which Mozart shows off a further and surprising final contrast. Concert No. 22, K. 482 was composed in the same year, a few months after n. 20. In this case, it is not the dramatic intensity that prevails; both the first and the third movement, rich in thematic inventiveness and the continuous contrast between Tutti and Solo, have a more sunny vivacity. The pianist is given ample freedom, in many passages the composer leaves carte blanche for the introduction of embellishments, arpeggios and expressions of the most varied virtuosity. Several critics recognize in these two movements, Allegro and Rondò, a certain nostalgia for certain stylistic features that had been characteristic of the early Mozart's writing, which the composer seems to be resuming here in a now renewed form. The moment of greatest lyrical tension is entrusted to the Andante. The form is that of the theme with variations, the tonality of the theme is C minor, then five variations follow which are very far from the original theme, and have markedly different characters from each other, to then reach the final coda. Given the unusual form, but also the varied and experimental content, it was with great surprise that Mozart accepted the public's request to repeat the Andante during the first performance, which took place on 23 December 1785.
