The two movements known today as the Unfinished Symphony are one of Franz Schubert’s most popular symphonic works, and the symphony marks a turning point in the history of the genre, breaking classical moulds. As with other symphonies, it was not the Viennese composer’s death that interrupted it, since he abandoned the project six years before he died. A work contemporary with his major song cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Lovely Miller Maiden), Schubert never lived to hear it. The symphony opens with a long movement, built on extensive linked up phrases, giving rise to a broad spectrum of atmospheres and effects while also highlighting the inexplicable talent that Richard Strauss so envied.
Idomeneus marks a turning point in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s operas. A work commissioned by the Bavarian court, the composer held it in high esteem despite the tortuous process that led to its creation. Its music illustrates Mozart’s rich wealth of ideas and his skill at sketching characters and situations, governed by human fate and marked by death.
The Australian Brett Dean has achieved international recognition over the last two decades in the form of awards and commissioned works. Carlo is his most widely performed work, a symphony based on a creative new look at the life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, the great Renaissance madrigal composer.
F. J. Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 is one of the most famous concertos written for this instrument and a mainstay for many performers. A work written in his youth, it nonetheless reveals the Austrian maestro’s solid skills.
