View from the Green Room: Mozart homage… or not, maybe?
The Irish Chamber Orchestra.
It’s billed as an homage to Mozart (1756-91) but there’s quite a lot of distance between Amadeus and the works performed here tonight to a packed Large Room.
In fact, only one piece came from Mozart’s quill – the “Divertimento” – while the rest belonged to composers Alfred Schnittke (1934-98) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93), who both contributed one piece “in the style of Mozart” as the programme notes tell us.
Like Ryanair landing in Luton and telling you that you’re in London.
The Irish Chamber Orchestra is a class act. With an excellent leader in Katherine Hunka and some of the finest players in the country, the orchestra rarely disappoints. And their opening Divertimento in D major is a playful delight. Given that the piece was composed when Amadeus was only 16, it astonishes that it is still regarded as a Mozart favourite.
The piece is more expansive than a concerto but too compact for a symphony.
In Italian, Divertire means to entertain and that is exactly what this piece does.
While Divertimenti are cheerful pieces and most often composed for parties, Mozart’s piece is far from simple.
Mozart's Divertimento mirrors the style of the Italian concertos for strings, which he must certainly have encountered during his visits to Italy.
There’s a lively opening Allegro, in simple sonata form; a charming central Andante; and a brilliant concluding Presto.
Mozart’s Divertimento sparkles with joy and colour. Melody and counter-melody sweep and swirl around the sections of the orchestra.
Repeats and variations of tuneful themes are spirit-lifting and leader Katherine Hunka’s control of the orchestra – nods, glances, shoulder sweeps, smiles and gritty glances – is an entertainment all on its own, along with Katherine’s informative introduction to the piece.
Unfortunately, the second piece – “Moz-Art á la Haydn” – proves a lot more problematic. With programme notes that refer to “acquired tastes”, “unusual tangy ingredients”, along with “seasoned palates”, we’re clearly in the market for classical grenades.
This composition imagines a Haydn reinvention of Mozart that references Haydn's famous "Farewell Symphony", which sees the players shifting stands and moving around the platform before gradually leaving the stage to a conductor marking time to no one.
The work begins and ends in darkness following a stylistic duel between two solo violins and an orchestra.
A similar piece, written by leader Katherine Hunka, followed the misfortunes of the orchestra’s bass section as the double bass goes rogue. Musical dystopia?
The tuneful Tchaikovsky “Serenade of Strings in C major” saw us out the gap in a sweeping movement of Russian folk tunes that followed elements of clear Mozart influence.
The Russian composer saw it as “a piece from the heart” and so it proves.
“The first movement is my homage to Mozart,” Tchaikovsky wrote. “It is intended to be an imitation of his style, and I should be delighted if I thought I had in any way approached my model.”
Nobody wrote waltzes better than Tchaikovsky and the Serenade’s Valse is as romantic and magnificently balletic as you would expect. The mood does darken, however – well it is Tchaikovsky, after all – in the “Elegia” section, the song of mourning, with pizzicato arpeggios in the low strings that suggest unease and anxiety. The Chorale of the opening Pezzo closes out a finale that is full of attack with its short, snappy bowing and swirling melody.
Mozart homage… or not, maybe?
