The Vulnerable (and Veritable) Mozart
An Evening of Mozart in Music and Letters
November 13, 15 and 16, 2019
Fullerton, Borrego Springs, San Diego, CA
About the Program:
Mozart’s six-movement Divertimento for String Trio in E-Flat Major was written in September 1788 and first performed in Dresden the following April on the composer’s multi-staged journey from Vienna to Berlin. A rare jewel of a piece that elevates the divertimento genre from pleasant cocktail party music to an exploration of the composer’s complexities, it demonstrates the extraordinary style and emotional depth found in the composer’s celebrated string quartets. With the more vulnerable and open texture of a single violin, viola and cello Mozart creates drama, richness and extreme intensity which mirrors the very real challenges which were unfolding in his life at the time.
To tell this story Ensemble Bizarria - known for its offbeat and unusual programming - will complement the performance of the Divertimento with dramatic readings from Mozart’s own letters from the same period, read by California State University-Fullerton Musicology Professor Dr. Nicole Baker. Of particular interest are pleading letters to his Masonic brother and friend, Michael Puchberg (to whom the Divertimento was dedicated in repayment), when Mozart was compelled to beg for money to pay off heavy gambling debts. Other dramatic readings will focus on professional life, relationships with colleagues, and friends and family.
Ensemble Bizarria
Lindsey Strand-Polyak, violin
Ramon Negron-Perez, viola
Alexa Haynes-Pilon, cello
Special Guest
Nicole Baker, narrator