The music in tonight's programme was penned within just sixteen years, on the cosmopolitan and interconnected stage of the 18th century.
We begin with the overture to "The anonymous lover", one of only two surviving operas of six by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George. Equally famed for his prowess as a fencer, soldier, violinist, composer and concert promoter he was a key figure in French musical life at this time.
Mozart's mother died while he was in Paris, and following her death, he lived under same roof as Bologne, for a couple of months before returning to Salzburg. Mozart's early E flat Piano Concerto K 271 was written for a French pianist, Victoire Jenamy, daughter of one of Mozart's theatrical friend, possibly after they had dined out together in Vienna.
Haydn designed three symphonies as crowd-pleasers for London and when performances failed to materialise, he offered them for performance in France. Tonight, we feature what's perhaps the most effervescent of the trio. Haydn's six Paris Symphonies would later be premiered by Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George.
To end the concert, Ben Gernon conducts one of Mozart's most majestic symphonies.
Programme
Bologne
The anonymous lover, Overture
Haydn
Symphony No 77
Mozart
Piano Concerto No 9 (K 271); Symphony No 28 (K 200)
大象传媒 Philharmonic
Martin Roscoe (piano)
Ben Gernon (conductor)
(items by Bologne and Haydn recorded 30 March 2021)
