In the first half of this DenizBank Concert the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of the Italian conductor Antonio Pirolli, will accompany three of its members – cellists Yılmaz Bişer, Çağlayan Çetin and Esin Taşkın – in the Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos and Orchestra, written in 2000–01 by the highly prolific Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki (1933–2020), best known for his atonal, avant-garde works – especially his 1961 Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra and his 1966 St Luke Passion, a choral work. In the second half, the orchestra will play Mozart’s Symphony No 36 in C major, K 425, the so-called ‘Linz Symphony’.
An unsigned article on the ‘LA Phil’ website describes the style of Penderecki’s ‘sad, serious’ concerto grosso, written in 11 sections, in the following words: ‘Having led the Polish avant-garde in the 1960s, Penderecki has gradually turned away, as many older composers do, from the uncompromising modernity of his early music. Now in his 80s, he is writing music that communicates readily with audiences of all persuasions, unafraid to echo classical models or to allow the balm of consonance to inform the textures.’ Here is the full article.
Mozart’s exuberant, four-movement ‘Linz Symphony’ was written over four days in November 1783 while the composer and his wife were staying in Linz on their way home to Vienna from Salzburg. The background to its composition is described by Herbert Glass on the ‘Hollywood Bowl’ website in the following words: ‘On their [i.e., the Mozarts’] return trip to Vienna, the couple spent several days in Linz at the invitation of an old family friend, Count Thun-Hohenstein. “When we reached the gates of the city,” Wolfgang wrote to this father on October 31, “we found a servant waiting there to drive us to Count Thun’s, at whose house we are now staying. … On Tuesday, November 4, there will be an academy [concert] in the theater here and, as I have not a single symphony with me, I am writing a new one at breakneck speed.” … The ‘Linz’ Symphony, which opens the series of Mozart’s five great final symphonies, certainly shows no signs of haste.’ Here is the full article. Jan Swafford, author of the book Mozart: The Reign of Love, agrees that this work is by no means carelessely written, describing it as ‘an ambitious, richly worked out piece’.
