Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

PAVILION 7:30 PM SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2024 CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JAMES CONLON, conductor JAMES EHNES, violin MOZART Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 (173dB) Allegro con brio Andante Menuetto Allegro MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (“Turkish”) Allegro aperto Adagio Rondeau: Tempo di Menuetto James Ehnes –Intermission– MOZART Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 Molto allegro Andante Menuetto Allegro assai * First performance at Ravinia Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Premier Sponsor The Negaunee Foundation . WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 (173dB) Scored for two oboes, two bassoons, four horns, and strings A cluster of Mozart’s symphonies composed in Salzburg between 1773 and 1774 form a Ja- nus-faced group that gazes backward to his recent trip to Italy and forward to the late masterworks of his Viennese period. The five earlier symphonies skillfully emulate the Ital- ian tradition, while the later four portend the genius of his maturity. A couple more sympho- nies trickled from Mozart’s pen in 1775 before he abandoned the symphonic form for three years. Even after his permanent relocation to Vienna, this group of Salzburg symphonies continued to occupy a place of pride for the young freelance musician. In a reassuring let- ter to his father on January 4, 1783, Mozart re- quested scores for several symphonies—No. 24 in B-flat major (K. 182), No. 25 in G minor (K. 183; the “Little G-minor”), and No. 29 in A major (K. 201)—which he hoped to perform at a subscription concert. Little was known of Leopold Mozart’s reply until a bound volume of symphonies resurfaced in Sotheby’s 1987 auction catalogue. Apparently, the proud father had assembled all nine Salz- burg symphonies written during his son’s 17th and 18th years, not just the three requested. The others were No. 22 in C major (K. 162), No. 23 in D major (K. 181), No. 26 in E-flat major (K. 184), No. 27 in G major (K. 199), No. 28 in C major (K. 200), and No. 30 in D major (K. 202). Wolf- gang had notated every movement with one ex- ception. Numerous corrections in the compos- er’s handwriting also survive—a rarity for Mozart. This precious musical document once again passed into private hands for a record price of $4.34 million. Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 (173dB) is the first of these nine symphonies to adopt the Germanic four-movement structure with an added minuet and trio—an expansion gener- ally attributed to Johann Stamitz in the 1740s, during his employment at the court of Karl Theodor, Elector Palatine in Mannheim—rath- er than the Italianate three-movement form. Completed in Salzburg on October 5, 1773, this score is one of only two symphonies that Mo- zart composed in a minor key, both coinciden- tally in G minor. K. 183 is colloquially known as the “Little G-minor” in contrast to K. 550, the “Great G-minor,” from 1788. The “little” symphony displays stylistic features associated by later scholars with Sturmund Drang (Storm and Stress) in music—tension-building devices such as minor keys, bold opening uni- sons, driving syncopations, agitated tremolos, dynamic extremes, and emotional excess—all of which can be heard from the outset in the Allegro con brio (fast with energy) movement. For this reason, director Miloš Forman chose this music to underscore Antonio Salieri’s attempted-suicide scene and the opening credits in the 1984 film Amadeus . The propulsive energy persists into the compact development section, which focus- es initially on rhythm and brief melodic motives Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Martin Knoller (c.1773) RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 5 – AUGUST 18, 2024 74