Mozart & Bach

Timeless Mozart and his contemporaries

Of all the Brandenburg Concertos, No.3 is the biggest as far as the number of soloists is concerned, weaving three solo violins, three solo violas and three solo cellos into an intricate polyphony. Mozart’s concerto for violin and viola has given the violin’s deeper voiced cousin one of its rare masterpieces. Bartók’s extrovert modern concerto grosso playfully tosses folk themes back and forth between a solo quartet and a full string orchestra but in its middle movement conjures a chilling,
midnight solitude.

“John Harding, was on top form at last Thursday’s [31 May 2007] enthusiastic performance…The climax was the Schubert symphony. From the first bars, the orchestra gracefully represented spring with sweet and suave phrasing and changes of gear delicately handled by Harding.” SCMP