Episode 21: Amadeus

Playwright Arthur Miller once said “Mozart is happiness before it has gotten defined.” We’ve got Mozart happy, melancholy and masterful on Heifetz On Air, featuring performances by outstanding Heifetz Institute students and alumni. This Episode’s Playlist Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K. 304 II. Tempo di Menuetto Alina Kobialka, violin | Beilin Han, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.21.2016 Mozart, arr. Jerrold Rubinstein: Divertimento No. 15 in B-flat Major, K. 287 IV. Adagio Itamar Zorman, violin | Alexander Tentser, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Stuanton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.17.2016 Mozart: Duo in B-flat for Violin & Viola, K. 424. I. Adagio [excerpt] Rachell Ellen Wong, violin | Andrew Gonzalez, viola Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 05.20.2020 Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat Major for String Trio, K. 563 I. Allegro IV. Andante V. Minuets I & II VI. Allegro Yezu Woo, violin | Laura Liu, viola | Allen Liang, cello Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 04.09.2023 Beethoven: 7 Variations on ‘Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen,’ WoO 46 [excerpt] Zlatomir Fung, cello | Rohan De Silva, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Stuanton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 08.04.2019 Pablo de Sarasate: Fantasy on Mozart’s Magic Flute, Op. 54 Ji-Won Song, violin | Jun Cho, piano Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Stuanton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.05.2017 Go Deeper Joseph Solman’s charming little book Mozartiana is stuffed with “Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”  The book is a bargain and a fun read.  You can find lots of inexpensive copies here. Mozartiana is better known as the title of one of choreographer George Balanchines’s most celebrated productions, set to the Mozart-inspired suite by the same name by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, or as author Solomon Volkov put it, “the flourishing bow of the Russian composer to the Austrian genius.”  Balanchine choreographed the piece no fewer than three times; the final instance in 1981, in an acclaimed production featuring Suzanne Farrell. Here’s another informative and inexpensive read that also serves as a handy reference for digging deeper into Mozart: Author Paul Roussel’s Mozart, Seen Through 50 Masterpieces – which happens to include two of the works featured on today’s program! More at www.heifetzinstitute.org