NOSPR / Varga / Goerner - NOSPR

The clasp of modernism encases a masterpiece of mature classicism: one of Mozart’s most beautiful piano concertos, with a magical Adagio culminating in a recitative dialogue between the piano and bassoon. This is a piece by Mozart at the height of his spirit as he celebrated triumphs thanks to his operas. The Marriage of Figaro had just been completed, and the composer and his family had moved into an elegant, comfortable apartment in the very heart of Vienna. Another success was his subscription series – Mozart’s own concert season, during which he performed his latest piano concertos. Concerto in A major stands out among them: a radiant work, yet – as is often the case with Mozart – shrouded in subtle melancholy.

An entirely different, though no less exceptional, radiance emanates from Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, a suite that stands among the composer’s earliest works. Still shaped by late-Romantic harmony and mood, the piece already foreshadows a modernist variety in Romanticism: one that no longer strives toward grand narrative structures but instead seeks to depict feelings and emotions. Based on Richard Dehmel’s poem – a text centred on a difficult confession, nature, and its power to transform the constraints of culture into a luminous night of hope – the work unfolds in shifting and emotionally saturated textures. The orchestral version adds contrast and sonic intensity to what was originally a string sextet. As the programme symbolically culminates in this work, it is worth remembering where it all began: with Schreker’s Valse lente – a gentle slow waltz from one of the most underrated composers of the era, which introduces us into the colourful and expressive world of modernism.

Jakub Puchalski