Amalia Hall & Friends play Mozart St Andrew's on the Terrace. Photo: Clarissa Dunn
This performance was recorded at ‘Amalia & Friends’, a series of concerts to celebrate the return of live music, and the important place it has in all our lives, after the Covid-19 lockdown.
In some ways, these concerts approach the experience that Mozart’s original audiences would have enjoyed. Many of his works were performed in churches, or in cathedrals such as the one in Salzburg, where Mozart was employed. His music was written with these kind of spaces in mind, with the soft, rich resonance that high ceilings, wooden beams and ornate plasterwork provide. Other works were premièred in the private salons of his wealthy patrons, making them an intimate experience for small audiences who could observe the performers closely. Mozart would lead the performances from within the orchestra or as soloist, as Amalia Hall does here.
Mozart Symphony No 31 ‘Paris’
- Allegro assai
- Andante
- Allegro
Mozart wrote this symphony during a six month sojourn in Paris in 1778. He travelled there aged 22, hoping to get a position at court; sadly the success he had formerly enjoyed in Paris as a child virtuoso was not repeated, and he failed to secure permanent employment. However while he was there he was invited to open the public concert series 'Concert Spirituel'. This allowed him to use a relatively large orchestra, including clarinets which he had not used in a symphony before, as well as horns, trumpets and timpani, which he deployed in full to make a grand opening. (Notes: Erica Challis)
Recorded 6 June 2020, St Andrews on The Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
