Writer’s Choice

School of Music celebrates Mozart

From a child prodigy to composer of some of the world’s most beloved symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral works and more, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life was written in codas and stanzas.

To commemorate his 250th birthday on Jan. 27, faculty and students in the School of Music have planned two celebratory concerts in honor of the day and its owner.

On Thursday, Jan. 26, four specially convened faculty ensembles will present the Mozart “Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285,” “Quartet in E-flat Major for Piano and Strings, K. 493,” “Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano,” “Kegelstatt, K. 498” and “Parto! Ma tu ben mio” from “La Clemenza di Tito.”

On Sunday, Jan. 29, 19 School of Music piano students will present a “marathon,” all 18 Mozart sonatas (plus one fantasia).

Catherine Kautsky, professor of music and chair of keyboard, has organized both concerts. She says that the participating students clearly are acquiring a much deeper understanding of music in general and of Mozart in particular.

“They’ve been struck with the amazing control required to play Mozart well,” she says. “They can’t get away with anything because every note and every sound matters so very, very much. There’s an old saying that Mozart is too easy for children and too hard for adults — I think the students started out as children and are ending up as adults in terms of the music!”

And the audience? Kautsky promises that listeners, too, will come away with their appreciation of Mozart enhanced and refined.

“There’s an enormous power in hearing so much Mozart at once. The melodic inventiveness of this man is truly infinite. And the mood range! All the way from the most ecstatic exuberance to despair and tragedy. Even his smaller piano sonatas, the ones that are lesser known, almost invariably have at least one movement that struck me as absolutely remarkable — I think it’s his ability to use so few notes to express so much. There’s no excess in Mozart. The music is simplicity itself. There’s a sense of perfect balance and perfect proportion in Mozart that no one else can match. And below the surface of the beautiful melody there’s a depth of characterization and emotional range that goes straight to the core of who we are. Hours of Mozart mean getting deeply acquainted with a genius,” she says.

The Jan. 26 faculty concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Mosse Humanities Building’s Mills Concert Hall. Tickets are $9 general/$7 seniors or non-UW-Madison students. UW–Madison students are free with ID.

The Jan. 29 marathon, which will begin at 1 p.m. in Morphy Hall of the Mosse Humanities Building, is free and open to all. Kautsky says people are welcome to drop in and out, as time permits. The festivities, sponsored by the community-based UW–Madison Piano Partners, will conclude with cake.

For more information on either concert, call 263-9485 or e-mail music@music.wisc.edu.