The MET Orchestra
Performers
The MET Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, Conductor
James Ehnes, Violin
Program
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5, "Turkish"
MAHLER Symphony No. 5
Encores:
BACH Allegro assai from Solo Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005
BACH Andante from Solo Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating before intermission.At a Glance
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219, “Turkish”
Under his father’s tutelage, Mozart developed into a fine violinist, and, during his travels throughout Europe during the 1760s and early 1770s, performed often as a violin soloist. Four of his five violin concertos were written in late 1775, and the latter three in particular represent a major leap forward in his musical maturity. A work of true invention and originality, the Violin Concerto No. 5 is famous for its Rondo third movement, which, with its duple-meter dance and violins playing col legno, evokes Turkish military music—a fashionably “exotic” reference for composers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor
With his Fifth Symphony, Mahler set out to free his music from the bonds of extramusical narrative content. The Fifth is a long stride toward the Romantic concept of absolute music, or music that attempts to convey nothing but itself. From the outset, musical themes constantly recur and are transformed, creating a sense of unity and fluid forward motion; despite the movements’ thematic interdependence, however, the symphony is ultimately a work of contrast, of darkness and light. Amid furor and frenzy, the famous Adagietto—intended by the composer as a musical love letter to his new bride, Alma Schindler—jolts the listener with quiet, understated elegance.