“Mozart and His Mentors”- Music of the Baroque reviewed by Julia W. Rath

**** “Mozart and His Mentors”, performed by the Music of the Baroque orchestra, conducted by Dame Jane Glover, was an all-instrumental concert, comprised of an assemblage of light and bright compositions. The performance featured Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K.415” and “Symphony No. 31 in D Major, (Paris), K.297”, plus works from two of his mentors: Johann Adolph Hasse and Josef Mysliveček.

The evening began with Dame Glover telling us something about Mozart’s early life and how he was recognized as a prodigy since the age of four, attracting the attention of notables such as Haydn. While a number of composers living in the late 18th century felt threatened by this young boy, others chose to mentor him. Johann Adolph Hasse, who was old enough to be Mozart’s grandfather, met the child in Vienna when he was 10 years old and, in particular, schooled him in opera. Four years later, Mozart met the Bohemian composer Josef Mysliveček in Bologna and followed him throughout Europe. Mysliveček helped him introduce French elements into his music, such as the clarinet. During the program, one could see their respective influences on the music that Mozart subsequently created.

From the beginning, Sunday night’s performance of the music was right on target. Mysliveček’s Symphony in F Major, F.28 featured juicy violins throughout. The Allegro movement with its violins, cello, and bass is notable by its oboe duet (Anne Bach and Erica Anderson) with string accompaniment. The harpsichord opening (Stephen Alltop) of the Andante could not have been done any better. And the Presto builds into a harmonious whole.

The stage was then reassembled with the addition of percussion, another trumpet, plus other instruments, and, of course, the Steinway & Sons piano, for Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K.415.” Featured pianist was Imogen Cooper, who performed this radiant and elegant composition from memory. Her vibrant piano solos, featuring a balance between lyrical melodies and intricate countermelodies, were truly a pleasure to hear, as was the rich orchestral response. Cooper did an excellent job showcasing her talents, and there was a special beauty in the soft and intimate moments—although I felt there were a few spots when her solos were executed a bit too slowly. Yet my guest (a music critic) said to me afterwards, “That’s how Mozart wrote it!”

After an intermission, we heard “Symphony in G Minor, op. 5, no. 6” by Hasse, an expressive and graceful composition, basically for a string ensemble. It was performed to a T.

The last piece of music on the program was Mozart’s Paris Symphony, a charming work that contains all sorts of French elements, and we watched the oboes, flutes, bassoons, French horns, timpani, et al., return to the stage. I particularly enjoyed listening to the very expressive Andante movement, where Dame Glover conducted with her hands rather than the baton. While I felt that she did a great job conducting from memory and that the performance of this composition was nearly perfect, my guest felt differently. She felt that its performance was a bit too laid back and that the execution needed to be more precise. In her opinion, the previous pieces of music were carried out much better—much more methodically and rigorously—simply because Dame Glover constantly looked down at the score. But critics are allowed to disagree with each other!

Sunday’s event makes it clear why Mozart stands head and shoulders above all of the other composers of the second half of the 18th century… and beyond. But even this one-of-a-kind genius needed to master his craft. This required some measure of training in his field as well as the encouragement of his mentors. These individuals not only recognized Mozart’s great promise and guided the young genius throughout his musical journey but sometimes backed him financially. All this presumably allowed him to acquire the diligence to develop his talent and reach the pinnacle of his success. And as we all know, diligence is important in any endeavor, and the musicians today who performed in this concert did an incredibly splendid job! That is why we could listen to such a fabulous program today—with one audience member yelling “Wow!” at the very end.

“Mozart and His Mentors”, Music of the Baroque took place on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 N. Skokie Boulevard, in Skokie, at 7:30 p.m.

This was followed by a performance on Monday, April 7, 2025, at the Harris Theatre, in Millennium Park, 205 W. Randolph Drive, in Chicago, at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, April 11, 2025, on demand performances, begin at 5:00 p.m. These are available for one month, through May 11th.
On-demand tickets are $15 plus a $3 handling fee, for a total of $18.

For more information about this concert, visit: https://www.baroque.org/Seasons/2024-2025.

For more information about future performances of Music of the Baroque, including times, dates, and locations, please go to: https://www.baroque.org/.

Music of the Baroque is a resident company of the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. To learn more about the venue, their future offerings, and ticket prices, visit:

To learn more about the Harris Theater, their future offerings, and ticket prices, go to: https://www.harristheaterchicago.org/.