Mostly Mozart Finale: A Disguised Mass

The Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center ended last night, with performances of the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K. 467, and the cantata Davidde penitente, K. 469.  British pianist Stephen Hough was soloist in the concerto, and soprano Carolyn Sampson, mezzo Sasha Cooke, and tenor Steve Davislim sang the vocal solos in the cantata, with the Concert Chorale of New York, prepared by James Bagwell, joining the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, led by its musical director, Louis Langree.

This concert made an excellent close to the festival.  The 21st Concerto is one of Mozart's absolute best -- especially the gorgeous second movement -- and Hough nailed it from start to finish, not least with the original cadenza that eschewed the usual classical cadenza cliches to lead seemlessly back into the music without prolonged trilling.  This required excellent coordination with the orchestra, which Maestro Langree provided.  The orchestral contribution to the concerto was exuberant and gentle, as required.

Davidde pentitente is rarely heard, but frequently heard.  A puzzle?  Well, the music is frequently heard in the guise of the incomplete Mass in C Minor.  When Mozart received a commission amidst his busy schedule and not enough time to complete a new work, he took several movements of the mass and adapted them to a new Italian text by Lorenzo da Ponte, a paraphrase of psalm verses, composing just two new arias to keep the work from being overly choral for the commissioned occasion, and sent it forth.  Although this is a finished work, unlike the mass, it doesn't get much play, while the mass, in various editions, is heard with some frqeuency.  The puzzle solved.

Last night's performance was excellent in every respect.  All three vocal soloists were superb, but I was especially taken by the singing of Sasha Cooke, the mezzo.  I have some recordings by Steve Davislim, so was eager to hear him live, and not disappointed. He had one of the "extra" arias that Mozart composed for this commission, and performed it suavely. 

The Concert Chorale always satisfies. Congratulations to Maestro Bagwell.

And special congratulations to Maestro Langree.  This has been a superb edition of Mostly Mozart.  He has the orchestra playing splendidly, and it's hard to wait 11 months to hear them again.  We actually don't get to hear that much Mozart at regular symphony concerts.  The early music revival has led to the view that Mozart should be the domain of chamber orchestras, not full-sized symphony orchestras, so his music is less prominent on regular season programs of the major orchestras than it used to be.  The MM Festival helps us to hear what we have been missing.  Although a few of the programs wandered far from Mozart, and some seemed no different from regular-season concerts, there were several all-Mozart programs, and they were among the best.  We also got to hear several different pianists in Mozart concerti this year, which is always pleasant, because Mozart was the great master of the 18th century piano concerto, and even hearing 3 or 4 of them in the space of a month is barely scratching the surface.

'til next year, good-bye MM!