Cherubini / Haydn / Mozart, Ivor Bolton
The Gran Teatro La Fenice, Venice's premier classical music and opera venue, will host two performances in March 2024 under the direction of the notable English conductor, Ivor Bolton. Two dates, Friday 1st and Sunday 3rd March, have been slated for a pair of concerts that will open with an overture by Luigi Cherubini, followed by Symphony No 95 in C minor, Hob.I:95, by Franz Joseph Haydn and culminating with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's moving Requiem in D minor kv 626. Located in the heart of Venice, the Gran Teatro La Fenice is widely considered to be among the most famous musical venues in Italy.
The concert starts with Cherubini's overture to his popular Lodoïska opera, which was first performed in July 1791 at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris. Composed to a libretto in French, the opera is noted as one of the first operatic works to conform to Romantic themes. Lodoïska has three acts with great musical depth. The overture explores themes from all of the acts, setting the tone for the rest of the concert.
Haydn's Symphony No 95 also dates to 1791. It was written by the Austrian composer when he was living and working in London. The work begins with five notes that don't harmonise with one another conventionally, which lends the work a mysterious quality as it progresses towards a musical resolution. The second, andante movement in this symphonic masterpiece is particularly noteworthy for its shift into E flat which features an expressive cello solo.
Mozart's Requiem perhaps requires no further introduction as it is one of the most famous musical works of all time. It, too, was mostly written in 1791 but was not completed by the time of the great composer's death in December of that year. The work was finished by Mozart's student and assistant, the composer Franz Xaver Süssmayr, in 1792.
Born in Greater Manchester, Ivor Bolton has enjoyed an illustrious musical career. He is the Chief Conductor of the Basel Sinfonieorchester while also serving as the Artistic Director of the Teatro Real in Madrid and as the Dresden Festival Orchestra's Chief Conductor. Bolton is also the Conductor Laureate of the Mozarteumorchester in Salzburg.
The musical world of the late 18th century will be brought to life by Bolton when he takes to the stage in Venice. Anyone visiting the city when these concerts are on are sure to be in for a musical treat should they decide to attend.