Music

Founded by the legendary Karl Müchinger in 1945, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (SKO) has maintained its prominent position for over seven decades. A recipient of the 2008 European Chamber Music Prize, the SKO has been a pioneering cultural ambassador, including being the first German orchestra to perform in post-war Paris and in China in the late 1970s. The SKO also boasts a glorious history as one of the most recorded chamber orchestras. Under the leadership of Dennis Russell Davies, the SKO has released the critically-acclaimed live recordings of all 107 symphonies by Haydn.

In this concert, the SKO will be pitting the poise of Mozart’s Divertimento in F against the abandon of Liszt’s ever-popular Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The ensemble will be joined by ECHO KLASSIK Award winner Dejan Lazić, as well as Artistic Director and world-renowned cellist Trey Lee. Described as “a concerto of a peculiar kind”, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14 was a milestone in the guise of an understated gem. Written some eighty years apart, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme clearly resonates the graceful yet occasionally dramatic style epitomized by Mozart, which ties into the classy, old-world charm of the rest of the program.

[1]. Mozart: Divertimento in F, K. 138
[2]. Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C, Hob. VIIb/1
[3]. Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik in G, K. 525
[4]. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (version for strings)