MOZART FOR SATURDAY

“What is classical music if not the epitome of sensuality, passion, and understated erotica that popular music, even with all of its energy and life, cannot even begin to touch?” - Lara St. John Read
 
Another hot day, the sixth in a row above 30˚C and the forecast says this will be maintained over the next few days. Quite unusual for Melbourne, where a few days of heat are succeeded by a pleasant cool change, even in Summer. Now with Autumn officially begun, it looks as though we may have quite a few weeks to wait for the cooler weather – at least that is what the long-range weather prediction says…
 
We had a pleasant Saturday, despite the heat, with breakfast in the garden, some music playing in the background and the smell of jasmine, roses and flowering herbs in the warm air. We then went out for some shopping and visited the library before returning to the coolness of the house (thank goodness for air conditioners!).
 
In the evening the return to pleasant routine… Here is the Mozart Clarinet concerto in A major, K622. This was written in 1791 for the clarinettist Anton Stadler. It consists of the usual three movements, in a fast-slow-fast form: 1. Allegro 2. Adagio, and, 3. Rondo: Allegro. It was also one of Mozart’s final completed works, and his final purely instrumental work (he died in the December following its completion). The concerto is notable for its delicate interplay between soloist and orchestra, and for the lack of overly extroverted display on the part of the soloist (no cadenzas are written out in the solo part). It is a great favourite of mine, but also it seems of many other Australians as it was voted the most enjoyable classical work of all some years ago in an ABC Classic FM radio survey.