Lincoln Center in New York is home to one of the summer’s most eagerly awaited concert series, the Mostly Mozart Festival. Since its launch in 1966, when it was called Midsummer Serenades: A Mozart Festival, it’s been a musical oasis for New Yorkers and visiting music lovers from around the world. Over the course of its five decades the festival has expanded and, as its artistic director Jane Moss explains, “Its presentations and concerts span five venues and five centuries of repertoire, from the distant Baroque to the cutting-edge of our own time.”
Here’s a look at some of the highlights of this year’s Mostly Mozart Festival:
Star soloists
The festival always has attracted premier artists. Cecilia Bartoli, James Galway and Mitsuko Uchida all made their U.S. debuts at festival concerts. This year the guest list is stellar indeed:
Joshua Bell performs the Max Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado (August 5th and 6th).
Pianist Peter Serkin, a Mostly Mozart stalwart, is featured with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in an all-Igor Stravinsky program. ICE begins their three-year festival residency with appearances at this year’s festival (August 8th).
It will be a starry night when Jeremy Denk and soprano Christine Brewer partner with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra conducted by their music director, Louis Langrée in an all-Beethoven program (August 12th and 13th).
Opera
Opera has become a thrilling element in the festival and this year there are two noteworthy performances:
The acclaimed conductor Iván Fischer leads his Budapest Festival Orchestra and vocal soloists in a unique production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Fischer directed the staging, which features young actors using their bodies to form the set and props (August 6th).
Nicholas McGegan leads vocal soloists and his Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Handel’s Orlando. McGegan is one of the driving forces behind the Handel opera revival and his orchestra is one of the finest period instrument ensembles in the world (August 14th).
Instrumental and chamber music
Solo recitals and chamber music concerts are festival cornerstones and this year’s popular late-night Little Night Music series features some high profile artists and innovative programming:
The renowned Takács Quartet performs Haydn and Beethoven’s String quartet in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven’s last major work (August 6th).
The ever-fascinating pianist Jenny Lin performs a typically daring program of music by Silvestrov, Mozart, Busoni and Stravinsky (August 20th).
Not all the chamber music is scheduled for the late hours. The Takács Quartet are joined by pianist Andreas Haefliger in music by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Dvorak (August 7th), and the renowned Emerson String Quartet perform works by Haydn, Bartok and Schubert (August 15th).
Choral music
English soprano Lucy Crowe makes her festival debut in Mozart’s heavenly Vesperae solennes de confessore (August 9th and 10th). Crowe is one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos and her new album, Il caro Sassone: Handel in Italy, will be released on the Harmonia Mundi label in November.
Dance
The Mark Morris Dance Group will electrify the stage in the New York premier of Morris’ staging of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Renard (August 18th, 19th and 20th).
by Craig Zeichner
Featured Albums
