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Composer of the Week

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Episode 3: Theatrical Diversions

Duration: 1 hour

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 3Latest broadcast: on BBC Radio 3

There is no place where Mozart's name is more feted than in his home city of Salzburg. Mozart's own feelings about the city of his birth were ambivalent at best. He was often unhappy there; frustrated by the limitations of musical life in Salzburg and increasingly at loggerheads with his overbearing employer, the high-handed Archbishop Colloredo. "How I detest Salzburg", he wrote, and sought to escape the place on many occasions. Nevertheless this was the place where he spent his formative years, where he composed many great works, and where he developed into the composer we now celebrate as one of the greatest of any age. All this week Donald Macleod explores the story of Mozart's relationship with the place where his genius was forged.

Mozart spent the entirety of 1774 kicking his heels in Salzburg; the longest continuous period he'd spent at home since he was six. A brief diversion presented itself when he was asked to produce an opera for Munich but, ultimately, he found his theatrical ambitions once again thwarted. Mozart's frustrations with his position in Salzburg were becoming obvious.

Bassoon Concerto, K191 (1st movt)
Eckart Hübner, bassoon
Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester

"L'amerò, sarò costanta" (Il re pastore, Act 2, Scene 2)
Reri Grist, soprano (Aminta)
The Orchestra of Naples
Denis Vaughan, conductor

Epistle Sonata in C, K328
Catherine Mackintosh, violin
Miranda Fulleylove, violin
Jennifer Ward Clark, cello
Andrew Lumsden, organ

Missa Brevis in C, K220 (Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei)
Ruth Holton, soprano
Charles Brett, countertenor
Andrew Tusa, tenor
Henry Wickham, bass
The Quiristers of Winchester College and Choral Scholars
The Amadi Orchestra
Julian Smith, conductor

Violin Concerto No.4 in D, K218
Simon Standage, violin
The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood, conductor. Show less

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