Mozart on Tour Part 1 - London and Mantua

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All Regions - Regular 1.33:1 / 4:3 - Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround / DTS 5.1 Surround - Colour - NTSC

Episode 1 London - Piano Concerto KV 414 played by Vladimir Ashkenazy

In this episode we return to one of Mozart's happiest periods, his childhood visit to the British capital, where he and his family were idolized by the royal court and came into contact with some of the foremost musicians of the time. Two musicians who had a seminal influence on the young man were German immigrants who ran an important concert series, Johann Christian Bach and Karl Friedrich Abel, the son of the great Johann Sebastian and one of the Thomaskantor's prize pupils. Both men had spent significant phases of their musical development in Italy, and so their music, which inspired Mozart's style, represented a virtual symbiosis of the greatest musical styles of the century, styles which saw their ultimate realization in works like Mozart's KV 414. In our performance, Vladimir Ashkenazy will perform the double role of soloist and conductor of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the great hall of Lancaster House.

Episode 2 Mantua - Piano Concertos KV 37 & 41, played by Heidrun Holtmann

One of the first tours the Mozart family made with their two gifted children brought them over the Alps to Italy. Here they encountered a culture which was to influence Wolfgang Amadeus for the rest of his life. The "Manzuoli style" of virtuoso singing, the Italian school of composition and a relatively new instrument called the pianoforte were to have a profound impact on Mozart' s creativity. One of the many musical exercises Leopold Mozart used with his children involved copying out the works of other composers and then using them as a point of departure for their own pieces. Today we might even call it plagiarism, but back then it was considered a compliment. Two of Mozart's earliest piano concerti were "pasticcio" arrangements for piano and orchestra made by Wolfgang and Leopold together, and based on piano sonatas by other composers. Even at this early age, the works bear the indelible imprint of the sublime musical master. Our performance in the historic Teatro Bibiena in Mantua features our youngest soloist, Heidrun Holtmann, and the RISI Orchestra under the direction of Marc Andreae.