Compiled by our Classical Music desk.
String orchestra La Primavera, not to be confused with the later renaissance ensemble which carried the same name, created a furore in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a number of high-quality concertos. Today we dust off two of them.
The first concert will consist of Classical music, with a capital C, because it is from the Classical period. The first concerto will be an Adagio and a fuga by Franz Xaver, one of the grand masters of the pre-Classical era. Next we will be listening to a violin concerto by Mozart. On solo violin we hear someone None Other Than, Jaap van Zweden to be precise. Currently he is a world famous conducter, though at the time he still was an aspiring violinist. After this the orchestra will attempt a late Beethoven quartet. Is a late Beethoven on string ochestra even possible? Let us convince you.
During the second concert the string players dive into music of the early twentieth century. We will be listening to dances by Debussy and a part of Apollon mussagète by Stravinsky.
From the eighteenth century to the twentieth, La Primavera could do it all. Romatic as well, by the way. Sadly we were only able to get two concerts in our programme. Perhaps we will be able to play their Romantic concerts for you another time.
Playlist
- Franz Xaver Richter – Adagio and fuga
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Violin concerto no. 3 in G major
- Ludwig van Beethoven – String quartet no. 13 in B flat major, opus 130 (version for string orchestra)
- Claude Debussy – Two dances for harp and string orchestra
- Igor Stravinski – Apollon musagète: premier tableau
