• Bio
  • Contact Ian

Ian Sidden

Subscribe

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Craft
  • My News
  • About the Music
  • The Rest of Life

Mozart Month: Day 22 with his First Violin Concerto

October 14, 2016 By Ian Sidden

Time for a new genre! Having heard a lot of strings over the course of this project, I’m curious how Mozart handled a solo player who could really show off a bit.

The Recording

I’m listening to Nikolaus Harnoncourt lead the Vienna Philharmonic with Gidon Kremer on solo violin.

Apple Music

Spotify

Sheet Music

Violin Concerto no. 1 in B Flat Major, K. 207

1. Allegro moderato

  • Very active orchestra.
  • Horns quite prominent.
  • Pretty virtuosic from start.
  • Long sequential pattern in development.
  • Orchestral build up to cadenza is thrilling if brief.

2. Adagio

  • Slow but active orchestra. Violas and second violins keep this movement going.
  • Really backs off for entrance of soloist.
  • Melody is fine, but it’s really the overall color of the piece – the little touches here and there – that make this interesting. There’s a lot happening.

3. Presto

  • Check out passed accompaniments between orchestral strings. Cool.
  • Yay, woodwind interjections.
  • Lots of fireworks from soloist.
  • There are a few Ethel Merman-type downward shooting intervals. Ha.

Takeaways?

I don’t think there’s much that’s really surprising her, but it is an enjoyable piece. The one thing that surprised me was how mature the back and forth between the soloist and orchestra was. The soloist got to play some fun things, but I mostly paid attention to the activity of the orchestra, which provided a lot of musical depth throughout the concerto.

Until next time.

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailMozart Month: Day 26 with his Fifth Violin Concerto Default ThumbnailMozart Month: Day 25 with his Fourth Violin Concerto Default ThumbnailMozart Month: Day 24 with his Third Violin Concerto Default ThumbnailMozart Month: Day 23 with his Second Violin Concerto

Filed Under: About the Music Tagged With: Listening, Mozart, Mozart Month, violin concerto

« Mozart Month: Day 21 with his “Linz” Symphony
Mozart Month: Day 23 with his Second Violin Concerto »

About Ian

Ian Sidden is currently a bass member of the Theater Dortmund Opera chorus. Read More…

Latest Posts

Training Singing, Practicing Strength

In the past few years, I’ve begun viewing my singing work in a similar manner to my weight training. And vice versa. The two share obvious similarities. We use time and effort to get better: We want more power. We want more endurance. We want more agility. We want to be more durable. We want […]

Premiere: Fernand Cortez

Tonight we premiere our production of Gaspare Spontini’s Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique at Opernhaus Dortmund. This is after a two year delay; originally we were to have premiered this in 2020, but history intervened. There are many versions of this opera floating around, and we are doing a version that has – […]

Premiere: Frédégonde

Here’s one I’ve been looking forward to for awhile. Tonight at Opernhaus Dortmund, we’re premiering Frédegonde for the first time in Germany. It’s a work inspired from the early history of the Merovingians in what is now France and the ongoing feud between two of the queens, Brunhild and Frédegonde. The work was composed by […]

“Ständchen” by Schubert, Guitar and Voice Arrangement

Here is a performance of my self accompanied guitar arrangement of Franz Schubert’s “Ständchen”.

PREMIERE: Tosca

Tonight at Opernhaus Dortmund, we’re premiering our “Tosca”, which is the first premiere including the chorus since March 13, 2020.

Copyright © 2023 · WordPress