Portrait of Mozart painted posthumously by Barbara Kraft, 1819.
Five years ago, when Peter Oundjian was relatively new in his position as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, he announced the Mozart@249 festival at the TSO’s annual season media conference. He explained that he didn’t think we had to wait until the all important 250th birthday to have an excuse to have a Mozart festival so he was going to get a head start on everybody else. It was rather endearing, although we all knew it was really just clever marketing. But who cares? What’s not to love about Mozart, especially in the dark cold days of January?
Well here we are five years later and the annual January Mozart Festival is so popular that the TSO artistic team just keep programming it – hence Mozart@254. The festival opened last night and runs until January 24 at Roy Thomson Hall and includes appearances by American pianist Jonathan Biss, Canadian soprano Shannon Mercer, the National Arts Centre Orchestra under its conductor Pinchas Zuckerman, and even a program with Canada’s favourite “Mountie,” actor Paul Gross. Of special note are the January 20 and 21 concerts with a roster of world-class female artists in a program devoted to the women in Mozart’s life; it will feature conductor Jane Glover, pianist Imogen Cooper, violinist Anne Akiko Myers, and violist Teng Li.
Will there be a Mozart@255? Well we will have to wait until next week’s season launch announcement to find out. But with over 600 compositions, there is no shortage of Mozart repertoire. In the meantime, come down to RTH over the next two weeks and enjoy some of the world’s most beloved music.
Heather Clark is the Director of Marketing and Development at Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall.
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