Gounod. Mozart. Strauss

On the penultimate concert of our orchestral series, we welcome another phenomenal soloist, the renowned clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer. The principal clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic will showcase his skills in an arrangement of Brahms' magnificent Sonata for Clarinet in F minor, a crucial work of 19th-century clarinet literature. 
 
The opening number of the evening, Strauss's Serenade in E flat major, is a work from the pen of an artist at the beginning of his great career. Richard Strauss composed this composition for a wind chamber ensemble when he was only seventeen years old. We remain in a German-speaking environment also in the next piece. Mozart's The Theatre Director is a comic, almost sarcastic singspiel to a German libretto, the main plot of which is the struggle of two rival sopranos for an engagement. We will hear the playful, sparkling overture from the singspiel.
  
The end of the evening will be a bit unconventional - we will hear a symphonic work by one of the acclaimed French opera composers, Charles Gounod. In his light-hearted, upbeat Symphony No. 2, Gounod gives generous space to the woodwinds, which give the symphony its unique colour. The German influence is also evident in this work: the composer draws on his fascination with Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Robert Schumann.