New Year’s Concert

From the magnificent mood of joy to the night and darkness of the soul, from witty wit to dramatic catastrophes: all shades of human existence can be found in these works of the Viennese classics - especially when they feature Sir András Schiff at the piano and at the conductor's podium to lead his Cappella Andrea Barca. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto KV 503 also hides incredibly sensitive tones and emotional shades behind a radiant, rich C major facade, which makes its composer appear to be the first romantic. In his C minor concerto, however, Mozart breaks with the tradition of letting the sun rise in a major key at the end of minor pieces: “The masterful variations of the finale,” says András Schiff, “tell a Greek tragedy, but without catharsis.” Plus one of Joseph Haydn's greatest symphonies, the one with the timpani roll. In the slow set of variations, C major and C minor meet in their own way and penetrate each other: a marvel of inventiveness and economy of processing.