Salon Series
An Evening of Mozart
Saturday, April 17, 2021 | 7:00 PM EDT
Online | YouTube Premiere + Zoom
The Portland Chamber Music Festival is delighted to present a full evening of music by Mozart: the Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat Major, K. 563, performed by violinist Johnny Gandelsman, violist and PCMF Artistic Director Melissa Reardon, and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan. This event is a collaboration with the Charlottesville Chamber Music Society, recorded in the historic Blithewood Manor at Bard College in New York’s Hudson River Valley. The performance will premiere on YouTube at 7 PM, and will be followed by a live post-concert reception with the artists, with Q&A moderated by Sarah Tuttle, host of Maine Public Classical.
7:00 PM | Concert on YouTube
"Mozart Divertimento" will premiere on PCMF's YouTube channel. Subscribe to receive advance notice when new videos are posted!
7:45 PM | Q&A with the artists on Zoom, moderated by Sarah Tuttle of Maine Public Classical
Zoom link will be sent to ticket-holders in advance.
Wolfang Amadeus Mozart Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat Major, K. 563 (1788)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuetto (Allegretto)
IV. Andante
V. Menuetto (Allegretto)
VI. Allegro
Johnny Gandelsman, violin; Melissa Reardon, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Click here to view our Audio & Insights page for a more in-depth look at the fourth movement of the piece.
PROGRAM NOTES
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Divertimento in E-flat Major for String Trio is an epic work in six movements lasting approximately 45 minutes. Described as “one of [Mozart’s] noblest works," by the famous music scholar Alfred Einstein, it was written in 1788 shortly after Mozart completed his last, and perhaps greatest symphony — the “Jupiter.” This Divertimento is an extremely virtuosic piece, technically challenging for all three instruments, which was unusual for the time: Mozart himself performed the viola part at the premiere. While the composer’s earlier divertimenti are beautifully polished, those pieces were generally intended to be “diversions”—light entertainment for aristocratic social gatherings. This remarkable work, on the other hand, is anything but background music: poignant and cathartic, yet charming and lighthearted, filled with exquisite melodies that represent the pinnacle of Mozart’s chamber music.
Meet the Artists
In Partnership With:
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Johnny Gandelsman
violin
Grammy Award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman —founder of the genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider and member of the Silkroad Ensemble —has been called “revelatory” (The New Yorker) in concert. Johnny has closely worked with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Martin Hayes, Kayhan Kalhor, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie Van Otter, Alim Qasimov & Fargana Qasimova, Joshua Redman, Suzanne Vega, Abigail Washburn and Damian Woetzel. His recording of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, which reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Chart, and made it onto New York Magazine and New York Times Best of the Year lists, was described by the Boston Globe as "sparklingly personal Bach, shorn of grandeur, lofted by a spirit of dance."
Raman Ramakrishnan
cello
For eight seasons, as a founding member of the Horszowski Trio, and for eleven seasons, as a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet, cellist Raman Ramakrishnan performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records. He is currently a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and is on the faculty of the Bard Conservatory of Music. In the summers, he has performed at the Marlboro, Vail, and Kingston Chamber Music festivals, and served on the faculties of the Kneisel Hall and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals.
Melissa Reardon
viola
PCMF Artistic Director Melissa Reardon is Artist in Residence at Bard College and Conservatory, and a founding member and the Executive Director of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). As a member of the Grammy-nominated Ensō String Quartet from 2006 until its final season in 2018, Melissa toured extensively, with highlight performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Melissa won first prize at the Washington International Competition, and is the only violist to win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International viola competitions. She has appeared in numerous festivals across the United States and around the world, including tours with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, and with Musicians from Marlboro.