Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincysymphony continued its 2025-26 season with an all-Mozart program led by the legendary Dame Jane Glover, making a welcome return appearance following a sensational run conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni with @cincinnatiopera in 2024.
The orchestra opened with an invigorating reading of the overture to a much earlier Mozart opera, Lucio Silla, completed in 1772 when he was only 16 years old. As an added treat, the performance also included visual projections by Luke Kritzeck based on the opera’s plot, a love story involving the titular Roman dictator and the daughter of his enemy, Gaius Marius.
Pribcipal violinist Stefanie Matsuo and principal violist Christian Colberg then followed with a gracefully vibrant reading of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, written in 1779 while the composer was on a wide-ranging tour of Europe. At once playful and darkly tragic, Matsuo and Colberg brought both of those emotions to the fore, particularly in the first and second movement cadenzas. As an encore, the two played a new score of Colberg’s own composition based on themes from the concerto.
Maestra Glover and the orchestra concluded with a fantastic, transcendent performance of Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ Symphony No. 41. Written in 1788, it demonstrates his mastery for writing tuneful melodies which are both sprightly and memorable. Glover’s conducting was much more graceful and intimate than many other Mozart interpreters, which marks a refreshing change of pace following the drama and excitement of Cristian Mačelaru’s opening concert two weeks ago.
Bravi tutti!