Evening concert: Purcell, Mozart

Pianist Olga Pashchenko is completely in her element when she can enchant the listener with the sound palette of the different instruments she plays. When it comes to an early work by Mozart, she takes her place behind an instrument from exactly that era. The historically informed Chiaroscuro Quartet, the top in this segment, accompanies Pashchenko in the Piano Concertos Nos 12 and 14, framed by fantasies by Mozart and Purcell. The arrangements of Mozart’s Twelfth and Fourteenth piano concertos are by the composer himself. This choice of a smaller instrumentation reflects not only the popularity of chamber music in Mozart’s time, but also his ability to adapt complex musical ideas to changing circumstances. The pairing of the keyboard instrument and just four strings create an extremely intimate encounter.