For their final concert of the season Music of the Baroque will perform masterpieces by Mozart and Haydn. Mozart wrote his last three symphonies in just over six weeks in 1788, yet they’re among his greatest works. Symphony no. 40, the next to last, was only his second symphony in a minor key, and it’s certainly his darkest, beginning quietly but with an undercurrent of restlessness and longing. Even the elegant and lyrical second movement is tinged with sadness and at times despair. The opening of the Lord Nelson Mass, the only Haydn mass in a minor key, is similarly tragic, its gripping kyrie evoking the work’s other name, Mass in Time of Anguish. Yet because this is a religious work, optimism is never far away, and the mass concludes in a major key. Joining Music of the Baroque’s outstanding orchestra and chorus are lyric soprano Amy Burton, who frequently performs with the New York City Opera and orchestras such as the San Francisco and Cleveland; mezzo-soprano Emily Lodine, who has sung with the CSO; tenor Kurt Hansen, a Northwestern faculty member who specializes in oratorio and has recorded with Music of the Baroque; and bass Peter Van De Graaff, who’s performed extensively throughout the U.S. in addition to being a host on WFMT. Jane Glover, who conducted major symphony and chamber orchestras around the world before being appointed Music of the Baroque’s music director in 2002, will conduct. Sunday, May 16, 7:30 PM, First United Methodist Church, 1630 Hinman, Evanston; Monday, May 17, 8 PM, Old Saint Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams; Wednesday, May 19, 8 PM, Grace Lutheran Church, 7300 W. Division, River Forest. 312-551-1414.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Christian Steiner, John Batten.