MacMillan / Mozart / ŠostakovičMacMillan / Mozart / Shostakovich

In 2017, the Scottish composer James MacMillan rewrote the originally choral Miserere into an orchestral outfit, which was premiered under the name Larghetto by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of celebrating a successful ten-year collaboration with music director Manfred Honeck. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s clarinet concerto was created just a few weeks before the composer’s death. It was to be interpreted by Mozart’s friend, clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler, while the original notation is intended for basset horn. The instrument is slightly larger than a standard clarinet, extending the spectrum of playable notes downwards, which required additional notational adjustments when transcribing for classical clarinet arrangements. The release of the atmosphere after Stalin’s death, but also the horrors that his era inflicted spring from the notes of the Symphony no. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

The Spanish clarinetist Pablo Barragán wins the favor of the audience mainly with his malleable and colorful playing, which some listeners compare to magic. The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by chief conductor Daniel Raiskin.