Nowhere was Mozart’s music appreciated more in his own lifetime than the city of Prague, where his operas Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito were premièred. Melbourne Chamber Orchestra presents two of Mozart’s finest works paired with breathtaking Czech adagios.
His homage to the city was the Prague Symphony, a masterpiece brimming with his most infectious and elegant orchestral writing. Laureate of the 2013 International Telekom Beethoven Competition, pianist Stefan Cassomenos has received numerous international accolades for his sensitive and spirited performances. He joins MCO to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 25, the majestic concerto penned alongside the Prague.
Mozart in Prague program includes: Dvorák, Nocturne for string orchestra Op 40; Mozart, Piano Concerto No 25 in C major K503; Suk, Serenade for string orchestra: III Adagio; and Mozart, Symphony No 38 in D major K504 Prague.
Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major K503 is imbued with unprecedented compositional richness. It was completed by Mozart in December 1786, alongside the Prague Symphony K504. Although two more piano concertos (K537 and K595) would later follow, this work is the last of the twelve great piano concertos written in Vienna between 1784 and 1786.
Melbourne pianist and composer Stefan Cassomenos is one of Australia’s most vibrant and versatile musicians. Stefan has performed internationally since the age of 10, and performed the premiere of his own composition Piano Concerto No 1: Aegean Odyssey with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16.
More recently, he has performed concertos with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Victoria. He has worked with many conductors including Olari Elts, Fabian Russell, Christopher Seaman, Nicholas Braithwaite, and Arvo Volmer.
Stefan now gives regular solo recitals and concerto performances throughout Australia, Europe, and Asia. In 2013, he was a grand finalist and recipient of the Second Grand Prize in the prestigious International Telekom Beethoven Piano Competition Bonn, in Germany. He also received the Chamber Music Prize.
In 2012, he was a grand finalist in the Rhodes International Piano Competition. He has also been a grand finalist and prize-winner in the 2013 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, the 2013 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards, the 2009 Melbourne Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition, and the 2009 Trieste International Chamber Music Competition.
Stefan’s compositions are regularly commissioned and performed throughout Australia, and he is also active as an artistic director of various festivals, projects and collaborations. He is a founding member of PLEXUS.
Founded in 1991 as Australia Pro Arte Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra has a core of string players drawn from Melbourne’s outstanding community of orchestral artists. The orchestra presents an annual series of concerts in Melbourne, and is one of Australia’s leading regional tourers of classical music, presenting concerts and education workshops in every corner of Victoria.
Mozart in Prague
Deakin Edge, Federation Square
Performance: Thursday 26 February 2015 – 7:30pm
Bookings: 1300 723 038 or online at: www.ticketmaster.com.au
Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Performance: Sunday 1 March 2015 – 2.30pm
Bookings: (03) 9699 3333 or online at: www.melbournerecital.com.au
For more information, visit: www.mco.org.au for details.
Image: Stefan Cassomenos