Claroscuro

The programme of this concert invites us reflect on two complex creative personalities who have produced two of the most important catalogues in the history of music: Mozart and Shostakovich. The two quintets we are going to listen to – Mozart’s clarinet and Shostakovich for piano – are pieces of great transparency and emotional depth. This is particularly so in the case of Mozart, whose piece is considered to be one of the masterpieces of chamber music repertoire of all times: classical music aesthetics risen to one of its highest points in terms of sensitivity and expressive subtlety. The contrast is evident if you think about how close it is with the creative process of Così fan tutte (1790), in Mozart’s case, and Symphony nº 7 (1941), known as Leningrad, in the case of Shostakovich. The contrast between, on the one hand, the textures and the emotions in Shostakovich’s quintet, so translucent at times, and the symphony that is generally associated to the siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, on the other hand, is evident. Though not quite as obvious from the surface of music, the contrast between Mozart’s quintet and the opera that crowns the cycle of collaborations with librettist Da Ponte is equally deep. It is a summary of the cynical and stark view that Enlightenment philosophy -so fashionable at the time it was composed- has of human nature: while in the clarinet quintet there is no truth other than that of its moving deep feelings, in Così fan tutte nothing is actually what it seems to be and all the expectations of honesty, loyalty and commitment are truncated. It is in these intense and significant contrast where one can appreciate the creative versatility and ambition of the composers whose chamber pieces are included in this concert.