Mozart sneaks into Columbus Symphony's upcoming Russian Winter Festival concert
In recent years, the Columbus Symphony has made its annual musical trek to Russia something of a tradition.
Each winter since 2016, the symphony has presented a Russian Winter Festival, usually featuring works by composers born in the vast nation spanning Europe and Asia.
This year, however, some concertgoers might scratch their heads at one of the two composers featured on the program of the first concert, scheduled to take place in front of a live audience Friday and Saturday in the Ohio Theatre.
Sure, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia, in 1840, but what’s Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart doing on the bill?
“Of course, I don’t claim that Mozart is Russian at all,” said Music Director Rossen Milanov, who will conduct the concerts, which are open to 300 audience members under state-mandated capacity restrictions. The show will be recorded for free viewing beginning Jan. 29 on the symphony’s website, columbussymphony.com.
In fact, Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1756, but his influence on Tchaikovsky earned him a place in this year’s Russian Winter Festival.
The symphony will perform Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40” followed by Tchaikovsky’s “Orchestral Suite No 4,” which is better known under its alternate title “Mozartiana” — a reference to Mozart’s impact on the Russian composer, which is obvious, according to Milanov.
“It is orchestrated in the style of Mozart, but it’s not Mozart’s music,” the conductor said. “(It's connected) in the quality of the ideas, in the beauty of the melodies, in the perfect symmetry that we find in Mozart’s music."
It made sense, then, to open the performance with a piece by Mozart himself — even if it meant violating the title of the program.
“The 40th symphony (is) perhaps the most romantic Mozart symphony,” said Milanov, who sees the program as a kind of dialogue between the two composers. “I am inviting, in this case, two guests from different time periods to the same dinner table. The closest thing that I could get to that type of meeting is to program the music.”
The Russian Winter Festival concerts come on the heels of a series of limited-capacity concerts the symphony performed — and later streamed — in the fall. During those shows, Milanov worked out the kinks of leading a smaller-than-usual group of musicians wearing masks and separated by plexiglass. (About 50 musicians will be on hand for the first installment of the Russian Winter Festival instead of the usual 75 or so.)
The only challenge of the masks, the conductor said, is that they don’t let him easily communicate his approval to the musicians.
“At the end of the last concert, I was bowing, and I turned toward the orchestra,” he said. “I kind of lifted my mask and gave them a big smile and put the mask back on. I wanted them to see that I really loved it.”
For this weekend's concerts, everyone in attendance, including audience members and staff, must wear masks, and those with COVID-19 symptoms or who have had exposure within the past 14 days to the virus, are asked to stay home. The concert will run straight through without an intermission, and no concessions will be available.
A second Russian Winter Festival will take place Jan. 22 and 23 in the Ohio Theatre with streaming to follow Feb. 5. That program doesn’t cheat on its composers’ country of origin: Sergei Prokofiev was born in what is now Ukraine and Dmitri Shostakovich in Russia. Milanov promises a dynamic program, highlighted by pianist Caroline Hong serving as the soloist on Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 3.”
“Music is needed in these times of challenge more so than ever,” Milanov said. “Music has that ability, and I particularly feel more useful when I know that the music could help people.”
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At a glance
The Columbus Symphony will perform ‘Russian Winter Festival I: Mozartiana’ at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; available to view online for free starting at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29. Tickets ocst $39 for the in-person concerts. Information: columbussymphony.com.