January 10 • 2019 35
jn

T

he Ann Arbor Symphony
Orchestra and Music Director
Arie Lipsky will celebrate the
annual Mozart Birthday Bash at 8 p.m.
Jan. 12 at Hill Auditorium in Ann
Arbor.
The orchestra
will open the eve-
ning with Mozart’
s
Requiem in D
Minor, the compos-
er’
s final work and
will be joined by
vocal soloists Louise
Toppin, Sedona
Libera, Charles
Reid and Daniel
Washington. The
performance will
also feature area
choral ensembles
including Measure
for Measure, the
Livingston County
Women’
s Chorus,
and the Huron,
Pioneer and Skyline
High School a cap-
pella choirs.
To close the pro-
gram, the orchestra
will be joined by
celebrated pianist
Alon Goldstein for
a performance of
Mozart’
s youthful
and energetic Piano
Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major. To fur-
ther celebrate Mozart’
s legacy, audience
members will enjoy Mozartkugeln, tra-
ditional candies from Austria.
Mozart’
s Requiem has long been the
most mysterious of the composer’
s
works. He originally received a com-
mission to write the large-scale choral
and orchestral masterpiece by a visitor
in July of 1791. The man would not
state his name and would not provide
details about the person who wanted
to fund the work. Mozart accepted the
commission because of the generous
paycheck promised at its completion.
As Mozart continued to compose
the Requiem, his health started to fail.
Knowing his death was imminent,
he stated to a friend, “Didn’
t I say
before that I was writing this requiem
for myself?” In December of 1791,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died,

leaving his Requiem unfinished. Franz
Xaver Süssmayr, a friend and close
collaborator of Mozart’
s, accepted the
challenge of completing the Requiem
from sketches.
The unknown
commissioner was
later discovered to be
Count von Walsegg,
who wanted the
Requiem to serve as
a memorial piece for
his late wife.
To counterbal-
ance the depth and
drama of Mozart’
s
final composition,
the Ann Arbor
Symphony Orchestra
will play one of the
most mature works
from his youth:
Piano Concerto No.
9 in E-flat Major.
Many musicologists
have pegged this
concerto as a major
turning point in
Mozart’
s composi-
tional development.
This youthful and
joyous concerto with
a dark and brooding
second movement
will be performed
by Goldstein, who
returns to perform
with the orchestra after high audience
demand.
Alon Goldstein is one of the most
original and sensitive artists of his
generation, admired for his musical
intelligence and dynamic personality.
His artistic vision and innovative pro-
gramming have made him a favorite
with audiences and critics throughout
the United States, Europe and Israel.
He made his orchestral debut at age 18
with the Israel Philharmonic under the
baton of Zubin Mehta.
Goldstein is artistic director for
The Distinguished Artists Concert &
Lecture Series in Santa Cruz, Calif.,
and was recently named artistic direc-
tor for the Mt. Angel Abbey Bach
Festival in Oregon, starting in 2019.
A pre-concert talk about the Mozart
works led by Goldstein and Lipsky is
open to all ticket holders at 7 p.m. ■

Mozart Bash

Ann Arbor Symphony brings
pianist Alon Goldstein for concert.

JIYANG+CHEN

Pianist

Alon Goldstein

details

Tickets are available online

at a2so.com, by emailing

tickets@a2so.com or by

calling (734) 994-4801. This

concert is made possible

in part by a co-sponsorship

from Rebecca Horvath.

music