MCO & MitsuKo Uchida: European Journey

January


February 2025

The fifth year of our collaboration with Artistic Partner Mitsuko Uchida brings us from Luxembourg to London. This time, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18 and No. 21 frame two different pieces for our six-concert tour.

For the concerts in Dortmund, Hamburg, Vienna, and London, the program will include the two Mozart pieces, separated by Leoš Janáček's wind sextet, Mládí ("Youth"). Composed during a reflective period in Janáček’s life, this wind sextet is a recollection of his youth, infused with astute humor and a classical form. Written during a stay in his birthplace of Hukvaldy, Janáček uses fresh expressions and a quote from his earlier work, March of the Blue Boys, to evoke the spirit of his younger days. The addition of a bass clarinet to the traditional wind quintet lends the piece a unique, rich texture.

For the concerts in Luxembourg and Salzburg, the centerpiece is George Frideric Handel's Concerto Grosso op. 3 No. 2 of which the opening movement bears a close relationship to Handel's Brockes Passion of 1716. Two dance movements, a minuet, and a gavotte complete the concerto. In the Largo, the oboe's expressive cantilena is gently accompanied by the broken-chord accompaniment of two concertante cellos. 

Often overshadowed by his more famous B-flat concerto (Piano Concerto No. 27), Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 18 leans towards the entertaining rather than the expressive, offering glimpses of the deeper poignance that would characterize his later works.

The concert concludes with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467, a work of depth and beauty. Known for its large melodic leaps and underlying restlessness, this concerto’s middle movement is particularly renowned for its expressive poignancy.

Starting in the Luxembourg Philharmonie, this tour takes us to Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Vienna’s Musikverein, Salzburg Mozarteum, and finally, the London Southbank Centre. Our performance in Vienna is the first in this Mozart cycle with Mitsuko Uchida.

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CONCERTS THIS TOUR

21 January 2025 Luxembourg

Tuesday 19:30 / Luxembourg Philharmonie

W. A. MOZART / G. F. HÄNDEL 

Mitsuko Uchida piano & director / José Maria Blumenschein concertmaster & leader

23 January 2025 Dortmund

Thursday 19:30 / Konzerthaus Dortmund

W. A. MOZART / L. JANÁČEK 

Mitsuko Uchida piano & director / José Maria Blumenschein concertmaster & leader

25 January 2025 Dortmund

Saturday 18:00 / Konzerthaus Dortmund

XTENDED: W. A. MOZART / L. JANÁČEK/ I. GINER MIRANDA

26 January 2025 Hamburg

Sunday 20:00 / Elbphilharmonie

W. A. MOZART / L. JANÁČEK 

Mitsuko Uchida piano & director / José Maria Blumenschein concertmaster & leader

28 January 2025 Vienna

Tuesday 19:30 / Musikverein Wien

W. A. MOZART / L. JANÁČEK 

Mitsuko Uchida piano & director / José Maria Blumenschein concertmaster & leader

30 January 2025 Salzburg

Thursday 19:30 / Salzburg Mozarteum

W. A. MOZART / G. F. HÄNDEL 

Mitsuko Uchida piano & director / José Maria Blumenschein concertmaster & leader

01 February 2025 London

Saturday 19:30 / Southbank Centre

W. A. MOZART / L. JANÁČEK 

Mitsuko Uchida piano & director / José Maria Blumenschein concertmaster & leader