UNBOXING MOZART is an interactive concert introduction, based on Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20, that reinvents the traditional pre-concert lecture. With the help of special sound boxes, participants take on the role of a musician to dive into the music, get to know the instruments of the orchestra and come together with fellow participants to play passages from the concerto. The programme was developed in 2019 by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Invisible Playground collective as part of MOZART MOMENTUM 1785/1786, the multi-year project marking the renewed collaboration of Leif Ove Andsnes and the MCO.
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Imagine that places of music making are surrounded by mysterious, invisible streams of sonic energy. Mozart’s music, having been played at concert halls around the world many times over hundreds of years, flows through space, waiting to be discovered – or, rather, unboxed. Leif Ove Andsnes, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Invisible Playground collective invite you to follow these musical streams and to explore Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20.
UNBOXING MOZART – Live Walk
The walk is an interactive live experience before the concert, bringing the participants closer to the musician’s perspective on performance and to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20.
First, the participants meet the MCO on stage and receive their own sound boxes with integrated touch screens and speakers from the musicians. After this encounter, they set out on a walk around the concert hall to discover the music flowing through space and to bring it to life: participants are led by their boxes to meet in designated locations, where they explore parts of the piano concerto together through their sound boxes. Along the way, Leif Ove Andsnes and MCO musicians provide insights via short videos into the musical passages they are about to discover. The walk begins with small group encounters and joint explorations of musical excerpts. This culminates in a joint performance, featuring all sound boxes, of the concerto’s third movement as the participants find their way back to the concert hall and to the rest of concert audience.
UNBOXING MOZART – Installation
In the concert hall, groups of three to five boxes become part of an installation in the foyer. During the intermission and after the concert, the installation – featuring elements of the live walk within a shorter time frame – invites visitors to experiment with the collaborative dynamics of music making in short, playful moments involving two to five players. The installation can be set up in smaller and larger sizes, together with and independent of the live walk; it can also be featured in additional locations on MOZART MOMENTUM 1785/1786 tours.
