Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Hebrides – overture, op. 26
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314
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Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Symphony No. 3 in A minor (“Scottish”), op. 56

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor and oboist: François Leleux

Mendelssohn and Mozart: do they go together? Very much so, since as a child the young Felix had his phenomenal talent compared to that of Wolfgang Amadeus by none other than his fatherly friend Goethe, the prince of poets. This concert will be a meeting between the two geniuses, with one of Mozart’s concertos set in the fraternal embrace of two of Mendelssohn’s symphonic pieces. Also adding to the promise for a consistent experience is the fact that the artist performing the concerto will also conduct the orchestral compositions: one of the finest oboists of our time is also an outstanding conductor.

The music of the Romantics was often inspired by non-musical experiences. It was Liszt who stood at the forefront in this regard: he could be induced to write music by a poem, prose piece, drama, philosophical treatise, landscape, building, statue or painting. But his friend Mendelssohn also did not close himself off to external sources of inspiration. This concert features two masterpieces derived from similar worlds of experience, as both the Hebrides Overture (1830/32) and the Scottish Symphony (1842) owe their existence to the composer’s travels in the cool and foggy romantic landscapes of Scotland. And being performed between the two will be Mozart’s graceful and light Oboe Concerto, with its chatty tone. And, well, this is another example of  “music drawn from experience”, but in this case the experience was not a landscape, but rather a musician’s playing. Just as Mozart composed his works for the horn for Joseph Leutgeb and his clarinet pieces for another friend, Anton Stadler, he wrote his Oboe Concerto for Giuseppe Ferlendis, oboist of the Court Chapel of Salzburg. Ferlendis was a versatile musician, composing music in addition to playing the woodwind instrument. His modern-day successor François Leleux is also versatile, but in his case his excellent oboe skills are paired with equally fine work as a conductor. Aside from taking the stage as a soloist and conductor, he is also an active chamber musician and a core member of Les Vents Français, a wind quintet composed of international stars.