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The Joy of Mozart
Tom Service heads from London to Vienna and Salzburg to unpick the living, breathing genius that was Mozart. With Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nicola Benedetti, Paul Morley and others.
Tom Service plunges into the life and times of Mozart to try and rediscover the greatness and humanity of the living man in his moment. Mozart's prodigious output and untimely death have helped place him on a pedestal that can often blind us to the unique brilliance of his work in the context of his life and times. Tackling the sentimental tourist industry of Salzburg and the cloying reverence in which Mozart is too often held, Service visits the key cities and rooms in which Mozart lived and worked, plays some of Mozart's original instruments and scores, and gradually uncovers the brilliance and originality of his work as the 18th century turns into the early 19th.
There is the prodigious childhood when Mozart was feted as an infant phenomenon around Europe's most glittering courts, and his golden decade in Vienna in which masterpiece followed masterpiece - operas, symphonies, piano concertos, string quartets - as if this short, high-voiced man-child must have been taking dictation from some divine source, until his death at the age of just 35 in 1791.
Even more than the music, Mozart's tragic demise sets the seal on his myth. The trajectory of Mozart's life sets the template for the romantic paradigm whose throes we are still in today, which requires our creative heroes to die young to prove that they were too good for this madding world, whether it be Wolfgang Amadeus or Jimi Hendrix.
Service travels from London to Vienna and Salzberg, unpicking the living, breathing genius that was Mozart. With Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nicola Benedetti, Paul Morley and others.
Last on
Clips
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Eleanor Dennis & Craig White - Così fan tutte
Duration: 07:30
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Teaser clip with Nicola Benedetti
Duration: 02:30
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Kristian Bezuidenhout - extra scene
Duration: 07:23
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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René Jacobs
Ouverture
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Berliner Philharmoniker
Symphony No 29 in A, K201 Allegro
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. -
Academy of Ancient Music
Symphony No 4 in D Major
Director: Jaap Schröder. -
Lawrence Power
Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat Major K364
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Hagen Quartett
String Quartet In B Flat Major K458
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Berliner Philharmoniker
Maurerische Trauermusik K477
Conductor: Claudio Abbado. -
Berliner Philharmoniker
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik In G Major KV 525
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. -
La Chapelle Royale
Requiem K626
Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Director: Philippe Herreweghe. Orchestra: Orchestre des Champsâ€Ã‰lysées. -
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik K525
Conductor: Bruno Walter. -
Berliner Philharmoniker
Divertimento in D Major K136 Allegro
Conductor: Riccardo Muti. -
Falco
Rock Me Amadeus
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Kristian Bezuidenhout
Adagio in B Minor K540
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Kristian Bezuidenhout
Piano Concerto No 24 K491
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Nicola Benedetti
Violin Concerto No 5 K219
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Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Missa Brevis C Dur KV 220
Conductor: Rafael KubelÃk. -
Eleanor Dennis accompanied by Craig White & Craig White
Great Mass in C Minor
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Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Requiem in D Minor K626
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The English Concert
Symphony no 34 in C Major K338
Director: Trevor Pinnock. -
Les Arts Florissants
Die Enteuhrung Aus Dem Serail K384
Conductor: William Christie. -
Chiaroscuro Quartet
String Quarted no 14 in G Major
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Kristian Bezuidenhout
Sonata in A Major K331 Andante Grazioso
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Academy of Ancient Music
Symphony No 29 in A Major K201 Allegro Spirito
Conductor: Christopher Hogwood. -
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
The Marriage of Figaro, Ouverture
Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano. -
The Royal Opera & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Antonio Pappano
The Marriage of Figaro, Se Vuoi Ballare
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano. -
Glyndebourne Opera, Glyndebourne Chorus & the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Ivan Fischer
Cosi Fan Tutte, Pier Pieta
Choir: Glyndebourne Chorus. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Iván Fischer. -
The Royal Opera & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Antonio Pappano
The Marriage of Figaro, Deh Vieni
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano. -
Eleanor Dennis accompanied by Craig White & Craig White
The Marriage of Figaro, Porgi Amor Qualche Ristoro
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Claudio Abbado & Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Die Zauberflote, Ouverture
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Kristian Bezuidenhout
Rondo in A Minor K511
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Medici String Quartet with Jack Brymer & Jack Brymer
Clarinet Quintet in A Major K581, Larghetto
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Kaushiki Chakrabarty
Alap
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Chiaroscuro Quartet
String Quartet No 19 in C Major K465, Allegro
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00:51
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
La Flute Enchantee
Tom Service
![Tom Service](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160x90/p02glvw9.jpg)
Tom Service has presented Music Matters on Radio 3 since 2003; also for Radio 3, he regularly presents the new music show Hear and Now, the Proms, and documentaries.
In 2013 he hosted a 6-part series of 20th Century Classics at the Proms for ±«Óãtv Four television and in 2014, Masterworks at the Proms. He presented the award-winning documentary Handel’s Messiah at The Foundling Hospital with Amanda Vickery on ±«Óãtv Two in Easter 2014.
Tom writes about music for The Guardian, where he was Chief Classical Music Critic. His books Music as Alchemy: Journeys with Great Conductors and their Orchestras and Full of Noises, interviews with the composer Thomas Adès, are published by Faber.
He was Guest Artistic Director of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2005. His PhD, at the University of Southampton, was on the music of John Zorn.
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Tom Service |
Producer | Chris Rodley |
Director | Chris Rodley |
Broadcasts
- Sun 18 Jan 2015 21:00
- Mon 19 Jan 2015 03:00
- Fri 23 Jan 2015 20:00
- Sun 1 Aug 2021 22:40
- Sun 7 Aug 2022 21:40
- Sun 13 Aug 2023 19:00
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