Mitsuko Uchida & the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Royal Festival Hall

Think of the Japanese-born pianist Mitsuko Uchida, and there’s one composer who is likely to come to the front of your mind. Uchida’s relationship with Mozart runs incredibly deep; her renditions of her piano sonatas are amongst the finest ever recorded. In recent years, she has turned to conducting, applying her measured yet emotional grace to the baton. To commence a three-year relationship with the Southbank Centre, she will both conduct and lead two of Mozart’s finest Piano Concertos. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra, themselves an international draw, will accompany her.
The evening opens with the Piano Concerto No. 17 (1784), written for Mozart's student Barbara von Ployer. Its regal elegance belies its complexity, which melds together aspects of several different musical forms. Bartok’s Divertimento for String Orchestra (1939) will serve as more than a mere palette clenser. One of the Hungarian modernist’s last pieces before he fled Europe for the US, it sees the composer return to the classical clarity of his earlier work. The night will then close with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 (1786), the last of his so-called ‘great concerti’. It is one of the highest minded and most majestic of all his concerti, with ample space for the musicians and audience alike to luxuriate. Uchida and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra should provide a sterling reading.
Ticket sales for the Southbank Centre’s 2016-17 season open on 9 Feb to members and 23 Feb to the general public.