See 58 performances at Mozartfest Würzburg24 May – 30 June 2013
Mozartfest Würzburg – the very name evokes images and sounds: Mozart’s melodies, over 200 years old and still the most often played pieces of classical music, and Würzburg, the city on the Main surrounded by picturesque vineyards and shaped by the reign of the prince-bishops.
The musician and composer Mozart also appreciated this city – even if only a single visit is recorded. In a letter dated September 28, 1790 Wolfgang Amadé writes to his wife Constanze: “At Würzburg we fortified ourselves with a cup of coffee – a beautiful, magnificent city!” Such a “beautiful, magnificent city” is Würzburg last but not least because of its unique Residenz, which at the time of Mozarts visit had already been completed for half a century and could be admired in all its splendor. In 1921 the first Mozart concert took place in the Imperial Hall, an event which the initiator Hermann Zilcher, then the director of the Würzburg conservatory, experienced as “an intimate union of sound, architecture and color”. Thus the foundations were laid for a successful festival with special musical performances and, ever since, the month of June in this Franconian city has been dedicated to the spirit of Mozart.
Until today the unique union of the arts is what makes the Mozartfest so alluring: The fact that the incredible architectural skill of Balthasar Neumann, the frescos of Giovanni Batista Tiepolo and the stucco-work of Antonio Bossi provide a fascinating atmosphere for top-quality musical performances is acknowledged by up to 25,000 national and international guests who attend the Mozartfest every year and enjoy the symphony concerts in the Imperial Hall with first-class artists and orchestras as well as the Serenades at the Court Gardens, cross-over concerts in a former printing hall, evenings with music and literature in wine cellars or contemplative concerts at the former convent of Himmelspforten.
Since 2010 the beginning of the Mozartfest is celebrated with a “Day of Mozart” on the opening weekend presenting the public with free concerts in the center of Würzburg and followed by a one-month parade of renowned soloists, conductors and orchestras. In 2013 the festival will last from 24 May until 30 June and classic stars such as the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, the Bamberger Symphoniker with Rudolf Buchbinder, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the Kammerorchester Basel with Angela Hewitt, Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca and Giuliano Carmignola will illuminate the Imperial Hall with their music and make the Mozartfest one of the highlights among the international classical music festivals.
For full information, visit the Mozartfest Würzburg website.
