NZSO – Mozart & Salieri

Let the NZSO entertain you with the sounds of eighteenth-century Continental Europe.

Mozart was wowing audiences with his compositions, seemingly turning any musical form into gold. His Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major is a perfect example of Classical-era symmetry, grace and style.

Meanwhile, Antonio Salieri, famously portrayed in the movie Amadeus as Mozart’s nemesis, was making his own name with piquant works like his Variations on the common La Folia di Spagna (Spanish Follies) tune, while Haydn, another Mozart contemporary, was busy in Esterhazy, setting the foundations for the orchestra as we now know it.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel was Mozart and Salieri’s student, and eventually took over for Haydn as Kapellmeister (musical director) at Esterhazy. Hummel’s Acht Variationen represent his place as torchbearer and bridge between the past generation and the next.