Matthias Pintscher and Francisco López

REPERTOIRE

Matthias Pintscher: Neharot (2020) 25′
W. A. Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 2 in D, KV 314 (1778) 20′
Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73 (1918-1924) 30′

ARTISTS

Matthias Pintscher, conductor
Francisco López, flute
Duda Paiva Company, titelles
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)

PROGRAMME

Composer Matthias Pintscher presents Neharot, written in 2020. The title can be translated in two ways, as it not only means “river” but, figuratively, also “tears”. As he has explained, it is a reflection on “devastation and fear, and the hope for light, which have left such a deep emotional imprint on this period of our existence”.

Much more carefree is Mozart’s Second Flute Concerto, which was inspired by his own oboe concerto, now lost. It is said that the virtuoso who commissioned it, aware of the earlier work, only wanted to pay him half the price. An expansive work from the first movement, dreamy in the second and lively in the third, with a catchy theme that would later be used in The Abduction from the Seraglio.

Considered a “one-act pantomime ballet”, Béla Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin is an example of how the Hungarian composer’s passion for folklore combined with the creation of new languages to develop a rich display of colours and rhythms. After its scandalous premiere in Cologne in 1926, the work was banned in Germany. The story will be brought to life by the Duda Paiva Company’s spectacular puppets.