The Las Vegas Philharmonic celebrated Mozart's 250th birthday in style. One of the greatest composers in the Western tradition (along with Bach, Handel and Beethoven), Mozart produced in his short life a wide variety of material, from opera to symphonies to little dances for Viennese balls—over 600 to pick from. The selections chosen for the Saturday night concert offered a good representation of accessible and enjoyable material suitable for a birthday celebration.
Opting to use a chamber-sized orchestra for the concert, Music Director Harold Leighton Weller opened with Der Schauspieldirektor (Impressario) Overture, K. 486. Composed for a single-act opera, the popular overture made for a spirited beginning. This was followed by the too-infrequently performed Concerto for Flute and Harp in C major, K. 299. Although the orchestra initially overpowered the delicate harp, the intimate work accented the unusual blending of the two solo instruments, effectively played by the orchestra's principal flutist, Richard Soule, and principal harpist, Kim DeLibero.
The program continued with the instantly familiar Serenade in G major (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik), K. 525, one of Mozart's most famous "little pieces." For this concert, Weller made the fortunate decision to have the orchestra play without a conductor, a performance style common in Mozart's time and still practiced today by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among others. This method demands that the individual players strictly adhere to the scored tempos in order to maintain a cohesive performance. The orchestra did so and performed with elegance and simplicity. Consequently, all the sections were heard clearly and distinctly. The mellow tones of the violas and cellos were particularly well-defined and richly expressive, especially in the Romance; the energetic Rondo was played with style and exuberance.
The evening concluded with the Symphony No. 39 in E-Flat major, K. 543. Missing the strict focus of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the work received an uneven treatment. The long, slow introduction should have been a grand beginning, setting the stage for this mature work. Instead, muddy intonation and tempos almost lost the musical theme. Fortunately, Weller pulled the strings back into line by the middle of the movement. The horns and bassoons further redeemed the performance by capturing the haunting quality of the Andante, and the energetic Minuet and zippy Finale ended the evening on a celebratory note.