MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 @ChloeChuaviolinist

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We're elated to present a new video edit of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5, in Chloe Chua's first appearance as the youngest-ever Artist-In-Residence of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, back in July 2022. She is 15 at the time of this recording.

Despite being the son of Leopold Mozart, an influential figure in the history of the violin, Mozart never performed significantly on the violin after adulthood. The younger Mozart wrote five violin concerti in total, completing the last four in 1775 at the age of 19 and never returned to the genre, surely disappointing his father, who saw much potential in him, which must have been true if the younger Mozart performed the solos himself.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 “Turkish” (1775)
I. Allegro aperto 0:00
II. Adagio 9:22
III. Rondeau. Tempo di menuetto 19:19
Applause 28:00

Scored for solo violin, two oboes, two horns, and strings, the Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 “Turkish” begins with the standard Allegro orchestral introduction before the solo enters and Mozart surprises our ears with an unexpected and captivating six-bar adagio before returning to the allegro. Mozart has taken us where no man has gone before (or has gone since). The E major Adagio is lyrical and contemplative, with sighing themes passing between the strings and soloist. Melancholy and graceful, the ABA form ends with a cadenza for the soloist.

It is the Rondo third movement that gives the work its nickname “Turkish”. During Mozart’s time, anything from the East was fashionable – Turkish coffee, fabrics, and fashions, as well as chinoiserie. In the middle of a graceful minuet, Mozart transports us to Ottoman lands as he changes metre and switches to a minor mode allegro as violin and orchestra take up a wild gypsy-like theme intended to represent Turkish music. Without drums, cymbals, and jingles for colourful touches, Mozart here gives us strong accents, exotic chromatic scales, sudden crescendi, and a percussive drone from the celli and basses striking their strings with the bow stick (col legno). As suddenly as it began, the wildness disappears and we return to end amidst the poise and gilded mirrors of 18th-century Vienna, with Mozart giving us a final wink. (Edward C. Yong)

Chloe Chua, violin
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Hans Graf, Music Director

Recorded live at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore, on 28 July 2022.

Photo: Jack Yam

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