EDMOND—Conductor Gerard Schwarz led the Mozart Orchestra of New York as they performed their namesake’s last three, and most famous, symphonies on November 19 for 623 concertgoers at Armstrong Auditorium. It was the third event of the 2015-2016 Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series, preceded by An Evening With Joshua Bell and My Favorite Jazz by Mark Jenkins, a staff member of the foundation.
The 32-member orchestra plays a large repertoire ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Prokofiev and Stravinsky, but its concert at Armstrong Auditorium consisted exclusively of three symphonies that Mozart wrote as a 32-year-old from July to August 1788.
“What was I doing when I was 32?” Schwarz joked onstage after conducting Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543. “These three symphonies are extraordinary. These are three of the great masterpieces of classical music.”
“The longing sigh of the great human voice, drawn to him by the loving power of his genius, breathes from his instruments,” composer Richard Wagner said of Symphony No. 39, one of Mozart’s most popular works.
Schwarz then conducted Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 before intermission, and finally Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 (also known as Jupiter) after the break. He showed an intricate understanding of the score as he deftly led each section with a precise point of the baton. The constantly moving and swaying conductor almost left his feet on several occasions to spur the orchestra to a crescendo.
The wind, string and percussion musicians blended so smoothly in all three symphonies that it sounded as if they were playing smaller parts of one large instrument. Through their musical dynamics, they gracefully and powerfully invoked human emotion in a memorable performance that left Armstrong Auditorium buzzing upon its conclusion.
Gerard Schwarz serves as music director for the Mozart Orchestra of New York as well as the All-Star Orchestra, an ensemble of top musicians from America’s leading orchestras that starred in a self-titled pbs miniseries of eight episodes in 2014. He has recorded approximately 350 albums. In nearly five decades as a conductor, he has received four Emmy Awards and 14 Grammy nominations. He was the co-principal trumpeter for the New York Philharmonic from 1972 to 1977.
Schwarz has performed in Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California, built by Armstrong Auditorium’s namesake, the late educator Herbert W. Armstrong. He told concert manager Ryan Malone: “When I walked in the door [of Armstrong Auditorium] today, it just brought back all the wonderful memories. Beautiful hall, beautiful acoustics, pristine, beautifully maintained, warm colors; it gave me the same feeling that I had all those years.”
The Mozart Orchestra of New York is a collaborative project between Gerard Schwarz and the New York Chamber Soloists, who serve as the principal players. They have performed alongside pianist Menahem Pressler, who visited Armstrong Auditorium on March 18, 2014, and taken 11 European tours, six Latin American tours, and numerous tours of Asia and the South Pacific.
The 2015-2016 Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series resumes on January 14, when cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio performs an all-Chopin program.