Mozart and Beethoven

Conductor Natalia Ponomarchuk from Ukraine leads the evening with soprano Serena Sáenz Molinero as soloist. Sáenz Molinero received the newly established Daphne Music Award Next Generation in 2025, particularly recognized for her tone and technical brilliance.

The programme opens with Mozart's overture to Don Giovanni and continues with four arias: Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!, Ruhe sanft from Zaide, Alcandro, lo confesso, and Et incarnatus est from the Mass in C minor.

The evening's main work is Beethoven's Symphony No. 2, written in the summer of 1802 during a stay in Heiligenstadt north of Vienna - the composer was sent there on medical advice, as rest and fresh air were meant to slow his progressive hearing loss. It was there that he wrote the famous Heiligenstadt Testament, a deeply personal letter in which he acknowledges his life crisis. Yet the symphony is full of humour and energy, making it almost paradoxical: behind the classical form lies an artist who refuses to give up.

The concert celebrates the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death.