Mitsuko Uchida

Cal Performances

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Following her exquisite Cal Performances at Home recital in an all-Schubert program last fall, the magisterial pianist Mitsuko Uchida returns for an in-person concert with the dynamic Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) that draws a line from Henry Purcell’s uniquely English form of Baroque music to Mozart’s Viennese masterworks.
Uchida, “one of the leading Mozarteans of our day” (Chicago Tribune), is a revered figure of the concert stage—who gained renown early in her career for her complete recorded cycles of Mozart’s concertos and sonatas. The program features two concertos composed in the winter of 1785–86, when Mozart was at the height of his genius: the A major concerto is best known for its magnificent slow movement; the C minor concerto for its bold inventiveness. Rounding out the program, members of the orchestra shine in a selection of fantasias by Purcell, music that represents the composer’s great, final hurrah and cap the fertile era of viol consort music.