MOZART, Beethoven . . . and Golijov?
“Let’s not even go there!” murmurs Osvaldo Golijov, the Mostly Mozart Festival’s first composer-in-residence. “It’s like asking a playwright to talk about Shakespeare . . .
“I always think, ‘What Would Mozart Do?’ ”
He’d probably compose more operas, concertos and film scores, just as Golijov (pronounced Gollee-hov) does.
In fact, if Mozart were alive today, the Argentina-born 46-year-old says, “he’d be
a mixture of Prince and
Leonard Bernstein.”
Mostly Mozart’s 41st year kicks off tomorrow with Golijov’s cello concerto, featuring soloist Alisa Weilerstein and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra.
His “La Pasion segun San Marcos” – for singers, dancers, orchestra and Latin American drums – will be performed Aug. 18 and 19.
“What I love about Osvaldo’s music is that it’s not intellectual music – it’s very sensuous,” says Louis Langree, the festival’s music director and conductor.
“Also, he’s a composer who can adapt, who doesn’t write something and then it’s cast in marble.”
Hardly. With less than a week to go before its premiere, Golijov – who counts Francis Ford Coppola among his fans, and recently wrote a film score for him – was still revising his cello concerto, which he describes as “a big harmonic quest . . . that ends with shooting stars.”
Other highlights of the fest, running through Aug. 25 at Lincoln Center:
* A two-part Beethoven marathon Saturday at 4 and 7:30 p.m., featuring all of Symphonies 5 and 6 (“The Pastoral”), excerpts from the Mass in C major, the “Choral Fantasy” and more.
* Mark Morris’ “Mozart Dances,” accompanied by pianists Emanual Ax and Yoko Nozaki (Aug. 14-18).
* Joshua Bell playing the Prokofiev Violin Concerto on a bill with Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn (Aug. 21 and 22).
* Mozart’s “Requiem,” plus a cappella works by Ginastera, Bilbao and others (Aug. 24 and 25).
* “A Little Night Music” – hourlong, late-night concerts including performances of the late Beethoven quartets, Bach’s preludes and fugues, and Mozart’s “Gran Partita” for winds.
For times, venues and tickets, visit LincolnCenter.org or call (212) 721-6500.