Bach and Mozart are set to occupy the spotlight at the Music Center at Strathmore Saturday night. The National Philharmonic, led by Piotr Gajewski will be joined by violinist Elena Urioste performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4. She will also engage with oboist, Mark Hill for Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin, while Hill, in turn, solos in Mozart’s Oboe Concerto.
Not for the faint-hearted, both soloists speak of the nuance, genius and contradiction that are bundled into the person and works of master composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
| Onstage |
| National Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Where: Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| When: 8 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $32 to $79, Ages 7-17 free; 301-581-5100 |
“The Mozart [Concerto No. 4] is so exposed, you know?” said the 25-year-old Urioste, who made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 13 and has since appeared as soloist with major orchestras across the country. “Everything has to be very much in place and secure, and so it’s stressful for that reason; it all has to be so pure.”
And the responsibility is not hers alone on Saturday evening.
“One of the challenges with Mozart is that the [Oboe Concerto] is such an icon in the repertoire, it’s hard not to feel pressure to play it perfectly,” said Hill, who also teaches oboe at the University of Maryland. “It needs a freedom and a joyousness to it that sometimes is hard to achieve if you are concerned with every note being absolutely perfect. You just want it to shine at every level.”
Urioste practiced the Bach concerto at her home in Philadelphia before traveling to Strathmore for her first rehearsal with Hill.
“For me, the priority with these pieces is to be sparkling — you can’t hide a lot in this music with vibrato and a lot of gestures,” she said, explaining further, “You can’t rely on making a huge romantic show of it; the content has to be there.”
Hill is looking forward to his rehearsal time with Urioste, projecting they “will play off each other and it will be very spontaneous and fresh.”
