3. SINFONIEKONZERT

JOSEPH HAYDN
Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Hob I:7, “Le midi”

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C Major, K. 314

BÉLA BARTÓK
Concerto for Orchestra Sz 116

An evening entirely dedicated to the art of the concert, featuring Mozart’s only oboe concerto and placing a solo instrument—one rarely heard in concert—at the center of the program. The Mannheim oboist Friedrich Ramm, to whom Mozart dedicated this work, made it his favorite piece and thus played a decisive role in the composer’s success in Mannheim.
Joseph Haydn’s symphony dedicated to noon (“Le midi”), in turn, combines the symphonic genre with the legacy of the Baroque concerto grosso. Composed in 1761—during Haydn’s first year of employment with Prince Esterházy in Eisenstadt—it showcases the virtuosity of the court orchestra’s musicians in a series of alternating concertante sections.
Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra emerged from a period of personal and political upheaval—and yet became one of his most resplendent successes. In 1943, while in exile in the United States and in poor health, Bartók wrote this orchestral work, which effectively highlights the instrumental sections as soloists, making it a showpiece for any orchestra.