September 30-October 6, 2004

musicpicks

Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra

classical

Mozart is generally given credit as musical history's most spectacular child prodigy, a concept reinforced by his father's Barnum-like promotion, and, in our own time, by the play and movie Amadeus. In reality, very little of the music Mozart wrote before adulthood is heard today. It could be argued that the honor more properly belongs to Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote many masterpieces in the years between his puberty and the legal drinking age. Exhibit A: the astonishing Octet for Strings, written by the teenage genius. In choosing eight distinct parts, the composer created a vibrant texture, bristling with distinctly original melodies. The chamber orchestra version of Octet will be included on the season opener of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Spalding. As if to test the Mendelssohn/Mozart comparison, an early work by the latter will be heard as well, a divertimento. Pianist Gabriela Imreh will be soloist in two unusual works by Astor Piazzolla and Howard Hanson. The concert opens with a Bach/Stokowski concoction.

Sun., Oct. 3, 2 p.m., $20, First Presbyterian Church, 21st and Walnut sts., 866-403-6844.

—Peter Burwasser