The centerpiece of the five Amazing Haydn concerts came from the almost twenty-strong Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim and conductor Johannes Moesus, who is as it were a regular guest in Mechelen.
The famous crescendo with which the Sinfonie in F, opus 2, no. 2 by Franz Xaver Richter opened made it clear: the successor to the once world-renowned Mannheimer Hofkapelle, which even bowled over the young Mozart, was visiting the Mechelen Sint-Janskerk. The music they brought surprised even the most loyal audience.
Tell me, who listens to Franz Xaver Richter, Antonio Rosetti, Johann Stamitz or Franz Ignaz Beck every day? And it is precisely this music that brings joy and leaves you wanting more. In the midst of this surprising immersion, suddenly, like an "Aha-erlebnis": the well-known Flute Concerto KV.313 by Mozart. This was entrusted to the slender hands of flautist Pirmin Grehl, professor at the music conservatories Luzern and Karlsruhe and holder of a Diapason d'Or, who conjured up a very playful cadenza. The interplay between the soloist, conductor Moesus, concertmaster Marie-Denise Heinen and the orchestra was excellent.
Even the closing piece of the cycle, a Haydn, as is fitting, shared in the unknown. The three-part Ouverture to the 'Festa teatrale' "Acide e Galathea" prompted spontaneous reaching for the program booklet and led to grateful applause, flowers and the presentation of a piece of Mechelen in the form of a detailed pen drawing by Alfons Sempels.