Fantastic finality

In these works, Mozart, Liszt, and Berlioz explore themes of death, fate, and obsession -each in their own way, in a different era and form.


The overture to Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of music history's most recognizable operatic openings. It was composed in October 1787, just days before the Prague premiere of the entire opera. It begins with a dark, dramatic D minor chord that foreshadows the later appearance of the Commendatore-the man killed by the title character who returns as a ghost. After the opening, the tension quickly dissipates, giving way to lively, theatrical, almost dance-like music. In this overture, Mozart captures the full complexity of his opera: dread, lightness, wit, and precise structure.

Ferenc Liszt's Totentanz -Dance of Death- was composed over many years and reached its final form in 1849. It's a concert paraphrase of the famous medieval Dies Irae motif, which the composer transforms into a cycle of variations for piano and orchestra. Liszt juxtaposes extremes: medieval austerity with Romantic virtuosity and Gregorian chant with orchestral effects. Totentanz demands technical skill from the pianist and musical sensitivity to balance-a work poised between concerto and spectacle. It will be performed in Szczecin by  Tymoteusz Bies, one of the most intriguing young Polish pianists.

Liszt's Totentanz performed by Dominic Chamot (piano) and the WDR Sinfonieorchester conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste:

The evening will close with Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, composed in 1830. This five-part cycle tells-without words-a story of obsessive love, hallucinations, and downfall. Berlioz described it in detail in a program distributed to the audience, creating something like a script for a "musical film." Each movement features a recurring idée fixe- a theme representing the beloved -transformed depending on the main character's emotional state. From dreams and passion to a ball, a countryside scene, a march to the scaffold, and a grotesque witches' sabbath, Berlioz defies traditional patterns and creates his own form. Today, this is one of the most iconic works of the Romantic era -and one of the earliest bold experiments in musical storytelling.

Excerpt from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin: