Symphony San Jose with conductor Nathan Aspinall presents “Merry Mozart” December 5 and 6 as three legendary composers reveal their most poetic and expressive selves in a journey of timeless beauty and radiant harmony.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 is a work of noble warmth and exuberant invention. Majestic yet playful, the symphony balances ceremonial grandeur with lyric elegance, offering music that sparkles with clarity, wit, and humanity.
Ottorino Respighi’s Trittico Botticelliano brings three Renaissance paintings to vivid musical life. Inspired by Botticelli’s La Primavera, The Adoration of the Magi, and The Birth of Venus, Respighi’s orchestration shimmers with color and imagination, transforming visual beauty into sound that is refined, atmospheric, and richly evocative.
Written as a birthday gift for his wife and first performed on Christmas morning, Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll is a rare glimpse of the gentler side of the composer. Filled with tenderness and intimacy, the work is an idyllic unfolding of glowing harmonies, pastoral, calm, and deeply personal affection.
SINGLE TICKET PRICES: $35 to $125. (Price includes all City and handling fees.). SPECIAL DISCOUNTED YOUTH TICKETS: Adult patrons may purchase single tickets for accompanying guests 17 years of age or younger at half price. Contact the Ticket Office for more information.
NOTE: Symphony San Jose will present this program on the 235th Anniversary of Mozart’s death. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Born: January 27, 1756 – Died: December 5, 1791). Mozart died in his home during a fever-induced illness while drafting his unfinished Requiem. The circumstances of his death have attracted much research and speculation. He composed over 600 works spanning symphonies, operas, and chamber music before dying at the early age of 35.
Photo: This portrait of Mozart was completed in 1819 by the Austrian artist Barbara Krafft. The artwork was painted 28 years after Mozart's death in 1791. To ensure it looked like Mozart, Krafft based her work on historical descriptions and specific family portraits lent to her by Mozart's sister, Maria Anna ("Nannerl"). This painting remains the most recognizable and widely reproduced depiction of the iconic classical composer.