Music / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Snow Concert Hall, March 29. Reviewed by NICK HORN.

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, under the direction of  concertmaster Gottfried von der Goltz on violin, gave a beautifully balanced, historically-informed performance of works illustrating the development of Mozart’s musical language and its emergence from earlier 18^th century style.

In London in 1764, at the age of eight, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent five months learning his craft as a composer under Johann Christian Bach, son of JS Bach. Mozart acknowledged his debt to the London Bach throughout his life.

In the Symphony in G minor by JC Bach (from 1769), the Freiburg ensemble demonstrated the example his music offered to the young Mozart. A lively first movement with sudden changes in dynamic was followed by a beguiling pastoral interlude, with some stormy string playing bringing it all home in the third.

Kristian Bezuidenhout then came onstage, unassuming in concert blacks and rolled-up sleeves, and sat down at the fortepiano (a reproduction of a piano from Mozart’s day) to give a brilliant performance of Mozart’s 9^th Piano Concerto in Eb major (Jeunehomme) composed in 1777. Bezuidenhout showed how the sharper, less sustained attack of the fortepiano can have the advantage of the modern piano not only in touch and timbre but also in sheer speed, taking off in breathtaking fashion in solo cadenzas.

After the interval, von der Goltz, as soloist, delivered a virtuoso rendering of Mozart’s 5^th Violin Concerto in A major (‘Turkish’) (from 1775). The ensemble had fun with the rollicking quasi-Turkish section of the Rondo that gives the work its nickname, with von der Goltz – a virtuoso gypsy fiddler – at mid-stage directing proceedings. It is a shame that the dry acoustic of the hall did not better support the tones of the violin in its more delicate moments.

For the finale, we heard Mozart’s late style with a passionate performance of the 40^th Symphony from 1788, three years before his death. I was curious: could the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra find anything to surprise us in such a familiar work? No worries! The fresh, crisp and seamless playing from the whole ensemble was remarkable. In particular, with the addition of clarinets and flute to the horns, oboes and bassoons, the 18^th century wind section held us spellbound.

The ensemble’s dramatic approach to the work brought out a new experience of Mozart’s astonishing harmonic adventurism, especially in the last movement, allegro assai.

The concert was enthusiastically received by a large audience, drawing a willing encore from the ensemble, a charming minuet from another Mozart symphony.

Finally, I do have a quibble. Audience members were provided at the door with only the barest of printed information. Some form of commentary on the music to be performed would help enhance the listeners’ experience.