Mozart's Genius - Tafelmusik : Tafelmusik

Koerner Hall

Tafelmusik’s 2026/27 Season wraps up at Koerner Hall with an all-Mozart celebration directed from the violin by Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger.

Known for her “vibrant and beguiling performances” (BBC Music Magazine) and her critically acclaimed recordings of the composer’s complete violin sonatas, Mozart and Podger are a match made in heaven—a fact that has not gone unnoticed by critics.

Our season finale pairs two of Mozart’s late symphonies that were written within a two-year span. Mozart’s brilliant Symphony no. 36 (Linz) is deservedly one of his most popular symphonies, full of drama, innovation and beauty. Of his Symphony no. 35, Mozart wrote, “My new Haffner symphony has positively amazed me…!” It is a fiery and forceful work with a dazzling finale. Continuing her cycle of Mozart violin concertos with Tafelmusik, Podger takes on the role of soloist in the Violin Concerto no. 4, a piece that exudes the composer’s trademark wit and virtuosity.

Tafelmusik’s 2024 performances of Mozart symphonies under Podger’s direction were the toast of the town, “so strong and confident as to be paradigm shifting.” (barczablog) Find out why “the audience left their seats, talking and gesturing in excitement—like champagne bubbles … charmed with this Mozart performance—simple, elegant, and beautiful.” (Ludwig van Toronto)

Box Office

Tafelmusik

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Running Time

120 minutes

Style of Music

Baroque orchestra

Guest artists

Rachel Podger

Principal guest director & violin soloist

Rachel Podger, “the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin” (The Times), has established herself as a leading interpreter of baroque and classical music. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize in October 2015, Gramophone Artist of the Year 2018, and the Ambassador for REMA’s Early Music Day 2020. A creative programmer, she is the founder and Artistic Director of Brecon Baroque Festival and her ensemble Brecon Baroque, is Patron of The Continuo Foundation, and an Ambassador for the Learned Society of Wales.

Rachel was awarded BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Year and Instrumental Award for her solo albumTutta sola. Recent releases include The Muses Restor’d with Brecon Baroque, The Best of Biber 1681 Sonatas, and Haydn Symphonies 43 & 49 with Tafelmusik, described as “sensational” (Early Music America). A dedicated educator, she holds the Micaela Comberti Chair for Baroque Violin at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Jane Hodge Foundation International Chair in Baroque Violin at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Rachel also has a regular relationship with The Juilliard School in New York.

Rachel Podger took up the position of Principal Guest Director of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in September 2024.

Performers

Tafelmusik Orchestra, on period instruments
Directed by Rachel Podger

Program

Mozart Symphony no. 36 in C Major, K. 425 “Linz”
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major, K.218
Mozart Symphony no. 35 in D Major, K.385 “Haffner” 1782 version

Mozart’s Genius