Inaugural Concert | Julia Lezhneva I | Per Constanze: Mozart’s Great Mass

Many have tried to put into words the perfection of Mozart’s musical language. For Goethe, his work is “a miracle that cannot be explained.” Nietzsche speaks of “innocence in sounds.” Writer Wolfgang Hildesheimer calls Mozart, in his 1977 book, a “distant enigma,” referring to the mysterious distance between the man who emerges from the letters and the superhuman dimension of his music. It is therefore almost inexplicable that Mozart composed his “Linzer” Symphony in only four days. After all, one of the most mature works he ever created was written during this short period. A few days earlier, the premiere of his Great Mass in C minor, perhaps the finest work of sacred music ever, had been performed in Salzburg. Here, Mozart combines the archaic formal rigor of the polyphonic church music tradition, influenced mainly by Bach and Händel, with the emotional depth and dramatic, operatic style of his time. It is difficult to understand how Mozart could have composed the “Linzer” Symphony in only four days. Yet, in this short span of time, one of the most mature works in his catalog was born. A few days earlier, the Great Mass in C minor, perhaps one of the finest works of sacred music ever written, had been premiered in Salzburg. In it, Mozart blends the archaic severity of the polyphonic tradition, marked by Bach and Händel, with an emotional depth and drama of operatic quality. The work was intended as a wedding gift for his wife, Constanze, who also sang the difficult solo part at the first performance. In 2026, this part is given to Julia Lezhneva, Artist in Residence, a singer of extraordinary charm, whose voice was described by a critic in the Nürnberger Nachrichten as “angelic.”

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