35th Liepāja International Stars Festival: Mozart’s Requiem and the “Jupiter” Symphony

At the closing concert of the Liepāja International Stars Festival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music is presented in two contrasting dimensions: symphonic thought and sacred drama for soloists, choir and orchestra.

Symphony No. 41, later given the nickname “Jupiter”, reveals Mozart as a master of symphonic form: a clear Classical structure is combined with concentrated thematic development and a powerful sense of dramatic momentum.

The “Jupiter” Symphony was Mozart’s final symphony. Its key of C major, the ceremonial colours of trumpets and timpani, and its vigorously articulated opening motifs give the work a broad, expansive sound. Yet the symphony’s power lies in more than outward brilliance. In the finale especially, Mozart combines the momentum of sonata form with contrapuntal writing: short motifs are continually taken up, interwoven and illuminated in different voices until they form a dense yet lucid musical texture.

The Requiem, by contrast, dates from the final period of Mozart’s life and remained unfinished at his death. Alongside its liturgical character, the work therefore inevitably raises questions of incompleteness, continuation and the boundary between the composer’s intentions and its posthumous completion.

Mozart did not complete the work, and after his death several musicians contributed to the score; Franz Xaver Süssmayr played the principal role in producing the completion traditionally performed today. Nevertheless, the surviving material in Mozart’s hand allows us to discern a substantial part of his musical conception.

In this programme, the symphony and the Requiem illuminate two contrasting aspects of Mozart’s musical thought. In the symphony, increasingly complex musical material is contained within a clearly defined formal architecture; in the Requiem, the same structural precision engages with a text in which every musical choice also carries spiritual and dramatic weight.

Featuring

Lina Dambrauskaite (soprano)
Lilija Nikitčuka (mezzo-soprano)
Heldurs Harijs Pelda (tenor)
Edgars Ošleja (bass)
Vilnius State Choir
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Guntis Kuzma

Programme

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”)
Requiem

The Liepāja International Star Festival has been included in the (un)rest Side Programme of Liepāja – European Capital of Culture 2027.