All music, it can be said, is an extension of the human voice. For Franz Schreker, an Austrian composer of the early 20th century, a passion for opera colored the lush and melodious Intermezzo and Scherzo. This performance of Beethoven's Romance No. 2, an elegant piece that displays the iconic composer's lyrical side, features the Orpheus debut of German violinist Viviane Hagner. Hagner also performs Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 5, a virtuoso tour-de-force in the grand Romantic tradition made famous by legendary violinists like Eugène Ysaÿe and Jascha Heifetz. The young composer Alex Mincek, providing the last of the commissioned works for Project 440, has a voice for the 21st century, one that teems with surprising patterns and refractions. The Carnegie Hall season concludes with the most innately vocal composer of all, Mozart. Orpheus brings to life his famed Symphony No. 40, a thrilling masterwork that speaks as pure music.
