Mozart’s Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra in C major, K. 299, is one of only three double concertos written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and by far the most popular. It was composed in 1778 during the Mozart family’s stay in Paris.

The lightness and joy of playing, as well as the gracefulness of the combined solo instruments, are among the defining characteristics of this concerto. Lera Auerbach’s bold idea was not only to exchange Mozart’s flute and harp for violin and piano, but also to collage the double concerto with the Andante for Flute and Orchestra K. 315, written in the same year, in a violin version.

Auerbach, deeply familiar with Mozart’s piano works as a soloist, performed the piano part herself at the world premiere. Katherine McLin played the violin solo, and David Danzmayr conducted the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. The premiere took place on 22 April 2017 at the Southern Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, as part of the “Sketches of Vienna” event.

Mozart’s Twofold Dream is not a simple transcription. It is a transformation: a contemporary concerto grosso that preserves Mozart’s grace while changing the instrumental body through which that grace is heard.

The piece allows Mozart’s eighteenth-century clarity to pass through another musical imagination, creating a space where homage, collage, dream and reinvention coexist.

• Mozart After K. 299/297c and K. 315.
• Transformation Flute and harp become violin and piano.
• Dream A concerto grosso where past and present meet in a shared musical space.