Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Josef Haydn and Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges all had links with Paris in the late 1700s. Saint-Georges commissioning Haydn’s Paris Symphonies is just one example of how the lives and music of these three musicians of genius were intertwined and therein lies the inspiration for this concert.

Of the three, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, born in Guadeloupe, the illegitimate child of a slave woman and a French aristocratic was the most dazzling star at the time, fêted as a composer, conductor, virtuoso violinist, music teacher to Queen Marie Antoinette at the Royal Court, soldier and the finest swordsman in Europe.

Saint-Georges has been described as the “Black Mozart”, but his music stands on its own merits without the need for association with other masters – and in the White Chevalier.

This concert is part of the annual Chobham Festival.

The programme is:

• Saint-Georges        Symphony no. 1
• Saint-Georges        Sinfonia Concertante no. 13 in G major
• Joseph Haydn        Paris Symphony no. 85 (La Reine)
• W A Mozart              Paris Symphony no. 31
• W A Mozart              Sinfonia Concertante (finale)

The Festival Orchestra is conducted by Dale Chambers and the soloists are Elizabeth Cooney and Greta Mutlu, violin, and Duncan Anderson, viola