Preview: ‘In Pasadena today, Mozart’s Turkish delight takes center stage’

Music Director Brett Mitchell (center) will lead the Pasadena Symphony this weekend in music by Adolphus Hailstork (left), and will collaborate with violinist Stefan Jackiw (right) on Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5.

PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s subscription concerts with the Pasadena Symphony this weekend:

At first glance, the Pasadena Symphony’s program today might appear conventionally classical: Mozart, Prokofiev, Stravinsky. But beneath this seemingly traditional façade lies a thoughtfully curated journey through musical history—from contemporary reflections on Baroque sensibilities to neoclassical reimaginings—all anchored by Mozart’s inventive Violin Concerto No. 5, the so-called “Turkish.”

Under the baton of Brett Mitchell, who assumed leadership of the Pasadena Symphony in April 2024 (only the sixth music director in the orchestra’s 97-year history), today’s performances at Ambassador Auditorium—at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.—promise to showcase both the ensemble’s evolving artistic vision and violinist Stefan Jackiw’s remarkable interpretive gifts.

The centerpiece, Mozart’s A-major concerto, remains one of the composer’s most intriguing instrumental works. Composed in 1775 when Mozart was just 19, it demonstrates his growing compositional sophistication. The concerto’s nickname derives from its finale, where Mozart dramatically shifts from A major to A minor, introducing what his European contemporaries perceived as exotically “Turkish” elements: unison chromatic crescendos, repetitive phrases, and col legno playing (striking strings with the wood rather than hair of the bow)—techniques that must have seemed thrillingly foreign to 18th-century Salzburg audiences. As music scholar Tchaikovsky noted, this piece represents “the highest, culminating point to which beauty has reached in the sphere of music.”

Jackiw, who began playing violin at age four and debuted professionally with the Boston Pops at 12, brings particular sensitivity to this repertoire. Now 39, the Korean-German American violinist has built a reputation for combining technical brilliance with profound emotional intelligence. “In just a few bars of Mozart, you encounter an entire universe of feeling,” Jackiw once observed about the concerto’s Adagio movement, noting the “huge range of emotions contained in just a few bars” particularly in the slow movement.

Mitchell’s programming reveals curatorial acumen. The concert opens with Adolphus Hailstork’s Baroque Suite, a contemporary work filtering modern compositional techniques through historical forms, before proceeding to Mozart’s concerto with Jackiw as soloist. The program continues with Prokofiev’s impeccably crafted Classical Symphony before concluding with Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella.

As Mitchell’s inaugural season unfolds, today’s concerts offer a compelling glimpse of his artistic vision—one that respects tradition while embracing innovation. Known for his “warm, down-to-earth demeanor” and ability to connect with audiences through insightful musical interpretations

To read the complete preview, please click here.