Kreutzer
Guzzo, Ensemble OCM

Giovanni Guzzo, concertmaster violin

Ensemble of the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova

Francesco Petri, clarinet

Andrea Bressan, bassoon

Stefano Rossi, horn

Francesca Turcato, viola

Fabio Fausone, cello

Paolo Borsarelli, double bass

Conradin Kreutzer (1780–1849)

Septet in E-flat major, Op. 62

35’ | Ticket €8

With this concert, the listener is transported into an intimate dimension—that of the bourgeois drawing room. Indeed, Conradin Kreutzer, a German-born composer, was a prolific writer of Lieder and a gifted melodist.

The choice of this particular instrumentation for the Septet reflects the ideal setting of Viennese Biedermeier culture: large enough to be brilliant, yet small enough to fit into a private salon. It is no coincidence that, at the time in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous Septet in E-flat major was already well known, and publishers often requested the same instrumentation for similar works.

Kreutzer therefore employs this ensemble of contrasting timbres between strings and winds, giving a central role to the clarinet and violin, which turn the piece into a kind of miniature concerto.

Giovanni Guzzo, an internationally renowned violinist and concertmaster, joins members of the OCM: together with violist Francesca Turcato, cellist Fabio Fausone, double bassist Paolo Borsarelli, bassoonist Andrea Bressan, clarinetist Francesco Petri, and horn player Stefano Rossi, these outstanding performers bring to life the atmosphere of domestic musical serenity, where salons become concert halls filled with attentive listeners.

Text by Martina Sangermano