About 300 musicians are to perform at a 24-hour festival featuring the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) starting today.
Weiwuying chose Mozart for this year’s musical marathon following the success of its 24-hour Franz Schubert festival last year.
The performances are to take place from 5pm today to 5pm tomorrow at different areas of the arts center, with tickets selling from NT$400 to NT$1,200, depending on the time and program.
Photo: CNA
The arts center plans to make the 24-hour festival a regular feature in the first half of each year, Weiwuying general and artistic director Chien Wen-pin (簡文彬) told a news conference on Thursday.
Mozart is “an unpredictable musical genius,” Chien said, adding that his music is pure and spiritual, but his letters and scores reveal an approachable nature.
At times he projected a nonchalant spirit, but that is because all he cared about was music, he said.
About 300 performers are to bring his symphonies, concertos, operas, sonatas and chamber music to life at Weiwuying’s Concert Hall and Recital Hall, he said.
There would also be lectures on the musician’s life and work, as well as a screening of the director’s cut of the film Amadeus, which won eight Academy Awards, he said.
Weiwuying discussed with the performers which of Mozart’s more than 600 compositions to include in the program, he said.
Chamber music and a jazz adaptation of Mozart’s works are to be featured at 1am tomorrow, followed by piano solos at 3am to allow the audience to relax or even fall asleep on the comfortable seats in the halls, he said.
Chien said he is not worried about people snoring during the show, as “based on our observations, people are friendly and usually remind those who accidentally make noises by gently tapping them.”
Featured performers include the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra, the Counterpoint Ensemble, the Southern Taiwan Chamber Music Society, the Planetesimal Vocal Art Workshop and the Jia-yin Chamber Orchestra.
People can also visit Weiwuying’s Banyan Plaza, where the arts center has prepared a piano and a copy of the musical score of Mozart’s Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman” — and play their “13th Variation” of the popular composition.
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