© Rupert Steiner
About this Concert
All the protagonists in this CAMERATA project—three composers, the pianist, and the conductor—developed their extraordinary musical talents as children and teenagers. The lineup includes the Salzburg "child prodigy" Mozart, the "Spanish Mozart" Arriaga, who began composing as a boy and achieved success as a violinist, and Beethoven from Bonn, who made his public debut as a pianist at the age of 7 and wrote his first compositions at 12. Joining them is Japanese pianist Mao Fujita, who started playing the piano at 3 and won his first international competition at 12. Lastly, there is Oscar Jockel from Regensburg, who performed a wide repertoire from Palestrina to Mendelssohn as a Domspatz. Now, at less than 30, he is an accomplished conductor and composer with an international presence in both fields.
The former Mozarteum student now presents a program featuring a march from Beethoven's music, composed for his great Bonn patron Count Waldstein when he was just 20, as part of a "characteristic ballet in old German costume." Alongside CAMERATA, Jockel will accompany the exceptional 25-year-old Japanese pianist Mao Fujita, who has a deep connection to Mozart's music. "NDR Kultur" described Fujita as a "miracle of articulation" during his Mozart recital.
Born exactly 50 years after Mozart, Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga shared a similar path. Encouraged in his extraordinary musical talent from a very young age, he only had a few years to develop it. Arriaga, who died of tuberculosis in Paris at 20, wrote an opera, three string quartets, and a magnificent D major symphony. Jockel and CAMERATA will now demonstrate that the young Spaniard was already composing at Beethoven's level.
