Main menu

Search

A Viennese House Party

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Thursday 28 January 2027, 19:00

Book now

Music

MOZART Minuet from String Quartet No. 17 ‘Hunt’
MOZART The Marriage of Figaro Overture
DITTERSDORF Symphony ‘The Four Ages of the World’
VANHAL Bassoon Concerto in C
MOZART Serenata notturna
HAYDN Symphony No. 101 ‘The Clock’
Guest Artists

Jane Gower bassoon
Matthew Truscott violin/director

Price

£18.00 - £66.00 (Premium £84)

Lights up on four friends who get together to play string quartets (wild boys!). History remembers two of them as the greatest composers who ever lived - but who are the other two?

Tonight, all four take centre stage with time on their side, night-time string vibes and low notes stealing the show… if you think pop has all the fun, wait ’til these four have begun.

The scene: Vienna, 1780s. The city is buzzing to the music of Joseph Haydn and his contemporaries Carl von Dittersdorf and Jan Vanhal, and a younger arrival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Gossip in the gazettes and coffee houses is of the four getting together in a supergroup quartet. Perhaps trying out some of the cutting-edge musical ideas they’d later drop on Vienna’s concert-going public. In time, Dittersdorf and Vanhal slip from the spotlight their more famous friends own for centuries, but tonight’s concert rewinds the story. The music of the whole quartet breathes again. It lasts.

Dittersdorf’s symphony ‘The Four Ages of the World’ is a bold experiment in musical storytelling without words inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Its four movements – Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron – time travel through different human civilisations. Mozart was a fan of Vanhal’s symphonies and it seems the older composer is returning the compliment in his bassoon concerto.

Mozart’s Serenata notturna is a stylish party piece in which a quartet of two violins, viola and double bass lead the revellers, including a rogue timpanist determined to be the heart and soul! Haydn’s ‘Clock Symphony’ is all precision grooves in the hands of a master craftsman, slipping his fascination with the technology of his time into his creations.

As well as being our Principal Bassoon, Jane Gower is very active in chamber music and as a soloist. She specialises in historical bassoons, ranging from the dulcian to early 20th century French instruments and has a growing and diverse collection of original instruments on which she also performs. Jane is also principal bassoonist of Concerto Copenhagen and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

Matthew Truscott, one of the OAE’s leaders, is a versatile violinist who shares his time between period instrument music and ‘modern’ performance, appearing with some of the finest musicians on both sides. He also leads the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Dunedin Consort.

Part of Music Speaks: Southbank Centre Season 2026/27

*Our ticket price includes a £2 restoration levy from the Southbank Centre. This goes towards maintenance and improvements works on the Southbank Centre’s historic buildings, in particular Royal Festival Hall, and is not subject to any discounts.

The OAE’s 40^th anniversary seasons in 2025/26 and 2026/27 are made possible with the support of The Forty Circle.