Musical transcriptions are adaptations of pre-existing scores so that they can be played by different instruments. In the Baroque period this was a very common practice. Johann Sebastian Bach made many transcriptions of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, and even of compositions of his own. The golden period coincided with Franz Liszt’s solo piano performances of symphonic repertoire. However, the cult of originality caused him to lose ground. In the past, transcriptions allowed musical works to reach a wider audience, on the one hand, and to be rediscovered through signature recreations, on the other. The first purpose is now guaranteed by the recorded medium and its dissemination. It is the latter that has led the Metropolitan Soloists to recover here two works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart originally written for violin and viola d’arco, one of which with orchestra, and to make transcriptions for a rather unusual instrumental combination, the violin and double bass duo. Diana Tzonkova and Ercole de Conca thus invite us to rediscover a duet composed in 1783, during Mozart’s visit to Salzburg, and the (much more famous) Sinfonia Concertante, dating from 1779, where he experimented with this hybrid genre somewhere between the symphony and the concerto.

Mozart for Two
Metropolitana´s Soloists

W. A. Mozart Duo in G major, KV 423 (transc. for violin and double bass)
W. A. Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, KV 364 (transc. for violin and double bass)

Diana Tzonkova violin
Ercole de Conca double bass