Mozart’s remarkable creative period in the summer of 1788 continues to amaze. In just nine weeks, the 32-year-old composer, despite personal struggles, crafted a trio of symphonies that have become benchmarks in the genre.
Each symphony offers a unique sonic landscape. Guest conductor Andreas Delfs featured two of these masterpieces—the symphonies in G minor and C major—within the Seattle Symphony’s program, which drew a large and enthusiastic audience. The concert also highlighted the talents of Norwegian trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth, marking her debut with the orchestra through two trumpet concertos.
A dynamic presence on the podium, Delfs opened with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550, conducting from memory. He elicited agile, lean, yet urgent performances from the Seattle Symphony, which was scaled down to a chamber orchestra in line with Classical era practices. The musicians even approached the sound of a period-instrument ensemble.
Delfs maintained brisk tempos (with repeats omitted), emphasizing the sense of agitated despair within the G minor symphony, enhanced by the understated opening measures. The Andante, while never rushed, carried a weight of fleeting consolation, only to be overshadowed by the frenetic energy of the Minuet. Delfs’s interpretation featured erratic phrasing, creating a claustrophobic dance teetering on the brink of chaos. The finale burst forth with a palpable sense of terror, evoking a frenzied chase as if pursued by Furies.
Delfs’s spirited rendition of Jupiter, Mozart’s final symphony, exhibited a similar agility and lightness. While the outer movements might have lacked the grandeur and heft often associated with this work, the transparency of the musical lines shone through, thanks in part to Delfs’s focus on crisp rhythmic articulation.
Despite some uneven blending between sections, the ensemble’s playing remained thrilling. Notable solo moments came from Ben Lulich (clarinet), Jeffrey Fair (horn), and Jeffrey Barker (flute), all of whom delivered radiant contributions. Eric Schweikert played 300-year-old timpani, adding a striking Baroque thunder to the performance.
The program not only celebrated two of Mozart’s masterpieces but also showcased the captivating musical personality of Tine Thing Helseth. Though she has likely played Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat major countless times—famous even as a meme in the dystopian series Squid Game—Helseth brought a fresh and personal interpretation. Her expressive phrasing and tonal variety, sometimes surprisingly delicate, offered new insights into the piece Haydn composed in 1796, five years after Mozart’s passing, with Delfs providing sensitive accompaniment.
Additionally, Helseth presented the U.S. premiere of the Trumpet Concerto by Danish composer Bent Sørensen, which he composed for her in 2012-13 and recorded with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Sørensen’s concerto employs a classical orchestra of modest size, augmented by a piccolo, English horn, and percussion, yet challenges traditional expectations by asking musicians to perform unconventional actions, such as humming with closed mouths, rubbing hands together, and applying pressure with their bows against the strings.
Overall, Sørensen’s concerto defies typical trumpet sound stereotypes. Rather than projecting martial confidence or triumphant fanfares, Helseth showcased a captivating array of characters, starting with a notably subdued entrance and weaving in intimate exchanges with ensemble members. References to Haydn, jazzy improvisations filtered through a Wow-Wow mute, and the relentless ticking of clocks create a surreal ambiance. Helseth navigated Sørensen’s mysterious, occasionally whimsical soundscape with the assuredness of a master storyteller.
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