ONE ADVANTAGE classical chamber music has over orchestral writing is the opportunity for seemingly endless combinations of solo instruments.
An evening of chamber works does not give you one maestro holding a baton and insisting on a single opinion; instead, you have the collective thought of all the performers on the essence of a piece.
Little wonder, then, that so many of the world's top soloists, notably pianists, retain a lifelong interest in the democratic conversation of chamber ensembles. Think of pianist-conductor Sir Georg Solti and his appearances with the Amadeus String Quartet.
The arts festival is presenting two chamber groups on consecutive evenings (February 20 and 21), both offering some of the finest of Austro-German chamber music.
Pianist Stefan Vladar will join the wind quintet of the Ensemble Wien-Berlin in works by Beethoven and Mozart on February 21. The wind soloists are principal players from the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras and the Concentus Musicus Vienna.
In 1784, a 28-year-old Mozart told his father that his newly composed quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon was, in his opinion, his finest composition to date.