Oh no, Mozart can make you fat! More on that in a minute. On the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Toronto Symphony Orchestra production of ‘Beyond the Score’. This particular concert was a tribute to Mozart and was chosen to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. All of the concerts in the series were written and created by Gerard McBurney, Creative Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The first half of the concert explains events in Mozart’s life which contributed to his compositions and the second half is an actual performance of Concerto No.27 by the TSO. Actor Paul Gross (writer, director, co-producer of Passchendaele) and Peter Oundjian (TSO Musical Director) do the narration based on actual sketches and correspondence by Mozart and his family during his lifetime. Both a pantomime and an operatic performance add to and further illustrate what was taking place in Mozart’s life. Ignat Solzhenitsyn who performs on the piano also conducts Concerto No.27. FYI; at age 18 I read his father’s book (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich) for fun and loved it. Such a nerd, I know. Back to the performance…What I truly appreciated in this first ever experience for the TSO is the coupling of education and entertainment. It was so helpful for neophytes and aficionados alike to be shown the direct relationship between the composer’s mood and life experiences and the tempo of the music. Brilliant! So I suppose you are wondering how Mozart can make you fat. Well according to Pediatric researchers and something they refer to as the “Mozart effect”, premature babies who listen to a half hour of Mozart a day, gain weight faster and also end up smarter. You can be guaranteed that I don’t want to gain weight so I have come up with a solution-Mozart on the iPod while I work out on the treadmill! Now that’s smart…..
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