Jim Chute, U-T San Diego, 21st June 2015
The Mainly Mozart Festival’s “Mozart & the Mind” series was always a little puzzling, no matter how innovative and informative the presentations. The series, scheduled over the course of several weekends, seemingly had little to do with Mozart and nothing to do with the chamber music concerts that followed.
But that’s all changing under new Mainly Mozart music director Michael Francis.
He’s found a way to integrate “Mozart & the Mind” with Mainly Mozart’s core mission.
Francis announced Saturday that in the 2015-16 season, the festival will undertake a yearlong examination of Mozart the prodigy. It’s the first phase of an ambitious, perhaps unprecedented, multiyear plan to chronologically examine Mozart’s life and music.
The new initiative will launch Sept. 25-27 with “Mozart & the Mind” presentations focused on prodigies, and Mozart will be at the center.
“Mozart has this outrageous genius that seemed to come through so young,” Francis said. “Everyone is sort of fascinated with him. He’s the gold standard for all prodigies.”
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