J Kat Photo

Mainly Mozart at The Epstein Family Amphitheatre on the campus of UC San Diego

With 2024 reaching the gloomy month of June although June gloom started in March this year, there is one blinding ray of sunshine on the grey horizon. The brilliance of the august San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival is set to beam its brilliance into the San Diego zeitgeist starting on Thursday, June 20, and concluding on Saturday, June 29.

In past years, Mainly Mozart has set up a stage at the Surf Sports Park, formerly the polo grounds, in Del Mar. Last year they split time between Del Mar, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, and The Epstein Family Amphitheatre on the campus of UC San Diego.

This year, the Surf Sports Park is out. Mainly Mozart will present four concerts at The Epstein and two concerts at The Conrad. 

Ever since COVID, Mainly Mozart has been juggling venues. The sweet spot for the size of these concerts would be a concert hall of about 800-1000 seats but that option doesn’t exist in San Diego. The Epstein works so far as size but it is an outdoor venue, not a concert hall. However, last year’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was excellent and The Epstein was the venue.

The first concert at The Epstein on Thursday, June 20, includes Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6. In 1967, a film entitled Elvira Madigan used the second movement of Mozart’s piano concerto to such great effect that classical record labels began marketing it as “Elvira Madigan”. 

The next concert at The Epstein is on Saturday, June 22. The featured piece here is Gabriel Faure’s Requiem. Of all the sacred music written over the ages, this is probably the easiest to access. Faure wasn’t interested in proving any musicological points or advancing the grammar of tonality. He simply wrote a gorgeous piece of music that audiences have been in love with since was first performed in July of 1900.

Concerts three and four at The Epstein are on Thursday, June 27, and Saturday, June 29. The Thursday concert features Mozart’s Symphony No. 38. 

The Saturday June 29 concert includes Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, for orchestra and violin, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”. Stefan Jackiw is the violinist.

The two concerts at The Conrad are going to be special occasions. The first, on Sunday, June 23, is Mozart’s Gran Partita Serenade. If you recall the movie Amadeus this was the first music by Mozart that Saliere heard. Mainly Mozart presented the Gran Partita five or six years ago and it was one of the best concerts of the year.

The second concert is on Tuesday, June 25. This is a concert that you should circle on your calendar. The chance to hear the string section of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra perform Pytor Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings is a rare opportunity. 

For more information visit MainyMozart.org