Kansas City Symphony: Jeannette Sorrell - Classical Celebration: Mozart & Haydn

Kansas City Symphony: Jeannette Sorrell - Classical Celebration: Mozart & Haydn at Helzberg Hall - Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Jeannette Sorrell brings Haydn and Mozart into vivid conversation this January, conducting music that feels both intimate and joyfully theatrical. The Kansas City Symphony program at Helzberg Hall brings operatic character, a featured violinist and the fire of Mozart's Haffner Symphony into one evening.

Haydn's overture to L'isola disabitata packs dramatic contrasts into a compact piece. Mozart's ballet music from Idomeneo offers a different connection to the theater, letting dance character become part of the concert's appeal. You can enjoy that theatrical imagination without committing to a whole opera: the music supplies its own changes of expression.

Oliver Neubauer takes the solo role in Haydn's Violin Concerto No. 1. The winner of the 2023 Young Concert Artists International Auditions has a stylish, brilliant work to bring to the program. For violin lovers, the soloist offers a particular performance to look forward to, alongside the pleasure of hearing the orchestra in the other selections.

Then there's the Haffner, whose fiery character gives Mozart admirers a different reason to come. This isn't an evening devoted to one stately mood. The program moves between dramatic contrasts, dance, solo-violin elegance and symphonic energy, giving your attention several places to land.

Make January 22 a theater-minded concert date in Kansas City. Check tickets for Sorrell's Mozart and Haydn program at Helzberg Hall, and enjoy the personalities behind the Classical polish.