Following Ian Page’s highly acclaimed ‘Mozart in London’ weekend five years ago, The Mozartists celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s first trip to Italy in 1770 with the first-ever major retrospective of this important and formative year in Mozart’s life. Italy was still widely regarded as the home of opera and, in going there to further his studies, Mozart was following in the footsteps of such esteemed compatriots as Handel, Gluck and Johann Christian Bach. The tour lasted for over a year, culminating in the triumphant premiere of Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan on 26 December 1770.

The first concert in this fascinating exploration includes two orchestral works that Mozart is thought to have composed to showcase his talents during the course of his travels through Italy, as well as a selection of arias and a dynamic trio from an opera that he heard in Verona on 3 January 1770.

Using compelling recent research, the second half reconstructs the audition concert that Mozart gave in Milan on 12 March, a concert which led directly to him receiving the prestigious commission to write Mitridate, re di Ponto.