Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante: Perspectives from Tereza Stanislav and Yura Lee

April 17, 2024, 12:20 PM · If you ask a group of string players, "What is your favorite violin concerto by Mozart?" a good percentage of them will completely ignore the composer's five official violin concertos and respond, "the Sinfonia Concertante!"

Of course this piece is not even called a "concerto," and it's not just for violin. The Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major pairs violin and viola together, as equal partners in the spotlight. Or maybe more like conjoined twins...

"It’s like each person taking one side of the ski, yet skiing together," said Yura Lee, principal violist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Violinist Tereza Stanislav and violist Yura Lee.

Lee will join her colleague violinist and Assistant Concertmaster Tereza Stanislav for a performance of the Sinfonia Concertante in a series of concerts this weekend that also marks Stanislav's 20th year with the orchestra. The concert will also include the world premiere of of Derrick Skye’s LACO-Commissioned "To Be A Horizon" and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 (Click here for more information about the concerts.)

When it comes to Tereza - you might recognize her as the concertmaster who got a shout-out from composer Ludwig Göransson when he accepted the Academy Award last month for Best Original Score for the movie "Oppenheimer."

Both Tereza and Yura have played the Sinfonia Concertante multiple times before. Tereza played as a student at the Juilliard School her friend, violist Eve Wickert, and she has also played it twice with her husband, Robert Brophy, who also is a longtime violist with LACO. Yura started out playing the violin part - as she plays both instruments, but in recent years has played the viola part, most recently with LACO’s Concertmaster Margaret Batjer.

Tereza and Yura did not know each other before they met in LACO, but "Yura played for a while in the Enso quartet, of which I was a founding member, for five years, so we narrowly missed each other!" Tereza said. "Yura is very inspiring, and she makes me a better musician. I love every minute of working with her."

Yura joined LACO just two years ago. "I met Tereza at LACO, and it’s been such a joy to be in her musical and personal presence," Yura said. "Tereza’s music making has so much beauty and integrity."

To play a piece like this with one's "home" orchestra, rather than being a guest in another orchestra, is a special experience as well.

"It’s fun to play a piece like this with your own group because it feels even more like collaborative chamber music," Yura said. "It feels personal in the best way."

In the Sinfonia Concertante, two instruments tend to play highly synchronized passages, telling a story together to the audience, but not exactly to each other.

"The 'conversations' rarely happen together," Yura said. "It’s almost always a bounce - back and forth."

The piece also contains some of the most enduring melodies that Mozart wrote.

"It is such a beautiful piece, from beginning to end," Tereza said. "The slow movement is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written, and it is a privilege to be immersed in it. The interplay between the orchestra and the solo parts is highly active, making it a wonderful collaboration."

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Click here for more information about Yura and Tereza's performances with LACO, and get tickets for 20% off with the code VIOLINIST.

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Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante: Perspectives from Tereza Stanislav and Yura Lee

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