Kate Auda Photography

Mainly Mozart at Balboa Theater in 2019

The Mainly Mozart Festival is coming back into form on Friday, June 11. The incomparable Festival Orchestra is scheduled to perform five concerts at the Del Mar Surf Cup Sports Park June 11-19.

The repertoire for the festival was previously scheduled for the canceled 2020 festival. Highlights include Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 39 and 40, Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. Five and Seven, Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, and Bruch’s Violin Concerto.

It’s a strong cast of musical characters as is the roster of the orchestra. The roster is full of concertmasters and principal players from the top orchestras in North America.

I’ve long been convinced that the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra is the best musical experience in San Diego, but this year is different. The outdoor venue creates a setting that is something other than the Mainly Mozart experience I’ve praised to the heavens in the past.

The outdoor venue is unavoidable due to you-know-what. That means the Festival Orchestra is back but not really.

The outdoor venue has real consequences for those of us who have wallowed in the glory of the Festival Orchestra in past years. The strength of Mainly Mozart has always been based on musical excellence and intimacy.

The energy and personality of the musicians have jumped off the stage of the Balboa Theatre in years gone by. The audience was able to experience the music in a way that is impossible in larger venues.

An outdoor setting with video monitors and speakers removes any hint of intimacy. It is now a media experience as opposed to a musical experience. The balance of the orchestra, as conducted by music director Michael Francis, is reduced to left and right speakers.

The orchestra’s sound is dependent on the ability of the person who is running the soundboard and the quality of the microphones and speakers. If the Mainly Mozart Festival is usually a musical hug, the outdoor setting turns it into a Covid fist bump.

We could compare it to receiving a phone call from a loved one or a family member who has been out of reach for a year. We look forward to hearing from them but it isn’t the same as being with them in the same space.

I’m looking forward to receiving this phone call from the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, but I can’t wait to be back in the concert hall.

• Concert dates:
• Friday, June 11, 8:00 pm
• Saturday, June 12, 8:00 pm
• Wednesday, June 16, 8:00 pm
• Friday, June 18, 8:00 pm
• Saturday, June 19, 8:00 pm

Find more information here.