Mozart’s final symphony, an imposing and matrical work, is juxtaposed with a pair of paradoxical gems: Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, and the recent Concerto for Two Pianos by Nico Muhly, performed by Katia and Marielle Labèque.

Mozart’s symphony certainly merits its nickname ‘Jupiter’. At the peak of his fabulous compositional means, Mozart brilliantly deploys his skill in this work, combining dramatic inspiration and the art of classical  counterpoint, heroism and melancholy, audacity of form and subtle blends of timber. With one eye to Bach and the other to the future, the ‘terrible’ Prokofiev offers a stylistic homage—far from pastiche—to the density and dynamism of 18th-century symphonies in the four movements (including a minuet!) of his ‘Classical’ Symphony. Born in 1981, Nico Muhly, continues his explorations in concerto music—we remember his fascinating Edge of the World (2011)—to offer the Labèque sisters a score whose elegance evokes Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos (K. 365) from several centuries ago.