Camerata Concert «Homage to Mozart»

   Three composers, three centuries, one name they all circle back to. The Sun Symphony Orchestra gives you an evening built as an argument about what Mozart left behind — and lets you decide which of the three heard him best.

   The evening opens with Hommage à Mozart by Jacques Ibert, written in 1956 for the bicentenary of Mozart's birth. Ibert does not imitate the Classical style; he keeps its principles — clarity, balance, wit without excess — and dresses them in twentieth-century harmony and orchestral colour.

   Then comes Tchaikovsky, who called Mozart «the musical Christ». His Suite No. 4 «Mozartiana» dates from 1887, a century after «Don Giovanni»: instead of writing something new in Classical dress, he orchestrated four little-known Mozart piano pieces with enough restraint that the original elegance survives intact.

   What you will hear, in order:

• — Jacques Ibert — Hommage à Mozart (1956)
• — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — Suite No. 4 in G major, Op. 61 «Mozartiana» (1887): Gigue, Minuet, Preghiera, Variations
• — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 «Prague» (1786), after the interval

   The «Prague» Symphony closes the programme. Mozart wrote it in 1786, riding the success of «The Marriage of Figaro» in a city that had taken to him as Vienna never quite did. It runs to three movements instead of the usual four — the minuet is simply gone — which gives it an unusual drive.

   If you are new to orchestral programmes, this is an easy way in: three compact works that explain each other, no prior repertoire knowledge assumed. If you are not new, the pleasure is in hearing how differently three eras handle the same material.

   The venue sits on Hang Bai, a five-minute walk from Hoan Kiem Lake in the middle of the old centre, and seats 800 — close enough that the woodwind writing actually registers.

   Tickets come in five price tiers by seating zone, and the orchestra is taking early reservations through its own form rather than a ticketing platform.

   Come for one composer, leave arguing about three.