classical.

Byline: Peter Spaull

THE 250th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Mozart reach Theatr Clwyd at Mold on Sunday May 21, when the European Union Chamber Orchestra, directed by Matthias Wellong, bring with them the Wrexham born pianist Llyr Williams.

The early years of Mozart's life were hard, travelling as a prodigy around Europe with his father, then working in his home town of Salzburg for an archbishop with whom he had a poor relationship. But by 1784 he was happily married to Constanze, had escaped to Vienna, his wife was pregnant and they had moved into a splendid apartment on the main street.

His flat was in a building owned by a bookseller, whose wife was a pupil of Mozart and included a concert hall in which he was able to promote concerts. In February he attracted nearly 200 subscriptions for three concerts and wrote three piano concertos. It is not certain whether he played all three himself, as No 14 K449 to be heard next week, was written for his pupil Barbara von Ployen. It was very successful and he arranged it in a version without wind instruments, for piano quintet, as heard in Manchester in February.

The soloist Llyr Williams is making an international reputation, with appearances at last year's Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Mainly Mozart Festival in London. He can be heard in Liverpool on July 13 in Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, as part of the RLPO Summer Pops concerts and next year tours in the USA and Europe. Next week's concert opens with Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, written three years later and scored for a strong quintet including double bass. Despite having lost one of its movements, it remains one of his best loved works. More Night Music ends the concert, a string arrangement of the popular Wind Serenade K388 of 1782.

There were limited opportunities for wind music to be played, so, as with the Piano Concerto No 14, the commercially minded Mozart re-scored it in a form which would ensure more performances and thus more earnings.

The evening is completed with a small adagio, composed in the same year as the concerto for Viennese audience. Next week's concert begins at 7.30 (Box Office 0845 330 3565) and will be a fine climax to Theatre Clwyd's very successful concert season. Useful background to the music can be gained from reading Jane Glover's book, Mozart and His Women, which reappears this month in paperback.

The story of his life is told from a different angle, that of the ladies in his life. The first part relates to his mother and sister and his early travels, part two to the family into which he married, then the singers with whom he worked and for whom he composed operatic roles and finally what happened to these ladies and his artistic legacy after his death. A worthy best seller, recently serialised on BBC Radio 4 (Pan pounds 7.99).