RICHARD GOODE PIANO. Wednesday, October 8, pm. Spaulding Auditorium Dartmouth College

Transcription

1 presents RICHARD GOODE PIANO Post-Performance Discussion You are invited to remain in the theater immediately following the performance for an informal discussion with the artist. Funded in part by the Robert Grinnell Fund for the Hopkins Center, the David H. Hilton 1951 Fund No. 2, Gift of Roberta and George Berry 66 P 98 and by Hopkins Center Members. Spaulding Auditorium s Hamburg Steinway concert grand piano was purchased with generous gifts from Members of the Hopkins Center and Members of the Hood Museum of Art; the class of 1942, in memory of Allan Dingwall 42; and anonymous donors. Wednesday, October 8, pm Spaulding Auditorium Dartmouth College

2 PROGRAM Adagio in B minor, K.540 (1788) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( ) Sonata No. 24 in F# Major, Op. 78 Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 76 (1871, 1878) Johannes Brahms ( ) Capriccio. Un poco agitato Capriccio. Allegretto non troppo Intermezzo. Grazioso Intermezzo. Allegretto grazioso Capriccio. Agitato, ma non troppo Presto Intermezzo. Andante con moto Intermezzo. Moderato semplice Capriccio. Grazioso ed un poco vivace INTERMISSION Children s Corner ( ) Claude Debussy ( ) Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum Jimbo's Lullaby Serenade for the Doll The Snow Is Dancing The Little Shepherd Golliwog's Cakewalk Humoreske, Op. 20 (1839) Robert Schumann ( ) PROGRAM NOTES Adagio in B minor, K.540 (1788) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( ) Mozart s strikingly emotional Adagio in B minor for piano, which he registered in his catalogue of works on March 19, 1788, stems from rather late in his career and during a phase in which he was largely preoccupied with writing arias, some destined for a new production of Don Giovanni in Vienna. It is thus unsurprising that his Adagio possesses an extremely sensitive, almost vocal quality. The Adagio is unusual in a number of respects, including its individuality as a solitary slow movement, detached from any sonata structure. The key, too, is highly unusual Mozart wrote no other single pieces in B minor and not frequently heard in that period. Beethoven referred to B minor as a black key, and various eighteenth-century theorists described it as melancholy and morose. Mozart s exploration of the key conveys a certain loneliness, opening as it does with the solo right hand in a plaintive, questing theme that will haunt the piece as a whole. Most

3 PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED remarkable is the work s singular intensity of expression. For example, though the three opening notes simply outline a B-minor triad, the very first harmony is a dissonant diminishedseventh chord, emphasized by a sforzando accent that disrupts the quiet and stillness. Throughout the work Mozart employs sudden dynamic contrasts to create a sense of instability and pathos. He also exploits the piano s contrasting registers in masterful fashion, using hand-crossings that might allow a phrase to begin with a deep, rich timbre and conclude with an ethereal sigh two octaves higher, or reverse the process and lead a phrase into the darkest depths of the piano s range. In the last section of the piece Mozart intensifies his use of chromaticism in the flowing figuration of the right hand, and concludes the work on B-major chords that impart a final, unexpected touch of radiance. Sonata No. 24 in F# Major, Op. 78 Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) The Opus 78 sonata by Beethoven offers another unusual choice of key in F-sharp major, of which a critic in 1795 wrote, it remains on the outer limits of the musical world. In 1809, when Beethoven composed this work, he was already well advanced upon the path of investigating and indeed defining those outer limits ; his recently completed Opus 59 quartets opened new territory in string writing, and his Opus 57 piano sonata (which became known as the Appassionata) likewise expanded the boundaries of expressive pianism in unprecedented ways. The Opus 57 and 78 sonatas were both dedicated to members of the same family, the former to Count Franz von Brunsvik, and the latter to his sister Therese. Beethoven developed loyal and longstanding friendships with these musical aristocrats, taught piano lessons to Therese for a period, and stayed with them at their Hungarian estates, including a visit during the summer of 1809 when he worked on the F-sharp major sonata. The intimacy and genial nature of the sonata may reflect the harmony Beethoven felt in that domestic circle. Comprising only two movements, the sonata offers an abundance of thematic and textural contrasts; and, without being overtly virtuosic in the manner of the Appassionata, the sonata is nonetheless technically challenging. The first movement opens with a short Adagio phrase in a contemplative vein, with a slowly rising line over an F-sharp pedal point. From this emerges an Allegro theme that combines a warm melody with crisp light sixteenth-note figures that will evolve into passages that are sparkling and rhythmically muscular. The Allegro vivace is remarkable for its agile playfulness and the scampering motion of the two alternating hands into the uppermost region of the keyboard. If the young Countess von Brunsvik could indeed perform this work dedicated to her, she was a noteworthy pianist. 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 76 (1871, 1878) Johannes Brahms ( ) Robert Schumann called Brahms a player of genius who can make of the piano an orchestra of lamenting and loudly jubilant voices. It was as a pianist that Brahms made his most important mark as a performer, even though he later took up conducting as well. But he played the piano from his earliest days, when he earned a living making light music in Hamburg pubs, and went on to develop a powerful and even awesome command of the instrument. Brahms apparently never aspired to be a romantic virtuoso he found the examples of Liszt and other itinerant virtuosi of the day rather repellent but he proved nonetheless to be a matchless performer of his own music, some of which is among the most challenging ever written. In 1878, Brahms produced his first group of

4 PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED assorted piano pieces, including the four intermezzos and four capriccios that were published the following year as Opus 76. This is music for connoisseurs, intimate, difficult, introspective, and using rather simple forms to convey profound ideas. The capriccios are the most weighty and extrovert in character, providing the opening, middle, and closing of the collection s overall structure; the intermezzos provide more introspective and calm interior sections. The first two capriccios, in the related keys of F-sharp and B minor, flow from restless agitation to a taut but dance-like vivacity. Two intermezzos follow, both more rhythmically supple, and the generally high range of the first one, in A-flat Major, lends a delicacy to its expression. The central capriccio is the most turbulent and powerful piece of the set, with strong cross-rhythms between the outer voices and a sinuous chromatic line weaving through the center. The final intermezzo and capriccio are again linked by tonality, from A minor to C Major, and lead from simple tenderness to openly exuberant virtuosity. Children s Corner ( ) Claude Debussy ( ) One of Debussy s greatest and most farreaching achievements was the cultivation of a new kind of pianism that featured a highly refined use of touch both on keyboard and pedals. His piano works show a fertile imagination at work in exploring every shade of timbre and dynamic inflection available on the instrument, and opened colorful new technical and expressive territory for pianists in a wide variety of genres. The six pieces of Debussy s Children s Corner, written between 1906 and 1908 and dedicated to his three-year-old daughter Claude-Emma, or Chouchou, with her father s apologies for what is to follow, are among the most sensitive and charming of his piano oeuvre. While not written expressly for children, the pieces are meant to evoke the playfulness of childhood; four of them were inspired by Claude-Emma s toys, with titles donated by her English governess. The pieces are both innocent and witty, opening with a parody of piano exercise in Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum, an allusion to a famous set of piano etudes, Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus), published by Muzio Clementi in The sweetly lumbering left-hand of Jimbo s Lullaby conjures up an elephant (whose actual name was Jumbo) that live in Paris Jardin des Plantes during Debussy s childhood, and the lullaby heard is Do, do, l enfant do. A Chinese doll in Claude-Emma s collection may have influenced the pentatonic scales of the third piece, which Debussy states should be played entirely with the mute pedal. The Snow is Dancing embeds a melody in long-breathed whole notes among the flurry of staccato activity. Artful flute solos by the Little Shepherd are etched in the treble right-hand part, sometimes heard alone, sometimes with a lightly dissonant accompaniment. The Golliwog, a little stuffed dark-skinned doll, performs a cakewalk to the boisterous rhythms of ragtime and pokes fun at stuffy pretension represented in the piece s central section by the quote from Wagner s Tristan und Isolde, marked avec une grande émotion before rollicking to a close. Humoreske, Op. 20 (1839) Robert Schumann ( ) Robert Schumann, one of Brahms greatest champions in the formative stages of the latter s career, was intensely aware of his own shortcomings as a pianist and never became a piano virtuoso in the same league with Brahms; a serious hand injury that he received in 1832 prevented him from ever reaching his full potential as a performer. However, he wrote a copious amount of piano music, including large-

5 PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED scale forms but also many miniature pieces arranged in series or cycles, and laced with personal and literary allusions of all kinds. For some years before his marriage to the great pianist Clara Wieck, she was already the primary inspiration for Schumann s piano music, and after their marriage she became his pianistic voice and the chief promoter of his work. In late 1838 and early 1839 Schumann resided in Vienna, where Clara had met with critical success and where he hoped they might be able to unite their careers and build a life together. However, he met with a cool reception from publishers whom he had hoped would sponsor his journal, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, and he ended up spending his time composing piano pieces rather than writing music criticism. That March he wrote to Clara, All week I ve been sitting at the piano and composing and writing and laughing and crying, all at the same time. You will find this beautifully illustrated in my Humoreske. Destined to be one of his last piano works Schumann would marry Clara the following year and thereafter turn to songs and symphonies the Humoreske, Opus 20, is a lengthy, difficult and episodic piece that somewhat belies the playfulness implied by its title, despite its playful moments. And despite its seven different sections, each with its own tempo and character, the work is actually unified throughout by the related keys of B-flat major and G minor, and by recurrent themes that create a coherent large-scale structure. Schumann s characteristic contrasts in style, from extremely sensitive, lyrical melody, to brash rhythmic verve, are all present here in abundance. Kathryn ABOUT THE ARTIST Richard Goode piano has been hailed for musicmaking of tremendous emotional power, depth and expressiveness, and has been acknowledged worldwide as one of today s leading interpreters of Classical and Romantic music. In regular performances with the major orchestras, recitals in the world s music capitals, and through his extensive and acclaimed Nonesuch recordings, he has won a large and devoted following. Gramophone magazine recently captured the essence of what makes Goode such an original and compelling artist: Every time we hear him, he impresses us as better than we remembered, surprising us, surpassing our expectations and communicating perceptions that stay in the mind. Mr. Goode began his season performing Mozart s Concerto in A Major (K. 488) to open Lincoln Center s Mostly Mozart Festival. Over the course of the season, he will be featured in five appearances at Carnegie Hall, including a recital in the main hall; as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andris Nelsons; in two chamber music concerts with young artists from Marlboro Music Festival; and conducting a master class on Debussy piano works. He will appear as soloist with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis, Milwaukee and San Diego Symphonies. In addition, this season includes recitals at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, the Celebrity Series of Boston, Cal Performances in

6 ABOUT THE ARTIST CONTINUED Berkeley, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, at Shriver Hall in Baltimore, in Toronto at the Royal Conservatory, at The Schubert Club in St. Paul, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Yale School of Music, Duke Performances, Middlebury College and in other major series in the US and Europe. In addition, Mr. Goode will present master classes at top conservatories and universities around the world. In the season, Mr. Goode appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic with David Zinman, the Chicago Symphony with Mark Elder, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Herbert Blomstedt, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with Peter Oundjian, with whom he will also appeared in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal with the Toronto Symphony. His always compelling recitals were heard at Carnegie Hall in New York, in London, in Paris, at the Aldeburgh Festival and on leading concert and university series around the world. Among the highlights of recent seasons have been the recitals in which, for the first time in his career, Goode performed the last three Beethoven Sonatas in one program, drawing capacity audiences and raves in such cities as New York, London and Berlin. The New York Times, in reviewing his Carnegie Hall performance, hailed his interpretations as majestic, profound readings...mr. Goode s playing throughout was organic and inspired, the noble, introspective themes unfolding with a simplicity that rendered them all the more moving. Recent seasons have also included performances with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra led by Fabio Luisi at Carnegie Hall; with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel; with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on tour and at Carnegie Hall playing the Schumann Concerto; and on tour with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. An exclusive Nonesuch recording artist, Goode has made more than two dozen recordings over the years, ranging from solo and chamber works to lieder and concertos. His recording of the five Beethoven concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer was released in 2009 to exceptional critical acclaim, described as a landmark recording by the Financial Times and nominated for a Grammy award. His 10-CD set of the complete Beethoven sonatas cycle, the first-ever by an American-born pianist, was nominated for a Grammy and has been ranked among the most distinguished recordings of this repertoire. Other recording highlights include a series of Bach Partitas, a duo recording with Dawn Upshaw, and Mozart piano concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A native of New York, Richard Goode studied with Elvira Szigeti and Claude Frank, with Nadia Reisenberg at the Mannes College of Music, and with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute. His numerous prizes over the years include the Young Concert Artists Award, First Prize in the Clara Haskil Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and a Grammy award for his recording of the Brahms Sonatas with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. His first public performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas at Kansas City s Folly Theater and New York s 92nd Street Y in brought him to international attention being hailed by The New York Times as among the season s most important and memorable events. It was later performed with great success at London s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1994 and 1995.

7 ABOUT THE ARTIST CONTINUED Mr. Goode served, together with Mitsuko Uchida, as co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont, from 1999 through Participating initially at the age of 14, at what the New Yorker magazine recently described as the classical world s most coveted retreat, he has made a notable contribution to this unique community over the 28 summers he has spent there. He is married to the violinist Marcia Weinfeld, and, when the Goodes are not on tour, they and their collection of some 5,000 volumes live in New York City. Goode last performed at the Hopkins Center in CONNECTING ARTISTS TO THE COMMUNITY While at Dartmouth, Richard Goode joined Dartmouth students and faculty for dinner and discussion at the East Wheelock Residential Cluster and participates in a post-performance discussion. For more information on Hop Outreach & Arts Education, call or visit hop.dartmouth.edu/online/outreach. EMERSON STRING QUARTET tue OC T 21 7 pm SPAULDING AUDITORIUM SALLY PINKAS piano ALEXANDRE BRUSSILOVSKY violin JULIAN MILKIS clarinet tue NOV 11 7 pm SPAULDING AUDITORIUM This Hop favorite returns with new cellist Paul Watkins a distinguished soloist, award-winning conductor and dedicated chamber musician who succeeded founding Emerson member David Finckel. With Watkins as an equal partner in the ensemble s lush, silky full-throttled symphonic sound (Los Angeles Times), the Emersons play works by Ravel, Britten and Shostakovich, reflecting the vibrant and tumultuous decades that book-ended the two World Wars. The Hop s pianist-in-residence is joined by two noted international artists: violinist Alexandre Brussilovsky ( a true revelation Le Monde) and clarinetist Julian Milkis ( great virtuosity Hamburg Abendblatt). The trio s engaging program includes two works infused with American jazz and Central European folk music including a Stravinsky suite written at the start of WW I that evokes that era with the tale of a war-weary soldier. For tickets or more info call the Box Office at or visit hop.dartmouth.edu. Sign up for weekly HopMail bulletins online or become a fan of Hopkins Center, Dartmouth on Facebook

8 R DARTMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Anthony Princiotti conductor sat NOV 8 8 pm SPAULDING AUDITORIUM Although Brahms wrote only one violin concerto, his is considered among the best works for violin and orchestra. Its lucid, deeply emotional solo part was written in collaboration with his friend Joseph Joachim, one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century. This soulful work is complemented by Beethoven s lighthearted 8th and Mozart s brief, bustling introduction to one of his great comic operas. CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER wed JAN 14 7 pm SPAULDING AUDITORIUM Bringing together established and emerging musicians performing both standard and unusual repertoire, CMS combines vitality with incisive attention to detail and spontaneity (Chicago Tribune). This program a quintet featuring former Emerson String Quartet cellist David Finckel, who has co-led CMS for 10 years highlights the pleasure and inspiration composers have found in the rustic, direct folk music of various continents. For tickets or more info call the Box Office at or visit hop.dartmouth.edu. Sign up for weekly HopMail bulletins online or become a fan of Hopkins Center, Dartmouth on Facebook HOPKINS CENTER MANAGEMENT STAFF Jeffrey H. James 75a Howard Gilman Director Marga Rahmann Associate Director/General Manager Joseph Clifford Director of Audience Engagement Jay Cary Business and Administrative Officer Bill Pence Director of Hopkins Center Film Margaret Lawrence Director of Programming Joshua Price Kol Director of Student Performance Programs HOPKINS CENTER BOARD OF OVERSEERS Austin M. Beutner 82 Kenneth L. Burns H 93 Barbara J. Couch James W. Giddens 59 Allan H. Glick 60, T 61, P 88 Barry Grove 73 Caroline Diamond Harrison 86, P 16 Kelly Fowler Hunter 83, T 88, P 13, P 15 Richard P. Kiphart 63 Robert H. Manegold 75, P 02, P 06 Nini Meyer Hans C. Morris 80, P 11, P 14 Chair of the Board Robert S. Weil 40, P 73 Honorary Frederick B. Whittemore 53, T 54, P 88, P 90, H 03 Jennifer A. Williams 85 Diana L. Taylor 77 Trustee Representative Please turn off your cell phone inside the theater. Assistive Listening Devices available in the lobby. DARTM OUTH RECYCLES If you do not wish to keep your playbill, please discard it in the recycling bin provided in the lobby. Thank you.