MOZART JUPITER SYMPHONY

Transcription

1 CONCERT PROGRAM MOZART JUPITER SYMPHONY Friday, January 19, :30pm Saturday, January 20, :00pm & 8:00pm TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, Koerner Hall Sunday, January 21, :00pm George Weston Recital Hall Peter Oundjian conductor Charles Richard-Hamelin piano Adrian Anantawan violin Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Rondo for Violin and Orchestra, from Serenade No. 7 in D Major, K. 250/248b Haffner Adagio in E Major for Violin and Orchestra, K. 261 Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro assai Intermission Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 Jupiter I. Allegro vivace II. Andante cantabile III. Menuetto: Allegretto IV. Molto allegro MOZART FESTIVAL SPONSOR The January 19 performance is generously supported by M. George & Leanne Lewis. The Three at the Weston Series performances are generously supported by Margaret and Jim Fleck. 26

2 THE DETAILS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born: Salzburg, Austria, Jan 27, 1756 Died: Vienna, Austria, Dec 5, Rondo for Violin and Orchestra, from Serenade No. 7 in D Major, K. 250/248b Haffner Composed: Adagio in E Major for Violin and Orchestra, K. 261 Composed: 1776 The music that Mozart composed purely for entertainment purposes is the finest of its kind. No other composer of the first rank has devoted so much time and skill to this sector of the repertoire. He produced serenades, divertimentos, notturnos, and cassations, plus dozens of marches and ballroom dances. He composed them on commission as background music for a variety of upper-class social functions such as weddings, anniversaries, fancy balls, and the conclusions of university terms. Serenade No. 7 was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Marie Haffner, sister of Mozart s boyhood friend, Sigismund Haffner. She and Franz Xaver Späth were to wed in Salzburg on July 22, Presumably the Serenade was performed on the eve of the ceremony, at the Haffner family s summer residence. No expense was spared for the celebrations, enabling Mozart to score the serenade for a large orchestra: two each of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, plus timpani and strings. As was then common practice, the Serenade s contents were subject to numerous variations, with portions extracted for later, separate performance. Five of the sections form a five-movement symphony that was regularly performed on its own. The second, third, and fourth movements make up a violin concerto, of which this dashing, virtuoso Rondo is the final movement. In 1769, Mozart was awarded the post of Honorary Concertmaster in the Salzburg Court Orchestra. The 13-year-old musician s duties included leading the orchestra from the first desk of violins (this being before the rise of the conductor, as we know the role), playing solos, and writing new music for it to perform. Three years passed before he began receiving a salary for these considerable responsibilities. Between 1773 and 1775, while still resident in Salzburg, he composed the five violin concertos that can be unquestionably attributed to him. His only previous concertos had been a series of piano pieces based on themes by other composers. The Violin Concertos bear no dedications, probably indicating that he had either written them to perform himself, or wished to encourage future performances by not tying them to particular soloists. Some of them may also have been played by Antonio Brunetti, who served first as his assistant, then as his successor as Concertmaster in the Salzburg Court Orchestra. Mozart disliked him, finding him slow-witted and boorish. Brunetti did not care for the slow movement of Mozart s Concerto No. 5, proclaig it too studied. Mozart obliged him by creating an alternative: this glowing, expressive Adagio. Through its muted orchestral violins and sweet, aria-like melody, it offers attractions fully equal to those of the movement it replaced. Program notes by Don Anderson 27

3 THE DETAILS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born: Salzburg, Austria, Jan 27, 1756 Died: Vienna, Austria, Dec 5, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 Composed: Mozart was one of the greatest if not the greatest composer of concertos who ever lived. Creating first-rate concertos requires several skills. One is a complete understanding of instruments technical capabilities, not only of the featured concerto soloist but also of every member of the accompanying orchestra. Does the solo instrument sound more effective in some parts of its range than others? Does it blend better with strings or with woodwinds? Can it play loud enough to be heard together with an orchestra that includes trombones and so on. On another, perhaps more elusive front, a composer must truly get inside the solo instrument s expressive personality. What sorts of themes suit its tone colour? Is it more effective at communicating low or high spirits? FOR CONNOISSEURS K. 488, which includes an original cadenza by the composer, is an exceptional work and Mozart had known it. He sent it as one of a select group of works to a prospective patron, Prince Fürstenberg in Donaueschingen, stating in an accompanying letter that these were "compositions which I keep for myself or for a small circle of music-lovers and connoisseurs (who promise not to let them out of their hands), thus assuring the Prince they had not been circulating widely. Mozart received payment for the works but the additional commissions he had hoped for from His Highness came to nothing. From quite early on (he composed the insightful Bassoon Concerto, K. 191, when he was 18), Mozart demonstrated that meeting all these challenges came naturally to him. It did not matter what the solo instrument was (he composed outstanding concertos for piano, violin, viola, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and harp) or whether he played it professionally the result was always eloquent and supremely natural. He also developed another ability that is vital to the effective creation of both concertos and operas: a profound grasp of how to create effective dialogue between music makers, be they singers in an opera, or a concerto soloist and the accompanying orchestra. By the time he composed the concerto you will hear on this program, he had honed all these abilities to a diamond-bright lustre. This concerto opens in leisurely fashion, with the orchestra presenting the movement s principal materials. The soloist then treats them with a winning mixture of elegance and delicious flights of fancy. With only the briefest of digressions, the mood throughout is utterly contented. The atmosphere changes radically in the slow movement, one of Mozart s most poignant creations. The piano leads off, introducing a main theme in the rhythm of a siciliano. Passionate outbursts have no place here, but just the same, Mozart sets forth the depth of his despair in most telling fashion. The Finale brings further contrast, lightening the air completely. Mozart brings back the sun, more welcome than ever in the wake of the dark Adagio. Program note by Don Anderson 28

4 26 Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 Jupiter Composed: 1788 Legend has it that some kind of private creative compulsion was behind Mozart s three last symphonies. On the contrary, all three were written to order and in considerable haste, at a time when Mozart s career was at such a low point that he was reduced to begging friends for money. Yet these works are certainly Mozart s greatest symphonies all of them, including the Jupiter, highly original masterpieces. Jupiter was not his title; the nickname is apparently of English origin, coined in the early 1800s by the violinist Johann Peter Salomon. Unlike its predecessors, the melodious Symphony No. 39 and the tragic No. 40, the Jupiter is music of the sublime. In every movement of this remarkable symphony, Mozart finds new paths through conventional forms. Surprises appear throughout The closing theme (at the end of the exposition and recapitulation) of the first movement of Mozart s Jupiter Symphony is a musical quotation from his own aria Un bacio di mano (A kiss on the hand). Originally written for inclusion in composer Pasquale Anfosi s opera Le gelosie fortunate, the aria is sung by Monsieur Girò, a worldly-wise Frenchman who advises the naïve Don Pompeo to be cautious in his attempts at courtship. The text (presumed to be by Lorenzo da Ponte) that is set to the music quoted in the symphony is: You re a little dull/my dear Pompeo/ The ways of the world/go study them. the first movement listen for: a sudden, disturbing injection of C or in the secondtheme area in G major; a jaunty new tune in the violins that is a direct quotation from a comic aria on the dangers of wooing women, which he had recently written for insertion into an opera by another composer; and in the recapitulation, not one but two feints toward or keys, in the section that traditionally serves as the resolution of the movement s tension. The slow movement is highly unstable by 18thcentury standards. The emotional tension built up from the first half spills over into the second; the recapitulation, far from offering a serene resolution, is fraught with new developments and new turbulence, including sweeping scales in the strings that hint at churning emotions. Even the uet movement, conventionally the lightest and most formalized of all, is rife with chromaticism and intense thematic development beneath its galant exterior. Of course, it is the magnificent finale on which the reputation of the Jupiter Symphony largely rests. It is imbued with an astonishing degree of canon, fugue, imitation counterpoint of every imaginable kind. Throughout the finale, Mozart takes the six principal themes established at the beginning and, with incredible ingenuity, weaves them together in seegly endless permutations. In the coda, however, he shows, for the first time, how five of these themes can be developed simultaneously in counterpoint. For good measure, he tacks on the sixth theme as a means of bringing the symphony to a noisy, brilliant close. Program note by Kevin Bazzana 29

5 THE ARTISTS Peter Oundjian conductor A dynamic presence in the music world, Torontoborn conductor Peter Oundjian is renowned for his probing musicality, collaborative spirit, and engaging personality. His association with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) spans over 30 years, beginning with his début as violin soloist in 1981, then as conductor in 1998, and since 2004, as Music Director. During his tenure at the TSO, Oundjian has invigorated the Orchestra with recordings, tours, and innovative programg as well as extensive audience growth, thereby significantly strengthening the ensemble s presence in the world. A champion of new music, he created the hugely successful New Creations Festival, now in its 14th season of showcasing new Canadian and international orchestral music, as well as the annual Mozart Festival, also now in its 14th season. Since 2008, Oundjian and the TSO have released eight recordings under the self-produced label tsolive, and the JUNO-noated recording of Rimsky- Korsakov s Sheherazade on Chandos. Highlights of the eight international tours on which he led the TSO include two sold-out appearances at Carnegie Hall, the first performance of a North American orchestra at Reykjavik s Harpa Hall in 2014, and the Orchestra s first-ever performances in Israel, followed by a residency at the Prague Spring International Music Festival in A multifaceted musician (he was the first violinist of the celebrated Tokyo String Quartet from 1981 to 1995), Oundjian is also a dedicated teacher. Since 1981, he has been a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music, and was awarded the university s Sanford Medal for distinguished service to music in As a conductor, he has appeared at some of the great annual musical gatherings from the BBC Proms to the Edinburgh Festival and The Philadelphia Orchestra s Mozart Festival where he was Artistic Director from 2003 to Oundjian is also Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) since He was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra ( ) and Artistic Director of New York s Caramoor International Music Festival ( ). 30

6 Charles Richard-Hamelin piano Charles Richard-Hamelin made his TSO début in March Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian-Zimerman Prize for the best performance of a Chopin sonata at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015 and winner of the 2011 Prix d Europe, Charles Richard-Hamelin is one of the most important pianists of his generation. He won second prize at the Montreal International Music Competition and third prize and a special award for the best performance of a Beethoven sonata at the Seoul International Music Competition. In April 2015, Charles was awarded the prestigious Career Development Award, granted by the Women s Musical Club of Toronto. He has appeared at such proent festivals as La Roque d Anthéron, Prague Spring Festival, Chopin and his Europe (Warsaw), and Lanaudière. As a soloist, he has performed with various ensembles including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, National Arts Centre Orchestra, OFUNAM (Mexico City), Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Sinfonia Varsovia, among many others. His first solo recording, devoted to Chopin (2015, Analekta), received widespread acclaim from the international press as well as a Felix Award (ADISQ). A second album, with music by Beethoven, Enescu, and Chopin was released in 2016 and also received warm accolades. Adrian Anantawan violin Adrian Anantawan made his TSO début in November Adrian Anantawan holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, and Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a violinist, he has studied with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, and Anne-Sophie Mutter; his academic work in education was supervised by Howard Gardner. Memorable moments include performances at the White House, the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens and Vancouver Olympic Games, and the United Nations. He has played for the late Christopher Reeve, Pope John Paul II, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Active within his community, Adrian helped to create the Virtual Chamber Music Initiative at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Centre. The cross-collaborative project brings researchers, musicians, doctors, and educators together to develop adaptive musical instruments capable of being played by a young person with disabilities within a chamber music setting. He is currently the Chair of Music at Milton Academy, an independent preparatory school in Massachusetts serving students K 12. Adrian is a JUNO Award noee, a member of the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, and was awarded a Diamond Jubilee Medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the Commonwealth. 31