CONCERT PROGRAM MOZART & BRUCKNER

Transcription

1 CONCERT PROGRAM MOZART & BRUCKNER Wednesday, May 2, :00pm Thursday, May 3, :00pm conductor Leon Fleisher piano Leon Fleisher s appearance with the TSO on May 2 is generously supported by Dr. Thomas Beechy. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414 I. Allegro II. Andante III. Allegretto Intermission Anton Bruckner/ed. Paul Hawkshaw Symphony No. 8 in C Minor (1887 version) (CANADIAN PREMIÈRE) I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo: Allegro moderato III. Adagio: Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend IV. Finale: Feierlich, nicht schnell 34

2 THE DETAILS Music Director I am absolutely delighted to welcome legendary musician Leon Fleisher. He is joining us on our yearly excursions to Montreal and Ottawa, performing the wondrous Concerto K. 414 by Mozart. This delightful work has a simplicity and clarity that few of his other concertos have an almost childlike innocence, taking true joy in music-making. It stands side by side with the mighty Eighth Symphony of Bruckner, one of the composer s greatest works. Up to now, there has only been one edition available of the first version from 1887, and it had hundreds of mistakes and was very rarely played. My colleague at Yale, Paul Hawkshaw, spent 12 years with the autograph manuscript in Vienna attempting to restore Bruckner s precise original intentions. The perfection of form and drama of this first version is undeniable. Now that I have lived with it for over a year, I am convinced that this is the version of the Eighth we should consider to be authentic. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K min Born: Salzburg, Austria, Jan 27, 1756 Died: Vienna, Austria, Dec 5, 1791 Composed: 1782 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart launched his life as a freelance artist in Vienna in May Since he was best known there as a pianist, he composed numerous piano works to play at his own subscription concerts. Among them are three concertos, Nos. 11, 12, and 13 his first such works created in Vienna. He intended to perform them in a concert series during the early months of Unfortunately for Mozart, the intended series was under-subscribed and only one of the advertised concerts took place. No. 12 may have received its première on that occasion. The first movement of No. 12 presents a steady flow of attractive themes, in an easy-going and graceful manner. The following Andante is unusually poignant, due at least in part to possible extra-musical considerations. It is based on a theme from the opera La calamità dei cuori (The Calamity of Hearts) by Johann Christian Bach, whom Mozart had come to know and love during a boyhood visit to London. J.C. Bach died in January 1782 Mozart may have conceived this movement as a tender, heartfelt adieu. He concludes the Concerto with a relaxed and genial rondo. Program note by Don Anderson 35

3 THE DETAILS Anton Bruckner/ed. Paul Hawkshaw Symphony No. 8 in C Minor (1887 version) (CANADIAN PREMIÈRE) 75 min Born: Ansfelden, Austria, Sep 4, 1824 Died: Vienna, Austria, Oct 11, 1896 Composed: 1887; rev Anton Bruckner composed his Eighth Symphony between the summer of 1884 and August 1887, much of it while riding a wave of confidence and enthusiasm following successful performances of the Seventh Symphony in Munich and Leipzig. As soon as the Eighth was finished on August 10, 1887, he sent the score to his friend, Hermann Levi, who had conducted the Munich performance of the Seventh, in the hopes of convincing him to do the première of the new work. Levi declined, writing to Bruckner on October 7 that he could not understand the new symphony. Levi felt, among other things, that the work was too avant-garde and over-orchestrated for the brass. Levi s rejection of the symphony served as catalyst for a tortuous series of revisions that culminated in a new shorter version of the symphony completed in March The readings of 1887 and 1890 have since come to be identified as the first and second versions of Bruckner s Eighth Symphony. The second version has been by far the favourite with audiences. In fact, the symphony was accessible to the public only in the second version until the celebration of the composer s 130th birthday, on May 2, 1954, when Eugen Jochum conducted the opening movement of the first version in Munich. The great Austrian Bruckner scholar, Leopold Nowak, published the entire score of the first version in 1972, and Hans Hubert Schönzeler conducted its première in London on September 2, When the present writer began to work on new editions of both the first and second versions of the Eighth Symphony for the New Anton Bruckner Collected Works Edition now being published under the auspices of the Austrian National Library in Vienna, he soon realized that Nowak had used a single copyist s score rather than the surviving autograph scores for his publication. The principal sources for the reading of the first version performed this evening are the autograph scores of movements one through three in the Music Collection of the Austrian National Library and a copy score of the finale preserved in the same collection. Tonight, Anton Bruckner s Eighth Symphony will be performed, as much as possible, as he originally conceived it. It is necessary to use a copy score for the finale because, in making his revisions for this movement, Bruckner obliterated many passages of the first version. 36

4 The first version differs from the second in many obvious ways. Perhaps because he was ill during most of the revision process, the second version, particularly at the end of the first movement is much darker; the opening movement of the first version that we hear tonight ends with a triumphant coda. The Trio of the second movement is entirely different from that of the second version; tonight, we will hear a delightful love song at this point. The Adagio, perhaps Bruckner s finest, is sublime in both versions. In the second version, the climax when the triangle and cymbal enter occurs on an E-flat major chord; in the first version, it is in C major. The finales are more or less the same, although the earlier version is a little bit longer. Bruckner himself was rightly very proud of the first version. He wrote that the finale, in particular, was the best piece I have ever composed. We hope you will enjoy this magnificent work in the form in which its colossal, often enigmatic creator first conceived it. Program note by Paul Hawkshaw 37

5 THE ARTISTS conductor A dynamic presence in the music world, Toronto-born conductor is renowned for his probing musicality, collaborative spirit, and engaging personality. Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2004, Oundjian has invigorated the Orchestra with recordings, tours, and innovative programming 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, which, for 14 seasons showcased new Canadian and international orchestral music. He also established an annual Mozart Festival, which ran for 14 seasons. Since 2008, Oundjian and the TSO have released eight recordings under the self-produced label tsolive, and the JUNO-nominated 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 Leon Fleisher piano Leon Fleisher made his TSO début in March As a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, pianist Leon Fleisher was recognized as a consummate musician whose career is a testament to the life-affirming power of art. He was a student of the legendary Artur Schnabel and was the first American to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in Brussels in He subsequently enjoyed a prolific recording career. In 1965, Leon Fleisher began to suffer symptoms of focal dystonia in his right hand. After a period of great despair, he channelled his creativity in new directions, mastering the piano repertoire for left hand and initiating a career in conducting. In the mid-1990s he regained sufficient use of his right hand, leading to an extraordinary career renaissance. In 2013, Sony Classical issued a 23-CD box set of his entire recorded output, and in 2014, Mr. Fleisher released the GRAMMY -nominated All The Things You Are, his first solo CD in a decade. An inspiration to hundreds of students since 1959, Leon Fleisher holds the Andrew W. Mellon Chair at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. In 2006, he received the honour of Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture of the French government. In his 90th year in 2018, Mr. Fleisher continues with an international schedule of performances, orchestral guest conducting, and master classes. 38