2015/16 Season CLASSICAL SERIES
The MASTERY of MOZART and MAHLER Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 1-3, 2016 MICHAEL STERN, conductor BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, pianist
W. A. MOZART
Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 595 I. Allegro II. Larghetto III. Allegro Benjamin Grosvenor, pianist INTERMISSION
MAHLER
Symphony No. 1 in D Major, “Titan” I. Langsam. Schleppend II. Kräftig bewegt III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen IV. Stürmisch bewegt
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Friday’s concert sponsored by
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Podcast available at kcsymphony.org
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PROGRAM NOTES by Ken Meltzer
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 595 (1791) 31 minutes Solo piano, flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns and strings.
Mozart’s career in Vienna as a composer and virtuoso pianist reached its apex in Mozart’s Piano the mid-1780s. Between 1784 and 1786, Concerto Mozart wrote no fewer than 12 piano No. 27 is one concertos, which usually premiered in of his most concerts sponsored by the composer, known introspective as “academies.” The exhilaration of those and beautiful triumphant years in Vienna soon yielded works for piano to profound frustration and unhappiness. and orchestra. Demands for Mozart’s services as composer, performer and teacher declined. After the premiere of his Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 503, on December 4, 1786, Mozart composed only two more works in that genre — the 1788 Concerto in D Major, known as the “Coronation,” and the B-flat Major Concerto, K. 595, completed and premiered in the last year of his life. The precipitate decline in Mozart’s fortunes is further illustrated by the fact that the first performance of this glorious work took place on March 4, 1791, at a concert given by the clarinetist Joseph Bähr. By that time, Mozart was unable to Recommended Recording W.A. MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 27 Clifford Curzon, pianist English Chamber Orchestra / Benjamin Britten, conductor Label: London/Decca Legends Catalog #468491 32 2015/16 Season
rally the support necessary to present one of his own “academies.” Still, the B-flat Piano Concerto, like the opera Die Zauberflöte, the Clarinet Concerto, the final two String Quintets and the unfinished Requiem, demonstrate that Mozart was capable of creating some of his most accomplished and profoundly beautiful music in the midst of intense personal misfortune. It is always dangerous to presuppose that musical output is a direct autobiographical reflection of the emotions and personal circumstances of the composer. But there is no question that the B-flat Piano Concerto avoids virtuosic display, opting instead for haunting introspection and restraint. Even the tripping rondo finale seems to offer hints of a wistful nostalgia for happier times. While there is no reason to believe that Mozart intended this
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PROGRAM NOTES by Ken Meltzer
piano concerto to be his last, it is a fitting summation to a body of works in which he triumphed both as composer and interpreter. The concerto is in three movements. The first (Allegro) features the traditional dual presentation of the principal themes, initially by the orchestra alone, then joined by the soloist. The slow-tempo second movement (Larghetto) in A-B-A form, recalls some of the composer’s most eloquent operatic writing, with the pianist serving as vocalist. The rondo finale (Allegro) is based upon a recurring theme, introduced at the outset by the soloist. The theme also appears in Mozart’s song, “Yearning for Spring.” Come, sweet May, and make the trees green again, and by the brook make the little violets bloom for me!
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GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony No. 1 in D Major, “Titan” (1888) 56 minutes 3 piccolos, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, English horn, 2 E-flat clarinets, 4 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 7 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (two players), bass drum, cymbals, gong, triangle, harp and strings.
Toward the close of March 1888, The “Titan,” Gustav Mahler informed his parents of the in four completion of his First Symphony: “There! movements, I have today finished my work and can say features an thank God that it has turned out well. I epic mode of hope that I have taken a big step forward expression, with with it.” The first performance took place frequent and on November 20, 1889, with the composer breathtaking leading the Budapest Philharmonic. juxtapositions For the premiere, Mahler designated of atmosphere the work not as a symphony, but as and mood. a “Symphonic Poem in Two Parts.” In January 1893, Mahler revised his “Symphonic Poem,” now designating it as a symphony. He affixed the nickname “Titan” — after a novel by Jean Paul — and also assigned titles to each of the symphony’s movements. “My time will come,” Mahler predicted — and indeed, it has. Mahler’s nine completed symphonies have become staples of the orchestral repertoire. The “Titan” is perhaps the most
Read program notes or listen to podcasts at kcsymphony.org.
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PROGRAM NOTES by Ken Meltzer
popular, and certainly, the most accessible. The “Titan” strives for an epic mode of expression. The work’s abrupt shifts in emotion and tone can be disconcerting and, for some, even frightening. As in the case of Beethoven’s First Symphony, Mahler’s “Titan,” while at times paying homage to the past, clearly points the way to the revolutionary path ahead. Mahler’s 1893 program for his “Titan” Symphony is reproduced below in bold and italic text. TITAN, A tone poem in the form of a symphony FIRST PART “From the days of youth,” flower, fruit and thorn pieces. “Endless Spring” (Introduction and Allegro Comodo) (The introduction depicts the awakening of Nature from its long winter sleep.) I. Langsam. Schleppend. (Slow, Dragging) (“Wie ein Naturlaut”) (“Like a Nature Sound”) — Im Anfang sehr gemächlich (In the beginning very leisurely) — The slow-tempo introduction presents the Symphony’s central motif, a descending fourth, as well as bird calls and distant fanfares. The cuckoo’s song develops into the principal melody of the opening movement, introduced by the lower strings, and based upon the second of Mahler’s 1885 Songs of a Wayfarer — “Ging heut’ morgen übers Feld” (“This morning I went through the field.”) “Under full sail” (Scherzo) II. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (Forceful, animated, but not too fast) — Trio. Recht gemächlich (Restrained) — The second-movement scherzo is in the spirit of the ländler, a popular Austrian folk dance. After a raucous outburst, a brief passage for solo horn serves as a bridge to the genial Trio section. The ländler returns to conclude the movement. 36 2015/16 Season
SECOND PART “Commedia humana” (“Human Comedy”) “Stranded!” (A funeral march in Callot’s manner) For this movement, the following explanation will help: the basic inspiration for it was found by the author in a humorous engraving, well known to all Austrian children: “The Huntsman’s Funeral,” from an old book of fairy tales. The forest animals accompany the dead hunter’s coffin to the grave. Hares carry the banner, in front of them marches a group of Bohemian musicians, accompanied by singing cats, toads, crows, etc. Stags, deer, foxes, and other four-legged and feathered animals follow the procession in all kinds of farcical positions. The mood expressed is sometimes ironic and merry, sometimes gloomy and uncanny, then suddenly... III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen (Solemn and measured, but not dragging) — Over the insistent beat of the timpani, a solo muted bass softly chants a macabre variation of the children’s nursery song, “Frère Jacques” (“Are you sleeping, Brother John?”). A village band episode, and a quotation of Mahler’s beautiful song, “The Two Blue Eyes,” also play important roles. “Dall’Inferno” (“From the Inferno”) (Allegro furioso), follows, like the last despairing cry of a deeply wounded heart. IV. Stürmisch bewegt (Stormy, animated) — In the extended finale, the conflict ultimately resolves to the Symphony’s glorious D-major apotheosis.
Recommended Recording MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelik, conductor Label: DG The Originals Catalog #449735
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About BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, pianist
BENJAMIN GROSVENOR FIRST CAME TO PROMINENCE AT AGE 11 AS THE outstanding winner of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition Keyboard Final. Since then, he has become an internationally regarded pianist, performing with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, RAI Torino, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and Tokyo Symphony. Grosvenor has worked with numerous esteemed conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jiří Bělohlávek, Semyon Bychkov, Andrey Boreyko, Mark Elder, Alan Gilbert, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrew Litton, Andrew Manze, Ludovic Morlot, Kent Nagano, Alexander Shelley, Michael Tilson Thomas and François-Xavier Roth, among others. A BBC New Generation Artist during 2010-12, Grosvenor has performed at the BBC Proms on a number of occasions, and in 2015, he starred at the Last Night, performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop. In 2011, Grosvenor signed with Decca Classics, the youngest British musician ever to sign to the label and the first British pianist to sign to the label in almost 60 years. His most recent release, “Dances,” has been described as “breathtaking” (The Guardian) and won the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award 2015. During his sensational career, he also has received Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year and Instrumental Award, a Classic Brits Critics’ Award, UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent and a Diapason d’Or Jeune Talent Award. The youngest of five brothers, Grosvenor began playing the piano at age 6. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton and Daniel-Ben Pienaar, where he graduated in 2012 with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. Grosvenor has been sponsored since 2013 by EFG International, the widely respected global private banking group, and has recently become European Brand Ambassador for Casio’s New Celviano Grand Hybrid Piano range of instruments.
Read program notes or listen to podcasts at kcsymphony.org. 38 2015/16 Season