A Taste of Italy
Sunday, November 5, 2023, 3 p.m.
Roberto Minczuk Music Director
Symphony No. 18, “The Dream-Mirror Dancer”
1. Prelude to an Insouciant Convocation
2. Indulgent Amorevolezza
3. Country Waltz for a Lady of Radiant Smiles
4. Truckin’ Up the Translucent Vision of Time
5. One Hears Conflicting Rumors of Familiar Surroundings
6. Metaphorical Combustion Born of Clandestine Schizophrenia INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 4 in A Major, “Italian,” Op. 90
Daniel Steven Crafts
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
These performances are made possible by: Optum New Mexico
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
I. Allegro vivace (1809–1847)
II. Andante con moto
III. Con moto moderato
IV. Presto and Finale: Saltarello
AFTERNOON
CLASSICS
NOV 5
The New Mexico Philharmonic nmphil.org 13 CONCERT PROGRAM
Immanuel Presbyterian Church
In 2017, GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Roberto Minczuk was appointed Music Director of the New Mexico Philharmonic and of the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo. He is also Music Director Laureate of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (Canada) and Conductor Emeritus of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (Rio de Janeiro). In Calgary, he recently completed a 10-year tenure as Music Director, becoming the longest-running Music Director in the orchestra’s history.
Highlights of Minczuk’s recent seasons include the complete Mahler Symphony Cycle with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Bach’s St. John Passion, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Verdi’s La traviata, Bernstein’s Mass, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo; debuts with the Cincinnati Opera (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Daejeon Philharmonic in South Korea; and return engagements with the Orchestra National de Lille and the New York City Ballet. In the 2016/2017 season, he made return visits to the Israel Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Teatro Colón Philharmonic and Orchestra Estable of Buenos Aires.
A protégé and close colleague of the late Kurt Masur, Minczuk debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 1998, and by 2002 was Associate Conductor, having
worked closely with both Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. He has since conducted more than 100 orchestras worldwide, including the New York, Los Angeles, Israel, London, Tokyo, Oslo, and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras; the London, San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras; and the National Radio (France), Philadelphia, and Cleveland Orchestras, among many others. In March 2006, he led the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s U.S. tour, winning accolades for his leadership of the orchestra in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Until 2010, Minczuk held the post of Music Director and Artistic Director of the Opera and Orchestra of the Theatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, and, until 2005, he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, where he previously held the position of Co-Artistic Director. Other previous posts include Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Ribeirão Preto Symphony, Principal Conductor of the Brasília University Symphony, and a six-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival.
Minczuk’s recording of the complete Bachianas Brasileiras of Hector VillaLobos with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (BIS label) won the Gramophone Award of Excellence in 2012 for best recording of this repertoire. His other recordings include Danzas Brasileiras, which features rare works by Brazilian composers of the 20th century, and the Complete Symphonic Works of Antonio Carlos Jobim, which won a Latin GRAMMY in 2004 and was nominated for an American GRAMMY in 2006. His three recordings with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra include Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gershwin and Beethoven Symphonies 1, 3, 5, and 8. Other recordings include works by Ravel, Piazzolla, Martin, and Tomasi with the London Philharmonic (released by Naxos), and four recordings with the Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival, including works by Dvořák, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Other projects include a 2010 DVD recording with the Chamber
Orchestra of Philadelphia, featuring the premiere of Hope: An Oratorio, composed by Jonathan Leshnoff; a 2011 recording with the Odense Symphony of Poul Ruders’s Symphony No. 5, which was featured as a Gramophone Choice in March 2012; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Italian Capriccio with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which accompanied the June 2010 edition of BBC Music Magazine. The Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão Festival was the Carlos Gomes prizewinner for its recording from the 2005 Festival, which also garnered the TIM Award for best classical album.
Roberto Minczuk has received numerous awards, including a 2004 Emmy for the program New York City Ballet—Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100; a 2001 Martin E. Segal Award that recognizes Lincoln Center’s most promising young artists; and several honors in his native country of Brazil, including two best conductor awards from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics and the coveted title of Cultural Personality of the Year. In 2009, he was awarded the Medal Pedro Ernesto, the highest commendation of the City of Rio de Janeiro, and in 2010, he received the Order of the Ipiranga State Government of São Paulo. In 2017, Minczuk received the Medal of Commander of Arts and Culture from the Brazilian government.
A child prodigy, Minczuk was a professional musician by the age of 13. He was admitted into the prestigious Juilliard School at 14 and by the age of 16, he had joined the Orchestra Municipal de São Paulo as solo horn. During his Juilliard years, he appeared as soloist with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts series. Upon his graduation in 1987, he became a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at the invitation of Kurt Masur. Returning to Brazil in 1989, he studied conducting with Eleazar de Carvalho and John Neschling. He won several awards as a young horn player, including the Mill Santista Youth Award in 1991 and I Eldorado Music. ●
Roberto Minczuk Music Director
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Sarah
Sarah Tasker has been busily involved in the Albuquerque music community since arriving there in 2008. She is currently the assistant concertmaster of the New Mexico Philharmonic, where she has been a featured performer, and has enjoyed playing with the Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Opera Southwest, San Juan Symphony, Albuquerque Chamber Soloists, Chatter, and The Figueroa Music and Arts Project. She has also served for many years as concertmaster for the Festival Ballet Albuquerque. Her first of several solo performances with the Utah Symphony came at age 14. Mentors instrumental in shaping her musicianship were Camilla Wicks from the San Francisco Conservatory, William Preucil and Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Masao Kawasaki at The Juilliard School. She has taken her seat in international orchestral performances in several cities in Western Europe, England, China, and Japan. Ms. Tasker has received honors in competitions throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to playing, she enjoys teaching and “encouraging” three energetic children to practice. She and kids are a budding family string quartet, with two young daughters having joined her on stage in solo performances with the New Mexico Philharmonic. ●
Nancy Granert organ
Nancy Granert was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago. She began studying the piano in the second grade, and added the organ in the eighth grade. She graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory with a B.M., studying organ with Garth Peacock, and harpsichord with David Boe and William Porter. In 1976, she received the M.M. from New England Conservatory, studying with Yuko Hayashi.
Nancy served as associate university organist and choir director at Harvard’s Memorial Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as organist at Emmanuel Church in Boston. She also served as organist at two synagogues in Boston, Temple Sinai and Central Reform Temple of Boston. While at Harvard, she toured with the University Choir as their accompanist and is heard on several of their early recordings. She spent three summers in Spain pursuing scholarly studies of early Spanish organs and organ music with Montserrat Torrent of Barcelona. She is well-known as a recitalist and teacher. During her 17 years at Emmanuel Church, she stayed on at Memorial Church as their financial director, until she retired in 2015.
Nancy moved to Albuquerque in 2015, and loves the wide-open spaces, beautiful scenery, and friendly people here. Her interests include Zentangles (a form of meditative drawing,) and beadwork. She is currently the organist at St. Luke
Lutheran Church here in Albuquerque, plays occasionally at Temple B’Nai Israel and Temple Albert, and is serving as Dean of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. ●
Pianist and educator Jonathan Mamora strives to uplift and positively influence others using music as a means for service. An Indonesian-American and a native of Southern California, Jonathan has served as a church pianist and organist—the result of having been enrolled in piano lessons by his parents for the purpose of becoming a church musician. Jonathan aims to use music as service not only in the church, but also in the community through homes, schools, community centers, and the concert hall.
Acclaimed for his “most assured pianism,” “natural, songful lyricism,” and “rippl[ing] through virtuosic passagework” (The Dallas Morning News), Jonathan has performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and he is a prizewinner of numerous piano competitions, most recently winning first prize in the Concurs Internacional de Música Maria Canals Barcelona, Olga Kern International Piano Competition, AntwerPiano International Competition, Dallas International Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, American Virtuoso International Music Competition, “Sviatoslav Richter” International Piano Competition, Chautauqua Piano
Tasker violin
Jonathan Mamora piano
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Competition, and Eastman Piano Concerto Competition. He made his concerto debut at the age of 13 with the La Sierra University Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and he has since performed with such orchestras as the New Mexico Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya, Eastman Philharmonia and Wind Ensemble, Waring Festival Orchestra, and Coachella Valley Symphony, among others. Jonathan has a number of upcoming solo and concerto engagements in the United States, Europe, and Africa, as well as upcoming recording projects. As described in a review of his 2023 debut at Carnegie Hall, “Jonathan Mamora is what one might call a ‘big’ pianist, in the best sense of the term … [his] playing itself is larger-than-life. Perhaps it is unsurprising for a winner of several big competitions, but he possesses a technique so solid that it seemed at times that he couldn’t play a wrong note if he tried. On top of that solidity, he dazzles, with lightning-fast fingers and an encyclopedic array of dynamics and articulations” (New York Concert Review).
Jonathan currently serves as the music director and organist of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs, New York. He often performs as a collaborative pianist for vocalists, instrumentalists, ensembles, and choirs. As a collaborator, Jonathan holds a graduate assistantship in accompanying at the Eastman School of Music and has received the Eastman Excellence in Accompanying Award. In addition to the piano and organ, he has also performed as a percussionist, vocalist, historical keyboardist (harpsichord, fortepiano), and conductor.
Jonathan also values education as an important tool in music making. He has previously taught piano and music theory/ ear training for various institutions and has conducted a series of master classes and concerts at the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago. He has served as instructor for music theory and aural musicianship at the Eastman School of Music and is currently teaching piano for the Eastman Community Music School.
Jonathan is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Douglas Humpherys, whom he served as studio assistant. He received his Bachelor of Music from La Sierra University and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School. Previous teachers include Elvin Rodríguez and Hung-Kuan Chen. jonathanmamora.com ●
In the 2021/2022 season, Amy made her debut with Chicago Opera Theater in Becoming Santa Claus under Lydia Yankovskaya and covered the roles of Controller and Tina in Dallas Opera’s production of Flight. She also appeared with the Dayton Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony for performances of Messiah, as well as performances with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Brooklyn Art Song Society, and the Florida Keys Concert Association. She kicked off the 2022 fall season performing Enrique Granados’s Canciones amatorias with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, followed by her main-stage debut with Virginia Opera as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance.
Amy Owens soprano
Amy Owens is known for her “high-flying vocals” and “scene-stealing” charisma (Opera News) on operatic and symphonic stages, as well as her innovative, multidisciplinary pursuits in music and entrepreneurship. Her performing career has taken her to some of America’s most beloved venues, including the Kennedy Center, where her fall 2019 debut as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda earned praise for “a perfect combination of purring, sensuous phrasing, and puretoned innocence” (Washington Classical Review). A well-known favorite for Carmina Burana, she has soloed twice with the National Symphony, as well as with the Omaha Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, and MidAmerica Productions for her Carnegie Hall debut in 2017. She recently created the title role in Augusta Read Thomas’s Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun with Santa Fe Opera, sharing the stage with legendary beatboxer Nicole Paris in the first commission for the groundbreaking initiative “Opera for All Voices.”
Other notable roles include Cunegonde in Candide with the Utah Symphony, where she was praised for her “dazzling array of vocal abilities” and “remarkable acting talent,” Johanna in Sweeney Todd with Michigan Opera Theater, and Florestine in On Site Opera’s North American premiere of La mére coupable, a notoriously difficult score that Owens was hailed as handling with “keen sensitivity,” “gleaming coloratura,” and “impressive accuracy and thrilling high notes”
(Broadway World, Bachtrack, Musical America). Her affinity for new music also makes her a sought-after soprano for developing contemporary works, including the Metropolitan Opera workshop of Eurydice, and multiple workshops with American Opera Projects. She covered the role of Faustina in the world premiere of The Phoenix at Houston Grand Opera in 2019, sang as a last-minute replacement in Opera America’s 2016 New Opera Showcase at Trinity Church NYC, was featured in The Intimacy of Creativity Festival in Hong Kong in 2017, and has premiered art song frequently with the NYFOS Next series.
Amy was a resident artist with Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Central City Opera, and was a grandprize recipient of the Sullivan Foundation in 2014. She also holds awards from the Jensen Foundation (2019 finalist) and Metropolitan Opera National Council (Eastern Region finalist 2015). She is a multiple prizewinner with the George
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London Foundation and was a featured soloist on their recital series with Anthony Dean Griffey and Warren Jones in 2018.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Amy performed at the 50th annual New Orleans Jazz Festival with renowned musician Glen David Andrews in the Blues Tent in 2019, and as a budding conductor, she was selected to participate in the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at Dallas Opera and the International Conducting Workshop Festival in Bulgaria. She released two collaborative albums in 2019: a debut album of original music, HAETHOR, which received acclaim in the electronica world as “an enchanted force” (Impose), and Songs of Leonard Bernstein, including previously unrecorded vocal music. Other discography includes her performance as Mater Gloriosa in Utah Symphony’s recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8
As an educator and producer, Amy co-founded The Collective Conservatory and developed a unique curriculum to forge new and innovative paths for online musical collaboration during the pandemic in 2020. She has also served as the artistic director and co-founder of Bel Canto Productions in Westwood, New Jersey, and production manager for Access Opera, two organizations with missions to increase accessibility and broaden the definition of opera for a wider audience. She developed a unique online education program for vocalists in 2021 called Vocal Revolution and maintains a robust online studio focusing on technique and vocal freedom. In 2022, she codirected Opera Storytellers, a children’s day camp run through Santa Fe Opera, developing a groundbreaking process for youth to compose and perform an original opera in five days. She also produced a two-week festival for students from her private vocal studio, called Studio Fest, where she produced multiple concerts and conducted a scenes program in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Amy enjoys developing her interests as a multi-genre vocalist, producer, conductor, accordion player, dancer, yogi, educator, writer, composer, and wellness
advocate. She holds an M.M. in vocal performance from Rice University and a B.M. in vocal performance from Brigham Young University. ●
to Rome, Italy, in summer 2024 to sing the mezzo-soprano solos in Verdi’s Requiem. Dr. Flora is currently an assistant professor of voice and head of the voice area at the University of New Mexico where she directs the Spring opera. olgaperezflora.com ●
Olga Perez Flora mezzo-soprano
Cuban-American mezzo-soprano Olga Perez Flora (she/her/ella) has been lauded by Opera News for her “smoky tones” and “firm, pleasant voice and lively poise.” She has performed with opera companies and symphonies across the country and internationally and is best known for her sultry Carmen, which she has performed numerous times, including her debut with Amarillo Opera. Dr. Flora was recently featured in Frida with Opera Southwest and Michael Ching’s Completing the Picture, which was recorded and filmed remotely during the pandemic, for Opera Company Middlebury. She has sung with opera companies and symphonies across the United States, including Pittsburgh Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Company Middlebury, Opera Southwest, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Amarillo Opera, New Jersey Opera Theatre, Akron Symphony, Idyllwild Festival of the Arts, Resonance Works, ReNew, Lake Tahoe Chamber Society, and more.
Upcoming performances include Carmen in Carmen and The Sea in Before Night Falls with Opera Southwest in spring 2024, as well as her debut recording: Canciones de mi Isla: Songs from My Island, featuring Cuban classical songs. She will be returning
James Flora tenor
Hailed for his “resonant, impeccably trained voice and fearlessness to his singing,” American tenor James Flora has received acclaim in repertoire ranging from Verdi and Wagner to works by Carlisle Floyd and Daron Hagen, having sung the role of Louis Sullivan from Hagen’s Shining Brow at Frank Lloyd Wright’s 20th-century masterpiece Fallingwater. James has sung with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus under Maestro Donald Palumbo in their most recent productions of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Fidelio. He made his Pittsburgh Opera debut as Fenton in Falstaff, and has since returned for seven productions, including Carmen, Turandot, Lucia di Lammermoor, and most recently as Second Jew alongside the Salome of Patricia Racette.
James has performed leading roles in opera companies across the United States, including Alfredo (La traviata), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Rodolfo (La bohème), and Don José (Carmen), appearing with companies including Washington Concert Opera, Arizona Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Company Middlebury, Opera Columbus, and others. Equally at
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home on the symphonic stage, he has sung with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Erie Chamber Orchestra, and Buffalo Philharmonic, and recently debuted with the La Voz Humana: Lenguajes Múltiples festival in Cuba with Maestro Leo Brouwer and guitar virtuoso Joaquin Clerch. James’ recent performances include a debut as Florestan in Fidelio with Opera Company Middlebury and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, where he has previously been seen as Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Mitch (A Streetcar Named Desire).
James was a Young American Artist with Glimmerglass Opera, a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera, and a Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist with Arizona Opera, where he made his operatic debut as Malcolm in Verdi’s Macbeth. In 2010, James was a Richard Tucker finalist. He holds voice degrees from The Ohio State University (B.M. in vocal performance, summa cum laude) and Florida State University (M.M. in vocal performance).
He is currently on the voice faculty of the University of New Mexico and has served on the faculties of Arizona State University, University of Nevada—Reno, Central Michigan University, Otterbein University, and Point Park University, and is a member of NATS and AGMA. James has students performing on and off Broadway in productions of Hamilton, Urinetown, Shrek the Musical, and Rent and has students in Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. He is the co-artistic director and co-founder of Tito Gobbi Italian Summer Program on the grounds of the Gobbi Villa in Rome, Italy.
Carlos Archuleta baritone
A native New Mexican, Carlos Archuleta has had a varied and full singing career as an operatic baritone. His repertoire ranges from Rossini and Verdi to Adams and Falla. He has performed with notable companies such as Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, Orlando Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Utah Opera. Past repertoire includes Figaro in Il barbiere de Siviglia and Le nozze di Figaro, Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Conte di Luna in Il trovatore. One of his signature roles was Escamillo in Carmen, which took him to London, performing in the Royal Albert Hall. Other roles include Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Nixon in Nixon in China, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Marcello and Schaunard in La bohème, Silvio in Pagliacci, and Germont in La traviata. As an oratorio soloist, Mr. Archuleta has performed the solos for J.S. Bach’s Cantata Ich habe genug with the American Festival of Microtonal Music (NYC), and the baritone soloist in Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 with Maestro Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra. Other appearances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s Magnificat, most recently with Maestro Franz Vote and the New Mexico Performing Arts Society and the New Mexico Bach Chorale, with both Mr. Archuleta is a member, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and the Fauré, Verdi, and Brahms Requiems. Mr. Archuleta has also
completed a recital tour with Debra Layers and Christina Martos around the northern New Mexico area, featuring vocal music inspired by William Shakespeare. The trio also completed a salon recital with the Montage Music Society, featuring music by Schumann, Reynaldo Hahn, Verdi, and Stephen Sondheim.
Recent engagements include the role of Tonio in Pagliacci; Tenorio in the world premiere of Bless Me, Ultima; and Scarpia in Tosca and Ping in Turandot with Opera Southwest. Mr. Archuleta participated in the Mozart Music Festival and 2023 Opera Scenes with Maestro Vote and the New Mexico Performing Arts Society and was part of the guest faculty for the Vocal Artistry Art Song Festival-Canciones Españolas at the Albuquerque Academy. ●
Coro Lux Oratorio Society
Coro Lux (“Chorus of Light”) is an auditioned community chorus based in Albuquerque, founded in fall 2015. Under Artistic Director Bradley Ellingboe, the chorus has grown into one of the top choruses in New Mexico. Coro Lux consists of the larger Oratorio Society and the smaller Chamber Chorus. The Oratorio Society, with 60 members, presents major choral works, usually with orchestra and often in conjunction with the New Mexico Philharmonic. The Chamber Chorus is an ensemble of 16 members that presents a variety of smaller works in various locations around Albuquerque. Each ensemble presents about three concert programs each season.
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Coro Lux has participated in music events far from Albuquerque, including a Carnegie Hall concert in 2016 and the Great American Choral Series festival in Florence, Italy, in the summer of 2018. In 2017, Coro Lux became the Ensemble-in-Residence at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Albuquerque. ●
the Bach Aria Festival, the University of Oslo, and the Vatican.
Ellingboe has won annual awards for his choral compositions from ASCAP— the American Society of Composers, Arrangers, and Publishers—since 2000. His choral music is widely sung and has been performed and recorded by such groups as the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, VocalEssence, the Saint Olaf Choir, the Harvard Glee Club, Conspirare, and the choirs of the University of Michigan and Luther College, among many others. Beginning in the summer of 2020, he will be Composer-in-Residence for Albany Pro Musica.
He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife Karen. They are the parents of three children and have four grandchildren. Ellingboe is Director of Choirs at the United Church of Santa Fe and founder and artistic director of Albuquerque’s Coro Lux (“Chorus of Light”). ●
orchestras across the country including the Cincinnati Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the Houston Symphony.
She has been featured as a soloist with the New Mexico Symphony, performing the C.P.E. Bach Concerto in d minor and the Concerto for Flute and Harp by Mozart and was a soloist in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival’s performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. She has been a member of the faculty of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is currently serving as Associate Professor of Flute at the University of New Mexico.
Bradley Ellingboe director
Bradley Ellingboe has led a wide-ranging career in the world of singing, including accomplishments as a choral conductor, soloist, composer, scholar, and teacher. As a choral conductor, he has led festival choruses in 35 states and 14 countries. As a bass-baritone soloist, he has sung under such conductors as Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and Sir David Willcocks. Ellingboe has more than 160 pieces of music in print, including his Requiem for chorus and orchestra, which has been performed more than 300 times in this country and Europe. For his scholarly work in making the songs of Edvard Grieg more accessible to the English-speaking public, he was knighted by the King of Norway in 1994. As a teacher, the University of New Mexico Alumni Association named him Faculty of the Year in 2008.
Bradley Ellingboe retired in 2015 after serving on the faculty of the University of New Mexico for 30 years, where he was Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music, and Regents Lecturer. He is a graduate of Saint Olaf College and the Eastman School of Music and has done further study at the Aspen Music Festival,
Valerie Potter flute
Valerie Potter has performed as principal flutist of the New Mexico Symphony from 1993–2011 and of the New Mexico Philharmonic since 2011, and has held the piccolo position with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra since 1994. A student of James Pellerite, she received her Bachelor of Music from Indiana University with a performer’s certificate. Ms. Potter also received a Master’s of Music from Yale University where she studied with Tom Nyfenger. She has performed with many
Ms. Potter has been featured as a performer at several National Flute Association conventions. She has also been an invited artist and clinician at several flute fairs and is in demand as a chamber musician. In 2007, she served as the local coordinator for the NFA Convention. Ms. Potter’s discography includes a recording of 20th-century wind quintet repertoire with the New Mexico Winds. ●
Principal Oboe of the New Mexico Philharmonic, Dr. Kevin Vigneau is also Professor of Oboe at UNM and has enjoyed an international career as an orchestral player, soloist, teacher, and chamber musician.
Principal Oboe of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra (South Africa)
Kevin Vigneau oboe
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from 1986–1990 and Principal Oboe of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal) from 1993–1996, he has been a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, and a fellow at the Berkshire Music Festival.
Dr. Vigneau has performed as a chamber musician with Music from Angel Fire, the Banff Festival, the South African Broadcasting Society, the Mistral Wind Quintet, the Cassat Quartet, the Kandinsky Trio, and the Maia String Quartet. As a recitalist and soloist, he has performed in Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon; at Octoboefest in Iowa; at International Double Reed Society Conferences in Chicago and Phoenix; in Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Cape Town, the Azores, Taiwan, and Canada; and at many colleges and universities throughout the United States.
His solo CD, Oboe on the Edge: Modern Masterworks for Oboe, was released in 2008 on Centaur Records. He has also recorded the Richard Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa for EMI Classics, the Hidas Oboe Concerto with the UNM Wind Symphony on the Summit label, and 20th-century wind quintets with the New Mexico Winds for Centaur.
Dr. Vigneau holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University (1998), where he studied with Ronald Roseman and was awarded the Dean’s Prize for outstanding member of the graduating class. He also studied with Ralph Gomberg and Laurence Thorstenberg at Boston University, where he earned his B.M.
The Cape Times has referred to Dr. Vigneau as “a consummate instrumentalist, who brings to the task technical facility, abundant musicality, and a keen intellect.” ●
Marianne Shifrin is active as an orchestral and chamber musician around the country. She has been principal clarinet of the New Mexico Philharmonic since 2017, and has also been a member of the Arizona Opera Orchestra since 2010, performing regularly as principal. Recently, Marianne served as acting bass and utility clarinet with the Colorado Symphony and as acting principal of the El Paso Symphony. A frequent extra and substitute musician with orchestras around the Southwest and Western U.S., she has performed as guest principal with the Phoenix, Tucson, and Santa Fe Symphonies, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and the Colorado Ballet Orchestra, among others. Previously, Marianne was a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Fellow and a member of the Greeley Philharmonic and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.
During the summer, Marianne performs with the Missouri Symphony and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra in Arkansas. Marianne is the clarinetist with the August Winds, a Dallas-based wind quintet. Other chamber music appearances include the Phoenix Winter Chamber Music Festival, Albuquerque’s Chatter Series, and the International Double Reed Society Conference. Dedicated to music education, she has taught at the elementary, middle school, high school, and college level in schools and programs around the country.
Marianne received her Bachelor of Music and a Performer Diploma from the Indiana University Jacobs School
of Music, and her Master of Music from Yale University. She has performed at the Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen, Sarasota, Chautauqua, and Bowdoin music festivals. ●
Stefanie Przybylska serves as the principal bassoonist of both the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic, and has appeared as a featured soloist with the Santa Fe, New Mexico, and San Juan Symphony orchestras in works by Mozart, Haydn, and John Williams. Stefanie has played with ensembles here and abroad, including the Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the Bergen (Norway) Philharmonic orchestras, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A dedicated teacher and coach, her former students have gone on to pursue their musical studies at the Eastman School of Music, the Curtis Institute, and Rice University. ●
Marianne Shifrin clarinet
Stefanie Przybylska bassoon
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Hornist Maria Long is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in Performance and Pedagogy under the tutelage of Michael Thornton at the University of Colorado Boulder. Maria holds an M.M from the Herberger Institute, Arizona State University where she studied with Dr. John Ericson. An avid performer, Maria is currently the Assistant Principal/Utility Horn with the New Mexico Philharmonic and plays regularly with the Colorado Symphony, Opera Southwest, and the Santa Fe Symphony. She has also performed alongside members of the LA Chamber Orchestra and has subbed with the Hawaii Symphony. Maria previously held the positions of Principal Horn of the Longmont Symphony, Associate Principal Horn of the West Valley Symphony, and Second Horn of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. A strong proponent of new music, she has commissioned several pieces, even having one of her projects funded by the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Project from the International Horn Society. When she isn’t playing or teaching music, Maria can be found painting, hiking, or rock climbing. ●
Emily Mitchell harp
Emily Mitchell has earned critical acclaim as “a marvelous harpist” (The New York Times) who captivates her audiences with “playing of the utmost delicacy, beauty, and subtlety” (Records and Recording).
In the words of The Washington Post, “Mitchell commands a vivid palette of colors and uses them with imagination.” Ms. Mitchell has been heard worldwide as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. She has been profiled on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, the BBC, Radio France, Arts & Entertainment, The New York Times’s WQXR, National Public Radio’s Performance Today, and People magazine, among others. Past performances have included Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with Sir James Galway with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Carnegie Hall; performances before British Royalty at the King’s Lynn Festival, UK; the Waldorf Hotel in New York City; and the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and performing for First Lady Rosalynn Carter at the White House.
Emily Mitchell enjoyed a 30-year career in New York City where she was principal harpist for the incomparable Eos Orchestra. She was an established name in the television, motion picture, and recording studios of NYC and taught on the distinguished faculties of New York University and Purchase College. Ms. Mitchell toured the United States as a soloist and chamber musician for Columbia Artists’ Community Concerts
for many years. She relocated to Texas in 2008 and was appointed to the music faculties of Stephen F. Austin State (2011-2018) and Sam Houston State (2016-2018) Universities. She was artistin-residence at Stephen F. Austin State University. While in Texas, Ms. Mitchell performed with St. Cecilia Chamber Music Society in Houston, Better Than One harp duo with Jaymee Haefner, and was director of the New Houston Harp Ensemble and the Celtic Harp Band. Living now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mitchell has worked with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Opera Southwest, and Opera West. She is acting principal harpist for the El Paso (TX) Symphony Orchestra. Emily Mitchell’s discography includes her popular recordings for voice and Celtic harp for RCA Victor. As a champion of the works of flutist and composer Gary Schocker, Changes is her most recent and fourth CD of Schocker music, joining Garden in Harp and A Harp for Christmas, Volumes 1 and 2, all released on the Albany Records label.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music with Performer’s Certificate and an Associate with honours from the Royal College of Music, London, Ms. Mitchell won the coveted first prize at the prestigious Seventh (1979) International Harp Contest in Jerusalem. ●
Cármelo de los Santos violin Brazilian-born violinist Cármelo de los Santos enjoys an exciting career as a soloist, chamber musician,
Maria Long horn
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and pedagogue. From his extensive concerto experience to his most recent performances of the 24 Caprices by Paganini and the sonatas and partitas of Bach, his virtuosity and commitment to communicate the essence of music captivate audiences worldwide. Cármelo has performed as a guest soloist with more than 40 orchestras, including the New World Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Santa Fe and New Mexico Symphonies, the Montevideo Philharmonic, Orquestra Musica d’Oltreoceano (Rome), and the major orchestras in Brazil. Cármelo is a winner of several international competitions including the 4th Júlio Cardona International String Competition (Portugal). In 2002, Cármelo made his New York debut as soloist and conductor in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with the ARCO Chamber Orchestra. Cármelo is an Associate Professor of Violin at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and plays on an Angelo Soliani violin, 1791. ●
Laura is an avid chamber and orchestral musician whose performances have taken her to venues across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. While a resident of Washington, D.C., she was a member of the National Philharmonic and the Maryland Symphony and frequently performed as an extra with the major orchestras in the Baltimore/Washington metro area. More recently, she performed with the Colorado Symphony and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. In 2020, Laura and her family relocated to Albuquerque, where she is the principal violist with the New Mexico Philharmonic and a first violinist in the Santa Fe Symphony. Laura is also a member of the Central City Opera Orchestra and performs with the Santa Fe Opera. ●
two-time winner of Professional Music Teachers of New Mexico’s State Honors Audition, and winner of the 2021 Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition. Akilan won the New Mexico state Music Teachers National Association junior piano competition in 2021. He was also awarded the National Gold Medal by the Royal Conservatory of Music twice. He has been studying piano since he was 5 years old.
Akilan is currently in the eleventh grade at Albuquerque Academy. Besides piano, Akilan plays the drums and enjoys being part of a piano trio group at Albuquerque Academy. He also loves singing and was part of New Mexico Educators Association’s All State Choir in 2018. He plays jazz piano in his school’s jazz band and was selected to the 2022 All-State Jazz Band.
Outside of piano, he also enjoys crosscountry running and frequently participates in math and science contests. He won first place in the mathematics category of the Regeneron International Science fair in 2022, the Samueli Foundation prize in the 2021 Broadcom Masters competition, and first place in the New Mexico state Mathcounts competition. As the champion of New Mexico’s spelling bee competition, Akilan represented New Mexico in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2017. ●
Violinist and violist Laura Chang, a native of Wisconsin, was born into a musical family and began her violin studies shortly after her fourth birthday. Laura earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Peabody Conservatory, under the tutelage of Martin Beaver and Pamela Frank, for whom she was a graduate assistant.
Sixteen-year-old pianist Akilan Sankaran is a student of Lawrence Blind at the New Mexico School of Music. Akilan has performed at distinguished venues such as the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Mazzoleni Hall in the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Église de Verbier. He was the only junior pianist selected to attend the 2022 Verbier Festival as part of the Verbier Academy. He has had master classes with renowned musicians including Kirill Gerstein, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Stephen Kovacevich, Olga Kern, Gábor Tákacs-Nagy, Mathieu Herzog, Mihaela Martin, and Augustin Dumay. Akilan is a three-time winner of the Dennis Alexander Piano Competition,
Akilan Sankaran piano
Laura Chang viola
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Daniel Steven Crafts composer
Daniel Steven Crafts was the chosen composer of the great American tenor Jerry Hadley until his tragic death. Their first collaboration, The Song & the Slogan, a setting of poetry by Carl Sandburg, was made into a program by the PBS network and won an Emmy® for Best Music.
Mr. Crafts is the creator of a new genre of opera, Gonzo Opera, as well as being an originator of the “found sound” electronic music movement of the 1970s.
His opera and vocal music collaborations have included work with distinguished writers, including Rudolfo Anaya (La Llorona, the opera), V.B. Price (From a Distant Mesa), Benedict and Nancy Freedman (Sappho, the opera), Erik Bauersfeld (Diary of a Madman; Bartleby), poet Adam Cornford (many works), and cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man).
His latest release is Bright Star, a recording of orchestral songs and arias with tenor Brian Cheney, available on music streaming platforms.
To date, Mr. Crafts has completed 22 operas, 18 symphonies, 6 concertos, and 15 large orchestral works, as well as a variety of shorter pieces. In addition to an Emmy, his work has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts
and numerous awards from ASCAP. His orchestral work has been recorded by the Kiev and Czech Philharmonics and the Prague Radio Symphony and Chorus.
Having spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Crafts moved to New Mexico in 1999. ●
© 2023 Optum, Inc. All rights reserved. 55+ no-cost community center in Albuquerque • Fitness classes like yoga and Latin dancing • Provider presentations about diabetes, Medicare and more • Fun activities like art classes, jewlery making and movie afternoons • Annual wellness exams and screenings for Optum patients and members Join the fun with Optum for: Optum Community Centers 4010 Montgomery Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 Monday–Friday: 8 a.m.–4 p.m. 505–254–6100, TTY 711 optum.com/nmcommunitycenters The New Mexico Philharmonic nmphil.org 23 ARTISTS
NOTES BY DAVID B. LEVY Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto in E Major, RV 270, “Il riposo per il Santissimo natale”
(date unknown)
The composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4, 1678, and died in Vienna on July 28, 1741. Known popularly during his lifetime as “The Red Priest,” Vivaldi left the clergy to pursue a career as a musician. He was a prolific composer of sacred music, operas, and chamber music, but his most enduring achievement lies in the codification of the three-movement format and style of the Baroque solo concerto, a genre to which he contributed no fewer than five hundred examples, the most popular of which today are the quartet of programmatic violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Vivaldi also authored several concertos for two or more solo instruments, a genre known as the concerto grosso.
The most important post that the Venetian master Vivaldi held was that of Maestro de’ concerti (Director of Concerts) at the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanageconservatory for young women. Vivaldi’s association with this institution lasted from 1703 through 1740, although the records show that he was released from his duties on occasion, only to be rehired shortly thereafter. Charles de Brosses, a Frenchman traveling though Venice in 1739, wrote a charming vignette of the kinds of concerts that took place under Vivaldi’s supervision:
The transcendent music is that of the asylums (ospedali). There are four of them, made up of illegitimate and orphaned girls and those whose parents are not in a position to raise them. They are brought up at the expense of the state and trained solely to excel in music. Moreover, they sing like angels and play the violin, the flute, the organ, the oboe,
the cello, and the bassoon; in short, there is no instrument, however unwieldy, that can frighten them. They are cloistered like nuns. It is they alone who perform, and about forty girls take part in each concert. I vow to you that there is nothing so diverting as the sight of a young and pretty nun in white habit, with a bunch of pomegranate blossoms over her ear, conducting the orchestra a beating time with all the grace and precision imaginable. (Lettres familières sur Italie, in Pincherle, Vivaldi, 1955.)
The autograph of the Violin Concerto in E Major is marked Il riposo per il S.S. natale. The Italian “riposo” does not quite match its English equivalent “riposte,” but should be considered more properly as “response.” It has more popularly been identified as Vivaldi’s “Christmas Concerto,” the autograph of which resides in the National Library of Torino. Unlike the famous Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 8 by Arcangelo Corelli (“Fatto per la notte di Natale”), there is no concluding a “pastoral” in Vivaldi’s Concerto, and we do not know the precise date of its composition. Of Vivaldi’s 500-plus concertos, roughly 350 of them are for solo instrument, while 230 of these are for violin—his own instrument. The work comprises two quick movements, separated by a ninemeasure sequence of chords, marked Ad[agi]o . Another unusual feature of the “Christmas Concerto” is the indication in the autograph, “Con[cer]to: con tutti gli Istrom[en]ti sempre sordini,” indicating that soloist and accompanying instruments should make use of mutes. Vivaldi also specifies that no keyboard instrument is to be used (“Senza cembalo”). ●
Johann Sebastian Bach Organ Concerto in d minor, BWV 596 (1713–1714)
The Baroque German master Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, on March 21, 1685, and died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750. The greatest in a long line of musicians, Bach excelled in every type of music known to him except for opera, a genre in which he was never called upon to compose. His genius and technical mastery became the model for composers for many generations, and he remains to this day one of the most venerated figures in all of musical history. While organ and other keyboard instruments were his primary performance outlets, he was also an accomplished violinist. His Organ Concerto, BWV 596, is one of five such works composed between 1713–1714 while Bach served as organist and member of the chamber orchestra at the Court of Weimar (1708–17). Each of the concertos is a transcription for organ of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi (BWV 593, 594, and 596) and Prince Johann Ernst von Saxe-Weimar (BWV 592 and 595). “BWV” refers to the BachWerke-Verzeichnis, or Bach Work’s Catalogue, first in 1950 (updated in 1990) by the German musicologist and librarian Wolfgang Schmieder.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s duties as organist at the Court of Weimar did much to establish and solidify has reputation as a performer at, and composer for, that instrument. This also marked a period during which he made careful study of the solo concertos and concertos for multiple instruments by the talented Prince Johann Ernst von Saxe-Weimar, and the Italian
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Vivaldi left the clergy to pursue a career as a musician. He was a prolific composer of sacred music, operas, and chamber music.
Baroque masters Archangelo Corelli, Giuseppe Tartini, and especially Antonio Vivaldi. The Concerto in d minor, BWV 596, is based upon Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins and Obbligato Violoncello, RV 565, published in Amsterdam as Op. 3, No. 11 under the title “L’estro armonico” (The Harmonic Invention).
The first page of Bach’s autograph manuscript for this concerto includes writing by Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedemann that states “di W. F. Bach manu mei Patris descript.” This indicator for a long time led to the mistaken belief that W.F. Bach was the actual composer. The manuscript also includes some markings indicating the elder Bach’s desire that the performer’s hand could switch manuals, as well as the changing of organ stops that would affect which pipes could be used. A feature of Vivaldi’s concerto that surely appealed to Bach was the inclusion in the first movement (Allegro-Grave-Fuga) of an elaborate fugue—a contrapuntal process for which Bach had no peer. The second movement offers a Siciliano—an Italian dance movement in 6/8 meter, while the lively final movement contains material reused by Bach in the opening of his Church Cantata, BWV 21, (“Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis”). ●
NOTES BY MICHAEL MCLEAN
Michael McLean
Elements (2004)
Inspiration for Elements (2004) came after recording with violinist Brian Lewis. Enthralled with Brian’s gorgeous tone, I knew in that moment I would write a violin concerto for him. I was reading Carl Jung (archetypal patterns and the
collective unconscious), and the idea of the four Greek elements (Earth, Fire, Air, Water) and their deep spiritual symbolism became the organizing principle. On two distinct levels, we can hear the elements at their surface as lush tonal paintings, or delve deeper, exploring the symbolic undercurrents of each element.
“Earth” follows a simple ABA form with a violin cadenza. Evoking the Creation story from Genesis, this movement’s chant-like polyphony is reminiscent of 16th-century counterpoint. The entrance of the solo violin heralds divine inspiration, “and God created Man.” The motif of the middle B section portrays upward motion, symbolizing man’s search for truth, guidance, and self-knowledge. The end is a poignant violin obbligato, an alignment and eventual return to source.
“Fire” was inspired by Hitchcock composer Bernard Hermann (Psycho, Vertigo). Its images and essence are a devilish dance for violin and strings. An initial spark ignites into a larger and larger conflagration. Fire symbolizes both the creative and destructive element, the cycle of birth and death.
“Air” paints an ethereal image of sun and clouds on which the violin (Spirit) floats throughout. A meditation of peace and synchronicity explores the resonance of the violin’s upper register, as well as various compositional techniques (baroque textures,12-tone). The upward sweep of scales and arpeggios, a picture of floating skywards, reminds us of our constant spiritual evolution.
Think of “Water,” the Jungian symbol for the subconscious, also as the mythological “underworld.” The opening minimalist devices of repetition and slowpaced harmonic rhythm paint a picture
of raindrops turning into a full river of sound and texture. One hears the spray of fountains and other water-like devices interplay between the solo and tutti violins. The middle development section is a journey deep into a dream-like landscape, the dark regions of our subconscious. As with the hero’s journey, inner conflicting energies are confronted, and as the violin solo breaks through, we are in the realm of psychological integration. Earth, Fire, Air and Water are heard together in musical and personal transcendence. ●
NOTES BY DAVID B. LEVY
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op. 18 (1900–1901)
Sergei Vassilevich Rachmaninoff was born in Oneg, Novgorod, on March 20/ April 1, 1873, and died in Beverly Hills, California, on March 28, 1943.* Famed as both pianist and composer, Rachmaninoff left Russia after the Revolution of 1917, eventually taking up residence in the United States. His Piano Concerto No. 2 was composed in 1900-01 and received the first performance of its last two movements in Moscow on December 2/15, 1900, in Moscow. The first performance of the entire piece took place on October 27/ November 9, 1901.* On both occasions the composer himself was the soloist, with Alexander Siloti conducting the Moscow Philharmonic. The Concerto No. 2 is scored for solo piano, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and strings. [*NB: The variation of dates reflects the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.]
The Russian-born pianist and composer Rachmaninoff falls into the tradition of the great performer-composers of the Romantic style that included figures such as Niccolo Paganini and Franz Liszt. Like his great predecessors at their best, his music avoids the self-indulgent kind of virtuosity-for-its-own-sake practiced by less gifted musicians. His music often is
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On two distinct levels, we can hear the elements at their surface as lush tonal paintings, or delve deeper, exploring the symbolic undercurrents of each element.
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quite sentimental, but his melodic gifts were more than sufficient to prevent it from becoming maudlin. Although Rachmaninoff composed a wide variety of music, he is best known for his works for the piano, and his Concerto No. 2 is by far the most frequently performed of the four that he composed. His Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is also a popular favorite.
After the failure of his First Symphony in Saint Petersburg, Rachmaninoff recorded in his Recollections that he lost all hope for any future success. In 1900, he sought psychiatric assistance from Dr. Nikolai Dahl, who, according to the composer, hypnotically persuaded him to continue work on a new piano concerto. Dr. Dahl’s positive approach seems to have worked, and he became the recipient of the dedication of the Piano Concerto No. 2. The work received its first performance in 1901 in Moscow, and it was greeted with both critical and popular acclaim.
The work is in three broad movements. The first of these, Allegro moderato, begins quietly with chords solemnly played by the unaccompanied soloist. These grow in intensity, ushering in the lush first theme in the strings. A lyrical second theme emerges from the soloist, followed by a proper development section and a stirring recapitulation in martial style. The Adagio sostenuto is a movement of great beauty and tunefulness, whose serenity is only briefly interrupted by an animated middle section that calls for considerable dexterity. The last movement is marked Allegro scherzando, and it plays dramatically between the major and minor mode. As in the first movement, the finale’s second subject is highly lyrical. Following the lead of Tchaikovsky’s
Piano Concerto No. 1, which seems to have served as a model for this piece, Rachmaninoff demarcates the climax of the movement with a tutti statement of the lyrical theme. This produces a triumphant effect, making for a stirring conclusion to the romantic masterpiece. ●
Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1 in e minor, Op. 13 (1895)
The great Russian pianist, conductor, and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was, in many ways, the last great representative of Russian Romantic style brought to fruition by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian composers. This in no way prevented Rachmaninoff from developing a thoroughly personal idiom, whose lyricism is enhanced by a sure grasp of form and brilliance of orchestration. His Symphony No. 1 was a failure upon its first performance under Aleksandr Glazunov on March 27, 1897, but went on to enjoy critical acclaim since its posthumous performance in Moscow on October 17, 1945, under the direction of Aleksandr Gauk. The work is dedicated to Pyotr Lodyzhensky, the recipient of the dedication of his 1892–4 symphonic poem, Caprice Bohèmien (Capriccio on Gypsy Themes). The Symphony No. 1 is scored for 3 flutes (piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and strings.
Rachmaninoff, one of the great pianists and composers of the late-Romantic Russian tradition, had a disastrous first experience as a symphonist.
His Symphony No. 1, composed in 1895, received its first performance on March 27, 1897, with Alexander Glazunov conducting, and the event was an unmitigated failure. According to Rachmaninoff’s wife, Glazunov was drunk, although it may have been that he simply did not care for the piece. César Cui called it “a program symphony on the Ten Plagues of Egypt,” a work that relied on “the meaningless repetition of the same short tricks.” Other critics more charitably acknowledged that the piece was badly performed. The conductor Aleksandr Khessin recalled that the “symphony was insufficiently rehearsed,” resulting in a “bland performance, with no flashes of animation, enthusiasm, or brilliance of orchestral sound.” Rachmaninoff subsequently went into a deep depression that lasted for three years, and it seemed for a time that the world would be deprived of any further compositions from his pen. Fortunately, with the help of a physician, Dr. Dahl, and through continued work as a performer, Rachmaninoff worked though the trauma, emerging in 1900–1901 with his popular Second Piano Concerto.
In point of fact, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 was his second attempt at composing in this genre. While a student at the Moscow Conservatory, his teacher Anton Arensky suggested that he try his hand at composing such a work. Only one movement from this stylistically eclectic “Youth Symphony” has survived, but it is rarely performed. Despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding its premiere and subsequent reviews, time has been far kinder to Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1, even as it remains one of his least frequently performed major orchestral compositions, overshadowed as it has been by the popular Symphony No. 2 and Symphonic Dances. Indeed, each new hearing of the work reveals just how original and striking it truly is.
The first movement, Grave-Allegro ma non troppo, begins with an ominous triplet that surrounds the tonic pitch of D. This figure is a motto that recurs throughout the symphony’s four movements. The rugged theme presented by the strings in the short introduction
Rachmaninoff [developed] a thoroughly personal idiom, whose lyricism is enhanced by a sure grasp of form and brilliance of orchestration.
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becomes the basis for the principal theme heard throughout the remainder of the movement, variants of which can be heard in the three movements that follow. Many writers have suggested that this theme has a kinship to the Gregorian chant from the Sequence of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, “Dies irae.” The composer did use this chant in some of his later works, thus lending credence to the claim. In this movement filled with tremendous drama, the sweeping romantic lyricism for which Rachmaninoff is treasured is not lacking. The second movement, Allegro animato, is a mercurial and mysterious scherzo brimming with nervous energy. It begins with a modified version of the first movement’s motto that leads into a plaintive short-long figure that will serve as a foil to the more tarantella-like speedier figuration.
A more benign version of the motto opens the lovely Larghetto third movement, followed by a lyrical theme presented by the clarinet. Beautiful scoring for the woodwinds and the lush lyricism of the strings are hallmarks of this movement, as well as harbingers of the Rachmaninoff of the future. The influence of Tchaikovsky can also be discerned in the movement’s moody and more turbulent middle episode. The finale, Allegro con fuoco, is cast in a more cheerful D Major, but its opening brings back a more ominous recollection of the opening of the first movement. Brass fanfares and snare drum, however, sweep this mood aside as the main theme, a triumphal march makes its appearance. Against a backdrop of plaintive horns, the dark mood seeks to spoil the party. New themes, of a more tuneful type, ensue, as well as reminiscences of the earlier movements. The struggle between darkness and light, violence and lyricism, continues until reaching a dramatic climax punctuated by the interruption of the tam-tam. As the tempo slows, the listener rightfully comes to expect a triumph of the major mode over the minor, but, for better or for worse, the sinister motto gets the final “word.” Rachmaninoff placed a fascinating inscription from Romans XII:19 at the end
of the score: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord.” This quotation also appears at the end of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, leaving open the question as to whether or not Symphony No. 1 contains a hidden programmatic meaning. ●
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Mozart and Salieri, Op. 48 (1897)
The Russian master Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was born in Tikhvin, Russia, on March 18, 1844, and died in Lyubensk, near Luga (now Pskov district), on June 21, 1908. He was a brilliant composer, arranger, and teacher, whose illustrious students included Igor Stravinsky. A member of the group of composers known as “The Five,” Rimsky-Korsakov (along with Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Cui, and Borodin) played an important role in developing an idiosyncratic Russian musical voice. The author of a manual on orchestration and prized by all as a master of the same, Rimsky-Korsakov is best known for his orchestral showpieces, including the Great Russian Easter Festival Overture, Capriccio espagnol, and the most popular of them all, Scheherazade (1887-8). His oneact opera, Mozart and Salieri, based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1830 poetic drama, was composed in 1897 and first performed in Moscow’s Solodovnikov Theater on December 7, 1898, with staging by Mikhail Vrubel and musical direction by Giuseppe Truffi. Calling for only two singing roles— Salieri (baritone) and Mozart (tenor)—there is a non-singing role for a violinist. The respective roles were sung by Feodor Chaliapin (Shalyapin) and Vasilly Shkafer.
The opera’s orchestration calls for a small chamber orchestra comprising single winds, 2 horns, piano, strings, and offstage chorus.
In our own time, the name Antonio Salieri has become well-known to Englishspeaking audiences thanks to Peter Shaffer’s 1979 stage play, Amadeus, and the subsequent Academy Award-winning filmization of it directed by Milos Forman and released in 1984. What is less familiar, however, is that Shaffer’s script is itself based upon the verse drama Mozart and Salieri, written in 1830 by Alexander Pushkin. This play, in turn, inspired the opera by the same name by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Its cast at the premiere included the famed Russian baritone Fedor Chaliapin, whose career later catapulted him to international acclaim. The pianist at the first performance was none other than Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The historical Antonio Salieri (1750–1825) was not the villainous murderer of Mozart that Pushkin and Shaffer depict, but was rather a highly respected musician at the Habsburg court in Vienna. No less a figure than Ludwig van Beethoven thought well enough of Salieri’s talents to seek him out for lessons. It is true, however, that as the early 19th century evolved, Salieri recognized that musical trends and tastes were changing. There is also some truth in the fact that a kind of rivalry existed between Salieri and Mozart, but this represented a difference between the Italian and Germanic approaches to composition. It is also true that the operatic life in Vienna toward the turn of the century was dominated by Salieri and other Italians, a fact of which Mozart
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The historical Antonio Salieri was not the villainous murderer of Mozart, but was rather a highly respected musician at the Habsburg court in Vienna.
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took notice in letters to his father. The final coup de grace, however, occurred in 1823, when Salieri attempted suicide, and rumors persisted that in his dementia he claimed to have poisoned Mozart in a fit of jealousy.
As is often the case, these rumors spread and continued to feed the imagination of artists, including Pushkin. The great Russian master produced another mini-drama titled The Stone Guest that was set to music by Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813–1869), but remained unfinished before its premiere in 1872. Rimsky-Korsakov and César Cui completed the opera’s composition and orchestration after Dargomyzhsky’s death. The inspiration for Pushkin and Dargomyzhsky was, of course, Lorenzo da Ponte and Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, an opera whose title character—the famous Don Juan—disrupts social norms of behavior. Mozart and Salieri in many ways also addresses several moral issues, including the destructive effects of envy, as well as the question of who is, and who is not, talented. As Salieri asks near the opening of the opera, “Where is justice when the holy gift of immortal genius is bestowed not as a reward for fervent love of art, selfsacrificing labor, prayer and zeal, but lights upon the head of a dunce, and idle gadabout.” In addition to RimskyKorsakov’s music, we hear excerpts from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni (Zerlina’s aria “Batti, batti, O bel Masetto”), and the introit of Mozart’s Requiem.
Rarely performed, Mozart and Salieri has moments of true human poignancy. The late Richard Taruskin, a scholar steeped in encyclopedic knowledge of Russian music and its history, suggested that Rimsky-Korsakov was attracted to the subject of Pushkin’s depiction of Salieri’s envy of Mozart because he projected his own lack of self-worth in contrast to the accomplishments of his colleagues Alexander Borodin and Modest Mussorgsky. Through Salieri’s heartfelt and genuine remorse in murdering Mozart, he asks, by way of justification, did not
Michaelangelo commit murder of a rival so that he would receive commissions from the Vatican? Or were these also unfounded rumors? ●
NOTES BY TERRY HAWKINS
Daniel Steven Crafts
Symphony No. 18, “The Dream-Mirror Dancer”
In the dream mirror, one can see whatever one desires. The reflex of creativity builds upon itself, enfolding worlds of otherwise hidden imagination. The doors of perception ever widen the splendor of possibility—riches ready to drop upon us if the passion and joy are strong enough. ●
NOTES BY DAVID B. LEVY
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Symphony No. 4 in A Major, “Italian,” Op. 90 (1833; rev. 1834)
(Jacob Ludwig) Felix Mendelssohn (-Bartholdy) was born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg and died on November 4, 1847, in Leipzig. Mendelssohn was one of the most important composers of symphonies in the first half of the 19th century. The “Italian” Symphony received its premiere on May 13, 1833, in London under the baton of the composer. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings.
Of the five mature symphonies by Mendelssohn, the one designated as the fourth has proved to be the most popular with audiences and is the one that is most frequently performed. The “Italian” Symphony had its origins during Mendelssohn’s 1830-31 sojourn in Italy. It received its first performance in May 1833 in London with its composer, who also was one of the first renowned conductors, directing that city’s Philharmonic Society orchestra.
It may strike us as curious that the composition of this work was a difficult task for its brilliant young author,
especially given the piece’s seemingly effortless melodic beauties and boundless energy. Mendelssohn grew up as a child prodigy, and he usually found composition to come to him with relative ease. But as he matured, Mendelssohn became more self-consciously aware of the work of other composers—both contemporaneous and from previous generations. This awareness led him to evaluate his own efforts with a more critical eye and ear.
The first of the Symphony’s four movements is a brilliant Allegro vivace of high spirit. Among its arresting features are the rapid-fire woodwind chords that introduce, and subsequently accompany, the first theme. The more solemn Andante con moto is alleged to have been inspired by a religious procession that the composer observed while in Naples. The stolid “walking” bass line and rapid changes of harmony give this movement a distinctly “Baroque” feel. This feature is not surprising in light of the composer’s lifelong interest in the music of Bach, the culmination of which came in his landmark 1829 performance of the monumental Passion According to St. Matthew. The third movement of the “Italian” Symphony is marked Con moto moderato, and it follows the ternary design (ABA) characteristic of the traditional minuet and trio. The finale, marked Presto, is identified in the score as a saltarello—a leaping Italian dance. In point of fact, however, Mendelssohn makes use of two dances in this finale. The saltarello with which it opens is identifiable by its staccato articulation. The second dance, a tarantella, uses the smoother legato (connected) articulation. A primary attraction of this movement is how skillfully the composer brings these dances together in counterpoint. A highly interesting and unusual feature of the finale is that it ends in the minor mode. One can identify any number of multi-movement works that begin in the minor mode and that end in the major. But to my knowledge, at least, the “Italian” Symphony is the only work that reverses this process. ●
2023/24 Season / Volume 12 / No. 1 28 PROGRAM NOTES
Donor Circles
Thank You for Joining a Circle
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Donation of $50,000 +
Albuquerque Community Foundation
Anonymous
Lee Blaugrund
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Anonymous
Anonymous
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Longenbaugh
Terri L. Moll
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Artists’ Competition for Piano & Strings
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Martin
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Darren Hayden
Bruce & Ann Hendrickson
continued on 30 The New Mexico Philharmonic nmphil.org 29 DONOR CIRCLES .
DONOR CIRCLES .
continued from 29
Pamelia Hilty (Snow Blossom
Gift Fund)
Toppin & Robert Hodge
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Brown Lindeman
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Meyerhofer
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McDowell
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Anonymous
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William & Cheryl Foote
Joseph Freedman & Susan
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Martin & Ursula Frick
Greg & Jeanne Frye-Mason
Ilse Gay
Lawrence Jay Gibel, MD
Great Harvest Bakery
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Charles & Kathleen Gregory
Ginger Grossetete
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Kevin & Teresa Grunewald
Stan & Janet Hafenfeld
Fletcher & Laura Hahn
Havanna House Cigar Shop
John & Diane Hawley
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Ursula Hill
Fred Hindel
Steven Homer
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Stephanie Hurlburt
Jerry & Diane Janicke
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Barbara Kleinfeld, in memory of Judith Lackner
Marshall Lambert
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LeRoy Lehr
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Virginia Loman
Los Pinos Fly & Tackle Shop
Mary Loughran
Robert Lynn & Janet Braziel
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Strathman
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P.F. Chang’s
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Range Cafe
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Donna Rigano
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Dwight Burney III, MD
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Bucher
Debra Saine
Evelyn E. & Gerhard L.
Salinger
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Savoy Bar & Grill
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Kendra Scott
Seasons 52
Seasons Rotisserie & Grill
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Stephen Smith
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Smith’s Community Rewards
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Stone Age Climbing Gym
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Texas Roadhouse
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Dale A. Webster
Tom Wheatley
Lisa & Stuart White, in honor of Thomas Martin’s Op-Ed
Robert & Amy Wilkins
Kathryn Wissell
Daniel & Jane Wright
Kari Young
Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro
8/23/2023 ●
2023/24 Season / Volume 12 / No. 1 30
Steinway Society Piano Fund
Steinway Society members make dedicated donations for current and future purchases and maintenance of our Steinway & Sons Grand Piano Model D. Since the New Mexico Philharmonic’s birth in 2011, we have had to rely on rented pianos. They have been inconsistent and at the end of the 2018/19 season, it was clear that the NMPhil needed a new, reliable piano to feature great pianists. We were finally able to fulfill this dream when we received a very generous low-interest loan to purchase the piano. Thanks to donations from Steinway Society members, the NMPhil is making great strides toward paying off this loan. Please consider joining the Steinway Society at the donor level that is best for you and be part of your New Mexico Philharmonic by helping us to produce excellence through our music. View benefits online at nmphil.org/steinway-society.
HOROWITZ LEVEL
Donation of $20,000–$50,000
Cliff & Nancy Blaugrund
Lee Blaugrund
Charles & Eugenia Eberle
Roland Gerencer, MD
WHITE KEYS LEVEL
Donation of $6000–$19,999
Dal & Pat Jensen
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Dr. Dean Yannias
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B. Hall
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Oborotova
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PIANO FRIENDS LEVEL
Donation of $50–$499
Wanda Adlesperger
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Anonymous
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Roland & Wendy Wiele
Diane Zavitz, in memory of Pat & Ray Harwick
Linda R. Zipp, MD
8/23/2023
●
The New Mexico Philharmonic nmphil.org 31 THANK YOU
