2021-2022
CANDLER CONCERT SERIES
GEORGE LI, piano
Saturday, September 18 at 8 p.m.
This concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. 404.727.5050 | schwartz.emory.edu | boxoffice@emory.edu
Audience Information In Consideration Please turn off all electronic devices. Face masks covering the nose and mouth are required at all times in the Schwartz Center. The concert hall capacity has been reduced in order to allow distance between seated parties. Please request assistance from an usher if you require a seating change.
Photographs and Recordings Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted.
Ushers The Schwartz Center welcomes a volunteer usher corps of approximately 60 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.
Accessibility The Schwartz Center is committed to providing performances and facilities accessible to all. Please direct accommodation requests to the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050, or by email at boxoffice@emory.edu.
Design and Photography Credits Cover Design: Nick Surbey | Program Design: Lisa Baron George Li Photos: Simon Fowler | Back Cover Photo: Mark Teague
Acknowledgment The Schwartz Center gratefully acknowledges the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
This program is made possible by a generous gift from the late Flora Glenn Candler, a friend and patron of music at Emory University.
2021–2022
CANDLER CONCERT SERIES
George Li, piano Saturday, September 18, 2021, 8:00 p.m. Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Program Arabeske in C Major, op. 18 Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Fantasie, op. 17 Schumann I. Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen– Im Legendenton. II. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch. III. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten.
—Intermission— Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
All pieces performed on the Steinway piano. George Li is represented worldwide by Opus 3 Artists 470 Park Ave South | 9th Floor North New York, NY 10016 212.584.7500 | opus3artists.com
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Program Notes Arabeske in C Major, op. 18 In autumn 1838, Robert Schumann made a career decision that moved him from his native town of Leipzig to Vienna to find a publisher and a sympathetic public for his piano compositions. His relationship with Clara Wieck had reached a tipping point: her father vehemently opposed anything that might interfere with his daughter’s career as a pianist and strongly disapproved of Schumann as a possible son-in-law. Geographically yet not emotionally detached from Clara, he was able to communicate with her only through letters and in his own music. This has been proposed as an explanation for Arabeske in C Major, which alternates passages of wistful longing with more robust, declamatory episodes. It is also quite possible that this music was more accessible and “sellable” than the music he wrote in Leipzig, and would lend itself to generating more income!
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The title is informative: an Arabeske or arabesque is an ornament or style of figural, floral, or animal outlines used to create intricate patterns inspired by Arab architecture. It is also a dance term in ballet. A simple rolling tune makes three appearances, interrupted by two minor-key passages. The tune itself is unchanged in each occurrence, but through the reappearance of the tune, Schumann encourages us to reassess the figure to hear the impact of the intervening minor key passages.
Fantasie, op. 17 Robert Schumann’s Fantasie was composed during a particularly long separation from his beloved Clara, when their future together was, at best, uncertain. Dedicated to Franz Liszt, the Fantasie began its life—publicly, at least—as a musical tribute to Beethoven. The first movement includes a quote from Beethoven’s song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (to the distant beloved). The ubiquitous ‘Clara theme’ is heard immediately in descending octaves of the right hand. There are allusions to sonata form but the piece pushes the boundaries of the form to the point of irrelevance. Schumann hovers anxiously near and around the key of C major, never really affirming it until the last few bars of the first movement.
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The second movement features a grandiose theme supported by comparably grand chords, most of them covering a two-octave range. This sets the pace for a dotted rhythm that continues in the obsessive way that hints strongly at Schumann’s fragile emotional condition that ended a dozen years later in insanity. The third movement is like an extended song without words. Interestingly, Schumann abandoned his idea of reintroducing the principal theme of the first movement. There are ravishing diversions to the keys of A-flat and D-flat major. The final C major chords of the piece— though voiced exactly as they were at the end of the first movement— could not feel more different: if earlier they seemed hopeful (or at least unresolved), they now seem resigned and filled with unbearable sadness.
Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 Franz Liszt completed the Sonata in B minor on February 2, 1853, and dedicated it to Robert Schumann, who had 15 years earlier dedicated his great Fantasie, op. 17 to Liszt. The Sonata unfolds in approximately 30 minutes of unbroken music. While its distinct movements are rolled into one, the entire work is encompassed within an overarching sonata form—exposition, development, and recapitulation. Liszt effectively composed a sonata
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within a sonata, which is part of the work’s uniqueness, and he was quite economical with his thematic material. The beginning contains three motive ideas that provide the basis for nearly all that follows, with the ideas being transformed throughout. These three elements have no names, but might be identified as follows: a) a quietly gliding downward scale; b) a defiant outburst; c) a sinister 10-note motif preceded by a drum-roll. There are two further themes of great significance, a grandiose chorale-like subject first heard shortly after one of the famous doubleoctave passages, and a quietly reflective Andante sostenuto idea in F-sharp major (Liszt’s “beatific” key). The initial gliding downward scale serves as a point of demarcation, recurring at major junctures of the sonata’s formal plan: at the beginning, leading into the Grandioso subject, the transition to the fugato, in the recapitulation again leading into the Grandioso subject, and at the very end. Some listeners like to regard it as a curtain used to separate acts of a drama. Needless to say, the sonata’s appeal lies in more than structural concerns. It is full of virtuosic effects, dramatic outbursts, profoundly meditative passages, and intriguing variants of the basic motivic material. It took a long time for the sonata to become standard in concert repertoire, because of its technical difficulty and negative initial reception due to its status as “new” music. By the early stages of the 20th century, however, the sonata had become established as a pinnacle of Liszt’s repertoire. —Program notes by Debra Joyal
“ . . . ruler-straight perfection of pulse, limitless
velocity, gleaming clarity, a broad palette of colors including voluptuous pianissimos and triple fortes that never banged. All of this was in the service
of an intellect which conjured a chess-master’s
understanding of structure and strategy; his mind
always worked several moves ahead of his hands.” —The Boston Music Intelligencer
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George Li, piano Praised by the Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command, and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority, and brilliant virtuosity far beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation and performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. Recent and upcoming concerto highlights include performances with the Los Angeles, New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo, and St. Petersburg philharmonics; the San Francisco, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, and Montreal symphonies; as well as the Philharmonia, DSO Berlin, and Orchestra National de Lyon. He frequently appears with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. In recital, Li performs at venues including Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, the Mariinsky Theatre, Elbphilharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Poly Theater, and Amici della Musica Firenze, as well as appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-enProvence Festival, and Montreux Festival. Li is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist, with his debut recital album released in October 2017 which was recorded live from the Mariinsky. His second recording for the label features Liszt solo works and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic, and was released in October 2019.
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Schwartz Center Staff
Rachael Brightwell, Managing Director Terry Adams, Box Office Coordinator Lisa Baron, Communications Specialist Carrie Christie, Program Coordinator Kathryn Colegrove, Associate Director for Programming and Outreach Lewis Fuller, Associate Director for Production and Operations Jennifer Kimball, Assistant Stage Manager Jeff Lenhard, Operations Assistant Alan Strange, Box Office Manager Nicholas Surbey, Senior Graphic Designer Mark Teague, Stage Manager Nina Vestal, House Manager Matt Williamson, Multimedia Specialist The Schwartz Center gratefully acknowledges the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz. To support this program, visit schwartz.emory.edu/give.
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WELCOME BACK to the SCHWARTZ CENTER! More Candler Concert Series Coming Soon schwartz.emory.edu Pretty Yende, soprano
Sunday, October 3 at 4 p.m. Making her Atlanta debut for a solo recital, South African soprano Pretty Yende is known for her acclaimed operatic and solo performances and critically lauded discography. Yende’s magnetic charm has captivated audiences at nearly all of the major opera houses of the world.
Leonidas Kavakos, violin and Yuja Wang, piano
Tuesday, November 2 at 8 p.m. This pair of superstars share the stage in their first visit to the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Each outstanding soloists, together they leave audiences breathless with the beauty and intensity of their performance.
Our Song, Our Story—The New Generation of Black Voices Friday, January 28 at 8 p.m.
Created and directed by composer, conductor, and multi-genre musician Damien Sneed, Our Song, Our Story highlights some of the world’s most well-known operatic arias, art songs, and spirituals. Featuring Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo soprano, and Brandie Inez Sutton, soprano, with a string quartet and Sneed on piano. 11
CANDLER CONCERT SERIES
Welcome back! The Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series brings internationally-renowned artists to Emory University's Schwartz Center for Performing Arts—to the Emerson Concert Hall or the virtual stage. The artists come from a variety of musical genres—traditional classical ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and contemporary artists like Kronos Quartet. The series is made possible by a generous gift from the late Flora Glenn Candler, a friend and patron of music at Emory University.