2021 -22
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for a full listing of this season’s events.
Department of Music and Theatre University at Albany presents:
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION MAX LIFCHITZ, PIANO
Concert made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts administered by North/South Consonance, Inc.
Monday, February 21, 2022 at 7pm
Recital Hall UAlbany Performing Arts Center
Program MAX LIFCHITZ
B-A-C-H Fantasia (2020) Lonesome Tears (2022)
I. Disquietude II. Despair III. Sorrow
Piano Silhouettes (2012)
I. Different Ways to Climb a Mountain II. Woke Up to Find It Missing III. Slippery Slope IV. Low Country V. Sky, Tree, River
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
I. Promenade II. The Gnome III. Interlude (Promenade theme) IV. The Old Castle V. Interlude 2 (Promenade theme) VI. Children Quarreling at Play (Tuileries) VII. The Oxcart (Bydlo) Interlude 3 (Promenade theme) IX. The Ballet of Unhatched Chicks in their Shells X. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle XI. The Market at Limoges XII. In the Catacombs XII. The Hut on Fowl's Legs – Baba Yaga XIV. The Great Gate of Kiev
Meet the Performer THE AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE referred to Max Lifchitz as “one of America’s finest exponents of contemporary piano music.” NEW YORK TIMES music critic Allan Kozinn praised him for his "clean, measured and sensitive performances.” A graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University, Mr. Lifchitz was awarded first prize in the 1976 International Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of 20th Century Music held in Holland. As a composer, Mr. Lifchitz has received fellowships from among others, the ASCAP, Ford, and Guggenheim Foundations; the Individual Artists Program of the NYS Council of the Arts; and from the National Endowment for the Arts. His works have been performed throughout Europe, Latin America, and the US. Lifchitz was invited to join the teaching staff of the University at Albany in 1986.
About the Music Concerning his own compositions being heard this evening, Mr. Lifchitz writes: In the manner of a Baroque fantasia, the B-A-C-H Fantasia consists of twelve quasi-improvisatory episodes based on the pitches implied by the last name of the unsurpassed German master Johann Sebastian Bach. The music is constructed around reiterations and transformations of the pitches B flat, A, C and B natural (H in German). Introduced at the very opening, these pitches function as the basic fiber in the varied musical tapestry that follows. Commencing with a single melodic line deployed over the middle octave of the piano, the music progresses inexorably into animated complex textures gradually reaching the extremes of the keyboard. The meditative closing section dissipates the tensions engendered previously while recalling the most important gestures heard throughout. Written especially for this recital, Lonesome Tears is a lament for those lives lost during the recent past. The plaintive music is meant to mourn, honor, and commemorate the lives of the many relatives, friends and colleagues who departed this world because of the wide-ranging health crisis. Inspired by Elisabeth Condon’s exceptional artwork, the five Piano Silhouettes were written in March of 2012 at the request of Korean pianist Sang-Hie Lee with funding provided by the University of South Florida. Different Ways to Climb a Mountain is built around a melodic line that begins on the middle register and stubbornly makes its way up, eventually reaching the very top notes of the keyboard. The melancholy implied in Woke Up to Find It Missing translated into a chromatic, somewhat fragmented melodic line accompanied by a languid, bluesy “ostinato” pattern. Slippery Slope has the pianist wildly going up and down the keyboard. Gravitating around the lowest notes of the keyboard, Low Country is an unpretentious A-B-A piece for the left hand alone. Sky, Tree, River is the most complex and technically demanding work of the cycle. Taking a cue from the romantic and impressionistic piano literature, the “river” is depicted by the running succession of fast 32nd notes that serve as background for the piece. The “tree” is pictured by the unpredictable melodic lines that serve as a counterpoint to the fast passage work. A quote of the poignant and moving Korean folk-melody Arirang is used to represent the sky. The appearance of this melody – in contrary-motion counterpoint – signals the climax of the work and leads to the concluding passage where floating 32nd notes reappear fleetingly while vanishing into the distance.” A member of the celebrated “Group of Five,” Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) was an ardent Russian nationalist far more interested in folk art than in the grandiose ornamental designs of the aristocracy. Tchaikovsky commented: “Mussorgsky likes what is coarse, unpolished and ugly.” Mussorgsky's career
began in the military, but he resigned from the life of a fastidious officer to study music and supported himself as a civil servant. Mussorgsky met Victor Hartmann, a brilliant young artist and architect, in 1862. They quickly became close friends, drawn together by the free-wheeling creative spirit they shared, and by their common faith in the value of folk art. The 39-yearold Hartmann’s death from a heart attack in 1873 plunged Mussorgsky into a deep depression. The following year, a memorial exhibition was held in St. Petersburg, displaying over 400 of Hartmann’s paintings, costumes, architectural designs and sketches for ornamental household objects. Mussorgsky’s visit to that display, combined with his desire to compose a piece in his friend’s memory, led to the creation of the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. The suite opens with a majestic theme called Promenade, depicting visitors strolling between displays. It recurs, in slightly different versions, at other points in the music. The first picture, The Gnome, describes in vivid fashion a grotesque nutcracker which Hartmann designed as a children’s Christmas present. Hartmann’s watercolor painting The Old Castle portrays a troubadour serenading his loved one by moonlight; the melancholy tone implies that his attempts at wooing prove unsuccessful. Tuileries is a miniature scherzo, depicting children and their nurses strolling gracefully through a Parisian garden. Bydlo, describes the lumbering approach and retreat of a Polish oxcart with large, heavy wheels. Another light scherzo follows, The Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells. Mussorgsky’s inspiration was Hartmann’s costume sketch for a ballet, Trilby, in which dancers were dressed in large eggshells topped by the heads of canaries. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle describes two Polish Jews whom Hartmann had sketched in pencil while visiting that country. The first fellow is rich and pompous, the second poor and excitable. After a bustling portrait of the marketplace in the French city of Limoges (complete with a raucous dispute between rival female vegetable vendors), the scene switches abruptly to Catacombs (A Roman Sepulchre), a stark, menacing portrait of an ancient underground tomb. In the second half of this section, With the Dead in a Dead Language, the music drops to a ghostly whisper for an eerie vision of skulls glowing in the dark. Next comes a dynamic, phantasmagoric picture of Baba Yaga, the evil witch of Russian folklore, who flies about in a magic hut built on chicken’s legs. Hartmann used this image as the design for an elaborate clock. The suite concludes with a stirring evocation of Hartmann’s plan for an immense stone gate, in the massive old Russian style with a crown in the shape of a Slavonic helmet. It was intended for the Ukrainian city of Kiev but was never built. By way of compensation, Mussorgsky constructed upon its spirit a grander work than any tradesmen could ever hope to build. For sheer virtuosic spectacle, The Great Gate at Kiev has few rivals.
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER HOUSE POLICIES Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the management and its staff. . The use of photographic or recording devices of any kind during this performance is strictly prohibited. . There is no food or drink allowed in the theatres, nor is smoking allowed in UAlbany buildings. . To avoid disrupting the performance, kindly disable any noise making electronic devices you may have with you. . Please take time to note the location of the fire exits nearest to you. In the event of an emergency, please proceed to the nearest exit in an orderly fashion and follow the directions of our staff.
Created and produced by the University Art Museum, NYS Writers Institute and UAlbany Performing Arts Center in collaboration with WAMC Public Radio, this popular series features leading figures from a variety of artistic disciplines in conversation about their creative inspirations, their craft and their careers. “Roundtable” host Joe Donahue conducts live on-stage interviews followed by a Q&A with the audience.
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Mark Morris Dance Group Photo by Erin Baiano
March 11, 8pm at The Egg
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