David Finckel and Wu Han, Artistic Directors
ROSE STUDIO CONCERT Thursday Evening, January 14, 2016 at 6:30 Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio 3,513th Concert
SEAN LEE, violin DANBI UM, violin PAUL NEUBAUER, viola RICHARD O'NEILL, viola MIHAI MARICA, cello
2015-2016 Season
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, 10th Floor New York, NY 10023 212-875-5788 www.ChamberMusicSociety.org
This concert is made possible, in part, by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation.
ROSE STUDIO CONCERT Thursday Evening, January 14, 2016 at 6:30 SEAN LEE, violin DANBI UM, violin PAUL NEUBAUER, viola RICHARD O'NEILL, viola MIHAI MARICA, cello
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI (b. 1933)
Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello (1990-91) Allegro molto—Vivo—Adagio— Vivace UM, O'NEILL, MARICA
FRANK BRIDGE (1879-1941)
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Lament for Two Violas (1912) NEUBAUER, O'NEILL
Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 87 (1845) Allegro vivace Allegretto scherzando Adagio e lento Allegro molto vivace LEE, UM, NEUBAUER, O'NEILL, MARICA
Please turn off cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices. Photographing, sound recording, or videotaping this performance is prohibited.
notes on the
PROGRAM
Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello Krzysztof PENDERECKI Born November 23, 1933 in Debica, Poland. Composed in 1990-91. Premiered on November 15, 1991 in Metz, France by the Deutsches Streichtrio. First CMS performance on November 10, 2011. Duration: 13 minutes Krzysztof Penderecki (pen-de-RETskee), the most significant Polish composer of his generation and one of the most inspired and influential musicians to emerge from Eastern Europe after World War II, enrolled at the University of Krakow when he was 17 with the intention of studying humanities, but a year later transferred to the Krakow Academy of Music as a composition student. Upon graduating from the Academy in 1958, he was appointed to the school’s faculty and soon began establishing an international reputation for his compositions. In 1966, he went to Münster for the premiere of his St. Luke Passion, and his presence and music made such a strong impression in West Germany that he was asked to join the faculty of the Volkwäng Hochschule für Musik in Essen. Penderecki returned to Krakow in 1972 to become director of the Academy of Music; while guiding the school during the next 15 years, he also held an extended residency at Yale University. He has been active as a conductor in Europe and America since 1972. Among Penderecki’s many distinctions are the prestigious Grawemeyer Award from the University of Louisville, Order of the White Eagle
(Poland’s highest honor), four Grammys, and honorary doctorates from several European and American universities. Penderecki composed his String Trio in 1990-91 for the Deutsches Streichtrio on a commission from the Cultural Ministry of the German state of Baden-Württemberg; he arranged the work for string orchestra at the same time as the Sinfonietta per Archi (Sinfonietta for Strings). The trio opens with a series of strident, hammered chords from which the viola emerges with a pensive soliloquy that keeps referring to a quick, neighboring-tone motive. The hammered chords are repeated twice, the first prefacing a capricious cello solo, the other, an energetic violin passage. The remainder of the movement is occupied by alternating fast and slow sections. The first one, a sort of sinister scherzo in skittering triplet figurations, starts hesitantly, rather like some demonic machine warming up, before it stalls and each instrument takes up motives from its earlier soliloquy, this time played together. The machine revs up again and becomes more threatening in its intensity until it is abruptly checked by the resumption of the interwoven solo lines. Just as the movement ends, the violin quietly recalls the skittering triplet figuration, from which is generated a long viola theme as the subject for the fugue that opens the Vivace, which American conductor, cellist, and critic Kenneth Woods called a Totentanz—a dance of death. Episodes referring to the hammered chords and the demonic scherzo from the first movement are heard before a coda based on the fugue theme brings the trio for a ferocious close.
Lament for Two Violas Frank BRIDGE Born February 26, 1879 in Brighton, England. Died January 10, 1941 in Eastbourne, England. Composed in 1912. Premiered on March 18, 1912 at Wigmore Hall in London by Lionel Tertis and the composer. Tonight is the first CMS performance of this piece. Duration: 8 minutes Frank Bridge was one of the leading English musicians during the years between the two World Wars. Born in 1879 in Brighton, where he played violin as a boy in a theater orchestra conducted by his father, he entered the Royal College of Music as a violinist but turned to composition after winning a scholarship in 1899 to study with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. After graduating, Bridge played in the Grimson Quartet as a violinist and as violist in the Joachim and English string quartets. He also earned a reputation as a conductor good enough for Thomas Beecham to appoint him as his assistant with the New Symphony Orchestra in 1906. Bridge thereafter conducted opera at the Savoy Theatre and at Covent Garden, and he appeared at the Promenade Concerts and with such major orchestras as the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic. In 1923, he toured the United States as conductor of his own music, giving concerts in Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, and New York. When he returned to England, he bought
a small country house at Friston in Sussex, near Eastbourne, and spent most of his remaining years there, composing, accepting an occasional conducting engagement, and guiding the progress of his gifted student Benjamin Britten. Bridge composed his Lament for Two Violas for a concert of music by four young British composers (Cyril Scott, Benjamin Dale, and York Bowen were the others) at Wigmore Hall in London on March 18, 1912. His performance partner in the premiere was Lionel Tertis, the pioneering virtuoso who was then trying to establish the viola as a solo instrument on the concert stages of the world. (His ultimate success on that Herculean task was recognized when he was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1950.) Bridge did not publish the piece and his original manuscript disappeared after the concert, but in the late 1970s British conductor and musicologist Paul Hindmarsh discovered an almost complete sketch of the work in the archives of the Royal College of Music while researching his catalog of the composer’s compositions. He was able to reconstruct the piece, and the Lament was given its second performance at the British Music Information Centre on February 12, 1980 by Michael Ponder and Thomas Tichauer; the score was published the following year. The outer portions of the Lament mirror the emotional intent of the title, while the central episode provides formal balance and mild contrast with a gentle ď ś shadow waltz.
Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 87 Felix MENDELSSOHN Born February 3, 1809 in Hamburg. Died November 4, 1847 in Leipzig. Composed in 1845. First CMS performance on December 13, 1969. Duration: 30 minutes
The most intensely busy time of Mendelssohn’s life was ushered in by his appointment in 1835 as the administrator, music director, and conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts. In very short order, he raised the quality of musical life in Leipzig to equal that of any city in Europe, and in 1842, he founded a local conservatory to maintain his standards of excellence. In 1841, he was named director of the Music Section of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, a cultural venture newly instituted by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, which required him not only to supervise and conduct a wide variety of programs but also to compose upon royal demand—the incidental music that complements his dazzling 1826 Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” fulfilled one of Frederick’s requests. Mendelssohn toured, guest conducted, and composed incessantly, and on March 28, 1837, he took on the additional responsibilities of family life when he married Cécile Jeanrenaud. Mendelssohn won a tiny hiatus from the press of his accumulating duties when he took a leave of absence from
his post at the Gewandhaus during the 1844-45 season. Before his sabbatical began he had to fulfill engagements as conductor and piano soloist in London and Germany, but by the beginning of 1845, he had finally managed to clear his schedule sufficiently to devote himself to composition. He made significant progress on Elijah, scheduled for its premiere at the Birmingham Festival the following year, and completed the String Quintet in B-flat major (Op. 87) and the C minor Piano Trio (Op. 66). In the autumn, the King of Saxony convinced him to return to his post at the Gewandhaus. His frantic pace of life was reactivated; he was dead within two years. Except for the F minor String Quartet (Op. 80), the trio and quintet of 1845 were the last important chamber works of Mendelssohn’s career. The B-flat major Quintet, composed at Bad Soden during the summer of 1845, followed by almost two decades Mendelssohn’s only other specimen of the form (Op. 18, in A major), written at the same time as the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture in 1826, when he was just 17. The outer movements attempt to maintain a sunny prospect, but their moods are darkened throughout by extensive chromaticism and anxious rhythmic figurations. The haunted Scherzando and the longing Adagio, both in minor keys, maintain the unsettled emotions of the quintet through the middle movements. The main theme of the opening Allegro, composed mostly of broken triadic gestures, is initiated by the first violin above a tremulous accompaniment in the lower strings.
The complementary subject, consisting of a smooth falling phrase and a little turn figure, is first given softly in close harmonies by the violins and first viola. The development examines both themes before leading to the recapitulation, which begins with the heightened recall of the opening triadic motive. The second movement serves as the quintet’s scherzo, though it is not one of those elfin creations in tripping rhythms of which Mendelssohn was the unparalleled master, but rather a sedate, precisely etched essay in moderate tempo, the sort of intermezzo that Brahms was fond of using for the same formal purpose in his large works. The Adagio, structured in two large stanzas with the second being an elaboration of the first, plumbs the deepest emotions of the quintet, though it turns to a brighter major key for its serene closing measures. The bustling finale is a sonata form based on a dashing main theme presented by the violin and an arching second theme introduced by the violas in tandem. Mendelssohn customarily made extensive revisions and corrections after completing the first drafts of his scores,
and many of his compositions therefore did not reach publication during his lifetime. The principal editor of his musical legacy was Julius Rietz, the noted cellist, composer, and conductor who succeeded him as director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts following Mendelssohn’s untimely death at age 38. The changes Rietz made to these posthumous publications, were, of course, without the composer’s authorization, and this performance of the Op. 87 String Quintet uses an edition issued by Henle in 2010 of the original manuscript with Mendelssohn’s own emendations. The score’s preface explains the changes, “In the case of the edition of the B-flat major Quintet, we had at our disposal copies of the autograph from the Biblioteka Jagiellońska in Krakow, with the help of which we have been able to remove all the corruptions of the posthumous first edition. These primarily concern the end of the slow movement, and the finale, for which the autograph in two places contains variants that were apparently rejected by Mendelssohn though not deleted, but which were reproduced in the first edition.”
©2016 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
meet tonight’s
ARTISTS
With performances described by the New York Times as “breathtakingly beautiful,” violinist Sean Lee is quickly gaining recognition as one of today’s most talented rising artists. His debut album featuring the Strauss Violin Sonata was released by EMI Classics and reached the Top 20 of the iTunes “Top Classical Albums” list. Having received prizes in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, he has appeared as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, Utah Symphony, Orchestra Del Teatro Carlo Felice, Westchester Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra. As a recitalist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium, Festival di Carro Paganiniano, and Wiener Konzerthaus. A former member of Chamber Music Society Two, he has performed with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall, as well as on tour at the LG Arts Center in Seoul, Korea, the St. Cecilia Music Center, and the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. Mr. Lee currently teaches chamber music at the Pre-College Division of The Juilliard School, and joined the violin faculty of the Perlman Music Program in 2010. He performs on a violin originally made in 1999 for violinist Ruggiero Ricci, by David Bague. Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica is a First Prize winner of the “Dr. Luis Sigall” International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile and the Irving M. Klein International Competition, and is a recipient of Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Fellowship Grant. He has performed with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Xalapa Symphony in Mexico, the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in Russia, the Jardins Musicaux Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Santa Cruz Symphony in the US. He also appeared in recital performances in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Korea, Japan, Chile, the United States, and Canada. A dedicated chamber musician, he has appeared at the Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk, and Aspen music festivals where he has collaborated with such artists as Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, André Watts, and Edgar Meyer, and he is a member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet. Mr. Marica studied with Gabriela Todor in his native Romania and with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music where he was awarded Master's and artist diploma degrees. He is a former member of Chamber Music Society Two. Violist Paul Neubauer's exceptional musicality and effortless playing led the New York Times to call him “a master musician.” This season he will record the Aaron Jay Kernis Viola Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia in the United Kingdom, a work he premiered with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony, and Idyllwild Arts Orchestra in 2014. A solo album of music recorded at Music@Menlo will also be released this season. At CMS, he will premiere a new work for solo viola by Joan Tower at Alice Tully Hall, the fourth work Ms. Tower has composed for him. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; National, St. Louis, Detroit,
Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras. Mr. Neubauer performs in a trio with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College. Violist Richard O’Neill is an Emmy Award winner, two-time Grammy nominee, and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient. He has appeared as soloist with the London, Los Angeles, Seoul, and Euro-Asian Philharmonics; the BBC, KBS, and Korean Symphonies; the Moscow, Vienna, and Württemburg Chamber Orchestras; and Alte Musik Köln with conductors Andrew Davis, Vladimir Jurowski, and Yannick NézetSéguin. Highlights of this season include collaborations with Gidon Kremer, concertos with Kremerata Baltica, his first tour to China with Ensemble DITTO, and a European tour and complete Beethoven quartet cycle with the Ehnes Quartet. As recitalist he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Louvre, Salle Cortot, Madrid’s National Concert Hall, Tokyo’s International Forum and Opera City, Osaka Symphony Hall, and Seoul Arts Center. A Universal/DG recording artist, he has made eight solo albums that have sold more than 150,000 copies. Dedicated to the music of our time, he has premiered works composed for him by Elliott Carter, John Harbison, Huang Ruo, and Paul Chihara. In his tenth season as artistic director of DITTO, he has introduced tens of thousands to chamber music in South Korea and Japan. The first violist to receive the artist diploma from Juilliard, he was honored with a Proclamation from the New York City Council for his achievement and contribution to the arts. He serves as Goodwill Ambassador for the Korean Red Cross, The Special Olympics, and UNICEF; runs marathons for charity; and teaches at UCLA. He is a former member of CMS Two. Violinist Danbi Um has appeared as a soloist with the Israel Symphony, Vermont Symphony, Herzliya Chamber Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, and Dartmouth Symphony, and in venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Kumho Arts Hall, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Bennett Gordon Hall of the Ravinia Festival, and the Seattle Chamber Music Society. She is a winner of Astral Artists' 2015 National Auditions and is a member of Chamber Music Society Two. An avid chamber musician, she has made appearances at Marlboro, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn, Prussia Cove, Caramoor, and North Shore Chamber Music Festival. She tours frequently with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed with Jupiter Chamber Players. She received second prize in the Young Artists Division of the Menuhin International Violin Competition, and third prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. At age ten she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and she also holds an artist diploma from Indiana University. Her teachers include Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from the collection of Seth Novatt.
Winter 2016
WATCH LIVE Enjoy a front row seat from anywhere in the world. View chamber music events streamed live to your computer or mobile device, and available for streaming on demand for the following 24 hours. Relax, browse the program, and experience the Chamber Music Society like never before.
1/14/16 9:00 PM Late Night Rose 1/21/16 7:30 PM Art of the Recital: David Shifrin & Gloria Chien 1/28/16 7:30 PM The Bart贸k Cycle: Part I 2/4/16 7:30 PM The Bart贸k Cycle: Part II 2/10/16 6:30 PM Inside Chamber Music 2/11/16 7:30 PM New Music in the Kaplan Penthouse 2/17/16 6:30 PM Inside Chamber Music 2/18/16 11:00 AM Master Class with the Escher String Quartet 2/24/16 6:30 PM Inside Chamber Music 2/25/16 7:30 PM Art of the Recital: Anne-Marie McDermott
All events are free to watch. View full program details online. www.ChamberMusicSociety.org/WatchLive
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upcoming
EVENTS
THE ART OF THE RECITAL
Thursday, January 21, 7:30 PM 窶｢ Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio Featuring David Shifrin, clarinet, and Gloria Chien, piano. This event will also be streamed live at www.ChamberMusicSociety.org/watchlive
PIANOS/PIANISTS
Sunday, January 24, 5:00 PM 窶｢ Alice Tully Hall Four exceptional CMS pianists share the stage (and sometimes, piano!), performing works that range from playful to fiery.
THE BARTﾃ適 CYCLE: PART I
Thursday, January 28, 7:30 PM 窶｢ Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio Featuring the Jerusalem Quartet. This event will also be streamed live at www.ChamberMusicSociety.org/watchlive