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Program SAINT-GEORGES Symphony No. 2 in D major (Overture to L’Amant anonyme) I. Allegro Presto II. Andante III. Presto FISCHER Symphony in C major with Eight Obbligato Timpani I. Moderato II. Adagio III. Allegretto MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551 (Jupiter) I. Allegro vivace II. Andante cantabile III. Menuetto and Trio: Allegretto IV. Molto Allegro
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S A I N T- G E O R G E S
SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN D MAJOR (OVERTURE TO L’ A M A N T A N O N Y M E )
JOSEPH BOLOGNE, CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES COMPOSER (1745–1799) • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799) was a contemporary of Mozart and led one of the best orchestras in Europe at the time, Le Concert des Amateurs. It is rumored that Mozart was very jealous of his success and saw him as a rival. • Saint-Georges was born in the French colony of Guadeloupe as the illegitimate son of a plantation owner and an African slave girl. His father brought him to Paris as a child to ensure he received a high-quality education. • Saint-Georges is often termed “the Black Mozart” (as in Chi-chi Nwanoku’s BBC Radio 4 documentary, In Search of the Black Mozart) and US President John Adams judged him “the most accomplished man in Europe.” • The music of Symphony No. 2 in D major is identical to his overture to the opera L’Amant anonyme. L’Amant anonyme (The Anonymous Lover) is the only one of six operas written by Saint-Georges to survive in its entirety, and it parallels the light, classical style of Mozart’s works. • Saint-Georges was also known as an expert fencer.
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FISCHER S Y M P H O N Y W I T H E I G H T O B B L I G AT O T I M PA N I
JOHANN CARL CHRISTIAN FISCHER COMPOSER (1752–1807) • Johann Carl Christian Fischer (1752–1807) was a music copyist, musician, and theatre director at the Ludwigslust Palace near Schwerin in Northern Germany. • The Symphony in C major was originally thought to be composed by Johann Wilhelm Hertel, the court composer at Schwerin. It wasn’t until 1977, almost 200 years after the piece was written, that scholars attributed the piece to Fischer. • Although the piece is called a symphony, it resembles a concerto for timpani. This piece is known as the first concerto written for the timpani in history. • This piece is unique in that it uses eight timpani; most orchestral works require only four. • In Fischer’s time, the timpani was associated with the cavalry of the aristocracy. Listen to the militaristic style of the timpani in the finale of this symphony.
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FISCHER S Y M P H O N Y W I T H E I G H T O B B L I G AT O T I M PA N I
F E AT U R E D M U S I C I A N
LEONARDO SOTO PRINCIPAL TIMPANI
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M OZ A R T SYMPHONY NO. 41, JUPITER
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART COMPOSER (1756–1791) • Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 is known as the Jupiter Symphony. It is the largest and most majestic of Mozart’s symphonies, and it was written on an unusually grand scale compared to other symphonies in Mozart’s time. • Mozart wrote Symphonies Nos. 39, 40, and 41 during the summer of 1788, taking only six weeks to complete all three masterworks. • The name Jupiter was bestowed 30 years after Mozart’s death as a way of promoting the piece. Jupiter is the Roman god of the sky and is often given the title Optimus Maximus (greatest and best), so it is a fitting title for this work. • Mozart’s use of counterpoint, or the weaving together of two or more different melodies, contributes to the grandeur of this symphony. In the final movement, he uses five different melodies simultaneously!
ARTIST BIOS NICHOLAS McGEGAN CONDUCTOR
As he embarks on his sixth decade on the podium, Nicholas McGegan—long hailed as “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent) and “an expert in 18th-century style” (The New Yorker)—is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. The 2019–20 season marked the final year of his 34-year tenure as music director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale. He is also principal guest conductor of the Pasadena Symphony. Best known as a baroque and classical specialist, Nicholas’s approach— intelligent, infused with joy, and never dogmatic—has led to appearances with many of the world’s major orchestras. At home in opera houses, he shone new light on close to 20 Handel operas as the artistic director and conductor at the Göttingen International Handel Festival for 20 years and the Mozart canon as principal guest conductor at Scottish Opera in the 1990s. At the same time, he was principal conductor of the Drottningholm Opera in Sweden. Nicholas’s prolific discography includes more than 100 releases spanning five decades. Having recorded more than 50 albums of Handel, he has explored the depths of the composer’s output through recordings of a dozen of his oratorios and close to 20 of his operas. Under its own label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions, Philharmonia has released almost a dozen acclaimed albums of Handel, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Brahms, Haydn, Beethoven, and more. Since the 1980s, Nicholas has released more than 20 recordings with Hungary’s Capella Savaria on the Hungaroton label, the latest being Haydn’s Symphonies Nos. 79, 80, and 81. He has also released two recent albums with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra: Josef ˇ Myslivecek’s Complete Music for Keyboard with soloist Clare Hammond and an album of early horn concertos with soloist Alec Frank-Gemmill. Born in England, Nicholas was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He is an honorary professor at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and was also given an honorary doctorate of music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2010, he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire “for services to music overseas.” He was also awarded the Verdienstkreuz (am bande) from Niedersächsen, Germany, in 2011.
ARTIST BIOS
LEONARDO SOTO
PRINCIPAL TIMPANI Leonardo R. Soto, Jr. is the Principal Timpanist of the Houston Symphony. Before arriving in Houston, Leo served as Principal Timpanist of the Charlotte Symphony from 2009–18, as well as the Michigan Opera Theatre-Detroit Opera House from 2003–09. He is also an active member of Miami’s Nu Deco ensemble. Leonardo has worked with ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony, among others. Leonardo is a former faculty member of Queens University of Charlotte and was an Artist in residence at Central Piedmont College and an instructor for the Charlotte Youth Symphony. He has done master classes around the U.S., including PASIC’s Pennsylvania day of percussion, the University of Charlotte NC, and Eastern Michigan University. Leo often travels back to his native Chile to perform recitals, master classes, and clinics at the National University of Chile, the Youth Symphony Foundation, and the National Symphony Concert Hall. Leonardo made his debut as a soloist with the Charlotte Symphony and, in January 2017, performed the world premiere of Evolution Percussion Concerto, written for him by composer Leonard Mark Lewis. Soto has the unique distinction of being the first native Hispanic Timpanist to play in a professional orchestra in the United States. He began his musical education with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chile, where he received the Teatro Municipal of Santiago National Scholarship. Concurrently, he was trained as a Latin percussionist by his father, Leonardo Soto, Sr., one of Chile’s most prominent musicians in the field. Leo embarked on his professional career with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, where he gained experience in orchestral, opera, and ballet repertoire. In 1997, he received the Fundacion Andes International Scholarship, which brought him to the U.S. and Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied with Timpanist Timothy Adams from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was made an honorary student at Cleveland State University by his mentor, Tom Freer of the Cleveland Orchestra.
