NOTES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 | MARCH 21-23 MASS IN C MAJOR, OPUS 86 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Recording Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with soloists Henriette Schellenberg, Marietta Simpson, Jon Humphrey and Myron Meyers Instrumentation pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, timpani, organ and strings Beethoven’s C major Mass was commissioned by Prince Nicholas Esterházy for the 1807 celebration of Princess Esterházy’s patron saint. Alas, the final rehearsal and the performance were disastrous, and the infuriated composer was greeted afterward with the prince’s veiled reproof: “But, my dear Beethoven, what is this that you have done again?” What Beethoven had done was to build a bridge between the late classical tradition in this setting of the Roman Catholic mass text and the heroic, deeply philosophical music of the Missa Solemnis he was to complete 16 years later. The three-part “Kyrie” movement, opening the mass, is a typically quiet supplication. It features the soloists in the central “Christe, eleison” but returns to a more urgent choral plea for mercy in the closing “Kyrie, eleison.” The triumphant “Gloria” and the militant, compact “Credo” are each highlighted by tender, moody or tragic sentiments declared by the soloists during their central sections. It is in the broad, radiant “Sanctus” that Beethoven’s originality begins to show, where the devotional opening phrases are relieved by declamatory rhythms and a dramatic choral/orchestral outburst on the “Pleni sunt coeli” text. There is also a lovely interaction between soloists and chorus in the extended, meditative “Benedictus.” Most of all, the long, deeply felt “Agnus Dei,” prefigures the awesome music Beethoven was to create in the same movement of the Missa Solemnis. ©2014, Carl R. Cunningham
BiographY RAFAEL FRÜHBECK DE BURGOS, conductor North America’s most revered and re-engaged guest conductor, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos will conduct the New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras in the 2013-14 season and will appear again at the Tanglewood Music Festival and at the Hollywood Bowl. Born in Burgos, Spain, in 1933, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos studied at the conservatories in Bilbao and Madrid and at Munich’s Hochschule für Musik, where he graduated summa cum laude and was awarded the Richard Strauss Prize. Having served many orchestras as music director and principal conductor, Maestro Frühbeck has made extensive international tours with the Philharmonia of London, London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, the Spanish National Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. Named Conductor of the Year by Musical America in 2011, he has also been awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Vienna, the Bundesverdienstkreutz of the Republic of Austria and Germany, and the Gold Medal from the Gustav Mahler International Society.
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Biography FRANK HUANG, violin
photo by jeff fitlow
First Prize winner of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s Violin Competition and the 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition, Frank Huang has an established career as a violin virtuoso. At age 11, he first performed with the Houston Symphony in a nationally broadcast concert. He returned to this orchestra as Concertmaster in 2010. He has performed with orchestras throughout the world.
Recent concerts include debuts in Wigmore Hall (London), Salle Cortot (Paris), Kennedy Center (Washington) and Herbst Theatre (San Francisco). He had his second recital in Alice Tully Hall (New York), which featured the world premiere of Donald Martino’s Sonata for Solo Violin. Huang has performed on NPR’s Performance Today, Good Morning America and CNN’s American Morning with Paula Zahn. His first commercial recording, which included Fantasies by Schubert, Ernst, Schoenberg and Waxman, was released on Naxos in 2003. Huang is deeply committed to chamber music. He was selected by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to be a member of the prestigious Chamber Music II program and was first violinist of the Grammy® Award-winning Ying Quartet. Huang serves on the faculty at Rice University and the University of Houston. He performs in a trio with pianist Gilles Vonsattel and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, and also served as the concertmaster and leader of the Sejong Soloists, a conductorless chamber orchestra in New York. March 2014 51