ZLATOMIR FUNG & RICHARD FU — PROGRAM NOTES
Fantasie and Variations on Themes from Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, Opus 16
ADRIEN FRANCOIS SERVAIS Born June 6, 1807, Halle, Belgium Died November 26, 1866, Halle, Belgium Composed: 1856 Approximate Duration: 10 minutes
Though his name is almost forgotten today, Adrien Francois Servais was one of the greatest cellists of the nineteenth century. Admired for the richness of his sound and for the fluidity of his playing, Servais was frequently compared with Paganini and Liszt; Berlioz and Rossini were among the many who praised his playing. Servais divided his time between concert tours and teaching at the Brussels Conservatory, and he made extended stays in Russia. Servais played a Stradivarius cello crafted in 1701, and that instrument—considered one of the finest cellos ever made— is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. One of the popular forms for composer-performers in the nineteenth century was a set of variations on themes from operas of the day: these themes, already familiar to audiences, would provide material for performers to show their skills. Servais wrote a number of such pieces, based on themes from Verdi’s La Traviata, Weber’s Der Freischütz, and others. In 1856 he composed what he called a Fantasie and Variations on themes from one of the most popular operas of the era, Donizetti’s La fille du régiment. That opera, premiered in Paris in 1840, tells of the love between Marie, the canteen girl of the 21st Regiment of the French army, and Tonio, a young soldier. From themes of that opera, Servais fashioned an attractive—and quite lyric—set of variations. This music was originally scored for cello and orchestra, but today it is almost always performed by cello and piano. Servais divides the work into different sections: an introduction, the principal theme, four variations, a romance, and a virtuoso finale. The principal theme comes from Marie’s aria in Act I, “Chacun le sait,” which is in fact the song of the 21st Regiment, and in the opera Marie is cheered on by the soldiers as she sings it. The aria has a very infectious melody (it is a great favorite of sopranos), and from it Servais composes a twelve-minute piece that allows cellists to show off both their lyrical skills and their virtuosity.
22 | LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY at THE CONRAD PREBYS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
