Prokofiev and the Classics
Thu 3 april 2025 • 20.15 Fri 4 april 2025 • 20.15 Sun 6 april 2025 • 14.15
PROGRAMME
conductor Lahav Shani
violin Clara-Jumi Kang
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op.36 (1801–02)
• Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
• Larghetto
• Scherzo: Allegro
• Allegro molto
intermission
Sergei Prokofjev (1891–1953)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19 (1916–17)
• Andantino
• Scherzo: Vivacissimo
• Moderato – Allegro moderato
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K 543 (1788)
• Adagio – Allegro
• Andante con moto
• Menuetto (Allegretto) – Trio
• Allegro
Concert ends at around 22.15/16.15
Most recent performances by our orchestra:
Beethoven Symphony No. 2: Oct 2012, conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1: Mar 2023 violin
Kristóf Baráti, conductor Lawrence Renes
Mozart: Symphony No. 39: Apr 2019, conductor Jan Willem de Vriend
One hour before the start of the concert, Patrick van Deurzen will give an introduction (in Dutch) to the programme, admission €7,50. Tickets are available at the hall, payment by debit card. The introduction is free for Vrienden.
Cover: Photo Tim Evans (Unsplash)
Ludwig van Beethoven around 1804. Portrait by Joseph Willibrord Mähler, Coll. Wien Museum
Boy with Beethoven score. Undated woodcut by Andor Hegedűs
Inspiring examples
Even great composers seek the example of others in order to move forward. For example, the hero of the young Beethoven was Mozart; a century later, Prokofiev found inspiration in the music of Haydn.
As a child prodigy, Beethoven had been compared to his great predecessor. His teacher, Neefe, wrote: ‘This young genius deserves support to enable him to travel. He is certain to become a second Mozart if he continues the way he has begun.’ He had already travelled to Rotterdam for his first concert tour, but when he turned seventeen, he was able to travel to Vienna, the home of Mozart. Whether the two actually met, is not certain.
Symbolism of the Freemasons
Just as Beethoven arrives in Vienna, Mozart has just returned from Prague, where he enjoyed great success with his opera The Marriage of Figaro and his Prague Symphony, but the Viennese seem to have grown a little bored with him by then. Interest in his concerts and compositions is waning to such an extent that he frequently needs to borrow money, and has to search for cheaper accommodation. The economic malaise due to war with Turkey just makes a difficult situation worse. This background makes it all the more puzzling that a year later, in the summer of 1788, Mozart composes a trio of symphonies in the space of two months, none of them commissions
or for which he will receive payment. Even the question whether and when they were performed around this time is unknown. What is certain is that these three symphonies are a magnificent end to his symphonic compositions.
Some regard the three works as a single entity and perform them together, which would help explain the exceptional weight to the opening of Symphony No 39, as signalling the start of something huge. Some also choose to hear in this introduction references to the symbolism of the Freemasons. With his choice of keys, Mozart follows the style of his friend, inspiration and lodge brother, Haydn, who composed three symphonies for concerts at the Paris Olympic Lodge and had them printed in Vienna. The number three, an important symbol in Freemasonry, is also clearly identifiable in Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, particularly in the solemn opening where three heavy beats are repeated three times, during which the baseline climbs the scale each time. For financial support, Mozart is able to rely on the help of his lodge brothers, such as cloth merchant Michael von Puchberg, to whom he over that summer writes countless begging letters, as well as Prince Karl von Lichnowsky. And perhaps Mozart gifts the wonderful Ländler melody in the third movement to the great clarinettist Anton Stadler, a good friend and another fellow lodge member. The final movement, with its playful good humour, joie de vivre and constantly recurring seven-note motif, is completely in the style of Haydn.
Bizarre effects
Mozart has been dead for less than a year when Beethoven travels to Vienna again, this time for good. On his arrival he makes contact with Prince Lichnowsky, the lodge brother of Mozart, bearing a letter of recommendation from Count Waldstein, a Freemason from Bonn: ‘Through ceaseless diligence you will receive Mozart’s spirit through Haydn’s hands.’ The young Beethoven benefits from his contacts with the prince and indeed begins studying with Haydn. At the start he composes mainly chamber music, but in 1800 he feels the time has come to present a full symphonic work, which in that time is the ultimate goal for every instrumental composer. Finding his own style, he follows confidently and with success in the footsteps of his heroes Haydn and Mozart. He begins work straight away on his Second Symphony, stretching the dimensions and making the contrasts more extreme. The influence of Haydn can still be heard in the slow introduction, with the startling effect of the opening chord, and in the humour of the final movement, whilst the influence of Mozart, with the richness of his harmonies and festive grandeur of the Prague Symphony, is never far away. Nevertheless, the ears of his contemporaries need time to get accustomed to the bizarre sound effects that are already so different from his First Symphony, together with the extended codas in the first and last movements. Beethoven has taken the first steps towards his groundbreaking Eroica Symphony.
Lyrical virtuosity
For Beethoven in around 1800, it seemed entirely logical to elaborate further on the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart. But the fact that a century later Sergei Prokofiev still spent some time under the spell of Haydn is striking to say the least. Prokofiev’s fascination for the classical period can be most clearly heard
in his First Symphony, composed in 1917. But in his Violin Concerto No. 1, which he works on at the same time, also reflects some of his longing for the past. For example, just like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky did before him, he chooses the key of D major for his concerto: a typical key for the violin, displaying the radiant colouring of the instrument’s sound to its best. It results in a predominantly lyrical, but also virtuoso work for which Prokofiev seeks the advice of his friend Paul Kochanski on the technical aspects of the violin.
the ears of Beethoven’s contemporaries need time to get accustomed to the bizarre
Had it not been for the obstruction of the Russian revolution, it is certain that Kochanski would have performed the work’s premiere. This, however, is delayed to 1923, a few years after Prokofiev left his home country, with the score in his luggage. The work is performed in Paris, where the composer has just settled. The progressive tastes of the Parisien audience, however, finds the piece too old-fashioned, and even compares it to Mendelssohn. However, violinist Joseph Szigeti, who also sits in the audience, is intrigued by the original work and, in the following years, will perform it throughout Europe to great acclaim. The qualities of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 win over not just countless concert goers, but also fellow composers. William Walton uses the score as a model for his 1929 Viola Concerto, whilst a decade later Benjamin Britten will also find inspiration in the work for the composition of his own Violin Concerto. All composers need examples to be inspired by.
Eelco Beinema
Lahav Shani • chief conductor
Born: Tel Aviv, Israel
Current position: chief conductor Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; music director Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; chief conductor designate Münchner Philharmoniker (from 2026)
Before: principal guest conductor Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Education: Piano at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Tel Aviv; conducting and piano at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin; mentor: Daniel Barenboim
Breakthrough: 2013, First Prize Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg
Subsequently: guest appearances Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhaus Orchester, Münchner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2016
Clara-Jumi Kang • violin
Born: Mannheim, Germany
Education: first violin lessons at age three, Musikhochschule Mannheim with Valerie Gradov; Musikhochschule Lübeck with Zakhar Bron; Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay; Korean National University of Arts with Nam-Yun Kim; Musikhochschule München with Christoph Poppen
Breakthrough: at the age of five, as a soloist with the Symphoniker Hamburg
Awards: Seoul Music Competition (2009); Sendai Violin Competition (2010), Violin Competition of Indianapolis (2010)
Subsequently: Kremerata Baltica, Mariinsky Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, symphony orchestras of van New Jersey, Indianapolis, Santa Fe, Stockholm, philharmonic orchestras of Moscow, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Seoul
Instrument: ‘Thunis’-Stradivarius (1702)
Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2017
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Musicians Agenda
Thu 17 April 2025 • 19.30
Fri 18 April 2025 • 19.30
Sat 19 April 2025 • 19.30
conductor Jonathan Cohen
soprano Lore Binon
countertenor Hugh Cutting
tenor (evangelist) Stuart Jackson
tenor (arias) Peter Gijsbertsen
bass (Christ) Neal Davies
bass (arias) Roderick Williams
chorus Laurens Collegium
Bach St-Matthew-Passion
Fri 2 May 2025 • 20.15
Sun 4 May 2025 • 14.15
conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada
piano Fazıl Say
Mendelssohn Overture A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21
Metselaar Herinnering (World Premiere)
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 5 ‘Reformation’
Memorial Concert
Wed 14 May 2025 • 20.00
Laurenskerk Rotterdam
conductor Lahav Shani
soprano Christiane Karg
baritone Thomas Oliemans
chorus Nederland Kamerkoor
Shalygin Canto Inferno (World Premiere)
Fauré Requiem
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Chief Conductor
Lahav Shani
Honorary Conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Principal Guest Conductor
Tarmo Peltokoski
First Violin
Marieke Blankestijn, concertmaster
Tjeerd Top, concertmaster
Quirine Scheffers
Hed Yaron Meyerson
Saskia Otto
Arno Bons
Rachel Browne
Maria Dingjan
Marie-José Schrijner
Noëmi Bodden
Petra Visser
Sophia Torrenga
Hadewijch Hofland
Annerien Stuker
Alexandra van Beveren
Marie Duquesnoy
Giulio Greci
Second Violin
Charlotte Potgieter
Frank de Groot
Laurens van Vliet
Elina Staphorsius
Jun Yi Dou
Bob Bruyn
Eefje Habraken
Maija Reinikainen
Babette van den Berg
Melanie Broers
Tobias Staub
Sarah Decamps
Viola
Anne Huser
Roman Spitzer
Galahad Samson
José Moura Nunes
Kerstin Bonk
Janine Baller
Francis Saunders
Veronika Lénártová
Rosalinde Kluck
León van den Berg
Olfje van der Klein
Jan Navarro
Cello
Emanuele Silvestri
Joanna Pachucka
Daniel Petrovitsch
Mario Rio
Eelco Beinema
Carla Schrijner
Pepijn Meeuws
Yi-Ting Fang
Killian White
Double Bass
Matthew Midgley
Ying Lai Green
Jonathan Focquaert
Arjen Leendertz
Ricardo Neto
Javier Clemen Martínez
Flute
Juliette Hurel
Joséphine Olech
Manon Gayet
Flute/Piccolo
Beatriz Baião
Oboe
Karel Schoofs
Anja van der Maten
Oboe/Cor Anglais
Ron Tijhuis
Clarinet
Julien Hervé
Bruno Bonansea
Alberto Sánchez García
Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet
Romke-Jan Wijmenga
Bassoon
Pieter Nuytten
Lola Descours
Marianne Prommel
Bassoon/ Contrabassoon
Hans Wisse
Horn
David Fernández Alonso
Felipe Freitas
Wendy Leliveld
Richard Speetjens
Laurens Otto
Pierre Buizer
Trumpet
Alex Elia
Adrián Martínez
Simon Wierenga
Jos Verspagen
Trombone
Pierre Volders
Alexander Verbeek
Remko de Jager
Bass Trombone
Rommert Groenhof
Tuba
Hendrik-Jan Renes
Percussion
Danny van de Wal
Ronald Ent
Martijn Boom
Harp Albane Baron