RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven and Mozart

Friday Night Club Fri 5 Jun 2020: 7.30pm BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture MOZART Flute and Harp Concerto Sharon Roffman Leader/Director Katherine Bryan Flute Pippa Tunnell Harp Royal Scottish National Orchestra Recorded on Sat 4 May 2019, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Dedicated to The Lillie Bequest Fund in recognition of the RSNO Foundation’s generous support

This performance was recorded for the RSNO Archive. Supported by the Iain and Pamela Sinclair Legacy.

RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven and Mozart

Coriolan Overture Op62 Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

FIRST PERFORMED in March 1807 at the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz DURATION 8 minutes Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture was composed for a production of a play by Heinrich van Collin, a re-working of Shakespeare’s notoriously bloody tragedy, Coriolanus. Set in the 5th century BC, the play tells of Coriolanus, a Roman general who denies the plebeian masses grain unless they dissolve their newly formed Tribune. Banished from the city, he encourages the Volsci, a rebellious tribe, to wage war on Rome. His mother Volumnia pleads with him to spare his native city. He does, only to be killed by the Volsci for his treachery.

The loud chords that open the Overture represent Coriolanus’ rage and unbending defiance, while the rising theme that follows (written in the traditionally tragic key of C Minor, the key also of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony) suggests his tragic struggle with fate. In contrast, the plaintive second theme signifies the feminine presence of Volumnia as she begs her son to spare Rome. The interaction of these two highly contrasted musical ideas creates a tension that can only be resolved by Coriolanus’ demise, his fate represented at the end by three fading pizzicato (plucked) notes. © Anthony Bateman

Scotland’s National Orchestra

Flute and Harp Concerto in C Major K299 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

FIRST PERFORMED in Paris in 1778 DURATION 29 minutes Allegro Andantino Rondeau–Allegro It was in a somewhat impecunious state, and very much in need of ‘honour and money’, as his father Leopold put it, that Mozart arrived in Paris in March 1778 at the age of 22. Under instruction from his father to ‘obtain the acquaintance and seek the friendship only of people of position’, and accompanied by his mother, Mozart hoped to find acclaim, perhaps even the kind of remunerated position that he had failed to secure at the courts of Munich, Mannheim and Mainz.

It was a rude awakening. The French capital which had so welcomed the child prodigy some 12 years earlier largely ignored the adult composer, despite some success with his Paris Symphony No31, commissioned by the Concert Spirituel. Mozart, ignoring his father’s advice on how to proceed in Parisian society, found his genius lost among the flood of French, Italian and German composers knocking at the doors of the aristocracy. Even the opera houses, where he felt he had most chance of success, were mired in a dispute about the relative merits of Italian and French opera. ‘These stupid Frenchmen think I am just 7 years old ... they treat me here like a beginner,’ he said in a typically outspoken letter to Leopold.

And so Mozart turned to teaching, crisscrossing Paris as his mother languished in the dark and damp room which was all they could afford to rent. Aided by his old friend Baron Grimm, he took what commissions he could find, among them the Flute and Harp Concerto, an instrumental combination which was entirely new to him. Commissioned by an enthusiastic flute-player, the Duc de Guines, for himself and his harp-playing daughter, who had been the subject of somewhat fruitless – as Mozart would have it – daily composition lessons from the composer, little is known about its gestation or early performance.

Completed in April 1778 in relatively short order, it is mentioned briefly in Mozart’s letters, if only for the fact that the Duc, some four months after he had received the work, and some weeks after the sudden death of Mozart’s mother of an unknown infection, had paid neither for the concerto nor, fully, for the lessons.

And yet the concerto is an enduringly popular work. Light and charming, yet technically challenging, full of the vim of youth and, in its sparkling final movement, hinting more at the maturity of which Mozart was on the cusp.

There is a fine balance, throughout, between flute and harp, the orchestral scoring light, particularly in the second movement. Mozart, who, perhaps tellingly, never again wrote for the harp – an instrument still evolving towards the form it would take in the 19th century – treated it as a plucked piano. The finale has the most substance of the three movements, a vigorous Rondeau which veers stylistically towards the sinfonia concertante, exuding a joyousness that somewhat belies the composer’s grim Parisian experience. © Sarah Urwin Jones

RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven and Mozart

Katherine Bryan FLUTE and the Young Concert Artists International Competition in New York, and was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year for three consecutive competitions. She was awarded the Julius Isserlis Scholarship by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

At the age of 21, Katherine was appointed Principal Flute with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra – a position she holds today, in addition to appearing as concerto soloist with leading orchestras worldwide. She is a regular Guest Principal with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and has also played as Principal with the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, Seattle Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony and London Symphony orchestras.

Katherine Bryan made her concerto debut at the age of 15 with Daniel Harding and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and later made her US concerto debut at the Lincoln Center in New York with the Juilliard Orchestra.

Katherine’s debut solo recording of works for flute and orchestra was released to great acclaim in 2010. She released a further disc of concertos in 2013, including works by Ibert, Martin and Rouse. Katherine’s recording of the Rouse Concerto is the first-ever British recording. Her third album, Silver Bow, is a collection of transcriptions of music for violin and orchestra. It was chosen as one of Classic FM’s top 20 albums of 2015.

A winner of the prestigious Audi Music Competition, Katherine studied at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester and won a full scholarship to study flute at the Juilliard School, New York. She was a prizewinner at the Royal Overseas League Music Competition

Katherine has appeared at major international festivals as both concerto soloist and recitalist.

She has given live broadcasts on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 and on BBC television.

Katherine premiered the new concerto The White Road, written for her by Scottish composer Martin Suckling, in 2017. The piece was co-commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the RSNO. She released her latest album, Silver Voice, with the Orchestra of Opera North in 2017.

Katherine is a lecturer in flute at Chetham’s and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and launched her International Flute Course in 2017, welcoming students from around the world to a five-day intensive course in Scotland. She tutors for both the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, and regularly gives masterclasses in educational institutions around the world, including the Juilliard School.

Scotland’s National Orchestra

Pippa Tunnell HARP Pippa Tunnell is Principal Harp with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She also appears regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

She is Harp Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, with over 20 years’ experience as a teacher. She is a regular coach for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

Brought up and educated in Edinburgh, Pippa became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain before winning a scholarship to the Royal Northern College of Music to study with Frank Sternefeld. At the RNCM she won the Hiles Medal and, following her graduation with honours, won several awards, enabling her to take up a place at the Konservatorium in Basel to study with Ursula Holliger.

On her return to the UK, Pippa built up a successful freelance career, performing as a soloist and chamber/orchestral musician, playing regularly with the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Northern Ballet Theatre and many other major British ensembles.

Her recent appearances include concerto performances with the RSNO and SCO, and chamber recitals with the Hebrides and Red Note ensembles. Her recordings as soloist include works by Britten and Rutter alongside the RSNO Junior Chorus, and with Les Sirènes.

RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven and Mozart

Sharon Roffman LEADER/DIRECTOR acclaimed contemporary music ensemble counter)induction, and spent several summers performing at the Marlboro Music Festival.

Passionate about combining performance and education, Sharon is the founder and artistic director of ClassNotes, a chamber music ensemble and non-profit organisation dedicated to introducing students to classical music through interdisciplinary school residencies and performances.

In 2015 she premiered a new concerto by Bruce Adolphe (I Will Not Remain Silent) with the IRIS Orchestra conducted by Michael Stern, and created The Prinz Project, an online interdisciplinary curriculum and outreach initiative to accompany the concerto.

Sharon Roffman was appointed Leader of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 2018.

She was a prizewinner in the 2003 Naumburg Foundation International Competition and made her solo debut with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in 1996. Today she is equally sought after as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader and music educator.

Sharon made her Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, with Itzhak Perlman playing and conducting, in 2004. She has appeared as a guest leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre d’Auvergne, Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, Sharon has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Brentano, Shanghai, Avalon and Miami quartets, was a member of the critically

In 2018 she performed Bernstein’s Serenade with the Kansas City Symphony and created an accompanying website for audiences to explore the work in more detail. She has also created an online elementary school curriculum about the relationship between music and art for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and regularly teaches in elementary schools across Australia both live and via video conferencing.

Sharon is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music; her former teachers include Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Peter Winograd, Robert Lipsett, Patinka Kopec and Nicole DiCecco.

Scotland’s National Orchestra

Friday Night Club Join us every Friday at 7.30pm (BST) for world-class performances in your own home! theRSNO royalscottishnationalorchestra

rsno.org.uk/friday

RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven and Mozart

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1977. The Orchestra’s artistic team is led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, who was appointed RSNO Music Director in October 2018, having previously held the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan succeeds Søndergård as Principal Guest Conductor. They are joined by Assistant Conductor Junping Qian.

The RSNO performs across Scotland, including concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness. The Orchestra appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms, and has made recent tours to the USA, Spain, France, China and Germany.

The Orchestra is joined for choral performances by the RSNO Chorus, directed by Gregory Batsleer. The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, the RSNO Chorus is one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain, with a membership of around 160. The Chorus has performed nearly every work in the standard choral repertoire, along with contemporary works by composers including John Adams, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.

Formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd, the acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus, under its new director Patrick Barrett, also performs regularly alongside the Orchestra. Boasting a membership of over 400 members aged from 7 to 18, it has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television.

The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings, receiving two Diapason d’Or awards for Symphonic Music (Denève/ Roussel 2007; Denève/Debussy 2012) and eight GRAMMY Awards nominations. Over 200 releases are available, including the complete symphonies of Sibelius (Gibson), Prokofiev (Järvi), Glazunov (Serebrier), Nielsen and Martinů (Thomson) and Roussel (Denève) and the major orchestral works of Debussy (Denève). Thomas Søndergård’s debut recording with the RSNO, of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, was released on Linn Records in 2019.

The RSNO’s pioneering learning and engagement programme, Music for Life, aims to engage the people of Scotland with music across key stages of life: Early Years, Nurseries and Schools, Teenagers and Students, Families, Accessing Lives, Working Lives and Retired and Later Life.

The team is committed to placing the Orchestra at the centre of Scottish communities via community workshops and annual residencies across the length and breadth of the country.

Scotland’s National Orchestra

On Stage FIRST VIOLIN Sharon Roffman

FLUTE Helen Brew

Emily Davis Lena Zeliszewska Patrick Curlett Barbara Paterson Judith Choi-Castro Ursula Heidecker Allen Alan Manson

Janet Larsson

LEADER

SECOND VIOLIN Xander van Vliet PRINCIPAL

Marion Wilson Robin Wilson Michael Rigg Anne Bünemann Sophie Lang Katie Jackson Gongbo Jiang VIOLA Tom Dunn PRINCIPAL

Hannah Shaw Susan Buchan Lisa Rourke Claire Dunn Francesca Hunt CELLO Aleksei Kiseliov PRINCIPAL

Betsy Taylor Kennedy Leitch Arthur Boutillier William Paterson DOUBLE BASS Margarida Castro ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

Michael Rae Paul Sutherland Sally Davis

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

OBOE Adrian Wilson PRINCIPAL

Peter Dykes CLARINET Jordi Juan-Perez GUEST PRINCIPAL

Duncan Swindells

PRINCIPAL BASS CLARINET

BASSOON David Hubbard PRINCIPAL

Luis Eisen HORN Martin Murphy

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Alison Murray TRUMPET Christopher Hart PRINCIPAL

Marcus Pope TIMPANI Paul Philbert PRINCIPAL

We hope that you are enjoying the RSNO’s Friday Night Club performances The RSNO is a registered charity, and, with many others, will be severely impacted by this crisis, which is touching the lives of each and every one of us. The support of our audiences and supporters continues to inspire and uplift us, now more than ever. We would like to take this opportunity to send our support and best wishes to you and your families during this challenging time.

In common with many of our colleagues around the country, we have been forced to cancel concerts and events. Ticket sales count for a large part of our income and these cancellations will have a considerable financial impact. We are therefore asking you to consider supporting the RSNO at this very difficult time, by donating the cost of your tickets or by joining

rsno.org.uk

the RSNO Circle. We realise for many, this may not be possible. However, if you are able to consider this request, we would be extremely grateful for your generosity.

Please donate online at rsno.org.uk/support-rsno or visit rsno.org.uk/circle to join today.

In the meantime, we continue to work hard to enrich lives and support the well-being of our community through free, accessible online music and content.

We are a family and a community brought together by music. When our Orchestra returns to the stage, we look forward to welcoming you back to the RSNO and enjoying many more great concerts together.