oneppo chamber music series David Shifrin, artistic director
Polonsky-Shifrin-Wiley Trio Anna Polonsky, piano David Shifrin, clarinet • Peter Wiley, cello
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 | 7:30 pm Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Program Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
Piano Trio No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 11, “Gassenhauer” I. Allegro con brio II. Adagio III. Theme and Variations on “Pria ch’io l’impegno.” Allegretto
Nino Rota 1911–1979
Trio for clarinet, cello, and piano (1973) I. Allegro II. Andante III. Allegrissimo
Francis Poulenc 1889–1963
Trio for piano, clarinet, and cello, FP 43 originally for piano, oboe, and bassoon I. Presto II. Andante III. Rondo
intermission
Johannes Brahms 1833–1897
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Andantino grazioso IV. Allegro
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Artist Profiles Anna Polonsky, piano Anna Polonsky is widely in demand as a soloist and chamber musician. She has appeared with the Moscow Virtuosi, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and many others. Ms. Polonsky has collaborated with the Guarneri, Orion, Daedalus, and Shanghai Quartets, and with such musicians as Mitsuko Uchida, Yo-Yo Ma, David Shifrin, Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Arnold Steinhardt, Peter Wiley, and Jaime Laredo. She has performed chamber music at festivals such as Marlboro, Chamber Music Northwest, Seattle, Music@Menlo, Cartagena, Bard, and Caramoor, as well as at Bargemusic in New York City. Ms. Polonsky has given concerts in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall’s Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls, and has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. A frequent guest at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, she was a member of the Chamber Music Society Two during 2002–2004. In 2006 she took a part in the European Broadcasting Union’s project to record and broadcast all of Mozart’s keyboard sonatas, and in the spring of 2007 she performed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium to inaugurate the Emerson Quartet’s Perspectives Series. She is a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award.
Anna Polonsky made her solo piano debut at the age of seven at the Special Central Music School in Moscow, Russia. She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and attended high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She received her bachelor of music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of the renowned pianist Peter Serkin, and continued her studies with Jerome Lowenthal, earning her master’s degree from the Juilliard School. In addition to performing, she serves on the piano faculty of Vassar College, and in the summer at the Marlboro and Kneisel Hall chamber music festivals. Ms. Polonsky is a Steinway Artist.
David Shifrin, clarinet Winner of the 2000 Avery Fisher Prize, clarinetist David Shifrin has appeared with the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras and the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Denver symphonies. He has appeared in recital at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In addition, he has appeared in recital and as soloist with orchestras throughout Europe and Asia. A three-time Grammy nominee, he has been the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest since 1980. An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, he served as its Artistic Director from 1992 to 2004. A faculty member at the Yale School of Music since 1987, Shifrin is Professor in the Practice of Clarinet
Artist Profiles, cont.
Program Notes by Bel Ben Mamoun
and Chamber Music, and serves as Artistic Director of the Oneppo Chamber Music Series and the Yale in New York series.
Peter Wiley, cello Cellist Peter Wiley enjoys a prolific career as a performer and teacher. He attended the Curtis Institute at just 13 years of age, under the tutelage of David Soyer, and continued his impressive youthful accomplishments with his appointment as principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age 20, after one year in the Pittsburgh Symphony. From 1987 through 1998, Mr. Wiley was cellist of the Beaux Arts Trio, with which he performed over a thousand concerts, including appearances with many of the world’s greatest orchestras. He succeeded his mentor, David Soyer, as cellist of the Guarneri Quartet from 2001 until the quartet retired from the concert stage in 2009. Awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Peter Wiley was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998 with the Beaux Arts Trio and in 2009 with the Guarneri Quartet. He has also had a close association with the Marlboro Music Festival for over 40 years. A much sought-after teacher, Mr. Wiley has been a faculty artist at Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” program and taught at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Mannes College of Music, and Manhattan School of Music. He is currently on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Piano Trio No. 4 in B-flat major beethoven Beethoven’s fourth piano trio feels comfortably Classical as it flows through light textures and clean harmonies, all the while retaining the tongue-in-cheek wit of its composer. Composed in 1797, the trio was published only one year after the opening of Joseph Weigl’s comic opera L’Amor Marinaro, from which the wildly popular aria “Pria ch’io l’impegno” (“Before I take on this task, I wish to have a snack”) came to be heard throughout the streets (Gassen) of Vienna. In turn, Beethoven’s use of “Pria ch’io l’impegno” as the theme for the nine variations of the final movement inspired the trio’s nickname: Gassenhauer. A bright, stately opening introduces the first movement, soon falling into a serene duet between the clarinet and cello. Below the duo’s singing melodic phrases lies gentle piano accompaniment that transitions into an alberti bass, occasionally punctuated by light flourishes and trills. Shimmering piano octaves guide the movement forward as melodies are swept between the cello-clarinet duet. At times the cello turns to its lower strings to assist the piano’s rhythmic motion, freeing the pianist to alternate between sweeping melodies and sparkling scalar gestures, with pauses for gentle cadences. The adagio movement opens with a serene cello melody, luxuriating through sweeping melodic gestures that are echoed in the sustained lines of the clarinet all throughout the movement. The piano guides the cello-clarinet duet forward through sighing chromatic gestures before finally
arpeggiating into its peaceful close. Suddenly, the piano introduces the bright “Pria ch’io l’impegno” melody into a series of animated exchanges between the clarinet and piano, weaving the popularised Gassenhauer theme into the trio’s humorously jubilant conclusion. Trio for clarinet, cello, and piano rota Nino Rota was a highly versatile Italian composer, best known in popular media for his film scoring. An extremely prolific composer, Rota composed over 150 scores throughout his lifetime, in addition to 11 operas and over 21 chamber works. Rota’s mastery of creating expressive soundscapes becomes apparent in the mesmerising textures and sophisticated melodies that guide forward his trio for clarinet, cello, and piano. A chromatic, albeit melodic Allegro opens the work, interspersing lively rhythmic motifs with long, lyrical lines in the clarinet and cello. Four distinct melodies are introduced and promptly expanded throughout the course of the movement, until the original chromatic melody reappears in a stately finish. A pensive clarinet melody opens the second movement with a romantic lyricism that is echoed in the cello. Grounding this waltzlike melancholy are the eighth notes of the piano, which provide a harmonic foundation over which the clarinet and cello exchange romantic lines. Soon the piano shifts into triplets and the trio falls into a second melody: at times, the cello seems to shiver over the clarinet as the trio transitions back into the first melody, now sung in octaves,
while the cello’s final harmonic carries the movement into its dreamy conclusion. A bright staccato melody in the clarinet announces the Allegrissimo movement, switching comically between light, breathy staccato, slurred cello interjections, and unusual dissonances. Rota’s final movement presents repeated iterations of a frantic melody against the falling runs of the clarinet and cello, while a bright coda rallies the trio to a joyous close. Trio for piano, clarinet, and cello poulenc Inspired by a Haydn Allegro, the first movement of Poulenc’s Trio for oboe, piano, and bassoon is as colourful and vibrant as it is playful, Classical as it is French. The piano opens the trio in a slow, stately introduction before the bassoon’s dotted acclamation: a bold statement decorated with trills, leaps, and runs that are soon echoed in the oboe. Throughout the 16-bar introduction, Poulenc clearly introduces each individual timbre, before ricocheting forward into an ebullient presto. The bassoon and oboe seem to call out to one another through energetic motifs and arpeggiated gestures, pausing to sigh in sweeping melodies above the pointillist interjections of the piano. While the oboe and bassoon trill through crisp articulation and ornaments, the piano maintains the presto’s forward motion through flurries of trills and ascending runs in a constant current of rhythmic motion.
Program Notes, cont. Described by Poulenc as “sweet and melancholic,” the second movement flows through warm melodic lines with rich colours and melodic chromaticism. Almost improvisatory oboe solos are echoed in the dark timbre of the bassoon over rich cascades of chordal accompaniment. Unabashedly French, the final movement concludes with a French baroque gigue influenced by the scherzo movement of Saint-Saëns’ Concerto for piano and orchestra. Lilting and sprightly, the trio spins through staccato rhythms above the rolling motion of the piano. As the oboe ornaments its buoyant eighth note melodies with ascending flourishes, Poulenc ends his work with a vibrant, triumphant conclusion. Clarinet Trio brahms For Brahms, who believed that music should only be composed when truly inspired, the summer of 1890 was to provide a comfortable end to his prolific career. His affairs in order (including the details of his will), Brahms was suddenly introduced to Richard Mühlfeld, the principal clarinetist of the Meiningen Court Orchestra. Brahms was enraptured by Mühlfeld’s sweet tone and the pair became close friends. Over time, Brahms came to refer to Mühlfeld as “Fräulein Klarinette” or “Fraülein Nachtigall” (his “dear nightingale”) and composed his clarinet trios and sonatas specifically for Mühlfeld. In turn, Brahms’ tender and romantic Aminor trio openly displays his love of the clarinet (or at least Mühlfeld’s clarinet playing). The first movement is composed
in loose sonata form, opening with a rich A-minor arpeggiation in the cello that is echoed in the rising and falling thirds of the clarinet. Soon, the tranquility of the clarinet is agitated by the nervous triplets of the piano: halting punctuation underneath the long melodic lines. Despite this, the clarinet and cello sigh together, finishing each other’s sentences above the rhythmic current of the piano until a final minor arpeggiation sweeps from the low cello into the clarinet to end the first movement. The brief silence seems unbroken by the clarinet as it breathes into the falling opening theme of the second movement. Here, the clarinet sustains wistful lines over the sighing gestures of the cello and piano. Eventually, a second theme shimmers from the piano, and the two melodies are woven together into the free spirited third movement, almost folk-like as the clarinet and cello waltz together through arpeggiated gestures. Guided forward by the dreamy polyrhythms of the piano and cello pizzicato, the clarinet lilts into a light trio before closing in a recollection of the original theme. The final rondo interrupts the silence in a sudden, energetic dance, leaping through canons and vibrant syncopation. The clarinet and cello spin through 2/4, 6/8, and 9/8 time signatures, interweaving the original motif of cascading thirds into its rapturous conclusion.
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