Ohlsson Plays Brahms Saturday, May 2Nd, 2020
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Ohlsson Plays Brahms nd Saturday, May 2 , 2020 Johann Strauss II Tales from the Vienna Woods (1825-99) Franz Lehár Merry Widow Waltz (1870-1948) Erich Korngold Sea Hawk Suite (1897-1957) Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 (1856-1891) Maestoso Adagio Rondo: Allegro non troppo Johann Strauss II (1825-99) composed many types of dances, including polkas, quadrilles, and over 500 waltzes, hence his nicknamee “The Waltz King.” Born into a musical family in Austro-Hungary, he and his two brothers all became composers of “light classical” music, although only Johann II is well known today. Johann Sr did not want his sons to study music, and in fact whipped Junior when he first discovered him practicing the violin. It was only when Dad deserted the family for his mistress that the brothers were able to study music openly. In later years Johann II became friends with Johannes Brahms, to whom he dedicated his waltz, “Weid, umschlungen, Millionen!” ("Be Embraced, You Millions!"). The favor was returned when Strauss’s wife asked Brahms to autograph her fan (a custom in which the composer included several bars of his music along with his name); instead Brahms wrote a few bars of “The Blue Danube” with the words, “Unfortunately NOT by Johannes Brahms.” Along with that perennial favorite, “The Emperor Waltz” and “The Tritsch-Tratsch Polka” are among Johann II’s most popular pieces today. He also composed six waltzes that call for a zither, including “Tales from the Vienna Woods,” written in 1868. This waltz includes solos for flute and zither (a string quartet plays the part if a zither player cannot be found), and after various episodes ends with a rubato violin duet capped by a final snare drum roll and the full orchestra’s joyous approval. Born in the Kingdom of Hungary in an area that is now part of Slovakia, Franz Lehár (1878-1948) followed in his father’s musical footsteps. Lehár Sr was a military bandmaster in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After playing in his father’s band for several years, Franz had a series of assignments as an army bandleader himself (and for a time, a navy bandleader). At the Prague Conservatory, where he studied violin, Antonin Dvorak encouraged him to pursue composition, but rules required him to study one or the other. Taking his father’s advice, he earned a degree in the more practical violin performance, resulting in very little formal education in composition. Nevertheless he eventually wrote symphonic poems, sonatas, and numerous operettas, of which the latter are the most famous. In 1902 Lehár became a conductor at the legendary Theater An der Wien, where his operetta Wiener Frauen premiered in December that year. Die Lustige Witwe ( The Merry Widow) was composed in 1905 with librettist Leo Stein. The story involves a secret romance between Count Danilo and a society widow. The work was popular from its first performance, and Franz Lehár was compared with his countryman Johann Strauss II. Several numbers from the operetta, including “Song of Vilia,” the Pavilion Duet,” and the Waltz, were instant favorites. By 1910 The Merry Widow had received rave reviews all over the world. The exoticism of Imperial Vienna with its court balls, romances, and intrigues, as well as the lush musical score captivated people of all nationalities 100 years ago just as it does today. In 1934 Jeannette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier appeared in a film version of The Merry Widow. Lehár remained in Austria throughout World War II. His wife Sophie, who was Jewish, had converted to Roman Catholicism when they were married. In 1938 she was awarded the title “Ehrenarierin," honorary Aryan by marriage, but the Nazis still tried to deport her at least once. Lehár received several awards in 1939 and 1940, including the Goethe Medal, presented by Hitler himself. It is said that Lehár used his influence (and his favor with Hitler) to prevent some of his Jewish colleagues’ arrests and transport to concentration camps; however, despite the composer’s attempts to protect him, Louis Treumann, the first man to sing the role of Count Danilo, was sent to Theresienstadt in 1942 where he died several months later. Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was born in Moravia in an area that is now part of the Czech Republic. How appropriately he was named! A child prodigy, he was only nine when he played for Mahler, who declared him “a genius.” His Piano Sonata No. 2, written at age 13, was premiered in 1911 by Artur Schnabel who subsequently performed it throughout Europe. And the renowned Bruno Walter conducted Korngold’s two one-act operas when the composer was just nineteen. At age 24, the composer himself conducted at the Hamburg Opera. He subsequently taught for three years at the Vienna Staatsakademie before escaping the growing threat of Hitler’s regime by moving to Hollywood in 1934, at the request of director Max Reinhardt. It was not long before the composer won two Oscars—in1936 for his Anthony Adverse soundtrack and in 1938 for The Adventures of Robin Hood. The latter score is ranked eleventh on the American Film Institute’s 2005 “Top 25 all-time best music for films.” In early 1938 Korngold had not yet made a permanent move to the U.S. He was in Austria when he received the offer for Robin Hood, and that prompted him to move his family to America. The Anschluss (annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany) took place just two months later. In Warner Brothers’ 1940 film The Sea Hawk, Errol Flynn plays a swashbluckling pirate employed by Queen Elizabeth I. For the musical score, Korngold employed leitmotifs, or leading motives, which are recurring themes associated with specific characters or places, a technique that Richard Wagner used extensively in his music dramas. Korngold later arranged a suite from the soundtrack that could be used as a concert piece. From the opening fanfare one can imagine the hero accomplishing feats of derring-do. A lyrical theme accompanies scenes with his love interest as well those that suggest the ideals of patriotism and liberty. Descriptive music portrays his seagoing adventures, visits to exotic lands, and even a duel. Today Korngold is considered one of the founders of Hollywood film music, but he also composed “classical” compositions, which often incorporate popular themes from his film scores (something that he made sure was explicitly allowed in his contract with Warner Brothers). Korngold stopped writing for American films in 1946-7 and concentrated on concert works including a symphony, his third string quartet, a cello concerto, and a violin concerto (TSO May 2019). He had a stroke in 1956 and died the following year. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was born in humble circumstances in Hamburg, Germany. As a youth, he played the piano in various nightclubs while still too young to frequent them. The great conservative of the romantic period, Brahms used classical forms and eschewed programs and descriptive titles. It took the composer almost twenty years to summon the courage to present his first symphony (1876) because, as he put it, he was acutely aware of “that giant [Beethoven] whose steps I always hear behind me.” It was Spring 1854 when Brahms first heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (“Choral”; TSO March 2019) in performance in Cologne. That same year his mentor, Robert Schumann, tried to drown himself in the Rhine, which resulted in his institutionalization for the remaining two years of his life. During this time Brahms was making sketches that at one time he thought would become a symphony, and then a two-piano sonata, and but which finally transformed into his Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, the same key as Beethoven’s Ninth. Many consider the second movement (Adagio) to be a tribute to Clara Schumann, Robert’s wife, whose relationship to Brahms has been dissected for years. Whether or not there was a romantic attachment at some point, it is certain that they strongly admired each other. Brahms was an important support figure for Clara and her seven children both during Robert’s stay at the asylum and after his death. Clara, fourteen years older, encouraged Brahms in his composition, and as a well-known concert pianist, she had clout in the music world. At the piano concerto’s Hanover premiere in 1859, the composer was the soloist and the orchestra conductor was his friend, violinist Joseph Joachim. A performance in Leipzig five days later received such negative audience reaction that Brahms related, “Three pairs of hands attempted to applaud but were quickly stopped by unmistakable hissing all around.” It subsequently took Brahms over twenty years to complete a second piano concerto. In true Beethovian fashion, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor begins with dramatic trills throughout the orchestra amidst timpani thundering in the background. The sound is rich and soulful and the atmosphere is foreboding. A drastic mood change occurs as the soloist introduces a lyrical theme that is answered by a woodwind ensemble. Following traditional sonata form, these themes are fragmented and expanded in the “development,” which is announced by a horn call with quiet piano background accompaniment. Horns play a prominent role later in the movement and in subsequent movements. With the pianist’s hands on the same pitch spanning three octaves, the “recapitulation” begins with the opening declamatory theme. It is astounding that the solo instrument alone can produce such amazing volume; somehow Brahms’ piano scoring achieves the same dark, almost frightening depth of sound that was produced by the combined forces of all the instruments at the opening.