Celebrating Beethoven
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Classical Club | Celebrating Beethoven Celebrating Beethoven London Mozart Players Simon Blendis: director Jonian Ilias Kadesha: violin London Mozart Players Classical Club | Celebrating Beethoven More concerts with artists from the Celebrating Young Classical Artists Trust Beethoven Broadcast at 7pm, Sunday 15 November. Filmed at St John’s Smith Square. Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Op.62 Beethoven Violin Concerto in D, Op.61 A Classical Celebration! Bows & Oboes Available to watch now! Available to watch now! Simon Blendis director Jonian Ilias Kadesha violin Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’ Strauss: Oboe Concerto London Mozart Players Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, Italian Soloist: Maciej Kulakowski Conductor: Mateusz Moleda Soloist: Olivier Stankiewicz About YCAT Keep in touch! Founded in 1984, the Young Since its foundation, over 100 gifted If you have enjoyed this concert and londonmozartplayers Classical Artists Trust is a specialist musicians have launched their would like to hear more about the mozartplayers charity that identifies, nurtures, careers as YCAT Artists. These London Mozart Players then do sign londonmozartplayers.com and supports musicians early in include Ian Bostridge CBE, Alison up for our newsletter via our website. their careers and enables them to Balsom OBE, the Belcea Quartet, become self-supporting and to move James Baillieu as well as finalists of You’ll get to hear first about all our generations of audiences around the the BBC Young Musician of the Year upcoming concerts and exclusive world with their talent. such as Martin James Bartlett, Jess events, and enjoy priority booking Gillam and Sheku Kanneh-Mason. and special offers. London Mozart Players Classical Club | Celebrating Beethoven Violin 1 Flute Simon Blendis Harry Winstanley Sijie Chen Nicolas Bricht Victoria Sayles Nicoline Kraamwinkel Oboe Ann Criscuolo Gareth Hulse Martin Smith Katie Clemmow Violin 2 Clarinet Jennifer Godson Fiona Cross Gemma Sharples Neyire Ashworth Jeremy Metcalfe Jayne Spencer Bassoon Nikki Gleed Jonathan Davies Emma Harding Viola Bryony Gibson-Cornish Horn Meghan Cassidy Alex Wide Michael Posner Martin Grainger Oliver Wilson Trumpet Cello Philip Cobb Sebastian Comberti Peter Wright Julia Desbruslais Sarah Butcher Timpani Benedict Hoffnung Double Bass Benjamin Russell Catherine Elliott London Mozart Players Classical Club | Celebrating Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven Programme notes Violin Concerto in D Major i) Allegro ma non troppo It is 1806–1807 The celebrations planned for Beethoven’s performed in a single day, and now we are 250th anniversary in 2020 have been muted rounding off our first Classical Club series ii) Larghetto • Napoleon is focusing his efforts somewhat, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a concert that features his magnificent iii) Rondo/Allegro on expanding his empire towards but we are delighted to be able to keep our Coriolan Overture and Violin Concerto. Warsaw, whilst plotting a campaign two important dates with Beethoven this At LMP, we wonder what Beethoven against England with the support of year. In March, Howard Shelley delighted would have made of all the fuss for his Czar Alexander I. us with Beethoven’s five piano concertos anniversary? Imagine lying in bed at night, tired after • In Britain, the slave trade is a long day’s work and suddenly the abolished and preparations are neighbours start some late night DIY. made for the first Ascot Gold Cup. Hammering. Very annoying. Or maybe not Wordsworth and Lord Byron are annoying at all. Maybe you are fascinated busy writing and Pleyel builds his by the sound and think how that could form piano factory in Paris. In Germany, Ludwig van Beethoven Volscians murdered their leader. the basis of a piece of music; a concerto... Schiller has just died and Goethe The ‘tragic hero’ theme inspired the a violin concerto! The story goes that this marries Christiane Vulpius. Coriolan Overture playwright Heinrich Joseph von Collin to was exactly what happened to Beethoven. • It is a time of extraordinary portray Coriolan as a character struggling productivity for Beethoven: his with leading an uneducated, ignorant Whether or not it is a true story and opera Leonore and his Mass in C populace and causing his own destruction whether this really formed the idea of are performed, he works on the Why did Beethoven write an Overture to through pride. He let the hero die by the opening theme in Beethoven’s Violin three Razumovsky quartets, the Coriolan? Did he somehow feel an affinity tragically falling on his own sword. Concerto, the beginning of the piece is fourth and fifth Symphonies are to this tragic hero who fights an internal truly remarkable. Imagine the surprise completed, the Appassionata battle between his pride, his loyalty to his Inspired by this story and hoping to gain a of the audience of 1806, settled in their Sonata is published, he writes his own values and his inability to accept the contract for another opera from Vienna’s Violin Concerto and the Coriolan ignorance of the populace? theatres, Beethoven wrote his Overture as Overture. a calling card. Sadly, it did not lead to any • Is he happy? Finances are not According to Plutarch, Caius Markus commission but what a dramatic piece of easy. While his patrons appreciate Coriolanus lived between 156 and 87 BC. music was composed! his music, money is not readily A ‘naturally valiant and warlike’ Roman forthcoming. Struggling in love general, he led a successful campaign Sandwiched between the 4th and 5th and dealing with his worsening against a persistent enemy – the Volscians Symphonies, the Overture condenses the deafness, the picture that arises – and returned to Rome a hero. Elected to two main themes of the story – Coriolan from his and other contemporaries’ the Roman Consul, his reported pride made and his gentle mother – into a highly letters is of an unsettled man; him fall out of favour with his own people Romantic piece of music. The powerful sometimes angry, frustrated, or and he was exiled. opening is followed by a restless theme in Classical Club unpacked euphoric. C minor. The contrasting gentle and fluid Vicky Sayles introduces Beethoven’s This needed revenge: he sided with the second theme represents the pleading of Coriolan Overture. enemy and soon marched on Rome. the mother. Rage and pleading alternate, Fearing the loss of their city, the Romans following the arch-shape of the sonata Click the play icon above or visit sent Coriolanus’ wife and mother to plead form, and the piece ends with a fading londonmozartplayers.com/classicalclub- with him and soften his resolve. He gave in out of the first subject whilst the strings’ concert-programmes to watch. to their entreaties and ordered the army pizzicato signify the last dying heartbeats. to retreat. Angry at this weakness the London Mozart Players Classical Club | Celebrating Beethoven seats, anticipating a new and wonderful violin concerto and first hearing five repeated notes on the timpani! At that St John’s Smith time, an almost shocking experience. This knocking theme repeats throughout the Square first movement, like a gentle recurring heartbeat. Just a stone’s throw from the Copland and Tippett to name but a few, and musicians of the calibre It takes three minutes before the solo Houses of Parliament, tucked away of Joan Sutherland, Pierre Boulez, violin begins to play, another surprise for in a quiet square, stands the former Daniel Barenboim, Sir Adrian Boult, the audience, and when it finally starts, the church of St John the Evangelist, Harrison Birtwistle, Plácido Domingo, orchestra holds its breath for a moment, a baroque masterpiece that has Philip Glass and many others perform before joining the soloist in a gentle survived fires, a lightning strike, and/or record here. St John’s Smith accompaniment of the glorious first theme. subsidence, a direct hit during the Square is one of the London Mozart Throughout, the solo violin is graceful and Blitz, and threats of being turned Players regular concert halls, and lyrical, especially in the slow movement, into a carpark. Fortunately, the we are thrilled to perform two of where it traces beautiful lines against the 1710 church was saved and turned Beethoven’s most popular works here backdrop of the thoughtful melody of the into one of London’s finest concert for Classical Club. orchestra. The last movement in Rondo halls, opening in 1969. It has seen premieres by Stockhausen, Birtwistle, form is full of energy, yet remains elegant. Above: Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven had broken the mould of the in 1803, painted by Christian Horneman. earlier concerto style, but how did the audience respond? Franz Clement, the soloist for whom the piece was written, was a young virtuoso who could even play with the violin upside down! A feat he liked to show off between movements of concertos he performed. Unfortunately, Clement and the orchestra received the manuscript of the concerto only two days before the performance and were practically sight-reading the music. Obviously, it didn’t go well, and the audience did not warm to the piece. A great disappointment for Beethoven. Classical Club unpacked Vicky Sayles introduces Beethoven’s It wasn’t until 1844 when the 12-year- Violin Concerto. old Joseph Joachim performed the Concerto to perfection in London, that this Click the play icon above or visit masterpiece earned its rightful place as one londonmozartplayers.com/classicalclub- of the greatest pieces of music of the late concert-programmes to watch. Classical period. London Mozart Players Classical Club | Celebrating Beethoven The London Mozart Players, the UK’s FM’s social media channels. And now LMP longest established chamber orchestra, is in the vanguard of UK orchestras testing was founded in 1949 by Harry Blech to the waters with paid-for online orchestral delight audiences with the works of Mozart concerts to support their musicians, rather and Haydn.