ROYAL ALBERT HALL (Manager—C. S. TAYLOR)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER. 12th, 1947, at 3 p.m.
Programme and Notes ONE SHILLING
NO SMOKING
Management HAROLD HOLT LTD The Honorary Officers and Council of the CENTRAL BRITISH FUND for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation express their sincere appreciation of the generous gesture made by Mr. ARTUR RUBINSTEIN in giving the proceeds of his two Concerts to the Central British Fund.
They are also deeply indebted to Miss CLARICA DAVIDSON and her Concert Committee for their unfailing efforts.
THE CENTRAL BRITISH FUND
■HE Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation has cont.nued the work done between 1933 and the outbreak of war on behalf of refugees from Nazi Germany. There are still many elderly and invalid refugees in this country whose maintenance has to be provided by voluntary funds. In 1945 and 1946 the Central British Fund brought to this country 700 orphaned survivors of the Concentration Camps between the ages of three and nineteen. The Central British Fund has fed and clothed and housed these children. It has paid for dental and medical and surgical services. It has provided teachers in all secular and religious subjects and it has provided the cost of emigration all over the world, so that scattered members of the same family could be re-united. The Central British Fund has equipped and maintains a T.B. Sanatorium and pays fees in clinics for cases where recovery is a question of years rather than months. So much for the work of the Central British Fund at home. Abroad, through the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad, seventy workers have been equipped and trained and sent to the D.P. Camps in Germany, Austria, Greece and Italy. The Jewish Relief Units have done, and are doing, practical constructive work in the D.P. Camps so that life in the camps is made more tolerable. For all the work done on behalf of Jewish Displaced Persons, the Central British Fund asks your help. ROYAL OPERA A HOUSE COVENT GARDEN (Sole Lessees—BOOSEY & HAWKES, Ltd.)
Sunday, November 2nd, at 7.30 f>.m.
THE ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS SOCIETY, LTD.
present MICHELANGELI with the TURIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
CONDUCTOR MARIO ROSSI
PROGRAMME MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A (The Italian) - MOZART Piano Concerto in D minor, K.466 VIVALDI Sinfonia dall ’Opera “ Olimpiade ” BRAHMS Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90 - -
Management: HAROLD HOLT LTD.
Tickets may be obtained from Chappell’s Box Office (MAY 2600) or any Ticket Agency. ROYAL ALBERT HALL Manager—C. S. TAYLOR
Sunday, October 12th, 1947, at 3 p.m.
HAROLD HOLT LTD.
present
ARTUR RUBINSTEIN
with the
LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Leader : GEORGE STRATTON
•Conductor: BASIL CAMERON
IN AID OF THE CENTRAL BRITISH FUND PROGRAMME
Academic Festival Overture ------Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 - - - Brahms 1. Allegro non troppo. 2. Allegro appassionato. 3. Andante. 4. Allegretto grazioso. Soloist : ARTUR RUBINSTEIN
INTERVAL
Theme and Variations (Suite No. 3) - - - - Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, - Tchaikovsky Allegro non troppo—Allegro con spirito A ndantino semplice—Prestissimo—A ndantino. Allegro con fuoco. Soloist : ARTUR RUBINSTEIN
NOTES ON THE MUSIC by DYNELEY HUSSEY (Author’s Copyright) Brahms often produced his works in pairs, the one complementing the other. In 1880 he composed two overtures, one “ Tragic,” the other distinctly a comedy. The Festival Overture was written for a happy occasion and is, indeed, the only occasional work he produced. He had been awarded an honorary doctorate of philosophy by Breslau University, and this was his academic " thesis.” With characteristically burly humour he celebrated the solemn event by a composition based upon traditional German student songs, among them being “ GaudeamuS igitur,” which has an international vogue. Dr. Colles has pointed out in a discussion of Brahms’s early violoncello sonata in E minor, that “ the square-cut stockish German folk-song was bone of his bone.” By the time he came to write this overture, Brahms was able to weld together examples of such tunes into his own symphonic design. If the heresy still persists that Brahms, because he did not aim at a flashy brilliance, did not know how to write for the orchestra, a hearing of this overture should convince the listener of its untruth. Brahms knew precisely how to get the effects he wanted, and that they are not the same effects which Berlioz or Rimsky-Korsakov wanted, does not necessarily make his orchestration inferior to theirs. This overture is- full of happy instrumental touches and even contains what Tovey called the “ Great Bassoon Joke.” It also embodies that tender, sentimental feeling to which those of riper years are subject when they revisit their alma mater “ forty years on ” ; and it culminates in an almost solemn and certainly splendid climax to the tune of “ Gaudeamus igitur.” ROYAL ALBERT HALL (Manager—C. S. TAYLOR)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19th at 3
YEHUDI
Yehudi Menuhin will appear in the following towns
OCT. 21 LEICESTER 22 BIRMINGHAM 23 GLASGOW 25 EDINBURGH 28 SHEFFIELD 29 LIVERPOOL NOV. 2 MANCHESTER 5 BOURNEMOUTH 6 CROYDON
Accompanist : GERALD MOORE A period of twenty years separates the first and second pianoforte concertos of Brahms. In that interval he had composed two symphonies and his style of pianoforte writing had matured and acquired its rich individuality in such works as the two Rhapsodies of On 79 and the Intermezzi of Op. 76. The Concerto m B flat represents his genius at its full ripeness ; the shadow of Schumann s influence that lies upon the earlier concerto is no longer apparent. It is a commonplace of criticism to remark that this concerto is unusually symphonic in style, and on the surface there is good cause lor the assertion. Not only does it include a fourth movement in the manner of a scherzo and exclude the conventional cadenzas, but the relationship of the solo to the orchestra is more in the nature of a partnership than the usual one of forces m opposition, whose antagonism generates the musical drama. Yet, none the less, Brahms has not by any means thrown overboard the mam features of the classical concerto-form. In the first movement, it is true, that at the outset the horn and pianoforte discuss in dialogue the salient and unforgettable main theme of the first subject, to which the wind- instruments add an important continuation. The pianoforte then considers this material at some length in an improvisatory manner, and did it occur anywhere but at the very beginning, one might call this solo a cadenza. But all this is only an introduction and the movement properly begins with a perfectly normal orchestral ntornello or exposition of the main material of the movement m its broad outlines, with only a passing reference to the second subject just to let us know what it is. Nothing could be more in accord with the normal •conventions of the concerto-form. During the first solo a new idea, which becomes of great importance in the development, appears—a rhythmic figure played staccato by lower strings and wind in dialogue. This leads to the full and passionate statement of the second subject by the soloist, who brings this section to a powerful climax with handfuls of trills ornamenting the first subject These furious, thundering outbursts of shakes are a special feature of the climaxes, and it is on this stormy note that the movement, which Brahms’s ironically called so “ simple ” in justification of his second movement, comes to an end. The second movement in D minor is the scherzo, but its mood is hardly less tragic than the first movement’s, despite the note of triumphant happiness struck in the Trio (in D major). In this movement the special relationship of the solo to the orchestra is most noticeable, the pianist’s part being in the nature of an obbligato. In the Andante the pianist recedes at first into the background, while a new protagonist, the violoncello, sings one of Brahms’s loveliest melodies. Upon this the pianist rhapsodises in a manner that has all the appearance of a wonderful extemporisation. After a more passionate section again marked by trills in the solo, a new theme in F sharp is introduced by the pianist with clarinet accompaniment adagio}, from which a return is made to the original key and tempo with the violoncello’s melody, and the movement ends m serenity and calm. The storms are, indeed, over, and the work ends with Brahms s blithest movement, a rondo upon whose rich array of themes no tragic shadow falls. There is no space to point to more than the humorous roll of the themes in the first episode, and the wicked twinkle the piccolo gives to one of them at its final repetition. INTERNATIONAj f"'E L E B R I T y •subscription1” Concerts I Sole Directors - - . HAROLD HOLT LTD.
SEASON 1947-48
TODD JOSE DUNCAN ITURBI Nov. 2 LONDON, ROYAL ALBERT Nov. I DUBLIN HALL (ORCHESTRAL) 4 EDINBURGH 4 NEWCASTLE 6 DUNDEE 6 GLASGOW 9 BRIGHTON 8 EDINBURGH 10 LONDON, ROYAL ALBERT 9 LIVERPOOL HALL 12 SHEFFIELD 14 MANCHESTER 14 BIRMINGHAM 16 GLASGOW 16 MANCHESTER 17 NEWCASTLE 18 LEICESTER 19 BOURNEMOUTH 21 LONDON, ROYAL ALBERT 23 LIVERPOOL HALL (RECITAL) 25 LEICESTER 27 SHEFFIELD Accompanist: WILLIAM ALLEN 30 BLACKPOOL MICHELANGELI and the TURIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (100 Musicians)
Conductors : ALBERTO EREDE MARIO ROSSI
NOV. 2 LONDON ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN 9 LONDON, ROYAL ALBERT HALL 10 SHEFFIELD 13 NEWCASTLE 14 GLASGOW 15 EDINBURGH 16 LIVERPOOL 17 BIRMINGHAM
TICKETS FOR ALL CONCERTS NOW ON SALE AT LOCAL AGENTS
Sole Directors : HAROLD HOLT, Ltd., 3. Clifford Street, W.l Telegrams : Pronomino, Piccy, London. Telephone : Regent 6845 (6 lines) ROYAL ALBERT HALL (Manager—C. S. TAYLOR)
Sunday, November 9th, at 3 p.m.
The Orchestral Concerts Society, Ltd., present the TURIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
with MICHELANGELI
CONDUCTOR : ALBERTO EREDE
Programme Overture: “Leonora No. 3” - Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat (Emperor) Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor - Beethoven
Tickets may be obtained at Royal Albert Hall (Ken. 8212), Chappell’s Box Office, 50, New Bond Street, W. (May 7600), and all Ticket Agencies. Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suites, of which the third, m G, was composed about 1882 between the fourth and fifth Symphonies, are the nineteenth-century descendants of the Divertimenti and Serenades of a hundred years before. The final movement of the third Suite is a set of variations upon an original theme. The melody is not intrinsically beautiful but it has a very distinctive outline with almost grotesque characteristics. Tchaikovsky’s method is to rely on the theme’s capacity for rhythmic variation and ornamental elaboration rather than on the development of its harmonic potentialities. The contour of the theme is always readily recognizable throughout the movement. * * * * In 1866 Tchaikovsky, then 26 years old, was offered the post of professor of harmony in the newly-formed Conservatoire at Moscow, directed by Nicholas Rubinstein, brother of Tchaikovsky’s master at St. Petersburg. Rubinstein took the young composer into his home supervised his development and brought out his compositions at the concerts he directed. He was also one of the great virtuoso pianists of the day and could be mentioned, without ridicule, m the same breath as Liszt himself. For this friend and mentor Tchaikovsky composed, in 1874, his first pianoforte concerto. Rubinstein, who was of a somewhat crotchety temper, did not like the work. It was, therefore, given its first performance by Hans von Bülow, who pronounced it to be “ perfect and mature in form.” “ Perfect ” is a very big word and none of us is in a position to judge whether Bülow was justified in using it for what we hear to-day is a revised version, made in 1889 and produced at a concert of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Tchaikovsky must have felt that there were some grounds for Rubinstein’s adverse verdict. Like most of Tchaikovsky’s music, the Concerto is intensely ■dramatic, even to the verge of bombast. It begins, indeed, with a gesture so tremendously powerful that the composer is hard put to it to find an adequate sequel to such a high-sounding exordium. Piamstic virtuosity and the lyricism that were always at Tchaikovsky’s command •come to his rescue, and the warmth and vitality of the music certainly make this first movement an outstanding example of the kind of concerto which emphasizes the idea of contest between solo and orchestra contained in the word derived from concertare (“ to struggle with ”). To this contest the slow movement provides the contrast of .quiet beauty. The central section of the Andante is a quick movement in the manner of a scherzo. Though the sense of striving reappears in the finale, it is rather of striving together happily than of antagonistic strife In style the concerto, and especially the solo part, owes a good deal to the example of Liszt and, through him, to, comes the sensuous cantilena derived ultimately from Italian opera, and particularly from Bellini, whose melody exercised a potent influence upon Liszt. ROYAL ALBERT HALL (Manager : C. S. TAYLOR)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4th at 7.30 In the gracious presence of HER. MAJESTY THE QUEEN. In aid of the
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GIRLS CLUBS AND MIXED CLUBS AND NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BOYS CLUBS
HAROLD HOLT LTD. present JASCHA HEIFETZ with the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Conductor : Sir MALCOLM SARGENT
PROGRAMME Overture “ Coriolan ” Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 Beethoven Francesca da Rimini - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 - Tchaikovsky
Sponsored by TICKETS: 42/- and 2/6 only. All others sold. The Orchestral Con certs Society Limited PRE SENT SUNDAY ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL Manager C. S. TAYLOR EVERY SUNDAY AT 3 Concert Management : Harold Holt Ltd»
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19th. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd
Trumpet Tune and Air . . . Purcell-Stanton Overture in D minor...... Handel-Elgar “ Eri Tu ” (Ballo in Maschera )...... Verdi Violin Concerto No. I in D major, Op. 8 Paganini “ Largo al Factotum ” (Barber of Seville) - Rossini Symphony No. 7 in A major - - - - - Beethoven Enigma Variations Elgar Fantasie-Overture : “ Romeo and Juliet ” - Tchaikovsky “ O thou billowy Harvest Field ”...... Rachmaninoff Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 Beethoven “ Song of the Flea ”...... Moussorgsky “ The Waters of Tralee ” Jock Prentice “ A Vagabond Song ” - - - Michael Head Conductor : Soloist : Negro Spirituals : GEORGE WELDON YEHUDI MENUHIN “ Let us break the Bread together ” Arr. Lawrence “ Everytime I feel the Spirit ”...... Arr. Brown Conductor: Soloist: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26th GEORGE WELDON TODD DUNCAN Polonaise (Eugen Onegin) ----- Tchaikovsky Accompanist : WILLIAM ALLEN Piano Concerto ...... Khatchatourian SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9th La Valse ...... Ravel THE “ L’Apprenti Sorcier ” ------Dukas Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 70 - - - Dvorak TURIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conductor : Soloist: Conductor : Soloist : ALBERTO EREDE MICHELANGELI SIR MALCOLM SARGENT MOURA LYMPANY For full particulars see separate page. THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Leader - GEORGE STRATTON) On SUNDAY AFTERNOON, NOVEMBER 9th, the LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA will be playing at the DAVIS THEATRE, CROYDON
Tickets may be obtained at Royal Albert Hall (Kenf 8212), Chappell’s 5ox Office, 50, New Bond Street, W. (May. 7600), and all Ticket Agents THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE, W.C.2 Sunday, November 9th at 7.30
HAROLD HOLT LTD. present JASCHA HEIFETZ
ONLY RECITAL THIS YEAR
PROGRAMME Partita No. 3 in E major (unaccompanied) BACH Sonata in D minor BRAHMS INTERVAL Concerto in A major - MOZART .(a) 'La Chevelure- ' - DEBUSSY •(b) Presto - POULENC •(c) Daisies I RACHMANINOFF •(d) Oriental Sketch I (e) Figaro (from “Barber of Seville”) ROSSINI—CASTELNUOVO—TEDESCO * Transcribed by Heifetz Accompanist : EMANUEL BAY
TICKETS: 42/-, 30/-, 21/-, 15/-, 10/6, 7/6, 5/-, 3/6 May be obtained from Chappell’s Box Office (MAY. 7600) and all Ticket Agents. VAIE & Co., Etd., Printers, Rondon, E.C.l,