Emanuel Ax Leonidas Kavakos Yo -Yo Ma

Emanuel Ax / Piano Leonidas Kavakos / Violin Yo-Yo Ma / Cello

Tuesday Evening, March 3, 2020 at 7:30 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor

78th Performance of the 141st Annual Season This evening’s performance is supported by Bank of Ann Arbor, Max Wicha and Sheila Crowley, Michigan Medicine, Sesi Lincoln, and Robert O. and Darragh H. Weisman. Special thanks to Tim and Sally Petersen for their generous support toward the artists’ travel for this evening’s performance. Media partnership provided by WRCJ 90.9 FM. The Steinway piano used in this evening’s performance is made possible by the William and Mary Palmer Endowment Fund. Special thanks to Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, visiting university carillonist, for coordinating this evening’s pre-concert music on the Charles Baird Carillon. Mr. Ax, Mr. Kavakos, and Mr. Ma appear by arrangement with Opus 3 Artists. In consideration of the artists and the audience, please refrain from the use of electronic devices during the performance. The photography, sound recording, or videotaping of this performance is prohibited. PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven Trio in c minor, Op. 1, No. 3

Allegro con brio Andante cantabile con variazioni Menuetto: quasi allegro Finale: Prestissimo

Beethoven Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2

Poco sostenuto — Allegro ma non troppo Allegretto Allegretto ma non troppo Finale: Allegro

Intermission

Beethoven Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97

Allegro moderato Scherzo: Allegro Andante cantabile ma però con moto — Allegro moderato — Presto

Third and fourth movements played attacca (without pause).

3 THREE PIANO TRIOS BY

Ludwig van Beethoven Born December 15, 1770 in Bonn, Germany Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna

Beethoven revolutionized the , just as he did every other musical genre he touched. Whereas the trios of Haydn — and to a certain degree even those of Mozart — were “piano sonatas with violin and cello accompaniment” (they were often called just that on the title pages), Beethoven moved decisively toward a full equality of all three players. His innovative approach is evident not only in the later works (Opp. 70 and 97) but even in the three trios written soon after his arrival in Vienna in 1792. Publishing these trios as “Op. 1” meant that he considered them the first works that represented him as a mature artist. And while hindsight makes these trios appear more traditional than the later ones, they — and especially the third Trio in c minor — rocked the boat sufficiently to have a contemporary critic refer to them as “confused explosions of the impulsive bravado of a talented young man.” By the time the later trios were written, Beethoven’s reputation was well-established, and the works were admired without reservation by their first audiences.

4 TRIO IN C MINOR, OP. 1, NO. 3 (1792–95)

Beethoven

UMS premiere: Reginald Kell Players; February 1954 in Rackham Auditorium.

Snapshots of History…In 1795: · The University of North Carolina opens, becoming the first state university in the US · Jim Beam whiskey is founded as Old Jake Beam Sour Mash · The metric system is adopted in France

Many qualities commonly associated musical language. The cello, which, with the “heroic” Beethoven of the in the trios of Haydn and Mozart, was middle years are already on display in often treated merely as a provider this early work. The special emotional of harmonic support, plays a few climate associated with the key of prominent solos, in an important c minor in the “Pathétique” Sonata step toward the complete equality or the Fifth Symphony makes its of the three instruments realized in first appearance just a few years Beethoven’s later trios. after Mozart’s death, at a time when The second movement is a set of was still actively variations on a cantabile (eminently composing. Haydn must have felt singable) theme of utmost simplicity. that his erstwhile pupil had gone a In the course of five variations, the little too far; he reportedly “doubted theme receives the usual virtuoso whether this trio would be easily figurations, but it seems that the understood and accepted by the changes in melodic character were public” — certainly a veiled criticism. much more important to Beethoven In the event, Haydn’s worries than mere technical display. The piano notwithstanding, the three trios had melody of the first variation is more a resounding success in Vienna’s memorable than the theme itself in musical circles. its intense lyricism. In the second, The musical events happening the roles of the three instruments in the first few seconds of the (melody and accompaniment) change c-minor Trio (energetic opening with great frequency, resulting in gesture, hesitant stop on a fermata, a novel instrumental texture. In agitated continuation) strike a brand- the third, the pizzicato (plucked) new tone, and the movement as notes of the strings are particularly a whole more than lives up to the effective against the fast notes of expectations of such an unusual the piano. The fourth brings sighing beginning. Alternations of extremes accents, unsettling syncopations, (turbulence and gentleness, very soft, and chromatic progressions along and very loud volume), novel with the dark key of e-flat minor (with modulations into distant keys, and six flats!). Thestaccato (separated) other musical surprises enrich the notes of the piano and the double-

5 UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF ALZHEIMER’S AND OTHER MAJOR DISEASES

Drs. Henry Paulson and Andrew Lieberman have formed a unique coalition of more than 50 clinicians and scientists studying protein- folding disorders as a group, which holds the promise to establish new ways to prevent and treat these devastating conditions. stops of the violin enliven the fifth instance, Beethoven resolved this and last variations, leading into the last-minute complication only to coda that recapitulates motives heard make another unheard-of move. separately in some of the earlier He modulated into C Major without episodes. (German musicologist resolving any of the dramatic Helga Lühning has pointed out that tensions: the soft C-Major scales of one of Beethoven’s shorter piano the piano against the quarter-notes works, the Bagatelle Op. 119, No. 2, of the string instruments, repeated is so close to this movement that ostinato (without any changes), end it could almost qualify as another the work on an oddly mysterious note. variation on the same theme. Despite Beethoven himself thought its high opus number, this bagatelle particularly highly of this early was actually written as early as the work of his. More than 20 years 1790s.) later he returned to it and made an The third movement is not quite arrangement for string quintet, which the graceful “minuet” its designation he published in 1819 as Op. 104. in the score would suggest — but it is not a playful scherzo either. Its main theme is related to the agitated motive from the first movement, but it is put in even sharper relief here. In the trio, the tonality changes from minor to major and the mood brightens up accordingly. The fast runs of the piano alternate with a simple but engaging melody in the cello. High drama returns in the finale, significantly marked “Prestissimo.” UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF ALZHEIMER’S After a few introductory measures that function as a musical “curtain,” AND OTHER MAJOR DISEASES the violin intones a main theme full of nervous tension. Its insistent minor thirds are subsequently developed in an almost maniacal fashion; a more relaxed second theme brings only temporary calm. The movement Drs. Henry Paulson and Andrew Lieberman ends with a most astonishing coda. have formed a unique coalition of more than For the first time, Beethoven used a strategy to which he would often 50 clinicians and scientists studying protein- return in his later works: just when folding disorders as a group, which holds the one would expect the music to settle promise to establish new ways to prevent down in the home tonality, a surprise and treat these devastating conditions. modulation sends the harmony off into very distant regions. In this

7 TRIO IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 70, NO. 2 (1808)

Beethoven

UMS premiere: Peabody Trio; May 1989 in Rackham Auditorium.

Snapshots of History…In 1808: · Beethoven conducts and plays piano in a marathon benefit concert in Vienna, consisting of the premieres of Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, Piano Concerto No. 4, and Choral Fantasy · The importation of slaves into the US is banned · Goethe’s Faust, Part One is published in full

This Trio revisits the world of early portion of the first movement arrives, Beethoven from the height of the all “turbulence” is over, and the music middle period. Written shortly after assumes a lyric flow that is only the Fifth Symphony, it has a gentle occasionally interrupted by moments lyricism that reminded the first of tension. reviewer of the work, the Romantic The second movement is a set of writer and composer E.T.A. Hoffmann, “double” variations on two themes of the music of Haydn and Mozart. — the first, a graceful melody in Hoffmann wrote his review in 1813. the major mode, the second, more In 2003, American musicologist tempestuous and in the minor. The Lewis Lockwood found much “humor double-variation form was particularly and kindness” in the work but also dear to Haydn; in Beethoven’s hands more virtuosity in the string parts it expands and gains in dramatic than there had been in Beethoven’s momentum. Most remarkably, the earlier trios. One has to agree: in movement ends in the minor, denying this Trio, and its companion work, the major-mode resolution that the “Ghost” Trio (Op. 70, No. 1), the was the expected outcome in such three instruments have become fully “bimodal” movements. equal in importance. The Romantic The third movement is a minuet trio sound of Schubert, Mendelssohn, that, although not identified as Brahms, and Dvořák was in fact born such in the score, nevertheless in these two masterworks. adheres to the form and style of this Certain telltale elements, such classical dance that Beethoven had as the rich diversity of the motivic replaced by the more modern scherzo transformations, are typical of elsewhere (from Op. 1 onwards!). The Beethoven’s middle years. The middle section, the would-be “trio,” “mystery” introduction with which it sounds even more archaic with its opens is another such element, and simple chordal progressions played its return at the end of the movement in turn by the piano and the two even looks forward, anticipating string instruments. On the other hand, similar strategies in the late string the fact that the middle section is quartets. Yet by the time the main heard twice and the main statement

8 three times is a more modern feature, repeating a procedure from his previous work, the Cello Sonata Op. 69, and anticipating the Seventh Symphony (as well as the “Archduke” Trio). Effusive lyricism and instrumental virtuosity are the two poles around which the finale revolves. The sequence of keys is not what we would find in Haydn and Mozart — the music moves toward more distant tonal goals, yet this no way undermines the classical balance of the movement which, according to Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny, is “very quick, light, brilliant, and witty.”

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Ad Number: PP-BOAA-21368A Trim: 5" x 3.937" Perich Job No: 21368 Bleed: NA Colors: 4/C Live: NA Format: 1/2 Page Ad Version: 01.31.20 TRIO IN B-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 97, “ARCHDUKE” (1811)

Beethoven

UMS premiere: Milwaukee Trio; April 1893 in the School of Music’s Newberry Hall.

Snapshots of History…In 1811: · Venezuela declares independence from Spain · Inventor John Stevens’ boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry service, between and Hoboken, New Jersey · Author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe is born

The last of Beethoven’s piano trios second theme does not appear in owes its nickname to the fact that the expected F Major but in G, a more it was one of a large group of works remote key. This is a major departure by Beethoven dedicated to the from the rules that were already Archduke Rudolph. The youngest well-established at the time; as a brother of Emperor Franz, Rudolph result, the movement spans a wider was Beethoven’s composition tonal and emotional arch than usual. student and one of his most loyal G Major, which allows the string patrons. Fittingly, this “imperial” instruments to use the clear sound of work is the most monumental the open strings, also has a brighter of the six Beethoven trios, and sonority than F Major would. marks the culmination point of This unusual move is followed by Beethoven’s so-called “heroic” one of Beethoven’s most exciting period. Yet it is not one of those development sections, where the highly dramatic, conflict-laden works composer isolates a tiny part of that we most readily associate with the opening theme from the rest Beethoven’s middle years: it is and works with it separately. In a neither appassionata like the f-minor particularly suspenseful passage, Piano Sonata, nor overly serioso the violin and cello play pizzicato like the f-minor String Quartet. (plucking the strings) while the piano The predominant mood is serene, keeps repeating a characteristic trill peaceful, and witty; at the same time motif. After a full recapitulation, an it is filled with rhythmic and harmonic energetic coda ends the movement. passages that were highly unusual The jaunty dance melody of the and certainly “modern” at the time. second-movement “Scherzo” is The first movement opens with introduced by an unaccompanied a broad and expansive melody cello. The three instruments toss the that, surprisingly, does not reach melody back and forth as if it were closure but disintegrates instead a ball in a game. The middle section, into a series of figurations eventually which is in the minor mode and starts leading to a more playful second with a tonally unstable chromatic theme. Musicians will notice that this melody (that is, one moving in half-

10 steps), is a little more serious, but deafness had reached a stage where it, too, soon erupts in a happy dance appearing on stage was no longer tune. Like in a number of mature possible for him. Beethoven works, the alternation of the principal section (S) and middle Program notes by Peter Laki. section (T) is repeated, resulting in the scheme S-T-S-T-S, plus a brief coda, in which elements of the T section appear for the third time. The slow movement is a series of variations on a hymn-like theme. The tempo marking (“Andante cantabile, ma però con moto”) stresses that the tempo should not be too slow; a certain momentum should be maintained at all times. In the course of the four variations, ever faster figurations are added to “dress up” the initial theme, which returns in its original, unadorned form at the end. Then another embellished passage leads directly (attacca, without pause) into the last movement. Marked “Allegro moderato” like the first movement (that is, not too fast), the finale combines a dance character with a gentle espressivo style of delivery. It is a cheerful rondo with a central episode in a minor key that, for a moment, strikes a more serious note. Upon its return, the rondo theme is transformed into a breathtaking “Presto” passage, slipping into a foreign key (A Major) as an unexpected detour. The home key is, then, triumphantly reestablished in a lengthy and increasingly exuberant coda. The first public performance of the “Archduke” trio took place at the Viennese hotel Zum römischen Kaiser (Roman Emperor) on April 11, 1814. Beethoven himself was at the piano in what remained his final appearance as a performer. His

11 ARTISTS

Born in modern day Lvov, Poland, Mr. Ax contributed to an international Emanuel Ax (piano) moved to Winnipeg, Emmy Award-winning BBC documentary Canada, with his family when he was a commemorating the Holocaust, which young boy. Mr. Ax made his New York debut aired on the 60th anniversary of the on the Young Concert Artists Series, and liberation of Auschwitz. In 2013, Mr. Ax’s in 1974 won the first recording Variations received the Echo International Piano Competition in . Klassik Award for “Solo Recording of the In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Year” (19th-century music/Piano). Young Concert Artists followed four years Mr. Ax is a Fellow of the American later by the Avery Fisher Prize. Academy of Arts and Sciences and Highlights of the current season include holds honorary doctorates of music from a European summer festivals tour with Skidmore College, , and the and long-time . For more information collaborative partner , an about Mr. Ax’s career, please visit Asian tour with the London Symphony and EmanuelAx.com. Sir , and US concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Lahav Shani, Leonidas Kavakos (violin) is recognized as in addition to three concerts with regular a violinist and artist of rare quality, known partners Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma for his virtuosity, superb musicianship, at Carnegie Hall in March 2020. Further and the integrity of his playing. By age participation in Carnegie Hall’s celebration 21, Mr. Kavakos had won three major of Beethoven’s 250th birthday will competitions: the Sibelius (1985), culminate in a solo recital in May preceded Paganini, and Naumburg competitions by recitals in Madison, Santa Barbara, (1988). This success led to his recording Orange County, Washington, Las Vegas, the original Sibelius Violin Concerto and Colorado Springs. With orchestra (1903–4), the first recording of this work he will be heard in Houston, Baltimore, in history, which won Gramophone’s Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco, Los “Concerto of the Year” award in 1991. Angeles, New York, Montreal, Philadelphia, Mr. Kavakos was awarded Gramophone Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. In Europe, he “Artist of the Year” in 2014, and is the 2017 will be heard with orchestras in London, winner of the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Frankfurt, Berlin, Rome, Zurich, Rotterdam, Denmark’s most prestigious musical honor. and Tel Aviv. Highlights of Mr. Kavakos’ current Mr. Ax has been a Sony Classical season include the Sony release of exclusive recording artist since 1987, his his recording of the Beethoven Violin most recent being Brahms trios with Yo-Yo Concerto play- with the Ma and Leonidas Kavakos. He has received Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Grammy Awards for the second and third a US tour with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma volumes of his cycle of Haydn’s piano performing Beethoven trios, concluding sonatas. He has also made a series of with three concerts at Carnegie Hall. Grammy-winning recordings with Yo-Yo Ma In North America, he performs with the of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for symphony orchestras of Chicago, Houston, cello and piano. In the 2004–05 season, Philadelphia, and Montreal, as well as with

12 the Munich Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, Yo-Yo Ma’s (cello) multi-faceted career and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in is testament to his enduring belief in Boston. In Europe, he performs with the culture’s power to generate trust and Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony understanding. Whether performing new Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw or familiar works from the cello repertoire, Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, and collaborating with communities and Orchestre de Paris. He performs in institutions to explore culture’s role Asia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, in society, or engaging in unexpected Singapore Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, musical forms, Mr. Ma strives to and Taiwan Philharmonic, and will give foster connections that stimulate the recitals in Shanghai and Xinghai. imagination and reinforce our humanity. Mr. Kavakos has developed close With partners from around the world relationships with many of the world’s and across disciplines, he creates most prestigious orchestras, and more programs that stretch the boundaries recently, he has also built a strong profile of genre and tradition to explore music- as a conductor. This season, he will making as a means not only to share and conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique express meaning, but also as a model for de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie- the cultural collaboration he considers Orchester Berlin, Czech Philharmonic, and essential to a strong society. It was this the Rai National Symphony Orchestra in belief that inspired him to establish Torino. Silkroad, a collective of artists from around Mr. Kavakos has an exclusive contract the world who create music that engages with Sony Classical, for whom he has their many traditions. previously recorded the Mendelssohn In August 2018, Mr. Ma began a new Violin Concerto and Mozart’s Violin journey, setting out to perform Johann Concertos play-conducting with the Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo cello Camerata Salzburg. In 2017, he joined in one sitting in 36 locations around the Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax for a recording world, iconic venues that encompass of Brahms trios. Upcoming recording our cultural heritage, our current projects include the complete Bach solo creativity, and the challenges of peace Sonatas and Partitas. His other recordings and understanding that will shape our include Virtuoso, Brahms violin sonatas future. Each concert will be an example with , the Brahms Violin of culture’s power to create moments Concerto with the Gewandhausorchester of shared understanding, as well as an Leipzig, and the complete Beethoven invitation to a larger conversation about Violin Sonatas with Enrico Pace, all on culture, society, and the themes that the Decca label. Mr. Kavakos plays the connect us all. “Willemotte” Stradivarius violin of 1734. For more information, please visit leonidaskavakos.com.

13 THE NEW 2020 LINCOLN CORSAIR

399O JACKSON RD, ANN ARBOR, MI 481O3 ( 734 ) 668-61OO SesiLincoln.com

14 UMS ARCHIVES

Tonight’s concert marks Emanuel Ax’s seventh appearance under UMS auspices, following his UMS debut in July 1978 in a recital in Rackham Auditorium. He most recently appeared under UMS auspices in April 2018 in a solo recital in Hill Auditorium. Leonidas Kavakos makes his third UMS appearance this evening, following his UMS debut in November 2014 in a recital with pianist Yuja Wang in Hill Auditorium. He most recently appeared under UMS auspices in April 2016 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of . Yo-Yo Ma makes his 16th appearance under UMS auspices tonight, following his UMS debut in April 1982 in Hill Auditorium with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Ormandy. In March 2013, Mr. Ma received the UMS Distinguished Artist Award with the Silk Road Ensemble. Mr. Ma most recently appeared under UMS auspices in February 2019 in Hill Auditorium with his presentation Culture, Understanding, and Survival, followed by a “Day of Action” comprised of activities with community leaders in Flint.

15 THANK YOU TO SUPPORTERS OF TONIGHT’S PERFORMANCE

Presenting Sponsors Bank of Ann Arbor Max Wicha and Sheila Crowley Michigan Medicine

Supporting Sponsors Sesi Lincoln Robert O. and Darragh H. Weisman

MAY WE ALSO RECOMMEND...

3/14 Hélène Grimaud 4/2 Benjamin Grosvenor 4/23 Chineke! Orchestra with Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Tickets available at www.ums.org.

ON THE EDUCATION HORIZON...

3/13 UMS 101: Jazz – Tarek Yamani Trio (Michigan League, Michigan Room, 6­:00–7:30 pm) Paid registration required at http://bit.ly/UMSClasses (case sensitive). 3/18 Post-Performance Artist Q&A: ANTHEM (Jam Handy, 2900 E. Grand Boulevard, Detroit) Must have a ticket to that evening’s performance to attend. 4/23 UMS 101: Classical Music – Chineke! Orchestra (Hill Auditorium Lower Lobby, 6­:00–7:30 pm) Paid registration required at http://bit.ly/UMSClasses (case sensitive).

Educational events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.