CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS Salzburg Chamber Soloists Sunday, September 26, 2004, 3 pm Hertz Hall Lavard Skou–Larsen, artistic director, leader, violin Lena Maria Elisabeth Neudauer, violin soloist Violin I Lavard Skou Larsen, leader Veronika Risa Schuchter, Nelson Diaz Guerrero, Lena Maria Elisabeth Neudauer, Antoine Bareil Violin II Ullrich Matthias Benedikt Poschner, principal Zoltan Laluska, Irene Castiblanco Briceno, Iveta Schwarzova Viola Firmian Tobias Lermer, principal Lena Fankhauser, Denes Ludmany Violoncello Detlef Johannes Willi Mielke, principal Adriane Ritzmann Savytzky, Claudia Hoedl Double Bass Stefano Schiavolin

PROGRAM Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Serenade for Strings in C minor, K. 406 (K. 516b) Allegro Andante Minuetto in Canone – Trio in Canone al rovescio – Minuetto in Canone Allegro Felix Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in D minor Allegro Andante Allegro INTERMISSION Antonín Dvo˘rák Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22 Moderato Tempo di Valse Scherzo: Vivace Larghetto Finale: Allegro vivace

This performance has been made possible, in part, by the Friends of Cal Performances. Cal Performances thanks the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation for their generous support.

C AL PERFORMANCES 13 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES

Serenade for Strings in C minor, The Serenade for Eight Winds in C minor K. 406 (K. 516b) on which the String Quintet, K. 406, is based Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) occupies a special place in Mozart’s output as his The year 1786 was the zenith of Mozart’s career only piece of “entertainment” music in a minor in Vienna. Perhaps because of intrigue but more key. The occasion and patron for whom it was probably because the geometrical expansion of written are unknown, and even the exact date of deep expression in his newest music did not suit its composition is uncertain. It is possible that the fickle taste of the Viennese, his local popu- he referred to it in a letter of July 27, 1782, larity began to wane. Though he tried to econo- where he wrote that he was composing a Nacht mize by moving from his spacious apartment in Musique—a “night music” or serenade—“in a the Schullerstrasse (now a Mozart museum, just great hurry.” Though he did not identify the behind the Stephansdom, known as the “Figaro work completely, it may well have been this ser- House”) to a smaller flat at 224 Landstrasse, he enade, since he stated that the new composition could not abandon his taste for fine clothes and was for winds. It has been conjectured that the elegant entertaining, and took on debts, several work was written for the composer’s musician of which were to the textile merchant Michael friends in Vienna, either as listeners or as per- Puchberg, a fellow Mason. On April 2, 1787, an formers. Certainly the dramatic nature of the announcement signed by Mozart appeared in music and the elaborate technical machinations operatic love scene. The third movement is one spent several hours in private tutoring with the the Wiener Zeitung stating that he was offering of the third movement indicate that it was not of Mozart’s most elaborate contrapuntal inven- best available teachers. When his musical talents for sale by subscription three new quintets, intended for a simple outdoor party, but rather tions. The minuet proper is in strict canon (i.e., became obvious in his early years, he was first “finely and correctly written,” which would for a sophisticated audience that would give it exact imitation, like a round) between the first given instruction in piano, and soon thereafter be available at Puchberg’s establishment after the same attention usually accorded to a fine violin and the cello, with the other instruments in theory and composition by the distinguished July 1st. The intention was apparently that symphony or quartet. It was virtually Mozart’s filling in the harmony. The central Trio, occu- pedagogue Carl Friedrich Zelter. Mendelssohn’s Puchberg would keep the proceeds to repay a final essay in the form of entertainment music, pying yet another level of polyphonic complex- earliest dated composition is a cantata complet- debt. To create the promised trio of works succeeded only by Eine kleine Nachtmusik ity, is written in canone al rovescio, or “canon in ed on January 3, 1820, three weeks before his (18th-century publishing practice demanded (K. 525) and The Musical Joke (K. 522). In it, reverse.” The new canon melody of the Trio is 11th birthday, though this work was almost cer- that instrumental works usually be issued in sets he heralded the deepening spiritual resources played both in its original version and upside- tainly preceded by others whose exact dates are of three, six, or 12), Mozart created anew of such later works as his Piano Concerto in down, in mirror image, by the four voices of vio- not recorded. To display the boy’s blossoming the quintets in C major (K. 515) and G minor C minor (K. 491) and Don Giovanni, and even lins, first viola, and cello. This pedanticism musical abilities, the Mendelssohn mansion was (K. 516), and arranged the magnificent Wind looked forward to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, (derived from Mozart’s careful study of the turned into a twice-monthly concert hall featur- Octet in C minor (K. 388) for five strings also in C minor. works of Bach) can be clearly heard in the ing the precocious youngster’s achievements. A (K. 406, corrected to K. 516b in Einstein’s revi- Of the emotional milieu of this composi- music, but, as with all of his compositions, it large summer house was fitted as an auditorium sions of Köchel’s catalog). The quintets were tion, Alfred Einstein wrote, “If G minor is the results in a beautiful, euphonious whole that seating several hundred people, and every other completed in April and May during a hectic fatalistic key for Mozart, then C minor is the dra- may be enjoyed without the slightest bother Sunday morning the city’s finest musicians were interruption in the composition of Don matic one, the key of contrasts between aggres- about its compositional technique. The finale is brought in to perform both repertory works and Giovanni (those same weeks saw Mozart’s only sive unisons and lyric passages. The lyric quality a set of variations on a 16-measure theme the latest flowers of Mendelssohn’s creativity. meeting with Beethoven when the 16-year-old is always overtaken by gloomy outbursts.” The announced at the outset by the first violin. The These matinees—complemented by an elegant Bonn musician came to Vienna for a fortnight first movement opens with just such an “aggres- dark shadow of C minor passes from the music luncheon—began in 1822, when Mendelssohn of lessons, and the death of Papa Leopold sive unison” in long note values that establishes in the closing pages for a high-spirited galop in was 13 years old. He selected the programs, led Mozart in Salzburg), but the number of sub- the deeply emotional nature of the entire work. C major to the end. the rehearsals, appeared as piano soloist, played scribers was so small that Mozart placed anoth- Following a brief silence (Mozart’s characteristic violin in the chamber pieces, and even conduct- er advertisement in the Viennese press on marker for this important structural junction), Violin Concerto in D minor ed, though in those early years he was still too June 25th. This, too, was largely ignored, and the lyrical second theme is played in the brighter Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) short to be seen by the players in the back rows the project was dropped, though Artaria & Co. tonality of E-flat major. The development is In addition to being born with the proverbial unless he stood on a stool. With sister Fanny par- brought out K. 515 in 1789 and K. 516 a year given over to sighing figures derived from the silver spoon, Felix Mendelssohn was virtually ticipating as pianist, sister Rebecca as singer, and later. Mozart returned to the string quintet form main theme. The recapitulation recalls the the- bestowed a golden baton as a natal gift. His par- brother Paul as cellist, it is little wonder that invi- in December 1790 and April 1791 with works matic material from the exposition, but main- ents’ household was among the most cultured tations to these happy gatherings were among in D major (K. 593) and E-flat (K. 614) for the tains the dark color of the minor tonality to the and affluent in all of Berlin, but his family saw the most eagerly sought and highly prized of any wealthy Hungarian amateur violinist Johann stern closing measures of the movement. to it that his privilege was well balanced by in Berlin society. By 1825, Mendelssohn had Tost. They were the last pieces of chamber The second movement is a lyrical song in discipline and responsibility. Young Felix arose written over 80 works for these concerts, includ- music that he wrote. sonata form with the moonlit overtones of an at 5:00 every morning (6:00 on Sunday), and ing operas and operettas, string quartets and

14 C AL PERFORMANCES C AL PERFORMANCES 15 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES other chamber pieces, concertos, motets, and a ments of the Mozartian model, though there are The members of the grants committee were Symphony No. 5, and the lovely Serenade for series of 13 symphonies for strings. everywhere evidences of the young composer’s a most distinguished lot—Johann Herbeck, Strings all appeared with inspired speed. A frequent participant in the Mendelssohn distinctive techniques and elegant manner of director of the Court Opera; the renowned crit- The Serenade for Strings, Op. 22, written in Sunday matinees was Eduard Rietz, a close expression. The work opens with a long orches- ic Eduard Hanslick; and the titan of Viennese only 11 days in May 1875, is one of Dvorák˘ ’s friend of young Felix and a violinist of excellent tral introduction that presents the first move- music himself, Johannes Brahms. Their report most popular compositions. In his classic study talent and taste. Rietz, born in Berlin in 1802 ment’s two dominant thematic ideas: a falling noted that Dvorák˘ possessed “genuine and orig- of the composer’s music, Otakar Sourek noted (just seven years before Mendelssohn), was the scalar figure in quick notes followed by the tonic inal gifts” and that his works displayed “an that the piece is “mainly cast in a poetic mood, son of a musical family—his father was a musi- chord broken into a rising arpeggio, and, two- undoubted talent, but in a way that as yet with an overtone of ardent longing, yet not cian at the Prussian court; his brother, Julius, a dozen measures later, a gentler motive that remains formless and unbridled.” They deemed altogether devoid of a certain cheerful gaiety.” noted cellist, conductor, and composer, succeed- moves gradually upward by small steps. The vio- his work worthy of encouragement and, on As its name implies, this work is lighter in ed Mendelssohn as director of the Leipzig lin enters and provides flowing embellishments their recommendation, the Minister of Culture, character, simpler in structure, and less weighty Gewandhaus concerts upon the composer’s around these thematic materials. There is a cer- Karl Stremayer, awarded the young musician in argument than the larger orchestral genres. death in 1847 and edited his complete works for tain exuberantly youthful showing-off in the 400 gulden, the highest stipend bestowed under The gentle opening movement is cast in a three- publication in the 1870s. Mendelssohn began lengthy and adventurous development section, the program. It represented Dvorák˘ ’s first recog- part form whose outer sections grow from a violin lessons in 1816 with Carl Wilhelm but Mendelssohn’s innate sense of good taste nition outside his homeland, and his initial con- short, songful phrase presented immediately by Henning, a respected member of the Berlin and formal balance exerted itself by omitting tact with Brahms and Hanslick, both of whom the second violins. The movement’s central por- Opera orchestra, but he soon thereafter request- the gentle second theme from the recapitula- would prove to be powerful influences on his tion is based on a melodic motive that tours up ed that his instruction be taken over by Rietz. In tion. The young composer may have regarded career through their example, artistic guidance, and down the chords of the harmony in trip- appreciation and friendship, he composed the the Andante, whose form and forward direction and professional help. An excited burst of com- ping rhythms. A sweetly nostalgic waltz is pre- Violin Concerto in D minor for Rietz in 1822, are rather wayward and diffuse, as an experi- positional activity followed during the months sented as the second movement. The third and three years later presented him with the ment in harmony, a way of seeing how chro- after Dvorák˘ learned of his award, in February movement is a fully developed scherzo with a superb Octet for Strings as a birthday gift. maticism, modulation, and passages in minor 1875: the String Quartet in G major, the Mor- bright, good-natured main theme and interven- (Young Felix is thought to have played one of keys could heighten the emotional effect of the avian Duets for soprano and tenor (it was these ing lyrical episodes. The deepest emotions of the the viola parts at the work’s premiere in D-major tonality in which the movement delectable pieces that, when he submitted them Serenade are plumbed in the Larghetto, a ten- October.) It was Rietz who wrote out Men- begins and ends. The finale is a nimble rondo to support an application for another govern- derly romantic song of almost Tchaikovskyan delssohn’s study score of the St. Matthew Passion of featherstitched figurations and buoyant spir- ment grant three years later, caused Brahms to introspection. Reminiscences of this music and from Bach’s original manuscript (which Zelter its that seems to defy its firmly maintained recommend him to the publisher Simrock), of the opening movement occur during the had rescued from a cheese monger who intend- minor mode. the Piano Trio in B-flat, the Piano Quartet vivacious finale, a lively folk dance brimming ed to use it as wrapping paper), and who both in D major, the String Quintet in E-flat, the with bubbling high spirits. copied out the parts for his friend’s epochal Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22 —© 2004 Dr. Richard E. Rodda revival of the work in 1829 and acted as con- Antonín Dvorák˘ (1841–1904) certmaster, refusing payment for any of his serv- In the mid-1860s, Emperor Franz Joseph, in a ices. Rietz and Mendelssohn remained close, magnanimous burst of generosity, established ABOUT THE ARTISTS and Felix was deeply grieved by Eduard’s pre- a State Commission to award grants to aid mature death from consumption in January struggling artists in the eastern provinces of the The Salzburg Chamber Soloists were formed Bonucci, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Giora Feid- 1832, at the age of 30. “He was my favorite vio- Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the summer of in 1991, when violinist Lavard Skou-Larsen and man, and Alexander Lonquich. linist,” Mendelssohn wrote. “The knowledge 1874, less than a year after his marriage and just a handful of colleagues decided to form an From 1992 to 1995, Boris Belkin was artis- that there was such a man in the world, one in as the newlyweds were expecting their first unusual ensemble. The aim of the group was to tic director of the Salzburg Chamber Soloists. whom you could repose, and who lived to child, the young Bohemian composer Antonín perform orchestral chamber music with the free- During his tenure, the orchestra released two love you, and whose wishes and aims were iden- Dvorák˘ decided to apply for the prize to supple- dom of soloists. Skou-Larsen combed Europe CDs of works by Mozart. tical with your own—that is all over. It is the ment his meager income as organist at Prague’s and the rest of the world until he had found a In 1993, the Soloists made their first major most severe blow I have ever received. Never St. Adalbert Church. He first presented himself group of first-class musicians. Their inspiration tour of South America. Another major success can I forget him.” As a memorial to Rietz, he at the Prague City Hall to obtain official certifi- was the unforgettable Sandor Végh, whose tal- were the group’s concerts at “La Folle Journée composed the touching Adagio that became the cation of his poverty, and then gathered togeth- ent and charisma had greatly influenced many Mozart” in Nantes, France, in February 1995. slow movement of the String Quintet in er a hefty stack of his recent scores—the Third members of the ensemble. That same year, the ensemble completed its sec- A major, Op. 18. and Fourth Symphonies; the Dvur Kralové Songs; In only its first year of existence, the or- ond tour of South America, and was cited by Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in D minor the overtures to the operas Alfred and King and chestra toured the United States and Canada. critics as the best foreign orchestra to perform at of 1822 (the E-minor Concerto, one of the Charcoal Burner; a later-destroyed Romeo and Thanks to the success of this tour, invitations the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, that season. most beloved and frequently performed works Juliet overture; a piano quintet; and a string soon followed to numerous concerts, featuring Since then, the orchestra has performed in in the violinist’s repertory, was written 22 years quartet—and sent them with his application for such international celebrities as Boris Belkin, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Philhar- later) comprises the conventional three move- assistance to Vienna. Mischa Maisky, Michel Dalberto, Rodolfo monie (Berlin), the Théâtre des Champs Elysées

16 C AL PERFORMANCES C AL PERFORMANCES 17 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

(Paris), the Tonhalle (Zurich), and other impor- Lena Neudauer (violin) was tant concert halls. born in Munich in 1984 and The Salzburg Chamber Soloists are regular began violin lessons shortly guests at various festivals, including Academia before her fourth birthday Chigiana in Siena, the Turku Musikfestival in with Helge Thelen; later, she Finland, the Mozart Festival in Würzburg, the studied with Sonja Korkeala. Schubertiade in Roskilde, and the Salzburger From 1995 to 2003, she was Kulturtage. In 2001, the orchestra was invited a student of Helmut Zehet- to Lebanon to perform the final concert of the mair at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and of his Baalbeck Festival. son, Thomas Zehetmair, at the University of In January 2002, the ensemble toured Ger- Arts in Graz, Austria. Since 2003, she has stud- many with actress Senta Berger, performing a ied with Christoph Poppen in Munich. At age program entitled 8 Seasons, featuring music by six, she also started to take piano lessons with Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla. Viera Fischer. Master classes with Felix Andriev- sky, Ana Chumachenco, Ljerko Spiller, and Lavard Skou-Larsen (artistic Wolfgang Marschner completed her education. director, violin, leader) was Neudauer made her first concerto appear- born in Porto Alegre, Brazil. ances at age 11, and in 1996, she toured Japan He first took violin lessons with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. at the age of four from his Many concerts followed in Germany, Austria, father, Gunnar. Later, he France, Russia, Bulgaria, and Switzerland. In studied with Ernst Moravec 1999, she played the Sibelius Violin Concerto in in Vienna. an ORF-TV production in Graz. In 2001, she Skou-Larsen was admitted to the Mozart- performed music by Mozart at the Mozart- eum in Salzburg at age 14 to study with Helmut woche in Salzburg. Zehetmair, and earned a performance diploma Neudauer scored a great success at the 4th with distinction. He later completed a postgrad- International Violin Competition “Leopold uate diploma program under Sandor Végh. Mozart” in Augsburg, Germany, in November Skou-Larsen has won many prizes, both 1999, where she won four major prizes. as soloist and chamber musician, including the Concertino Prague and the Sergio Lorenzi in Triest. He was a member of the Camerata Aca- United States Representation demica under Sandor Végh from 1983–86. Marianna Schmocker Artists International Skou-Larsen has been teaching violin at the Houston, TX Mozarteum since 1991, the same year he found- ed the Salzburg Chamber Soloists. Ultimo Artists Skou-Larsen has been invited to perform 3123 S. Braeswood Blvd. with leading symphony and chamber orchestras Houston, TX 77025 in Europe and South America—as leader, con- Tel: 713.666.4933 certmaster, and conductor—including the Euro- Fax: 713.666.4260 pean Union Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta [email protected] Amsterdam, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Orchestre de Chambre de Geneve, Orchestra Sinfonica de Porto Alegre, and many others. In 1997, he and pianist Alexander Müllen- bach released the first-ever recordings of music by the Brazilian composer Camargo M. Guarnieris.

18 C AL PERFORMANCES