WEEK THREE TIMELESS MASTERWORKS Sunday Afternoon, August 19, 2018 at 3:00 Spa Little Theatre THE COMPOSER’S WORLD Tuesday Evening, August 21, 2018 at 8:00 Spa Little Theatre

WWW.SPAC.ORG WWW.CHAMBERMUSICSOCIETY.ORG A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s 2018 Season! As I begin my second summer in Saratoga, I am so grateful for the community’s enthusiastic embrace of our new initiatives, new partnerships and new collaborations. This season you can expect exhilarating performances from our beloved resident companies, the return of new “classics” like “Live at the Jazz Bar,” “SPAC on Stage” and “Caffe Lena @ SPAC,” and the Saratoga debuts of the National Ballet of Cuba and Trinity Irish Dance Company. SPAC and its home, the Spa State Park, represent a perfect confluence of manmade beauty and natural beauty and it is the inspiration of place that made us want to explore the interplay between the natural world and the world of art, the nexus between Art & Cosmos. This year, we launch the Out of this World festival, kicked off by a performance of Holst’s The Planets with spectacular NASA Space footage, followed by star-gazing around the reflecting pool. Audiences will engage with roaming astronomers, experience virtual reality space expeditions and even attend a special children’s chamber concert that examines the creative connection between Einstein and Mozart. And we introduce a new SPAC Speakers series with thought-provoking “stars” from the worlds of space, science and the arts. There are so many other new experiences and surprises in store. We welcome you to a new summer of discovery.

Elizabeth Sobol PRESIDENT AND CEO

CMS AT SPAC A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Board of Directors, thank you for your support and attendance at this performance. The strength and progress of SPAC has always depended on the contributions of its audiences and the many sponsors, donors and partners who recognize SPAC’s impact on the cultural and economic life of this region. Thanks to you, as we lift the curtain on our season, we do so in a strong position financially, artistically and as an institution. Last season, we welcomed Elizabeth Sobol to Saratoga Springs as SPAC’s new president and CEO. In less than two years, Elizabeth has implemented a new vision and path for the Center with innovative programming and an increased emphasis on affordability, accessibility and community outreach. SPAC’s reduced $30 amphitheater ticket and the expanded Fidelity Kids in Free program welcomed hundreds of new guests who had previously never been to the Center. Educational programming such as Classical Kids, Summer Nights at SPAC and the Performance Project have expanded exponentially, reaching more than 23,000 students in over 70 schools. These are just a few of the successes that we will continue to build upon. Looking ahead to the future, I’d also like to extend a special thanks to New York State for its capital investment of $1.75 million to rehabilitate and upgrade SPAC’s amphitheater ramps, lighting and other high priority infrastructure. The new project is slated to be completed in advance of the 2019 season and is part of the Board’s and SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol’s vision to strengthen our partnerships and make critical investments into our facilities for generations to come. As always, your presence and support is what makes this season possible. We invite you to join us often this summer to experience world-class artistry in our world-class venue.

Ron Riggi CHAIRMAN

CMS AT SPAC TIMELESS MASTERWORKS Sunday Afternoon, August 19, 2018 at 3:00 Spa Little Theatre

ALESSIO BAX, piano TARA HELEN O'CONNOR, fute SEAN LEE, violin ROMIE DE GUISE-LANGLOIS, clarinet MATTHEW LIPMAN, AYANO KATAOKA, percussion MIHAI MARICA,

WOLFGANG AMADEUS Trio in E-fat major for Clarinet, Viola, MOZART and Piano, K. 498, “Kegelstatt” (1786) (1756-1791) Andante Menuetto Rondeaux: Allegretto DE GUISE-LANGLOIS, LIPMAN, BAX

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS Assobio a Játo (The Jet Whistle) for Flute (1887-1959) and Cello (1950) Allegro non troppo Adagio Vivo O'CONNOR, MARICA

STEVEN MACKEY Micro-Concerto for Solo Percussion, (b. 1956) Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (1999) Part 1: Chords and Fangled Drumset Part 2: Interlude No. 1—Vibes Solo Part 3: Click, Clak, Clank Part 4: Interlude No. 2—Marimba and Cello Part 5: Tune in Seven KATAOKA, O'CONNOR, DE GUISE-LANGLOIS, LEE, MARICA, BAX

—INTERMISSION—

ROBERT SCHUMANN Quartet in E-fat major for Piano, Violin, (1810-1856) Viola, and Cello, Op. 47 (1842) Sostenuto assai—Allegro ma non troppo Scherzo: Molto vivace Andante cantabile Finale: Vivace BAX, LEE, LIPMAN, MARICA

PLEASE TURN OFF CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES. Photographing, sound recording, or videotaping this event is prohibited. NOTES ON THE PROGRAM Trio in E-fat major for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, K. 498, “Kegelstatt”

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART The sobriquet “Kegelstatt” has Born January 27, 1756 in Salzburg. long attached itself to the Clarinet Died December 5, 1791 in . Trio, though it did not originate with

Composed in 1786. Mozart. “Kegel” in German indicates Duration: 20 minutes the game of nine-pin bowling (known as “skittles” in English) and “statt” the “place” where it was played, a Among Mozart’s most loyal friends pastime that enjoyed considerable during his last years in Vienna were popularity in Vienna during Mozart’s the members of the Jacquin family. day. The E-fat Trio, which Mozart The paterfamilias, Nikolaus Joseph entered into his own catalog of von Jacquin was a distinguished compositions on August 5, 1786, was botanist and professor of chemistry probably not composed while he at Vienna University who instilled was bowling, but the Twelve Duos the love of music in his children, for Horns (K. 496a), fnished just Joseph Franz (21 in 1787), Gottfried one week earlier, were: he noted on (19), and Franzisca (18). Mozart was that manuscript that it was “untern fond of the Jacquins and he visited Kegel schreiben”—written while them frequently to share their bowling. (The apparent anomaly of dinner, play his music for them, and the delicate task of musical notation keep Franzisca up with her lessons combined with a physical sporting when she proved to be one of his activity might be explained because most talented piano students. For Mozart usually worked out his the entertainment of the household, compositions completely in his head Mozart composed the Trio in E-fat before committing them, without major for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano mistakes or revisions, to paper, a (K. 498) in August 1786. He wrote the clerical activity whose drudgery viola part for himself (he refused he was known to have alleviated to touch the violin after moving with games, schnapps, or friendly to Vienna, always playing viola conversation.) The earliest source at his frequent for the “Kegelstatt” subtitle appears evenings) and the clarinet part for to be the pioneering 1862 catalog Anton Stadler, another of his fellow of Mozart’s works by Austrian Freemasons and a superb performer musicologist Ludwig von Köchel. who later inspired Mozart's Clarinet Köchel did not have access to the Quintet (K. 581) and Clarinet manuscript of either the Horn Duos Concerto (K. 622). or the Trio, so worked these nearly

CMS AT SPAC SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 contemporaneous compositions into musical thoughts. In its unstinting his chronological list according to concentration on the turn motive anecdotal information available to pronounced by the piano in the very him—in other words, he may have frst measure, the opening movement mixed them up. shows its indebtedness to Joseph Franklin Cohen, Principal Haydn’s technique of thematic Clarinet Emeritus of The Cleveland development in sonata forms, which Orchestra, proposed a delightful had also served as the model and alternative to the above conjecture. inspiration for Mozart’s “Haydn” The theme that begins the trio and Quartets of the three preceding courses continually through the years. The clarinet introduces a first movement comprises a strong subsidiary theme, a sort of proto- opening note followed by a waltz, which does not, however, keep four-note turn figure and four the music from referring stubbornly slower descending notes. Nine to the opening phrase. The second notes total, the same as the number movement is among the longest and of pins in Kegel, whose rhythmic most serious in expression of all progression may reflect the impact 18th-century minuets. It contrasts of the ball, the initial explosion of the limpid grace of the clarinet with the pins, and the lingering fall of the rather gruff interjections of the the few remaining ones. A strike! viola, and so much looks forward to Perhaps the “Kegelstatt” Trio was, the encroaching age of Romanticism after all, a souvenir of one of the that Eric Blom said it revealed “a game-loving Mozart’s many non- kind of Emily Brontë-like smoldering musical diversions. passion.” The last movement is a As befts a piece composed for melodically rich rondo in which the friends, the instruments participate clarinet alone presents the theme, on an equal basis in the trio, viola plays it on its frst return, and exchanging, complementing, viola and clarinet together give its and accompanying each others’ last recurrence.

Assobio a Játo (The Jet Whistle) for Flute and Cello

HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos Born March 5, 1887 in Rio de Janeiro. had little formal training. He learned Died there December 17, 1959. the cello from his father and earned

Composed in 1950. a living as a young man playing with Duration: 12 minutes popular bands, from which he derived much of his musical background.

CMS AT SPAC SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 From his earliest years, Villa-Lobos promote his own works and those of was enthralled with the indigenous other Brazilian composers. songs and dances of his native land, Assobio a Játo (The Jet Whistle) for and he made several trips into the Flute and Cello, composed in New Brazilian interior to study the native York in 1950, was one of a number music and ceremonies. Beginning of chamber and solo works from with his earliest works, around his later years in which Villa-Lobos 1910, his music shows the infuence explored the areas of virtuosity and of the melodies, rhythms, and extended techniques for traditional sonorities he discovered. He began instruments. The piece is in a to compose prolifcally, and, though Classical three-movement form (fast– often ridiculed for his daring new slow–fast), and exhibits the tuneful style by other Brazilian musicians, infuence of Brazilian popular and he attracted the attention of the folk music that was the inspirational pianist Artur Rubinstein, who helped and stylistic engine which drove all him receive a Brazilian government of Villa-Lobos’s output. Assobio a grant in 1923 that enabled him to Játo takes its curious title from the spend several years in Paris, where effect at the very end in which the his international reputation was futist blows air directly into the established. Upon his permanent instrument to produce a rushing, return to Rio de Janeiro in 1930, whistling sound reminiscent of a Villa-Lobos became an important jet engine. During the 1950s, when fgure in public musical education, Villa-Lobos was annually making trips urging the cultivation of Brazilian to France and the but songs and dances in the schools. before commercial jet travel was He made his frst visit to the United available, perhaps this piece was a States in 1944, and spent the musical sign of his eager longing for remaining years of his life traveling in a quicker, more modern way of America and to conduct and air transportation.

Micro-Concerto for Solo Percussion, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano

STEVEN MACKEY “I imagine ... a kind of vernacular Born February 14, 1956 in music from a culture that doesn’t

Frankfurt, . really exist,” says Steven Mackey,

Composed in 1999. one of America’s most adventurous Premiered on November 3, 1999 in and admired composers. Mackey by percussionist was born in 1956 in Frankfurt, Daniel Druckman and the New York New Music Ensemble. Germany to American parents but Duration: 20 minutes grew up in northern California,

CMS AT SPAC SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 Guggenheim, Lieberson, and MICRO-CONCERTO Tanglewood fellowships, a second EXPLORES A VARIETY OF Friedheim Award, Stoeger Prize MORE COMPLEX ROLES from the Chamber Music Society of THAT THE INDIVIDUAL , several awards from CAN PLAY IN RELATION TO the American Academy of Arts and THE ENSEMBLE Letters, Princeton University’s frst Distinguished Teaching Award, 2012 where he excelled in sports and Grammy for Best Small Ensemble imitating Jimmy Hendrix on his Performance (for Lonely Motel), and electric guitar. Mackey entered the many commissions. University of California at Davis Mackey wrote of Micro-Concerto as a physics major but switched (1999), “When I was a young to music after being overwhelmed composer in the mid-1980s, the by Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring; so-called ‘Pierrot’ ensemble (fute, he graduated summa cum laude clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, in 1978 with a degree in guitar and named after Schoenberg's Pierrot lute but with the ambition of being a Lunaire), with or without added composer. He did his graduate work percussion, was the ubiquitous ‘mod in composition at SUNY/Stony Brook music’ group…. Micro-Concerto (M.A., 1980) and Brandeis University explores a variety of more complex (Ph.D., 1985), and was appointed to roles that the individual can play in the Princeton University faculty as relation to the ensemble. In Part 1: soon as he fnished his doctorate; Chords and Fangled Drum Set, the he became a full professor there rhythm is front and center. I imagine in 1993 and is now William Shubael that the piano chords harmonize Conant Professor of Music at the the rhythm instead of the rhythm school. During his frst years at measuring the harmonies. Princeton, Mackey established Part 2: Interlude No. 1—Vibes Solo his distinctive creative voice, is a short, lyrical ballad. which his faculty colleague and In Part 3: Click, Clak, Clank, fellow composer Paul Lansky said the percussionist is neither an “synthesizes the infuences of Led accompanying rhythm section nor Zeppelin, Stravinsky, Monteverdi, leading melody. I think of it as a Muddy Waters, Mahler, Monk, and contextualizing and interpreting others.” Mackey won the prestigious narration spoken in some imaginary Kennedy Center Friedheim Award in tongue-clicking language. 1987 for his Fumeux In Part 4: Interlude No. 2—Marimba Fume (“He who fumes and lets off and Cello, the two instruments steam provokes hot air”), inspired are completely co-dependent; the by a piece of the little-known story is told only by their interplay. 14th-century French composer In some sense they are a single Solage, and he has since received instrument with timbres no more

CMS AT SPAC SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 disparate than the clickers and expression—hitting things in time. samba whistle that are part of the The two interludes are played on percussionist’s instrument in Part big, standard pieces of percussion 3. This movement fows without ‘furniture,’ but the main movements pause into Part 5: Tune in Seven. In focus on small moves and subtle the frst half of the movement, the distinctions. They are full of fussy percussionist is one of six players descriptions of how to play some tossing around a set of variations hand-held ‘toy’ just so. This micro- on the Tune. Toward the end, the management of small muscle groups, percussionist returns to the ‘fangled and the fact that the concerto soloist drum set’ and shifts the focus back to is accompanied by the smallest what must be (along with singing) the orchestra imaginable, suggested most fundamental form of musical the title.”

Quartet in E-fat major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 47

ROBERT SCHUMANN 10th: Worked with application on the Born June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Germany. Third Quartet.” Schumann’s three Died July 29, 1856 in Endenich, string quartets, published together near Bonn. under the single opus number Composed in 1842. 41, were completed in a frenzy of Premiered on December 8, 1844 creative activity within just six weeks, in Leipzig. after which he never wrote another Duration: 29 minutes work in the form. Having nearly exhausted himself, he and his wife, In 1842, Robert Schumann turned Clara, took a holiday at a Bohemian from the orchestral genres spa in August, but he again threw to concentrate with nearly himself into composition soon after monomaniacal zeal on chamber his return: the Piano Quintet (Op. music. Entries in his diary attest to 44) was begun in September and the the frantic pace of his inspiration: Piano Quartet (Op. 47) on October “June 4th: Started the Quartet in A 24th; both were fnished before the minor. June 6th: Finished the Adagio Phantasiestücke for Piano, Violin, of the Quartet. June 8th: My Quartet and Cello (Op. 88) was created in almost fnished. June 11th: A good December. Schumann, drained by day, started a Second Quartet. June three months of feverish work, then 18th: The Second Quartet almost slumped into a state of nervous fnished up to the Variazioni. July 5th: collapse, and he was unable to Finished my Second Quartet. July compose again until the following 8th: Began the Third Quartet. July February, though his achievement

CMS AT SPAC SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 of 1842—the composition of six by recalling the slow introduction. chamber music masterpieces in The Scherzo is a veritable dance fve months—stands as one of for a whirling dervish. To balance the greatest bursts of creative this furious rhythmic exercise, two inspiration in the history of the art. contrasting trios are interspersed The Piano Quartet’s opening in the movement. The principal Allegro, a fully realized sonata form, theme of the Andante, a beautiful gives the main theme frst in a slow, melody enfolding many wide leaps, hymnal, introductory confguration is entrusted to the cello. Following before it is presented in a quick- a central interlude, the viola sings tempo, staccato transformation the theme again with detailed to launch the main part of the embroidery from the violin. The movement. The second theme, Finale is dominated by a plenitude announced in imitation between of fugue. The movement’s thematic piano and strings, begins with abundance is overshadowed only by an accented note followed by a its pervasive imitative texture, which rising scale pattern. The start of Schumann contrived to make sound the development section is marked vivacious rather than pedantic.

© 2018 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

CMS AT SPAC SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 THE COMPOSER'S WORLD Tuesday Evening, August 21, 2018 at 8:00 Spa Little Theatre

ALESSIO BAX, piano MATTHEW LIPMAN, viola LUCILLE CHUNG, piano , cello WU HAN, piano MIHAI MARICA, cello SEAN LEE, violin

CLAUDE DEBUSSY Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915) (1862-1918) Prologue Sérénade Finale MARICA, CHUNG

IGOR STRAVINSKY Petrushka for Piano, Four Hands (1910–11, (1882-1971) rev. 1946) The Shrove-Tide Fair Petrushka’s Room The Moor’s Room The Shrove-Tide Fair Towards Evening CHUNG, BAX

—INTERMISSION—

JOHANNES BRAHMS Quartet No. 1 in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, (1833-1897) and Cello, Op. 25 (1857-61) Allegro Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo Andante con moto Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto WU HAN, LEE, LIPMAN, FINCKEL

PLEASE TURN OFF CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES. Photographing, sound recording, or videotaping this event is prohibited. NOTES ON THE PROGRAM

Sonata for Cello and Piano

CLAUDE DEBUSSY ideas at the moment,” he wrote Born August 2, 1862 in St. Germain-en- to Durand in June, “and, although Laye, near Paris. they are not worth making a fuss Died March 25, 1918 in Paris. about, I should like to cultivate

Composed in 1915. them.” That summer he completed Duration: 12 minutes En blanc et noir for Two Pianos and the Études for Piano, and projected a series of six sonatas for When the Guns of August thundered various instrumental combinations across the European Continent inspired by the old Baroque school in 1914 to plunge the world into of French clavecinists. The first of “the war to end all wars,” Claude the Sonatas, for Cello and Piano, Debussy was already showing was completed quickly in July and signs of the colon cancer that was August 1915 during a holiday at to end his life four years later. Pourville, near Dieppe; the second Apprehensive about his health and one, for Flute, Viola (originally tormented by the military conflict, oboe), and Harp, was also written at his creative production came to a Pourville before Debussy returned virtual halt. Except for a Berceuse to Paris on October 12th. Surgery Héroïque written “as a tribute of in December prevented him from homage to His Majesty King Albert further work until October 1916, I of Belgium and his soldiers,” when he began the Sonata for Violin Debussy wrote no new music in and Piano. A sonata for oboe, horn, 1914. At the end of the year, he and harpsichord never went beyond undertook (with little enthusiasm) the planning stage; the remainder the preparation of a new edition of of the projected set did not get that Chopin’s works to help compensate far. The Violin Sonata, completed Durand for the regular advances in 1917, was his last important the publisher had been sending. work; he premiered the piece on The death of Debussy’s mother May 5, 1917 in Paris with violinist in March 1915 further deepened Gaston Poulet, and played it again his depression. That same month, in September at St.-Jean-de-Luz, however, he appeared in a recital where he was summering. It was his at the Salle Gaveau with the final public appearance. soprano Ninon Vallin, and his mood For the Cello Sonata’s inspiration, brightened somewhat during the style, and temperament, Debussy following months. “I have a few looked back far beyond the

CMS AT SPAC TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 Impressionism of his earlier movements. Debussy said that he works to the elegance, emotional tried in this composition to evoke reserve, and textural clarity of the the spirit of the old Italian commedia music of the French Baroque. In dell’arte, and he achieved this its revival of old techniques and quality most fully in the insouciant modes of expression enfolded in Sérénade that occupies the middle 20th-century harmonic garb, the movement. The finale, a sectional piece is one of the harbingers of structure, not only refers to the the “Neo-Classical” movement that theme of the Prologue, but also hints touched so many composers during at Debussy’s early song Fantoches, the following decades, though its to a text by Verlaine. For all its structure would better be called determined reactionary tendencies, “Neo-Baroque” since it is based however, the Cello Sonata is still so not on the Beethovenian model of essentially imbued with the rich and continuous thematic development misty harmonies marking Debussy’s but rather on the 18th-century most characteristic works that sectional design employed by English musicologist Ernest Newman Leclair and Couperin. The Prologue said it consists “mostly of a fog that opens the Cello Sonata not only opening now and then, and giving us provides a gateway to the work but a momentary glimpse of ravishingly also a thematic source for its later beautiful countryside."

Petrushka for Piano, Four Hands

IGOR STRAVINSKY impresario of the troupe, sought Born June 17, 1882 in Oranienbaum, near to capitalize on that success St. Petersburg. by commissioning Stravinsky to Died April 6, 1971 in New York City. write a second score as soon as Composed in 1910-11, revised in 1946. possible. Stravinsky was already Ballet premiered on June 13, 1911 in prepared with an idea that had Paris, conducted by Pierre Monteux. come to him even before finishing Duration: 39 minutes The Firebird. “I saw in imagination a solemn pagan rite,” he recalled in Stravinsky burst meteor-like onto his Autobiography of 1936. “Sage the musical firmament in 1910 elders, seated in a circle, watched with the brilliant triumph of his a young girl dance herself to first major score for the Ballet death. They were sacrificing her Russe, The Firebird. Immediately, to propitiate the god of spring. Serge Diaghilev, the enterprising Such was the theme of Le Sacre du

CMS AT SPAC TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 Printemps.” Diaghilev was as excited stroll about, entertained by a about this vision as was Stravinsky, hurdy-gurdy man and dancers. and he sent the composer off to The Showman opens the curtains write the score with all possible of his little theater to reveal three haste. Stravinsky continued the story puppets—Petrushka, the Ballerina, in his Autobiography: and the Moor. He charms them into “Before tackling The Rite of life with his fute, and they begin to Spring, which would be a long and dance among the public. diffcult task, I wanted to refresh Tableau II. Petrushka’s Room. myself by composing an orchestral Petrushka suffers greatly from piece in which the piano would his awareness of his grotesque play the most important part—a appearance. He tries to console sort of Konzertstück. In composing himself by falling in love with the the music, I had a distinct picture Ballerina. She visits him in his room, of a puppet, suddenly endowed but she is frightened by his uncouth with life.... Having fnished this antics and fees. piece, I struggled for hours to fnd Tableau III. The Moor’s Room. The a title that would express in a word Moor and the Ballerina meet in his the character of my music and, room. Their love scene is interrupted consequently, the personality of by the arrival of Petrushka, furiously this creature. One day I leaped for jealous. The Moor tosses him out. joy, I had indeed found my title— Tableau IV. The Fair. The festive Petrushka, the immortal and unhappy scene of Tableau I resumes with hero of every fair in all countries. the appearance of a group of Soon afterwards, Diaghilev came to wet-nurses, a performing bear, visit me. He was much astonished Gypsies, a band of coachmen, when, instead of the sketches of and several masqueraders. At the the Sacre, I played him the piece theater, Petrushka rushes out from I had just composed and which behind the curtain, pursued by the later became the second scene of Moor, who strikes his rival down Petrushka. He was so pleased with it with his sword. Petrushka dies. The that he would not leave it alone, and Showman assures the bystanders began persuading me to develop that Petrushka is only a puppet, but the theme of the puppet’s sufferings he is startled to see Petrushka’s and make it into a whole ballet.” jeering ghost appear on the roof of Though his progress on the score the little theater. was interrupted by a serious bout The version of Petrushka for piano, of “nicotine poisoning,” Stravinsky four hands, intended to be used both fnished the work in time for the for rehearsals of the ballet and for scheduled premiere on June 13, 1911. performance of the music in intimate The production was a triumph. spaces, was created simultaneously Tableau I. St. Petersburg, the with the orchestral score in 1911 and Shrove-Tide Fair. Crowds of people revised in 1946.

CMS AT SPAC TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 Quartet No. 1 in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 25

JOHANNES BRAHMS prophecy during the early phase of Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg. his creative life were piano works Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna. and songs, and then chamber music.

Finished compositions did not Composed in 1857-61. Premiered on November 16, 1862 in come easily for Brahms, however, Vienna by the composer as pianist and and he made several attempts to members of the Hellmesberger Quartet. satisfy himself with a chamber piece Duration: 40 minutes before he allowed the publication of his Piano Trio in B major, Op. 8 The high-minded direction of in 1854. (He had destroyed at least Johannes Brahms’s musical career three earlier efforts in that form.) was evident from his teenage The following year, he turned to years—as a lad, he studied the writing quartets for piano, violin, masterpieces of the Austro- viola, and cello, a genre whose only German tradition with Eduard precedents were the two by Mozart Marxsen, the most rigorous piano and a single specimen by Schumann. teacher in his native Hamburg, Work on the quartets did not go and played Bach and Beethoven smoothly, however, and he laid on his earliest recitals; his first one (in C minor, eventually Op. 60) published compositions were not aside for almost two decades, and showy virtuoso trifles but three tinkered with the other two for the ambitious piano sonatas inspired by next half-dozen years in Hamburg Classical models; he was irresistibly and at his part-time post as music drawn to Joseph Joachim and the director for the court Lippe- Schumanns and other of the most Detmold, midway between Frankfurt exalted musicians of his day. When and Hamburg. Schumann hailed him as the savior Brahms was principally based in of German music, the rightful heir Hamburg during those years, usually to the mantle of Beethoven, in staying with his parents, but in 1860, an article in the Neue Zeitschrift when he was 27 years old and eager für Musik (New Music Journal) in to find the quiet and privacy to work 1853, Brahms was only too eager on his compositions, he rented to accept both the renown and the spacious rooms (“a quite charming responsibility inherent in such a flat with a garden,” he said) in the lofty appraisal. He tried sketching suburb of Hamm from one Frau Dr. a symphony as early as 1855 (not Elisabeth Rössing, a neighbor of completing it, however, until two two members of the local women’s decades later), but his principal choir he was then directing. Hamm means of fulfilling Schumann’s was to be his home for the next two

CMS AT SPAC TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 was given by Brahms and the THE TWO PIANO quartet of Joseph Hellmesberger, QUARTETS WERE FINALLY director of the Vienna Conservatory, FINISHED BY EARLY on November 16, 1862, during the AUTUMN 1861 AND composer’s first visit to Vienna. GIVEN A PRIVATE READING The opening movement of the G BY SOME UNKNOWN minor Piano Quartet contains an LOCAL MUSICIANS AND abundance of thematic material CLARA SCHUMANN woven into a seamless continuum through Brahms’s consummate years, and there he worked on the contrapuntal skill. Balanced within Variations on a Theme of Schumann its closely reasoned sonata form are for Piano Duet (Op. 23), Handel pathos and vigor, introspection and Variations (Op. 24), and Piano jubilance, storm and tranquility. The Quartets in G minor (Op. 25) and A second movement (Intermezzo), cast major (Op. 26). Brahms dedicated in the traditional form of scherzo the A major Quartet to his hospitable and trio, is formed from long-spun landlady. The two piano quartets melodies in gentle, rocking rhythms. were finally finished by early autumn The Andante is in a broad three-part 1861 and given a private reading by structure, with the middle section some unknown local musicians and taking on a snappy martial air. The Clara Schumann during her visit to Gypsy Rondo finale is a spirited Hamm shortly thereafter. The public essay much in the style of Brahms’s premiere of the G minor Quartet invigorating Hungarian Dances.

© 2018 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

CMS AT SPAC TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ALESSIO BAX Pianist Alessio Bax—a First Prize winner at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and the recipient of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant—has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Japan’s NHK Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and City of Birmingham Symphony. In summer 2017 he launched a three-season appointment as artistic director of Tuscany’s Incontri in Terra di Siena festival, having also appeared at such festivals as Music@Menlo, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, Norway’s Risør Festival, Germany’s Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Beethovenfest, and England’s Aldeburgh Festival, Bath Festival, and International Piano Series. An accomplished chamber musician, he regularly collaborates with his wife, pianist Lucille Chung, superstar violinist Joshua Bell, Berlin Philharmonic principals Daishin Kashimoto and Emmanuel Pahud, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where he is a former member of CMS Two. May 2018 saw the release of his recording of Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto with the Southbank Sinfonia, expanding a discography that already features a solo album of Mussorgsky and Scriabin, Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” and “Moonlight” Sonatas, Alessio Bax plays Brahms, Bach Transcribed, and Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies. At age 14, Mr. Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the US in 1994.

LUCILLE CHUNG Canadian pianist Lucille Chung made her debut at the age of ten with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and went on tour with Charles Dutoit in . She has performed with over 65 leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar, Dallas Symphony, and has appeared with conductors such as Penderecki, Spivakov, Nézet-Séguin, Petrenko, and Dutoit. She has given solo recitals in over 35 countries in venues including New York’s Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, Washington’s Kennedy Center, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Wigmore Hall in London, and Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional. Festival appearances include the Verbier, Bard, Music@Menlo, and Santander festivals. She has received excellent reviews for her discs of the complete piano works of Ligeti and Scriabin on the Dynamic label, garnering five stars from BBC Music Magazine and Fono Forum (Germany), as well as the highest rating, R10, from Répertoire Classica (France). Her vast discography includes Saint-Saëns piano transcriptions, Mozart rarities, and more

CMS AT SPAC recently for Signum Records, a piano duo album with Alessio Bax, Poulenc piano works, and Liszt piano works. Ms. Chung graduated from both the Curtis Institute and The Juilliard School before she turned 20. She furthered her studies in London, at the “Mozarteum,” and in Imola, Italy. She and her husband, pianist Alessio Bax, live in New York City with their daughter Mila and are co-artistic directors of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation.

ROMIE DE GUISE-LANGLOIS Praised as “extraordinary” and “a formidable clarinetist” by , Romie de Guise-Langlois has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on major concert stages internationally. She has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony, Ensemble Connect, the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, and the Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, as well as at Festival Mozaic, Music@Menlo, and the Banff Center for the Arts. She was awarded first prize in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg competition, the Yale University Woolsey Hall Competition, the McGill University Classical Concerto Competition, and the Canadian Music Competition. She has performed as principal clarinetist for the Orpheus and Saint Paul chamber orchestras, NOVUS NY, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New Haven and Stamford symphony orchestras, and The Knights Chamber Orchestra. She is an alumnus of Astral Artists, Ensemble Connect, and Chamber Music Society Two, and has appeared at series such as the and Philadelphia chamber music societies, Musicians from Marlboro, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Chamber Music Northwest, among others. A native of Montreal, Ms. de Guise-Langlois earned her bachelor’s degree from McGill University and her master’s degree from Yale School of Music. She is currently assistant professor of clarinet at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

DAVID FINCKEL Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society, cellist David Finckel is a recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year award, one of the highest music industry honors in the US. He leads a multifaceted career as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, administrator, and cultural entrepreneur that places him in the ranks of today’s most influential classical musicians. He appears extensively with CMS, as recitalist with pianist Wu Han, and in piano trios with violinist Philip Setzer. Along with Wu Han, he is the founder and Artistic Director of Music@Menlo, ’s acclaimed chamber music festival and institute; co-founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music Today in Korea; and co-founder and Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Workshop at the Aspen Music

CMS AT SPAC Festival and School. Under the auspices of CMS, David Finckel and Wu Han also lead the LG Chamber Music School in . BBC Music Magazine featured the duo on its cover CD this spring. Mr. Finckel is the co-creator of ArtistLed, classical music’s first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose 19-album catalogue has won widespread critical praise as it celebrates its 20-year anniversary. The latest release features the Dvořák Cello Concerto and a work written for him by . Mr. Finckel served as cellist of the nine- time Grammy Award-winning for 34 seasons. The first American student of Rostropovich, he is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Stony Brook University.

AYANO KATAOKA Percussionist Ayano Kataoka, formerly a member of Chamber Music Society Two and the first percussionist to be so chosen, is known for her brilliant and dynamic technique, as well as the unique elegance and artistry she brings to her performances. She has collaborated with many of the world’s most respected artists, including Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Ani Kavafian, , and Jeremy Denk. She gave the world premiere of ’s Self Comes to Mind for cello and two percussionists with cellist Yo-Yo Ma at the American Museum of Natural History in 2009. She presented a solo recital at Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall which was broadcast on NHK, the national public station of Japan. Her performances can also be heard on the Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, New World, Bridge, New Focus, and Albany record labels. Since 2013 she has toured the US and Mexico extensively as a percussionist for Cuatro Corridos, a chamber opera led by soprano Susan Narucki and Mexican author Jorge Volpi that addresses human trafficking across the US-Mexican border. The recording of Hebert Vazquez's Azucena, the first scene of Cuatro Corridos, on Bridge Records was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Contemporary Composition category. A native of Japan, Ms. Kataoka began her marimba studies at age five, and percussion at 15. She received her artist diploma degree from Yale University, where she studied with marimba virtuoso Robert van Sice. She is a faculty member of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

SEAN LEE Violinist Sean Lee has captured the attention of audiences around the world with his lively performances of the classics. A recipient of a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, he is one of few violinists who dare to perform Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices in concert, and his YouTube series, Paganini

CMS AT SPAC POV, continues to draw praise for the use of technology in sharing unique perspectives and insight into violin playing. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Utah Symphony, Israel Camerata Jerusalem, and Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice; and his recital appearances have taken him to Vienna's Konzerthaus, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and 's Weill Hall. As a season artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a former member of CMS Two, he continues to perform regularly at Lincoln Center, as well as on tour. Originally from Los Angeles, Mr. Lee studied with Robert Lipsett of the Colburn Conservatory and legendary violinist Ruggiero Ricci before moving at the age of 17 to study at The Juilliard School with his longtime mentor, violinist Itzhak Perlman. He continues to call New York City home, and currently teaches at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, as well as the Perlman Music Program. He performs on a violin originally made for violinist Ruggiero Ricci in 1999, by David Bague.

MATTHEW LIPMAN One of the world’s leading young violists, American Matthew Lipman has been hailed by the New York Times for his “rich tone and elegant phrasing.” The recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, he has appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Ars Viva Symphony, and Montgomery Symphony, with the Chamber Music Society in Alice Tully Hall, and in recital at the WQXR Greene Space in New York City and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. His debut solo album Ascent will be released by Cedille Records, coinciding with a Lincoln Center recital debut in fall 2018. His recording of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields topped the Billboard charts. He was featured on WFMT ’s list of “30 Under 30” of the world’s top classical musicians and has been profiled by The Strad and BBC Music magazines. He performs regularly at the Music@Menlo, Marlboro, Ravinia, Bridgehampton, Seattle, Cleveland, and White Nights festivals. A top prizewinner of the Primrose, Tertis, Washington, Johansen, and Stulberg International Viola Competitions, he received his bachelor's and master's degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of Heidi Castleman, and was further mentored by Tabea Zimmermann at the Kronberg Academy. A native of Chicago, Mr. Lipman is on faculty at Stony Brook University and performs on a fine 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola loaned through the generous efforts of the RBP Foundation.

CMS AT SPAC MIHAI MARICA Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica is a First Prize winner of the “Dr. Luis Sigall” International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile and the Irving M. Klein International Competition, and is a recipient of Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Fellowship Grant. He has performed with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Xalapa Symphony in Mexico, the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in Russia, the Jardins Musicaux Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Santa Cruz Symphony in the US. He has also appeared in recital performances in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Korea, Japan, Chile, the United States, and Canada. A dedicated chamber musician, he has performed at the Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk, and Aspen music festivals where he has collaborated with such artists as Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, André Watts, and Edgar Meyer, and is a founding member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet. A recent collaboration with dancer Lil Buck brought forth new pieces for solo cello written by Yevgeniy Sharlat and Patrick Castillo. This season he joins the acclaimed Apollo Trio. Mr. Marica studied with Gabriela Todor in his native Romania and with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music where he was awarded master's and artist diploma degrees. He is a former member of Chamber Music Society Two.

TARA HELEN O'CONNOR Tara Helen O'Connor is a charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique, and colorful tone spanning every musical era. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a two-time Grammy nominee, she was the first wind player to participate in the Chamber Music Society Two program. A Wm. S. Haynes flute artist, she regularly appears at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, Spoleto USA, Chamber Music Northwest, Mainly Mozart Festival, Music from Angel Fire, the Banff Centre, the Great Mountains Music Festival, Chesapeake Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. A much sought-after chamber musician and soloist, she is a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble, and a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape and the legendary Bach Aria Group. She has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the , St. Lawrence Quartet, and Emerson Quartet. She has appeared on A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, Live from Lincoln Center, and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings with the Chamber Music Society, and Bridge Records. She is associate professor of flute, head of the wind department, and coordinator of classical music studies at

CMS AT SPAC Purchase College Conservatory of Music. Additionally, she is on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory and the contemporary program at Manhattan School of Music and is a visiting artist, teacher, and coach at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

WU HAN Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society, pianist Wu Han is among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. She is a recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year award, one of the highest music industry honors in the US, and has risen to international prominence through her wide-ranging achievements as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural entrepreneur. Wu Han appears extensively with CMS; as recitalist with cellist David Finckel; and in piano trios with violinist Philip Setzer. Along with David Finckel, she is the founder and artistic director of Music@Menlo, Silicon Valley’s acclaimed chamber music festival and institute; co-founder and artistic director of Chamber Music Today in South Korea; and co-founder and artistic director of the Chamber Music Workshop at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Under the auspices of CMS, David Finckel and Wu Han also lead the LG Chamber Music School in South Korea. This spring BBC Music Magazine featured the duo on its cover CD. Beginning this fall, Wu Han will serve as Artistic Advisor of Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music at the Barns for two seasons. She is the co-creator of ArtistLed, classical music’s first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose 19-album catalogue has won widespread critical praise as it celebrates its 20-year anniversary. Recent recordings include Wu Han LIVE II. Wu Han’s most recent concerto performances include appearances with the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

CMS AT SPAC ABOUT CMS The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is known for the extraordinary quality of its performances, its inspired programming, and for setting the benchmark for chamber music worldwide: no other chamber music organization does more to promote, to educate, and to foster a love of and appreciation for the art form. Whether at its home in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, on leading stages throughout , or at prestigious venues in Europe and Asia, CMS brings together the very best international artists from an ever-expanding roster of more than 150 artists per season, to provide audiences with the kind of exhilarating concert experiences that have led to critics calling CMS “an exploding star in the musical frmament” (). Many of these extraordinary performances are livestreamed, broadcast on radio and television, or made available on CD and DVD, reaching thousands of listeners around the globe each season. Education remains at the heart of CMS’ mission. Demonstrating the belief that the future of chamber music lies in engaging and expanding the audience, CMS has created multi-faceted education and audience development programs to bring chamber music to people from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and levels of musical knowledge. CMS also believes in fostering and supporting the careers of young artists through the CMS Two program, which provides ongoing performance opportunities to a select number of highly gifted young instrumentalists and ensembles. As this venerable institution approaches its 50th anniversary season in 2020, its commitment to artistic excellence and to serving the art of chamber music, in everything that it does, is stronger than ever.

Join us 45 minutes before each concert for a panel discussion with the artists led by Kari Fitterer, CMS’s Director of Artistic Planning and Touring.

CMS AT SPAC Union College Concert Series 18-19

Uchida

Finckel & Han Keenlyside

Biss Padmore & Lewis Anderszewski

When SPAC’s season ends, we begin. 15 concerts by world-renowned artists. Tickets from $30.

unioncollegeconcerts.org 518-388-6080

CMS AT SPAC THE INSIDE CHAMBER MUSIC PODCAST

Join Bruce Adolphe, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Resident Lecturer, for investigations and insights into chamber music masterworks. Inside Chamber Music lectures are beloved by regulars and a revelation to frst-timers for their depth, accessibility, and brilliance.

A new episode, carefully selected from the recording archive, is released every two weeks.

AVAILABLE ON ITUNES AND GOOGLE PLAY

CMS AT SPAC WATCH CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY PERFORMANCES LIVE FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

Throughout CMS's 2018-19 season, view 25 unforgettable chamber music events streamed live to your computer or mobile device, and watch on demand up to 72 hours later. Browse the program, relax, and enjoy a front row seat from anywhere in the world.

www.ChamberMusicSociety.org/WatchLive

CMS AT SPAC CMS AT SPAC SEPTEMBER 7-9

International Wines, Gourmet Foods and Luxury Cars. The 2018 Saratoga Wine & Food Festival has partnered with Colin Cowie Lifestyle and the Saratoga Automobile Museum to present three days of lively, gourmet events.

Featuring special appearances by David “Big Papi” Ortiz, celebrity chefs David Burke and Todd English, and a stunning display of 80 luxury Bugatti automobiles, it’s a feast for the senses! Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime event!

Visit spac.org for festival schedule and tickets

SPAC Box Office spac.org (518) 584-9330