BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS Sunday, March 7, 2004, at 3 P.M
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BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS Sunday, March 7, 2004, at 3 p.m. at Jordan Hall BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS Malcolm Lowe, violin Jules Eskin, cello Haldan Martinson, violin William R. Hudgins, clarinet Steven Ansell, viola James Sommerville, horn joined by Martha Babcock, BSO assistant principal cello with GARRICK OHLSSON, piano ROBERT SPANO, piano MOZART Quartet in G minor for piano and strings, K.478 Allegro Andante Rondo: Allegro Messrs. OHLSSON, LOWE, ANSELL, and ESKIN SCHUMANN Andante and Variations in B-flat for two pianos, two cellos, and horn, Opus 46 Messrs. OHLSSON and SPANO; Mr. ESKIN and Ms. BABCOCK; and Mr. SOMMERVILLE INTERMISSION MOZART Sonata in D for two pianos, K.448(375a) Allegro con spirito Andante Molto Allegro Messrs. OHLSSON and SPANO MOZART Quintet in A for clarinet and strings, K.581 Allegro Larghetto Menuetto Allegretto con Variazioni Messrs. HUDGINS, LOWE, MARTINSON, ANSELL, and ESKIN Steinway and Sons Piano Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, RCA, and New World records — — Wolfgang Amade Mozart (1756-1791) Quartet in G minor for piano and strings, K.478 The key of G minor seemed to have a special resonance for Mozart. When he chose to use it, the music that resulted was always of a special impassioned character, whether it was in the early symphony, K.183, the string quintet K.516, the later and incomparably greater Symphony No. 40, K.550, or Pamina's aria, "Ach ich fuhl's," from The Magic Flute. And, of course, the Piano Quartet, K.478. With this piece Mozart virtually created the genre of piano quartet and established it as a useful chamber ensemble (though a dangerous one, since in the hands of a composer with an ear less acute than Mozart's the piano inevitably tends to overbalance the strings). The quartet was apparently composed on commission from the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister, who requested three pieces in this medium. The first to be composed was the present G minor quartet (it was completed on October 16, 1785); the public didn't buy it, finding it much too difficult to play, and Hoffmeister decided to cancel the commission rather than to waste money publishing more works that were beyond the abilities of the average chamber performer. (Mozart did, in the end, write one more piano quartet about nine months later, but it was published by Artaria rather than Hoffmeister.) The first movement, an imperious Allegro in G minor, features a powerful opening in octaves that plays a strong motivic role throughout the movement. Adroitly placed sforzandi stretch the phrases of the second theme in a charmingly unexpected way. The Andante, in the closely related key of B-flat, has a wonderful harmonic richness decorated by elaborate runs for each of the four instruments in turn. It comes as a bit of a surprise that the final movement turns to the conventional "happy ending" of the major key after such expressive weight in the first two movements. But though it is undeniably lighter in mood than what preceded it, the frequent passing chromatic notes, entering already in the first measure, show that the finale, too, is cut from the same expressive cloth and is not merely a bow to custom. With this quartet and its later companion piece (K.493), Mozart at one stroke set a standard for the new medium that has been aimed at but never surpassed. Internationally acclaimed since he won the 1970 Chopin International Piano Com- petition, Garrick Ohlsson has in recent seasons performed recital series devoted to the music and transcriptions of Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Busoni. He also commis- sioned and premiered a new work for solo piano American Berserk by John Adams and a piano concerto by the noted young composer Michael Hersch» Highlights of 2003-04 include appearances in New York with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniele Gatti, with the New York Philharmonic under David Robertson, and in recital at Avery Fisher Hall. He also joins Mr. Gatti and the RPO on a tour of the United States, and appears with other orchestras across the continent and through- out Europe, as well as in Japan and Hong Kong. As a chamber musician, Mr. Ohlsson has collaborated with the Cleveland, Emerson, Takacs, and Tokyo string quartets, among other ensembles. With violinist Jorj a Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier, he is a founding member of the San Francisco-based FOG Trio. Mr. Ohlsson is cur- rently recording the complete Beethoven sonatas. He has recorded the complete solo works of Chopin, works by Prokofiev, Bartok, Webern, and Barber, and the Copland Piano Concerto, among many other releases. Garrick Ohlsson made his BSO debut at Tanglewood in 1971 and his BSO subscription series debut in 1981. He has since appeared many times with the orchestra both in Boston and at Tanglewood. This is Mr. Ohlsson's first appearance with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players* with, proves thoroughly convincing once Schumann Robert Schumann (1810-1856) begins working his changes as the variations proceed—a point that speaks clearly to the composer's skill in using his chosen Andante and Variations in B-flat fot two pianos, two cellos, and horn, Opus 46 instruments, and to his feel for their specific colors and capabilities. The original guise of the Generally speaking, Schumann's output in the early years of his career followed a pattern. theme recurs twice—once midway through the 20-minute piece (though Schumann 1840, the year he finally married his sweetheart Clara after extended opposition from her eliminated that recurrence from the two-piano version) and again at the end to prepare the father Friedrich Wieck (with whom Robert studied piano), was his so-called "year of song." quiet, wistful close. for larger works, 1841 was After encouragement from Clara to start building a reputation Overall, the structure suggests earlier piano works of Schumann—say, Carnaval, from Schumann's "symphonic year" (including his First Symphony; the original version of the 1833-35, and the Davidsbundlenanzler and Phantasiestiicke, both from 1837—in which con- symphony later revised in 1851 as his Fourth; and a piece for piano and orchestra that trasting sections provide a sense of individual "character pieces" to make up the whole. ultimately became the first movement of his Piano Concerto). 1842 brought forth cham- (Schumann biographer John Daverio points to the specific link between the Andante ber music, including his three string quartets (published collectively as his Opus 41), his theme and the second of the composer's Opus 16 Kreisleriana, an 1838 set of eight fantasies Opus 44 Piano Quintet, and his Opus 47 Piano Quartet. Today, the two works for piano for piano.) At the same time, the contrasting sections hint at the two "alter ego" personali- and strings receive occasional hearings; the three string quartets and Schumann's three ties associated with Schumann's literary and poetic inclinations—the extrovert Horestan piano trios (the first two from 1847, the third from 1851) are hardly known to general and the more subdued Eusebius (each of whom gets his own episode in the aforementioned audiences. Carnaval). Aside from the quicker-moving variations, most of the music in this piece is The work on today's program—Schumann's Andante and Variations in B-flat for the thoughtful, contemplative, perhaps even melancholic in mood, contributing on the whole very unusual combination of two pianos, two cellos, and horn—is a rarity indeed. In fact, to the sense of rich atmosphere and emotional warmth so meaningfully heightened by the though Schumann composed it in 1843—drafting it between January 26 and February 7, darker hues of the horn and cellos. 1843, just beyond the calendar limit of his "chamber music year"—it remained unpub- lished until 1893, a half-century later (nearly four decades after his death), at which time Wolfgang Amade Mozart Johannes Brahms, who was assisting his dear friend Clara Schumann (1819-1896) in Sonata in D for two pianos, K.448(375a) preparing an edition of Robert's works, pressed for its inclusion. Rather than publish the In early 1781, Mozart requested discharge from the service of his Salzburg patron, Arch- Andante and Variations in its original form, Robert had instead chosen to rework it for bishop Colloredo, having grown impatient with the constraints his employment his two pianos, comparing the reworked version to "a somewhat delicate plant" in a letter of put on abilities and his freedom to apply them. His request was refused at first, but a month later he September 7, 1843, to his publishers Breitkopf & Hartel. The first public performance of was finally given his leave, with, as he put it in writing to his father, "a kick in arse. the two-piano version was given by Clara with Felix Mendelssohn (who was critical of the my by order of our worthy Prince Archbishop." Once free he moved permanently to Vienna, work's original instrumentation) on August 19, 1843, the work then being published as where he was faced with the problem of earning a living. Schumann's Opus 46 by the end of that year. The obvious immediate choice was to give lessons in piano and composition. By the fall he was doing moderately well One of the most striking things about the Andante and Variations in its original form is with three or four regular pupils. One of these was a young woman named Josepha von of course the scoring, which, though it may strike the listener as somewhat odd to begin Auernhammer, who conceived a passion for her teacher that was not returned. Josepha had the misfortune to be very ill-favored as regards physical beauty, and, when she evidently started Robert Spano is music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Brook' rumors that she and Mozart were going to be married, he retaliated—and defended lyn Philharmonic, and director of the 2003 and 2004 Festivals of Contemporary himself to his father—by describing her in repulsive, even cruel, terms.