Thundering Organ Symphony Wagner’s delightful Die Meistersinger prelude launches today’s concert, followed by Mozart’s final piano concerto — one of his greatest. Saint-Saëns’ floor-shak- ing, but elegantly refined, Symphony No. 3 comprises the second half.

RICHARD WAGNER Born 22 May 1813; Leipzig, Germany Died 13 February 1883; Venice, Italy

Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Composed: 1862 (prelude); 1863-67 (opera) First performance: 1 November 1862; Leipzig (prelude) 21 June 1868; Munich (complete opera) Last MSO performance: September 1986; Zdenek Macal, conductor Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals, triangle), harp, strings Approximate duration: 10 minutes

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg), the 12th of Richard Wagner’s 13 music dramas, is one of only two comic works in his compositional œuvre. (The other one, Das Liebesverbot (1834), is rarely — if ever — heard nowadays.) Meistersinger is a parable on the art of music, with a simple human love story at its center. The popular prelude — Wagner preferred the term “Vorspiel” rather than “overture”, just as he preferred the term “music drama” over “opera” — written and premiered far ahead of the larger work, boasts a large palette of orchestral color and melodic variety. In it, Wag- ner sets forth the various leitmotifs that will saturate the entire opus, music that ranges from the pompous to the humorous to the affectingly lyrical. It’s little wonder that the Vorspiel for Wagner’s stage work has served in the same capacity for many an orchestral concert. Recommended recording: Sir George Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (London)  Thundering Organ Symphony PROGRAM NOTES Composed:

Concerto No.27inB-flatmajorforPianoandOrchestra, K.595 Austria Died 5December1791;Vienna, 27January1756;Salzburg,Born Austria WOLFGANG AMADEUSMOZART also saidhisgreatest.” that Mozartsaidhislastword... butinthiswork,whichbelongstothespecieshe ticularly appropriate, MozartscholarAlfred Einsteinnotedthat“itwasnotintheRequiem that previously wasaflourwarehouse. Findingthataddress —Gate-of-HeavenRoadpar Bahr andMozartpresented theirconcertin ahallinstructure ontheHimmelpfortgasse beck): “Come,lovelyMay, andmakethetrees green again...” song “SehnsuchtnachdemFruhling”(LongingforSpring,K.596;wor after completingK.595,Mozartuseditsmainthemeasthemelodyforhislittleone-page do isbackinthehomekeyofB-flat,settraditional6/8“hunting”meter (“There’s asadnessbehindit,”writesCanadianpianistAngelaHewitt.)Theconcludingron- the mooddarkenswithamodulationtominormodeinmiddleofmovement. the highestorder, withnoroom forvirtuosicdisplay. There are nostrikingcontacts,though The Larghetto, setinE-flatmajor, isserene andtexturallytransparent. Itischambermusicof jor, E-flatminor—eachwithitsowncharacter. In the development section, we pass through a series of keys — B-flat major, B minor, Cma- only foritsabundanceofdelightfulthemes,butalsotherichnesshar andstrings.TheopeningAllegrosoons, twohorns, is notablenot concertos —notrumpetsortimpanihere —callingonlyforoneflute,twooboes,bas- Joseph Bahr. Thesongfulworkisscored more modestlythanmostofhisotherlatepiano months later, actingasbothsoloistandconductor, onaconcertsponsored bytheclarinetist Mozart completedhisfinalpianoconcertoon5January1791andgaveitspr had fallenabitoutoffavor. wasnotaconsideration. TheneedtopleasetheViennese K. 595from itsimmediate predecessors, sothatbythetimehereached thisconcerto,he to pleasetheficklepublic.Severalyears—andadifferent setofcircumstances —separate music simplyforitsentertainmentvalue,whenhewasmakinghisnameinV certo No.27,hislastworkinthegenre. Thoughitcouldbeargued thatMozartneverwrote late operasandpianoconcertos.Nowhere isthismore evidentthaninhisPianoCon- Mozart’s ances are tobefoundinhis latestringquartetsandpianosonatas.Thesameissaidof It isanaxiomamongmusicloversthatBeethoven’s greatest, mostprofound musicalutter Recommended recording: Last MSOperformance: Approximate duration: First performance: Instrumentation: 1788-91 (Deutsche Grammophon) Geza Anda,CamerataAcademicaSalzburg 32 minutes strings Flute, 2oboes,bassoons,horns, Jeremy Denk,piano November 2009;Shi-Yeon Sung,conductor; 4 March 1791;Vienna  ds byChristianOver ienna, hehad emiere two monic variety: . Ninedays -

- - Thundering Organ Symphony PROGRAM NOTES Composed:1886 Instrumentation: Symphony No.3inCminor, Opus78“Organ Symphony” Died 16December1921;Algiers,Algeria 9October1835;Paris,France Born CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS À la memoire de Franz Lisz Franz de memoire his friend.Thus,itbearstheelegiacinscription,Àla after itsLondonpremiere. IthadlongbeenSaint-Saëns’intentiontodedicatethework Sadly, Liszt neverheard theworkhesoinfluenced: Hediedon31July1886,tenweeks wind soloists,andamassiveclimaxasthemottothemeistransfor is oneofgrandeur, power, andexpressivity: There’s polyphonicwriting,abriefpastoralefor no arpeggiosleadtoadialoguebetweentheorgan andbrass.Thiswell-knownmovement powerful chord from thefullorgan announcestheMaestosoandshimmeringfour-hand pia- way forbrilliant“arpeggiosandscales,swiftaslightning”(Saint-Saëns)onthepiano.A The secondmovementbeginswithascherzo-likeversionofthemottotheme,whichmakes calm, butthemovementfadesgentlyaway. pany thewindsandstrings.TheagitationofAllegro threatens todestroy thebeauteous the musicsubsidesintoPocoadagio.Here, lush,quietchords from theorgan accom- changed. Alyricalsecondsubjectfollows;eventually, themainthemejoinswithitbefore the turbulentopeningmeasures oftheAllegro, thecharacterofthemeisimmediately fragment, announcedinthebriefintroduction, willserveastheprimarymusicalmaterial.In evident. A“mottotheme,”invariousguises,pervadesthepiece.Thisfour —inwhichmotivesevolvethroughoutof thematictransformation thework—iskeenly Liszt, hisfriendandmentor. Inthe“Organ” Symphony, theeldercomposer’s technique For thewholeofhiscompositionallife,Saint-SaënswasinfluencedbymusicFranz following textintheprogram, explainingthework’s unusualtwo-movementformat: ducted itspremiere there onMay19ofthesameyear. Onthatoccasion,heincludedthe Societyandcon- Saint-Saëns composedhisOp.78in1886fortheLondonPhilharmonic and Mozart. hisentireand informed life.Histireless advocacyhelpedrevive interest inBach,Handel, Wedded tothisremarkable precocity wasaninsatiableintellectualcuriositythatshaped an encore, heoffered toplayanyoneofBeethoven’s 32pianosonatas—from memory. made hisdebutinaconcertthatincludedpianoconcertosbyMozartandBeethoven.As Like MozartandMendelssohn,CamilleSaint-Saënswasachildprodigy. Atageten,he Recommended recording: Last MSOperformance: Adagio, andthescherzoisconnectedaftersamemannerwithfinale. four movements:thefirst,checkedindevelopment,servesasanintr This Symphony, dividedintotwoparts,neverthelessincludespracticallythetraditional Approximate duration: First performance: Program notes by J. Mark Baker. by J. notes Mark Program Orchestra (Ondine) Olivier Latry;ChristophEschenbach,Philadelphia 36 minutes (bass drum,cymbals,triangle),piano,organ, strings 3trumpets,trombones,4 horns, tuba,timpani,percussion 2 clarinets,bassclarinet,bassoons,contrabassoon, 3 flutes(3rd doublingpiccolo), 2oboes,Englishhorn, May 2010;EdodeWaart, conductor 19 May1886;London,England  med andrepeated. t. oduction tothe -note ascending