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Home , Lorenzo da Ponte, Overture, The Marriage of Figaro

Mozart’s to is one of the most well-known works in the repertoire, and for good reason. This bursts from the page like a cork from a bottle of champagne, and its sheer exuberance is pure joy for musicians and audience alike. GRANT LLEWELLYN, NCS MUSIC DIRECTOR

Mendelssohn’s Third is the perfect piece to hear in the springtime—this intensely exuberant music is so evocative of nature. The second movement always reminds me of the forest fairies running around in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. RACHEL NIKETOPOULOS, NCS FRENCH HORN

Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 WOLFGANG MOZART

BORN January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria; died December 5, 1791, in Vienna PREMIERE Composed 1786; first performance May 1, 1786, at the , Vienna, conducted by the

OVERVIEW In 1781, Mozart set out for Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the center of Central European culture, as a freelance musician—a novelty at the time. In spite of early success, especially with his piano concertos and as a pianist, he could never secure a position in court and his financial situation went from bad to worse. was the most prestigious musical genre in Vienna and Mozart had the luck to team up with one of the best librettists of all time, (1749-1838). Born in Italy of Jewish parents and converted as a child to Catholicism, da Ponte wrote the for three of Mozart’s greatest : , The Marriage of Figaro, and Cosi fan tutte. Unfortunately, the three da Ponte operas met only with limited success in Vienna. It was only after Mozart’s death that their true value was appreciated. The Marriage of Figaro is one of the oldest operas in the standard repertoire and one of the most youthful in spirit. When Pierre de Beaumarchais’ play, on which the opera is based, was published in 1782, its unflattering portrait of the aristocracy understandably caused an uproar and horrified Louis XVI. Like any scandal, it proved irresistible and must have spread rapidly, because Mozart’s opera to Lorenzo da Ponte’s was premiered only four years later on the cusp of the French Revolution.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR As is customary for most opera of the , this one contains no music from the opera itself. Nevertheless, the overture captures the spirit of the opera in its opening bars, a sequence of rapid notes on the strings scurrying like whispering conspirators. It is answered by the whole with festive ; these alternating moods continue throughout the ebullient overture.

INSTRUMENTATION Two , two , two , two , two horns, two trumpets, , strings

Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622

PREMIERE Composed 1791; first performance October 16, 1791, in Prague, Anton Stadler,

OVERVIEW This extraordinary concerto is Mozart’s last completed instrumental piece. It has been without doubt the most popular work ever written for the clarinet and few others have done the instrument more justice. Most of the larger compositions Mozart wrote in the last years of his life were commissions — attempts to raise badly needed cash. The Clarinet Concerto, however, was an exception: Mozart composed it, as well as the Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, for his friend, the celebrated virtuoso Anton Stadler. What began as a purely musical association between composer and performer became a deep friendship, cemented by their involvement with Vienna’s Freemasons. They shared one other trait: neither could hold on to money. Stadler borrowed relentlessly — often from Mozart, of all people. Fortunately for us, the friendship withstood the strain. The clarinet was a relative latecomer to Western music; while there is some evidence that both Antonio Vivaldi and George Frederick Handel employed the instrument occasionally, the clarinet did not come into regular use until the second half of the 18th century and was in continual evolution. While today’s young band students learn on an instrument in B-flat, thereby making it the default instrument, there are more varieties of clarinets — in shape, size, and key — than any other instrument. Until his friendship with Stadler, Mozart had used the instrument sparingly, except in his Harmoniemusik — serenades and partitas for wind ensembles used for outdoor entertainment. But by the late , he included the instrument in his last three piano concertos, his final , and all his major operas composed in Vienna. Mozart wrote the concerto in its original form for an instrument of Stadler’s invention, an extended range clarinet (sometimes called a “basset clarinet”), extending one fourth lower than the standard clarinet. The autograph manuscript, however, was lost and only an adaptation for the regular clarinet, made in 1802 by the original publishers, survived. Since the late 1940s, clarinetists have made numerous attempts to reconstruct the original score for the “basset” clarinet and instrument makers have attempted to recreate the instrument. An increasing number of performers are currently playing the concerto on these extended-range clarinets. WHAT TO LISTEN FOR After the traditional orchestral exposition, the voice of the clarinet is seldom still. There is a masterful interplay between soloist and orchestra, as well as an astounding number of themes, most of them introduced by the soloist. The mood is changeable: at times cheerful, as in the opening theme, at others resigned or even sad. The tone is rich and languid, thanks to Mozart’s unusual choice of secondary themes in the minor mode, rather than the customary major. The slow second movement is a simple ABA song form, one of Mozart’s most poignant, gentle, and introspective utterances. The long, irregular phrases create a feeling of emotional tension. The finale is in a different mood, harking back to the simplicity and charm of music from Mozart’s earlier days and reflecting the happy mood of the opera The Magic , which he was composing at the time. Of course, there are ample opportunities for the clarinet to show off, but in no way approaching the level of technical fireworks found a generation later in the concertos for clarinet by , which really put the instrument through its paces. Stadler premiered the concerto in Prague on October 16, 1791, less than two months before the composer’s death.

INSTRUMENTATION Solo clarinet, two flutes, two bassoons, two horns, strings

Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56, “Scottish”

BORN February 3, 1809, in Hamburg; died November 4, 1847, in Leipzig, Germany PREMIERE Composed 1829-1842; first performance March 3, 1842, by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by the composer

OVERVIEW We are all familiar with the romantic stereotype—and often the reality—of the composer struggling for his daily bread and artistic survival. Probably the greatest exception to this picture was Felix Mendelssohn, an economically secure composer from a culturally sophisticated and highly supportive family. The Mendelssohn household was a Mecca for the intellectual elite of Germany, and the many family visitors fawned over the prodigy and his talented sister Fanny. Fortunately for the development of his rare abilities, his carefully selected teachers were demanding and strict. Mendelssohn’s financial security gave him the opportunity to take the Grand Tour in what was then considered the civilized world: Western Europe, Italy, and Britain. In 1829, he traveled to England and then on to Scotland, where his visit to Fingal’s Cave in Islands inspired The Hebrides. It also produced the ideas that became the “Scottish” Symphony. Started in Italy in 1830 but not finished until 1842, the “Scottish” Symphony was Mendelssohn’s last—the numbering of the five symphonies reflecting their order dedicated the symphony to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, whom he had met and charmed during one of his visits to England (the queen actually sang with Mendelssohn accompanying her on the piano.)

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR While the music has an undeniably Scottish flavor, it does not quote any authentic folk , a device that Mendelssohn despised. Writing to his father from Wales, he commented: “... anything but national music! May ten thousand devils take all folklore ... a harpist sits in the lobby of every inn of repute playing so-called folk melodies at you—dreadful, vulgar, fake stuff; and simultaneously a hurdy- gurdy is tooting out melodies—it’s enough to drive you crazy ...” That being said, it’s difficult to distinguish Mendelssohn’s invented Scottish-style melodies from the kind of musical nationalism he so despised. Beginning with the introduction and the succeeding Allegro agitato, the gloomy atmosphere gave rise to the myth that it was somehow inspired by the tragic life of Mary, Queen of Scots. More likely, the symphony reflects the bleak and stormy weather so prevalent in the Scottish Highlands, lowlands, and outlying islands. The climax of the first movement is a veritable hurricane, replete with chromatic moaning in the strings. The second movement provides a little sunshine, its main theme as near to a Scottish folksong— with “Scotch snap” and all—as Mendelssohn could get without actually using one. The third movement comes through as passionate, at times even anguished. Its middle section suggests a horn-call summons of doom. Then, it’s back to the Sturm und Drang (storm and drive) of the finale. But—perhaps with a bow to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony—Mendelssohn finishes the symphony with a shift again to the major mode and a new and optimistic theme to end it.

INSTRUMENTATION Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings

©2018 Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn