Classical Club | Bows and Oboes Bows and Oboes Strauss: Concerto in D major for Oboe and Orchestra Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, ‘Italian’ London Mozart Players Ruth Rogers: leader Olivier Stankiewicz: oboe Mateusz Moleda: conductor London Mozart Players Classical Club | Bows and Oboes YCAT Concerts Bows and Oboes With artists from the Young Classical Artists Trust Broadcast on 7pm, Thursday 15 October. Filmed at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Strauss: Concerto in D major for Oboe and Orchestra Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, ‘Italian’ A Classical Celebration! Celebrating Beethoven London Mozart Players Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’ Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op.62 Ruth Rogers: leader Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D, Op.61 Olivier Stankiewicz: oboe Mateusz Moleda: conductor Soloist: Maciej Kulakowski Jonian Ilias Kadesha: violin Available now Broadcast date: 7pm, Sunday 15 November About YCAT Keep in touch! 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London Mozart Players Classical Club | Bows and Oboes Violin 1 Flute Ruth Rogers Fiona Kelly Sijie Chen Nicolas Bricht Nicoline Kraamwinkel Ann Criscuolo Oboe Martin Smith Gareth Hulse Anna de Bruin Katie Clemmow (+Cor Anglais) Nicola Gleed Clarinet Violin 2 Oliver Pashley Jennifer Godson Emma Canavan Antonia Kesel Gemma Sharples Bassoon Jeremy Metcalfe Sarah Burnett Jayne Spencer Emma Harding Viola Horn Sophie Renshaw Peter Francomb Michael Posner Martin Grainger Oliver Wilson Joe Ichinose Trumpet Chris Evans Cello Peter Wright Sebastian Comberti Julia Desbruslais Timpani Sarah Butcher Scott Bywater Daisy Vatalaro Double Bass Benjamin Russell Alice Kent London Mozart Players Classical Club | Bows and Oboes Programme notes Felix Mendelssohn seen during Holy Week in Rome. The third It is important to note that while he was Richard Strauss movement is perhaps a nod to Mozart in its only in his early twenties when he wrote Symphony No. 4, Italian effortless classical elegance and the final the Italian Symphony, he had already been Concerto in D major for Oboe movement is undoubtedly a portrayal of a composing and performing for a decade, i) Allegro vivace Roman carnival, subtitled ‘Saltarello’. This so his style is well developed in terms of i) Allegro moderato ii) Andante con moto movement also features another dance where it sits in his works. That being said, ii) Andante iii) Con moto moderato form, the ‘Tarantella’ which is a whirlwind he wasn’t happy with this Symphony after iii) Vivace – Allegro iv) Presto and Finale: Saltarello melody, in this case triplets, derived from its premiere. Even after reworking each the Neapolitan legend – if someone is bitten movement during the next five years and by a tarantula, they must dance frantically allowing another public performance, Richard Strauss lived a long life which Felix Mendelssohn was born into an affluent until cured. The combination of these two he continued to tinker with the score in encompassed many musical and political family in Germany and found early fame dances with short lyrical interludes create the years that followed, and it was only revolutions. He was a prolific composer, as a musical prodigy, setting him on a an exhilarating final movement that finishes published after his death. having written his first composition path that saw him become a successful in triumph, albeit in A minor. at the tender age of six, subsequently composer, conductor, pianist and organist © Bryony Gibson-Cornish spending almost eight decades developing of the early romantic period. Rather than While Mendelssohn wrote that he hoped to his unmistakable style. He wrote looking for innovation and revolution in finish the Symphony during his time in Italy, works in almost every type of classical his compositions, he acknowledged the it was a commission from the London (now compositional form, but was best known great masters that preceded him, not only Royal) Philharmonic Society two years later for his numerous operas and establishing leading various revivals of both JS Bach’s that prompted him to finish the work. the symphonic tone poem. Strauss was and Handel’s cantatas, but also composing also highly respected as a conductor and in traditional symphonic forms, harmony held many important conducting posts and style. throughout his life. Fondly known as the ‘Italian Symphony’, The story of how the Oboe Concerto Mendelssohn chose to officially name this came to fruition is an unusual one. In April work ‘Symphony No. 4’ so that it would 1945 at the end of the Second World War, be respected as a traditional symphony, American soldiers arrived in the Bavarian rather than a series of tonal landscapes. Classical Club unpacked mountain resort town of Garmisch, where That being said, the inspiration for this Strauss lived. The soldiers were looking work came from the Italian leg of his LMP Principal Oboe Gareth Hulse to commandeer villas for their own use, Grand Tour, a conventional expectation Classical Club unpacked introduces Strauss’s Oboe Concerto. but Strauss had none of it. He descended for someone of his stature following his staircase and proclaimed ‘I am Richard the completion of formal schooling. Watch conductor Mateusz Moleda Click the play icon above or visit Strauss, composer of Rosenkavalier and Mendelssohn’s letters marvelled at the explain a bit more about Mendelssohn’s londonmozartplayers.com/classicalclub- Salomé’. Fortunately, the chief of the natural beauty of the Mediterranean influences. concert-programmes to watch. unit recognised the great composer landscapes and his excitement of this and ordered the soldiers to place an ‘off discovery can be heard in the effervescent Click the play icon above or visit limits’ sign on the villa. Various soldiers first movement. The second movement londonmozartplayers.com/classicalclub- from the unit happened to be musicians evokes a religious procession, perhaps concert-programmes to watch. before joining the army, so what followed similar to what Mendelssohn would have London Mozart Players Classical Club | Bows and Oboes Fairfield Halls was fortuitous for oboists around the Strauss seemed to approach his work with world. One of the soldiers was 24-year- a renewed focus and vigour, writing some The Fairfield Halls originally opened has been replaced, and sound baffles old John de Lancie, who was formerly of his best regarded compositions during in November 1962. The 1800-seater have been added in the hall to allow the principal oboist of the Pittsburgh this time. The Oboe Concerto is among concert hall had the same acoustician for a better acoustic when music is Symphony Orchestra. During their lengthy them, as well as Metamorphosen, Four Last as the Royal Festival Hall, Hope amplified. conversations during house visits, de Songs, and his Horn Concerto No. 2. Bagenal, who created one of the best Lancie asked whether Strauss had ever acoustics in the UK at Fairfield. London Mozart Players have been considered writing a concerto for the oboe, resident at Fairfield Halls for 31 years. considering the extensive oboe solos The recent refurbishment means he had written in his orchestral works. Fairfield is now fully air conditioned, all Below: programmes from the Fairfield Collection, Although the initial response was ‘no’, reproduced courtesy of the Museum of Croydon. Strauss’s oboe concerto appeared a few electrical and mechanical engineering months later. The concerto is specifically scored for small orchestra and is comparably light in orchestration compared to earlier works, but still features Strauss’s signature development of melodic and thematic material. The first movement features lyrical writing with flowing semiquavers Classical Club unpacked that ornament the soaring melodies. Conversational elements from solo Conductor Mateusz Moleda discusses members of the orchestra add to the colour the light-hearted side of Strauss’s Oboe and flow of this movement. Concerto. The second movement has aria-like Click the play icon above or visit qualities and a cadenza which imitates a londonmozartplayers.com/classicalclub- recitative and leads straight into the last concert-programmes to watch. movement, which is bubbly and carefree in a hybrid of rondo and sonata form. The last period of Strauss’s life is described by some biographers as his ‘Indian Summer’. London Mozart Players Classical Club | Bows and Oboes The London Mozart Players, the UK’s FM’s social media channels. And now LMP longest established chamber orchestra, is in the vanguard of UK orchestras testing was founded in 1949 by Harry Blech to the waters with paid-for online orchestral delight audiences with the works of Mozart concerts to support their musicians, rather and Haydn. The orchestra is known for its than relying on donations. unmistakable British roots. Over the last seventy years, the LMP has developed an If you have enjoyed this performance, outstanding reputation for adventurous, please go online and find out more about ambitious programming from Baroque LMP’s Classical Club: eight concerts filmed through to genre-crossing contemporary in unusual or iconic venues in front of music, and continues to build on its long socially-distanced audiences and streamed history of association with many of the online via a password-protected broadcast world’s finest artists including Sir James platform.