AUGUST 12, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

 This concert had a 20 minute delay to its 7:30 PM planned start, due to a rainy downpour, but then the entire program was successfully performed.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

GLORIA CHIEN, Piano, BELLA HRISTOVA, Violin,
ANI KAVAFIAN, Violin, PIERRE LAPOINTE, Viola,
SOPHIE SHAO, Cello, JOSE FRANCH-BALLESTER, Clarinet

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Trio in C major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Hob. XV:27, (1797)

Allegro
Andante
Finale: Presto

Players: Chien, Kavafian, Shao

Paul Schoenfield (1947- ), Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (1986)

Freylakh
March
Nigun
Kozatske

Players: Franch-Ballester, Hristova, Chien

INTERMISSION

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), Quintet in B-flat major for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 34 (1811-15)

Allegro
Fantasia: Adagio ma non troppo
Menuetto: Capriccio presto
Rondo: Allegro giocoso

Players: Franch-Ballester, Kavafian, Hristova, Lapointe, Shao

WQXR HOST: Elliott Forrest

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Musical Notes

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is one of eleven constituents of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the largest performing arts complex in the world. CMS presents chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period in its extensive concert season in New York, its national and international tours, its many recordings and national radio broadcasts, its broad commissioning program, its online event streaming, and its multi-faceted educational programs. The Chamber Music Society’s performance venue, Alice Tully Hall, has received international acclaim as one of the world’s most exciting venues for chamber music. CMS produces its own recordings on the CMS Studio Recordings label, which has been highly praised for both the artistry and the recorded sound of the eclectic range of repertoire it has released. The newest media innovation, CMS Live!, offers recordings available only by download of extraordinary live performances, chosen by CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han from among each season’s many concerts. Through its Watch Live series, CMS live streams approximately 30 chamber music concerts and events a season to a worldwide audience online. These streams are free to the public and are available on demand for an additional 24 hours after the broadcast. View the complete schedule of Watch Live events at www.ChamberMusicSociety.org.

Chosen by the Boston Globe as one of the Superior Pianists of the Year, Gloria Chien made her orchestral debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She has presented recitals at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Jordan Hall, Harvard Musical Association, Caramoor Musical Festival, Verbier Festival, Salle Cortot in Paris, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She is the founder and artistic director of String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, and the director of the Chamber Music Institute at the Music@Menlo festival. Ms. Chien is a member of CMS Two and a Steinway Artist.

Clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester is a captivating performer of “poetic eloquence” (New York Sun) and “technical wizardry” (New York Times). He plays regularly at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, the Skaneateles Festival, Camerata Pacifica, and Music from Angel Fire. Winner of the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, he was presented in debut recitals in New York and in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and Cannes’ Midem Prize. He is a former member of Chamber Music Society Two.

Violinist Bella Hristova is acclaimed for her passionate, powerful performances, beautiful sound, and compelling command of her instrument. She has performed extensively as soloist with orchestra including with Pinchas Zukerman and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center, and with the New York String Orchestra under Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall. Her most recent recording, Bella Unaccompanied, was released by A.W. Tonegold Records. In addition to a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, she won first prize in both the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. She is an Artist of the Chamber Music Society and a former member of CMS Two.

This is violinist Ani Kavafian’s 34th year performing with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her solo career has included performances with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She is the concertmaster and a frequent soloist with the New Haven Symphony. Her recordings include the Bach sonatas with Kenneth Cooper, Mozart sonatas with Jorge Federico Osorio, and Justin Dello Joio’s Piano Trio with Carter Brey and Jeremy Denk. She is president of the Young Concert Artist Alumni Association and a full professor at Yale University.

Violist Pierre Lapointe has performed at numerous venues across the United States and abroad. He plays occasionally with the group Sejong Soloists and is currently the violist of the Escher String Quartet. A former member of CMS Two, an Artist of the Society, and a recent BBC New Generation Artist, the quartet has recorded the complete Zemlinsky quartets and will record the complete Mendelssohn quartets for release by BIS. In 2012, Mr. Lapointe completed a thesis on Zemlinsky’s Second Quartet and obtained a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. He has appeared as a soloist with the University of Ottawa Orchestra and the Gatineau Music Conservatory Orchestra.

Cellist Sophie Shao received an Avery Fisher Career Grant at age 19, was a major prizewinner at the 2001 Rostropovich Competition, and became a laureate of the XII Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002. She has made recital and chamber music appearances with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Northwest, Middlebury College, and Vassar College. She can be heard on EMI Classics, Bridge Records (Marlboro Music’s 50th anniversary recording), and on Albany Records. Ms. Shao studied at The Curtis Institute with David Soyer and Felix Galimir, and, upon graduating, continued with Aldo Parisot at Yale University, receiving a Master of Music degree.

AUGUST 5, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

Christina & Michelle Naughton: A concert for 2 pianos

 Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Scaramouche

1. Vif
2. Modéré
3. Brazileira

John Adams (1947-), Hallelujah Junction

Three unnamed movements

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), La Valse

INTERMISSION

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Rite of Spring

Part I: The Adoration of the Earth
Part II: The Sacrifice

WQXR HOST: Terrance McKnight

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Christina and Michelle Naughton have been hailed by the San Francisco Examiner for their “stellar musicianship, technical mastery, and awe-inspiring artistry.”

The Naughtons made their European debut at Herkulesaal in Munich, where the Sueddeutsche Zeitung proclaimed them “an outstanding piano duo”. They made their Asian debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, where the Sing Tao Daily said of their performance “Joining two hearts and four hands at two grand pianos, the Naughton sisters created an electrifying and moving musical performance.” An appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra led the Philadelphia Inquirer to characterize their playing as “paired to perfection,” while the Saarbrücker Zeitung exclaimed “this double star could soon prove to be a supernova.”

Orchestral engagements include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston, Milwaukee, New Jersey, North Carolina, Nashville, Virginia, Maryland, Toledo, Delaware, El Paso, Napa Valley, Wichita, Tulsa, Gulf Coast, and Madison Symphonies; the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland’s Red Orchestra, Chicago’s Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, and Erie Philharmonic; as well as with ensembles such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic in Belgium, Solistes Europeens Luxembourg, Hamburg Chorus, Kiel Philharmonic, and Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. Past and future seasons feature collaborations under the batons of conductors such as Stephene Deneve, Edo deWaart, Charles Dutoit, JoAnn Falletta, Giancarlo Guerrero, Emanuel Krivine, Cristian Macelaru, Andres Orozco-Estrada, and Michael Stern.

Christina and Michelle’s recitals include venues in America such as the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, New York City’s Naumburg Orchestral Concert series at the Historic Naumburg Bandshell (Central Park) and Le Poisson Rouge, the Schubert Club in St. Paul, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Wharton Center, Houston’s Cullen Theater, South Orange Performing Arts Center, the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Ramsey Hall in Athens, and the Tri-Noon Recitals at Rockefeller University; as well as on series such as the Fortas Chamber Music Festival, Detroit Chamber Music Series, Harriman Jewell Series, Steinway Society-The Bay Area, Artist Series of Sarasota, Charleston Concert Association, UAB Piano Series, Chamber Music San Francisco Series, Louisville’s Speed Museum Series, Kingston Chamber Music Festival. European recital highlights for the Naughtons include the Parc Du Chateau de Florans at France’s La Roque d’Antheron Festival, the Sociedad de Conciertos de Valencia in Spain, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Prague’s Strings of Autumn Festival, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Rheingau Musik Festival, Dresden’s Musikfestpiele, Kissinger Sommer, Berlin’s Kammermusiksaal, Munich’s Herkulesaal, Dusseldorf’s Tonhalle, in Hannover’s Kleiner Sendesaal , Ingoldstadt’s Konzertverein, Reutlingen’s Freidrich-List-Halle, Pullach’s Burgerhaus, Concert Series in Ludwigshafen, on the Homburg-Saar series, and the Bremen Music Festival.

The Naughtons recorded their first album in the Sendesaal in Bremen Germany; which was released worldwide in Fall 2012 by label ORFEO. The album has been praised by Der Spiegel Magazine for “stand(ing) out with unique harmony, and sing(ing) out with stylistic confidence’, and described by ClassicsToday as a “Dynamic Duo Debut”. Their performances have been broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, New York’s WQXR, Chicago’s WFMT, Philadelphia’s WHYY, Boston’s WQED, Atlanta’s WABE, Hong Kong’s RTHK, Latvia’s Latvijas Radio 3, Netherland’s Radio 4 Concerthuis; and Germany’s Bayerischen Rudfunks, Nordwest-RadioBremen, WDR and NDR Radio.

Born in Princeton, New Jersey to parents of European and Chinese descent; Christina and Michelle are graduates of Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, where they were each awarded the Festorazzi Prize. They are Steinway Artists and currently reside in New York City.

JULY 22, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

The Knights

 György Ligeti (1923-2006), Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances

I. Andante
II. Allegro
III. Trio
IV. Pochissimo meno mosso
V. Andantino maestoso
VI. Trio
VII. Allegro moderato

Bela Bartók (1881-1945), Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz.113 BB.118

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Molto adagio
III. Allegro assai

INTERMISSION

Sufjan Stevens (1975), (arr. Atkinson): Suite from “Run Rabbit Run” (US Premiere)

I. Year of the Ox
II. Enjoy Your Rabbit
III. Year of Our Lord
IV. Year of the Boar

Ljova (1978- ), Ori’s Fearful Symmetry

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Concerto in E-flat, “Dumbarton Oaks”

I. Tempo Giusto
II. Allegretto
III. Con moto

WQXR HOST: Annie Bergen

Musical Notes

Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances Ligeti, one of the leading composers of the twentieth century, wrote music in a highly censored time, succumbing to the ban of all modern music from Hungary in 1948. While he composed freely from 1945 to 1947, the composer, in his own words,” hid behind folk music and cultural heritage.” While a student at the Budapest Academy of Music in 1949, Ligeti was commissioned by the state radio to write a suite on Hungarian dance music from the early 1800s. “The Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances,” said Ligeti, “is a selection of dance tunes by János Lavotta, János Bihari, Antal Csermák and Márk Rózsavölgyi that I orchestrated for flute, clarinet and strings. This work was played frequently and helped to establish my reputation. I became famous for writing a piece that was not my own composition.”

Divertimento A “divertimento” is a piece of music whose purpose is to distract and to entertain, popular in the Classical period and made famous through works by Mozart, Haydn, and Boccherini. Bartók’s Divertimento is neo-classical in nature in its treatment of modal tonalities and texture. The Allegro non troppo features a waltz and a gypsy melody, and often references the Baroque. The molto adagio is dark and haunting, almost atonal. The piece closes with a dance-like finale, its violin solo intoning the gypsy themes of the first movement. The work is the last Bartók composed before fleeing Hungary for the United States at the brink of World War II.

Run Rabbit Run A series of arrangements of Sufjan Stevens’ electronic album Enjoy Your Rabbit by The Knights’ own Michael P. Atkinson, the Suite from Run Rabbit Run evokes the musical personalities of animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The piece was premiered by The Knights in Germany in May 2014, and other incarnations of the piece have received critical acclaim, notably the 2012 production by the New York City Ballet, choreographed by Justin Peck.

Ori’s Fearful Symmetry Says composer Ljova, “Ori’s Fearful Symmetry was originally intended to be a sort of an unofficial anthem for Israeli youth. I sketched it while hiking in the canyons of Ithaca, New York, where director Zohar Lavi was shooting the short film Chronicle of a Jump, starring our friend Ori. I was hoping this music would become the theme, an inspiring courageous dance in an unusual grouping of 9/8 (3+2+2+2). Alas, it was decided that the film worked better in silence, and the music found an audience of its own.”

Dumbarton Oaks Premiered in 1938 under the baton of Nadia Boulanger, the “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto was commissioned by US Ambassador Robert Woods Bliss for his 30th wedding anniversary. The piece celebrates the Bliss’ early 19th-century mansion outside of Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oaks, which is full of pre-Columbian sculpture. Played without pause, the concerto opens with a fast, carefree nature, transitions to a slower, tranquil progression of chords, and closes with a fiery march. The last work Stravinsky completed in Europe before settling in the United States, the piece is a favorite of the composer’s neoclassical period.

JULY 15, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

This concert was regrettably CANCELLED at 5:25 PM due to severe weather concerns.
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Corolian Overture, Op. 62 (1807)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Octet for winds in E-flat major, Op. 103 (1792/93)

I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuetto
IV. Presto

Intermission

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (1800)

I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
II. Andante cantabile con moto
III. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace
IV. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

WQXR HOST: Naomi Lewin

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Orpheus is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; the NY State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NY State Legislature; and the NY City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Orpheus is represented in North America exclusively by Baker Artists, LLC, and in Europe by Konzertdirektion Schmid. Orpheus has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, EMI Classics, BMG/RCA Red Seal, Decca, Nonesuch, Verve, Avex Classics, and its own label Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Records.

Musical Notes – By Aaron Grad

Beethoven was born in Bonn and he died in Vienna. For his Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Duration: Approximately 8 minutes
Composed: 1807
First Performance: March 1807, in Vienna

The core musicians are:
Julietta Curenton, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Sarah Beaty, clarinet; Cynde Iverson, bassoon; Angela Cordell Bilger, horn; Carl Albach, trumpet; Maya Gunji, timpani; Renée Jolles, violin; Eriko Sato, violin; Mark Holloway, viola; Pitnarry Shin, cello; Karl Doty, double bass

Origins
Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s play Coriolan—not to be confused with Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, based on the same story from Plutarch—debuted in Vienna in 1802. The drama follows a Roman general who defects to the enemy camp and raises an army against Rome, reaching the gates of the city before his mother convinces him to stop. The play was dormant by the time Beethoven wrote his overture in 1807, and his motivation for undertaking the project remains unclear. It may have been meant to draw the attention of the new managers of the imperial theater, including Prince Lobkowitz, who hosted the private concert in March at which Beethoven first offered the overture; it is also possible that Beethoven was courting the playwright for a new opera collaboration. Aside from a one-night revival of Coriolan that April, featuring Beethoven’s music in advance of the play that inspired it, the overture came to audiences as a concert work, encapsulating the dramatic thrust in a single movement.

Beethoven’s condensed portrait of a tortured hero quivers with the taut, muscular energy that is typical of his “middleperiod” scores. The choice of key, C minor, foreshadows the fateful Fifth Symphony, composed the following year. Like that symphony, the Coriolan Overture generates powerful emotions from elemental material. The signature motive is a drawn-out C bursting into a short, explosive chord. The unresolved harmonies, like hanging questions, suggest a battle waging within the protagonist’s own conscience. The contrasting theme, a lyrical line in E-flat major, could represent the entreaties of the general’s mother, or his own repressed tenderness for his home city. After a developmental sequence of brittle motives over a running bass line and a return of the opening material, a final whiff of the sweet counter-theme gives way to even more brutal chords and pauses. The last phrases bow out quietly, ending with barren plucks on the keynote.
For Beethoven’s Wind Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 103, Duration: approximately 23 minutes
Composed: 1792-93
First Performance: 1793

The core Musicians are:
Matt Dine, oboe; Benjamin Fingland, clarinet; Cynde Iverson, bassoon; Stewart Rose, horn

Origins
Of murky origin, this piece is believed to have been composed in the early 1790s when Beethoven was living in Bonn. It was dedicated to the skilled court musicians of Maximilian Franz, a patron of many in the arts and a backer of the system that Beethoven worked throughout his lifetime to shatter. Beethoven’s woodwind chamber works are all early pieces; the late opus number of this work comes from a much later publication date.

Over the course of four relatively short movements, Beethoven lays out a symphony in miniature. Beginning with a first moment in sonata form, Beethoven shows his already adventurous nature by modifying the recapitulation to eliminate many measures to allow for development of the second theme. The second movement Andante is a play of contrasts, both in melodic materials and the dialogue nature of the pairing of the oboe and bassoon. The following Menuetto is another of Beethoven’s early attempts to advance the minuet-trio style to the later scherzo form he would champion. And the final movement is a quick rondo that contrasts solo passages with group moments of joyous outbursts.
For Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21,
Duration: Approximately 25 minutes
Composed: 1800
First Performance: April 1800, in Vienna

The core Musicians are:
Tanya Witek, flute; Matthew Dine, oboe; Sarah Beaty, clarinet; Harrison Hollingsworth, bassoon; Stewart Rose, horn; John Dent, trumpet; Maya Gunji, timpani; Kyu-Young Kim, violin; Renée Jolles, violin; Dov Scheindlin, viola; Melissa Meell, cello; Karl Doty, double bass

Origins
Sketches of Beethoven’s first symphony appear as early as 1797 with the first performance taking place in 1800 in Vienna in a concert that also included his Septet and Piano Concerto No. 2 alongside a symphony by Mozart and selections from Haydn’s The Creation. While this work owes a great deal to Beethoven’s then teacher (the aforementioned Haydn), its experimental elements, including a more prominent use of independent wind instruments, are evidence of just how crucial Beethoven would be to the evolution of the symphonic form.

The first movement begins with a slow introduction, reminiscent of Haydn, but in a strikingly new way – with a dissonant chord. This dominant tension, relative to the tonal center of both the movement and the symphony, plays a role in each of the upcoming movement, as well. The second movement opens with a courtly theme first in the second violins that is then passed between the other instruments, in a fugal style. Although labeled a Minuet, the third movement is a true scherzo, containing the typical fast triple meter and varied character that is later associated with the form. The final movement, echoing the first, begins with an unusual, slow Adagio introduction which delays the start of the classic sonata-allegro form. The balance of the movement is in a fast tempo and pays tribute to the final movements found in the symphonies of Haydn.
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
A standard-bearer of innovation and artistic excellence, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is one of the world’s foremost chamber orchestras. Orpheus was founded in 1972 by Julian Fifer and a group of like-minded young musicians determined to combine the intimacy and warmth of a chamber ensemble to the richness of an orchestra. With 71 albums, including the Grammy Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures, and 42 commissioned and premiered original works, Orpheus rotates musical leadership roles for each work, and strives to perform diverse repertoire through collaboration and open dialogue.

Performing without a conductor, Orpheus presents an annual series at Carnegie Hall and tours extensively to major national and international venues. The upcoming 2014-2015 Season will include debut appearances by pianist Fazil Say and violinists Jennifer Koh and Augustin Dumay, and also includes three newly commissioned works. The season will also continue an ongoing exploration of Beethoven in performance with pianist Jonathan Biss, while new looks at favorites from the Orpheus catalog of recordings, including Haydn’s Symphony No. 80, Grieg’s Holberg Suite, and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, demonstrate how these musicians have evolved over decades of playing together.

JUNE 24, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Timo Andres, piano

The Knights – with Timo Andres, composer/pianist:

Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), Quintet in C major Op. 30, No. 6 “La Musica Notturna delle strade di Madrid”, arranged for string orchestra

I. Le campane dell’Ave Maria
II. Il tamburo dei Soldati
III. Minuetto dei Ciechi
IV. Il Rosario (Largo assai, allegro, largo come prima)
V. Passa Calle (Allegro vivo)
VI. Il tamburo
VII. Ritirata (Maestoso)

Timo Andres (1985- ), W.A. Mozart “Coronation” Concerto – Re-Composition

I. Allegro
II (Larghetto)
III (Allegretto)

INTERMISSION

Andrew Norman (1979- ), Light Screens

Charles Ives (1874-1954), Three Places in New England

I. The “St. Gaudens” in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)
II. Putnam’s Camp, Redding, Connecticut
III. The Housatonic at Stockbridge

WQXR HOST: Jeff Spurgeon