Two popular works by Mozart frame two Spanish compositions on this program. Both Spanish works are concertos. Though the word “concerto” does not appear in the title of De Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, this score features the piano in music of sensuous beauty, while Montsalvatge’s Concerto-Capriccio brings into the spotlight an instrument that all too seldom gets a chance to show its manifold attractions.

 

 

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

Born in Salzburg, January 27, 1756 – Died in Vienna, December 5, 1791

 

Don Giovanni, K. 527: Overture

 

Following the huge success of The Marriage of Figaro in Prague, the director of the Italian opera house there asked Mozart to write another opera for his theater. Mozart, in collaboration with his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, re-fashioned the legend of Don Juan, the selfish libertine in constant, heedless, uncontrolled pursuit of sensual gratification. The resultant opera, premiered in Prague in 1787, is rightly considered one of the supreme manifestations of the human spirit. The overture gives a clue to the opera’s dual personality – its unique blend of seriousness and humor, tragedy and comedy. The opening music of terrifying power and dramatic impact is followed by a light-hearted, energetic and bustling Allegro.

 

 

MANUEL DE FALLA

Born in Cádiz, Spain, November 23, 1876 – Died in Alta Garcia, Córdoba, Argentina, November 14, 1946

 

Nights in the Gardens of Spain

 

Manuel de Falla was born of a Valencian father and a Catalan mother in the southern Spanish city of Cádiz, so it is hardly surprising to learn that he fell under the influence of Andalusian folk songs and gypsy music. Like many Spanish musicians of his day, he spent time in Paris, where he began work in 1909 on a set of three nocturnes for piano. Several colleagues urged him to transform the music into orchestral terms, which de Falla did, but only after returning to Spain and after a long interval. The first performance took place on April 9, 1916 in Madrid under the direction of Enrique Fernández Arbós with pianist José Cubiles.

 

The three nocturnes did not metabolize into a standard three-movement concerto, but rather into a concerted work of descriptive import with the piano in the featured role. The composer explained that the purpose of the music was “to evoke the memory of places, sensations and sentiments. The themes employed are based on the rhythms, modes, cadences, and ornamental figures which distinguish the popular music of Andalusia, though they are rarely used in their original forms.”

 

The first movement, played tranquillo e misterioso, evokes the famous old Moorish villa and gardens nearby the Alhambra. The sense of dark mystery fraught with strange tensions is sustained in the second movement, which depicts an unnamed distant garden through fragments and shreds of melody punctuated with the sounds of tambourines and simulated guitars. This runs without pause into the final movement, whose intoxicating sounds would seem to portray some wild gypsy celebration, though de Falla left no confirmation of this notion. Eventually the excitement subsides, and the music diffuses into the quiet mystery and melancholy of the perfumed Andalusian night.

 

 

XAVIER MONTSALVATGE

Born in Gerona, Spain, March 11, 1912 – Died in Barcelona, May 7, 2002

 

Concerto-capriccio, for harp and orchestra

 

Xavier Montsalvatge studied principally at the Barcelona Conservatory and went on to contribute greatly to that city’s musical life as critic, editor, teacher and composer. Among the honors he received are the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (1957) and Doctor honoris causa from the Free University of Barcelona. Montsalvatge remained a composer of mostly tonal music, though one who sometimes used astringent dissonances in the manner of the neo-classical Stravinsky or Les Six. Among his best known works are Cinco canciones negras, the magic opera El gato con botas (Puss in Boots, 1948), and Concierto breve for piano and orchestra (1952), a work much championed by pianist Alicia de Larrocha.

 

The Concerto-capriccio for harp and orchestra was written between late 1974 and early 1975. The first performance was given at the Teatro Real in Madrid by the Orquesta Nacional de España conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. The great Spanish harpist Nicanor Zabaleta, to whom it was dedicated, was soloist. The work requires a standard orchestra, but with the addition of a large and varied percussion section (more than twenty different components) played by four musicians. This section rises to the level of a second soloist, collectively, and the solo harp is often heard in varying combinations with one or more of these instruments.

 

The composer described the form of the work as intentionally resembling the traditional Italian-style concerto. “The addition of the word “capriccio” reflects certain liberties I have taken. The first movement is the one with the clearest formal structure. There are two themes, both of which return in the recapitulation. In the second movement the harp is the sole protagonist. The orchestra, with which it carries on a dialogue, is reduced to chamber music proportions. The final movement is an elaboration of a galopa, a primitive dance of the Tupiguaranies, a culture originally from the region of Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.  For the performance of these galopas, the Tupiguaranies employ special old harps, whose unique sound and rhythmic quality suggested to me the character of this movement. These elements have also induced me to write the movement in rondo form.”

 

 

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

 

Symphony no. 35 in D major, K. 385, “Haffner”

 

The highly esteemed Haffner family of Salzburg needed some music to accompany the festivities surrounding the ennoblement of one of its sons, set for late July or early August 1782. There was no question of whom to ask. Mozart had previously written the Haffner Serenade, K. 250 for the marriage of a Haffner daughter in 1776. Six years later, the family again had cause for celebration and turned to Leopold Mozart to request from his son Wolfgang, now settled in Vienna, a serenade for the occasion. Wolfgang complied, but was so overworked with a variety of projects that, even with the best of intentions, he could not meet the deadline.

 

The following year, Mozart found himself in need of a symphony for a concert in Vienna of all his own music. He converted the unused serenade music into a symphony by dropping the opening march (now an independent piece, K. 408, no. 2) and one of the minuets (presumed lost) and added pairs of flutes and clarinets to the original instrumentation of the remaining movements. These new instruments only double already existing lines and chords in the outer movements, but the symphony owes its enriched sonority to one of the largest ensembles (including twelve wind instruments) Mozart ever used. The concert at which the Haffner Symphony was premiered took place on March 23, 1783.

 

This symphony boasts one of the most striking openings of any Mozart symphony: a bold, ceremonial gesture with flying leaps in the unison strings and a good rhythmic punch to set it off. So effective is this opening flourish that Mozart employs it almost continuously throughout the movement, even to the extent of letting it serve, in slightly modified form, as the “second” principal theme in the contrasting key of A major, and, as the closing theme as well, also modified.

 

The winsome lilt of the opening theme of the Andante sets in motion a movement that conforms perfectly to the image of Mozartian grace. A wide variety of trills and other decorative touches emphasize its rococo delicacy and lighthearted mood.

 

The sturdy, vigorous Menuetto recalls more the dance style of Austrian peasants than of courtly ballrooms.

 

Peeking through the curtains of the operatic stage is the witty tune of the finale, which is too close to Osmin’s aria “Ha, wie will ich triumphieren” from The Abduction from the Seraglio (premiered just three weeks before this movement was written) to be sheer coincidence.

 

© Robert Markow

CHRISTOPH GEDSCHOLD

CONDUCTOR
Kapellmeister at the Leipzig Opera since the 2015/2016 season’s, Christoph Gedschold was born in Magdeburg and studied piano and conducting in Leipzig and Hamburg. After working as Kapellmeister at the Theatre in Lucerne and Staatstheater in Nuremberg, he accepted an appointment at the Badische Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, where he worked as Kapellmeister from 2009 to 2015, conducting performances such as The Greek Passion, Euryanthe, La Gioconda, the first German production of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera Die Passagierin, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Peter Grimes, Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier, The Flying Dutchman, Ariadne auf Naxos, Otello, and Boris Godunov. At the Leipzig Opera, he will conduct new productions of Der Freischütz, Rusalka, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Pagliacci; performances of Tannhäuser, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, and Die Zauberflöte are also planned.

 

Christoph Gedschold is a regular conductor with the Semperoper Dresden and the State Opera in Hamburg. In Dresden, he conducts repertoire performances of Der Freischütz and The Magic Flute as well as a new production, Die Passengierin. In Hamburg, he conducts La Bohème, La Traviata, Simon Boccanegra, and Eugen Onegin. In May 2015, Gedschold made his North American debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducting Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony. In May 2016, he took over as Music Director of Die Passengierin, performed by the Frankfurt Opera at the Wiener Festwochen.

 

Christoph Gedschold has worked with many top German and international orchestras, including the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Frankfurt Opera Orchestra, Nationalorchester Mannheim, Bavarian Staatsphilharmonie Nuremberg, Basel Symphony Orchestra, and the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo.

 

XAVIER DE MAISTRE

HARP
Xavier de Maistre belongs to an elite category of soloists who are redefining what is possible with their instrument. Aside from commissions from composers such as Kaija Saariaho, he performs works like Smetana’s Má vlast with breathtaking precision, presenting masterful arrangements of works that are usually played by an entire orchestra. His interpretation of these works, that few harpists before him have even considered playing, has contributed to his reputation as one of the most creative and extraordinary musicians of his generation.

Xavier de Maistre has appeared with major orchestras under the direction of such eminent conductors as Bertrand de Billy, Lionel Bringuier, Daniele Gatti, Kristjan Järvi, Philippe Jordan, Riccardo Muti, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and André Previn. He performs at many leading international festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Salzburg Festival, Budapest Spring Festival, and Mostly Mozart in New York. He also collaborates with chamber music partners Diana Damrau, Magali Mosnier, Daniel Müller-Schott, Baiba Skride, and Arabella Steinbacher.

De Maistre enjoys an exclusive recording contract with Sony Music. Releases have included music by Haydn, Rodrigo, Ginastera, and Debussy—the latter earning him the Echo Klassik Award 2009 as “Instrumentalist of the Year.” In 2012 Notte Veneziana was released and rose to the Top 10 on classical music charts. Most recent releases include a DVD with Diana Damrau and a CD recording of Mozart piano concertos arranged for harp. In the spring of 2015, Moldau—The Romantic Solo Album, a recital CD featuring Slavonic repertoire, was released to great critical acclaim.

Xavier de Maistre was born in Toulon and began harp studies at the age of nine, pursuing his training in Paris. In 1998, he was awarded first prize at the International Harp Competition in Bloomington, Indiana, thereafter becoming the first French musician to join the ranks of the prestigious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2001, Xavier de Maistre has taught at the Hamburg Academy of Music. He also gives regular masterclasses at New York’s Juilliard School of Music, Tokyo’s Toho University, and London’s Trinity College of Music.

Xavier de Maistre’s instrument is a Lyon & Healy harp.

 

ANGELA HEWITT

PIANO

One of the world’s leading pianists, Angela Hewitt regularly appears in recital and in concert with major orchestras internationally. Admitted into Gramophone’s Hall of Fame in 2015, Hewitt’s live performances and recordings of the music of J.S. Bach have especially draw praise, singling her out as one of the composer’s foremost interpreters.

 

In autumn 2016, Angela Hewitt embarked on a large-scale project entitled “The Bach Odyssey”, which consists of performing all of Bach’s keyboard works in twelve recitals over the next four years. Hewitt will present these recitals in prominent cities and venues around the world, including London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s 92^nd Street Y, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, as well as in Tokyo and Florence. Among the highlights of Hewitt’s 2016/2017 season are appearances with the Baltimore Symphony and Winnipeg Symphony orchestras, as well as with Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. Hewitt also directs, from the keyboard, Festival Strings Lucerne at Munich’s Gasteig, and tours the UK with Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchestra. Recent orchestral appearances have included her performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra.

 

Hewitt’s award-winning recordings have garnered praise from around the world. Her album of Bach’s The Art of Fugue was released in 2014, and her ten-year project to record Bach’s major keyboard works for Hyperion has been described as “one of the record glories of our age” (The Sunday Times). Among Hewitt’s most recent releases are the sixth volume of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas and a new recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Her discography also features CDs of Mozart, Couperin, and Rameau.

 

Born into a musical family, Angela Hewitt began piano studies at the age of three, performing in public at four and a year later, winning her first music scholarship. She studied with Jean-Paul Sévilla and in 1985, won the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition. Hewitt received an OBE at the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2006, and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada (CC) in 2015. She lives in London but also has homes in Ottawa and Italy, where she is Artistic Director of the Trasimeno Music Festival.