January 14, 2024: Goldmund Quartet ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833-1887) String Quartet No. 2 in D January 14, 2024: Goldmund Quartet A medical doctor and professor of chemistry by profession, Aleksandr Borodin was what he modestly called “a Sunday composer.” Consequently he produced a relatively small body of works, leaving a number of them incomplete at the time of his fatal heart attack at age fifty-three. Yet his remarkable handling of musical materials shows him to be one of the most original composers to come out of Russia in the nineteenth century. As a child Borodin had loved to pick out tunes on the piano by ear and had been given flute lessons. He loved to play four-hand piano arrangements of symphonies with his friend Mikhail Shchiglev, and taught himself to play the cello (Shchiglev similarly learned violin) in order to play chamber music with friends. Once his scientific pursuits began, he continued to play chamber music as relaxation. Borodin composed his String Quartet No. 2, the last major work he completed, while on holiday in July and August 1881 in Zhitovo outside Moscow. Its first performance took place on March 9, 1882, at a concert of the Russian Music Society in St. Petersburg. (Some sources give a premiere date of January 26, 1882.) Dedicated to Borodin’s wife, the Quartet nostalgically and lovingly reflects their first months together in Heidelberg. The Quartet has become Borodin’s most frequently performed work outside of, perhaps, his Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor. Some of its music became especially popular in the form of the Broadway show Kismet, which borrowed not only from the Polovtsian Dances and other Prince Igor music, but from the Quartet’s lively Scherzo for “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads” and the lyrical Notturno for “And This Is My Beloved.” The first movement puts sonata form on parade in a sense, as if to say, “Even chemists know their Classical forms.” This has no negative connotation now, but in the late nineteenth century the “Mighty Handful” (or the “Russian Five”)—Borodin, Balakirev, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Cui—had taken naturalism to new levels and Borodin’s traditionalism sometimes received bad press. Nevertheless, Borodin’s Second Quartet sounds much more like a forerunner of Debussy and Ravel than the works of other contemporaries such as Brahms. Borodin featured the cello, his own instrument, in presenting the movement’s songlike main theme, quickly taken up by the first violin, said to represent his wife. The first violin also leads off the equally lyrical second theme, which also includes a martial portion. Borodin’s effervescent, waltzlike Scherzo also shows his knowledge of sonata form, thwarting the listener’s expectation of a middle trio by presenting a development section instead. The merry movement takes its leave with an increasingly ethereal coda. The famous, poignant Notturno also highlights the cello with the initial presentation of the luxurious theme, followed by the first violin sweetly singing the tune in higher register. The second theme, with its resolute rising scale decorated by trills, does little to alter the movement’s lyrical impression. Borodin’s display of canonic techniques throughout this movement is striking for its unobtrusive Romantic unfolding. In the finale Borodin’s “naturalist” tendencies come to the fore with a folk-like melody that serves almost as a motto. He begins with a slow introduction in two questioning phrases that provides a wonderful foil for the ensuing energetic section as well as furnishing its main thematic material. A tender second theme reminds the listener of the work’s overall lyricism. Borodin achieves a brilliant climax and ends suddenly with four emphatic chords. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

2015-2016 ARTIST ROSTER BENJAMIN BEILMAN, VIOLIN 2015 NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, CELLO THE ESCHER STRING QUARTET SIR JAMES GALWAY, FLUTE MARK HOLLOWAY, VIOLA SEAN LEE, VIOLIN GILLES VONSATTEL, PIANO STEPHANIE BLYTHE, MEZZO-SOPRANO TIMOTHY COBB, BASS YING FANG, SOPRANO LADY JEANNE GALWAY, FLUTE STEFAN JACKIW, VIOLIN CRAIG TERRY, PIANIST PAUL WATKINS, CELLO PAOLO BORDIGNON, HARPSICHORD JEREMY DENK, PIANO RAFAEL FIGUEROA, CELLO RICHARD GOODE, PIANO KRISTIN LEE, VIOLIN DANBI UM, VIOLIN

September 14, 2025: “SINGERS” FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA; MICHAEL PARLOFF, CONDUCTOR JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809) Symphony No. 6 in D, Hob. 1/6 (“The Morning”) September 14, 2025: “SINGERS” FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA; MICHAEL PARLOFF, CONDUCTOR In May 1761 the twenty-nine-year old Haydn was hired in the newly created position of vice-Kapellmeister by Prince Paul Anton Esterházy to serve under the aging, increasingly infirm Gregor Joseph Werner. The prince was in fading health himself, but he saw the opportunity to modernize and upgrade his musical establishment and had already begun to hire top-notch musicians to create a small orchestra. His first order to Haydn was to compose three symphonies, and he suggested the “times of day” as a subject. Despite his myriad duties, Haydn fulfilled the order quickly, producing Symphonies Nos. 6, 7, and 8, which soon earned the nicknames “Le matin” (Morning), “Le midi” (Noon), and “Le soir (Night)—in French, owing to popular taste. Having already begun to help hire musicians in April, a month before the start of his official appointment, Haydn continued to shape the orchestra throughout the decades of his employment at Esterháza. The orchestra expanded considerably under Prince Nicolaus, an even more avid music-lover than his brother Paul Anton, who died only one year after hiring Haydn. At first, however, the orchestra consisted of just thirteen to fifteen players, several of whom performed on more than one instrument: approximately six violins and one each of viola, cello and bass; pairs of oboes and horns but just one bassoon and occasionally one or two flutes. Haydn led this early ensemble as a violinist (second to the virtuoso first violinist) rather than by playing keyboard continuo. Haydn was undoubtedly aware of Baroque precedents for programmatic orchestral works—he may have known Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and certainly Kapellmeister Werner’s twelve instrumental suites titled Der curiose musikalische Instrumentalkalender —and, given his amazing fount of originality, he could easily have made more of Prince Paul Anton’s “times of day.” Instead he limited himself to composing a storm as the fourth movement of Le soir and a “sunrise” introduction to Le matin , because he was far more interested in impressing the prince with his own ingenious approaches to abstract forms. Further, one of Haydn’s principal aims was to display the talents, individually and as a whole, of the ensemble of virtuosos that he now had at his disposal—among them violinist Luigi Tomasini and cellist Joseph Weigl along with flutist and oboist Franz Siegl, oboist brothers Michael and Georg Kapfer, bassoonist Johann Hinterberger, bassoonist and bassist Georg Schwenda (who must have played bass in Symphonies Nos. 6–8), violinists Franciscus Garnier and Georg Hegner (and several other violin and viola players), and horn players Johannes Knoblauch and Thadteus Steinmüller. Consequently these symphonies contain prominent solos for violin, flutes (an additional player must have doubled on flute), oboes, horn, cello, and bass. With this concertante focus Haydn updated the traditional Baroque concerto grosso with an attention to shifting orchestral colors that looks toward the future. Symphonies Nos. 6–8 received their first performance in May or June 1761, not at Esterháza in Eisenstadt, but at the Esterházy palace in the Wallnerstrasse, Vienna. Despite his failing health, Prince Paul Anton had to have been pleased because he continued his plans for musical expansion and requested many more works from Haydn. Slow introductions to symphony first movements were uncommon at the time, but Haydn’s “sunrise”—though only six measures long—makes the perfect opening to the “times of day” trilogy and to “The Morning” Symphony in particular. Beginning with violins alone, it ascends, growing from pianissimo to fortissimo as all the other instruments enter. In the merry exposition that ensues, the flute followed by oboes enter in birdlike solos. Haydn then ingeniously combines Classsic sonata form—exposition, development, and recapitulation—with the Baroque concertante principles of solo and tutti (ensemble) alternation, which must have delighted the prince. Haydn’s renowned wit shows in the solo horn’s imitation of the flute’s “bird” theme as a “false start” of the recap, something that Beethoven famously did in the first movement of his Eroica Symphony four decades later. The slow movement, for strings only, opens with an Adagio in which lovely dissonances create a poignant mood. A violin solo emerges, but this is just a prelude to the central Andante—an extended violin and cello duet in a stately minuet style. Haydn closes with a brief return to the Adagio’s poignant harmonies. The full ensemble returns for the third-movement minuet, which elicits a new sprightlier character in contrast to the Andante of the previous movement. For the central trio section, Haydn must have relished writing the surprising duet for double bass and bassoon, just as his musicians must have relished playing it. The finale barrels along with infectious enthusiasm alternating lively solos for almost every instrument with tutti ensemble passages in a concertante manner. Several times Haydn revels in pronounced dissonances that make their resolution all the more satisfying. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 AT 4 PM WINDS OF THE MET BUY TICKETS ELAINE DOUVAS, OBOE DAVID GOULD, BASSET HORN NATHAN HUGHES, OBOE DEAN LEBLANC, BASSET HORN JESSICA PHILLIPS, CLARINET MARK ROMATZ, BASSOON HUGO VALVERDE, HORN BRAD GEMEINHARDT, FRENCH HORN JOEL NOYES, CELLO EVAN EPIFANIO, BASSOON JAVIER GÁNDARA, HORN BRENDAN KANE, BASS MARON KHOURY, FLUTE ANTON RIST, CLARINET JOHN UPTON, OBOE BRYAN WAGORN, PIANO SETH MORRIS, FLUTE ANNE SCHARER, FRENCH HORN FEATURING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS The inaugural concert of Parlance Chamber Concerts’s 15th season will showcase the brilliant virtuosity of the MET Orchestra’s wind section. The program will highlight the eighteen musicians’s operatically-honed insight into fantasies on themes from Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor, and lyrical music by Amilcare Ponchielli, the composer of La Gioconda. The afternoon will culminate in a performance of Mozart’s sublime ”Gran Partita,” the majestic wind serenade that inspired Peter Shaffer, author of the play Amadeus, to have Mozart’s envious rival, Salieri, sigh, “It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.” PROGRAM Franz & Karl Doppler Rigoletto Fantasie for 2 flutes & piano Seth Morris & Maron Anis Khoury, flutes; Bryan Wagorn, piano Program Notes Henri Brod Duo from Lucia di Lammermoor, Op. 55 for oboe and cello & piano accompaniment Elaine Douvas, oboe; Joel Noyes, cello; Bryan Wagorn, piano Program Notes Amilcare Ponchielli Quartetto for woodwinds & piano accompaniment Seth Morris, flute; Elaine Douvas, oboe; Anton Rist, B-flat clarinet, Jessica Phillips, E-flat clarinet; Bryan Wagorn, piano Program Notes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Serenade No. 10 in B-flat, K. 361/370a (Gran Partita) Program Notes Watch the Winds of the Met Orchestra perform Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 (“Gran Partita”)

JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET Alexander Pavlovsky, 1st violin Sergei Bresler, 2nd violin Ori Kam, viola Kyril Zlotnikov, cello “Passion, precision, warmth, a gold blend: these are the trademarks of this excellent Israeli string quartet.” Such was the Times’ (London) impression of the Jerusalem Quartet. Since the ensemble's founding in 1993 and their debut in 1995, the four Israeli musicians have embarked on a remarkable journey of growth and maturation. Their expansive repertoire and extraordinary depth of expression have firmly established them as a distinctive voice in the string quartet tradition. At the heart of their sound lies a warm, full, and deeply human tone, paired with an egalitarian balance between high and low voices. This approach allows the quartet to combine individual expression with a transparent and faithful presentation of the composer’s work. It also drives their ongoing refinement of interpretations of the classical repertoire, while encouraging explorations of new musical territories. The Jerusalem Quartet is a regular and cherished guest on the world’s most prestigious concert stages. The year 2025 marked the Quartet’s 30th anniversary, which the ensemble celebrated with a special focus on Shostakovich’s 15 quartets, presented across 10 cities worldwide, including St. Paul, MN; Cleveland, OH; Portland, OR; Concertgebouw Amsterdam; Beethovenfest Bonn; Philharmonie Cologne; and Tonhalle Zurich. Highlights of the upcoming 2025/2026 season include two North American tours, as well as extensive performances across Europe, with concerts at renowned venues such as the Konzerthaus Wien and Wigmore Hall in London. Another season milestone for the Quartet will be a series of quintet concerts in Europe in spring 2026 with celebrated pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, taking place at prestigious venues including the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. The Jerusalem Quartet’s recordings have received numerous awards and accolades, including the Diapason d’Or and the BBC Music Magazine Award for Chamber Music. Previous Harmonia Mundi releases include a unique exploration of Jewish music in Central Europe between the wars, featuring a collection of 1920s Yiddish cabaret songs from Warsaw performed with Israeli soprano Hila Baggio, as well as the second volume of their complete Bartók cycle released in 2020. Today, the quartet records exclusively for BIS, with their first release for the label in 2025 featuring Shostakovich Quartets No. 2, 7 & 10.

TIMOTHY COBB, BASS Bassist Timothy Cobb joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Bass, The Redfield D. Beckwith Chair, in May 2014, after serving as principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and principal bass of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra since 1989. He has appeared at numerous chamber music festivals worldwide, including the Marlboro Music festival, through which he has toured with the Musicians from Marlboro series. A faculty member of the Sarasota Music Festival, he is helping to launch a new bass program for the Killington Music Festival in Killington, Vermont. Mr. Cobb also serves as principal bass for Valery Gergiev’s World Orchestra for Peace, an invited group of musicians from around the world who donate their time biannually and perform to promote international harmony. Mr. Cobb has been designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace from his affiliation with the World Orchestra. He has an ongoing collaboration with actor Stephen Lang, for whom he recorded a solo bass sound track for Mr. Lang’s animated short film The Wheatfield , which depicts a human drama from the Battle of Gettysburg. The two were invited to Gettysburg in July 2013 on the 150th anniversary of the battle to perform in the Salute to the States event held there, and they will continue to collaborate for future events. Mr. Cobb serves as bass department chair for The Juilliard School as well as on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, Purchase College, and Rutgers University. He is also a distinguished visiting artist for Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. A native of Albany, New York, Timothy Cobb graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Roger Scott. While at Curtis, Mr. Cobb was a substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in his senior year became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti. Mr. Cobb can be heard on all Metropolitan Opera recordings released after 1986, as well as on a recording of Giovanni Bottesini’s duo bass music with bassist Thomas Martin on the Naxos label.

GARRETT FISCHBACH, VIOLA Garrett Fischbach has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1998. He was a member of the San Francisco Symphony from 1996-98 and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. from 1995-96. His 2CD recording of the complete works for solo violin by J.S. Bach was released to critical acclaim in 2004. He was a college division faculty member at Mannes School of Music from 2008-2015, and has been a guest adjudicator at Juilliard Pre-College and Manhattan School of Music. He has performed and taught at the Sun Valley Artist Series, the Sid & Mary Foulger International Music Festival, and International Workshops in Graz, Austria. Garrett earned a Bachelor of Music degree, magna cum laude, from Boston University where he studied with George Neikrug and Yuri Mazurkevich, and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University as a student of Shmuel Ashkenasi. Garrett is an active chamber musician and recitalist, and is sought after in New York City as a teacher for advanced violinists and violists.

NANCY WU, ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER Nancy Wu has served as Associate Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1989. She performs regularly with the MET Chamber Ensemble and has been a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Martha’s Vineyard and the Fondation Giannada in Martigny, Switzerland. Ms. Wu has been a coach for the Verbier Festival Orchestra since its founding in 2000. She is an exclusive artist for Thomastik-Infeld Strings. A Fulbright grant recipient, Ms. Wu graduated with honors from Stanford University and the Vienna Hochschule für Musik, and lives in Pleasantville, New York, with her husband, double bassist Leigh Mesh and their two children.

May 6, 2018: Oliver Neubauer, violin; Clara Neubauer, violin; Kerry McDermott, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Preludio from Partita No. 3 arrg. for 3 violins & viola May 6, 2018: Oliver Neubauer, violin; Clara Neubauer, violin; Kerry McDermott, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola Though we find precedents for Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin in works by Johann Jacob Walther, Heinrich Biber, and Johann Paul Westhoff, Bach’s contributions totally eclipsed these and remain unsurpassed to this day in invention and magnificence. Trained as a violinist in his youth by his father, Bach knew the capabilities of the instrument and expanded greatly upon them. The autograph manuscript, dated 1720, presents three sonatas in alternation with three partitas. The sonatas represent the serious Italian sonata da chiesa (church sonata) form with four movements in a slow, fast, slow, fast pattern; the partitas resemble the sonata da camera (chamber sonata), a series of dance movements, which if Bach had been writing in the French style would have been called a suite. Throughout the unaccompanied violin works and in those for solo cello, Bach showed his mastery at creating a many-voiced texture with what is essentially a single-line instrument, often by the use of double stops or rolled chords, but even more often by implying several melodic lines by artful figuration. He counted on the ability of the ear to pick out and hold onto notes in one register and string them together over time as an independent voice; one can often hear such implied voices in counterpoint, occurring in two or more registers. Whereas Bach began each of his solo cello suites with a Preludio, the E major Partita is the only solo violin work to open with such a movement. The cheerful perpetual motion of the Preludio has contributed greatly to the work’s popularity. Bach himself showed a fondness for it by transcribing it for organ and orchestra in Cantatas 120a and 29; he also made a transcription of the entire Partita for lute. The Preludio is notable for its larger-than-usual number of authentic dynamic markings. In 1999 music theorist, conductor, and composer Thomas Krämer published his delightful Preludio in E for four violins based on Bach’s popular movement, whose implied counterpoint translates well to this four-voice treatment. The present performance is adapted for three violins and viola. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

March 13, 2022: Kristin Lee, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Michael Brown, piano CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Violin Sonata in G minor, L. 140 and Cello Sonata in D minor, L. 135 March 13, 2022: Kristin Lee, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Michael Brown, piano Toward the end of his life Debussy set himself the goal of writing six sonatas for diverse instruments, but he was able to complete only three before succumbing to colon cancer. The devastation in Paris caused by World War I and his declining health had left him unable to compose for almost a year, but he was roused to take up the pen again in the summer of 1915 by a surge of patriotism and by a change of scenery to Dieppe. He completed his Cello Sonata and the Sonata for flute, viola, and harp before returning to Paris that October, and, after another bout with his illness, the Violin Sonata in 1916–17. He dedicated these remarkable works, along with the three he planned to write, “en hommage à Emma-Claude Debussy (p.m.)”—the parenthetical initials standing for “petite mienne” (my little one), his pet name for his second wife. Violin Sonata With immense, tortured effort, and several revisions of the finale, he was able to finish the Violin Sonata by the end of March 1917. It was the last composition he completed. He gave the first performance with violinist Gaston Poulet on May 5, 1917, at the Salle Gaveau, and with repeat performances in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz he bid farewell to the concert stage. Debussy’s published title pages for each of the three Sonatas identified him as “musicien français,” by which he proudly showed his patriotism in time of war, but also his often declared determination to put forth a national French style as great as that of his Baroque forbears Couperin and Rameau. In May 1917 Debussy expressed great satisfaction with his Violin Sonata writing to his friend Robert Godet, “In keeping with the contradictory spirit of human nature it is full of a joyous tumult.” Yet only one month later, writing in a depressed state to Godet, he condemned the Sonata: You should know, my too trusting friend, that I only wrote this Sonata to be rid of the thing, spurred on as I was by my dear publisher. You, who are able to read between the staves, will see traces of Imp of the Perverse [story by Edgar Allan Poe] who encourages one to choose the very subject which should be ignored. This Sonata will be interesting from a documentary viewpoint and as an example of what may be produced by a sick man in time of war. Godet firmly challenged his deprecatory remarks saying, “One would be justified in criticizing it if it were not true music; which it undoubtedly is, and in a delightful way.” Nevertheless, Debussy’s dejected criticisms contributed to some harsh evaluations of the work, which happily have been ignored by thousands of violin and piano duos who have enthusiastically embraced this unique contribution from the composer’s late period. A lyrical, melancholy opening belies the first movement’s designation Allegro vivo, but its rhapsodic utterances in the first section erupt into lively passages. The quiet second group of themes is especially memorable for a sultry violin melody replete with glissandos (slides) and syncopated chordal accompaniment; a brief throaty folkish tune, alternating with a high violin melody (first in harmonics) with rippling piano accompaniment; and a slightly exotic tune with more glissandos. Following a return of opening materials, a frenzied buildup leads to a grand Gypsylike improvisation over repeated chords and an abrupt end. The capricious opening of the second movement reminds us of the commedia dell’arte figure of the Harlequin/Pierrot, which runs like a thread through all three late Sonatas—the earlier Cello Sonata was in fact once called Pierrot fâche avec la lune (Pierrot angered at the moon). In the present movement, which is to be played “with fantasy and lightness,” the motives and textures change with utmost flexibility. In contrast to the many delightful quicksilver gestures Debussy also offers an intriguing passage in which the haunting melody is doubled two octaves apart, accompanied all the while by insistent repeated treble chords. Emerging from an agitated piano opening, the violin’s first utterance in the Finale quotes the main theme of the first movement. Debussy colorfully noted the cyclic nature of this theme, saying that it “ultimately leaves the impression of an idea turning back upon itself, like a snake biting its own tail.” Improvisatory-sounding passages liven up the proceedings and again we hear a succession of variegated ideas, both fast and slow. One slow passage begins with a ringing low tone in the piano and a seductive violin melody again with glissandos. Several times his repeated-note accompaniment gives the impression of Spanish guitar figuration. A fascinating section near the end has the violin playing a high repeating pattern while the piano plays the melody in single notes, the whole interrupted twice with brilliant flourishes. A final wind-up produces wild trills in the violin, bold descending octaves in the piano, and one last impudent gesture. Cello Sonata Debussy wrote to his publisher on August 5, 1915, that he was pleased with the “proportions and almost classical form in the best sense of the word” of his Cello Sonata, adding later that cellists had been asking him to add such a work to their scant repertoire for a long time. The first performance took place not in Paris, as is often claimed, but in London, by cellist C. Warwick Evans and pianist Madame Alfred Hobday on March 4, 1916. Another performance followed five days later in Geneva by Léonce Allard and Marie Panthès. The Parisian performance often cited as the premiere did not take place until March 24, 1917, played by Joseph Salmon with Debussy himself at the piano. One of the work’s early performers, Louis Rosoor, printed the following in his programs, claiming to have gotten the description directly from the composer: “Pierrot [Harlequin] wakes up with a start and shakes off his stupor. He rushes off to sing a serenade to his beloved [the moon] who, despite his supplications, remains unmoved.” Debussy, however, complained bitterly to his publisher that the cellist had abused his confidence and it was no wonder his poor music was “so frequently misunderstood.” His protestations ultimately have the effect of corroborating Rosoor’s claim, suggesting that, as with many of the programmatic superscripts he attached to his works, the description did have some bearing on the piece, but that it was not only unnecessary for understanding the piece but might be misinterpreted. Our “musicien français” actually invoked the world of Couperin and Rameau in his Cello Sonata, which, despite his mention of “classical” forms, contains no sonata-form movement. The Prologue, in fact, alternates slow regal music reminiscent of the Baroque French-overture style with prelude-like improvisatory-sounding passages. The harmonies, however, are all Debussy’s. The Sérénade begins as if Pierrot (Harlequin) is tiptoeing to his beloved Colombine’s window. The cello’s constant pizzicato and periodic strumming seem to depict his guitar but also his antics. Debussy also calls for high harmonics, which give the cello a flutelike sound. Without pause the virtuoso finale takes off in a rush of figuration for the piano and a cello line whose sustained notes erupt into a folklike melody. Occasionally Debussy pauses the forward momentum for reflective, slightly exotic (Spanish-influenced?) passages and one particularly slow, soulful interlude, which make the surrounding activity sound that much more dizzying. An emphatic cello recitative and some forceful chords round off the piece. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

BARRY CENTANNI, PERCUSSION A graduate of the Juilliard School, Barry is principal percussionist for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. His engagements with St. Luke’s have included recordings for Sony, Music Masters, Telarc and Deutsche Grammophon, as well as appearances on “Live from Lincoln Center”. As a freelance musician, he has performed on “Late Night with David Letterman”, as well as “Saturday Night Live”. He has also appeared with the bands Yes, the Moody Blues and Metallica and with artists such as Tony Bennett, Sting, Elton John, and Frank Sinatra. He has also performed as an extra percussionist for the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the American Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Little Orchestra Society, the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Pops, the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. An active teacher, he has been on the faculty of the Mannes School of Music,The College of New Jersey, SUNY Purchase, New York University and Columbia Teachers College. Presently, he is Chairman of the percussion department of Montclair State University.

2024-2025 SEASON Dear Friends, Parlance Chamber Concerts’s 17th season will begin joyfully on September 29 with a “Cellobration” spotlighting four of today’s leading cellists. Carter Brey, principal of the New York Philharmonic; Rafael Figueroa, principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Zvi Plesser, professor at The Juilliard School; and the versatile soloist and chamber musician Edward Arron will join forces in a rich selection of cello solos and ensembles. On October 20 , the elite French string quartet, The Modigliani , will make it’s Parlance debut. Their far-ranging program will include Joaquín’s Turina’s lushly impressionistic Bullfighter’s Prayer , Brahms’s tenderhearted Quartet in B-flat, Op. 67 , and Beethoven’s sublime Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2. On November 17, the poetic English pianist Paul Lewis will return to PCC's stage. Universally acclaimed for his sovereign Schubert interpretations, Lewis will perform Schubert’s profound final trilogy of sonatas. A special mid-season “series with the series” will showcase the scintillating virtuosity of three of today’s most exciting performers: “The Virtuoso Flutist” On December 15, the phenomenal Crimean flutist Denis Bouriakov will perform a recital of concertos for flute and orchestra by Mozart, Bach, CPE Bach and Saint-Saëns . Denis will be supported by an ensemble of musicians from the New York Philharmonic. Michael Parloff will conduct. “The Virtuoso Organist” On January 19, organist Paul Jacobs will again grace our stage in a afternoon of towering masterpieces for the King of Instruments by Bach and Liszt. Don’t miss the musician that the Washington Post called “one of the greatest living virtuosos.” “The Virtuoso Cellist” On February 9, the renowned British cellist Steven Isserlis will make his long-awaited Parlance debut. Celebrated worldwide for his deeply communicative artistry, Isserlis radiates joy and virtuosity with every note he plays. His internationally diverse program will include works by Beethoven , Martinu , Boulanger , and Edvard Grieg’s soaring sonata for cello and piano. On March 9, celebrate Maurice Ravel’s 150th Birthday with the beguiling Russian-American soprano Erika Baikoff and the stellar Korean pianist Soohong Park. Their recital will feature a selection of Ravel’s most alluring song cycles and ravishing piano solos, including Shéhérazade and Gaspard de la nuit . On April 13 , the lustrous Quartetto di Cremona will make their eagerly anticipated return to PCC. The award-winning Italian ensemble will perform pinnacles of the quartet repertoire, including Debussy’s luminous String Quartet and Beethoven’s spiritually transcendent Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. On May 18, you won’t want to miss our star-studded seasonal finale, Late Night with Leonard Bernstein. This special multimedia cabaret will be hosted by the Maestro’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, in collaboration with acclaimed soprano Amy Burton and pianists John Musto and Michael Boriskin. They will provide an affectionately intimate portrait of the multifaceted titan of 20th-century American music. I look forward to seeing you again soon at Parlance Chamber Concerts! Michael Parloff 2024-2025 SEASON September 29, 2024 Cellobration! October 20, 2024 Modigliani Quartet November 17, 2024 Paul Lewis Plays Schubert December 15, 2024 The Virtuoso Flutist January 19, 2025 The Virtuoso Organist February 9, 2025 The Virtuoso Cellist March 9, 2025 Ravel’s 150th Birthday Concert April 13, 2025 Quartetto Di Cremona May 18, 2025 Late Night With Leonard Bernstein Artist Roster Parlance Program Notes LOCATION At West Side Presbyterian Church 6 South Monroe Street Ridgewood, NJ 07450 For map and directions, click here . CONCERT AMENITIES Whee lchair Accessible Fr e e Parking for all concerts