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May 19, 2019: Wendy Bryn Harmer, soprano; Inn-Hyuck Cho, basset horn; Ken Noda, piano WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Non più di fiori from La Clemenza di Tito, K. 621 May 19, 2019: Wendy Bryn Harmer, soprano; Inn-Hyuck Cho, basset horn; Ken Noda, piano In July 1791 Mozart received a “last-minute” commission to compose an opera to celebrate Leopold II’s coronation as King of Bohemia. He had to work quickly in order to complete La clemenza di Tito (The clemency of Titus) by September 6, when it would open at the National Theatre in Prague. Having begun the work in Vienna in late July, Mozart arrived in Prague on August 28 and completed the opera only the day before it opened. After modest successes, La clemenza di Tito experienced a triumphant closing night, which was reported to Mozart back in Vienna on September 30, the day of the premiere of Die Zauberflöte. Since most of Die Zauberflöte had been written before Mozart left for Prague, La clemenza is often considered his final opera. He died just nine weeks after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, and critics attached a sort of stigma to La clemenza, possibly because some of the simple recitatives had to be subcontracted owing to time restraints. The fact remains, however, that Mozart admirably fulfilled the demands of eighteenth-century opera seria (serious opera) for dramatic, noble, and virtuosic writing. More than forty composers had previously set Pietro Metastasio’s libretto for La clemenza di Tito, beginning with Caldara in 1734. For Mozart’s purposes the libretto was adapted by Caterino Mazzolà—“reduced to a proper opera” as Mozart put it—by shortening it by one-third and manipulating almost all of Metastasio’s texts so that there would be ensembles and finales in addition to solo arias. The plot, typical of eighteenth-century opera seria, concerns Titus (Tito), Roman emperor, whose plans to marry someone else inflame Vitellia, daughter of the deposed emperor, with jealousy. She involves Sextus (Sesto), who is in love with her, in a plot to kill Tito that goes awry. Sesto is condemned to death, and Vitellia, unable to bear the guilt, confesses her part in the scheme. Tito, however, has granted Sesto clemency and now does the same for Vitellia. Mozart and Mazzolà reduced the number of Metastasio’s arias to eleven, which include Sesto’s great virtuosic aria with elaborate clarinet obbligato, “Parto, parto” (I go, I go), and Vitellia’s equally renowned showpiece with basset horn obbligato, “Non più di fioro” (No more flowers). Mozart’s friend Anton Stadler came from Vienna especially to play these important solos. Just before the final two scenes, Vitellia resolves to confess all, knowing not only that she’ll lose Tito and the throne but could also be put to death. Her alternately agitated and sorrowful accompanied recitative: “Ecco il punto, o Vitelia” (Now is the moment, O Vitellia) leads into her powerfully restrained “Non più di fiori.” Famous for its tessitura that is lower than much of the role, the aria unfolds in rondo form, painting a deceptively serene picture—except for a few dazzling outbursts—of a woman who is nevertheless experiencing intense emotions prior to possible death. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

September 18, 2022: Seth Morris & Maron Anis Khoury, flutes; Bryan Wagorn, piano FRANZ AND KARL DOPPLER (1821-1883; 1825-1900) Rigoletto Fantasie for 2 flutes & piano September 18, 2022: Seth Morris & Maron Anis Khoury, flutes; Bryan Wagorn, piano Brothers Franz and Karl Doppler both began studying flute at an early age with their father, composer and oboist Joseph Doppler. Franz played in the conventional manner with the flute out to his right, but Karl played “backwards” with the flute out to the left! As teenage flute virtuosos they made several concert tours together, then in 1838 settled in Pest, Hungary. They both became flutists of the German Town Theater and in 1841 of the Hungarian National Theater. Karl also served as a conductor at the National Theater until 1862. Franz composed several operas that met with considerable success, and Karl composed a singspiel, some incidental music, and songs that also found a receptive audience. They even composed several works jointly, such as the present Rigoletto Fantasy. Together they helped found the Philharmonic Concerts in 1853 and periodically toured as a duo. In 1858 Franz left for Vienna to become first flutist for the Court Opera and later conductor of the ballet orchestra; his fifteen ballets date from this period. From 1865 Franz also taught flute at the Vienna Conservatory. Karl stayed on for a time in Pest, but then moved to Stuttgart in 1865 to serve as court Kapellmeister, a post he held for thirty-three years. Besides composing for the theater, they each wrote a number of piano pieces and works for male chorus, and the compositions of both brothers achieved great popularity in their day. The Fantasy and Variations on Motives from the Opera Rigoletto, of Verdi, to use the work’s full title, was published in 1878 as Opus 38, but it may have been composed years earlier. One can easily imagine the brothers working on it when they lived in the same vicinity and touring with the piece long before it was published. On the other hand, maybe they had a reunion and celebrated by collaborating on the piece. In any case, they would have been very familiar with Verdi’s themes, since Rigoletto had been immensely popular ever since its Venice premiere in 1851. The aria that receives the most attention in the course of the Fantasy is the celebrated “Caro nome,” which is treated to several variations, interspersed with interludes that bring in other themes from the opera. The famous “La donna è mobile” makes a brief appearance, and we also hear parts of “Povero Rigoletto—La rà, la rà,” “Bella figlia dell’amore,” “Figlia! Mio padre!,” “Cortiginai, vil razza dannata,” and “Sì, vendetta.” The scoring for two flutes happily accommodates the many passages of parallel thirds and sixths so common to Italian opera. The Dopplers also added virtuosic filigree, switching off between players so that each has ample chance for dazzling display. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

JEEWON PARK, PIANO Hailed for her “deeply reflective” playing (Indianapolis Star), pianist Jeewon Park is rapidly garnering the attention of audiences for her dazzling technique and poetic lyricism. Since making her debut at the age of 12 performing Chopin’s First Concerto with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Park has performed at major venues such as Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Kaplan Penthouse, Merkin Hall, 92nd Street Y, Steinway Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Kravis Center (FL). As a recitalist, she has been heard at the Steinway Hall in New York, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, Caramoor International Festival, Norfolk Music Festival, Music Alp in Courchevel (France) and Kusatsu Summer Music Festival (Japan), among others. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Park has performed in numerous festivals such as the Spoleto USA Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Beethoven Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (VT), Appalachian Summer Festival (NC), Emilia-Romagna Festival (Italy) and Barge Music. She has performed as a guest artist with the Fine Arts Quartet and New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, and has collaborated with numerous artists. As an orchestral soloist, she has performed with the Charleston Symphony (SC), Mexico City Philharmonic, Monterrey Symphony, Mexico State Symphony, in addition to many major orchestras from her native Korea. Following her performance of the Mozart Concerto K. 453 with the Charleston Symphony, the Post and Courier acclaimed that “Park demonstrated rare skill and sensitivity, playing with a feline grace and glittering dexterity…. lyrical phrasing and pearly tone quality.” In the 2008-2009 season, Ms. Park appears in many North American cities including New York, Boston, Washington D.C., St. Paul, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Burlington and Omaha. Highlights of this season include several performances of Mozart Piano Concertos K. 414 and K. 415, a solo recital and an all-Mendelssohn chamber music program at Caramoor, and a U.S. tour with the “Charles Wadsworth and Friends” series. Jeewon Park most recently recorded an album of chamber works by the Pulitzer Prize winning composer Paul Moravec, which was released by Naxos in the fall of 2008. She has been heard in numerous live broadcasts on National Public Radio and New York’s Classical Radio Station, WQXR. Additionally, her performances have been nationally broadcast throughout Korea on KBS and EBS television. Ms. Park holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University, where she was awarded the prestigious Dean Horatio Parker Prize. Her teachers include Herbert Stessin, Claude Frank and Gilbert Kalish.

EMANUEL AX, PIANO Born in modern day Lvov, Poland, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. His studies at the Juilliard School were supported by the sponsorship of the Epstein Scholarship Program of the Boys Clubs of America, and he subsequently won the Young Concert Artists Award. Additionally, he attended Columbia University where he majored in French. Mr. Ax made his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series, and captured public attention in 1974 when he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists followed four years later by the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. Always a committed exponent of contemporary composers with works written for him by John Adams, Christopher Rouse, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bright Sheng, and Melinda Wagner already in his repertoire, the 2016/2017 season will feature two newly commissioned works. With the New York Philharmonic conducted by Alan Gilbert, January will bring the world premiere of HK Gruber’s Piano Concerto followed in March by the European premiere with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle. In recitals throughout the season his program will include works by Schubert and Chopin partnered with “Impromptus (2015-2016) ” by Samuel Adams commissioned by Music Accord and inspired by Schubert. His ongoing relationship with the Boston Symphony will include visits with them to Carnegie Hall, Montreal, and Toronto; with the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Ax will appear as the featured artist for their Gala opening concert of the season. As a regular visitor he will return to the orchestras of Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Toronto, Seattle, Milwaukee, and Detroit. A Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987, recent releases include Mendelssohn Trios with Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, Strauss’ Enoch Arden narrated by Patrick Stewart, and discs of two-piano music by Brahms and Rachmaninoff with Yefim Bronfman. In 2015, Deutsche Grammophon released a duo recording with Mr. Perlman of Sonatas by Faure and Strauss which the two artists presented on tour during the 2015/2016 season. Mr. Ax has received Grammy® Awards for the second and third volumes of his cycle of Haydn’s piano sonatas. He has also made a series of Grammy-winning recordings with cellist Yo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for cello and piano. His other recordings include the concertos of Liszt and Schoenberg, three solo Brahms albums, an album of tangos by Astor Piazzolla, and the premiere recording of John Adams’ Century Rolls with the Cleveland Orchestra for Nonesuch. In the 2004/05 season Mr. Ax also contributed to an International Emmy® Award-Winning BBC documentary commemorating the Holocaust that aired on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In 2013, Mr. Ax’s recording Variations received the Echo Klassik Award for Solo Recording of the Year (19th century music/Piano). A frequent and committed partner for chamber music, he has worked regularly with such artists as Young Uck Kim, Cho-Liang Lin, Mr. Ma, Edgar Meyer, Peter Serkin, Jaime Laredo, and the late Isaac Stern. Mr. Ax resides in New York City with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki. They have two children together, Joseph and Sarah. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates of music from Yale and Columbia Universities. For more information about Mr. Ax’s career, please visit www.EmanuelAx.com .

September 27, 2009 – Danielle de Niese, soprano; Ken Noda, piano WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Al desio di chi t’adoro September 27, 2009 – Danielle de Niese, soprano; Ken Noda, piano The Marriage of Figaro received a decidedly positive reception at its Viennese premiere in 1786. The cast was strong and the audience so enthusiastic that almost every piece had to be encored, effectively doubling the opera’s already considerable length. In order to ensure reasonable ending times at subsequent performances, Emperor Joseph decreed that only the solo arias could be repeated. Despite its initial success with the public, Figaro was dropped from the Burgtheater repertoire after only nine performances, not return to Vienna for another three years. Mozart had powerful competitors in the court’s musical establishment, Antonio Salieri among them, and these politically savvy rivals may have contributed to the opera’s disappointingly short initial run. Although the performances of The Marriage of Figaro were an artistic and public triumph, they did not constitute the financial success that Mozart had hoped for. In 1789, Figaro returned to Vienna with a greatly altered cast. Perhaps the most significant change was the loss of Nancy Storace, the enchanting English/Italian soprano for whom Mozart had created the role of Susanna. Storace’s replacement was Adriana Ferrarese, one of the most successful sopranos of the day but a singer of very different vocal and dramatic strengths. Storace was known for the subtlety of her singing and the wit and flexibility of her acting. Ferrarese, by contrast, was reared in the more formal world of Opera Seria and was known for her dramatic gravitas, formidable power and coloratura agility. In order to ensure the success of the all-important second Viennese run of Figaro, Mozart felt that some musical adjustments should be made in the role of Susanna. Mozart liked to boast that he could make an aria fit a singer like a well-made garment. Here he outfitted Ferrarese with music designed to highlight her particular blend of dignity and virtuosity. In the fourth act he abandoned Susannas’s subtly seductive aria, Deh vieni non tardar, and replaced it with Al desio di chi t’adoro, a more extroverted work tailored around Farrarese’s strengths. Al desio is written in the form of a two-movement (slow/fast) rondó concertante, the longest and most aristocratic type of aria then in vogue. Accompanied by an unusual complement of solo woodwind instruments (including basset horns, French horns, and bassoons), the aria evokes the sufferings of a tragic heroine. The aria is extremely expressive and provides opportunities for the soprano to display her dramatic temperament and vocal agility. Although rarely included in modern day performances of The Marriage of Figaro, Al desio has taken its rightful place as a favorite concert aria in the Mozartian soprano repertoire. By Michael Parloff Return to Parlance Program Notes

NATHAN GUNN, BARITONE Nathan Gunn has made a reputation as one of the most exciting and in-demand baritones of the day. He has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Bilboa, and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. His many roles include the title roles in Billy Budd, Eugene Onegin, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Hamlet, Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucetia, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, and Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea. A frequent interpreter of new works, Mr. Gunn created the role of Paul in the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Amelia at the Seattle Opera. He also created the roles of Alec Harvey in André Previn’s Brief Encounter at the Houston Grand Opera, Father Delura in Peter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, and Clyde Griffiths in Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedyat the Metropolitan Opera. Also a distinguished concert performer, Mr. Gunn has appeared the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Rundfunkorchster, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. The many conductors with whom he has worked with include, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Antonio Pappano, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Mark Wigglesworth.

A frequent recitalist, Mr. Gunn has been presented in recital at Alice Tully Hall by both Lincoln Center’s Art of the Song Series and the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society; and by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, Cal Performances, the Schubert Club, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Vocal Arts Society in Washington, DC, the University of Chicago, the Krannert Center, the Wigmore Hall, and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. As a student, he performed in series of recitals with his teacher and mentor John Wustman that celebrated the 200th anniversary of Franz Schubert’s birth.

Mr. Gunn has recently ventured outside the standard opera repertoire with appearances in performances of Camelotwith the New York Philharmonic (broadcast live on PBS’s Great Performances) and Showboat at Carnegie Hall. He was also a featured soloist in the New York Philharmonic’s 80th birthday gala celebration for Stephen Sondheim and appeared with Sting and Trudie Styler in the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Twin Spirits, a work that explores the relationship between Clara and Robert Schumann. Mr. Gunn’s solo album, Just Before Sunrise, was released on Sony/BMG Masterworks. Other recordings include the title role in Billy Budd with Daniel Harding and the London Symphony Orchestra (Virgin Classics), which won the 2010 Grammy Award; the first complete recording of Rogers & Hammerstein’s Allegro (Sony’s Masterworks Broadway), Peter Grimes with Sir Colin Davis and London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live!) which was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (SONY Classics),Kullervo with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Telarc), and American Anthem (EMI). He also starred as Buzz Aldrin in Man on the Moon, an opera written specifically for television and broadcast on the BBC in the UK. The program was awarded the Golden Rose Award for Opera at the Montreux Festival in Lucerne. This season, Mr. Gunn returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Cosí fan tutte and The Magic Flute, and made his debut at the Theater an der Wien in The Rape of Lucretia. Upcoming engagements include cabaret shows at the famous Café Carlyle in New York City and at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, andevening of song with Kelli O’Hara and the New York Philharmonic, a concert with Mandy Patinkin at the Ravinia Festival, and his debuts at the Teatro Real in Madrid in Le Nozze di Figaro and the Cincinnati Opera in Eugene Onegin,. Next season he returns to the Metropolitan Opera for Billy Budd, the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Showboat, the Houston Grand Opera for Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and the San Francisco Opera for Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Gunn was the recipient of the first annual Beverly Sills Artist Award, and was awarded the Pittsburgh Opera Renaissance Award. He is an alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Program and was the winner of the 1994 Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition. Mr. Gunn is also an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana where he is currently a professor of voice.

June 19, 2022 – Pinchas Zukerman, violin; Shai Wosner, piano LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, op. 24, “Spring” June 19, 2022 – Pinchas Zukerman, violin; Shai Wosner, piano This most famous of all Classical violin sonatas arose out of Beethoven’s impulse to write a contrasting pair in which the F major Sonata would serve as the more relaxed, genial resolution to its more intense companion. Thus he composed his A minor Violin Sonata in 1800 and immediately after, the present Spring Sonata, completed in 1801. He intended to publish both as Opus 23, but owing to a printer’s error in which the violin parts were engraved in different sizes, they were issued separately to save the expense of redoing one of the parts. Beethoven dedicated the pair to his patron Count Moritz von Fries, whose home had been the scene for the famous piano improvisation duel between Beethoven and Daniel Steibelt. Though Beethoven had composed in pairs before, these Violin Sonatas are the first of his famous companion pieces of such different character, one in the minor and one in the major, carried out most notably in his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. The Spring Sonata’s F major key and its flowing, pastoral qualities, especially in its outer movements, are responsible for its nickname, which, however, did not arise with the composer. The first movement’s charming main theme, which has endeared the Sonata to millions, points up several notable features, the first of which is the rigorously impartial parceling out of themes and accompaniment between the two instruments—the violin plays the melody first with accompanimental piano figuration, then the roles are reversed, and this trading off occurs throughout the Sonata. This was not always the case in most eighteenth-century works in the genre, in which the keyboard was considered the primary player. Second, the very fact that there is a great deal of accompanimental figuration—for whichever instrument—is also particularly noticeable in this Sonata as compared to Beethoven’s earlier works. And finally, the technical challenges are not overwhelming for the players, which contributes to the easygoing quality—and to the remarkable number of amateur performances this Sonata has always attracted. The trading off continues in the slow movement, whose unhurried main theme receives florid bits of ornamentation as it returns in varied guises. Certain of these ornaments, fragmented interjections, and especially the repeated oscillations toward the close have suggested bird song to a number of listeners. The briefest of scherzos presents a playful theme that delights the ear as it sets the violin at rhythmic odds with the piano. Apparently fascinated by this theme, Schumann adapted it for the Soldier’s March in his Album for the Young. The busy scales of the trio lead to the short return of the main theme, which trails off delicately. As in the first movement Beethoven employs a lyrical main theme in his finale, here as a rondo refrain between contrasting episodes. One of the movement’s most unusual features is the return of this theme—elaborately set up—in a remote key before it elegantly rights itself. Toward the end he introduces a galloping variation on the theme, and continues to vary the ensuing sequence of ideas to make a conclusive finish. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

SARAH VONSATTEL, VIOLIN Violinist Sarah Crocker Vonsattel has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2008. She previously held positions in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony. Sarah has appeared as soloist with the musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Syracuse Symphony, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, among others. Recent performances include appearances at Lake Tahoe Summerfest, the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, the Bronxville Chamber Music Series, Downtown Music at Grace Church, the New Marlborough House Concerts, and the Syracuse Society for New Music. As a founding member of the Verklärte Quartet, Sarah was a Grand Prize Winner of the 2003 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, leading to concert tours in the U.S. and Italy with this ensemble. A proponent of new music, Sarah has appeared with the iO string quartet and the Talea Ensemble and can be heard on the Bridge Records label performing the music of Poul Ruders and Tod Machover. She has appeared as both performer and faculty member at festivals including the Orfeo International Music Festival (Italy), the Wellesley Composers Conference (Massachusetts), and the Musical Friends Academy (Tunisia). She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was a student of David Updegraff, and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Ronald Copes and Naoko Tanaka. In her spare time, she enjoys distance running and traveling.

April 3, 2016: Ying Fang, soprano; Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway, flutes; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Sheep Safely Graze, from Cantata 208 for soprano, two flutes, and continuo April 3, 2016: Ying Fang, soprano; Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway, flutes; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord Bach wrote secular cantatas for aristocratic patrons to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, name days, and accession days, or for academic ceremonies. He wrote one of his most famous, Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (What pleases me is above all the lively hunt), BWV 208, on a text by Weimar court poet Salomo Franck for the birthday of Duke Christian Weissenfels in 1713. Known as the Hunt Cantata, it contains “Schafe können sicher weiden,” the well-known aria for Pales, second soprano to Diana, goddess of the hunt. For centuries listeners have been captivated by its texture of rocking parallel thirds for two flutes—the quintessential pastoral instrument—accompanying the tender main melody, which praises Duke Christian for ruling his people as a good shepherd. © Jane Vial Jaffe Text and Translation Schafe können sicher weiden, Wo ein guter Hirte wacht. Wo Regenten wohl regieren, Kann man Ruh und Friede spüren Und was Länder glücklich macht. —Salomo Franck Sheep may safely graze where a good shepherd watches. Where rulers are governing well, one may feel rest and peace and what makes countries happy. Return to Parlance Program Notes

October 20, 2024: Modigliani Quartet Joaquín’s Turina (1882 - 1949) La oración de torero (The Bullfighter’s Prayer) October 20, 2024: Modigliani Quartet Like most Spanish composers of his time, Turina went to Paris to study. While there he performed his already published Piano Quintet, op. 1, to an audience that included Isaac Albéniz. His compatriot advised him to look to his native Spain for material. Turina took the advice to heart, later claiming that the conversation had changed his whole attitude to music. More interested than his countrymen in pursuing the conventional (German) major forms, he sought to combine them with his Andalusian, particularly Sevillian, heritage in a style that had also absorbed Romantic and Impressionistic elements. His works in the smaller genres admirably exhibit Spanish traits, sometimes with humor and often with elegance. Turina composed La oración del toraro in 1924 as a lute quartet, dedicated to the lute virtuosos of the Aguilar family—Elisa, Ezequiel, José, and Francisco; he arranged it two years later for string quartet or string orchestra. The work’s roots in Andalusian folk music appear not only in the sounds of plucked strings, achieved by pizzicato in the string orchestra version, but in the rhythms, modal inflections, and alternating fast and slow sections. The piece also shows French influence, including that of Ravel, and even a bit of English harmonic texture—Vaughan Williams or Delius, perhaps. The bullfighter’s prayer climaxes in the slow middle section with an intensity in the high registers that seems particularly well suited to the sustained sounds of bowed rather than plucked strings. Turina condenses and varies the return of the opening section—without its introduction—now rising again to beseeching heights but without the previous intensity, ending quietly. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

February 8, 2015 – David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano ALEXANDER SCRIABIN (1872–1915) Five Preludes for Solo Piano, Op. 16 (1894–1895) February 8, 2015 – David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano A student of the Moscow Conservatory alongside the likes of Sergei Rachmaninov and Aleksandr Goldenweiser, the pianist and composer Aleksandr Skryabin struggled greatly to compose, enduring massive anxiety attacks for much of the 1890s. With the support of the conservatory’s director, Vasily Safonov, Skryabin was permitted to graduate early (in the same year as Rachmaninov), although his mentor, Anton Arensky, who had been working closely with Skryabin on counterpoint and fugue, was adamantly against his departure. Nevertheless, Skryabin graduated from the conservatory, and through Safonov’s support was soon contacted by Mitrofan Belyayev, an Imperial Russian music publisher in Moscow. Through Belyayev’s connections, Skryabin was given opportunity to tour Russia in 1894, and was sent to Paris in 1895. Compositionally, during this period, Skryabin devoted himself almost entirely to composing Preludes towards an outstanding bet he had made with Belyayev that he could compose 48 Preludes before departing for Paris; it was to fulfill this bet that Skryabin composed his Twenty-Four Preludes, op. 11, and Five Preludes, op. 16. Shostakovich and Nina separated, and the composer, as Vollman alludes, remained in Moscow with no definite plans to follow his wife back to Leningrad. It was during this time that work on the Cello Sonata began. By 1935, however, Nina was pregnant with the Shostakoviches’ first child, and the marriage essentially righted itself (which did not preclude later extramarital affairs by both Dmitry and Nina). Shortly after the affair ended, Konstaninovskaya received an anonymous political denunciation and spent roughly a year in prison. The first of the Opus 16 Preludes paints a heavily romantic dreamscape. Like a wind-up music box, it is as if Skryabin leads us to question whether the next note will actually come, or whether it will leave us in an airy suspense. Far more decisive than is the following prelude, in g-sharp minor: the work carries a depth in the left hand reminiscent of Franz Liszt, whom Skryabin deeply admired. The third and fourth preludes alternate between a hymn-like chordal melody and a dainty right-hand melody, which recalls the first prelude’s sensibility. The set concludes with a brief, yet fulfilling Allegretto in f-sharp minor. ©2013 Andrew Goldstein Return to Parlance Program Notes

KEVIN J. MILLER, PIANO American pianist Kevin J. Miller, a Grammy Award nominee, has garnered widespread acclaim for his masterful and dynamically artful performances. His recent collaborations boast an impressive array of international artists, including distinguished vocalists Lawrence Brownlee, Joseph Calleja, Nadine Sierra, John Holiday, Karen Slack, Will Liverman, and Leah Hawkins. Notably, Mr. Miller had the privilege of preparing the incomparable soprano Jessye Norman for performances of Laura Karpman's production of Ask Your Mama, which culminated in a triumphant presentation at Carnegie Hall. His artistry can be heard on several recordings, including Been in da Storm So Long, featuring baritone Kenneth Overton, and Lawrence Brownlee's critically acclaimed release Rising. Mr. Miller's formidable musical foundation was laid at the Mannes College of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano. He further honed his craft at the University of Michigan School of Music, earning both a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano under the guidance of Martin Katz. Mr. Miller's distinguished career has been marked by esteemed appointments to the music staff of several of the nation's most revered opera companies. His impressive roster of affiliations includes The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Austin Opera, Opera San Antonio, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis.