Elmar Oliviera, violin Elmar Oliveira is an American violinist whose remarkable combination of impeccable artistry and old-world elegance sets him apart as one of our most celebrated living artists. Oliveira remains the first and only American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition. He was the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and won First Prize at the Naumburg International Competition. Son of Portuguese immigrants, Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother, John Oliveira and then attended the Hartt College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. He holds honorary doctorates from both the Manhattan School of Music and Binghamton University. In 1997, the Prime Minister of Portugal awarded Elmar the country's highest civilian accolade, The Order of Santiago. Photo by Tucker Densley Oliveira has performed regularly at many of the most prestigious international concert venues. He has appeared with such esteemed Symphony Orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Seattle, as well as the Philharmonics of Helsinki, London, Los Angeles, New York, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Zürich Tonhalle, among many others. He has also made extensive recital tours of North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. Oliveira’s discography on Artek, Angel, SONY Masterworks, Vox, Delos, IMP, Naxos, Ondine and Melodiya ranges widely from Bach and Vivaldi to contemporary works that are swiftly becoming pillars of the violin repertoire. His best-selling recording of the Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic won a Cannes Classical Award and was chosen as Gramophone's "Editor's Choice." He also received Grammy nominations for his recordings of both the Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony and the Bloch and Benjamin Lees Violin Concertos under the baton of John McGlaughlin Williams. Other recording highlights include the Brahms and Saint-Saëns concertos with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony, the Joachim Concerto with the London Philharmonic, the complete Brahms sonatas with Jorge Federico Osorio, and the rarely heard Respighi and Pizzetti sonatas with pianist Robert Koenig. Two projects of particular historical significance: The Miracle Makers: Stradivari · Guarneri · Oliveira, a coffee-table sized book and three-CD set which compares and contrasts thirty exquisite violins by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù; and a release of short pieces highlighting the Library of Congress Collection of rare violins on Biddulph Recordings, speak to Oliveira’s extreme dedication to preserving and highlighting the violin and critical makers of the past as well as those that are important to the development of the instrument today. In 2016 Elmar Oliveira announced the creation of the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition. This competition - that takes place every three years - is open to any violinist of any nationality between the ages of 16-32 and offers critical career support in the form of artist management and public relations as well as cash prizes. The Inaugural competition took place at the Lynn Conservatory of Music, where Elmar Oliveira is Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, January 23 - February 5, 2017. The next competition will be held in January 2020. For more detailed information, please visit the web site www.elmaroliveiraivc.org . Additionally, Elmar Oliveira has founded the John Oliveira String Competition, an internal competition at the Lynn Conservatory of Music. The annual competition is open to all string students at the school. The competition was founded in memory of Elmar Oliveira's late brother, violinist John Oliveira. For more information, please visit www.john-oliveira.com . Oliveira Oliveira is passionate about expanding the role and repertoire of the violin as well as championing contemporary music and unjustly neglected works. He is a devoted teacher and promoter of young artists, and also keenly supports the art of contemporary violin and bow making.

November 12, 2023: Angel Blue, soprano; Bryan Wagorn, piano RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949) Songs November 12, 2023: Angel Blue, soprano; Bryan Wagorn, piano Strauss wrote songs all his life, from his first song, “Weinachtslied” (Christmas song), at the age of six, to his Four Last Songs, so-named by his publisher, which he composed at the age of eighty-four. Many of his more than 200 songs were written for soprano Pauline de Ahna who became his wife in 1894; the composer himself usually accompanied her on the piano. Some of his songs remain infrequently performed—often because of their difficulty—while others hold a firm place both in recital and in orchestrated versions by Strauss and others on symphonic programs. Strauss composed the four marvelous songs of Opus 27 in 1894 as his wedding present to Pauline. He had become interested in a group of poets—followers of Max Stirner and his socialist ideals—who had established themselves as a force against sentimental mid-nineteenth-century poets and against folk and mock-ancient poetry. Strauss was little interested in their politics, but latched onto their Romantic outpourings. Third in the set, “Heimliche Aufforderung” (Secret invitation) sets a text by Scottish-born but German-raised Stirner disciple, John Henry Mackay. His text is an ardent love song, sung during a tryst amid a crowd of merrymakers. The eager vocal line is accompanied by rippling figurations that change several times to a more static texture to reflect the text. A peaceful postlude follows the ecstatic appeal for night to fall. “Allerseelen” (All Soul’s Day) belongs to Strauss’s first set of published songs, Acht Gedichte aus Letzte Blätter von Hermann von Gilm (Eight Poems from Last Leaves by Hermann von Gilm), op. 10. He had come across the poems in an 1864 volume brought back from Innsbruck by his friend and composer Ludwig Thuille. Strauss composed the songs in 1885, dedicating them to Heinrich Vogl, principal tenor at the Munich Court Opera, who had expressed admiration for them to the young composer. “Allerseelen” (All Souls’ Day), which appears last in the Opus 10 collection, refers to November 2, the day when Western Christians commemorate those dear to them who have died. The poet of Strauss’s setting is longing for his departed love to return, tenderly wishing for things to be as they once were. The song shows the twenty-one-year-old’s lyrical and harmonic mastery, in this case unfolding in a through-composed form that becomes progressively more dramatic. Another of Strauss’s greatest songs, “Befreit” (Freed), third in the Opus 39 set of 1898, sets a text by controversial but now largely forgotten Expressionist poet Richard Dehmel, whose poems became popular for their rich symbolism of erotic love, beauty, art, and feeling. Though Dehmel professed that poetry should have many equally valid interpretations, he went so far as to publish a criticism of Strauss’s setting but without giving specifics about why he thought it “too soft-grained.” He did admit that even though he had envisioned a man’s parting with his dying wife, there are many kinds of farewells. The title “Befreit” represents the loving couple so freed from suffering that not even death is a threat. Strauss’s moving setting emphasizes the constancy of their love and acknowledges with his poignant setting of “O Glück!” at the end of each verse that happiness radiates even through sorrow. “Morgen!” (Tomorrow!), which concludes the Opus 27 group (see above), sets another romantic text by John Henry Mackay. Strauss fashioned a delicate, rapturous setting, begun by one of his most extended and engaging introductions. The song concludes in recitative style followed by a condensed reminder of the introduction. Strauss dashed off “Cäcilie” on September 9, 1894, the day before his wedding. In a nice parallel, he was setting a poem that had been written to honor the wife of the poet, Heinrich Hart. (The text is often misattributed to Heinrich’s brother Julius.) Strauss is said to have embellished the already full and virtuosic accompaniment when performing the song, so it comes as no surprise that he decided to orchestrate it in 1897. Strauss placed it second in the Opus 27 set (see above), but it makes a perfect concluding selection here as his most impassioned and ecstatic love song. —©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

RAFAEL FIGUEROA, CELLO Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, cellist Rafael Figueroa is established as one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation, having appeared in numerous performances throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South Americas, Japan and his homeland of Puerto Rico. His impressive list of prizes and awards include the First Prize at the Gregor Piatigorsky Competition in Boston, The Bronze Medal at the International Pablo Casals Competition in Budapest, winner of the Jill Sackler Cello Competition at the Third American Cello Congress and winner of the Gina Bachauer Memorial Award. Mr. Figueroa occupies the prestigious position of principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under James Levine in addition to his participation in many of the chamber music series in the New York area including The Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York, The Met Chamber Ensemble with James Levine, The New Jersey Chamber Music Society, The Morgan Library Chamber Music Series and Bargemusic. Rafael has appeared in recitals and concerts along such artists as the late Rudolf Serkin, Peter Serkin, the late Samuel Sanders, Andre Michel Shub, Ruth Laredo, Michael Tree, Cho Liang Lin, The Cleveland Quartet, the late Alexander Schneider and James Levine. Mr. Figueroa completed his studies at the Indiana University School of Music under Janos Starker and Gary Hoffman where upon graduation, he became a member of this school’s cello faculty. In 1987 Rafael moved to New York City where he began a ten year collaboration with The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, touring world-wide and recording for Deutsche Grammophon. For five years he was the cellist of The Amadeus Trio and a member of the Chelsea Chamber Ensemble, with whom he premiered and championed a large number of works by contemporary American composers. His summer festival activities have included the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland, the Aspen Music Festival, The Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Marlboro Chamber Music Festival, Lemi-Lappenranta Chamber Music festival in Finland and the Rockport and Marblehead Chamber music Festivals. In addition to his participation for the first time at the International Festival of Music in Cheyu, Korea in the summer of 2003. Highlights of the past seaons include a performance to critical acclaim of the Brahms Double Concerto with Concertmaster David Chan and The Met Orchestra under James Levine at Carnegie Hall on February 2 , 2003 as part of the orchestra’s subscription series at Carnegie Hall and a second performance of the Brahms Double and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations in Seoul, Korea.

TICKETS 4 EASY WAYS TO BUY TICKETS ONLINE BY PHONE Purchase tickets by phone through Purple Pass Tickets at 800-316-8559 , Option 1 IN PERSON Box Office Ticket Sales will start at 3 PM on all concert days BY MAIL Download PCC Mail Order Ticket Form Scroll Down to Purchase Below LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS All performances take place at: West Side Presbyterian Church 6 South Monroe Street Ridgewood, NJ For directions, click here . 2026-2027 SEASON September 13, 2026 at 4 PM Mozart and Schubert at 19 Members of the Met Orchestra Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required October 11, 2026 at 4 PM Viano Quartet — Four of a Kind Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required November 15, 2026 at 4 PM Café Music Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required January 17, 2027 at 4 PM Richard Goode, piano; Itamar Zorman, violin Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required February 28, 2027 at 4 PM Winterreise Benjamin Appl, baritone; James Baillieu, piano Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required March 21, 2027 at 4 PM Paul Jacobs, organ Celebrating Bach’s Birthday Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required April 11, 2027 at 4 PM Zukerman Trio Celebrating Beethoven’s Anniversary Year Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required May 9, 2027 at 4 PM Stella Chen, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Brannon Cho, cello; Michael Stephen Brown, piano Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required June 6, 2027 at 4 PM Emi Ferguson, baroque flute, & Ruckus Adults (40 – 64): $45 Seniors (65+): $35 Young Adults (21 – 39): $25 Students (12 – 20): $15 Children (8 - 11): No Tickets Required

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2026 AT 4 PM JONATHAN BISS, PIANO MOZART, JANÁČEK, AND SCHUMANN JONATHAN BISS , PIANO “Biss is known for his deeply insightful approach to the pillars of the repertoire and a desire to forge connections between that canon and the present…” — The Boston Globe, January 2024 ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS Pianist Jonathan Biss is internationally acclaimed for his impeccable taste, formidable technique, and profound musical insight. He has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and, since 2018, has served as Co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside Mitsuko Uchida. In his thoughtfully curated program, Jonathan Biss charts an expressive journey through three centuries of piano masterpieces — from Mozart’s stormy Sonata in C minor, K. 457, to Janáček’s early 20th-century nostalgia in On an Overgrown Path , and the sweeping Romantic passion of Schumann’s Fantasy in C , envisioned as a coded love letter to his beloved wife-to-be, Clara Wieck. 2025-2026 SEASON September 14, 2025 “Singers” from the Met Orchestra October 12, 2025 Lawrence Brownlee, tenor November 2, 2025 Benjamin Appl, baritone; James Baillieu, piano December 7, 2025 The Tallis Scholars January 18, 2026 Benjamin Beilman, violin; Jonathan Swenson, cello; Orion Weiss, piano February 22, 2026 Radu Ratoi, accordion March 8, 2026 Jonathan Biss, piano April 26, 2026 Jerusalem String Quartet May 17, 2026 Chee-Yun, violin; Sterling Elliott, cello; Henry Kramer, piano 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 FEATURING BUY TICKETS PROGRAM Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in C minor, K. 457 Program Notes Leoš Janáček: On an Overgrown Path, Series 1, Nos. 1, 6, and 7 Program Notes INTERMISSION Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in F, K. 533/494 Program Notes Robert Schumann: Fantasy in C, Op. 17 Program Notes Watch pianist Jonathan Biss play Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 12: Watch pianist Jonathan Biss play Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31, Op. 110:

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2024 AT 4 PM MOTHERS DAY CONCERT CHEE-YUN, VIOLIN ALESSIO BAX, PIANO LUCILLE CHUNG, PIANO BRAD GEMEINHARDT, FRENCH HORN Alessio B ax , piano “Clearly among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public.” — Gramophonen Lucille Chung , piano “Exudes grace and poise at the keyboard” — Toronto Star Chee-Yun , violin “At once playful and passionate” — Washington Post Brad Gemeinhardt , French Horn "He anchored the Scherzo’s whirling dance with poetry and backbone." — New York Times ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS Parlance Chamber Concerts’s musical Mothers Day celebration will feature four tenderhearted works inspired by motherhood and children. Dvořák’s Songs My Mother Taught Me conjures an image of a young woman singing her child to sleep with a lullaby she learned from own mother. 2023-2024 SEASON October 15, 202 3 Lysander Piano Trio November 12, 2023 Angel Blue, soprano Bryan Wagorn, piano December 3, 2023 Brentano String Quartet Antioch Chamber Choir January 14, 2024 Goldmund String Quartet February 18, 2024 Candlelit Music of The Spirit March 10, 2024 Richard Goode, Piano Late Beethoven April 7, 2024 Jordi Savall, Conductor Hespèrion XXI May 12, 2024 Mothers Day Concert June 2, 2024 Mozart’s Double Concertos 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 FEATURING BUY TICKETS Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood is a nostalgic musical meditation on the dreams, desires, and adventures of childhood. The popular collection of short character pieces evokes children’s games, reveries about far-off places, and cozy evenings spent by the fireplace. Ravel’s exquisite Mother Goose Suite summons the magical, mysterious worlds of classic fairy tales including Beauty and the Beast, Tom Thumb, and Laideronnette , The Empress of the Pagodas. The celebration will culminate with Brahms’s stirring Trio in E-flat for violin, horn, and piano , dedicated to memory of his mother, Christiane. PROGRAM Antonín Dvořák: Songs My Mother Taught Me, arr. for violin and piano Program Notes Robert Schumann: Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15 for piano Program Notes Maurice Ravel: Mother Goose Suite for piano 4-hands Program Notes Johannes Brahms: Trio in E-flat, Op. 40 for violin, horn, and piano Program Notes Watch violinist Chee-Yun perform Fritz Kreisler’s “Recitativo and Scherzo” Watch Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung perform Debussy’s En bateau This program has been made possible in part by a grant administered by the Bergen County Department of Parks, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs from funds granted by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024 AT 4 PM MODIGLIANI QUARTET ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS The Paris-based Modigliani Quartet occupies the upper echelon of today’s string quartets. In addition to their annual tours in the United States and in Asia, the quartet’s European tours have brought inspired acclaim in the major concert halls of London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and Saint Petersburg. 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 Denis Bouriakov January 19, 2025 The Virtuoso Organist Paul Jacobs February 9, 2025 The Virtuoso Cellist Steven Isserlis 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 FEATURING BUY TICKETS MODIGLIANI QUARTET Amaury Coeytaux, violin; Loïc Rio, violin; Laurent Marfaing, viola; François Kieffer, cello “ The Modigliani quartet clearly belongs to the world’s greatest “ — Le Monde (Paris) “ A gripping and persuasive performance, played with awesome individual and communal brilliance ” — The Strad (London) “One of today’s best quartets in the world...Balance, transparency, symphonic comprehension, confident style, their performance reached a very high and inspiring level ” — Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich) The elite French ensemble will perform a wide-ranging program that will include Joaquín’s Turina’s lushly impressionistic La oración de torero (The Bullfighter’s Prayer), Brahms’s tenderhearted Quartet in B-flat, Op. 67, and Beethoven’s sublime Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 . His student, Carl Czerny, wrote that the second movement “occurred to Beethoven while he was contemplating the starry sky and thinking of the music of the spheres.” PROGRAM Joaquín’s Turina Program Notes La oración de torero (The Bullfighter’s Prayer) Johannes Brahms Program Notes String Quartet in B-flat, Op. 67 Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 Program Notes Watch the Modigliani Quartet play Mendelssohn’s Quartet in A minor, Op. 13, Presto

2013-2014 ARTIST ROSTER ALESSIO BAX, PIANO NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, CELLO STEFÁN RAGNAR HÖSKULDSSON, FLUTE DAVID KRAUSS, TRUMPET JOEL NOYES, CELLO PHILIP SETZER, VIOLIN STEPHEN WILLIAMSON, CLARINET STEPHANIE BLYTHE, RECITER LINO GOMEZ, SAXOPHONE HSIN-YUN HUANG, VIOLA ANTHONY MCGILL, CLARINET SUSANNA PHILLIPS, SOPRANO ARNAUD SUSSMANN, VIOLIN GREGORY ZUBER, PERCUSSION BRENTANO STRING QUARTET JERRY GROSSMAN, CELLO WARREN JONES, PIANO RAYMOND MENARD, RECITER ERIK RALSKE, FRENCH HORN CONRAD TAO, PIANO

April 23, 2017: Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Warren Jones, piano HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-1869) Les nuits d’été, op. 7 April 23, 2017: Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Warren Jones, piano The origins and inspirations for some of the most ravishing songs in the repertory are somewhat obscure. Berlioz composed Les nuits d’été (Summer Nights)—originally for voice with piano—in 1840–41 following his dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette . The date March 23, 1840, appears on a manuscript copy of “Villanelle” and the cycle of six songs was published in the summer of 1841, but Berlioz never mentions them in his letters around this time. These are love songs of the highest Romantic order—Romantic referring to the period that saw the rise of lieder, or mélodie in France, as the ideal genre to express the countless images of buoyant hope, insatiable longing, and heartbreak that permeated Romantic poetry. Were Les nuits d’été really inspired by Berlioz’s mistress, Marie Martin (stage name Recio), as many have claimed? Berlioz began seeing Marie around this time and she accompanied him on his travels of 1842–43. Well aware of her limitations as a singer—she lasted only one season at the Paris Opéra—he still wrote vaguely positive reviews of several of her performances. She was the most frequent performer of “Absence,” the fourth song in the cycle, which he orchestrated specifically for her. Yet the many references to past love affairs and separations in the cycle make it difficult to link the settings too specifically with Marie. And, one would almost rather attribute these gorgeous outpourings to any other inspiration, in view of his unhappiness under her tenacious, jealous hold and her insistence on performing on his concerts over his opposition. Perhaps it was simple admiration for the poems of his friend and fellow critic Théophile Gautier that inspired Berlioz to such heights. He selected six poems from Gautier’s La comédie de la mort (The comedy of death)—two of a lighthearted nature, which he positioned first and last, and four in a more melancholy vein. The composer provided his own title, drawn from the poet’s images of night. The first song, “Villanelle,” is clearly a “daylight” song, but it sets up the happiness that will later turn to despair. Images of night appear repeatedly in the interior songs, even though “summer nights” are not specifically mentioned. In “La spectre de la rose” the ghost of a rose returns nightly to haunt the dreams of a young woman who wore the flower to a ball. In “Sur les lagunes” (On the lagoons), night envelops the lamenting lover. “Au cimitière: Clair de lune” (At the cemetery: moonlight) explicitly occurs at night, but also includes lovely images of shade and sunset. In 1843 Berlioz orchestrated “Absence” as a kind of appeasement offering to Marie, and she performed this version several times. It was not until 1856, however, that he orchestrated another of the songs, choosing “Spectre de la rose” for a February engagement with mezzo-soprano Anna Bockholtz-Falconi. Ecstatic over the performance, publisher Jakob Rieter-Biedermann asked Berlioz to orchestrate the remaining songs. The new versions were published later that year, each dedicated to a different singer who had impressed him in roles he had written. One wonders how it struck Marie (whom he had married in 1854) to learn that her “Absence” had been dedicated to Madeleine Nottès, his Marguerite in Faust. The songs have been performed countless times since and have long since been considered among Berlioz’s finest creations. “Villanelle” owes its infectious merriment to the simplicity of its melody and to the lightly repeated chords in the winds—an effect Berlioz had commented on in the second movement of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony. Especially effective are the ends of the second and third verses (the first contains the same musical phrase, but without tempo fluctuations.) In the second the music slows at “et dis moi de ta voix si doux ” (and say to me in your soft voice), then resumes in a rush with “toujours ” (always). The third verse’s lovely image of returning with strawberries picked in the wood doesn’t really warrant the slowing and speeding up, but we are happy to hear the device again. The atmosphere changes immediately for “Spectre de la rose,” which employs longer spun-out phrases and a delicate orchestral texture of solo muted cello, paired flute and clarinet, and muted violin and viola background. The haunting images of the poem are made more poignant by Berlioz’s touches of nostalgic sweetness. Leaps are employed with tender expressiveness, and he finds just the right orchestral touches, as in the string tremolos at “Ce léger parfum est mon âme ” (This faint perfume is my soul). He ends ingeniously in simple recitative as the poet bestows his epitaph with a kiss. “Sur les lagunes,” the only minor-mode setting, presents a dark mood with its mournful half-step motive and repetitive accompaniment figure, which suggests the undulating of a boat on water. The grief-stricken lover cries out in a dramatic descent at the end of each verse: “Ah, sans amour s’en aller sur la mer! ” (Ah, without love to depart on the sea!) The song ends on an unresolved harmony—at sea, as it were. “Absence” also dwells on bereavement, that of separation, with the most exquisite lingering over the opening phrase. This phrase, which opens the refrain and therefore returns twice, is haunting in its unusual harmonization and its straining upward. The refrain also contains one of the most agonizingly beautiful peaks anywhere, leading to and attaining the word “loin ” (far). The intervening episodes contribute to the drama by building in a chanting style, the second at a higher pitch level than the first. Gentle pulsation characterizes the opening and closing sections of “Au cimitière,” with subtle harmonic shifts between major and minor. The middle section becomes more agitated (verses 3 and 4), and Berlioz makes a fitting response to the poet’s words about music bringing back a memory. The ending contains some gently clashing dissonances to reflect the “chant plaintif ” (plaintive song). Berlioz exuberantly portrays the high spirits and exoticism of the poet’s “L’île inconnue” (Unknown isle). We also hear undulating waves and the breeze whipping up. A hint of reflection follows the sailor’s admission to his fair companion that the faithful shore of eternal love is little known. Anywhere else is fair game, suggests the cheerful conclusion as the wind picks up and the waves are set in motion again. © Jane Vial Jaffe Texts and Translations Les nuits d’été Villanelle Quand viendra la saison nouvelle, Quand auront disparu les froids, Tous les deux nous irons, ma belle, Pour cueillir le muguet aux bois. Sous nos pieds égrenant les perles, Que l’on voit au matin trembler, Nous irons écouter les merles Siffler. Le printemps est venu, ma belle, C’est le mois des amants béni; Et l’oiseau, satinant son aile, Dit des vers au rebord du nid. Oh, viens donc, sur ce banc de mousse Pour parler de nos beaux amours, Et dis-moi de ta voix si douce Toujours! Loin, bien loin, égarant nos courses, Faisons fuir le lapin caché, Et le daim au miroir des sources, Admirant son grand bois penché, Puis chez nous, tout heureux, tout aises, En paniers enlaçant nos doigts, Revenons, rapportant des fraises Des bois. Le spectre de la rose Soulève ta paupière close Qu’effleure un songe virginal Je sais le spectre d’une rose Que tu portais hier au bal. Tu me pris encor emperlée Des pleurs d=argent de l’arrosoir, Et parmi la fête étoilée Tu me promenas tout le soir. O toi, qui de ma mort fut cause, Sans que tu puisses le chasser, Toutes les nuits mon spectre rose À ton chevet viendra danser. Mais ne crains rien, je ne réclame Ni messe ni De Profundis. Ce léger parfum est mon âme Et j’arrive du paradis. Mon destin fut digne d’envie, Et pour avoir un sort si beau Plus d’un aurait donné sa vie. Car sur ton sein j’ai mon tombeau, Et sur l’albâtre où je repose Un poète avec un baiser Écrivit “Ci-gît une rose Que tous les rois vont jalouser.” Sur les lagunes: Lamento Ma belle amie est morte. Je pleurerai toujours; Sous la tombe elle emporte Mon âme et mes amours. Dans le ciel sans m’attendre Elle s’en retourna; L’ange qui l’emmena Ne voulut pas me prendre. Que mon sort est amer! Ah, sans amour s’en aller sur la mer! La blanche créature Est couchée au cercueil. Comme dans la nature Tout me paraît en deuil! La colombe oubliée Pleure et songe à l’absent; Mon âme pleure et sent Qu’elle est dépareillée. Que mon sort est amer! Ah, sans amour s’en aller sur la mer! Sur moi la nuit immense S’étend comme un linceul. Je chante ma romance Que le ciel entend seul. Ah, comme elle était belle, Et comme je l’aimais! Je n’aimerai jamais Une femme autant qu’elle. Que mon sort est amer! Ah, sans amour s’en aller sur la mer Absence Reviens, reviens, ma bien aimée! Comme une fleur loin du soleil La fleur de ma vie est fermée Loin de ton sourire vermeil. Entre nos coeurs quelle distance! Tant d’espace entre nos baisers! O sort amer! O dure absence! O grands désirs inapaisés! Reviens, reviens, etc. D’ici lâ-bas que de campagnes, Que de villes et de hameaux, Que de vallons et de montagnes, À lasser le pied des chevaux! Reviens, reviens, etc. Au cimitière: Clair de lune Connaissez-vous la blanche tombe Où flotte avec un son plaintif L’ombre d’un if? Sur l’if une pâle colombe, Triste et seule au soleil couchant, Chante son chant: Un air maladivement tendre, À la fois charmant et fatal Qui vous fait mal Et qu’on voudrait toujours entendre; Un air comme en soupire aux cieux L’ange amoureux. On dirait que l’âme éveillée Pleure sous terre à l’unisson De la chanson Et du malheur d’être oubliée Se plaint dans un roucoulement Bien doucement. Sur les ailes de la musique On sent lentement revenir Un souvenir Une ombre, une forme angélique Passe dans un rayon tremblant En voile blanc. Les belles de nuit demi-closes Jettent leur parfum faible et doux Autour de vous, Et le fantôme aux molles poses Murmure en vous tendant les bras: Tu reviendras! Oh jamais plus, près de la tombe Je n’irai, quand descend le soir Au manteau noir, Écouter le pâle colombe Chanter sur la pointe de l’if Son chant plantif. L’île inconnue Dites, la jeune belle, Où voulez-vous aller? La voile enfle son aile, La brise va souffler. L’aviron est d=ivoire, La pavillon de moire, Le gouvernail d’or fin. J=ai pour lest une orange, Pour voile une aile d=ange, Pour mousse un séraphin. Dites, la jeune belle, Où voulez-vous aller? La voile enfle son aile, La brise va souffler. Est-ce dans la Baltique? Dans la mer Pacifique? Dans l’île de Java? Ou bien est-ce en Norvège, Cueillir la fleur de neige, Ou la fleur d’Angsoka? Dites, la jeune belle, Où voulez-vous aller? Menez-moi, dit la belle, À la rive fidèle Où l’on aime toujours! Cette rive, ma chère, On ne la connaît guère Au pays des amours. Où voulez-vous aller? La brise va souffler. —Théophile Gautier Summer Nights Villanelle When the new season comes And the cold weather has gone, We will go together, my love, To pick lily-of-the-valley in the woods; Our feet scattering the pearls That we see trembling as morning dew, We will go and hear the blackbirds Sing. The spring has come, my love, It is the blessed season for lovers; And the bird, preening its wings, Sings songs from the edge of its nest. Oh come and sit on this mossy bank And talk of our happy love, And say to me in your soft voice: Always! Far, far away, our footsteps wandering, We’ll startle the rabbit from its hiding, And the deer, mirrored in the stream, Admiring its great antlers; Then back home, completely happy, content, Our fingers entwined, return Carrying baskets of wild Strawberries. The Specter of the Rose Lift up your eyelids That glow with a maiden dream. I am the specter of a rose Which you wore last night to the ball. You took me still moist From the silver tears of the watering can. And through the starry festivities You walked me with you all evening. Oh you who was cause of my death, Without your being able to escape it, Every night my pink specter Will come to dance at the head of your bed. But do not fear anything, I don’t ask for Mass or De profundis. This faint perfume is my soul And it is from paradise that I come. My destiny was one to be coveted; To have a fate so beautiful, Many would have given their lives. For my tomb is on your breast, And on the alabaster where I rest A poet with his kiss Writes: “Here lies a rose That all kings will envy.” On the Lagoons: Lament My fair one is dead. I will weep always. She has taken with her into the tomb My whole being and all my love. To heaven, without waiting for me She returned. The angel who drew her back Would not take me with her. How bitter is my fate. Ah, without love to depart on the sea! The white creature Sleeps in the coffin; And now all nature Seems to me in mourning. The forsaken dove Cries and dreams of the departed; My soul cries and feels As if cut in two. How bitter is my fate. Ah, without love to depart on the sea! All about me, the vast night Spreads like a shroud. I sing my song, And the sky alone hears it. Ah, how beautiful she was, And how I loved her! Never will I love A woman as much as she. How bitter is my fate! Ah, without love to depart on the sea! Absence Come back, come back my beloved. Like a flower away from the sun The flower of my life is closed up Away from your warm smile. What distance lies between our hearts; So great a gulf between our kisses; O bitter fate! O cruel absence! Mighty desires unsatisfied. Come back, etc. From here to there what plains lie between, What towns and villages. What valleys and hills, To tire the horses’ hooves. At the Cemetery: Moonlight Do you know the white gravestone Where floats with a plaintive song The shade of a yew tree? On the yew a solitary white dove, Sad and alone as the sun sets, Sings its song: A sickly sweet air At once enchanting and fatal, Which affects you unpleasantly And which one would like to hear always; Like a song sighed to heaven By an angel in love. One would say the awakened soul Weeps under the earth in unison With the song, And from grief at being forgotten Complains in a cooing Very softly. On the wings of music One feels slowly returning A memory A shade, an angelic form Passes in a shimmering ray, Shrouded in white. The beauties of the night, half-closed, Throw their weak and soft perfume Around you And the phantom in mellow poses, Whispers while stretching its arms toward you: You will come back! Oh never again, near the tomb Will I go, when evening descends In its black coat, To hear the pale dove Sing from the top of the yew Its plaintive song. The Unknown Isle Tell me, young beauty, Where do you want to go? The sails are set, The breeze is getting up. The oar is ivory, The flag of silk, The helm of fine gold. For ballast I have an orange, For sail, an angel’s wing, For ship’s boy a seraph. Tell me, young beauty, Where do you want to go? The sails are set, The breeze is getting up. Is it to the Baltic? To the Pacific Ocean? To the Island of Java? Or is it to Norway, To pick the snowflowers, Or the flowers of Angsoka? Tell me, young beauty, Where do you want to go? Take me, the fair one replies, To the faithful shore Where love lasts forever. That shore, my dear, Is little known In the country of love. Where do you want to go? The breeze is getting up. Return to Parlance Program Notes

GARRICK OHLSSON, PIANO Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Mr. Ohlsson has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. To date he has at his command more than 80 concertos, ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century, many commissioned for him. This season that vast repertoire can be sampled in concerti ranging from Rachmaninoff’s popular Third and rarely performed Fourth, to Brahms Nos. 1 and 2, Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg and Copland in cities including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Liverpool, and Madrid ending with a spring US West Coast tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic conducted by Yuri Temirkanov. In recital he can be heard in LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, New York, New Orleans, Hawaii and Prague. A frequent guest with the orchestras in Australia, Mr. Ohlsson has recently visited Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart as well as the New Zealand Symphony in Wellington and Auckland. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Ohlsson has collaborated with the Takacs, Cleveland, Emerson, and Tokyo string quartets, among other ensembles. Together with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier, he is a founding member of the San Francisco-based FOG Trio. Passionate about singing and singers, Mr. Ohlsson has appeared in recital with such legendary artists as Magda Olivero, Jessye Norman, and Ewa Podles. A native of White Plains, N.Y., Garrick Ohlsson began his piano studies at the age of 8, at the Westchester Conservatory of Music; at 13 he entered The Juilliard School, in New York City. His musical development has been influenced in completely different ways by a succession of distinguished teachers, most notably Claudio Arrau, Olga Barabini, Tom Lishman, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Rosina Lhévinne and Irma Wolpe. Although he won First Prizes at the 1966 Busoni Competition in Italy and the 1968 Montréal Piano Competition, it was his 1970 triumph at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where he won the Gold Medal (and remains the single American to have done so), that brought him worldwide recognition as one of the finest pianists of his generation. Since then he has made nearly a dozen tours of Poland, where he retains immense personal popularity. Mr. Ohlsson was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and received the 1998 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, MI. He is also the 2014 recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. He makes his home in San Francisco.

2018-2019 SEASON Dear Friends, I am very excited to welcome you to the twelfth season of Parlance Chamber Concerts. Forty-eight remarkable artists will grace our stage in eight exhilarating events. On September 23 , seven dazzling young musicians will blend solo panache and salon intimacy in virtuoso concertos in chamber settings by Mozart, Schubert, and Chausson . Our seasonal opener will start with the pristine classicism of Mozart’s 14th Piano Concerto and culminate with the dramatic romanticism of Ernest Chausson’s masterpiece for solo violin, piano, and string quartet. On October 14 , it will be an honor to welcome the renowned master pianist Garrick Ohlsson to our series for an afternoon of Brahms . The program will climax with the devilishly tricky Variations on a Theme of Paganini — a work so challenging that Clara Schumann called it “The Witches’s Variations!” On November 4 , the charismatic pianists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung will join forces with eight leading members of the New York Philharmonic in Saint-Saëns’s beloved classic, Carnival of the Animals . The program will also include zoological favorites of Vivaldi, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart, and others . Bring your entire family! Our December 16th event will feature the return of the great Emerson String Quartet with special guest cellist, David Finckel . The venerable ensemble and their erstwhile colleague will reunite for a festive performance of Schubert’s cherished Cello Quintet . On January 27 , the legendary violinist Pinchas Zukerman will collaborate with celebrated cellist Amanda Forsyth and pianist Angela Cheng in a performance of treasured piano trios by Beethoven, Arensky, and Brahms . Don’t miss this seasonal highlight! On March 24 , celebrate Bach ’s 334th Birthday with fourteen outstanding artists. The program will include six irresistible Bachian classics including the Double Violin Concerto, Third Brandenburg Concerto, and D-minor Piano Concerto . On April 14, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and guitarist Jason Vieaux , two of the most scintillating artists of our time, will team up for an afternoon of sparkling music by Paganini, Piazzolla, Falla, and others . Anne Akiko Meyers was Billboard’s top-selling classical instrumentalist of 2014, and Jason Vieaux won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Their starry collaboration will cause sparks to fly! On May 19, Leading Members of the Metropolitan Opera and the Calidore String Quartet will explore the profoundly mysterious world of Mozart’s Last Year . The final event of the season will showcase Mozart’s works from 1791, including songs, arias, organ music, his last string quintet, and two mesmerizing works featuring glass harmonica . Michael Parloff Programs and artists are subject to change 2018-2019 SEASON September 23, 2018 Chamber Concerto October 14, 2018 Garrick Ohlsson, piano November 4, 2018 Carnival of the Animals Bax-Chung Duo and NY Phil Members December 16, 2018 Emerson String Quartet with David Finckel, guest cellist January 27, 2019 Pinchas Zukerman Trio March 24, 2019 Bach’s Birthday Concert April 14, 2019 Anne Akiko Meyers, violin Jason Vieaux, guitar May 19, 2019 Mozart’s Last Year: 1791 Members of the Met Opera and Calidore String Quartet 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

April 8, 2018: Danish String Quartet LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) String Quartet in F, Op. 59, No. 1 April 8, 2018: Danish String Quartet Beethoven composed his three Quartets, op. 59, in 1805–06 for the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Kyrilovich Razumovsky. The count was an excellent amateur violinist, who played second violin in his own house string quartet, except when Louis Sina stepped in so he could sit back and listen. His first violinist was the illustrious Ignaz Schuppanzigh, whom Beethoven had known since 1794 and who premiered many of the composer’s works. The three Razumovsky Quartets represent an entirely different world than Beethoven’s six early Quartets, op. 18, published only four years before. In between he had written his never-mailed letter, the heartrending “Heiligenstädt Testament,” which dealt with the anguish of his deafness and solitude, and had composed such innovative new works as the Eroica Symphony, the Appassionata Piano Sonata, and the first version of his opera Fidelio . His radical new style, with its expanded sonata forms, epic themes, complexities, and individualities, met with hostility and derision from early performers and critics. “Perhaps no work of Beethoven’s,” wrote his famed early biographer Alexander Wheelock Thayer, “met a more discouraging reception from musicians than these now famous Quartets.” The first movement of the present F major Razumovsky Quartet is remarkable for its lush expansiveness. This is already apparent in Beethoven’s first theme, which unfolds lyrically in the cello over pulsing repeated-note accompaniment, then is taken over by the first violin. The shift in register is something that he explores throughout the work and is one aspect, in addition to length, that gives such a spacious impression. Once this theme peaks, Beethoven instantly changes texture and introduces several new ideas before moving on to his new key area. When the composer eventually launches what sounds like a repeat of the exposition, he suddenly shoots off in another direction, a grand deception clearly playing on the listener’s expectation of that repeat. A famous “first” in the annals of sonata-form, this “non-repeat” considerably alters the structure of the first movement by making it one long sweep and shifting a greater proportion of time and weight onto the development section. Beethoven takes full advantage of the space he created for development by indulging in contrasts of register, new figuration, tension-building, fugal writing, and a mysterious and enormous preparation for the onset of the recapitulation. Beethoven labeled his second movement “Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando” rather than calling it a scherzo outright, perhaps because he ingeniously adopts a full-fledged sonata form instead of the traditional scherzo-trio-scherzo or five-fold expansion of that form. Placed second rather than in the more typical third spot in the sequence of movements, this extraordinary scherzo ranks as Beethoven’s most original in form. Again, expansiveness is the ruling feature of the movement, which grows out of the distinctive repeated-note rhythmic pattern of the opening. This idea generates a remarkable number of miniature themes, which Beethoven treats in wonderfully airy “scherzando” textures. The composer uses the relatively rare description “mesto” (mournful) in his performance direction for his slow movement, thereby acknowledging its tragic qualities. It was here in his sketches that he made the strange notation: “A weeping willow or acacia on my brother’s grave.” He may have been referring to his distress at his brother Caspar Carl’s marriage to Johanna Reiss, who was six months pregnant, or remembering another brother who died in infancy, but the main melody, featuring the first violin and then the cello in high register, is certainly an expressive lament. The movement closes with a florid cadenza for the first violin, in which the darkness seems to dissipate and which leads directly into the finale, a device Beethoven had explored in other middle-period works. Beethoven incorporated a Russian theme into each of the first two Razumovsky Quartets, making an audible connection to his patron, though it is uncertain whether the idea and the choice of theme was Beethoven’s or the count’s. Here the cello merrily introduces the Russian theme while the violin is still trilling. We wonder what Count Razumovsky thought of Beethoven’s cheerful rendition of the originally soulful melody. The mood has definitely lightened here, though the scope is still grand—a full sonata form, complete with repeat of the exposition. Beethoven crowns the work with an imaginative coda in which he slows the Russian theme, imbuing it with mock sadness, only to sweep it away with his virtuosic final flourish © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes