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RADU RATOI, ACCORDIONIST Winner of the 2024 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, accordionist Radu Ratoi, began playing the accordion at the age of six in his hometown in the Republic of Moldova. A prodigious talent, Radu excelled early on, winning numerous international competitions in the junior category. He has since gone on to achieve an extraordinary record, claiming victory in six of the most prestigious accordion competitions in the world: Coupe Mondiale, Klingenthal Accordion Competition, Trophy Mondiale, Arrasate Accordion Competition, PIF Castelfidardo, and the Moscow Accordion Competition. In total, he has received more than 60 national and international awards. Praised for his originality, versatility, and virtuosity in both classical and contemporary repertoire, Radu has earned several prestigious honors in his homeland. In 2018, he was awarded the "Excellence Diploma"" and in 2022, the esteemed Moldovan National Distinction "Master in Arts"" both presented by the President of the Republic of Moldova. Radu studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where he was awarded the Sonning Music Prize, one of Denmark's most prestigious honors. His artistry is defined by the unique way he blends two major musical traditions-the Russian school and the Western European school-into a deeply personal and distinctive style. In 2022, Radu released his debut album, Greatest Organ Works Arranged for Accordion, featuring works by J.S. Bach and F. List. Through his transcriptions of pieces by J.S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, J.P. Rameau, F. Liszt, and others, Radu has expanded and redefined the accordion repertoire. As both a soloist and chamber musician, Radu has captivated audiences worldwide with his musicality, technical brilliance, and charisma. He has performed in some of the world's most renowned concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Radio Concert House Copenhagen, Victoria Concert Hall, Tivoli Hall Copenhagen, Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan, and Harbin Concert Hall, among others. In 2024, he was appointed as a soloist with the National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova. Radu's groundbreaking contributions to the accordion repertoire and his unforgettable performances continue to set him apart as one of the foremost accordionists of his generation.

ABOUT THE 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 Paris-based 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, François Devienne 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 Mendelssohn, Franck, Ives and Liszt . Don’t miss the musician that the Washington Post called “one of the great 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 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 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

ANTON RIST, CLARINET Anton Rist was recently appointed Principal Clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has performed with the American Ballet Theater, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he served as the Principal Clarinetist of the Princeton and New Haven Symphonies. Mr. Rist has performed at the Verbier, St. Barts, Pacific, Bravo! Vail, and Aspen Music Festivals, and is a founding member of the Montserrat Music Festival in the West Indies. Mr. Rist grew up on the upper west side of Manhattan and completed two degrees at The Juilliard School. His primary teachers were Jon Manasse, Larry Guy, and Jo-Ann Sternberg.

March 11, 2018: Benjamin Beilman, Violin; Orion Weiss, piano FREDERIC RZEWSKI Demons for violin and piano (2017) March 11, 2018: Benjamin Beilman, Violin; Orion Weiss, piano Dynamic, engaging, and committed to social issues, pianist and composer Frederic Rzewski earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard, where he studied with Randall Thompson and Walter Piston, and his master’s degree at Princeton, where his teachers included Roger Sessions and Milton Babbitt. Following additional studies with Luigi Dallapiccola on a Fulbright scholarship in Florence, Rzewski began making a name for himself as a performer and teacher of new music in Europe. In 1966 in Rome he cofounded Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV), where he explored collaborative improvisation. Rzewski returned to New York in 1971 but later took a post at the Royal Conservatory in Liège and continued to work with MEV in Rome. He has taught periodically at other renowned institutions, in particular the universities of Cincinnati, SUNY–Buffalo, California–San Diego as well as Yale, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Berlin Hochschule der Künste. As both composer and performer, Rzewski has long focused on issues that dominate the headlines. Coming Together (1972), for example, sets a letter by Attica State Prison inmate Sam Melville who was later killed in the Attica riots, and Rzewski’s monumental piano work The People United Will Never Be Defeated (1975) presents a set of variations on Sergio Ortega’s song for the mass mobilization of working-class people. More recently, Songs of Insurrection for piano (2016) treats melodies by imprisoned soldiers at a Nazi concentration camp, Korean peasants of the Donghak Rebellion, and Irish nationalists during the “Easter Rising,” among many others. To Rzewski’s credit, his works are incredibly moving and show a characteristic drive whether he employs atonal or tonal techniques, incorporates improvisation or not, or treats his own or popular melodies. Rzewski composed Demons in the spring and summer of 2017 for violinist Benjamin Beilman and pianist Orion Weiss on a commission from Music Accord. Dedicated to author and political activist Angela Davis, the work receives its premiere on March 3, 2018, in Baltimore at the Carice Smith Performing Arts Center and continues its round of premiere performances in Boston at the Longy School of Music, here on the Parlance Chamber Concerts, and in Heidelberg, Germany. The composer writes: “In Dostoyevsky’s 1871 novel of the same name, the character Kirillov kills himself in order ‘to become God.” Inspired by the Russian Nihilist movement of the 1860s and specifically by the charismatic figure Nechayev, Dostoyevsky’s book is a study of the self-destructive forces present in the Russian society of his time. It foreshadows Lenin and the Revolution of 1917, as well as the ideas of Nietzsche and Freud, and had a deep influence on writers like Mann, whose Doctor Faustus is a similar study of modern Germany. “While it is futile to try to express musical ideas in words, it is possible to say that my piece is a meditation on similar trends in the world of today. “In early November 2016, I had the honor to assist at a spectacular performance of my composition Coming Together of 1972 at the San Francisco Conservatory, with Angela Davis as the speaking soloist, a few days before the presidential elections. There was a public discussion that followed. Davis seemed to know the results already. She said that if the Left had done its job, the present situation would not have arisen. “These and similar ideas were all going through my head as I was writing Demons a few months later. I am not religious, and don’t know much about devils and such, but as an artist I cannot help feeling sensitive to whatever it is that awakens these ideas in humans, causing them to go crazy. I am not sure that scientists or doctors understand these things any better than writers or musicians. Perhaps, on the contrary, although we cannot explain them in rational terms, we can nevertheless throw some light on them, in our own way. “My piece is in four movements, and so is a kind of sonata. . . . There are periodic references to two songs throughout the piece: “Iroes,” made popular in the 1990s by the singer Maria Dimitriadis, and a song that became known during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s (notably as performed by Barbara Dane), “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle,” which also provided the title for the recent book of Angela Davis. “Thanks to a new generation of classical musicians like Benjamin Beilman, there is a revival of interest among younger players in new music that in some way continues the classical tradition. One can only hope that this trend will continue. Although Marx’s analysis of capitalism as a ruthless system following its relentless course independently of human will continues to be valid, there are nonetheless reasons to think that alternatives are possible. As Mark Twain put it, prophecy is really hard, especially when it’s about the future.” © Jane Vial Jaffe *Commissioned by Music Accord for Benjamin Beilman. Comprised of top classical music presenting organizations throughout the United States, Music Accord is a consortium that commissions news works in the chamber music, instrumental recital, and song genres. The consortium’s goal is to create a significant number of new works and to ensure presentation of these works in venues throughout this country and, if the occasion arises, internationally. For more information, please go to www.musicaccord.org . Return to Parlance Program Notes

November 19, 2017: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, BWV 1051 November 19, 2017: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet Written in 1721 as a means of gaining favor from the Margrave of Brandenburg, Bach’s “Six concerts à plusieurs instruments” never garnered payment or even thanks for the composer. Yet they establish him today as the master of the concerto grosso style pioneered by Corelli. Brandenburg Concerto #6 is scored for string orchestra, but without violins; violas carry the upper melodic material. This lower tessitura makes the piece ideal for an arrangement for guitar quartet. Set in a fast-slow-fast structure, the piece showcases Bach’s peerless use of imitative writing. The first movement is drivingly propulsive, with the two top parts chasing each other in a canon at the 1/8th note. The middle movement is one of Bach’s stately and shimmering Adagios, while the final movement is one of Bach’s most joyous gigues, with a rondo theme recurring in a variety of guises. Return to Parlance Program Notes

DAVID J. GROSSMAN, BASS Double bassist and composer David J. Grossman enjoys a multi-faceted musical career in both classical and jazz genres on both the East and West Coasts – as bassist in the New York Philharmonic (joining as its youngest member) and Principal Bassist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, Mr. Grossman gave the West Coast premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s bass concerto Dark with Excessive Bright as part of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2019-2020 subscription season. He has also given recitals and master classes at the Yale School of Music, The Boston Conservatory, the Hartt School of Music, Penn State University, as well as numerous faculty recitals at the Manhattan School of Music (where he is on faculty), among others. Mr. Grossman has released two albums (one classical and one jazz) entitled The Bass of Both Worlds , available from his website, www.davidjgrossman.com . Also a passionate chamber musician, he regularly performs in the New York Philharmonic Ensembles Concerts at Merkin Hall, has performed at the 92nd Street Y, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, to name a few. In the field of jazz, Mr. Grossman was a member of the Marcus Roberts Trio and has performed with Wynton Marsalis, among many others. As a composer, Mr. Grossman’s compositions include Mood Swings for trombone and double bass, written for New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi, Fantasy on “Shall We Gather at the River?” , written for Thomas Stacy; and two early compositions: Swing Quartet and String Quintet No. 1 , which were premiered by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

February 18, 2024: Anthony McGill, clarinet; Stefan Jackiw, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Michael Stephen Brown, piano Olivier Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time February 18, 2024: Anthony McGill, clarinet; Stefan Jackiw, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Michael Stephen Brown, piano The outbreak of the Second World War occurred one week after Messiaen had finished his organ work Les corps glorieux on August 25, 1939. Messiaen was called into service but was found unfit for active duty because of his poor eyesight. When the Germans invaded in May 1940 Messiaen was serving as a medical auxiliary at Verdun. He and three other musicians made it on foot to Nancy, but there they were captured. Messiaen was taken to a prison camp at Görlitz, Silesia (now Poland), where he remained until the spring of 1941, staunchly guarding “a haversack containing all my treasures, i.e., a little library of scores . . . going from the Brandenburg Concertos of Bach to the Lyric Suite of Berg [also including scores by Beethoven, Ravel, and Stravinsky].” Messiaen composed in order to help himself survive “the cruelties and horrors of the camp”—first a short trio for a violinist, clarinetist, and cellist whom he met in the camp, which they performed in the washrooms. (The former two had their instruments with them; the Germans supplied the cellist with a cello with only three strings.) He then embarked on a full-scale chamber work for these musicians with himself as pianist, the Quatuor pour la fin du temps, which included the trio as the fourth movement. For the first performance of the Quartet on the savagely cold night of January 15, 1941, a rickety, out-of-tune old upright piano with many non-functional keys was brought into the Stalag, and the piece was played in the unheated Barrack 27 before an audience of 5,000 inmates. “Never,” said Messiaen later, “have I been heard with as much attention and understanding.” The title Quartet for the End of Time, asserted Messiaen, was not to be interpreted as a response to his imprisonment; rather he wished to pay homage to “the Angel of the Apocalypse, who raises his hand heavenward saying: ‘There will be no more Time’” (Revelation of St. John). The composer also pointed out that the title has another meaning: his wish for an end of musical time based on the equal durational divisions of traditional music. The Quartet for the End of Time exhibits the polyrhythmic structures that he employed to achieve this aim, and which became very important in his later works. Messiaen also wanted the rhythmic structure to be independent of the harmony and melody, “in the manner of Guillaume de Machaut [c.1300–1377] whose work I did not know at the time.” The first movement, Liturgy of crystal, serves to illustrate Messiaen’s complex musical language. Two independent rhythmic ostinatos, one for the piano and a non-retrogradable (palindromic) one for the cello, are colored by the repeating patterns of twenty-nine different chords (showing Messiaen’s fondness of prime numbers). The melodic and harmonic patterns are not congruent with the rhythmic patterns, bringing to mind medieval isorhythmic motets, such as those by Machaut. Messiaen’s pitches are derived from his own system of modes. These combined structures are superimposed on two independent bird songs, played by the violin and clarinet. Here in a nutshell can be found some of the most important features in Messiaen’s development as a composer: complex polyrhythms, harmonic modes, his “banishment of temporalities,” and above all, the introduction of bird song. It is important to note, however, that Messiaen’s manufactured structures do not dictate the form of the movement or its duration—they are cut off abruptly; it is the bird song that shapes the movement. Otherwise Messiaen would have been exchanging one kind of tyranny for another. Interesting relationships exist between the movements of the Quartet. The second shows thematic links with the seventh, both the third and sixth movements are monodies (clarinet alone, and all four instruments in octaves, respectively), and the fourth movement (the former trio) is related thematically to both the third and the sixth. The fifth and eighth movements are related in style, slow tempo, E major tonality, solo stringed instrument with piano, and theological basis. The Quartet for the End of Time remains one of the most important chamber music compositions of the twentieth century, in part because of Messiaen’s techniques, but also because it speaks to those who are totally unaware of them, as it did to the inmates that cold winter. In the preface to the score, Messiaen provided the following description, which is worth quoting in full: “Conceived and written in the course of my captivity, the Quartet for the End of Time was performed for the first time in Stalag 8-A on January 15, 1941, by Jean Le Boulaire, violinist; Henri Akoka, clarinetist; Etienne Pasquier, cellist; and myself at the piano. It is directly inspired by this excerpt from ‘The Revelation of St. John.’ Its musical language is essentially transcendental, spiritual, catholic. Certain modes, realizing melodically and harmonically a kind of tonal ubiquity, draw the listener into a sense of the eternity of space or time. Particular rhythms existing outside the measure contribute importantly toward the banishment of temporalities. (All this is mere striving and childish stammering if one compares it to the overwhelming grandeur of the subject!) “This Quartet contains eight movements. Why? Seven is the perfect number, the creation of six days made holy by the divine Sabbath; the seventh in its repose prolongs itself into eternity and becomes the eighth, of unfailing light, of immutable peace. “I. Liturgy of crystal. Between the morning hour of three and four, the awakening of the birds: a thrush or a nightingale soloist improvises, amid notes of shining sound and a halo of trills that lose themselves high in the trees. Transpose this to the religious plane: you will have the harmonious silence of heaven. “II. Vocalise, for the angel who announces the end of Time. The first and third parts (very short) evoke the power of that mighty angel, his hair a rainbow and his clothing mist, who places one foot on the sea and one foot on the earth. Between these sections are the ineffable harmonies of Heaven. From the piano, soft cascades of blue-orange chords, encircling with their distant carillon the plainchant-like recitativo of the violin and cello. “III. Abyss of the birds. Clarinet solo. The abyss is Time, with its sadness and tediums. The birds are the opposite of Time; they are our desire for light, for stars, for rainbows, and for jubilant outpourings of song! “IV. Interlude. Scherzo. Of a more outgoing character than the other movements but related to them, nonetheless, by various melodic references. “V. Praise to the eternity of Jesus. Jesus is here considered as one with the Word. A long phrase, infinitely slow, by the cello expatiates with love and reverence the everlastingness of the Word, mighty and dulcet, ‘which the years can in no way exhaust.’ Majestically the melody unfolds itself at a distance both intimate and awesome. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ “VI. Dance of fury, for the seven trumpets. Rhythmically the most idiosyncratic movement of the set. The four instruments in unison give the effect of gongs and trumpets (the first six trumpets of the Apocalypse attend various catastrophes, the trumpet of the seventh angel announces the consummation of the mystery of God). Use of extended note values, augmented or diminished rhythmic patterns, non-retrogradable rhythms—a systematic use of values which, read from left to right or from right to left, remain the same. Music of stone, formidable sonority; movement as irresistible as steel, as huge blocks of livid fury or ice-like frenzy. Listen particularly to the terrifying fortissimo of the theme in augmentation and with change of register of its different notes, toward the end of the piece. “VII. Cluster of rainbows, for the angel who announces the end of Time. Here certain passages from the second movement return. The mighty angel appears, and in particular the rainbow that envelops him (the rainbow, symbol of peace, of wisdom, of every quiver of luminosity and sound). In my dreamings I hear and see ordered melodies and chords, familiar hues and forms; then, following this transitory stage I pass into the unreal and submit ecstatically to a vortex, a dizzying interpenetration of super-human sounds and colors. These fiery swords, these rivers of blue-orange lava, these sudden stars: Behold the cluster, behold the rainbows! “VIII. Praise to the immortality of Jesus. Expansive violin solo balancing the cello solo of the fifth movement. Why this second glorification? It addresses itself more specifically to the second aspect of Jesus—to Jesus the man, to the Word made flesh, raised up immortal from the dead so as to communicate His life to us. It is total love. Its slow rising to a supreme point is the ascension of man toward his God, of the son of God toward his Father, of the mortal newly made divine toward paradise. “And I repeat anew what I said above: All this is mere striving and childish stammering if one compares it to the overwhelming grandeur of the subject!” —historical background ©Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

April 3, 2016: Sir James Galway, flute; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Paolo Bourdignon, harpsichord JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Sonata in E, BWV 1035 for flute and continuo April 3, 2016: Sir James Galway, flute; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Paolo Bourdignon, harpsichord Bach presumably wrote the E major Flute Sonata in 1741 in connection with his visit to the court of the flute-loving King Frederick the Great in Potsdam (close to Berlin), and probably for the King’s flute partner and chamberlain Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf. The sources for the work all date from the nineteenth century, so the exact date of composition and circumstances for which it was written remain conjecture—hence the attempt of Bach scholars to suggest a plausible scenario. The style of the piece, though an unreliable way to date a composition, also fits with the 1741 date. The E major Sonata does not contain the kind of imitative polyphony usually considered “typical” of Bach, and it takes the form of a sonata da camera—typically a free introductory movement and several dance movements—the only such instance among Bach’s ensemble sonatas. Instead of casting doubts on the work’s authenticity, this style fits in with the progressive tendencies Bach showed in the late 1730s and early 1740s, before he adopted an older, increasingly contrapuntal style after 1745. Bach may also have associated a more galant, dance-inspired style with the transverse flute, which developed primarily in France. He did not, after all, indicate the flute as interchangeable with violin or any other treble instrument. (Later publications have done this to make the flute sonatas available to a wider public.) The opening motive—a long note with a florid continuation—recurs throughout the slow first movement. Bach provides agreeable rhythmic variety with two sections of triplets. The Allegro second movement follows rounded binary form—two sections, each repeated, with the opening theme returning halfway through the second section in its original key—the precursor of sonata form. The Siciliano, also in binary form, exhibits the characteristic 6/8 meter and dotted rhythms of the Baroque dance suite movement. The final movement, Allegro assai in 3/4 meter, features phrases alternately beginning with three eighth-note or three sixteenth-note upbeats. As in the work’s other binary movements, Bach follows the custom in Baroque suites for the main thematic material to initiate both sections. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

November 14, 2021 – Schumann String Quartet MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) String Quartet in F November 14, 2021 – Schumann String Quartet Incredible as it seems, Ravel’s efforts as a student at the Paris Conservatory and his attempts to win the prestigious Prix de Rome met with repeated rejection. His first dismissal from the Conservatory came in 1895 after he failed to win any piano prizes. He was dismissed again in 1900 when prizes in composition and fugue also eluded him. He nevertheless credited his teachers—Fauré in composition and Gédalge in composition—as major influences. He stayed on at the Conservatory as an auditor in Fauré’s class until 1903. Just as Ravel’s flouting of conservative counterpoint and harmony rules dogged his success at the Conservatory, it kept him from earning the Prix de Rome five times between 1900 and 1905. These utterly painful snubbings became known as the first “Affaire Ravel,” which ultimately led to the uncovering of a judging scandal and the replacement of the director of the Conservatory with the more tolerant Fauré. Against this backdrop of academic failure, however, Ravel was winning considerable public and critical support for his already mature-sounding compositions. Ravel’s only String Quartet, now one of the most beloved pieces in the chamber music repertoire, was the product of his last year of study with Fauré, to whom he dedicated it with affection. The Quartet’s glorious first movement was the submission that failed to win its composer the 1903 Prix. The first performance of the Quartet took place at the Société Nationale de Musique—a prestigious place indeed for a “failure”—on March 5, 1904, by the Heymann Quartet. The critics hotly contested the merits of the work, some considering it too derivative of Debussy and others boldly recognizing Ravel as one of the masters of the future. Obvious parallels exist between Debussy’s and Ravel’s Quartets—such as the shadowy accompanimental sixteenth-note figures in the first movement and the pizzicatos in the scherzo—but Ravel’s clarity of structure, innovative textures, and thematic transformations within and between movements bespeak his uniqueness. Despite a professional rivalry that became ugly in the press, Debussy is said to have written his younger colleague encouraging him to stand firm with exactly what he had composed. The warm pastoral theme of Ravel’s opening and a vigorous climax provide a wonderful foil for the soaring, haunting second theme played by the violin and viola paralleling one another two octaves apart. The composer drapes his inspired textures and colors over a transparent sonata framework. This form features some harmonic sleight of hand—when the haunting theme returns in the recapitulation, Ravel uses exactly the same notes in the upper three parts, but manages a change to the home key simply by raising the cello line. Like Debussy, Ravel places his Scherzo second. The younger composer uses contrasting meters between the outer and inner pairs of instruments, culminating in an insistent trill that blossoms into a plaintive melody over busy texture. The central trio slows to a moody, atmospheric meandering before the rhythmic pizzicato of the scherzo resumes. Ravel’s slow movement begins in the declamatory vein of a storyteller, whose muted narrative unfolds with alternating tension and serenity, periodically alluding to first-movement themes. A string of ingenious textures and ideas captivates the ear—delicate trills arising out of a gruff cello recitative, poignant melodies with rocking accompaniment or underlaid with rapid string crossings, and an exquisite peak followed by a nostalgic ebbing. The vigorous finale with its irregular 5/8 meter and juxtaposition of lyricism and insistent outbursts struck Fauré as “stunted, badly balanced, in fact a failure.” Time, however, has overruled his objections—the movement’s unsettled nature, its expressive transformations of first-movement material, and its whirlwind virtuosity are now deemed the perfect conclusion to a masterpiece. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

ANDREW TYSON, PIANO Hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “a real poet of the piano,” American pianist Andrew Tyson is emerging as a distinctive and important new musical voice. In summer 2015, he was awarded First Prize at the Géza Anda Competition in Zürich, as well as the Mozart and Audience Prizes. These victories have resulted in numerous performances throughout Europe under the auspices of the Géza Anda Foundation. Tyson is also a laureate of the Leeds International Piano Competition where he won the new Terence Judd-Hallé Orchestra Prize, awarded by the orchestra and conductor Sir Mark Elder with whom he enjoys an ongoing relationship. With concerto performances taking him across North America, Europe and further afield, Tyson has performed with orchestras from North Carolina Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall, to Osaka Symphony, SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Musikkollegium Winterthur and National Orchestra of Belgium. Highlights this season include a return to the Hallé and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras as well as his debut with Flanders Symphony Orchestra. Recital appearances include major cities across the U.S. and Europe at venues such as Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts, New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Zürich Tonhalle. Following last season’s recitals in Shanghai, Vancouver, St. Petersburg, Tokyo and a return to London’s Wigmore Hall, this season sees Tyson giving recitals in Taiwan for the first time as well as a tour in Switzerland. No stranger to the festival scene, Tyson’s previous performances include Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Lucerne Piano Festival, Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the Musica Viva festival in Sydney for a mixture of solo and chamber performances. An active chamber musician, Tyson regularly appears in recital with violinist Benjamin Beilman; this season they join up again for performances in the U.S. Tyson’s three recital discs apppear on the Alpha Classics label. His debut disc comprises the complete Chopin Preludes while his second album released in March 2017 features works by Scriabin and Ravel. His latest disc, Landscapes, released in September 2019, features works by Mompou, Albéniz, Scarlatti and Schubert and is described by Tyson as a program which “synthesizes my love of Spanish music, my love of nature and my fascination with the coloristic aspects of piano playing.” The album title takes its name from Federico Mompou’s Paisajes, which are “landscapes of the mind as much as intimate, yet vivid depictions of Spain.” As winner of the Young Concert Artists International auditions in 2011, Tyson was awarded YCA’s Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and the John Browning Memorial Prize. An Avery Fisher Career Grant soon followed. After early studies with Thomas Otten he attended The Curtis Institute of Music where he worked with Claude Frank. Tyson later studied with Robert McDonald earning his Master’s degree and Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School, winning the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition and receiving the Arthur Rubinstein Prize in Piano.

ROMAN RABINOVICH, PIANO The eloquent pianist Roman Rabinovich has been highly lauded by The New York Times, BBC Music Magazine, the San Francisco Classical Voice and others. He has performed throughout Europe and the United States in venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre in New York, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, and the Terrace Theater of Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Rabinovich has participated in festivals including Marlboro, Lucerne, Davos, Prague Spring, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. An avid chamber musician, he is also a regular guest at ChamberFest Cleveland. Rabinovich has earned critical praise for his explorations of the piano music of Haydn. At the 2018 Bath Festival, he presented a 10-recital 42-sonata series, earning praise in The Sunday Times. Prior to that, in 2016 as artist in Residence at the Lammermuir Festival in Scotland, he performed 25 Haydn sonatas in 5 days, and over two seasons, in 2016 and 2017, he performed all Haydn’s sonatas in Tel Aviv. In May 2020 Rabinovich will perform two recitals comprising of Haydn and contemporary works at the 92nd Y in New York and three programs dedicated to Haydn at the Wigmore Hall. Dubbed “a true polymath, in the Renaissance sense of the word” (Seen & Heard International, 2016), Rabinovich is also a composer and visual artist. Rabinovich’s 2019-20 engagements include concerto appearances with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Sir Roger Norrington, Meiningen Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Glacier Symphony and solo recitals highlights include International Piano Series at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Ruhr Piano Festival, Liszt Academy, Union College and ProMusica Detroit. The last two seasons saw Rabinovich’s critically acclaimed concerto debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington, as well as with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the NFM Leopoldinum and Szczecin Philharmonic in Europe, and the Seattle Symphony, the Sarasota Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, the Sinfonia Boca Raton and James Judd in the US. Solo recitals appearances include Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Walter Reade Theatre, the Houston Society for the Performing Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society, Vancouver Recital Society, Chopin Society in St Paul, MN, the Philip Lorenz Piano Series in Fresno, the Janáček May International Music Festival.and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. As a chamber musician Rabinovich appeared with violinist Liza Ferschtman in, among others, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus and the BeethovenHaus Bonn. Roman Rabinovich made his Israel Philharmonic debut under the baton of Zubin Mehta at age 10. He was a top prizewinner at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 2008, while in 2015, he was selected by Sir András Schiff as one of three pianists for the inaugural “Building Bridges” series, created to highlight young pianists of unusual promise. Born in Tashkent, Rabinovich immigrated to Israel with his family in 1994, beginning his studies there with Irena Vishnevitsky and Arie Vardi; he went on to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Seymour Lipkin, and earned his Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School where he studied with Robert McDonald.

MIDGE WOOLSEY, NARRATOR Midge Woolsey has proudly served the tristate community as a broadcaster for over 30 years. Since joining WQXR in 1993, she has been the Weekend Music host and more recently the Weekday Evening host. As a host on public television’s flagship station Thirteen/WNET she has introduced such specials as Andrea Bocelli’s Emmy nominated Statue of Liberty Concert, The Three Tenors with James Levine live from Paris, and the landmark twenty-four hour event, PBS Millennium 2000. She has also hosted numerous fundraising events, including Josh Groban in Concert and Pavarotti in Central Park. Behind the scenes, Woolsey worked with Jac Venza on Great Performances, the award-winning PBS series of international music, dance and drama programs. She also served as production executive for award-winning producer David Grubin, working with him on several acclaimed historical documentaries for the PBS series American Experience and on the poetry series The Language of Life with Bill Moyers. Woolsey has degrees in theater and music, and has served as a director, performer and choreographer in more than 100 productions with various regional opera and musical theater companies.