PROGRAM NOTES

By Laurie Shulman

 

Overture to Così fan tutte, K. 588

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart

Born: 27 January 1756 in Salzburg, Austria

Died: 5 December 1791 in Vienna

 

• Mozart collaborated with the same librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, on The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte

• Don’t be fooled by the slow introduction; this overture is lively!

• Listen for the flute in a surprisingly prominent role

• Mischief and flirtation are the buzzwords for this sparkling curtain raiser

 

Cosí fan tutte is the least well known of Mozart’s "big five" operas:  Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Così. Part of its mystery and mystique undoubtedly lie in its untranslatable title, which means something to the effect of "thus do they all," with "they" alluding to the female population.  The opera deals with the fickleness of women shifting their romantic interest from one suitor to another with startling rapidity.

 

Mozart's overture adheres to 18th-century convention by opening with a slow introduction and proceeding to a zesty Allegro in sonata form that encapsulates the flirtatious chatter of the opera. While the slow introduction links this overture structurally with Don Giovanni, the sparkling syncopated themes that follow are spiritually far closer to those of Figaro. Mozart allots a surprisingly prominent role to flute, an instrument of which he was not particularly fond but for which he wrote magnificently. His energetic syncopations lend the overture a jaunty forward momentum that fairly bursts with energy.

 

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Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64

Felix Mendelssohn

Born 3 February, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany

Died 4 November, 1847 in Leipzig, Germany

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• The great violinist Joseph Joachim called this concerto “the heart’s jewel”

• Violin enters almost immediately, with no orchestral prelude

• Mendelssohn’s bridge from first movement to slow movement is seamless

• The exuberant finale is sure to prompt smiles

 

Courtesy call on a deceased colleague’s family

Early in 1856, Johannes Brahms wrote to Clara Schumann from Düsseldorf, while on a concert tour with the violinist Joseph Joachim. Brahms was then twenty-two, and Clara’s husband Robert was confined to a mental asylum in Endenich, near Bonn. Schumann had but five months to live. Schumann’s contemporary Felix Mendelssohn had been dead for more than eight years and Felix’s beloved sister Fanny nearly nine. Brahms and Joachim paid a courtesy call on Mendelssohn’s younger sister Rebekah, who was married to Gustav Pieter Lejeune Dirichlet, a prominent German mathematician. Brahms reported to Clara:

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Rebekah Mendelssohn Dirichlet’s devotion to her brother’s memory and music was certainly understandable. It must have been difficult to be the surviving sister of a young genius who died, like Mozart, in his thirties. At the time, her reverence for Felix’s memory was widely shared by the general public. In Germany and England, Mendelssohn’s music remained especially popular. Joachim, at age twenty-five, clearly had the Violin Concerto in his repertoire and at the ready for this type of impromptu performance. He continued to play the Mendelssohn in public throughout his career, calling it “the heart’s jewel” among German violin concertos.​

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Long-postponed project: concerto for a friend and colleague​

From the year 1835, Felix Mendelssohn planned to compose a violin concerto for Ferdinand David, a Hamburg-born violinist who had studied with Louis Spohr. Mendelssohn and David met in the late 1820s and played chamber music together. By the time David became leader (we would call it concertmaster) of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1836, they were close friends and associates. The demands caused by Mendelssohn’s growing fame, however, particularly his extensive conducting obligations, forced him to postpone the concerto project for almost ten years. He completed most of the work on the concerto during the second half of 1844. David played the premiere at the Gewandhaus on 13 March 1845; the Danish composer Niels Gade conducted.

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It is apparent from surviving correspondence that the composer relied heavily on David's advice. The sketches show extensive revisions to the work. Mendelssohn's letter to David dated 17 December, 1844 reveals a great deal about their collaboration:

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How surprising to find so much anxiety and self-doubt in the composer of such a self-assured composition!

 

A triumph of melodies and idiomatic violin writing

Some critics have castigated Mendelssohn for an alleged flagging of inspiration in his mature works. Certainly that is not the case in the violin concerto. Melodically it is a triumph, overflowing with delicious ideas, all splendidly violinistic and ingeniously developed. In its form, Mendelssohn's concerto was a trendsetter for the balance of the nineteenth century. Foregoing the customary orchestral exposition, he plunges his soloist directly into the fray in the opening measures. Another break from tradition is the unusual – and unprecedented – placement of the cadenza at the end of the development section, instead of just before the end of the first movement.

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A single bassoon note connects the first movement to the Andante, defusing the agitation and drama of the opening. Emotionally this rapid transition demands a great deal from both soloist and orchestra. As a unifying device it is the essence of simplicity, and it works.  No less satisfying are the latter two movements, seamlessly bound by a glorious transitional passage that eases us into the joyous finale. Before we have even noticed that we have changed key, tempo, and mood, the exuberance of the finale sweeps us up into a maelstrom of irrepressible energy. It is exceptionally difficult not to smile during this movement, one of Mendelssohn's greatest strokes of genius.

 

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60  

Ludwig van Beethoven

Born 16 December, 1770 in Bonn, Germany

Died 26 March, 1827 in Vienna, Austria

 

• A mysterious, hypnotic slow introduction baffled audiences in 1806

• Sudden contrasts, drama, and wit abound in the Fourth Symphony

• Beethoven’s increasing mastery of the orchestra is evident in his woodwind writing

•  Exuberance and swagger characterize the allegro of the first movement and the finale

 

Among Beethoven's nine symphonies, the odd-numbered ones are the "biggies" that almost everybody knows by reputation, if not well enough to identify immediately. His Ninth, the "Choral" Symphony, concludes with the famous "Ode to Joy," which schoolchildren can hum. Though the Seventh bears no nickname, it is a major work on a large scale, and a favorite of many Beethoven lovers.  Everyone acknowledges the universal appeal of "fate knocking on the door" in Beethoven's Fifth. The "Eroica" changed the scope of the symphonic genre, and is forever associated with Napoleon's 1803 invasion of Vienna. And the First is, well, Beethoven's first symphony, and a farewell to the eighteenth century.

 

Of the even-numbered symphonies, only the Sixth, the "Pastoral," can reckon with the colossi mentioned above. For many years, Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 2, 4, and 8 took a back seat to the others. Then, in the 1970s, something of a backlash took place. For a while the Fourth was the most frequently performed Beethoven symphony in the United States! It has been alternately overlooked and overplayed.

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Robert Schumann referred to the B-flat symphony as "a slender Greek maiden between two Norse giants." His assessment makes sense in the context of the "Eroica" and the Fifth Symphonies, but should not persuade the listener that this work is lacking in fire or passion. The Fourth symphony is relatively free of the conflict and tortured purpose that dominate the symphonies that preceded and followed it. Composed in 1806, it shares an overall aura of serenity with other major compositions Beethoven completed that year:  the Fourth Piano Concerto, Op.58 and the Violin Concerto, Op.61. Those two masterworks are a better framework in which to consider the Fourth Symphony. 

 

Beethoven prepares us for a serious, weighty experience with his slow introduction to the first movement. Winds and strings open pianissimo, tiptoeing about in ominous B-flat minor, destination uncertain. We anticipate a movement in minor mode, but he fools us, launching into a lighthearted Allegro in B-flat major, full of delicacy and verve. Syncopation and canon play a major role in this exuberant opener. In the slow movement, an Adagio in E-flat major, Beethoven spins a gloriously long theme out of primarily stepwise motion, adding rhythmic and textural interest through the underlying accompaniment and in the bridge passages. He adds drama with unexpected use of the timpani, so often silent in slow movements. 

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Cat-and-mouse chases between woodwinds and strings characterize the scherzo, in which a mischievous, unlikely melodic figure derives from an arpeggiated diminished seventh chord. The intervening trio provides some delightful solo woodwind opportunities.  Flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon each have additional occasions to shine in the finale.  Here, Beethoven celebrates his classical heritage with Haydn-esque humor, plus a dash of Beethovenian practical joking thrown in for spice. 

 

Beethoven worked on the Fourth Symphony during summer 1806, completing it in the autumn. In early February 1807, he sold it to Count Franz von Oppersdorf for six months’ private use. Beethoven gave two concerts in the home of either Prince Lichnowsky or Prince Lobkowitz in March, and scholars believe that the symphony received its first performance at one of those concerts.

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Program Notes by Laurie Shulman ©2024

First North American Serial Rights Only

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