26
Feb
2018
IA/IL QUAD-CITIES – No overview of the world’s finest classical music could omit the German and Austrian masters. All were adept at combining great power with incredible subtlety – and on March 3 and 4, music lovers in the Quad-Cities area will enjoy a sampling of their timeless works when the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) presents Postcards from Germany and Austria, the fifth entry in the Masterworks concert series.
Masterworks V: Postcards from Germany and Austria will be held 8 p.m., March 3, at the Adler Theatre, 136 E. 3rd St., Davenport, IA, and 2 p.m., March 4, at Centennial Hall, Augustana College, 3703 7th Ave., Rock Island, IL.
When people think of the greatest composers of all time, names that spring to mind usually include Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bach, Haydn, Brahms, and Wagner. “Each of these giants has his unique voice,” said Mark Russell Smith, QCSO Music Director and Conductor. “Mozart and Bach had genius that very few people have ever possessed. Beethoven and Wagner, the same.”
The program for Postcards from Germany and Austria will feature four musical selections. The swirling themes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro will lead the audience into Ludwig van Beethoven’s high-spirited Symphony No. 4. QCSO Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz solos in Felix Mendelssohn’s dramatic Violin Concerto. The program concludes with a spectacular display of orchestral brilliance – Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.
“The music of Germany and Austria can be best described as dynamic and compelling,” said Brian Baxter, Executive Director of the QCSO. “The works we are presenting represent an essential component of the season. It would be impossible to do a season like this without selections from these highly influential countries.”
Mozart’s Overture to Marriage of Figaro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was a prolific composer who created more than 600 works before his early death at age 35. Born in Salzburg, Austria, he showed remarkable ability as a child, composing at age 5 and writing his first symphony at age 8. His father Leopold, was a teacher, composer, and Wolfgang’s first instructor. During his childhood, Wolfgang and his sister Maria were known as musical prodigies, and the family traveled through Europe, often performing for royalty.
At 17, Mozart was employed as a musician at the Salzburg court, but he was not satisfied with the low pay and limited opportunities of the position. His travels took him to Vienna, where he achieved fame but little financial security. In his final years, he composed many of his best-known symphonies and other works, as well as parts of the Requiem.
“What is true is that Mozart’s music, no matter what the genre, was music of inspiration and genius,” Smith said. “Even in the most mundane of assignments, Mozart created music of eternal beauty and quality.”
The Marriage of Figaro is the first of an operatic trilogy which Mozart composed with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, which includes Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte. While the overture contains none of the opera’s melodic themes, it sets the tone and pace of the witty and scintillating story to follow.
“This fun overture is a snappy way to open the concert,” Baxter said. “The way that Mozart writes is effortless and this piece is a spectacular example of his virtuosity.”
According to Smith, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is a perfect opera. “It fulfilled all the expectations of the public while creating musical characterizations of unprecedented depth and humanity,” Smith said. “It is witty, profound and deeply expressive.”
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4
Born in the city of Bonn, Germany, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) displayed musical skill at an early age. His first instructors were his father Johann and composer/conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. He moved to Vienna at age 21 and received further instruction from composer Joseph Haydn. In Vienna, he became known as a skilled pianist.
In time, many Viennese noblemen recognized the ability of young Beethoven and became his patrons, offering him financial support. His benefactors included Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, Baron Gottfried van Swieten, and Archduke Rudolph. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 was written for Count Franz von Oppersdorff, a friend of one of Beethoven’s patrons, so in that regard, the friend became a patron as well. At that time, the support of patrons was vital to the lives and careers of composers. “Composers could not live without patronage,” Smith said.
Often overshadowed by Beethoven’s 3rd and 5th Symphonies, Symphony No. 4 remains a unique, beautiful contribution to the genre, with Robert Schumann describing the work as “a slender Grecian maiden between two Nordic Giants.” As a testament to Beethoven’s musical genius, musicologist Robert Greenberg stated that “if any of Beethoven’s contemporaries had written this symphony, it would be considered that composer’s masterwork, and that composer would be remembered forever for this symphony.”
A virtuoso performer and masterful composer, Beethoven’s life was plagued by his ever-worsening hearing problems. They began when he was in his late twenties, and in the final years of his life, he was almost deaf. Even though he eventually gave up performing in public, he still continued to compose, and many of his finest works were produced during his last 15 years.
“Beethoven’s 4th Symphony will take you on a powerfully emotional journey from downbeat to finish,” Baxter said. “It’s an excellent selection for this concert and a piece that became highly influential on many composers who came after Beethoven."
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) was a German pianist, organist, composer, and conductor. His works include concertos, chamber music, symphonies and more. His most famous works include his overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, Songs Without Words, the String Octet, and the Violin Concerto. After a long period of relative obscurity, his talents have been rediscovered and he is now numbered among the most popular composers of the romantic era.
Today, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is considered an essential concerto for aspiring concert violinists to learn and master. “It is tuneful, virtuosic and skillfully composed,” Smith said.
QCSO Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz performs as a soloist in Violin Concerto. “This concerto is one of the first major solo works I learned and I've been fortunate to revisit it often as an adult,” she said.
“I am thrilled that Naha will be performing,” Baxter said. “She will do wonderful things with this essential piece from the violin concerto repertoire.”
Greenholtz was born in Japan and her musical talents were encouraged at an incredibly early age. “When I was two years old, my older sister took up the violin and I didn't want to be left out, so I joined in her lessons,” she said. “Not long after starting on violin, my siblings and I started playing piano as well. Saturday mornings from middle school on were spent in youth orchestra rehearsals, and during the summers I would travel to attend festivals for intensive lessons and chamber music.”
Her family moved back and forth between Japan and Canada during her childhood. “I lived in Vancouver during middle and high school and left to attend Juilliard,” she said. “After graduation, I played in the New Orleans Philharmonic and then the Milwaukee Symphony before going to study with Bill Preucil at the Cleveland institute of Music.”
Greenholtz noted that the Violin Concerto is unusual in how it unfolds. “Mendelssohn subverts the tradition of a long orchestral introduction,” she said. “Instead, almost immediately the solo violin makes its entrance with one of the most famous melodies in all of music history. I can't quite explain why, but I love this about the concerto – there is no preparation or ritual, you are just immediately into the action.”
Greenholtz added that Mendelssohn designed the piece to be played straight through, without breaks between movements. “A lingering solo bassoon links the first movement with the lyrical second,” she said. “Closing out the second movement is a yearning interlude that leads directly into the bubbly fanfare of the finale. It is a miracle of a piece, one of the greatest concerti ever written. I'm really looking forward to the performances with my QCSO colleagues."
Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) was a prolific German teacher, violist, violinist, composer, and conductor. Early in his career, he played in dance bands and musical-comedy groups, and in time he became the leader of the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra. Notable works by Hindemith include his song cycle Das Marienleben (The Life of Mary), his concerto Der Schwanendreher (The Swan Turner), the opera Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter), and his most popular work, the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) was a German critic, pianist, guitarist, composer, and conductor. Among his works, he composed four sonatas, two concertos and the Konzertstück in F Minor (concert piece). The Konzertstück has become a favorite of the piano concerto repertoire.
The idea of composing a work based on Carl Maria von Weber's music was suggested to Hindemith by choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, and was originally imagined as a ballet. It was only later staged by the eminent American choreographer George Balanchine. Hindemith used lesser-known Weber themes for his Symphonic Metamorphosis, and crafted one of his more accessible works filled with catchy tunes, sturdy rhythms, and a colorful orchestration.
“I love Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis,” Baxter said. “The piece has an uncanny ability to connect viscerally with the audience. I love the way he showcases each instrument section throughout the work and as a percussionist myself, I especially enjoy the percussion and timpani features.”
“It is a great orchestral showpiece,” Smith said. “Hindemith was a skilled composer who knew how to make a 20th Century Orchestra sound great.”
Concert tickets are available at the QCSO box office at 327 Brady St., Davenport. You can also call the QCSO at (563) 322-7276 or visit www.qcso.org.
