Category Archives: Concert Preview

Preview – Mozart and Shostakovich at Alexander String Quartet (April 25th)

Pieces:

  • Wolgang Amadeus Mozart, String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590
  • Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartet No.7 in F sharp major, Op. 108
Venue: Engelman Recital Hall (at Baruch Performing Arts Center), New York, NY 
Performers: Alexander String Quartet
  • Zakarias Grafilo – violin 1
  • Frederick Lifsitz – violin 2
  • Paul Yarbrough – viola
  • Sandy Wilson – Cello

http://youtu.be/c3r-1xq75bw

Mozart’s String Quartet No. 23 (K. 590) was one of the last quartet he composed. This piece is known as the “Prussian Quartets” with other 2 quartets (K. 575 and 589) which Mozart wrote and dedicated them to the King of Prussia: Frederick William II, a cellist. (Pauly 1988, 167). These quartets were written with solo sections for the cello as well as the other instruments (Rosen 1998, 281), somehow allowing the cello to become a melody instrument which proves that Mozart was thinking  how the king could show his prowess.

Knowing this, I believe that this piece would definitely sound bright since it is a composition for a king; if it were dark and mysterious many would question what is wrong with the king, land or if the composer has something against the king. I will look forward to hear the cello solo parts, will all instruments play the accompaniment? will their timbre over ride the sound of the cello?

Sources: Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven (Expanded Edition). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998. Print.

Pauly, Reinhard G. Music in the Classical Period. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988. Print.

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Dimitri Shostakovich wrote his Seventh Quartet between 1959 – 1960, “[dedicating it] to the memory of his first wife Nina” and being a 3 movement piece, it is the shortest composition of all his Quartets, lasting roughly 12 minutes (Kuhn 2008, 50 – 51). In this piece, the “harmonic tension” of the movement keys are not resolve until reaching the recapitulation since there is no development. (Kuhn 2008, 51). Although the piece is written in F sharp minor, F sharp major is noted “in the endings of the first and third movement” (Kuhn 2008, 51), the same key used in his opera: Lady Macbeth symbolizing “love,” an opera dedicated to his first wife as well.

The fact that it was written in a decade where Shostakovich lost his mother and first wife (Fairclough 2008, 279), I believe that this piece should make me feel sad but since it will be performed in a different key, it might change my perspective. In the original composition, F sharp major is noted at the end of first and third movement, what will this performing Quartet do: will it remain the same key? or not? The fact that this piece first movement has a “sonata form” without a development makes me wonder how the conflict is resolved since most of the sonata forms I’ve learned and listened are complete (exposition, development, recapitulation and coda).

Sources: Kuhn, Judith and Paulina Fairclough. “The String Quartet: In Dialogue with Form and Tradition” and “Slava! The ‘Official Compositions.’” In The Cambridge Companion to     Shostakovich. edited by Pauline Fairclough and David Fanning. 50-51, 279. New York:     Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.

Rigoletto – April 24th Metropolitan Opera

http://http://youtu.be/pMKNfEsDPC8

Venue: Metropolitan Opera, Manhattan NY, NY

Composer: Giuseppi Verdi

Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave

Current Producer: Michael Mayer

Additional Notes: While the original Rigletto takes place in the 1500’s, the current production directed by Michael Mayer takes place during 1960’s Las Vegas.

 

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi wrote Rigoletto towards the end of his career. Already famous at the time Verdi wanted to perform an opera that was new and different from his others. The original idea Verdi had was to do Triboulet but was shut down by higher people in Venice. Verdi then changed the names if the characters around to become Rigoletto.

When composing Rigoletto “In the adagio Verdi particularly wanted the second verse ‘more beautiful’ then the first- acknowledging his own penchant for increasing the movements as it proceeds.” (Budden 1973)

After the play was performed for the first time it was an immediate success with the people but not with the music critics of the time. That did not discourage Verdi. Verdi described the piece as “revolutionary.” The music and style was different from much of the music and operas of the time. “The elements in themselves mostly traditional, but they are fused together in a new exciting way.”(Budden 1973)

Preview-Alexander String Quartet at Baruch Performing Arts Center (4/25)

Pieces:

  • W.A. Mozart:  String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590
  • Dmitri Shostakovich:  String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Op. 108

Venue: Baruch Performing Arts Center – Newman Vertical Campus

Performers: Alexander String Quartet: Zakarias Grafilo violin 1, Fredrick Lifsitz violin 2, Paul Yarbrouh Viola, Sandy Wilson Cello

http://youtu.be/7Hj14IsK9vM

 

Dmitri Shostakovich the famous composer of Soviet Russia was born in St. Petersburg now known as Leningrad on September 25, 1906 (Blokker 1979, 17). As a young child, Shostakovich showed remarkable talent and skill in music, being able to recite an entire opera after one hearing (Blokker 1979, 18). His parents realized the musical talent of young Shostakovich and tried to cultivate it, enlisting him in a special school for children of radical or intellectual parents; Shostakovich was also simultaneously enrolled at the Glyasser Music School to study piano under M. Glyasser, quickly winning his teacher’s affection through his skill and potential (Blokker 1979, 18). During the Communist revolution, young Shostakovich witnessed first-hand the brutality of the war, seeing a police officer heartlessly kill a small boy suspected of stealing, this incident would later become the inspiration for one of his episodes of his Second Symphony (Blokker 1979, 22).  Many of Shostakovich’s pieces are in fact inspired through witnessing the dramatic changes Russia went through, including the effects of World War II. It was not until his composition of the First Symphony that won him international recognition. The success of the premiere had Shostakovich praised as an up and coming Soviet composer (Blokker 1979, 21). Shostakovich soon became invaluable to the government, as the Soviet leaders identified him as being the “artistic representation” of the Soviet Party (Blokker 1979, 23). Knowing this information, I would expect the piece I will be hearing live, to portray aspects of Russia during its early years of Communism as well as hearing musical elements depicting the nationalistic pride of Russia as they fought their German nemeses during World War II.

Shostakovich composed his String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major in memory of his first wife Nina Vassilyevna Varzar who died at the age of 58 in December 1954 (Elizabeth 2006, 128). Composing a piece about his first wife is unusual in regards to Shostakovich’s style. Shostakovich’s pieces usually entail war and political themes.  To make it more unusual this piece was composed six years after her death, during his second marriage to Margarita Kainova (Elizabeth 2006, 129).

Wolfgang Arminius Mozart, from his early was classified as being a musical genius and a child protégé, serving as inspiration for various impending artists. As a child, Mozart was examined by several distinguished observers, who authenticated his gifts with scientific reports as a phenomenal talent (Solomon 1995, 3). Mozart remained tightly restricted by his father and even pledged to remain a loyal subject to Leopold Mozart; Leopold was desperate to control his son since it was his only way of preserving his source of surplus income as well as the integrity of his personality (Solomon 1995, 11). Along with his father, Mozart continued his musical career, from being employed as a court musician at Salzburg to journeying Paris for employment (Solomon 1995, 47). During his early years, Mozart developed a friendship with Joseph Haydn and derived similar musical elements from Haydn, who at that time was already a famous composer. Mozart drew much inspiration from Haydn, specifically for his string quartets ((Solomon 1995, 32). Knowing that Mozart worked closely with Hayden, I will expect to notice possible similarities between Mozart’s string quartet and those of Joseph Haydn.

Mozart’s String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590 was written for Friedrich Wilhelm II, who identified himself as an amateur cellist along with being the King of Prussia (Eisen 2002,). The piece is written in a similar to style to those of Haydn. Mozart supposedly played for the king in Berlin but there is not enough documented evidence to suggest he actually performed at the Prussian court (Solomon 1995, 442). K.590 along with K.589 made no reference to the King of Prussia, making it questionable if the six quartets including K.590 were actually commissioned by the King of Prussia (Solomon 1995, 443). The ambiguity over whether Mozart was paid for creating the quartets makes the piece seem more interesting, as Mozart struggled financially.

 

 

Bibliography

Blokker, Roy. The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich.London: The Tantivy Press,1979.

Eisen, Cliff. The New Grove Mozart. Palgrave: Macmillan, 2002.

Elizabeth, Wilson. Shostakovich: A Life Remembered. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2006.

Solomon, Maynard. Mozart: A Life. New York City: HarperCollins,1995.

 

 

 

 

 

Preview – Richard Wagner at Carnegie Hall (4/05)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuPDMhyGKB8

Pieces:

All Wagner Program:

  • Selections from Götterdämmerung: Dawn, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March
  • Overture to Tannhäuser
  • “Ich sah das Kind” from Parsifal
  • Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
  • Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

Venue: Carnegie Hall, Manhattan, NY

Performers: Boston Symphony Orchestra; Daniele Gatti, Conductor; Michelle DeYoung, Mezzo-Soprano

The first part of the performance was devoted to Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). It is the last of four operas of Richard Wagner that he combined in a cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (Borchmeyer 2003, 226). “It is the most effective of the dramas and the one with the most compelling action”, as Wagner himself wrote in his autobiographic book My life (Osborne 1991, 244). The Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March is a final stage of the opera, which expresses the most passion and contains death motive. Wagner underlines the message that “in the hands of man, it is a force for evil and intrigue”. (Osborne 1991, 244). Knowing this information helped me to understand the sharp drops of melody from minor key to major that created mysterious feeling. The music actually sounded like a funeral march because of very low pitches of woodwinds. The harps on the left side of orchestra sounded very soft and represented mythological history of the opera.

The second piece of music was the Overture to opera Tannhäuser. The opera is based on two German legends. It is very significant that Wagner wrote the libretto himself. This work was a turning point in his career, because he “attained at last to full awareness of his creative process” (Westernhagen 1978, 79). After finishing the first act Wagner himself wrote, “before I begin to write a single line of verse, or even to outline a scene, I am already intoxicated by the musical aroma of my creation” (Westernhagen 1978, 79). It is very unusual, because in Classical or Baroque Eras the composers didn’t write the texts of operas. Wagner wrote in My Life that his intention was “to force the listener, for the first time in the history of opera, to take an interest in a poetic idea, by making him follow all its necessary developments” (Osborne 1991, 91). The overture presents the pilgrim’s song and synthesizes content of the whole opera and its main idea namely the opposition of two worlds – the world of spiritual piety and world of sensual pleasure. The melody “marks the ardent growth of passion” (Osborne 1991, 91) and sounds louder and louder, but then recedes. The growth of passion was achieved by constant arpeggios of strings in the minor key and main melody played by woodwinds. The violins on the background created tension. If to hear the piece without knowledge of its history and subject, it might be hard to understand the sense of abrupt melody and divine harps.

Prelude and Liebestod is a final dramatic aria of the first Act from the opera Tristan and Isolde. This prelude sets the mood for the entire piece. The opera was composed between 1857 and 1859. Wagner being married was inspired by his feelings to Mathilde Wesendonk, who was German poet and author. After moving into a small house near her mansion Wagner began to compose this opera. (Osborne 1991, 135). Wagner himself called this opera “the simplest but most full-blooded musical conception” (Osborne 1991, 140). The story of Tristan and Isolde is based on a romance of German Minnesinger Gottfried von Strassburg. In Liebestod Tristan and Isolde yearn for death to unite them (Osborne 1991,147)  the initial phrase of Tristan ‘chromatically descends” and the answering phrase of Isolde ascends”( Osborne 1991,143). It seems that music presents unfinished lines. However, in the concert hall it was presented by Isolde’s Liebestod without the lines of Tristan. First the melody creates the feeling of melancholy and depression by playing very low pitches. The drops of melody from very soft to very loud and rich sound cause the feeling of anxiety. Before the soprano the melody stopped and left the singer in the complete silence preparing the listener for something mysterious. Soprano was accompanied by strings and woodwinds with inconstant sounds of harps. This piece is very dramatic and represents the Wagner’s state of mind in the period of writing Tristan and Isolde, that’s why it was very useful to know the prehistory of the opera to understand the main idea that author wanted to express.

Sources:

Charles Osborne. The Complete Operas of Richard Wagner. Vermont: Trafalgar Square publishing, 1991.

Curt Von Westernhagen. Wagner. A Biography.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978.

Dieter Borchmeyer. Drama and the World of Richard Wagner. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.

 

 

 

Preview – Bernstein, Ives, and Rouse at New York Philharmonic (4/20)

Pieces:

  • Christopher Rouse, Prospero’s Rooms
  • Leonard Bernstein, Serenade
  • Charles Ives, Symphony No. 4

Venue: Avery Fisher Hall, Manhattan, NY

Performers: New York Philharmonic; Joshua Bell, violin soloist; Alan Gilbert, conductor

In his Memos, Ives writes that his program notes read “the last movement is an apotheosis of the preceding content, in terms that have something to do with the reality of existence and its religious experience” (Ives 1972, 66). He then mentions that hymn melodies are quoted, which reminds me of the way Bach used chorale melodies in his cantatas. When listening to a recording of this movement, it sounds like a very dissonant jumble of sounds, and I wonder why Ives says that it is an apotheosis. Does is in some way bring back earlier themes? Or does he mean that in a metaphorical sense?

Ives also mentions that the performing groups shouldn’t all be on the same stage in the second or fourth movements (Ives 1972, 67). I’m curious how this will work at the performance, whether the NY Phil will have ensembles in different parts of the hall, and how it will sound. Obviously you can’t capture the same sense of space on a recording, so it should sound quite different.

There is also something very unusual about this piece: there’s a chorus singing in the first and last movements, which isn’t normal for a symphony since they are usually instrumental works. Additionally, the first movement is very short, and isn’t in sonata form. The third movement is slow, but the second and last movements are atypical too.

Ives wrote this piece towards the end of his career as a composer, and it was his last symphony, so I think that it probably represents his mature style very well. He also says that he felt the most comfortable writing religious music in the fourth symphony (Ives 1972, 129), which is remarkable because he wrote a lot of church music, but a symphony is usually secular.

Sources: Ives, Charles E. Memos. Edited by John Kirkpatrick. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1972. 

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The above is a sample of the type of work I would expect from you regarding the biographical part of the preview.

You are REQUIRED to use a print book from the Baruch library. In this case, I would consult a biography on Bernstein, on Ives, or on 20th century music (Rouse is a modern-day, living composer, and likely does not have any books written about him…yet). Your preview should address the following points (in paragraph form):
-Consider the composer’s biography and the piece’s history. Do you think any of this
information will impact how you’ll hear/experience the piece when you hear it live? If
yes, how so? If no, why not?
-Is there anything special or unusual about the piece? Think of this in regards to the
genre, the time period, the composer, the style.

It is not crucial that you write about all the pieces in depth, but you SHOULD make mention of all the pieces. Perhaps consider how they relate to one another…

**YOU MUST INCLUDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND ANY DIRECT QUOTES REQUIRE AN IN-TEXT CITATION**

Formatting details:

  • Make sure you choose “Concert Preview” from “Categories”
  • Add tags to your post, including the genre(s), composers, etc.
  • Name your post as I have: “Preview – [Composers] at [Venue/Group] (Date).” IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE THE DATE