Friday November 13, 2009

Longmont Symphony Orchestra
Robert Olson, conductor; Larry Graham, piano
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K.488 (4/19/03)
Charley talks to Longmont Symphony music director Robert Olson about tomorrow's concert.
Also, he anticipates the Central City Outreach Ensemble's concert tomorrow.
Giacomo Puccini: "Il cannone del porto!" (Flower Duet) from Act II of Madama Butterfly
Margaret Higginson, soprano; Amanda Russo, mezzo-soprano; Beth Nielsen, piano; Deborah Morrow, page turner
Wolfgang Mozart: Duettino, “Là ci darem la mano” from Act I of Don Giovanni, K.527
Amanda Russo, mezzo-soprano; Jonathan Cole, baritone; Beth Nielsen, piano
Lucy Simon: "Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden
James Baumgardner, tenor; Jonathan Cole, baritone; Beth Nielsen, piano; Deborah Morrow, page turner
Wolfgang Mozart: Trio, “Soave sia il vento” from Act I of Così fan tutte, K.588
Claire Kuttler, soprano; Amanda Russo, mezzo-soprano; Wei Wu, bass; Beth Nielsen, piano; Deborah Morrow, page turner
KVOD Performance Studio 11/5/09 MS
Moreover, Charley anticipates the American String Quartet's appearance with the Pueblo Symphony tomorrow.
Wolfgang Mozart: "Allegro assai" (4th movement) from String Quartet in B flat major, K.458
American String Quartet
MusicMasters 67171 Track 12 4:40


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K.488
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro assai

Even as he worked on The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart found the time to compose the A major piano concerto. It was finished on March 2, 1786. He presumably used it himself at one of his Lenten subscription concerts for ``a small circle of music lovers and connoisseurs,'' as he called his 120 subscribers. He may have played it at Josepha Duschek's concert in late March or early April, or at his own concert at the court theater on April 7.
Later that summer, Mozart wrote to Sebastian Winter, who had taken a job with Prince Josef of Fürstenberg at Donaueschingen. The letter contained a list of Mozart's latest compositions, including the concerto, and a proposition for the Prince: ``If His Highness would be so gracious as to order from me every year a certain number of symphonies, quartets, concertos for different instruments, or any other compositions which he fancies, and to promise me a fixed yearly salary, His Highness would be served more quickly and more satisfactorily, and I, being sure of that commission, should work with greater peace of mind.''
The Prince duly requested three concertos and three symphonies, paid for them, and never made another order. Mozart would have wait for peace of mind.
Modern critics find the A major concerto to be deceptive in its shifting moods. ``Under the transparent disguise of a cheerful exterior,'' writes Cuthbert Girdlestone, ``the heart of the work is sad and its mood hovers between smiles and tears.'' Eric Blom calls the work ``as sunny in the first and last movements as the use of that key would lead one to expect from Mozart, though the sunniness is by no means of a mild sort. The music can scorch and sting at times.''
Alfred Einstein writes: ``In the A major concerto Mozart again succeeded in meeting his public half-way without sacrificing anything of his own individuality....The key of A major is for Mozart the key of many colors. It has the transparency of a stained-glass window....But there are also darker shadings and concealed intensities, which the listener interested only in pleasant entertainment misses altogether.''
The score calls for solo piano, flute, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings.