Wednesday May 5, 2010

On tonight's show:

Colorado College Summer Music Festival

Charley shamelessly promotes the benefit concert for the Festival on Friday with past performances in concert and the Performance Studio.

Camille Saint-Saëns: Violin Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op. 75
Scott Yoo, violin
Susan Grace, piano
recorded 6/29/08

Johannes Brahms: “Allegro appassionato” (1st mvt) from Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120 No. 1
Jon Manasse, clarinet
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Charley Samson, page-turner
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 5/29/07
Produced by Martin Skavish

Lowell Liebermann: Fantasy on a Fugue of J.S. Bach
Elizabeth Mann, flute
Frank Rosenwein, oboe
Jon Manasse, clarinet
Michael Kroth, bassoon
Stewart Rose, horn
Susan Grace, piano
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 6/26/07
Produced by Martin Skavish

Robert Schumann (arr. Franz Liszt):
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 4/24/09
Produced by Martin Skavish

Boulder Chamber Orchestra
Charley talks with Boulder Chamber Orchestra music director Bahman Saless about their concerts this weekend, followed by one of his soloist's appearance in our Performance Studio.

Maurice Ravel: 1st movement from Sonata for Violin and Cello
Jennifer Carsillo, violin
Charles Lee, cello
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 9/24/09
Produced by Martin Skavish

Program Notes

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75

I. Allegro agitato--Adagio
II. Allegretto moderato--Allegro molto

“I live in music like a fish in water,” said Saint-Saëns. “I write music as an apple tree produces apples.” In an age when most French composers pursued opera, Saint-Saëns concentrated on instrumental music. Comparing himself to Georges Bizet, he remarked, “We pursue a different ideal, he seeking passion and life above all things, I running after the chimera of purity of style and perfection of form.” In 1871 Saint-Saëns founded the Société nationale de musique, whose purpose was to encourage French chamber music.

The first of his two violin sonatas was written in 1885 and dedicated to the Belgian violinist Martin-Pierre-Joseph Marsick. The two has just completed a recital tour of Switzerland and the sonata was probably a thank-you gift.

The work has two movements, each with two sections. In his liner notes to James Ehnes’s recording, Don Anderson writes, “The first half of the opening movement is restless and dramatic, lightened by a runny second theme. It segues into an Adagio of exceptional lyric sweetness. The second movement opens with a lightly dancing, scherzo-like section; a series of solemn piano chords heralds the steeple-chase virtuoso excitement of the finale.”

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120 No. 1

I. Allegro appassionato
II. Andante un poco adagio
III. Allegretto grazioso
IV. Vivace

Brahms was convinced he had written his last composition when he visited the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen's court in March, 1891. However, the playing of the principal clarinetist of the Duke's orchestra, Richard Mühlfeld, convinced him to resume composing again. “It is impossible to play the clarinet better than Herr Mühlfeld does here,” he wrote to Clara Schumann. Calling him “the best wind player I know,” Brahms wrote the Clarinet Trio and Clarinet Quintet with Mühlfeld in mind. During the summer of 1894 he added two clarinet sonatas for “my dear nightingale,” as he called him. They were his last chamber works.

Biographer Karl Geiringer writes: “Their manner is familiar: a wonderful exploitation of the possibilities of the clarinet, particularly in the effective change from the higher to the lower registers, coupled with a certain austerity of tone; a tender melancholy, which seldom breaks out into more energetic or joyous accents; and a splendid perfection of form in all the movements. And yet, amid these typical features, what a profusion of individual attributes! In the F minor Sonata, for instance, it is remarkable how in each of the three sections of the beautifully proportioned introductory movement the lyrical opening rises gradually to epic strength, leading to final victory in the softer mood of the Coda.”

©2010 Charley Samson

Tuesday May 4, 2010

On tonight's show:

Friends of Chamber Music

Tomorrow Inon Barnatan and Alisa Weilerstein perform on the Friends of Chamber Music series, which featured the pianist as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 2008. Both Barnaton and Weilerstein have visited our Performance Studio.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Quintet in E flat Major, Op. 16

Jean Francaix: Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Inon Barnatan, piano
Stephen Taylor, oboe
David Shiffrin, clarinet
Peter Kolkay, bassoon
Stewart Rose, horn
recorded 3/5/08

Maurice Ravel: “Ondine” from Gaspard de la nuit
Inon Barnatan, piano
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 3/5/08
Produced by Martin Skavish

George Frideric Handel (Arr. Johan Halvorsen): Passacaglia from Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in G minor, HWV 432
Chee-Yun, violin
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 10/20/05
Produced by Martin Skavish

Monday May 3, 2010

On tonight's show:

Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado

Charley talks with Baroque Chamber Orchestra co-leader Frank Nowell about their concerts this weekend. We'll also hear a 2006 all-Bach program, excerpts from their “Echoes of Venice” concert, and recordings made by their co-leaders in our Performance Studio. Listen to extended interview (web extra).

Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite in A minor, BWV 1067 Bach_Suite_No_2">notes

Johann Sebastian Bach: Two-Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043

Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado
Debra Nagy, oboe
Cynthia Miller Freivogel, violin
Tekla Cunningham, violin
recorded 9/23/06

Biagio Marini: Echo Sonata

Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado
Tekla Cunningham, Kathleen Leidig, Stacey Brady, violins
recorded 9/26/09

Georg Philipp Telemann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major
I. Allemande
II. Corrente
III. Sarabande
IV. Gigue (web extra)

Cynthia Miller Freivogel, violin
Frank Nowell, harpsichord
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 7/14/06
Produced by Martin Skavish

Program Notes

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
I. Ouverture
II. Rondeau
III. Sarabande
IV. Bourrée
V. Polonaise: Lentement
VI. Menuet
VII. Badinerie

After working for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, Bach was appointed cantor of the St. Thomas School in Leipzig. He moved family and furniture in May of 1723. His job description included duties as civic director of music, and this meant numerous odious encounters with the Town Council. He complained of “superiors who are strange people, with little regard for music.”

Some relief from his official duties came in 1729, when he was asked to direct the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, a group founded 25 years earlier by Telemann. During the winter, they performed from eight to ten o'clock every Friday night at Gottfried Zimmermann's coffeehouse. In the warmer months, they moved outdoors in the garden for concerts from four to six o'clock on Wednesday afternoons.

All four of the Suites for Orchestra were played at these concerts, although three of them may have been written earlier, at Cöthen. Martin Bernstein believes the Second Suite was written in the early 1730s for Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin, first flutist in the Dresden Orchestra. Buffardin had given lessons to Bach's older brother Johann Jacob--in Constantinople, of all places.

Teri Noel Towe writes: “This elegant and glittering suite must have done much to enhance Bach's already great reputation when Buffardin played it with the Dresden court orchestra. Brilliant musician that he was, Buffardin certainly must have appreciated such subtle touches as the remarkable canon…in the Sarabande and the construction of the Double of the Polonaise over a bass line that is an exact quotation of the theme of the Polonaise proper.” The final movement, titled “Badinerie,” is a witty and dance-like substitute for the traditional dance movements of the suite.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Double Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043
I. Vivace
II. Largo ma non tanto
III. Allegro

In 1717 Bach assumed his new position as court conductor to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. “My gracious prince loved and understood music,” he later recalled. Much of Bach's secular, instrumental music dates from his tenure at Cöthen, including a series of violin concertos.

The Double Concerto was written about 1720. “The attack of the first movement is uncompromising,” says Geoffrey Crankshaw, “and the contrapuntal exchanges of the orchestra are matched by those of the two soloists, using a variant of the main theme. The self-consistent logic of this movement is contrasted with the exalted calm of the second movement, whose serene canon, unfolded…by the soloists against a softly beating accompaniment, takes us beyond earthly experience. In the third movement, energy returns in an argument dominated by the soloists. Bach's use of double-stopping in both solo parts is a marvelous stroke of poetic intensity.”

The score calls for two solo violins, strings and continuo.

©2010 Charley Samson

Friday April 30, 2010

On tonight's show:

Colorado College Summer Music Festival

Clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu have appeared at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival and the KVOD Performance Studio. Tonight we get ready for their appearance at the benefit recital next week.

Carl Maria von Weber: Grand Duo Concertant, Op. 48

Jon Manasse, clarinet
Jon Nakamatsu, piano 

recorded 6/11/08

Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto

Jon Manasse, clarinet
Festival Chamber Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor
recorded 7/9/02

John Novacek: “4th Street Drag” & “Full Stride Ahead”
from Four Rags for Two Jo(h)ns

Jon Manasse, clarinet
John Novacek, piano
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 6/25/07
Produced by Martin Skavish

Sound Circle

Charley talks with Sound Circle artistic director Sue Coffee about their concerts this weekend, which include a work they've recorded.

Stephen Smith: Eagle Song

Sound Circle
Sue Coffee, conductor
"Stick Around" CD

Program Notes

Aaron Copland (1900-1990):
Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra with Harp and Piano
I. Slowly and Expressively; Cadenza
II. Rather Fast

“The King of Swing, Benny Goodman, commissioned the Clarinet Concerto in 1947. Copland was on a good-will tour of South America that year and began work on the Concerto in Rio de Janeiro. He finished the piece in New York during the fall of 1948.

Goodman was the soloist at the first performance, on November 6, 1950, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner's direction. Jerome Robbins used the music for a ballet, The Pied Piper, which was introduced by the New York City Ballet in 1951.

The Clarinet Concerto is in two movements, with a cadenza for the soloist in between. “The general character” of the opening movement, said Copland, “is lyric and expressive. The cadenza that follows provides the soloist with considerable opportunity to demonstrate his prowess, at the same time introducing fragments of the melodic material to be heard in the second movement. Some of this material represents an unconscious fusion of elements obviously related to North and South American popular music.”

In his book on Copland, Arthur Berger notes that since the work was written for Benny Goodman, “it inevitably exploits the ‘hot’ jazz improvisation for which that clarinetist is noted. But the very episodes that evoke the sharp-edged, controlled, motoric style of Goodman's brilliant old sextet are often the ones recalling most strongly the stark, dissonant devices that gave Copland the reputation for being an esoteric in the early thirties.” Berger notes that jazz elements first appear in the soloist's cadenza and “they dominate the fast second part of the work.”

©2010 Charley Samson

Thursday April 29, 2010

On tonight's show:

Colorado Symphony Orchestra

From this season's Masterworks Series, 2009 Van Cliburn Competition Gold Medal Winner Haochen Zhang plays Prokofiev with the Orchestra.

Peter Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Opus 26

Scott O’Neil, conductor
Haochen Zhang, piano
recorded 2/20/10

Program Notes

eter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32

When Tchaikovsky was in Paris during the summer of 1876, he wrote to his brother Modeste: “Early this morning I read through the Fifth Canto of Dante's Inferno, and was beset by the wish to compose a symphonic poem based on the love and eternal punishment of Francesca and Paolo.” Dante's story depicts the adulterous love of Francesca and Paolo, who are both murdered by a jealous husband and thence consigned to the second circle of hell, where carnal sinners are continually buffeted by howling winds.

Originally Tchaikovsky wanted to set the story as an opera, but by November 17, 1876, he had completed the symphonic poem. Again, he wrote to his brother: “I have just finished the composition of a new work, a symphonic fantasia...I have worked on it `con amore,' and believe my devotion has been successful.”

Francesca da Rimini was successful when Nikolai Rubinstein introduced it in Moscow on March 9, 1877. Tchaikovsky said he preferred this work “above all the others I've composed in this genre.”

Biographer Edwin Evans describes the work: “It has three phases, of which the central one is by far the most important, as it depicts the narrative of Francesca, the beginning and end of the work providing the background of the Inferno. The agonizing picture brought to mind by the perusal of Dante is unmistakably portrayed in the opening and close of the work. The disconsolate wandering of the lost souls is represented by an andante lugubre, which merges into a veritable whirlwind, allegro vivo. The andante section is full of a haunting melody first played by the clarinet. The subsequent accompanying figures, provided by three flutes, are among the most attractive features of the score. In the end the unhappy pair disappear once more into the whirling throng.”

The work is scored for piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, gong, harp and strings.



Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
I. Andante--Allegro
II. Theme and Variations: Andantino

III. Allegro ma non troppo

The Third Piano Concerto was begun “by fits and starts” as early as 1911. Prokofiev set it aside, returned to it in 1913, set it aside again and returned to it again in 1916 and 1917. By then the principal themes were outlined, but the work was still unfinished. When he left Russia the following year, the score was in his luggage. He finally completed the Concerto in France during the summer of 1921.

The first performance took place in Chicago on December 16, 1921, with Prokofiev as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The audience, according to the composer, “did not quite understand” the work. After performances in New York, Paris and London, the Concerto reached the Soviet Union, where it was welcomed with open arms. “What is important,” wrote Boris Asafeyev, “is that Prokofiev has still not cut himself off from his own country. The work throbs with its strength, and radiates the Russian understanding of art's meaning and value.”

For the Chicago première, Prokofiev provided the following description of the work: “The first movement opens with a short, calm introduction...The theme is introduced by unaccompanied clarinet, then taken up by the violins...The violins' passage...leads to the principal theme (on the piano). Development by orchestra and soloist is lively. After a few bars of chords for piano solo, an expressive secondary motive is initiated by oboe with plucked string accompaniment. The piano develops this theme in a bravura passage...In the recapitulation, the two themes are submitted to a brilliant development, ending in an agitated crescendo.

“The second movement is a theme with five variations. The theme is announced by the orchestra. The first variation, by piano in a quasi-sentimental mood, ends in a prolonged chain of trills, while the orchestra repeats the theme. The second and third variations...occur in brilliant piano figurations, while snatches of the theme appear on all sides in the orchestra. The fourth is calm and dreamy. The fifth...leads to the reappearance of the basic theme in a setting of delicate chordal decorations from the piano.

“In the third movement...bassoons and strings state the theme with gusty interruptions from the piano. Orchestral development of the theme leads to a clash of tonalities. The piano takes up the first theme again and develops it to a powerful climax. After a slackening of rhythm, new material is introduced in the woodwind. The piano answers with a theme humorous in character. This episode receives an extensive development, which leads to a brilliant coda.”

The Concerto is scored for solo piano, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, castanets, tambourine, bass drum and strings.

©2010 Charley Samson

Wednesday April 28, 2010

On tonight's show:

Yevgeny Sudbin Recital

Monika Vischer talks with pianist Yevgeny Sudbin about his recital tomorrow at the Newman Center, followed by his recordings in our Performance Studio.

Dmitri Shostakovich: Prelude No. 6 in B minor, Op. 87
Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 4/27/10
Produced by Martin Skavish

Colorado Music Festival

Pianist Jon Nakamatsu has appeared at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, the Strings Music Festival and the KVOD Performance Studio. Tonight we hear him at the Colorado Music Festival.

Ernö Dohnányi: Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 1

Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Colorado Music Festival Chamber Players
Calin Lupanu, violin
Monica Boboc, violin
Matthew Dane, viola
Bjorn Ranheim, cello
recorded 7/17/07

Musical Oddities
Charley talks with CSO horn player David Brussell about the book signing of his new tome, Musical Oddities, tomorrow night at the Bookery Nook.

Opera Colorado

Charley talks with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who sings the title role in Opera Colorado's production of Puccini's Tosca, which opens tomorrow.
Giacomo Puccini: Aria, "Vissi d'arte" from Act II of Tosca

Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Constantine Orbelian, conductor
Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano
Telarc pre-release

The Playground Ensemble
Charley talks with The Playground's Conrad Kehn about their Colorado Composers Concert (CoCoCo) Friday.

Program Notes

Ernö Dohnányi (1877–1960)

Born in Pressburg (Bratislava), Dohnányi entered the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest in 1894. When Brahms heard his Quintet in C minor, he exclaimed, “I could not have written it better myself.” Dohnányi's Symphony in F major was awarded the king's prize in 1897, the same year he began studying with Eugen d'Albert. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin, and in 1919 was appointed director of the Budapest Conservatory and conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1948, having lost two sons in the War, he left Hungary, traveling to Austria, then spent a year in Argentina.In the fall of 1949 he came to the United States to teach at Florida State College in Tallahassee.

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Aria, "Vissi d'arte" from Act II of Tosca

Victorien Sardou's drama La Tosca had already been rejected by Giuseppe Verdi when Alberto Franchetti acquired the exclusive rights to set it as an opera. Meanwhile Puccini saw Sarah Bernhardt in a production of the play and was determined to have it himself. After much intrigue, Franchetti was talked into abandoning his project, only to discover that Puccini was interested. He never forgave Puccini for his treachery. Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica fashioned a libretto and Puccini's Tosca was introduced in Rome on January 14, 1900.

In the second act, the title character, an opera singer, has just heard her lover Cavaradossi being tortured when the torturer, Baron Scarpia, tries to woo her. She who “lived for art” muses on her cruel fate.

Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi, aiutai.
Sempre con fé sincera,
la mia preghiera
ai santi tabernacoli salì.
Sempre con fé sincera,
diedi fiori agli altar.
Nell'ora del dolore
perché, perché Signore,
perché me ne rimuneri così?
Diedi gioielli
della Madonna al manto,
e diedi il canto agli astri,
al ciel, che ne ridean più belli.
Nell'ora del dolore
perché, perché, Signore,
perché me ne rimuneri così?

Translation:
I lived for art, I lived for love:
Never did I harm a living creature!
Whatever misfortunes I encountered
I sought with secret hand to succour.
Ever in pure faith,
my prayers rose
in the holy chapels.
Ever in pure faith,
I brought flowers to the altars.
In this hour of pain.
Why, why, oh Lord,
why dost Thou repay me thus?
Jewels I brought
for the Madonna's mantle,
and songs for the stars in heaven
that they shone forth with greater radiance.
In this hour distress
Why, why, oh Lord,
why dost Thou repay me thus?

©2010 Charley Samson

Tuesday April 27, 2010

On tonight's show:

Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival

Charley anticipates Alisa Weilerstein's appearance with Inon Barnaton on the Friends of Chamber Music series next week. She has also appeared at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

Beethoven: String Trio in G major, Op.9 No.1
Michelle Kim, violin
Cynthia Phelps, viola
Carter Brey, cello

Brahms: Cello Sonata No.2 in F major, Op.99
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Adam Neiman, piano
recorded 7/22/03 & 7/15/03

Colorado Chamber Players

Charley anticipates the Colorado Chamber Players recital Wednesday at Shalom Park.

Max Bruch: Eight Pieces, Op. 83
V. Rumanian Melody: Andante in F minor
Colorao Chamber Players
Daniel Silver, clarinet
Barbara Hamilton-Primus, viola
Andrew Cooperstock, piano)
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 4/19/10
Produced by Martin Skavish


Program Notes

The three string trio of Opus 9 were published in July, 1798 with a dedication to Count Johann Georg von Browne-Camus. One of the Count's employees described him as "one of the strangest men, full of excellent talents and beautiful qualities of heart and spirit...[but] full of weakness and depravity."

The Count once gave Beethoven a horse in exchange for dedicating the Variations on a Russian Dance (WoO 71) to the Count's wife. Beethoven's pupil, Ferdinand Ries, recorded that "He rode the animal a few times, and soon after forgot all about it and, worse than that, its food also. His servant, who soon noticed this, began to hire out the horse for his own benefit and, in order not to attract the attention of Beethoven to the fact, for a long time withheld from him all bills for fodder. At length, however, to Beethoven's great amazement he handed in a very large one, which recalled to him at one his horse and his neglectfulness."

Biographer Lewis Lockwood notes Beethoven's previous works for string trio, the Trio in E flat major, Op.3 and the Serenade in D major, Op.8. "But with the three String Trios of Opus 9 we come to a higher level," he writes, "These three trios are the best of Beethoven's string chamber music before the Opus 18 quartets." At the time, Beethoven himself declared them "the best of my works."

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op.99
I. Allegro vivace
II. Adagio affettuoso
III. Allegro passionato
IV. Allegro molto

Brahms wrote two cello sonatas, the first in 1865. Some twenty years would elapse before he wrote another. The F major sonata was composed in the Swiss town of Hofstetten, on the Lake of Thun, during the summer of 1886. It was inspired by the playing of young Robert Hausmann, the cellist in Joseph Joachim's quartet. And it was Hausmann, with Brahms at the piano, who introduced the work on November 24, 1886 in Vienna.

Biographer Karl Geiringer says the opening movement "differs in some respects from other compositions of the mature period. Its ardent pathos would be less surprising in Brahms's youthful compositions...Although the cello part has in general a much higher pitch than in the first Sonata, great strength of tone is required if the player is to assert himself against the tremoli of the piano, here employed to an extent which will hardly be found in any other work of the composer. It may be that Brahms did not `go for so many walks' with this work as was otherwise his wont...The Finale--a rather hastily elaborated Rondo--seems to have been written with quite peculiar speed, as though the master could hardly write fast enough to put the rush of ideas on paper."

The second movement's lyrical melody is shared by two instruments, the cello alternating between bowed and plucked expression. The third movement is a scherzo with strong rhythmic accents and a trio section containing a sweet melody played mostly by the cello.

"The writing in the Second Sonata,'' writes Karen Monson, "is more successfully idiomatic for the solo instrument than in the first. It takes the cello out of its low register and coincidentally establishes a more natural balance with the piano. In contrast to the E Minor Sonata, the F Major work is extroverted--more outwardly noble, dramatic and spirited, though not without warmly tender moments."

©2010 Charley Samson