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When Mozart meets Chopin Family concert: Saturday 17 April 2010, Pallas Theatre, Paphos Gate, Nicosia, 17:00 W.A. Mozart: Symphony No.31 in D major, K.297 (300a) (Paris) Soloist: Martino Tirimo (piano) Entrance Free |
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W. A. MOZART: Symphony No 38 in D major, K. 504, "Prague"
This symphony, which received its first performance in Prague on 19 January 1787, is one of three Mozart symphonies to begin with a slow introduction (the other two are the Linz symphony of 1783 and the E-flat symphony No 39 of 1788). Beginning with gestures of relentless formality, the expected inevitability of a firm cadence is caught by a dramatic turn into D minor, with drums and pungently flavourful low trumpets. Having achieved that sense of foreboding, Mozart writes first a powerful rising sequence and then music of a gradual, tensely anticipatory subsidence. The quiet Allegro that follows features a taut syncopated accompaniment, which then however gives way to a festive trumpet-and-drum theme full of grace and freshness, with the movement proceeding into a densely polyphonic and energetic development, leading to the recapitulation and the blazing coda. The Andante, beginning with characteristic Mozartian grace, introduces, in the repeat of the first phrase, a gently unyielding bass and a poignant chromatic embellishment, leading to strange shadows in the harmonies, quietly forceful contrapuntal imitations and sighs in the closing melody, all of which contribute to what caused Mozart's biographer, Alfred Einstein, to exclaim "What a deepening of the concept of Andante is here!" As for the third movement, Finale - Presto, Mozart rebels once again, eschewing the then-traditional Minuet and moving straight into one of his most miraculous finales, a movement that combines strength without heaviness, crackling energy of rhythm, a challenge to the most virtuosic of orchestras, and, as always, grace.
W. A. MOZART: Symphony No 31 in D major, K. 297 (300a), "Paris"
Mozart did his best to adopt the fashionable French musical styles in this symphony, which had its first public performance in Paris on 18 June 1778. The Köchel catalogue double numbering refers particularly to the symphony's second movement, with K.297 featuring the original 2nd movement (Andante) and K.300a a later one (Andantino). The opening Allegro assai has the outlines of sonata form, but the focus is on a series of delightful themes rather than intense development, with Mozart keeping to the forms in fashion in Paris at the time, even though there are several surprising contrasting ideas. (Mozart wrote that at one point the audience was so pleased by one of these, that they interrupted the movement with applause.) The calm and elegant Andante, featuring an alternating pair of courtly violin themes, is now known to be the original movement written for the symphony, even though for many years, an alternative middle movement, an Andantino in 6/8 was thought to be the original, replaced at the insistence of the then manager of Paris' Concerts Spirituel, Joseph LeGros. Research however has shown that the Andantino was probably written after Mozart left Paris, possibly to conceal from his father that he had written relatively little music on this trip that had cost the family so much! The Allegro opens with a surprise: the violins start with a quiet theme, which however leads to an unexpected crashing full orchestra entrance. (The Paris audience once again interrupted the performance with applause at this point.) This fanfare-like motive is heard throughout the movement, but a brief but intense fugal passage and several surprising twists of harmony also occur before the movement ends with a brilliant coda. As for Mozart's comments on this symphony? In a letter to his father, he writes: "I cannot say whether it will be popular - and to tell the truth, for who will not like it? I can answer for its pleasing the few intelligent French people who will be there - and as for the stupid ones, I shall not consider it a great misfortune if they are not pleased. I still hope, however, that even asses will find something in it to admire."
F. CHOPIN: Variations on "Là ci darem la mano", Op. 2
This was Chopin's first work for piano and orchestra, and was inspired, as the title indicates, by the well-known duet between Zerlina and Don Giovanni from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. The work begins with a stately introduction marked Largo - poco piu mosso: a rather straightforward rendering of the theme by the piano, with the orchestra taking up the theme near the end. A string of four short variations follows: an exuberant Brilliante, a more energetic Veloce ma accuratamente marked by a gunshot opening on the piano, a more relaxed Sempre sostenuto, and a fourth Con bravura. The last section, almost as long as the Introduction and the preceding variations combined, is marked Adagio - alla polacca and begins in a somber mood, even though not quite jettisoning the playful remnants spilling over from the previous sections, while the entire composition ending with Chopin's familiar display of piano fireworks.
F. CHOPIN: Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante in E flat major, Op.22
The work, composed between 1830 and 1834, was the composer's last for piano and orchestra. First to be written, in 1830-31, was the Polonaise, followed in 1834 by the Andante spianato, with Chopin joining the two parts with a fanfare-like sequence, and publishing the combined work in 1836 as Op. 22. The quiet rippling effects of the Andante spianato are borne in a gentle 6/8, rounded with a chordal trio in C major, and a more processional 3/4. The very serene middle section is not a trio, but only a contrasting episode to complement the overall texture of the movement. Not being a trio, it is not in C major but remains in G major. The Polonaise however opens with a brilliant fanfare, moving into the ebullient and fearless dance form of which Chopin was such a master, complete with the characteristic unexpected and brief excursions, the many electric shocks of surprise and alarm, and the composer's poetic and possibly unequalled gusto.
Programme notes by Andreas Iacovides
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