Download Program-notes-2010 - Brown County Civic Music Association

MSO: Green Bay, 5/15/10…Notes by Roger Ruggeri © 2010
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
Overture to “Don Giovanni,” K. 527
Following the enormous success of The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart and his
librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, decided to attempt another triumph. Drawn to
the Don Juan legend, they used as a basis for their plan Giuseppe Bertati’s
play, Don Giovanni. When the opera was premiered in Prague in 1787 (with
Casanova in attendance), it became apparent that the strong dramatic vein of
the story was made even more effective through the contrast of many comic
moments in the plot.
Legend has it that Mozart waited until the last minute to compose the
overture, passing out the parts just in time for the orchestra to sight-read at
the first performance. The truth was not far removed; Mozart’s wife,
Constanze, told her second husband, Nissen, that she stayed up the whole
night with Mozart, feeding him punch and reading stories as he set the
overture down on paper ...this, however, took place two nights before the
performance. Thus, the orchestra sight-read the overture at the dress
rehearsal, not the concert. It is certain that Mozart had the overture
essentially completed in his mind and merely (!) set it down on paper during
that long night of punch and stories.
The overture itself is in the “French overture” style--a slow section followed
by a fast one. With pairs of winds, timpani and strings, the work begins with
the impressive chords associated with the scene in which the statue arrives at
Don Giovanni’s door. The quiet rhythmic figure which follows is the
accompaniment to the statue’s words: “Don Giovanni! You have invited me
to sup with you. I have come!” Continuing with phrases that suggest Don
Giovanni’s shaken poise and his valet’s semi-farcical tremblings, the
overture moves to the main section, Molto allegro. This part of the overture
has no programmatic significance, but can be seen to suggest Don
Giovanni’s youthful high spirits and audacity. The overture itself merges
directly into the operatic action; Johann Andre created the most frequently
performed concert ending for the Breitkopf and Haertel edition.
Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847)
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 (“Italian”)
Some composers excel at conveying a sense of dramatic gesture, while
others are most noted for their communication of mood and melody;
Mendelssohn had a felicitous genius for achieving a balance of these
qualities, a gift particularly evident in his Italian Symphony.
This symphony, often considered to be his most “perfect” work in the form,
was begun while on a leisurely trip through southern Europe during late
1830. One of the first references to the work was contained in a letter from
Rome, dated February of 1831, in which the composer wrote: “I am making
great progress with the Italian Symphony. It will be the most mature thing I
have ever done, especially the last movement, Presto agitato.” In another
place, he referred to the work as “a blue sky in A major.” The work was not
completed in Italy, it waited in varied sketches until, in November of 1832,
the London Philharmonic Society commissioned Mendelssohn to compose
“a symphony, an overture, and a vocal piece.” With a real goal in sight, he
completed the Italian Symphony and conducted its first performance in
London on May 13, 1833.
Those who expect a sonic travelogue of Italy will have to let their
imaginations range quite freely, for that was never a part of Mendelssohn’s
intent. What can be perceived is a symphony whose contents arose as the
musical response of a talented young German as he looked from his hotel
window at the surface of Italian life.
Gioacchino Rossini
(1792-1868)
Overture to “The Barber of Seville”
Rossini’s greatest opera buffa, The Barber of Seville, was first presented in
Rome in 1816. An incredibly facile composer, Rossini wrote the opera
within two weeks. When asked if this feat was possible, the composer,
Donizetti, replied dryly: “Yes, but then Rossini always was a lazy fellow.”
Donizetti should have known, for he too, was capable of composing an
opera in a short time. Of course, he was also alluding to Rossini's reputation
as a composer who loved food, just barely made his deadlines, and was fond
of composing in bed. However, Rossini did compose thirty-seven operas
between the age of eighteen and his retirement from the opera business at
thirty-seven…a most unusual “lazy” man! Even more amazing than the fact
that it was written in two weeks is the realization that such a masterpiece of
opera buffa was composed in that short time. Verdi was convinced that
Rossini had been mentally working on the music long before the two-week
period in which he actually set it down on paper. Perhaps Rossini’s task was
made somewhat easier because he was able to borrow materials from five of
his earlier operas; it was, nevertheless, an astounding accomplishment.
Set in Spain, The Barber of Seville tells of the misadventures of Count
Almaviva, who, enlisting the aid of Figaro, his barber, to help him court a
young lady, masquerades as a penniless student, a drunken soldier and a
music teacher before he finally wins the girl's hand in marriage. Apparently
there was an overture, based upon Spanish themes, which opened the early
performances of The Barber. Somehow lost in the shuffle, it was replaced
with a work that had earlier prefaced operas dealing with the Emperor
Aurelian, Queen Elizabeth, and Cyrus and his Persians. This all-purpose
overture begins with a slow introduction and moves ahead to present two
sprightly themes. Today it is hard to imagine it with any other opera, for
although thematically unrelated to The Barber, this overture is filled with the
bustle and high spirits that so brilliantly characterize that Spanish rogue.
Emmanuel Chabrier
(1841-1894)
España, Rhapsody for Orchestra
A very typical late 19th-century French gentleman, Chabrier spent the early
years of his adult life as a lawyer in the Ministry of the Interior in Paris.
Around the age of forty, he was so impressed upon hearing Wagner’s famed
opera Tristan und Isolde that he resolved to become a composer, although he
never had the advantage of much formal compositional training. Chabrier
fulfilled another long-standing desire by traveling to Spain in the summer of
1882, revealing through his letters the strength of his impressions of the
country, especially its music and dance.
Writing down the melodies and rhythms that he heard, Chabrier returned to
Paris, where he transformed his impressions and notations into the brilliant
España. Using dances known as “malagueña” and “jota aragonesa” as his
primary themes this vividly colored work has appealed to audiences since its
first performance on November 6, 1883 at a Lamoureux Concert in Paris.
Georges Bizet
(1838-1875)
Excerpts from Carmen Suite No. 1
An inspired blend of music and drama, Bizet's Carmen is loved and
respected as a near-perfect achievement in opera. Scandalized by the novelty
of this work, its first-night audience was less than enthusiastic at the OperáComique in Paris on March 3, 1875. Weakened by the exertion of bringing
Carmen to performance, Bizet died exactly three months later at his summer
home, before he could know the extent of his opera’s success.
Essentially a French opera with a Spanish setting, Carmen tells the tragic
tale of a young soldier whose love for the fiery and temperamental Carmen
causes him to live outside the law. Unable to accept the fact that Carmen has
turned her affections to a handsome toreador, he slays the unpossessable
gypsy girl in the dramatic final scene. The opera’s gratifying vocal writing is
matched, or perhaps even surpassed, by the flair and brilliance with which
Bizet handles his orchestra. Arranged after the composer's death by the now
obscure Fritz Hoffmann, the first suite begins with the ominous Prelude and
continues with Aragonaise, the prelude to the final act. The third act prelude,
Intermezzo, precedes an instrumental setting of Carmen’s Seguedille. Act
II’s prelude, Les dragons d’Alcala, leads to the rousing, Les Toreadors.
Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov
(1844-1908)
Capriccio Espagnole, Opus 34
Rimsky-Korsakov’s gift for vivid instrumental sound produced a number of
orchestral works whose sonic colors are as dazzling as the famous decorated
eggs of the Ukraine. In 1886, the composer was fascinated with the idea of
creating “a virtuoso violin fantasy on Spanish themes.” As he worked on his
sketches during the following year, the work gradually transformed itself
into a brilliant orchestral showpiece entitled Capriccio Espagnole. This
Spanish evocation begins with the full orchestra playing the theme of the
Alborada, a Spanish morning song of greeting. Many instrumental solos are
heard, but the work’s origin as a violin fantasy seems to give that instrument
a slightly predominant role as the work ascends to its exhilarating
conclusion.