Download Intermountain Classics on KKRN 88.5 FM Program Notes for May 11

Intermountain Classics on KKRN 88.5 FM
Program Notes for May 11 & 16, 2013
Beethoven-Leonore Overture No. 2 Opus 72a!
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Yoel Levi
!
!
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the
transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains
one of the most famous and influential of all composers. During the late 18th century,
his hearing began to deteriorate significantly, yet he continued to compose, conduct,
and perform after becoming completely deaf.
Fidelio (Op. 72) is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is
Beethoven's only opera. The opera tells how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard
named "Fidelio", rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison.
Beethoven struggled to produce an appropriate overture for Fidelio, and ultimately went
through four versions. His first attempt, for the 1805 premiere, is believed to have been
the overture now known as "Leonore No. 2". Beethoven then focused this version for
the performances of 1806, creating "Leonore No. 3". The latter is considered by many
listeners as the greatest of the four overtures, but as an intensely dramatic, full-scale
symphonic movement it had the effect of overwhelming the (rather light) initial scenes of
the opera. Beethoven accordingly experimented with cutting it back somewhat, for a
planned 1808 performance in Prague; this is believed to be the version now called
"Leonore No. 1". Finally, for the 1814 revival Beethoven began anew, and with fresh
musical material wrote what we now know as the Fidelio overture. As this somewhat
lighter overture seems to work best of the four as a start to the opera, Beethoven's final
intentions are generally respected in contemporary productions.
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ginastera-Variaciones Concertantes Opus 23
Israel Chamber Orchestra/Gisele Ben-Dor
!
!
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was a 20th century Argentine composer of classical music.
He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.
Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires and studied at the conservatory there, graduating
in 1938. As a young professor, he taught at the Liceo Militar General San Martín. After a
visit to the United States in 1945–47, where he studied with Aaron Copland at
Tanglewood, he returned to Buenos Aires and co-founded the League of Composers.
He held a number of teaching posts. Among his notable students were Ástor
Piazzolla , Alcides Lanza, Waldo de los Ríos, Jacqueline Nova and Rafael AponteLedée.
Ginastera grouped his music into three periods: "Objective Nationalism" (1934–1948),
"Subjective Nationalism" (1948–1958), and "Neo-Expressionism" (1958–1983). Among
other distinguishing features, these periods vary in their use of traditional Argentine
musical elements. His Objective Nationalistic works often integrate Argentine folk
Intermountain Classics on KKRN 88.5 FM
Program Notes for May 11 & 16, 2013
themes in a straightforward fashion, while works in the later periods incorporate
traditional elements in increasingly abstracted forms.
The Variaciones concertantes were composed in 1953, during a difficult period for
Ginastera, as political conflicts with the Perón government forced him to resign as
director of the music conservatory at the National University of La Plata. He supported
himself by scoring films, as he had been since 1942, and accepting commissions such
as the Variaciones, which came to him from the Asociación Amigos de la Música in
Buenos Aires, where Igor Markevitch conducted the premiere in June 1953.
This was a central work of the “subjective nationalism” of Ginastera’s second stylistic
period, in which folkloric and traditional materials are idealized and sublimated in a
personal way. One characteristic musical symbol of this is harmony derived from the
open strings of the guitar, as heard in the harp under the solo cello statement of the
theme at the beginning, and again before the final variation.
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and LAPhil.com
Vivaldi-Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major VIII, No. 36
The London Mozart Players/Philip Leger
Robert Thompson, bassoon)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, nicknamed "The Red Priest" because of his red hair, was an
Italian Baroque composer, Catholic priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice.
Recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime
was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental
concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over forty
operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four
Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale
della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi had been employed from
1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of
his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi
moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival.
Though Vivaldi's music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in
popularity until its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th century. Today, Vivaldi
ranks among the most popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers.
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Intermountain Classics on KKRN 88.5 FM
Program Notes for May 11 & 16, 2013
Mozart-Serenade ‘Gran Partita’ K. 361 3rd movement
The Linos Ensemble
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical
era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on
keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European
royalty. Mozart learned voraciously from others, and developed a brilliance and maturity
of style that encompassed the light and graceful along with the dark and passionate.
The Serenade No. 10 for winds in B flat major, K. 361, was written for 13 wind
instruments durin a happy period in Munich, and is considered to be one of Mozart’s
greatest chamber works for wind instruments. The oboes come in first and the the
clarinets set the tone for this most heartfelt of movements. The music seems to sigh
wistfully for its entire length, like the flirting of masked revellers at the popular costume
parties of the day.
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Classical Composers
Rachmaninoff-Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Opus 18
London Symphony Orchestra/Andre Previn
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who lived from 1873 to
1943. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a
composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical
music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian
composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom that included a pronounced
lyricism, expressive breadth, structural ingenuity, and a tonal palette of rich, distinctive
orchestral colors. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional
output. He made a point of using his own skills as a performer to explore fully the
expressive possibilities of the instrument. Even in his earliest works he revealed a sure
grasp of idiomatic piano writing and a striking gift for melody.
In 1900, Rachmaninoff began a course of autosuggestive therapy with psychologist
Nikolai Dahl, who was himself an excellent though amateur musician. Rachmaninoff
began to recover his confidence and eventually he was able to overcome his writer's
block. In 1901 he completed his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 and dedicated
it to Dr. Dahl. The piece was enthusiastically received at its premiere at which
Rachmaninoff was soloist and has since become one of the most popular and
frequently played concertos in the repertoire. Rachmaninoff's spirits were further
bolstered when, after three years of engagement, he was finally allowed to marry his
beloved wife, Natalia. They were wed in a suburb of Moscow by an army priest on
29 April 1902, using the family's military background to circumvent the church. The
Intermountain Classics on KKRN 88.5 FM
Program Notes for May 11 & 16, 2013
marriage was a happy one, producing two daughters - Irina, later Princess Wolkonsky
(1903-1969) and Tatiana Conus (1907-1961). Although Rachmaninoff had an affair with
the 22-year-old singer Nina Koshetz in 1916, his and Natalia's union lasted until the
composer's death. Natalia Rachmaninova died in 1951.
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morricone-Giuseppe Tornatore Suite
Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra/Ennio Morricone
Yo-Yo Ma, cello and Gila Butta, piano
Ennio Morricone, born November 10, 1928, is an Italian composer, orchestrator and
conductor, who has written music for more than 500 motion pictures and television
series, as well as contemporary and modern classical works. His scores have been
included in over forty award-winning films. In a career lasting over six decades, he
composed some of the most recognizable film scores in cinematic history. Morricone
became known worldwide by composing the film scores for Spaghetti Westerns directed
and/or produced by Sergio Leone, including A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few
Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in the
West (1968), A Fistful of Dynamite (1971) and My Name is Nobody (1973).
The film score for the Giuseppe Tornatore Suite features the following movements: the
Legend of 1900-Playing Love; Cinema Paradiso-Nostaligia; Cinema Paradiso-Looking
for You; Malena; and A Pure Formality.
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia