Download La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) Overture – Gioacchino

La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) Overture
– Gioacchino Rossini
Born February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, Italy
Died November 13, 1868, in Paris, France
Gioacchino Rossini’s reputation as a composer rests largely on the long string of successful operas
he composed in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Of his thirty-nine operas, only a small
handful is presented on modern stages. However, his familiarity to today’s audiences is because
of the colorful overtures written to begin his stage works. No other composer approached his fame
in his day and then, at the ripe old age of 37, he retired to Italy. During his retirement, he composed
several short songs and instrumental works, some of which were published under the amusing title
“The Sins of My Old Age,” but never again did he compose for the opera.
Rossini’s overtures were often dashed off immediately before the premiere of the opera. His
procrastination in 1817 while composing the opera The Thieving Magpie led to him being locked
in an upstairs room by the proprietor of the opera house, who directed a guard to keep him
incarcerated until he finished the overture for the evening’s premiere. As Rossini completed each
page, it was dropped to the copyist waiting outside the window.
The overture begins with two snare drums placed far apart. They each play a roll, then play one
together and crescendo into the boisterous first theme. This march-like theme leads to a new
playful melody introduced by the oboe. Expect the usual long and steady Rossini crescendo that
this time erupts in a bold trombone melody. The remainder of the overture is energetic, even a
little rowdy, and ends with a fortissimo valedictory chord.
Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 23
– Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born May 7, 1840, in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Vyatka Province, Russia
Died November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg, Russia
On December 24, 1874, the young composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky played his new piano
concerto for Nicolai Rubinstein, head of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and brother of the worldrenowned pianist Anton Rubinstein. The director hated the piece.
Tchaikovsky’s hopes of having his concerto premiered in St. Petersburg were dashed. In anger,
he changed the dedication of the work from Nicolai Rubinstein to Hans von Bülow. The German
conductor/pianist, married to Liszt’s daughter Cosima (before she accepted Richard Wagner’s
romantic advances), was already a great admirer of Tchaikovsky’s music. The timing was perfect.
Bülow was about to set out on a piano tour of North America and was searching for new repertoire.
A fresh modern work by an up-and-coming composer and dedicated to the performer fit the bill
much better than the pianist could have expected.
As is often the case with Tchaikovsky’s larger works, this concerto has a puzzling structure and
often draws criticism for its seeming lack of cohesive form. The opening theme – instantly
recognizable to nearly everyone – disappears completely after 110 measures and never recurs. It
serves merely as an introduction. The rest of the movement is a dazzling display of pianistic
devices. The second movement, andantino semplice, begins with flute, oboe, and viola cradling
the gentle opening theme. The second theme, prestissimo, is a delicate adaptation of the French
song “Il faut s’amuser, danser et rire” (“One must amuse oneself with dancing and laughing”) that
flutters back into a short reprise of the lyrical opening melody. The fiery finale includes two
contrasting themes, the first of which is taken from a Ukrainian folk song and treated with
syncopation and rhythmic interplay. The lyrical second theme is the perfect foil, leading the work
to a climax of Tchaikovskian grandeur.
Scherzo Fantastique, Op.25
– Josef Suk
Born January 4, 1874, in Křečovice, modern Czech Republic
Died May 19, 1935, in Benešov, modern Czech Republic
Like most noted Czech composers, Josef Suk attended the Prague Conservatory. However, his
story was a bit different. Suk had studied violin with his father, a bandmaster in the village of
Křečovice, and had done well enough to be accepted to the Conservatory at the age of eleven. His
emphasis at the school was violin, but he also studied music theory and was coached in chamber
music. Suk was in his third year before he started his first instruction in composition. He became
the favorite pupil of his teacher, Antonín Dvořák, which proved to be a very important factor in
his life. In 1898 Suk’s mentor became his father-in-law when the young composer married
Dvořák’s daughter, Otilie.
Suk’s fate paralleled Dvořák’s. The older composer had earlier gained the attention of Brahms,
who then introduced him to the publisher, Simrock. Many years later, Dvořák showed Suk’s work
to Brahms, who did the same for the younger composer.
Suk wrote his Scherzo Fantastique in 1903 during an especially productive and happy period in
his life. The following year would be tragic for Suk with the death of both Dvořák and Otilie. The
work is modeled after Dvořák’s Scherzo Capriccioso. Playing upon the original meaning of the
word scherzo (Italian for “joke”), this work is lighthearted and boasts some of the most infectious
themes in the literature – one is a rhythmic melody that is introduced by the woodwinds and the
other is a grand swirling waltz first heard in the cellos. These two principal themes are the basis
of the entire work, but there are a few excursions. A central section introduces a short polka, but
the other melodies are nearly always present. Just before the coda, a hymn-like segment provides
a brief respite, but it makes the fiery conclusion all the more magnificent.
Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66
– Antonin Dvořák
Born September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, modern Czech Republic
Died May 1, 1904 in Prague, modern Czech Republic
Antonin Dvořák’s musical career began in 1861, at the age of 20, when he joined the orchestra of
Prague’s National Theater as a violist. He lived a life of poverty until Johannes Brahms noticed
one of his scores while judging entries for an Austrian composition contest. Sending the
manuscript to his own publisher, Simrock, Brahms opened the door for the young Czech composer
to gain international attention. Simrock, more interested in selling music than perpetuating the
musical arts, called upon Dvořák to compose a set of stylized dances for piano four-hands. Paying
a mere pittance for the work, Simrock became quite wealthy from sales of Dvořák’s Moravian
Duets, and, later, his Slavonic Dances. The Slavonic Dances proved to be his first compositional
success in 1878, selling wildly in central Europe.
The publisher wanted to sign the young composer to an exclusive contract, but Dvořák, seeing the
potential for more wealth than he had ever known, decided to sign exclusively – but with multiple
publishing houses, collecting “exclusive” royalties from each. It occurred to him that he could
further his profits by declaring some of his new works to be from much earlier – from before he
signed the contracts. Thus, he could negotiate the best fees for the new works, under the ruse that
they were not subject to the terms of his various contracts.
In the spring of 1883, Dvořák’s mother passed away. To help him overcome his extreme grief, he
plunged into a period of great musical creativity. Dvorák wrote Scherzo capriccioso in four weeks
in an attempt to regain his happiness. Horns introduce the bucolic first theme at the outset. Before
long, the violins enter with a waltz melody that seems to skip along lightly, but with a barely
masked sense of melancholy. The opening theme returns and is developed to some degree, but the
central section of the work quickly dispels any sadness. Beginning with the woodwinds along
with horn chords and violin figurations, this section becomes darker in character as it goes on.
Themes are reworked and combined, always separated by the opening horn theme. A brilliant
coda ends the work with a fortissimo blast of jollity.
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