Sunday, June 30 – 7:30 pm – “A Reflective Journey”

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor (for Piano, Trumpet & Strings), Op.35 (1933)

I. Allegro moderato
II. Lento
III. Moderato
IV. Allegro con brio

    Solo piano – Yukino Miyake  Solo trumpet – Kevin Karabell

Much like his well-known contemporary Sergei Rachmaninov, Shostakovich was equally lauded in his time as a virtuosic concert pianist as well as a composer. He started playing at 9 and his talent on the instrument was noticed quickly – it was often observed though that he played the instrument precisely but with almost no sentimentality, a criticism that would eventually haunt him when as a young musician he took part in piano competitions and failed to distinguish himself. 

These experiences did not completely deter Shostakovich, but he did as a result begin to focus his attention more fully on composition. The First Piano Concerto started its life as a trumpet concerto for the principal player of the Leningrad Philharmonic but quickly expanded from this initial vision to include a solo piano which would eventually dominate the music.

Shostakovich himself performed the world premiere of the work in 1933, a performance that both cemented his status as a leading composer of the day and re-ignited his career as a fearsomely talented concert pianist. The music is classic Shostakovich: acerbic, angular and sardonic, but not without a sense of humor. The piece unfolds dynamically, introducing many themes and motifs and making colorful use of the unusual ensemble. 

Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Symphony No. 45 in F# minor (‘Farewell’) (1772)

I. Allegro assai
II. Adagio
III. Menuet & Trio: Allegretto
IV. Finale: Presto

    Oboe – Eric Olson, Daniel Rios   Bassoon – Stephanie Magnus   Horn – Thomas Park, Katharine Caliendo

    Violin I – Gabriela Pena, Ingang Han, Igor Khukhua, Melissa BarreI, Ann Hertler

    Violin II – Clinton Dewing, Victoria Stjerna, Piotr Szewczyk, Megan Rios

    Viola – Jorge Pena, Ellen Olson, Lauren Hodges Burns  

    Cello – Jin Kim, Betsy Federman, Brian Magnus  Bass – Paul Strasshofer

Joseph Haydn was an influential Austrian composer of the Classical era. Born in Rohrau, Austria, Haydn became renowned for his innovative symphonies, string quartets, and choral works. He served as Kapellmeister (a sort of composer in residence/house composer) to the wealthy Esterházy family for almost three decades, where he composed prolifically. Haydn’s compositions, characterized by their melodic elegance and structural precision, played a significant role in shaping the development of the classical style, and foreshadowed musical developments of the next decades.

Haydn composed his Symphony No. 45 in 1772 during a rather long residency at his patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy’s castle in Hungary. It is thought that the iconic closing of the piece (in which players switch off their stand lights and exit the stage in pairs until only two solo violins remain) was a not-so-subtle hint to the Prince that the musicians were long overdue to return home to Austria, a performance practice that lends the symphony its popular nickname, ‘Farewell’. 

Before the novelty of its ‘farewell’ ending – the music displays all the trademark characteristics of Haydn’s style. Dynamism, quicksilver passage work, precise classical form and a healthy dose of sweet expressive lyricism are all brought to the fore over the course of the symphony’s four contrasting movements.