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Tuesday, May 27,2008
Asia ,
in honor of the 25th year of Tsar Alexander II’s reign. Even so, he dedicated
it to Franz Liszt, master of Romantic “program music” and the orchestral tone
poem, forms to which Borodin brought a distinctly Slavic-Asian flavor. This
well-crafted sonic portrait begins the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s
next concert, under Munich-born guest conductor Jun Märkl.
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Springtime Classics
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Similar
to Borodin, Robert Schumann’s (1810-56) imagination was fueled by literary
ideas and poetic images, though less “exotic” ones to be sure. His compositions
had been almost exclusively for the piano until he heard Franz Schubert’s
“Great C Major” symphony in concert in 1839. Schumann found both that
experience and an abiding love of nature inspirational enough to compose his
Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38, which he called the Frühlings-Symphonie
(Spring Symphony). Lyrical themes abound in this work; an initial “motto” first
heard as a brass fanfare helps unify the symphony’s programmatic design. This
fanfare, which Schumann wanted to “sound as if from on high, like an awakening
call,” reappears in the gentle Larghetto and imposingly so among the
trombones in the Allegro animato finale.
The
spring season undoubtedly played a role in the composition of one of the most
successful and sunny works of Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-93) as
well. The spring of 1878 saw the composer on a much-needed leave from his work
at the Moscow Conservatory (as well as from his hasty and catastrophic marriage
to a student thereof). Violinist Josef Kotek showed Tchaikovsky Eduard Lalo’s
new Symphonie Espagnol Violin Concerto, Op. 21, after which Tchaikovsky
set about composing his own violin concerto, and his collaboration with Kotek
allowed the work to be finished in an amazing three weeks. Superbly lyrical,
novel in construction and possessive of a tuneful, exuberant finale, the Violin
Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 gives some idea of the relaxed mood in which
Tchaikovsky wrote this work, as well as the impression that an awakening spring
must have had upon him. Acclaimed violinist Hilary Hahn joins the MSO
for Tchaikovsky’s D Major Concerto.
At
Uihlein Hall on May 30, 31, and June 1.
UW-Milwaukee’s
Fine Arts Quartet kicks off its four-concert “Summer Evenings of Music
Festival” with three Romantic quartets and an opera excerpt for string sextet.
Works to be performed are the Quartet No. 2 in A Minor for violin, viola and
two cellos by Anton Arensky (1861-1906); String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor by
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943); String Quartet in E-Flat Major by Felix
Mendelssohn (1809-47); and the Prelude for String Sextet, Op. 85 from Capriccio
by Richard Strauss (1864-1949).
At
Helen Bader Concert Hall on June 1.
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