CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Soloists of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Zankel Hall
Sunday, October 7th, 2007 at 7:30 PM

Soloists of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
·· Jacques Zoon, Flute
·· Diethelm Jonas, Oboe
·· Sabine Meyer, Clarinet
·· Reiner Wehle, Clarinet and Bass Clarinet
·· Guilhaume Santana, Bassoon
·· Bruno Schneider, Horn
·· Kolja Blacher, Violin
·· Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Violin
·· Raphael Christ, Violin
·· Wolfram Christ, Viola
·· Simone Jandl, Viola
·· Iseut Chuat, Cello
·· Valentin Erben, Cello
·· Jens Peter Maintz, Cello

MOZART Quartet for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello in D Major, K. 285
JANÁČEK Mládí
BRAHMS String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36

Program Notes:

The Concert At a Glance

Mozart professed to dislike the sound of the flute. One would never guess this from the music he wrote for the instrument. His Flute Quartet in D Major, K. 285, features sunny outer movements and, between them, an Adagio that the esteemed Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein extolled as “perhaps the most beautiful accompanied solo ever written for the flute.”

Mozart’s quartet is a youthful work, composed on the eve of his 22 birthday. By contrast, Leoš Janáček’s wind sextet Mládí was written around the time the composer turned 70. Yet its title means “Youth,” and Janáček conceived the music as a reminiscence of boyhood. That conception might have put the composer merely in a nostalgic mood, but Mládí is fresh, playful, and ingenuous—in short, truly youthful in spirit.

Brahms’s two string sextets were the first important works of the kind and still the most considerable. Completed in 1865, the Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36, is a substantial composition in four movements, its thematic workings, harmonic shadings, and poetic spirit all as compelling as we should expect from a major work by this great composer.

Notes on the Program
By Paul Schiavo

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Quartet for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello in D Major, K. 285
Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg; died December 5, 1791, in Vienna.

Composed in December 1777, Mozart’s D Major Flute Quartet, K. 285, received its Carnegie Hall premiere on November 2, 1942, in the Chamber Music Hall (now Weill Recital Hall) with Annabel Hulme, flute; Helen Airoff, violin; Robert Kaoff, viola; and Signe Sandstrom, cello.
While visiting Mannheim, during the winter of 1777–78, Mozart composed three quartets for flute and strings. He did so in partial fulfillment of a commission from Ferdinand de Jean, an official with the Dutch East India Company and an avid flute player. Mozart seems to have performed the labor with reluctance and displeasure. “You know,” he complained of the task in a letter to his father, “that I become quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear.”

This last remark has pained generations of flute players. But did Mozart really find the flute unbearable? The answer is far from clear. From their music, neither the Flute Concerto in G, K. 313, which Mozart also produced for de Jean, nor the Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299, composed shortly afterwards in Paris, seem like hack work carried out unwillingly. In addition, Mozart continued to use the flute in orchestral contexts—if not invariably, at least no less consistently than his contemporaries. Sometimes he found particularly happy uses for the instrument, as in his opera The Magic Flute, where he wrote expressive and idiomatic solos for it.

Nor does the Flute Quartet in D Major, K. 285, the first work Mozart completed for de Jean, betray any hint of reluctance or resentment. Its music seems, rather, as natural and felicitous as we would normally expect of Mozart. Its outer movements are bright and buoyant, while the central Adagio conveys a convincing poignancy. If Mozart actually disliked the flute, he certainly did not let this affect the quality of his composing.

The opening Allegro of this quartet has as its most attractive feature ongoing dialogues between the wind instrument and the string trio. Their conversations are wholly amiable in tone; minor-key harmonies darken the central portion of the movement, but these are dispelled by the return of the winsome melody that opened the piece. A coda passage comes unexpectedly, after what has already seemed the movement’s conclusion. Mozart casts the ensuing Adagio as an aria for the flute over an accompaniment played pizzicato, and the movement has about it a somewhat operatic quality. Its last measures lead without pause into the finale, which Mozart builds around a particularly cheery recurring theme.

LEOŠ JANÁČEK Mládí
Born July 3, 1854, in Hukvaldy, Moravia; died August 12, 1928, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. Composed in 1924, his wind sextet Mládí first was heard on October 21, 1924, in Brno, in a performance by faculty of the Brno Music Conservatory. It received its Carnegie Hall premiere on February 23, 1957, in Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Recital Hall) with the New Art Wind Quintet: Andrew Lolya, flute; Melvin Kaplan, oboe; Irving Neidich, clarinet; Tina Di Dario, bassoon; and Earl Chapin, horn.

A number of prominent composers—Verdi, Stravinsky, and Elliott Carter among them—have produced important music well past the age usually deemed appropriate for retirement. Never, though, has there been a late bloomer quite like Leoš Janáček. Born in the middle of the 19th century, Janáček spent most of his career in relative obscurity, teaching church organists and composing in a Romantic manner that has been likened to that of a provincial Dvoøák. But as he matured, Janáček began to write in an increasingly original vein, and in 1916, the success of his opera Jenùfa at last won him widespread recognition. This development spurred the composer, then in his middle 60s, to an astonishing burst of creativity. During his last decade, he produced four remarkable operas, the powerful Glagolitic Mass, and a number of instrumental pieces.

Perhaps even more surprising, Janáček’s music became increasingly inventive and daring as he grew older. His late works came to reveal a highly original sense of melody, one marked by unusual modes and scales, as well as by the irregular contours and phrase lengths of Moravian speech. (The composer was known to jot down what he called “speech melodies” during conversations with friends.) His harmony, while generally composed of familiar sorts of chords, no longer followed the rules that had traditionally governed this aspect of composition. And his use of instrumental color was at times startling in its audacity.

Janáček wrote the wind sextet he called Mládí, or “Youth,” around the time of his 70th birthday, in July 1924. The composer recently had heard a concert of woodwind music by a group of French virtuosos, and around the same time had been asked by two biographers to reminisce about his early years. The first occurrence evidently aroused his interest in the sound of woodwind instruments. The second helped determine the character of the music. “I have composed a sort of memoir of youth,” Janáček told a correspondent in announcing the piece.

The first of the work’s four movements seems imbued with a kind of innocent insouciance. It opens abruptly with the oboe presenting its principal theme, which is built on a “speech-melody” derived from the words “Mládí, zlaté Mládí,” or “Youth, golden youth.” There follows a slow movement whose song-like melody is juxtaposed with declamatory episodes in which the instruments seem about to break into impassioned speech.

In the third movement, Janáček juxtaposes a jaunty tune for piccolo with more lyrical material featuring the oboe. The initial measures of the finale hint at those of the first movement, and Janáček eventually makes the connection explicit by recalling the theme heard in the opening moments of the composition. In the meantime, he offers a variety of other developments, all of them fanciful and surprising.

JOHANNES BRAHMS String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36
Born on May 7, 1833, in Hamburg; died on April 3, 1897, in Vienna.

Composed in 1864 and 1865, Brahms’s G Major Sextet, Op. 36, was first performed on October 11, 1866, in Boston, at a concert of the Mendelssohn Club. It received its Carnegie Hall premiere on January 11, 1976, with Isaac Stern and Alexander Schneider, violins; Arnold Steinhardt and Michael Tree, violas; and Yo-Yo Ma and Leonard Rose, cellos.

String quartets form the bedrock of the chamber music literature, and string quintets are not uncommon. By contrast, string sextets are relatively rare, and the two composed by Brahms in the 1860s stand as the first important works of their kind. Brahms wrote an initial piece in this format, his Sextet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, in 1860. Four years later, during a summer sojourn at the Austrian spa resort of Baden-Baden, he completed three movements of a companion work in the key of G major. Following his habit, Brahms sent these movements to Clara Schumann, who, in a letter dated January 1, 1865, wrote back: “I need hardly tell you of my surprise and joy at what you have sent … The Sextet seems to me a wonderful work.” The composer completed the work’s finale the following summer.

Brahms was famously guarded about his private life and not given to autobiographical statements in his music. It is remarkable, therefore, that the first of the G Major Sextet’s four movements makes reference to a youthful love affair that ended unhappily. The movement begins with a figure oscillating persistently between two notes. This motif runs as counterpoint to the statement of the opening subject and recurs in other contexts throughout much of the first movement. The second subject, a wide-stepping theme tracing handsome melodic arches, must be counted one of Brahms’s most attractive melodies. To this idea the composer appends a five-note motif of unusual significance. Its pitches spell A-G-A-H-E (“H” representing B-natural in German musical nomenclature), and thus enshrine Agathe von Siebold, the composer’s one-time fiancée. Pointing to the thrice-stated figure, Brahms later told a friend: “Here is where I tore myself from my last love.”

Brahms calls the second movement a scherzo, but its music conveys a more wistful mood than that term usually implies. Only with the central episode, with its intimations of rustic dance music, does the composer give us something like the characteristic scherzo spirit.

The ensuing slow movement takes the form of a theme with variations. Its subject melody is closely related to the initial theme of the first movement. Further evidence of the kinship of these two movements emerges during the variations, where Brahms recalls the oscillating figure that had opened the Sextet and also works in a variant of the “Agathe” theme.

The carefree tone of the finale belies the skill with which Brahms has crafted it. Here the initial idea, running lightly in the manner of a Mendelssohn scherzo, sounds repeatedly over the course of the movement. Between its recurrences, Brahms develops a pair of more lyrical subjects. Quite apart from its intricate formal design, the poetry of Brahms’s melodies and his exquisite use of string sonority make this movement one of the glories of the chamber music literature.

Copyright © 2007 by The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Paul Schiavo writes frequently on music and is the program annotator
for the Seattle Symphony and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Soloists of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
·· Jacques Zoon, Flute
·· Diethelm Jonas, Oboe
·· Sabine Meyer, Clarinet
·· Reiner Wehle, Clarinet and Bass Clarinet
·· Guilhaume Santana, Bassoon
·· Bruno Schneider, Horn
·· Kolja Blacher, Violin
·· Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Violin
·· Raphael Christ, Violin
·· Wolfram Christ, Viola
·· Simone Jandl, Viola
·· Iseut Chuat, Cello
·· Valentin Erben, Cello
·· Jens Peter Maintz, Cello
After studying flute with Koos Verheul and Harrie Starreveld at the Sweelinck Concervatory in Amsterdam, Jacques Zoon won prizes at the Jean-Pierre Rampal Flute Competition and the Scheveningen International Competition. He has appeared as principal flutist with such orchestras as the Amsterdam Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He presently plays in the Orchestra Mozart and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, both headed by Claudio Abbado. Besides his career as a soloist and chamber musician, he teaches in Rotterdam, Boston, Berlin, and Geneva and has made many CD recordings. Mr. Zoon has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2004.

Diethelm Jonas studied with Heinz Holliger (Freiburg) and Lady Rothwell Barbirolli (London), and won prizes at competitions in Prague, Toulon, and Colmar, after which he became solo oboist of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the Aulos Quintet and professor at the Lübeck Musikhochschule (since 2003). Mr. Jonas has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2003.

Born in Crailsheim, Germany, Sabine Meyer studied in Stuttgart under Otto Hermann and in Hannover under Hans Deinzer. She began her career as solo clarinettist of the Baravian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker, a position she left as she became increasingly in demand as one of the most outstanding soloists of our time, performing with all major orchestras around the world. Sabine Meyer is also in demand as a teacher and is a committed performer of chamber music, especially with her own two ensembles, the Trio di Clarone and the Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer. Since its foundation in 2003, Sabine Meyer has been principal clarinettist of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

Reiner Wehle studied the clarinet with Hans Deinzer and Guy Deplus in Paris. He has been awarded numerous international prizes, was a member of several orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed as a soloist with many different ensembles worldwide. He is an active chamber musician and has performed internationally with the Trio di Clarone, the Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer, the Ensemble Kontraste, and the Trio Integral. He teaches at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and holds a large number of master classes around the world. He has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since its inception.

Guilhaume Santana was born in 1982 in Toulouse, where he took violin and bassoon lessons at the local conservatory. After studying bassoon with Dag Jensen and at the orchestra academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, he became solo bassoonist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra Mozart. He has played chamber music with Emanuel Ax, Albrecht Mayer, András Adorján, Till Fellner, and Alexander Lonquich as well as Sabine Meyer and her wind ensemble. He won the Mendelssohn Prize of the city of Berlin in 2005. Mr. Santana has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2005.

Bruno Schneider studied horn with Michael Höltzel in Detmold and has served as the principal horn player of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (until 1993). An active chamber musician, he has been a professor in Freiburg im Breisgau since 1997.

Born in Berlin, Kolja Blacher studied at The Juilliard School in New York and has appeared as a soloist with many major orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Besides working with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Daniel Barenboim, and Lorin Maazel, he maintains active chamber music partnerships with Natalia Gutman (cello) and Vassily Lobanov and Bruno Canino (piano), and has made prizewinning CD recordings. Mr. Blacher has been concertmaster of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since its foundation in 2003.

Latica Honda-Rosenberg began studying violin at the age of nine with Tibor Varga and later with Zakhar Bron, winning a silver medal at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998. She made solo appearances with orchestras in Bonn, Hanover, Moscow, the German Symphony Orchestra in Berlin, and the Central German RSO in Leipzig, as well as festivals in Salzburg, Rheingau, Schwetzingen, Schleswig-Holstein, and Jerusalem. Among her chamber music partners are Claudio Bohorquez, Renaud Capuçon, Steven Isserlis, Jens Peter Maintz, and Daniel Müller-Schott. She has been a professor at the Freiburg Musikhochschule since 2003 and a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2003.

Raphael Christ was born in Berlin in 1982. He started taking violin lessons at the age of six and attended masterclasses with Igor Ozim, Christian Altenburger, Franco Gulli, Michel Schwalbé, and Zakhar Bron. Among his many awards is a prize from the Arles Competition, which he won with his sister, Sarah Christ (harp). He has made solo appearances with many major orchestras under such conductors as Arnold Östman, Jiří Bĕlohlávek, Christoph Müller, Werner Stiefel, Wolfram Christ, and Daniel Barenboim. At the invitation of Claudio Abbado, he has been concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra since 2003. Mr. Christ has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2006.

After taking violin lessons from the age of six, Wolfram Christ switched to the viola at age 12. His many prizes, including one from the Munich Competition, paved the way to an international concert career. Besides serving as principal violist with the Berlin Philharmonic (1978-99), he regularly made solo appearances at international venues, playing works from the baroque age to the avant-garde and working with renowned conductors. He was the artistic director and adviser of the Sydney Conservatory from 1995 to 2000. At the invitation of Claudio Abbado, he became a founding member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

Born in Karlsruhe in 1983, Simone Jandl studied viola with Wolfram Christ and chamber music with Walter Levin and Volker Jacobsen. She is presently at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin. Besides winning many national and international awards, she has maintained an active concert career in Europe and Israel, playing chamber music with Martha Argerich, Bruno Canino, Jacques Zoon, Enrico Bronzi, Danusha Waskiewicz, Diemut Poppen, and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker. She was principal violist of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and is now a member of the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado. Ms. Jandl has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2003.

Iseut Chuat was born in Paris, where she won several first prizes at the Conservatory. After studying with Aldo Parisot at Yale University and János Starker at Indiana University, she joined the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and became principal cellist with the Dutch National Ballet and the Boston Philharmonic. In addition to her solo and chamber appearances, she is an active teacher and the principal cellist of the Orchestra Mozart. Ms. Chaut has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2005.

Born in Austria in 1945, Valentin Erben studied in Munich, Vienna, and Paris with André Navarra (cello) and Jean Hubeau and Josef Calvet (chamber music). After winning the Munich Competition in 1968, he co-founded the Alban Berg Quartet (1970), with which he has concertized worldwide and made numerous recordings. He has worked with such soloists as Alfred Brendel, Elisabeth Leonskaja, András Schiff, and Heinrich Schiff, while maintaining his own solo career. He teaches international master classes and is a professor at the Vienna Musikhochschule (since 1972) and a visiting professor of chamber music in Cologne (since 1993). Mr. Erben has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2004. Erben plays a cello built by Matteo Goffriller in 1722.

Born in Hamburg, Jens Peter Maintz studied with David Geringas and attended master classes with Heinrich Schiff and others. His repertoire encompasses works of every period, from the Baroque to the most recent avant-garde. Since winning a first prize at the Munich Competition (1994), he has become one of the leading cellists of his generation. He was first solo cellist of the German Symphony Orchestra in Berlin under Kent Nagano (1995–2004) and toured with Bobby McFerrin and the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra in the 2004–05 season. His concert tours have taken him to Europe, Japan, South America, and the United States. Mr. Maintz has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2005.