UMS Concert Program, September 21, 1969: New York Philharmonic -- Seiji Ozawa

Concert: First
Complete Series: 3659
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The University Musical Society
The University of Michigan
Presents
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
SEIJI OZAWA, Conducting ANDRE WATTS, Pianist
Sunday Afternoon, September 21, 1969, at 2:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Overture to II Seraglio
Concerto No. 3 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 30
Allegro non tanto Intermezzo: adagio Finale: alia breve
Andre Watts
Mozart Rachmaninoff
INTERMISSION
?Concerto for Orchestra.....
Introduction: Andante non troppo, allegro vivace Game of the Pairs Elegy: Andante non troppo
Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto Finale: Presto
Recorded by the New York Philharmonic
Baetok
Mr. Walts plays the Baldwin Piano
Steinivay Piano
Columbia Records
First Conceit
Ninetyfirst Annual Choral Union Series
Complete Programs 3659
PROGRAM NOTES by EDWARD DOWNES
Overture to Seraglio.......Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart's first great public triumph in Vienna was his comic opera, or Singspiel, Die Entfiihrung aus dent Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), first produced at the Vienna Hofund NationalTheater on July 16, 1782. The story of the opera is a Spanish nobleman's attempted rescue of his fiancee from Turkish captivity.
Mozart wrote his father that the Overture to his Entfiihrung was very short and kept alter?nating loud and soft with the Turkish music in the loud parts. "It modulates on and on, from key to key so that I don't believe anyone could fall asleep, even if he hadn't slept at all the whole night before." In addition to its "Turkish" music, Mozart's Overture has a tiny, slow, middle section, where we hear a plaintive minor variant of the hero's opening aria, "Hier soil ich dich denn sehen," which the hero sings as he waits in the Pasha's garden in the hope of finding his captive fiancee. In the opera, the Overture has no formal conclusion, but leads directly into the first act. A brief concert ending is usually supplied for orchestral programs.
Concerto No. 3 in D minor for Piano and
Orchestra, Op. 30.........Sergei Rachmaninoff
Rachmaninoff completed his Third Concerto in 1909, barely in time for his first tour of the United States. He himself was the soloist in the world premiere, which took place in New York City on November 28, 1909, with the Symphony Society of New York under the direction of Walter Damrosch.
The Third Piano Concerto is in three movements, the second of which leads without pause into the finale.
I. Allegro non tanto. After two preparatory measures of throbbing orchestral accompaniment the pianist enters with a melancholy melody which twists and turns upon itself within a strikingly narrow range. This theme has been called characteristically Russian, possibly because of the pes?simism, the almost hopeless sadness which seems to pervade it. After it has been sung at length by the solo piano, it is developed in the dark tone of violas combined with two French horns.
A tiny solo piano cadenza is followed by a pensive orchestral bridge section leading into the second principal theme. This is a soft staccato figure for the strings, soon transformed by the pianist into a flowing lyric line. As it develops, this movement occasionally recalls the traditional sonataallegro form, but on the whole it is too free to be pinned down to any familiar formula. Both principal themes return at the end of the movement but too briefly to give the impression of a traditional recapitulation.
II. Intermezzo: Adagio. A pensive orchestral introduction (related to the opening theme of the first movement) leads into the rhapsodic body of the movement, which is dominated by the soloist. In a livelier and considerably lighter central secton, the woodwinds again sing yet another trans?formation of the concerto's opening theme, with an accompaniment of pizzicato strings and delicate pianistic filigree. The intermezzo leads wthout pause into the finale.
III. Finale: Alia breve. The finale is sustained chiefly by its exuberant drive which is interrupted only by a lightfooted Scherzando and a Lento recalling the first and second themes of the opening movement. The rhythmic excitement grows, the tempo increases to vivace and, finally, to vivacissimo, with a presto climax and conclusion of great brilliance.
Concerto for Orchestra...........Bela Bartok:
The Concerto for Orchestra of 1943 was the next to last work Bartok completed and it is perhaps his most popular work. The first performance of the Concerto for Orchestra was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Koussevitzky's direction on December 1, 1944, in Symphony Hall, Boston.
Bartok himself, in a program note written for the Boston Symphony, declared that the "general mood" of the Concerto "represents, apart from the jesting second movement, a gradual transition from the sterness of the first movement and the lugubrious deathsong of the third, to the lifeassertion of the last one." And he added "The title of this symphonylike orchestral work is explained by its tendency to treat the single orchestral instruments in a concertant or soloistic manner." In addition to its musical attractions, the score is a brilliant display piece for a virtuoso orchestra.
I. Introduction: Andante non troppo--Allegro vivace. The eerie instrumental coloring of the slow preliminary section, with dark double basses and cellos contrasting to the tremolos of the high muted strings, recalls the Romantic mood of the young Stravinsky's opening of his Firebird. Each new instrumental group that is added comes with the shock of a new primary color. The faster, main body of the movement is in "more or less regular sonata form," according to Bartok's notes, but this is a very free, twentiethcentury version of sonata form. The principal theme with its irregular meter and vigorous rhythm is given out by the violins. There seems to be a family resemblance between this theme and another important theme of the first movement announced soon after by a solo trombone. In the development of these themes the first measure of the first theme plays a prominent part. The second theme is played off against itself, fugato style, in its original form and in its upsidedown, mirror form, in what Bartok himself called " 'virtuoso' treatment."
II. Game of the Pairs: Allegretto scherzando. This lighthearted movement is also a play of orchestral color. A pair of bassoons is succeeded by a pair of oboes, then a pair of clarinets, and pairs of flutes and finally muted trumpets. A contrasting, hymnlike section for soft brass instru?ments leads back to a repetition of the opening material with three bassoons now, instead of only two. Other woodwind instruments are succeeded by fresh color effects with great splashes of the harp against soft, whispering strings.
III. Elegy: Andante non troppo. This is the movement Bartok described as a "lugubrious deathsong." It opens with a theme in the low strings related to the opening of the first movement. There follows a "misty texture of rudimentary motifs," little arabesques of the flutes and clarinets against harp glissandos and softly trembling, trilling strings. The middle section is melodic, after which the misty texture returns.
IV. Intermezzo interrolto: Allegretto. Folklike melodies take up most of this movement except for the interruption in the middle. According to the composer's son, Peter Bartok, while his father was working on the Concerto for Orchestra he heard a broadcast of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony and he found one of the themes in it so ludicrous and vapid that he decided to burlesque it here. The vulgarity and raucousness of this interruption are intentional.
V. Finale: Presto. Like the first movement, this one is a very free sonata form. It opens with a fiery sort of perpetuum mobile figure which is succeeded by dancelike rhythms. The development includes a tremendously complicated fugal passage. The conclusion is extraordinarily brilliant, even for Bartok.
The Concerto is scored for 3 flutes (one interchangeable with piccolo), 3 oboes (one inter?changeable with English horn), 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons (one interchangeable with contrabassoon), 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C (4th trumpet optional), 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, kettledrum, snare drum, bass drum, tamtam, cymbals, triangle, 2 harps and the customary strings.
1969 -INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS -1970
CHORAL UNION SERIES
Hill Auditorium
MISHA DICHTER, Pianist........Monday, October 6
Program: Organ Prelude and Fugue in D........BachBusoni
Sonata in D major, Op. 10, No. 3........Beethoven
Ballade, Intermezzos, and Capriccios........Brahms
Pictures at an Exhibition..........Moussorgsky
ORCHESTRA OF L'ACCADEMIA
DI SANTA CECILIA, Rome......Thursday, October 23
ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY AND PLAYERS . . Tuesday, November 4 OSIPOV BALALAIKA ORCHESTRA (with stars of the
Bolshoi Opera and Russian Dancers) . . . Thursday, November 13 NHK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, JAPAN . . . Tuesday, November 25 JOAN SUTHERLAND, Soprano, with
RICHARD BONYNGE, Pianist.....Friday, January 30
VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY, Pianist......Monday, February 9
"BARBER OF SEVILLE" (Rossini)--
Canadian Opera Company......Saturday, February 14
ANDRES SEGOVIA, Classical Guitarist .... Thursday, February 19 Single Concert Tickets: $7.00--$6.50--$6.00--$5.00--$3.50--$2.50
DANCE SERIES
Hill Auditorium
NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA.....Friday, October 17
JOSE LIMON DANCE COMPANY.....Saturday, November 1
?NIKOLAIS DANCE COMPANY.....Wednesday, January 21
DANZAS VENEZUELA........Tuesday, February 17
ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET......2:30, Sunday, March 15
For these two modern Dance Companies, Lecturedemonstrations are scheduled for October 31 and January 20, respectively. Tickets: 1.00. Season ticket subscribers to the Dance Series will receive complimentary admission.
Remaining Season Tickets: $17.50--$15.00--$12.50--$10.00 Single performances: $6.00--$5.50--$5.00--$4.00--$3.00--$2.00
CHAMBER ARTS SERIES
Rackham Auditorium
MADRIGAL, from Bucharest........Sunday, October 12
PRAGUE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA.....Monday, November 10
FRANCO GULLI, Violinist, and
ENRICA CAVALLO, Pianist (duo from Italy) . Monday, November 17
NEW YORK PRO MUSICA.......Monday, January 12
MUSIC FROM MARLBORO.......Wednesday, January 28
JEANPIERRE RAMPAL, Flute, and
ROBERT VEYRONLACROIX, Keyboard . . Thursday, February 5 PHAKAVALI MUSICIANS AND DANCERS, from Bangkok Monday, March 2
Single Concerts: $5.00--$4.00--$2.50
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gail W. Rector, President
Roscoe O. Bonisteel, VicePrcsidcnt
Krich A. Walter, Secretary
E. Thurston Thieme, Treasurer
Douglas D. Crary Robben W. Fleming Harlan Hatcher Paul G. Kauper
Wilbur K. Pierpont Daniel H. Schurz Stephen H. Spurr