UMS Concert Program, January 25, 2019 - Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Wu Han / Piano Daniel Hope / Violin Paul Neubauer / Viola David Finckel / Cello
Friday Evening, January 25, 2019 at 8:00 Rackham Auditorium
Ann Arbor
26th Performance of the 140th Annual Season 56th Annual Chamber Arts Series
This evening’s performance is supported by Kathryn Abrams and Nancy Deyo, in honor of Gloria and Gerald Abrams; Maurice and Linda Binkow; Catherine S. Arcure Endowment Fund; and Edward and Natalie Surovell.
Media partnership provided by WGTE 91.3 FM and WRCJ 90.9 FM.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center appears by arrangement with David Rowe Artists.
In consideration for the artists and the audience, please refrain from the use of electronic devices during the performance.
The photography, sound recording, or videotaping of this performance is prohibited.
PROGRAM
Josef Suk
Quartet in a minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 1
Allegro appassionato Adagio
Allegro con fuoco
Johannes Brahms
Quartet No. 3 in c minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 60
Allegro non troppo Scherzo: Allegro Andante
Finale: Allegro comodo
Intermission
Anton n Dvo  k
Quartet in E- at Major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 87
Allegro con fuoco
Lento
Allegro moderato, grazioso Finale: Allegro ma non troppo
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QUARTET IN A MINOR FOR PIANO, VIOLIN, VIOLA, AND CELLO, OP. 1 (1891)
Josef Suk
Born January 4, 1874 in K e ovice, Bohemia Died May 29, 1935 in Bene ov, near Prague
UMS premiere: This piece has never been performed on a UMS concert.
 Snapshots of History...In 1891:
· Carnegie Hall (then known as The Music Hall in New York) holds its  rst public performance
· Production of the Swiss Army Knife begins
· James Naismith invents basketball in the US
Josef Suk, one of the most prominent musical personalities of the early 20th century, was born into a musical family and entered the Prague Conservatory at the age of 11 to study composition and violin. He began composing
three years later, and in 1891 became the prize pupil of a new member of the Conservatory faculty — Anton n Dvo  k. Following his graduation in 1892, Suk founded the Czech Quartet, with which he was to perform over 4,000 concerts before retiring in 1933. He was deeply in uenced in
his early compositional style by the music of Dvo  k, and his relationship with his teacher was cemented
when he married that composer’s daughter, Otilie, in 1898. Suk suffered the double tragedy of the deaths of Dvo  k in 1904 and of his own young wife only 14 months later. His personal loss was re ected in his later music, which became more modernistic
and complex in its texture, harmony, rhythmic construction, and form, and more sophisticated in its instrumental technique. The works of his later years — most notably the symphony
dedicated to the memories of Dvo  k and Otilie titled Asrael (Angel of Death) and the symphonic poem The Ripening — show a concentrated emotional power through which
Suk sought “to embrace the sterner problems of humanity,” according to Otakar  ourek. Much of the closing decade of his life was devoted to teaching composition at the Prague Conservatory, where he served four terms as Rector and taught many important Czech musicians of the next generation, including Bohuslav Martin . His grandson, also named Josef (1929–2011), was one of the leading violinists of his generation. In January 1891, Suk was admitted
to one of the dozen prized places in Dvo  k’s  rst composition class at the Prague Conservatory. He quickly shot to the head of the class, and when the students went on Easter break, Dvo  k assigned them to write a set of variations on a theme he proposed but, realizing a greater potential in Suk, told him that he wanted something more substantial from him for piano quartet. Suk spent
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his time at home in K e ovice, in the country 40 miles south of the capital, completing the  rst movement of
his Quartet in a minor, but he could only  nish the  rst two sections of the “Adagio” before heading back to school. When Suk played on the piano what he had written for his teacher, Dvo  k walked over to him, kissed him on the forehead, and said “Chlap k” (Good Lad)! Thus inspired, he  nished the work quickly and premiered it at the conservatory as his graduation thesis on May 13 with a student quartet that was to form the core of the Czech Quartet. The Piano Quartet won a publication award from the Czech Academy the following year, and it was issued as his Op. 1 with a dedication to Anton n Dvo  k.
The a-minor Piano Quartet is evidence that the 17-year-old Suk understood, respected, and could utilize the traditional formal and stylistic models, qualities that must have pleased his teacher immensely. The opening sonata-form movement takes as its main theme a surging, dramatic melody presented by unison strings; a transformation
of the opening theme in the cello, lengthened in rhythm, made lyrical and aspiring in character, and
cast in a brighter key, provides the subsidiary subject. The music again turns dramatic in the development section and builds to an expressive climax before quieting for the recapitulation of the main theme by the piano. The reprise of the aspiring second theme culminates in a heroic coda. The “Adagio,” the music that excited Dvo  k’s admiration, follows a three-part form (A–B–A) whose outer sections are based on a tender,
arching melody sung by cello and then violin; the movement’s central episode is more animated and impassioned. The main theme of the  nale, another sonata structure, is characterized by a march-like vigor and a distinctive dotted rhythm. The piano posits the idea initially and
it is then shared by the rest of the ensemble before the music takes up the smooth, wide-ranging second subject. The extensive development section treats the themes in reverse order. The recapitulation of the exposition’s events leads to the Quartet’s triumphant conclusion.
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QUARTET NO. 3 IN C MINOR FOR PIANO, VIOLIN, VIOLA, AND CELLO, OP. 60 (1855-56, 1874)
Johannes Brahms
Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna
UMS premiere: Detroit Philharmonic Club; June 1887, venue unknown.
 Snapshots of History...In 1874:
· Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a US patent for blue jeans
· The Chicago Fire of 1874 burns down 47 acres of the city
· Patrick Francis Healy is inaugurated as president of Georgetown
University, becoming the  rst person of African-American descent to head a predominantly white university
In April 1853, the 20-year-old Johannes Brahms set out from his native Hamburg for a concert tour of Germany with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Rem nyi. The following month in Hanover they met the violinist Joseph Joachim, who befriended Brahms and gave him several
letters of introduction, including
one to Robert and Clara Schumann
in D sseldorf. On the last day of September 1853, Brahms met the Schumanns for the  rst time. “Here
is one of those who comes as if sent straight from God,” Clara recorded
in her diary. The friendship was immediate and unstinting.
Brahms’s euphoria over his new relationship with the Schumanns turned quickly to concern for their well-being when Robert, long troubled by severe nervous disorders, tried to drown himself in the River Rhine on February 27, 1854. Brahms rushed to D sseldorf, and a week later helped Clara admit him to an asylum at Endenich. Brahms visited D sseldorf and Endenich frequently and eagerly
during the ensuing months, both to pay his respects to Robert, who was still able to converse and even write a little music during his lucid moments, and to offer his support to Clara. It was during that dif cult period, when Clara proved herself both vulnerable and strong, that Brahms, despite the 14 years difference in their ages (he was 21 in 1854, Clara 35), fell in love with her. Clara, however, though she may have been equally drawn to Brahms, never allowed their relationship to be anything more than completely proper, either before her husband’s death on July 29, 1856 or at any time thereafter. Since Brahms was prevented from demonstrating his emotions in
the usual more prosaic ways, he sublimated his feelings into the most eloquent language at his command — music — and wrote several impassioned compositions during the mid-1850s, notably the B-Major Trio, Op. 8 and a quartet for piano and strings that he began in 1855. The Piano Quartet, his  rst attempt at that genre, was completed in its original
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form — in the key of c-sharp minor and in just three movements — by April 1856, but Brahms refused to have it published and hid the score away for two decades. In 1874, he thoroughly revised the Quartet, transposing it into c minor, rewriting the  nale, and adding a scherzo. (The original version is lost, probably burned by the composer.) Even at that late date, the Quartet remained a potent reminder of his earlier fervent emotions.
The Quartet’s powerful  rst movement is begun by stark octaves for the piano, which are answered by the tear-drop phrase in the strings
that serves as the main theme;
the subsidiary subject is a brighter legato strain initiated by the piano. These motives (the main theme
most prominently) are treated in the development, which builds to an episode of furious octave-leap unisons as the gateway to the recapitulation. The ferocious “Scherzo” has no true formal trio to serve as a foil to the impetuosity of the music, only a lyrical string passage that is hurried along by an incessant triplet accompaniment. The tender “Andante,” according to Richard Specht, is Brahms’s farewell to the vision of Clara as lover, “a painful acknowledgment of their impossible relationship.” The violin presents
the “Finale’s” broad main subject to the accompaniment of motoric piano  gurations; the strings provide a brief chordal phrase as second theme. Both ideas are treated in the development, after which the recapitulation arrives with a unison statement of the main theme by the strings. The second theme is heard in a brighter key, but the music returns to c minor for its  nal despondent gestures.
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QUARTET IN E-FLAT MAJOR FOR PIANO, VIOLIN, VIOLA, AND CELLO, OP. 87 (1889)
Anton n Dvo  k
Born September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Bohemia Died May 1, 1904 in Prague
UMS premiere: Music from Marlboro (Todd Phillips, violin; Steven Tenenbom, viola; Peter Wiley, cello; Cecile Licad, piano); January 1985 in Rackham Auditorium.
 Snapshots of History...In 1889:
· The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated in Paris
· The Coca-Cola Company is originally incorporated as the Pemberton
Medicine Company in Atlanta
· The  rst issue of The Wall Street Journal is published in New York City
By the time Dvo  k undertook his Piano Quartet in E- at Major in 1889, when he was nearing the age of 50, he had risen from his humble and nearly impoverished beginnings to become one of the most respected musicians in his native Bohemia and throughout Europe and America. He was invited
to become professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory at the beginning of the year, but refused
the offer after much careful thought
in order to continue devoting himself to creative work and touring as a conductor of his music. In February, his opera The Jacobin enjoyed a
great success at its premiere in Prague, and the following month
his orchestral concert in Dresden received splendid acclaim. In May, Emperor Franz Josef awarded him the distinguished Austrian Iron Cross, and a few months later he received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. Dvo  k composed his E- at-Major Piano Quartet at his country home in Vysok  during the
summer of 1889, the time between receiving these last two honors, in response to repeated requests from his publisher in Berlin, Fritz Simrock, who had been badgering him for at least four years to provide a successor to the Op. 23 Piano Quartet of 1875. The new composition was begun on July 10, and completed within just  ve weeks, evidence of the composer’s testimony to his friend Alois G bl that his head was so full of ideas during that time that he regretted he could not write them down fast enough;
he completed his boundlessly lyrical Eighth Symphony two months later.
The Quartet’s  rst movement follows a freely conceived sonata form. To launch the work, the unison strings present the bold main theme, which immediately elicits a capricious response from the piano. Following a grand restatement of the opening theme and a transition based on a jaunty rhythmic motive, the viola introduces the arching subsidiary subject. The development
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is announced by a recall of the theme that began the movement.
A varied recapitulation of the
earlier materials rounds out the movement. The “Lento” is unusual in its structure, consisting of a large musical chapter comprising  ve distinct thematic entities played twice. The cello presents the  rst melody, a lyrical phrase that the composer’s biographer Otokar  ourek believed was “an expression of deep, undisturbed peace.” The delicate second motive, given in a leisurely, unruf ed manner by the violin, is even more beati c in mood. A sense of agitation is injected into the music by the animated third theme, entrusted to the piano, and rises to a peak of intensity with
the stormy fourth strain, which is argued by the entire ensemble. Calm
UMS ARCHIVES
is restored by the piano’s closing melody. This thematic succession is repeated with only minor changes before the movement is brought to a quiet and touching end. The third movement, the Quartet’s scherzo, contrasts waltz-like outer sections with a central trio reminiscent of
a  ery Middle Eastern dance. The “Finale,” like the opening “Allegro,” follows a fully realized sonata form
in which an energetic main theme (which stubbornly maintains its unsettled minor tonality for much of the movement) is contrasted with a lyrically inspired second subject,  rst allotted to the cello. A rousing coda of almost symphonic breadth closes this handsome work of Dvo  k’s full maturity.
Program notes by Dr. Richard E. Rodda.
This evening’s performance marks the 13th concert under UMS auspices by musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS). Pianist
Wu Han makes her  fth UMS appearance this evening, following her UMS debut in September 2006 in Rackham Auditorium with the Emerson String Quartet. She most recently appeared under UMS auspices in January 2016 in Rackham Auditorium with CMS musicians Benjamin Beilman, Kristin Lee, Sean Lee, Richard O’Neill, and Nicholas Canellakis. Cellist David Finckel makes his 17th UMS appearance this evening following his UMS debut in March 1989 in Rackham Auditorium with the Emerson String Quartet. He most recently appeared under UMS auspices in September 2011 in Rackham Auditorium with the Emerson String Quartet. Violist Paul Neubauer makes his sixth UMS appearance tonight following his UMS debut in October 1986 in Rackham Auditorium with musicians from CMS. He most recently appeared under UMS auspices in March 2001 in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre with musicians from CMS. UMS welcomes violinist Daniel Hope, who makes his UMS debut this evening.
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ARTISTS
Pianist Wu Han ranks among the most in uential classical musicians in the
world today. Leading an unusually multifaceted artistic career, she has risen to international prominence as a concert performer, artistic director, recording artist, educator, and cultural entrepreneur. A recipient of Musical America’s “Musician of the Year” award, she appears annually
at the world’s most prestigious concert series and venues, as both soloist and chamber musician. She tours extensively with cellist David Finckel, in trios with Philip Setzer, and in a quartet with Daniel Hope and Paul Neubauer. Together with David Finckel, she serves as co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is founding co- artistic director of Music@Menlo, the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier summer chamber music festival and institute.
In East Asia, she serves as founding co-artistic director of Chamber Music Today, an annual festival in Seoul. Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts recently appointed Wu Han artistic advisor for Chamber Music at the Barns. Her wide- ranging musical activities include the launch of ArtistLed, classical music’s  rst musician-directed and Internet-based recording company. BBC Music Magazine saluted the label’s 20th anniversary with
a cover CD featuring David Finckel and Wu Han. This new recording was released on the ArtistLed label in fall 2018. Through
a multitude of educational initiatives, including directing the LG Chamber Music School in Seoul under the auspices of CMS, she has received universal praise for her passionate commitment to nurturing the artistic growth of countless young artists.
British violinist Daniel Hope has toured the world as a virtuoso soloist for 25 years and is celebrated for his musical versatility. Winner of the 2015 European Cultural Prize for Music, he is associate artistic director of the Savannah Music Festival, music director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, music director of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra, and in 2019 begins his appointment as artistic director of the Dresden Frauenkirche. This season, he tours his Air—A Baroque Journey program with a host of stellar collaborators across Europe and the US, including a
stop at Carnegie Hall. He also performs Britten’s Violin Concerto with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with CMS artistic directors David Finckel and Wu Han with the Atlanta Symphony and at the Savannah Music Festival. A member of the Beaux Arts
Trio during its  nal six seasons, today he performs at all the world’s greatest halls and festivals: from Carnegie Hall to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, from Salzburg to Schleswig-Holstein, from Aspen to the BBC Proms and Tanglewood. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, he has recorded over 25 albums that have won the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or of the Year, the Edison Classical Award, the Prix Caecilia, seven ECHO-Klassik Awards, and numerous Grammy nominations. Mr. Hope was raised in London and studied with Zakhar Bron; he now lives with his family in Berlin. He plays the 1742 “ex-Lipinski” Guarneri del Ges , placed generously at his disposal by an anonymous family from Germany.
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Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing led the New York Times to call him “a master musician.” In 2018 he made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut with conductor Riccardo Muti and his Mariinsky Orchestra debut with conductor Valery Gergiev. He also gave the US premiere of the newly discovered Impromptu for viola and piano by Shostakovich with pianist Wu Han. In addition, his recording of the Aaron Kernis Viola Concerto with the
Royal Northern Sinfonia was released on Signum Records and his recording of the complete viola and piano music by Ernest Bloch with pianist Margo Garrett was released on Delos. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber,
and Beethovenhalle orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bart k (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Gli re, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, M ller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower, and has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical. Mr. Neubauer is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College as well as a visiting professor at DePaul University.
Cellist David Finckel’s multifaceted career as concert performer, artistic director, recording artist, educator, and cultural entrepreneur distinguishes him as one
of today’s most in uential classical musicians. A recipient of Musical America’s “Musician of the Year” award, he appears annually at the world’s most prestigious concert series and venues, as both
soloist and chamber musician. He tours extensively with pianist Wu Han, in trios with Philip Setzer, and in a quartet with Daniel Hope and Paul Neubauer. Together with Wu Han, he serves as co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center (CMS), and they are
the founding artistic directors of Music@ Menlo, the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier summer chamber music festival and institute. In East Asia, he serves as founding co-artistic director of Chamber Music Today, an annual festival in Seoul. His wide-ranging musical activities include the launch of ArtistLed, classical music’s  rst musician-directed and Internet-based recording company. BBC Music Magazine saluted the label’s 20th anniversary with
a cover CD featuring David Finckel and
Wu Han. This new recording was released on the ArtistLed label in fall 2018. He is professor of cello at The Juilliard School and artist-in-residence at Stony Brook University. Through a variety of educational initiatives, including directing the LG Chamber Music School in Seoul under the auspices of CMS, he has received universal praise for his passionate commitment to nurturing the artistic growth of countless young artists. Mr. Finckel served as cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons.
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  TONIGHT’S VICTORS FOR UMS:
Kathryn Abrams and Nancy Deyo
in honor of Gloria and Gerald Abrams
—
Maurice and Linda Binkow
—
Catherine S. Arcure Endowment Fund —
Edward and Natalie Surovell
Supporters of this evening’s performance by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
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Tickets available at www.ums.org.
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315 E. Warren Avenue, Detroit, 6:30 pm)
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Educational events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.