LINTU CONDUCTS SIBELIUS
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born: December 16, 1770,( probably, since he was baptized on the 17th), in Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, OP. 58 [ 1806 ]
Beethoven unveiled his Fourth Piano Concerto at a private concert in the mansion of his patron Prince Franz Josef von Lobkowitz in March 1807. Then he put it away for nearly two years and performed it only one more time, at the marathon concert on December 22, 1808, at Vienna’ s Theater an der Wien, which also included the world premieres of his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, among numerous other works.
Rather than the stentorian sounds of a full orchestra, the first notes are played softly on the piano, the gentle murmuring of a theme based on repeated notes and simple harmonies. And then— just as surprising— following its five-measure presentation of the thematic germ of this movement, the piano simply withdraws, not to be heard from again for another 69 measures, during which suspense mounts as to what is fueling its behavior. The second movement is extraordinary, too, even apart from its uncharacteristic brevity( lasting only about five minutes). The music theorist Adolf Bernhard Marx, in his 1859 biography of Beethoven, suggested that this Andante con moto bore some relationship to Gluck’ s opera Orfeo ed Euridice— specifically, to how Orpheus used music to tame wild beasts. More recently, some musicologists have argued that the movement is a point-for-point musical narration of a version of the Orpheus myth that was popular in Viennese theatres. The finale brings this essentially lyrical concerto to an ebullient end, with trumpets and timpani added for the first time.
Instrumentation: Solo piano, flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.
Kaija Saariaho
Born: October 14, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland Died: June 2, 2023, in Paris, France
CIEL D’ HIVER( WINTER SKY) [ 2002 / 13 ]
Kaija Saariaho was so drawn to visual imagery that she considered a career in painting or design before veering toward music. After studying in her native Helsinki and in Germany, she settled in Paris, where she became involved in electronic composition at the music technology center IRCAM. There she developed her characteristic sound, which often involves— or at least suggests— an interaction of acoustic and electronic instruments weaving textures that are at simultaneously sensual and mysterious. One of the most prominent composers of her generation, she produced a generous body of work that includes five operas and an oratorio, numerous largescale pieces for voices with orchestra, symphonic works, and many compositions for chamber combinations. She
Kevin Smith, Acting Fourth Chair First Violin
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