Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

8:00 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2021 CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JAMES CONLON, conductor WILLIAM HAGEN, violin MOZART Overture to La clemenza di Tito MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 Allegro aperto Adagio Rondeau: Tempo di Menuetto William Hagen MOZART Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) Allegro vivace Andante cantabile Menuetto: Allegretto Molto allegro There will be no intermission in this program. Tonight’s concert is performed in memory of Keene H. Addington II . PAVILION WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–91) Overture to La clemenza di Tito , K. 621 Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, timpani, and strings Mozart composed his final Italian opera se- ria , La clemenza di Tito ( The Clemency of Titus ), for the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia in 1791. Pietro Metastasio’s classic libretto about the Roman emperor Ti- tus, neatly abridged and updated by Caterino Mazzolà, provided appropriately regal subject matter for the royal celebration. The Prague National Theater, site of several earlier tri- umphs, would mount the first production on September 6. Mozart left Vienna for Prague with his wife Constanze on August 19 or 20. Early biographies by Niemetschek and Nissen report that he began the opera on the stage- coach and finished the score 18 days later. The overture, one of the last items composed be- fore the premiere, was written on manuscript paper only available in Prague. In the opera, Vitellia (daughter of the de- throned Vitellius) believes herself the only suitable bride for Titus. The emperor, howev- er, loves the Jewish queen Berenice. An out- raged Vitellia orders Sextus, a friend of Titus who is blinded by love for her, to assassinate the emperor. News arrives that Titus will marry a Roman woman instead, and Vitellia calls off the plot. When the emperor seems inclined toward Servilia, the sister of Sextus, Vitellia harasses her young lover to set Rome ablaze and carry out the murder. Vitellia learns that Titus has chosen her as consort, but she can only stop half of the scheme. In the end, Titus forgives all the conspirators who plotted his demise. Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 Scored for two oboes, bassoon ad libitum , two horns, strings, and solo violin Young Mozart traveled throughout Europe during the 1770s studying the various national styles of composition. With this cosmopoli- tan background, he sought an appointment at one of the important musical centers in Germany or Austria. Mozart’s status in his native Salzburg was tenuous at best, and his attempts to join the imperial court in Vienna were unsuccessful. Although he received an enthusiastic response from Munich audienc- es, Mozart was offered no position at court. Back home in Salzburg, he focused on new instrumental combinations, perhaps hoping to draw new attention to his varied musical talents. Besides the first set of six piano sona- tas and the two-act Il rè pastore ( The Shepherd King ), Mozart produced in rapid succession five concertos for the violin. His only com- pleted works in the form, the concertos were written between April and December of 1775. Mozart may have composed these for Anto- nio Brunetti, first violinist of the Salzburg court orchestra and a family friend. It is also possible that the concertos were written as showpieces for Mozart’s abilities as a violinist. As the son of Leopold Mozart, a famous vio- linist and author of a treatise on the instru- ment, Wolfgang became almost as proficient on the violin as he was on the keyboard. The autograph manuscript of Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219, bears the completion date December 20, 1775. Though written less than three months after Concerto No. 4, the rap- id pace of Mozart’s compositional maturity sets this final violin concerto apart from its siblings. The full orchestral complement an- nounces the main themes of the Allegro ap- erto . Then, in an unusual twist, the solo vi- olin enters with a slow declamatory phrase. Shortly thereafter, Mozart resumes the brisk expansion of themes. The Adagio luxuriates in the expressive pow- ers of the violin. Underneath, chromatic har- monies occasionally season the orchestral accompaniment. (Mozart later composed a substitute slow movement—the Adagio in E Anonymous portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, allegedly from the estate of Johann Lorenz Hagenauer major, K. 261—since, according to Brunetti’s tastes, the original piece sounded “too arti- ficial.”) The finale begins conventionally as a rondo with minuet refrain. After two con- trasting episodes, Mozart inserts an unrelated “exotic” segment in duple meter. This music allegedly incorporates actual Hungarian or Turkish tunes, one of which also appeared among sketches for the ballet La gelosie del serraglio ( The Jealousy of the Seraglio , or Ha- rem ) from his opera Lucio Silla . Symphony No. 41 in Cmajor, K. 551 (“Jupiter”) Scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings Symphonic composition almost completely disappeared fromMozart’s professional activ- ities after the composer-pianist settled in Vi- enna in 1781. This sudden drop-off reflected a shift in his interest toward “theatrical” forms of instrumental (concerto) and vocal (opera) music. Whenever concert programs required a symphony, Mozart tended to revise works written earlier in Salzburg. Viennese musical society obviously supported his new endeav- ors until approximately 1788, when signs of financial desperation began to appear. The strongest indication of hardship occurred in his public, and probably demoralizing, an- nouncement of publication delays caused by poor subscription numbers. Furthermore, Mozart organized a last-minute series of pub- lic concerts during the summer of 1788 in order to generate income. He also set sights on patronage outside the confines of the im- perial capital, as he admitted in a letter writ- ten sometime before June 17: “I have hopes of finding more patrons abroad than here .” No evidence of the summer concerts has sur- vived, but Mozart almost certainly composed his final set of three symphonies for that se- ries. This valedictory trio included No. 39 in E-flat major, No. 40 in G minor, and No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”). Given their rapid spread throughout Europe and the composer’s later addition of clarinets to the middle symphony, Mozart must have found ample opportunity to perform these works. Lamentably, Mozart family correspondence contains no reference to the symphonies. Even family members were uncertain where this final symphony’s nickname—“Jupiter”— originated. Mozart’s youngest son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang suggested that the London impresario Johann Peter Salomon so named the work for one of his concerts. Symphony No. 41 partly reflected Mozart’s recent experi- mental tendencies (the final movement offers a brilliant late-18th-century example of fugue) and his unparalleled mastery of orchestration, formal balance, and musical expression. –Program notes © 2021 Todd E. Sullivan RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 24 – AUGUST 15, 2021 52