Ravinia 2024 Issue 3

Augenblick (The Glorious Moment; 1814), which celebrated the Congress of Vienna and the re- turn of relative peace to Europe. Beethoven composed his Piano Concerto No. 5 in 1809, midway between the Napoleonic crisis and his full-blown musical nationalism. Its overtly tri- umphant character seems an antidote to the dis- appointment surrounding the “Eroica,” which Beethoven originally planned to call “Bonapar- te.” Both works, in fact, share the common key of E-flat major. Recognizing this ideological op- position, some writers have suggested an alter- native label for the concerto: “Anti-Emperor.” Beethoven also confronted a more personal con- flict while writing the Concerto No. 5. Near total deafness effectively prevented him from playing piano in public. Therefore, unlike his earlier pi- ano concertos, this last composition could not possibly have functioned as a self-serving vir- tuoso piece, the genre’s traditional role. In fact, Beethoven played the first public performances of all of his piano concertos with the exception of the Fifth, which was introduced by Friedrich Schneider in 1811. Beethoven dedicated the score to his friend and pupil Archduke Rudolph. Three noble orchestral chords, separated by bravado solo-piano flourishes, launch the mon- umental 600-measure Allegro . In traditional fashion, the orchestra continues alone with two memorable themes, a heroic march tune and a rhythmically delicate dance. Gradually, the pia- no segues into the texture with a rising chromat- ic scale and sustained trill. Intricate keyboard ornamentation makes the heroic theme even more imposing as melodic phrases are traded between the soloist and the orchestra. Growing complexity in the piano part—countermelodies, distant modulations, and continued virtuosic embellishment—provides forward momentum into the development section and its weightless expansion of previously heard melodic phrases. The piano resumes its leading role as the main themes are ingeniously reorchestrated. Beetho- ven integrated his own cadenza based on the Ludwig van Beethoven by Isidor Neugass (1806) dance-like theme directly into the score. The full orchestra and the piano combine during the spacious coda. The Adagio un poco mosso begins with a sol- emn hymn for muted strings, highlighted by the winds. An expressive piano theme com- pletes the quasi-religious theme. Nobility and lyricism characterize the movement as a whole. Near the end, sustained octaves in the horns support what at first evokes another fanta- sy-like piano idea. This hesitant phrase con- tains melodic traces of the finale’s main theme. The piano continues without pause into this climactic movement. Beethoven transforms the frequently super- ficial rondo into something more substantive and heroic. This strength of purpose emerges within the solo piano statement of the refrain theme. Contrasting ideas evolve quite naturally from this refrain. The protagonists—piano and orchestra—reach a musical unanimity in the fi- nal refrain with their rapid exchange of phrases. Dynamics and texture diminish to an unprece- dented extreme (piano and timpani), before the solo’s rapid scalar outburst and a bold thematic confirmation in the orchestra. PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) Francesca da Rimini (Symphonic Fantasy after Dante), op. 32 Scored for three flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two cornets, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, harp, and strings In August 1876, Tchaikovsky returned to Mos- cow after reviewing the first complete perfor- mance of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in Bayreuth. Certain moments in these music dra- mas caught his attention, but generally the expe- rience disappointed. Back in familiar environs, Tchaikovsky began an orchestral project that had germinated in his imagination for several German pianist Friedrich Schneider, who premiered Beethoven’s concerto months—a symphonic fantasy based on the tale of Francesca da Rimini. Composition lasted from late September until November 5. Orchestral fantasies offered an expressive and formal freedom that proved impractical when Tchaikovsky composed within the tradi- tion-bound symphony. Consequently, his fan- tasies clustered around individual symphonies like remedies for an ailing imagination: the Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture) and The Tempest (Symphonic Fantasy) came within two years before and after Symphony No. 2; Fran- cesca da Rimini (Symphonic Fantasy after Dan- te) a year after Symphony No. 3 and two years before Symphony No. 4; and Hamlet (Fantasy Overture) concurrent with the Symphony No. 5. Tchaikovsky delved into the great tragedies of Shakespeare and Dante for inspiration. He placed great faith in the power of love and music’s unique ability to capture its essence. Even the bitter aftermath of his ill-advised mar- riage in August 1877 could not diminish this conviction. Tchaikovsky argued in a letter (Feb- ruary 11, 1878) to his benefactress, the wealthy widow Nadezhda von Meck: “I completely dis- agree with you when you say that music cannot convey the all-embracing characteristics of the feeling of love . I believe quite the contrary, that music alone can do this. You say that here words are necessary. Oh no! It is precisely here that words are not necessary—and where they are ineffectual, the more eloquent language, i.e. mu- sic, appears in all its power.” Tchaikovsky discovered an “all-embracing” tale of love in Canto V of Dante’s Inferno , an episode he once considered for an operatic setting, with a libretto by Konstantin Zvantsev. The lovers Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini inhab- it the Second Circle (The Carnal) reserved for hedonistic sinners, where an infernal wind blows them endlessly, as their passions drove them while on earth. Francesca married for po- litical gain but did not love her husband. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1875) RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 75