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SAMUELI THEATEROctober 24, 2019

Thursday at 8 p.m.

Out of courtesy to the artists and your fellow patrons, please take a moment to turn off and refrain from using cellular

phones, pagers, watch alarms and similar devices. The use of any audio or videorecording device or the taking of photographs (with or without flash) is

strictly prohibited. Thank you.

The Center applauds:

Quartetto di CremonaCristiano Gualco, violinPaolo Andreoli, violin

Simone Gramaglia, violaGiovanni Scaglione, cello

Omaggio a Monteverdi World Premiere BYRON ADAMS (B. 1955)

I. Toccata e cantico II. Lamento e ricercare III. Balletto IV. Ciaccona e apoteosi

String Quartet in E minor GIUSEPPE VERDI 1813–1901

Allegro Andantino Prestissimo Scherzo Fuga. Allegro assai mosso

— I N T E R M I S S I O N —

String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVENOp. 131 1770–1827 Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo Allegro molto vivace Allegro moderato Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile Presto Adagio quasi un poco andante Allegro

Quartetto di Cremona’s recordings are available on Audite, Ayriel Classical, Klanglogo and Decca

North American representation:Kirshbaum Associates, Inc.

www.Kirshbaumassociates.com

This concert celebrates the life ofDonna Fisher

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

BYRON ADAMSBorn: 1955 in Atlanta, Georgia

Omaggio a Monteverdi

I am simultaneously a music historian and a composer. For me, music history is not just the dead past but the living present. I have little interest in the future and no interest whatsoever in evanescent musical fashions. My compositions are permeated by the past, not just as regards technique but also in relation to style and context as well. In other words, my music is inimitably postmodern but unencumbered by fragmentation.

At the age of thirteen, I acquired a recording of Nadia Boulanger conducting Monteverdi. It was love at first hearing. (Of course, musical research has changed our expectations concerning performance practice of Monteverdi’s music since Boulanger made those pioneering recordings in the 1930s.) I have created Omaggio a Monteverdi in part to bring the music of this 17th-century Italian master into the genre of the string quartet—thereby, I hope, introducing his music to new listeners.

This quartet, then, is the result of a collaboration between me and Monteverdi. It was as if he sat beside me as I composed, agreeing, disagreeing, and occasionally protesting. I extracted elements from his work, yes, but by so doing I created an homage rather than a mere arrangement: his materials, my handiwork. The first movement makes an obeisance to Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers; the second is based on the lament

from his Arianna, a lost opera; and the third is a rustic dance. The concluding ciaconna is predicated on “Pur ti miro,” the duet that ends Monteverdi’s last opera, L’incoronazione di Poppea. However, several prominent scholars have contested his authorship of “Pur ti miro.” This controversy over the attribution of the final number from the composer’s last work enabled me to pose—through the medium of music itself—an unanswerable yet poignant question: “Where, now and in history, is Monteverdi?”

Omaggio a Monteverdi was written for the Quartetto di Cremona and is dedicated to Aaron Egigian.

Byron Adams, August 2019

GIUSEPPE VERDIBorn: October 10, 1813, Lew Roncole, ItalyDied: January 27, 1901, Milan

String Quartet in E Minor

In November 1872, Verdi went to Naples to supervise the production of some of his operas, including the local premiere of Aida, with Teresa Stolz in the title role. Unfortunately, the soprano fell ill in March 1873, and the performance had to be postponed. Verdi, who was incapable of sitting idly by, spent the three-week hiatus composing a string quartet, his only exclusively instrumental composition.

Verdi’s letters make clear that he was very well acquainted with the great scores of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. In fact, he is said to have kept them always by his bedside and to have advised his students to use the classical string quartets as models of clear and concise organization. Thus when the circumstances were propitious, he was able to produce a strong quartet of unquestioned authority and great appeal.

The quartet received its premiere on April 1, 1873, just one day after the opening of Aida, at an informal concert at his hotel. The performers were identified only as the Pinto brothers, violins, Salvadore, viola, and Giarritiello, cello. A few weeks later, Verdi set down these words: “I’ve written a quartet in my leisure moments in Naples. I had it performed one evening in my house, without attaching the least importance to it and

without inviting anyone in particular. Only the seven or eight person who usually come to visit me were present. I don’t know whether the Quartet is beautiful or ugly, but I do know that it’s a quartet!” Despite Verdi’s cavalier attitude, the quartet has become a staple of the string quartet repertoire, famed for the skillful way the composer combined brilliant theatrical and melodic techniques with extremely fluent and idiomatic string writing.

The dramatic first theme, which is stated immediately by the second violin, conveys a sense of quiet, suppressed urgency. The first violin repeat is accompanied by a scampering figure in the cello that grows in importance in the following motifs that make up the first group. A descending scale in the second violin and viola, and a short pause, set the stage for the subdued, contemplative second subject, which is extended with new material that grows from the cello figure heard earlier. In a departure from traditional first movement form, Verdi immediately repeats and then develops the first subject, ending the movement with a comparatively brief restatement of the second subject.

The main theme of the second movement is lyrical and charming; Verdi marks it to be played con eleganza, “with elegance.” The movement is organized in rondo form, with three appearances of the theme separated by two contrasting episodes.

The third movement is unabashedly operatic. The first part brings to mind the sense of excitement as the opera house curtain rises and the stage slowly fills with singer who soon launch into the lusty opening chorus. The

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middle section features an exquisite tenor aria for cello, accompanied by the others playing pizzicato in imitation of a guitar. Verdi then repeats the opening section.

The Scherzo Fuga is indeed a scherzo, the original meaning of joke or jest, and a fuga, which refers to melodic imitation in which the tunes are gaily tossed from instrument to instrument. This high-spirited movement is energetic and filled with forward-pushing motoric action providing a joyful, exciting conclusion to the entire to the entire quartet.

Guide to Chamber Music, Melvin Berger, ©1985

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVENBorn: December 16, 1770, BonnDied: March 26, 1827, Vienna

String Quartet No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 131

Beethoven once confided to friend Karl Holz that, while each of his sixteen quartets was unique, “each in its way,” his favorite was the C sharp minor, Op.131. When Schubert heard the piece, Holz reported that “He fell into such a state of excitement and enthusiasm that we were all frightened for him.” Down to our own day many people, musicians as well as listeners, consider it the greatest quartet ever written.

Lasting close to 40 minutes, the quartet is divided into seven sections that are played without pause, creating a completely organic, well-integrated whole. The burden for projecting this underlying unity rests with the performers, who must maintain the proper relationships of tempo and mood for the work to flow smoothly from beginning to end.

Beethoven began to work on Op.131 late in 1825, after he had completed the three-quartet commission (Opp. 127, 130, 132) for Prince Galitzin, and presented it to the publisher and presented it to the publisher on July 12 of the next year. Beethoven’s flippant note on the score—“Put together from pilfering from this and that”—caused the publisher great concern, and the composer had to assure the publisher that the music was completely original, and his remark was only a joke. In retrospect it now seems that his comment may have referred to the seven separate movement making up the unified work. The quartet was dedicated to

Baron Joseph von Stutterheim, field Marshal, in gratitude for accepting Beethoven’s nephew Karl into the baron’s regiment. Scholars believe that the first hearing was a private concert in Vienna in December 1826, but that the initial public performance did not take place until 1835, long after Beethoven’s death.

The very slow introductory Adagio, which Richard Wagner said “reveals the most melancholy sentiment in music,” is basically a fugue, followed by four episodes and a coda, all based on the sober melody originally stated by the first violin. More than sorrowful or pitying, the music is contemplative and serene, surmounting personal despair and sadness. The section ends with a quiet rising C sharp octave leap, which finds an echo in the ascending D octave leap that opens the second section.

The fast second movement sails forth, cheery and open-faced, with none of the profundity or expressivity of the first movement. Even the thematic material contributes no striking contrasts to create dramatic tension; the same kind of warm, good spirits prevail throughout. Performers traditionally use the two soft isolated chords at the end of the movement to set the tempo for the two loud answering chords that start the allegro moderato.

The fourth movement is an expansive theme and variations that provides the pivotal central of the entire quartet. The syncopated theme, which Wagner called the “incarnation of innocence,” is shared by the two violins. Beethoven then puts the melody through a series of six variations in which it is completely shaped fashioned the reveal fully all of its

expressive potential. The two notes heard at the very end determine the speed of the next movement; they are usually made equal to a full measure of the Presto.

The Presto corresponds to the classical scherzo movement, playful and humorous in spirit. The lightness of character, though, disguises a score that is treacherously difficult for the musicians. It requires great delicacy of touch and split-second reaction times to interweave the four parts and achieve the smooth flow that is necessary. After the abrupt four-note growl by the cello that opens the movement, the first violin picks up the dancelike tune. Passages of smooth legato articulation interrupt statements of the bright, bouncy main theme. Beethoven directs that the final return of the opening tune be played ponticello (bowed near the bridge), producing a glassy, whistle-like sound. The whirlwind motion continues until two sets of chords effectively end the movement.

The short, introspective Adagio, only twenty-eight measures long, provides a transition between the gay flight of the preceding Presto and the rhythmic excitement of the finale. Based on a mournful, meditative melody, which is first played by the viola, the Adagio moves directly to the last section.

Two bold, angry unison phrases precede the martial and main theme with its dotted (long-short) rhythm which recalls the last movement of Beethoven’s E minor quartet, Op. 59, No. 2. Forcefully, and with great thrust, the melody builds momentum until a quiet contrasting melody, obviously derived from the melody of the opening fugue, intercedes. The second theme, a long descending line that slows down as it jumps to three high notes at the end, is heard before a shortened development, recapitulation, and a full-length coda. In summarizing the movement, Richard Wagner wrote:

This is the fury of the world’s dance—fierce pleasure, agony, ecstasy of love, joy, anger, passion, and suffering; lightning flashes and thunder rolls; and above the tumult the indomitable fiddler whirls us on the abyss. Amid the clamour he smiles, for to him it is nothing but a mocking fantasy; at the end, the darkness beckons him away, and his task is done.

Guide to Chamber Music, Melvin Berger, ©1985

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Quartetto di Cremona

Winner of the 2019 Franco Buitoni Award, the Quartetto di Cremona is a preeminent quartet of its generation noted for its lustrous sound, refined musicianship, and stylistic versatility. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this season, the quartet was established in 2000 at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona, Italy. Since then, Quartetto di Cremona has toured extensively in Europe, the United States, South America, and Asia, appeared at leading festivals, and performed regularly on radio and television broadcasts, including RAI, BBC, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Quartetto di Cremona’s extensive repertoire encompasses key masterworks—Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert—and essential 20th-century contemporary literature by Debussy, Schoenberg, Webern, Bartók, and Shostakovich along with contemporary works by Golijov, Lacheman, Fabio Vacchi, and Silvia Colasanti.

Quartetto di Cremona begins its 2019–2020 season in Genoa—where all four members were born and currently reside—with a performance alongside pianist Anna Geniushene. They embark on an ambitious tour of North America in October bringing them to California, Idaho, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. Highlights include a world premiere of Omaggio a Monteverdi by Byron Adams at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a night of Klezmer music in Los Angeles’ Wallis Annenberg Center with clarinetist David Orlowsky, and two performances at Da Camera of Houston. Advancing their commitment to the Beethoven quartets, the ensemble begins a three-year Beethoven cycle in L’Aquila, Italy, along with complete cycle performances in Tirana, Albania, Kaohsiung, and Taipei, Taiwan this season. The quartet appears in concert alongside the Emerson String Quartet for the centennial celebration of the Associazione Scarlatti in Napoli. Additional highlights include a tour of the Netherlands, a recital with pianist Angela Hewitt in Monteleon, Spain, and numerous performances at leading Italian musical institutions throughout the season.

In July 2018, the German label Audite issued Quartetto di Cremona’s complete

cycle of the Beethoven quartets, recorded during the period 2013-2016 in a box set, which includes the String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 with Lawrence Dutton, violist of the Emerson String Quartet. The first volume in the series received widespread and immediate recognition, including a five-star rating in BBC Music magazine and selection as album of the month by Fonoforum, the German journal. The seventh CD earned the Supersonic Award from the German magazine Pizzicato and the Echo Klassik 2017 prize. More recently, the Quartet was a winner of the International Classical Music Awards 2018 for the seventh and eighth discs of their Beethoven series. Their latest all-Schubert disc was released in May 2019 on Audite featuring two of composer’s masterpieces—String Quartet “Death & the Maiden” and String Quintet in C major, with cellist Eckart Runge.

Quartetto di Cremona leads a renowned string program currently in its eighth year for professional and advanced string quartets at the Accademia Walter Stauffer, in addition to conducting masterclasses throughout Europe and tours of the United States. Awarded with the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2005, the Quartetto di Cremona is also the recipient of the second “Franco Buitoni Award” (2019), in recognition of its contribution to promoting and encouraging chamber music in Italy and throughout the world. The quartet is supported by the Kulturfond Peter Eckes which provides the musicians with four superb instruments: violin Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1767), violin Paolo Antonio Testore, viola Gioachino Torazzi, cello Dom Nicola Amati. In 2015, the musicians were awarded honorary citizenship by the city of Cremona.

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“It’s a rare blend: breadth of sound and capriciousness combined with perfect tuning and ensemble has the players sounding absolutely of one voice… Nothing less than life-affirming.” —Gramophone

“The Cremona Quartet completes its Beethoven series with a fine coupling, combining exemplary technique and intonational purity with an interpretive acuity that strips away 19th-century rhetoric while avoiding the pitfalls of sounding merely ‘historically informed.’” —The Strad

“The Quartetto di Cremona’s magnificent survey of Beethoven’s Complete String Quartets moves securely and unquestionably into mastery... such warm playing; such perfection on a silver disc; what a glory this is.” —The Herald

Byron Adams, composer

Byron Adams (b. 1955) is a composer and musicologist. His essays have appeared in journals such as 19th-Century Music, The Musical Quarterly, Music and Letters, and The John Donne Journal, and have been included in volumes such as The Cambridge Companion to Elgar (2004), The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams (Cambridge, 2013), and The Music of Herbert Howells (Boydell, 2014) In 2000, the American Musicological Society awarded him the Philip Brett Award. In 2007, he was appointed scholar-in-residence for the Bard Music Festival, and he edited the volume Edward Elgar and His World (Princeton, 2007). Adams holds the post of Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of California, Riverside.

Adams’ music has been performed at the 26th “Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music, the Conservatoire Américain in Fontainebleau, France (where he taught in the summer of 1992), and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2011, The Philharmonia Orchestra performed his Midsummer Music under the baton of Peter Oundjian. In 2014, the celebrated male-voice ensemble Cantus sang the première of his Eventide, which they subsequently featured on their annual Thanksgiving Day broadcast on NPR. In 2014, the distinguished cellist Julie Albers performed Adams’ Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra with Grant Cooper conducting the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra; in November of that year, celebrated pianists Alexander Peskanov and Rafal Lewandowski played the première of his Trittico for piano duet on a concert on the Bargemusic series in New York. In 2013, internationally renown violist Nokathula Ngwenyama premièred Adams’ Sonata for Viola and Piano; her commercial recording of this score was released in 2018. In December of 2018, two of Adams’ piano pieces were performed in Carnegie Hall.