Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players

“This was music-making of a very high order”
“at the Jupiter concerts, there is always so much about which to be enthusiastic.”
“the rarities glittered like jewels”

Fred Kirshnit, The New York Sun
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Jupiter 2019 - 2020 Season
20 Mondays at 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM

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Concert Venue:
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway), New York

“one of the most refined and intelligent church spaces in New York” ~ The New York Times Built in 1893 by Josiah Cleveland Cady, architect of the old Metropolitan Opera House and the American Museum of Natural History

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JUPITER SYMPHONY
155 West 68th Street, Suite 319
New York, NY 10023
admin@jupitersymphony.com
(212) 799-1259

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Listen to a live recording of the Jupiter Symphony
Chamber Players from September 23, 2013
Recorded by Joseph Patrych

Roman Rabinovich piano
Xiao-Dong Wang violin
Mihai Marica cello

Antonín DVORÁK  Piano Trio No. 1 in B^b Major Op. 21
i. Allegro molto
ii. Adagio molto e mesto
iii. Allegretto scherzando
iv. Finale

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Jupiter in the News

ConcertoNet
“knocked the socks off this listener...It was wondrous chamber music. And the three artists gave it the deserving excitement, volition and imagination.” 
Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet   more...

“the performers were top notch”
“The homey church where these concerts take place, nestled on West 66th Street in the shadow of Lincoln Center, is an intimate and acoustically vibrant place for chamber music.”
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times   more...

Strad Magazine
“A finely forthright, fluent and expressive account of Haydn's Divertimento in E-flat major opened this programme of miscellaneous chamber music in a series known for adventurous programming.”
Dennis Rooney, Strad Magazine   more...

ConcertoNet
“Mr. Nygaard’s cadenza flowed down Mozart lanes and paths, each with beautiful backgrounds. And at the very end, Mr. Nygaard brought forth that martial major theme, like an unexpected gift.” 
Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet   more...

“...the group’s efforts proved illuminating ...Brown played a lovely, subtly virtuosic cadenza for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 by Jens Nygaard, the ensemble’s founder, who died in 2001, but whose fascination with rarities continues to drive its programming”
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times   more...

Monday, September 23, 2pm & 7:30pm 
Classical Spectacle
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Fei Fei piano
Winner of the Concert Artists Guild and a top finalist at the 14th Van Cliburn competitions. Praised by the Plain Dealer for her “bountiful gifts and passionate immersion into the music she touches,” she continues to build a reputation for her poetic interpretations, charming audiences with her “passion, piquancy and tenderness” and “winning stage presence” (Dallas Morning News)

Mark Kaplan violin
“The playing is splendid throughout, technically brilliant, musically expressive, full of variety, character, and idiomatic flair.” Strings ~ “Kaplan made his case throughout with a rich, luminous tone quality that hung resonantly in the air.” Los Angeles Times ~ “he was, to put it succinctly, magnificent” Herald Times

Franz DANZI  Quintet in D Major Op. 54
  ~ appealing concerto-like work showcasing the piano, reflecting his broad general education in Mannheim and his reverence for the Classicism of Mozart as well as the beginnings of the Romanticism of Weber, whom he promoted as his mentor and friend and whose music he respected ~ with flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon

Danzi’s father, the noted Italian cellist Innozenz Danzi, was one of the highest paid musicians in the Mannheim Orchestra. Franz himself joined the orchestra as a cellist at age 15. The teenager was thus immersed in a rich musical and cultural life at a significant time in the history of European concert music. In 1783, Danzi succeeded his father as a cellist in the Munich court, after Karl Theodor moved his court there. In 1807 he was appointed Kapellmeister in Stuttgart, where he met Weber, and in 1812 he accepted the post of Kapellmeister at the Baden court in Karlsruhe. His career spanned the transition from the late Classical to the early Romantic styles—the origin of much of the classical music we hear today.

BEETHOVEN  String Quintet in C Major “The Storm” Op. 29
  ~ dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries, a Viennese banker who commissioned the powerfully expressive and elegant Quintet ~ nicknamed “The Storm” for its explosion in the Finale

Its publishing history involving sabotage is told by All Music Guide: “After having completed the piece late in 1801, Beethoven sold a copy to Count Fries for private use and sold the publication rights to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, sending them a different copy. On 9 November 1802 Beethoven learned that Fries had given his copy to Artaria for publication. The composer forced Artaria to withhold distribution of its edition until two weeks after the release of the Breitkopf & Härtel pressing in Vienna. Beethoven even tried to slow down the process at Artaria by correcting the proofs so heavily that they were useless. On 22 January 1803 Beethoven had a letter published in the Wiener Zeitung describing Artaria’s edition as ‘very faulty, incorrect, and utterly useless to players.’ The folks at Artaria were not amused and sued Beethoven over the matter, demanding a full retraction, which Beethoven never published.”

MOZART  Piano Quartet No. 2 in E^b Major K. 493
  ~ a flawless masterpiece with heavenly melodies

Mozart was under contract with the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister to write 3 piano quartets, a virtually new genre of his own invention. When the first (K. 478 in G minor) did not sell because of its difficulty for amateurs, Mozart was released from his obligation. Nine months later, which was two months after the completion of Le Nozze di Figaro, the second piano quartet (K. 493 in Eb Major) was published by Artaria. A little easier than the first, Alfred Einstein viewed it as “bright in color, but iridescent, with hints of darker shades.”

Jupiter Players on this program:

Lisa Shihoten violin
Honored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and winner of the Menuhin and Paganini violin competitions

Ayane Kozasa viola
Winner of the 2011 Primrose, 2012 Astral & Irving Klein competitions ~ hailed for her “magnetic, wide-ranging tone” and “rock solid technique” Philadelphia Inquirer

Lisa Sung viola
Special prizewinner of the 2016 Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, top prizewinner of the 2019 Vienna & 2017 Manhattan competitions, twice winner of the Australian States Concerto Competition ~ “a viola prodigy” Australian Daily Telegraph

Ani Aznavoorian cello
Winner of the Julius Stulberg and Paolo competitions ~ “shows great sensitivity and great virtuosity at all moments” Los Angeles Times ~ “stunning in her assured technical mastery” Kansas City Star

Anthony Trionfo flute
Winner of the 2016 Young Concert Artists Auditions, 2013 Alexander and Buono competition, 2012 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Awards ~ “spellbinding” Santa Barbara Voice

Hassan Anderson oboe
Noted for his clarity of tone, range of colors, and energetic stage presence

Vadim Lando clarinet
Winner of the CMC Canada, Yale and Stonybrook competitions ~ “consistently distinguished...vibrant, precise, virtuosic playing” The New York Times

Marlène Ngalissamy bassoon
Won first prize at the 2012 Canadian Music Competition ~ “Ngalissamy gave a fully evolved shape and sinewy sound to the long phrase. Nuanced, authoritative, rendered in a variety of colors, it was a solo to win auditions.” Philadelphia Inquirer

Monday, October 7, 2pm & 7:30pm 
Lovin’ Beethoven
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Tomer Gewirtzman piano
First prizes at the 2015 Young Concert Artists Auditions; the Wideman (Louisiana), Aviv, and Clairmont (Israel) competitions; and the Aspen Festival and Juilliard Concerto competitions ~ hailed by the Washington Post for his “formidable virtuosity and stylistic sensitivity.”

Stefan Milenkovich violin
Winner of the Indianapolis, Paganini, Tibor Varga, Queen Elisabeth, Yehudi Menuhin, and Young Concert Artists competitions ~ “a stunning virtuoso.” Strings ~ “Milenkovich’s recital at the Kennedy Center was so disarmingly magical that it is not easy to describe its glories. This is not so much a matter of a dazzling virtuosity (though he has it all) as of searching musicianship.” The Washington Post

Fritz KREISLER  Rondino on a Theme by Beethoven
  ~ in pure Kreisler style, a colorful and lively duo for violin and piano based on an abandoned theme from the rejected final movement of the Wind Octet in E^b Major written in 1793 ~ dedicated to his colleague, Mischa Elman, the Ukrainian-born Jewish-American violinist

Kreisler himself explained for the Victor Record Catalog, “This theme consists of only eight measures, which occurs in a very early and unimportant composition by Beethoven, now quite forgotten. The little theme itself is of indescribable charm and its rhythm is of such alluring piquancy that it grows by every repetition. In order to set this peculiarity off to advantage, I conceived the idea of writing a rondo around it, the rondo being a form of composition where a short tune returns obstinately in more or less regular intervals. Rondino means ‘little rondo.’ I have tried to keep the old classic style throughout the little piece, and I hope I have succeeded.”

Born in Austria, Kreisler (1875–1962) is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. He was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, and his style is reminiscent of the gemütlich lifestyle of prewar Vienna. Numerous colleagues (too many to list here) have heaped praise on him; a sampling of 3 follows: Nathan Milstein “The influence of Fritz Kreisler will be a lasting one” ~ Pablo Casals “I salute to him the last crowned head of the Joachim-Sarasate-Ysaÿe dynasty” ~ Jascha Heifetz “At the beginning of my career I tried to imitate Kreisler.”

Martin-Joseph MENGAL  Wind Quintet in B^b Major after Beethoven
  ~ reworking of the second Violin Sonata in A Major Op. 12 No. 2, by the Belgian composer and distinguished horn virtuoso ~ published by Ignaz Pleyel in Paris

Mengal (1784–1851) entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 20 in 1804, and lived in that city for 21 years before returning to his birthplace, Ghent, in 1825. He then left in the aftermath of the Belgian Revolution in 1830 and became a conductor in Antwerp and The Hague, coming home again to Ghent in 1835 to assume the directorship of the new conservatory. While in Paris, Mengal was drafted into the Garde Impériale and witnessed battles near Austerlitz and Jena, won First Prize at the Conservatory in 1809, studied with Anton Reicha (“Father of the Wind Quintet”), was principal horn at the Opéra-Comique for 13 years, and wrote a number of operas and instrumental works, including the wind quintets.

BEETHOVEN  Symphony No. 3 in D Major “Eroica” Op. 55
  ~ among the greatest of symphonies, it lives up to its name, Heroic—bigger and longer than any symphony before it and on a huge scale, the groundbreaking and powerful work caused a sensation, emanating emotional depth, vigor, and passion ~ transcribed for piano quartet by Ferdinand Ries, Beethoven’s pupil, secretary, copyist, and friend

The esteemed critic Harold Schonberg tells us that “Musical Vienna was divided on the merits of the Eroica. Some called it Beethoven’s masterpiece. Others said that the work merely illustrated a striving for originality that did not come off.”

Jupiter Players on this program:

Maurycy Banaszek viola
Winner of numerous violin, viola & chamber music awards

Ani Aznavoorian cello
Winner of the Julius Stulberg and Paolo competitions ~ “shows great sensitivity and great virtuosity at all moments” Los Angeles Times ~ “stunning in her assured technical mastery” Kansas City Star

Barry Crawford flute
He plays “with steely accuracy and a superb singing tone.” Fred Kirshnit ~ New York Sun

Rita Mitsel oboe
Principal oboe of Symphony in C and Glens Falls Symphony

Vadim Lando clarinet
Winner of the CMC Canada, Yale and Stonybrook competitions ~ “consistently distinguished...vibrant, precise, virtuosic playing” The New York Times

Gina Cuffari bassoon
Praised for her “sound that is by turns sensuous, lyric, and fast moving” Palm Beach Daily News

Karl Kramer horn
Winner of the 1997 and 1999 American Horn competitions ~ “a prominent, perilously chromatic horn line, which Karl Kramer played beautifully.” The New York Times

Monday, October 21, 2pm & 7:30pm 
Formidable
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Do-Hyun Kim piano
Won First Prize at the 2017 Young Concert Artists Auditions, and will make his recital debuts in the YCA Series at Merkin Hall and the Kennedy Center this season. He is also winner of the Cleveland Institute’s Concerto Competition, the Kukmin Daily Piano Competition (first prize) in South Korea; and a top prize at the Vendome competition in Switzerland.

Asi Matathias violin
Protégé of Pinchas Zukerman, already recognized as one of the most talented musicians of his generation. He made his debut at the age of fourteen with the Israel Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta, displaying a musical maturity and inspiration far beyond his years.

Vincent d’INDY Sextet in B^b Major Op. 92
  ~ in the form of a Suite, youthful in spirit, bright and gay, and containing some of the most lyrical and sensuous music he ever wrote ~ composed at the age of 76

Although almost forgotten today, d’Indy was a major influence on the generation of French musicians who preceded Impressionism. Born in Paris into a family of rich Catholic aristocrats, the composer-pedagogue could trace his ancestry back to Henry IV. As a child he was passionate about the military, so much so that when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, he enlisted in the National Guard at age 19. After the war he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, studying with César Franck, who inspired him. In 1873 he met Liszt and Brahms in Germany; in 1875 he was the prompter for the premiere of Bizet’s Carmen; and in 1884 he was the choirmaster for a production of Wagner’s Lohengrin. In 1894 he, together with organist Alexander Guilmant and conductor Charles Bordes, founded the Schola Cantorum, where he taught until his death in 1931. As a counterbalance to his alma mater, the Paris Conservatoire, and its emphasis on opera, d’Indy’s curriculum focused on the study of the Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and works of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. Among his many students were Isaac Albéniz, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and, for a few months in 1920, Cole Porter.

Darius MILHAUD  La Creation du Monde Op. 81b
  ~ based on African folk mythology and influenced by jazz he heard on the streets of Harlem, the piano quintet was transcribed by the composer himself from the original for 18 instruments, at the suggestion of friends

Commissioned by the Ballet suédois, the innovative ballet music in 5 movements is a remarkable example of the utilization of early jazz in Classical music, of the infusion of African roots into French music. In his day, it was a succès de scandale.

Ernest CHAUSSON  Piano Quartet in A Major Op. 30
  ~ the dynamic, luminous masterpiece is cyclic in form, with infectious vitality and undeniable force

Chausson (1855–1899) earned a law degree upon his father’s insistence before he studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers were Jules Massenet and Cèsar Franck. He also visited Germany to hear Wagner. The New Grove Dictionary states that “Although he absorbed traditional harmony as taught at the Conservatoire, Chausson was clearly influenced by Wagner and ‘Franckism’.... Indeed, Chausson was to become...one of the most prominent and influential members of the Franck circle...[and a] Wagnerian....” He later developed his own sumptuous late-Romantic style, which influenced Claude Debussy and Gabriel Fauré, among others. His Piano Quartet, written in 5 weeks, was fully appreciated at its premiere on 2 April 1898 at the National Society of Music in Paris. Tragically, he died 18 months later at the age of 44 from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident.

Jupiter Players on this program:

Lisa Shihoten violin
Honored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and winner of the Menuhin and Paganini violin competitions

Ayane Kozasa viola
Winner of the 2011 Primrose, 2012 Astral & Irving Klein competitions ~ hailed for her “magnetic, wide-ranging tone” and “rock solid technique” Philadelphia Inquirer

Charles Galante viola
Recipient of the 2018 Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award and the 2017 Maurice Schwarz Viola Prize ~ He has collaborated in concert with the Silk Road Ensemble, Frans Helmerson, Colin Carr, and others ~ “absolute beauty, musicianship and integrity” yourobservor

Christine Lamprea cello
First Prize winner of the Sphinx and Schadt competitions, winner of the 2013 Astral Artists’ Auditions and recipient of an award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts ~ praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her “supreme panache and charmingly effortless phrasing”

Anne Richardson cello
Won first prize in both the Juilliard and Pre-College Concerto competitions, the Strings Music Festival, Louisville Orchestra, and BAMSO competitions, among others ~ featured twice on NPR’s From the Top

Dear Friends and Music Lovers,    As many of you already know, Jupiter is a paradise for melomaniacs. It’s a haven to wallow in beautiful melodies, superb musicians and music making, and interesting programs. There’s nary a dull moment, thanks to our brilliant artistic director, Michael Volpert.    Indeed, “The playing is top notch; the programs are full of exotica.” Richard Morrison ~ The London Times “excellent musicians in unusual programs” Anthony Tommasini ~ The New York Times “this was truly impressive music making” “One of the Best Deals in Town” “Those in the know keep coming back.” Fred Kirshnit ~ The New York Sun “bringing classical music to people in a powerful way” Cole Grissom ~ Broadway World    So do come as often as you can. And please give as much as you can to help keep Jupiter spinning its musical magic. Your financial support is truly needed.    All gifts are tax deductible.    Thank you so much,

Pencil drawing of Jens Nygaard by Michael McNamara

Why the name Jupiter: When Jens Nygaard named his orchestra Jupiter, he had the beautiful, gaseous planet in mind—unattainable but worth the effort, like reaching musical perfection. Many, indeed, were privileged and fortunate to hear his music making that was truly Out of This World. Our Players today seek to attain that stellar quality.

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