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Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players “This was music-making of a very high order” Fred Kirshnit, The New York Sun |
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View Our Printable Calendar and Ticket Order Form (pdf) Take a look at our guest artists for this season. |
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Join us for our next concerts...
Monday, February 16 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM Tickets: $25, $17 ~ Reservations advised Michael Stephen Brown piano Julian Rhee violin Maurycy Banaszek viola Christine Lamprea cello Marguerite Cox double bass Vadim Lando clarinet Karl Kramer horn Gina Cuffari bassoon Fritz KREISLER Rondino on a Theme by Beethoven 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.” The Rondino was dedicated to his colleague, Mischa Elman, the Ukrainian-born Jewish-American violinist. Kreisler’s deep respect for Beethoven is evident in his dedicated performances and interpretation of his works for the violin. He wrote 3 cadenzas for the Violin Concerto (one for each movement), and he edited and published the complete violin and piano sonatas of Beethoven, adding his own editorial markings. His interpretations of the Violin Concerto and Sonatas are recognized for their unique expressiveness and distinct style; his recordings of these are also notable. Kreisler (1875–1962) is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. He was unique in playing with a tone of indescribable sweetness and expressiveness, and his style is reminiscent of the gemütlich lifestyle of prewar Vienna. Born in Vienna, Kreisler began to learn the violin at age 4 with his father, a doctor and enthusiastic amateur violinist. At age 7 he was the youngest ever to enter the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied violin for 3 years with Joseph Hellmesberger and theory with Anton Bruckner. He won a gold medal at age 10, an unprecedented distinction. He then studied composition and violin at the Paris Conservatoire. After a successful concert tour in the United States in 1888–1889, he returned to Vienna to study medicine. Then he studied art in Paris and Rome and served as an officer in the Austrian army. In 1899 he resumed concertizing and became one of the most successful virtuosos of his time. In 1910 Kreisler premiered Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto (dedicated to him) with the London Symphony Orchestra and Elgar conducting; it was a triumph. After 1915 he lived mainly in the United States but continued to tour widely in Europe. In 1941 he was struck by a truck in New York City and nearly died from the injuries; although he recovered, his playing and hearing were never the same. He died in New York in 1962. Archduke RUDLOPH of Austria Septet in E minor The Septet is attributed to Erzherzog Rudolph von Österreich (Archduke Rudolph). Passionate about music, he was an amateur composer whose works were frequently performed in his day, an important patron (and the only composition pupil) of Beethoven, and a collector. Scholars are divided on the authorship, and some sources cite the later date noted on the manuscript (1850). German musicologist Michael Kube, for one, attributes the Septet to Rudolph and dates it to 1830, according to Grove Music Online; American musicologist Susan Kagan calls this attribution into question. The manuscript copy is located at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. Archduke Rudolph was Beethoven’s greatest patron. Born in the Pitti Palace in Florence in 1788, he was the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II and youngest brother of Emperor Franz II. “As brother of the Emperor, Rudolph was able to gain access for Beethoven to the highest salons in Vienna. Rudolph was himself a first-class musician. He was an excellent pianist and competent composer. He was the only pupil Beethoven ever took on as student of composition…. In 1809, when Beethoven accepted an invitation from King Jerome of Westphalia (brother of Napoleon Bonaparte) to become Kapellmeister at the court in Kassel, Archduke Rudolph persuaded Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Kinsky that they should pay Beethoven a guaranteed annual salary of 4000 florins—Rudolph contributing 1500 fl., Lobkowitz 700 fl., Kinsky 1800 fl.—on the sole condition that he abandon plans to move to Kassel and remain resident in Vienna for the rest of his life. Beethoven agreed. Then, after the Austrian currency was devalued fivefold in 1811, Kinsky was thrown from his horse and died in 1812, and Lobkowitz went bankrupt and was forced to flee from Vienna in 1813. Archduke Rudolph increased his payment at each stage to ensure Beethoven did not suffer financially. In gratitude, Beethoven dedicated far more compositions to Rudolph than to anyone else [14 in all]—including the Fourth and Fifth (Emperor) Piano Concertos, the Piano Sonatas ‘Les Adieux,’ Hammerklavier and opus III, the Violin Sonata opus 96, the Archduke Piano Trio (named for Rudolph), the Missa Solemnis and the Grosse Fuge. ‘Les Adieux’ was specifically composed for Rudolph when he and the Imperial royal family were forced to leave Vienna in the face of the advancing French army in 1809. The first movement—Das Lebewohl [the Farewell]—was composed before Rudolph left; the second—Die Abwesenheit [the Absence]—was composed during his exile. Beethoven told him he would not compose the third and final movement—Das Wiedersehen, [the Welcome Home]—until the Archduke returned to Vienna, which he duly did in 1810. Archduke Rudolph asked Beethoven in March 1819 to compose a piece to be played at his enthronement as Archbishop of Olmütz a year later. Beethoven embarked on the mighty sacred work, Missa Solemnis, which he didn’t complete until 1823—three years after Rudolph’s enthronement! Archduke Rudolph was an epileptic [like many of the Hapsburgs] and sickly man; original plans for him to join the army were abandoned in favour of a less strenuous career in the church. He died at the early age of 43 [in 1831], only four years after his great idol, Beethoven. He ordered that his heart should be removed from his body and placed in a niche of the cathedral at Olmütz [today’s Olomouc], and that his body should be buried in the Imperial vault at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna [Classicfm].” As Beethoven’s only composition pupil Rudolf wrote, over a period of 2 decades of study, a number of respectable compositions—for piano, chamber ensemble, and voice. They were composed within the forms and harmonic language of the period, but with impressive lyricism. His earliest dated work is from 1810; and several of the autograph manuscripts bear corrections, suggestions, and emendations in Beethoven’s hand. Kagan asserts that “A notable feature of his style is a strong lyrical bent, a predilection for arching melodic lines and decorative filigree, especially in the slow movements, that foreshadow the music of Romantic composers of the following generation…. That Beethoven left an imprint on Rudolph’s music is not surprising, considering the powerful nature of Beethoven’s personality and the absolute veneration Rudolph felt for his teacher. However, the actual manifestations of Beethoven’s teaching, seen in those manuscripts in which he made corrections, indicate that for the most part, he allowed the Archduke to develop his compositional ideas quite independently.” Rudolph was one of 50 composers Anton Diabelli invited to write a variation on a waltz tune by Diabelli for a publication entitled Vaterländischer Künstlerverein. Rudolph’s variation, while not as widely celebrated as Beethoven’s, is notable as it was included in the anthology alongside Beethoven’s monumental Diabelli Variations Op. 120. In fact, Rudolph’s variation was published anonymously and identified as “S.R.D.” (Serenissimus Rudolfus Dux). Rudolph’s enthusiasm for music also inspired him to amass a vast library of music, which he made available to Beethoven early in their acquaintance. He began collecting music scores and books about music at age 13. Today, his collection of 18,000 works from 2400 composers is housed at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of Friends of Music) in Vienna, as are the letters written by Beethoven to Rudolph. The Archduke’s talent as a pianist manifested itself in his teens, when he was performing in aristocratic salons at age 15. Under Beethoven’s tutelage, he improved noticeably. When Beethoven’s Violin Sonata Op. 96 was premiered on 29 December 1812 by the renowned French virtuoso violinist Pierre Rode, accompanied by Rudolph, a critical observer wrote, “the performance as a whole was good, but we must mention that the piano part was played far better, more in accordance with the spirit of the piece, and with more feeling than that of the violin.” Beethoven also was not satisfied. Apparently, even before Rode’s arrival in Vienna, a deterioration in his playing had been noticed. Furthermore, Rode did not study the violin part of the Sonata and treated the occasion too casually. BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No. 7 in Bb Major “Archduke” Op. 97 “Arguably the finest trio for violin, cello, and piano ever written, it begins marvelously and expansively with an unforgettable, glorious melody that immediately establishes its nobility. This broad stroke sets the tone for the entire piece, a monumental work of larger-than-life architecture in which thoughts develop organically and unhurriedly,” explained the astute critic Fred Kirshnit. It was dedicated to his pupil, the Archduke Rudolph of Austria, hence its moniker. The premiere, which was part of a charity concert, took place on 11 April 1814 at a hotel in Vienna. Beethoven played with violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh and cellist Joseph Linke. It was one of Beethoven’s final concert appearances as a performer, as his increasing deafness made it impossible for him to continue playing. Schuppanzigh, Beethoven’s lifelong friend and the leader of Prince Lichnowsky’s private String Quartet, premiered many of Beethoven’s string quartets and is regarded as the pioneer of public string quartet concerts. Linke was a member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet. |
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Monday, March 2 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM Tickets: $25, $17 ~ Reservations advised Janice Carissa piano Oliver Neubauer violin Rosemary Nelis viola Robin Park cello Roni Gal-Ed oboe Vadim Lando clarinet The 4 greatest musical prodigies in history were Mozart, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, and Korngold. Mozart was the most gifted prodigy in the Classical era. The genius began playing the harpsichord around the age of 4 and was composing music by 5. When he died at age 35 he had composed over 600 pieces. Mendelssohn is regarded as the greatest composing prodigy, whose command at age 16 surpassed that of Mozart; he composed works at age 15, 16, and 17 that are considered masterpieces. The bourgeois genius was also a Renaissance man, being a linguist, literary connoisseur, and artist. The esteemed critic Harold Schonberg opined that “It is not generally realized that Saint-Saëns was probably the most awesome child prodigy in the history of music. His I.Q. must have soared far beyond any means of measurement. Consider: at 2 1/2 he was picking out tunes on the piano. Naturally he had absolute pitch. He also could read and write before he was three. At three he composed his first piece…. At five he was deep in analysis of Don Giovanni, using not the piano reduction but the full score. At that age he also gave a few public performances as a pianist. At seven he was reading Latin…. he made his official debut at ten. As an encore at his debut recital he offered to play any of Beethoven’s thirty-two sonatas from memory…. Saint-Saëns had total recall. If he read a book or heard a piece of music it was forever in his memory.” (Read Schonberg’s The Lives of the Great Composers to discover more about this amazing composer.) Korngold, likewise, had exceptional musical talent and early achievements as a composer (see his brief biography below). MOZART Oboe Quartet in F Major K. 370 The excellent Quartet was composed early in the year for Friedrich Ramm, a friend and renowned virtuoso oboist of the Electoral Court Orchestra in Munich, where Mozart had gone to complete his opera Idomeneo for its premiere. The Quartet was not only a showpiece for Ramm, but it also revealed the improvements that had been made to the oboe at that time. In John Burk’s view, Mozart “obviously put his best efforts into it, for he both expected a first-rate performance and valued Ramm’s regard for his own abilities. The score puts the soloist through his paces…. The string writing shows that Mozart had not forgotten how to write string quartets although he had long left them untouched. The string trio has no mere accompanying function…—it is a concertante partner throughout….” Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD Suite from the Incidental Music for Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing Op. 11 “The Maiden in the Bridal Chamber” depicts Hero, the bride-to-be, on her wedding morning, happily unaware that Claudio was tricked into doubting her fidelity. “Dogberry and Verges—March of the Watch”—is a mock serious march for Dogberry (the pompous constable), his crony Verges, and the other men of the watch. The Romantic waltz for “Scene in the Garden” unfolds as Beatrice and Benedick fall in love and another couple in the bushes confess their love for one another. The “Masquerade and Hornpipe” portray a lively banter in a masked ball and a lively dance. Written when Korngold was 23, the Incidental Music was performed regularly all over Europe. It was composed for a production of the play in German under the title Viel Lärmen um Nichts, and staged at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna on 20 May 1920. Scored originally for chamber orchestra, Korngold arranged Much Ado for violin and piano when the run of performances was extended but no orchestra was available. He himself played the piano part. Korngold was born to a Jewish family in 1897 in Brünn, Austria-Hungary (today’s Brno, Czechia). Strongly influenced by his music-critic father, Julius Korngold, the phenomenal prodigy composer was playing 4-hand piano arrangements with his father at age 5. He could apparently reproduce any melody he heard and began composing at the age of 7, but seriously around 10 years of age. “In 1907 he played his cantata Gold to Mahler, who pronounced him a genius and recommended that he be sent to Zemlinsky for tuition. At the age of 11 he composed the ballet Der Schneemann, which caused a sensation when it was first performed at the Vienna Court Opera (1910), and he followed this with a Piano Trio and a remarkable Piano Sonata in E that so impressed Schnabel that he championed the work all over Europe. Of his first orchestral work, the Schauspiel Ouvertüre and the Sinfonietta (1912), Strauss remarked: ‘…it is really amazing’, while Puccini was similarly impressed by his opera Violanta (1916). His early fame reached its height with the appearance of his operatic masterpiece, Die tote Stadt, composed when he was 20 and acclaimed the world over after its dual premiere in Hamburg and Cologne (1920) [New Grove Dictionary].” In 1928 a poll by the Neue Wiener Tagblatt determined that Korngold and Arnold Schoenberg were the greatest living composers. In 1934 Korngold went to Hollywood to write music for films and to escape the growing threat of the Nazi regime. (During the war, his house in Vienna was confiscated by the Nazis.) He became one of the preeminent composers of Hollywood’s “golden age”—two of his 16 symphonic scores won Oscars: Robin Hood and Anthony Adverse. After the war, Korngold’s compositions for the concert hall included a Violin Concerto premiered by Jascha Heifetz and a Symphonic Serenade premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Wilhelm Fürtwangler. Toward the end of his life, his popularity waned with changing trends. The critic Karl Schumann saw Korngold as a weary man “who had been through emigration and the mill of the film studio…. In the end, he died [in 1957]…more so of a broken heart. He never reconciled himself to the fact of his expulsion from Vienna, from the good old days, from the fin-de siècle atmosphere, art nouveau, symbolism, the cult of music, worship of the opera, and the coffeehouse.” He was buried in Forever Hollywood Cemetery. MENDELSSOHN Clarinet Sonata in Eb Major MWV Q The Sonata was written on commission by a family friend, the Dresden banker and patron Baron Karl von Kaskel, who was also friends with Giacomo Meyerbeer and Richard Wagner. This is documented by Mendelssohn’s letter dated 6 May 1824: “I beg your pardon, my dear Kaskel, for being so late at keeping my promise. I have a great deal to do this winter and a sonata for piano and clarinet is not the easiest of all tasks. I know only too well that I have solved the problem very badly, but it would still be worse if I had written it without sufficient thought, and I must apologize again for the long delay and for the mediocrity of the sonata, but I know that you will not judge it too harshly for if you had wanted a really good sonata you would not have come to me. As I am not barren of poetic ideas I say this complainingly and not to excuse myself….” One may assume that Kaskel was an amateur clarinetist of modest ability as the clarinet part is not written for a virtuoso. A manuscript copy which bears the date “d. 17 April” is owned by the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek Berlin; and the first page shows part of Mendelssohn’s fervent prayer, “L. e. g. G.” (Lass es gelingen, Gott! – Let it be successful, Lord!). The autograph copy is owned by the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. The date suggests that the Sonata was written just before Mendelssohn’s Sextet Op. 110, which was composed between April 28 and May 10. Both works were not published in Mendelssohn’s lifetime (the Sonata was eventually published in 1987). Around this time, Mendelssohn was also working on Act 1 of a comic opera, Die Hochzeit des Camacho. Before writing the Sonata, Mendelssohn had already written 13 string symphonies and a number of chamber works, and in March of 1824, he completed his first symphony for full orchestra. His musical education included the study of works by Haydn and Mozart, the counterpoint of Bach and Handel, as well as the music of his contemporaries, most notably Beethoven and Carl Maria von Weber. Camille SAINT-SAËNS Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Op. 92 Written in the spring of 1892, the Second Piano Trio reveals Saint-Saëns’s mastery of the genre. Its dazzling ride through 5 movements lives up to his remark that he lives in music “like a fish in water.” Robert Philip, writing for Hyperion Records, described the remarkable work: “The opening is one of Saint-Saëns’s most telling inspirations. The piano plays a pattern of repeated chords, rising and falling in a wave, and marked ‘very lightly’ (extremely difficult to achieve on the modern concert grand). Over this pattern, alternating violin and cello float a sombre melody…only Saint-Saëns could have combined such a broad and intense melody with such delicate and airy piano-writing. [The 2nd movement, an] irregular minuet…demonstrates how to write a movement in five-time that sounds entirely natural…. The slow movement is brief, simple and heartfelt…. The fourth movement, like the second, is a…fast waltz…the finale returns to the grand scale of the first…highly contrapuntal, almost ecclesiastical in feel …. We could almost be back in the organ loft of La Madeleine, with a virtuoso pedal solo, and as the tension mounts Saint-Saëns brings the work to an end in a mood of powerful determination.” Saint-Saëns was born in Paris in 1835. Although he was frail and tubercular as a child, he lived till the age of 86, when he died in Algiers. The child prodigy was first taught the piano at the age of two and a half years old by his mother’s aunt. Following studies with other teachers, he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848. After attending organ classes and winning a second prix in 1849 and a brilliant premier prix in 1851, he began formal composition studies with Fromental Halévy, a protégé of Cherubini. In 1857 he became organist at the Madeleine, a post he held for 20 years. Liszt, whom he met about this time and with whom he formed an enduring friendship, called him the greatest organist in the world. From 1861 to 1865 he was professor of piano at the Niedermeyer School, where his pupils included Gabriel Fauré. During his heyday, Saint-Saëns was a progressive force and founded, with Romain Bussine, the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871. Its purpose was to give new music by French composers a hearing, which it did, for many years until about 1900. In 1888, Saint-Saëns suffered a crushing blow with the death of his mother, whom he loved with a passion. From then on, with no family left in Paris, he became a nomad, traveling ceaselessly and widely, either on long concert tours or on holiday. Among his favorite resorts was Algeria, where he composed the Second Piano Trio. |
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Jupiter 2025 - 2026 Season Tickets: $25, $17 ~ Reservation advised Please visit our Media Page to hear Audio Recordings from the Jens Nygaard and Jupiter Symphony Archive Concert Venue:
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As promised, here are the videos of John Field’s Divertissement No. 1 and Sir Hamilton Harty’s Piano Quintet. Fortuitously, our Jupiter musicians had the good sense to record the rehearsal in an impromptu decision, literally minutes before pressing the record button. Pianist Mackenzie Melemed (replacing Roman Rabinovich at the last minute) learned the music in 2 days! Bravo to him. Both works are Irish rarities that were scheduled for the March 16 performances which had to be canceled because of the coronavirus epidemic. Even though the entire program could not be recorded because of technical issues, we are pleased to be able to share with you the 2 musical gems. Enjoy. John FIELD Divertissement No. 1 H. 13 We thank the University of Illinois (Champaign) for a copy of the Divertissement music. Mackenzie Melemed piano
Sir Hamilton HARTY Piano Quintet in F Major Op. 12 Andrew Clements of the Guardian proclaimed the beautiful Quintet “a real discovery: a big, bold statement full of striking melodic ideas and intriguing harmonic shifts, which adds Brahms and Dvořák into Harty’s stylistic mix, together with Tchaikovsky in some passages.” There’s folk music charm as well, reminiscent of Percy Grainger—notably in the Scherzo (Vivace) with its folksy quirks and nonchalance, and the winding, pentatonic melody in the Lento. Our gratitude to the Queen’s University Library in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a copy of the autograph manuscript of the music. Much thanks, too, to Connor Brown for speedily creating a printed score and parts from Harty’s manuscript. Mackenzie Melemed piano I Allegro 0:00 | |||||||
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Jupiter featured on Our Net News American program opener on March 18, with grateful thanks to Michael Shaffer of OurNetNews.com for recording the matinee concert, and making available the Horatio Parker Suite video for our viewing pleasure. Horatio Parker Suite in A Major, Op. 35, composed in 1893 Stephen Beus piano
More video from this performance can be viewed on our media page |
Jupiter on YouTube NEW YORK CANVAS : The Art of Michael McNamara is a video portrait of the artist who has painted iconic images of New York City for more than a decade, capturing the changing urban landscape of his adopted city. Our Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players provide the music from Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G Minor, underscoring the inspiration the artist has drawn from Jens Nygaard and the musicians. Michael was also our Jupiter volunteer from 2002 to 2010. Here is a video of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players performance of the Rondo alla Zingarese movement:
The producer-director, Martin Spinelli, also made the EMMY Award-winning “Life On Jupiter: The Story of Jens Nygaard, Musician.” For more information, visit our media
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“Some great musicians get a statue when they pass away. Some get their name imprinted on the roof of a well-known concert hall. But the late conductor Jens Nygaard has a living tribute: an entire ensemble of musicians and a concert series to go along with it... It is one of the city’s cultural jewels... In the end, if Mr. Nygaard was known for anything, it was unmitigated verve. That’s what the audience regularly returned for, and that’s what they got Monday afternoon. To have a grassroots community of musicians continue to celebrate Mr. Nygaard with indomitable performances like these week after week, even without the power of world-famous guest soloists, is proper tribute. And with more large orchestras and ensembles needing more corporate sponsorship year after year, I, for one, hope the Jupiter’s individual subscriber-base remains strong. New York’s musical life needs the spirit of Jens Nygaard, and Mei Ying should be proud she’s keeping it alive.” Read the complete article on our reviews page. |
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performances, except where otherwise noted, are held at: Copyright © 1999-2026 Jupiter Symphony. All rights reserved. |
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