MINOR MIRACLES IN THE AGE OF REASON
MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO.23 IN A MAJOR K488 MOZART SYMPHONY NO.42 IN F MAJOR K75 KRAUS SYMPHONY IN C MINOR VB142
Presented at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre
Solo Fortepiano/Director Steven Devine Director Margaret Faultless Violin I Margaret Faultless Alice Evans Rodolfo Richter Henry Tong Debbie Diamond Violin II Kati Debretzeni Iona Davies Kinga Ujszaszi Claire Holden Daniel Edgar Viola Max Mandel Martin Kelly Kate Heller Marina Ascherson
Double Bass Kate Brooke Carina Cosgrave Flute Lisa Beznosiuk Oboe Daniel Bates Leo Duarte Clarinet Katherine Spencer Sarah Thurlow Bassoon Philip Turbett Sally Jackson Horn Gavin Edwards Martin Lawrence Nicholas Benz David Bentley
Cello Jonathan Manson Catherine Rimer
We are grateful for the support of Jenny and Tim Morrison and Southbank Centre
PROGRAMME NOTES Richard Bratby
PIANO CONCERTO NO.23 IN A, K488 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Allegro Adagio Allegro assai Mozart was a supreme multi-tasker. In late October 1785 he began work on his opera The Marriage of Figaro, signing off the finished score at the end of April 1786. But meanwhile, business was business. Vienna’s theatres closed during Lent, so he took the opportunity to promote a series of orchestral concerts, for which he composed three superb new piano concertos. The one we call No.23, K.488, was the second, finished on 2 March 1786.
With no oboes, trumpets and drums, there’s not a harsh-sounding instrument in the orchestra; instead, clarinets and flute give the concerto a warm, soft-edged glow. And then there’s Figaro. Something of its joyous tenderness colours the concerto’s first movement; while the haunting Adagio distils the melancholy of Countess Rosina into unforgettable melody. And the finale is pure comic opera - except, dancing gracefully, exuberantly across the stage is not Figaro, but the unmistakable figure of the soloist in the first performance: Mozart himself .
SYMPHONY IN C MINOR Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792) Larghetto - Allegro Andante Allegro assai When King Gustav III of Sweden dies at the end of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, the music is Italian opera at its most dramatic. In reality, the music that accompanied the murdered king’s funeral was by the German-born Joseph Kraus, who had trained in Mannheim and toured Europe, befriending Mozart and Haydn in the process. He spent much of his career in Stockholm – where he was dubbed “the Swedish Mozart”. (His lifespan, tragically, matches Mozart’s almost year for year).
This symphony in C minor (which he might or might not have dedicated to Haydn during his time in Vienna in 1783) begins in anguished darkness before unleashing an emotional downpour: the last word in artistic modernity at the height of the trend known as “sturm und drang” (Storm and Stress). If the central Andante is gentler, it also has its share of mystery, and the finale has a lot more fury to unleash: a regular whirlwind. “Believe me”, commented Haydn to a mutual friend, “there are few people who can compose something like that.”
SYMPHONY NO.42 IN F MAJOR Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Allegro Menuetto Andantino Allegro On 15th December 1771 Leopold Mozart and his son Wolfgang – fifteen, going on sixteen – arrived back in Salzburg from a visit to Milan. Soon afterwards, Leopold wrote to the publishers Breitkopf of Leipzig:
"Should you wish to have something of my son’s to print […] It may be things for the clavier…or symphonies with two violins, viola, 2 horns, two oboes and bass. In short, whatever kind of composition, he will produce it..."
The manuscript of this symphony (in reality, not his 42nd but closer to his twelfth) is lost, but it seems likely that the 15-year old composer wrote it in Salzburg in the summer of 1771. It’s got everything an ambitious and fashionable composer could offer: four concise movements for a practically-sized orchestra (only strings, oboes and horns were required), by turn energetic, expressive (he gets the strings to use mutes in the Andantino, for a more delicate tone) and – in the finale – unashamedly playful. Boy and man, Mozart was always the first on the dancefloor.
ABOUT THE INSTRUMENTS IN THIS FILM SERIES
Introducing Mozart's Fortepiano
Introducing the predecessor of the modern piano, the fortepiano. Our Principal keyboard Steven Devine shows us the instrument Mozart would have played towards the end of his life.
Introducing Mozart's Clarinet
"This is the clarinet that Mozart would have expected to hear when he wrote for it." Our Clarinet Antony Pay takes us through the staple instrument of the time - the 5 key clarinet, and shows us the type of basset clarinet he believes enables you to play Mozart's Clarinet Concerto best.
We have a free YouTube channel where you can watch more of our musicians talk about their period instruments.
BEHIND THE SCENES Katherine Spencer, OAE Clarinet "Early afternoon on concert day, I was walking across Waterloo bridge to the rehearsal at Southbank's Royal Festival Hall knowing when I walk back the twinkling lights of London and the moonlight on the river would be a heady mix of emotion of how the concert had changed my world. I'd missed that walk so much but so too the dressing room banter. The dressing room is indeed a strange place! We music creatures share such emotional highs together that it breaks down all the normal work decorum and dressing rooms become not far off pub kicking-out time. I had a chat with a fellow player. "Was this a live performance, a film recording or a half way house?" It was very clear to me that you, our audience, were there watching, enjoying and shaping this performance. Thanks! But what was really nice was you could sit with us right up close in those tiny cameras and we got to sit in a circle together looking in at the piano soloist. This was intimate chamber music with both you and us. So, to the walk back over the bridge; loud music in my ears and heart, twinkling stars and a revived musical spirit. It’s nice to be back with you!"
STEVEN DEVINE BIOGRAPHY Steven Devine enjoys a busy career as a music director and keyboard player working with some of the finest musicians. He made his London conducting debut in 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall and is now a regular performer there - including making his Proms directing debut in August 2007, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Since 2007 Steven has been the harpsichordist with London Baroque in addition to his position as Principal Keyboard Player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has recorded over forty discs with other artists and ensembles and made many solorecordings including Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Goldberg Variations. Steven is Early Keyboard Consultant at both the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and a regular teacher and examiner at many other institutions.
“Not all orchestras are the same” Three decades ago, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch. They began by throwing out the rulebook. Put a single conductor in charge? No way. Specialise in repertoire of a particular era? Too restricting. Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born. And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowed to keep questioning, adapting and inventing as long as it lived. Those original instruments became just one element of its quest for authenticity. Baroque and Classical music became just one strand of its repertoire. Every time the musical establishment thought it had a handle on what the OAE was all about, the ensemble pulled out another shocker: a Symphonie Fantastique here, some conductor-less Bach there. All the while, the Orchestra’s players called the shots. At first it felt like a minor miracle. Ideas and talent were plentiful; money wasn’t. Somehow, the OAE survived to a year. Then to two. Then to five. It began to make benchmark recordings and attract the finest conductors. It became the toast of the European touring circuit. It bagged distinguished residencies at Southbank Centre and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. It began, before long, to thrive. And then came the real challenge. The ensemble’s musicians were branded eccentric idealists. And that they were determined to remain. In the face of the music industry’s big guns, the OAE kept its head. It got organised but remained experimentalist. It sustained its founding drive but welcomed new talent. It kept on exploring performance formats, rehearsal approaches and musical techniques. It searched for the right repertoire, instruments and approaches with even greater resolve. It kept true to its founding vow.
In some small way, the OAE changed the classical music world too. It challenged those distinguished partner organisations and brought the very best from them, too. Symphony and opera orchestras began to ask it for advice. Existing period instrument groups started to vary their conductors and repertoire. New ones popped up all over Europe and America. And so the story continues, with ever more momentum and vision. The OAE’s series of nocturnal Night Shift performances have redefined concert parameters. Its former home, London’s Kings Place, has fostered further diversity of planning and music-making. The ensemble has formed the bedrock for some of Glyndebourne’s most ground-breaking recent productions. In keeping with its values of always questioning, challenging and trailblazing, in September 2020, the OAE became the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School, Camden. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightment to live, work and play amongst the students of the school. Remarkable people are behind it. Simon Rattle, the young conductor in whom the OAE placed so much of its initial trust, still cleaves to the ensemble. Iván Fischer, the visionary who punted some of his most individual musical ideas on the young orchestra, continues to challenge it. Mark Elder still mines it for luminosity, shade and line. Vladimir Jurowski, the podium technician with an insatiable appetite for creative renewal, has drawn from it some of the most revelatory noises of recent years. And, most recently, it’s been a laboratory for John Butt’s most exciting Bach experiments. All five of them share the title Principal Artist. Of the instrumentalists, many remain from those brave first days; many have come since. All seem as eager and hungry as ever. They’re offered ever greater respect, but continue only to question themselves. Because still, they pride themselves on sitting ever so slightly outside the box. They wouldn’t want it any other way. ©Andrew Mellor
OAE TEAM
Orchestra Consultant Philippa Brownsword
Life President Sir Martin Smith
Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead
Choir Manager David Clegg
Finance and Governance Director Pascale Nicholls
Librarian Colin Kitching
Board of Directors Imogen Overli [Chairman] Steven Devine Denys Firth Adrian Frost Nigel Jones Max Mandel David Marks Rebecca Miller Roger Montgomery Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Matthew Shorter Dr. Susan Tranter Crispin Woodhead
Development Director Emily Stubbs Projects Director Jo Perry Education Director Cherry Forbes Communications Director Elle Docx General Manager Edward Shaw Education Officer Andrew Thomson Projects Officer Sophie Adams Finance Officer Fabio Lodato Digital Content Officer Zen Grisdale
Leaders Huw Daniel Kati Debretzeni Margaret Faultless Matthew Truscott Players’ Artistic Committee Steven Devine Max Mandel Roger Montgomery Andrew Roberts Katharina Spreckelsen Principal Artists John Butt Sir Mark Elder Iván Fischer Vladimir Jurowski Sir Simon Rattle Sir András Schiff Emeritus Conductors William Christie Sir Roger Norrington
Marketing and Press Officer Anna Bennett Box Office and Data Manager Carly Mills Head of Individual Giving and Digital Development Marina Abel Smith Development Operations Officer Kiki Betts-Dean
Life President
OAE Trust Adrian Frost [Chairman] Paul Forman Steven Larcombe Alison McFadyen Caroline Noblet Imogen Overli Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Diane Segalen Maarten Slendebroek Sir Martin Smith Caroline Steane Honorary Council Sir Victor Blank Edward Bonham Carter Cecelia Bruggemeyer Stephen Levinson Marshall Marcus Julian Mash Greg Melgaard Susan Palmer OBE Jan Schlapp Susannah Simons Lady Smith OBE Rosalyn Wilkinson Mark Williams
SUPPORTERS OAE Thirty Circle
We are particularly grateful to the following members of the Thirty Circle who have so
generously contributed to the re-financing
of the Orchestra through the OAE Trust. Thirty Circle Patrons Bob and Laura Cory
Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Thirty Circle Members
Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter
Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones
Selina and David Marks
Julian and Camilla Mash
Mark and Rosamund Williams
OAE Experience scheme
Ann and Peter Law
Corporate Partners
Jenny and Tim Morrison - Second Violin
Caroline Noblet - Oboe
Champagne Deutz
Andrew Nurnberg
Swan Turton
Professor Richard Portes
Corporate Associates
Olivia Roberts
Bannenberg and Rowell
John and Rosemary Shannon
Mark Allen Group
Aston Lark Gelato
Season Patrons
John Armitage Charitable Trust Julian and Annette Armstrong Adrian Frost
Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones
Selina and David Marks
Imogen and Haakon Overli
Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Mark and Rosamund Williams
One Anonymous Donor Project Patrons
Anthony and Celia Edwards Bruce Harris
Philip and Rosalyn Wilkinson
One Anonymous Donor Aria Patrons
Mrs A Boettcher
Stanley Lowy
Gary and Nina Moss
Rupert Sebag-Montefiore
Maarten and Taina Slendebroek
Caroline Steane Eric Tomsett
Chair Patrons
Mrs Nicola Armitage
- Education Director
Hugh and Michelle Arthur - Double Bass
Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter -Principal Trumpet
Ian S Ferguson and Dr Susan Tranter
-
Double Bass
James Flynn QC
- Principal Lute/Theorbo
Paul Forman
- Principal Cello, Principal Horn, Violin
Jonathan and Tessa Gaisman - Viola
Michael and Harriet Maunsell - Principal Keyboard
- Principal Oboe
- Principal Bassoon - Violin
- Principal Horn
Roger and Pam Stubbs - Clarinet
Crispin Woodhead and Christine Rice - Principal Timpani
Education Patrons
Mrs Nicola Armitage
Patricia and Stephen Crew Rory and Louise Landman
Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd
Andrew & Cindy Peck
Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA Rising Stars Supporters
Annette and Julian Armstrong Mrs Rosamund Bernays Denys and Vicki Firth Bruce Harris
Ms Madeleine Hodgkin Mrs Sarah Holford
Nigel Jones and Francoise Valat-Jones Peter & Veronica Lofthouse Mark and Liza Loveday Mr Andrew Nurnberg
Old Possum's Practical Trust Imogen and Haakon Overli
The Reed Foundation Associate Patrons
Charles and Julia Abel Smith Noël and Caroline Annesley
Sir Richard Arnold and Mary Elford
Catherine and Barney Burgess Katharine Campbell
David and Marilyn Clark David Emmerson
Peter and Sally Hilliar
Steven Larcombe
Moira and Robert Latham
Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd
Alison McFadyen
Roger Mears and Joanie Speers
David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon
MM Design - France
Stuart Martin
Michael Marks Charitable Trust
Stephen and Penny Pickles
Old Possum’s Practical Trust
Paul Rivlin
Palazzetto Bru-Zane
John Nickson and Simon Rew
Cynthia and Neil McClennan
Andrew and Cindy Peck
John Ransom
Ivor Samuels and Gerry Wakelin
Alan Sainer
Emily Stubbs and Stephen McCrum
Mr and Mrs Tony Timms
The Patrick Rowland Foundation
David Wilson
Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity
Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust Peter Rosenthal
Sue Sheridan OBE
Shelley von Strunckel Mr J Westwood
Robert Wilkinson
Two Anonymous Donors Gold Friends
Michael Brecknell
Gerard Cleary
Mr and Mrs C Cochin de Billy
Matthew & Sarah Shorter Mrs Joy Whitby
Six Anonymous Donors Young Patron Ed Abel Smith
Marianne and William Cartwright-Hignett Elizabeth George David Gillbe
Chris Gould
Sam Hucklebridge
David and Ruth Samuels
Peter Yardley-Jones
Anthony and Carol Rentoul Mr Anthony Thompson
Two Anonymous Donors Silver Friends
Dennis and Sheila Baldry
Haylee and Michael Bowsher
Tony Burt
Henry Mason
Young Ambassador Patron
Jessica Kemp
Breandán Knowlton Rebecca Miller
Apax Foundation
Anthony and Jo Diamond
Ashley Family Foundation
Malcolm Herring
Boshier-Hinton Foundation
Rupert and Alice King
Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust
Mr and Mrs Michael Cooper
Arts Council England
Rachel & Charles Henderson
Barbour Foundation
The Charles Peel Charitable Trust
Her Honour Suzanne Stewart
Chivers Trust
Susannah Simons
Chapman Charitable Trust
Two Anonymous Donors
Derek Hill Foundation
Bronze Friends
Dyers Company
Robin Broadhurst
Graham and Claire Buckland Dan Burt
D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Ernest Cook Trust
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation
Sir Anthony & Lady Cleaver
Garfield Weston Foundation
Roger Easy
Geoffrey Watling Charity
Michael A Conlon Mrs SM Edge
Mrs Mary Fysh
Stephen & Cristina Goldring Martin and Helen Haddon
Garrick Charitable Trust Henocq Law Trust
JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation J Paul Getty Jnr
General Charitable Trust
Ray and Liz Harsant
John Lyon’s Charity
Mrs Auriel Hill
Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
The Lady Heseltine Julian Markson
Parabola Foundation
Paul Bassham Charitable Trust Peter Cundill Foundation PF Charitable Trust
Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust Radcliffe Trust
Rainbow Dickinson Trust RK Charitable Trust
Schroder Charity Trust Sir James Knott Trust Sobell Foundation
Stanley Picker Trust
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust The Loveday Charitable Trust
The R&I Pilkington Charitable Trust The Shears Foundation
The Vernon Ellis Foundation
Brian Mitchell Charitable Settlement
Alison and Ian Lowdon
Tony Baines
Orchestras Live
Trusts & Foundations
Christopher Campbell
Patricia Herrmann
National Foundation for Youth Music
Linbury Trust
Metropolitan Masonic Charity
The OAE continues to grow and thrive through the generosity of our supporters. We are very grateful to our sponsors and Patrons and hope you will consider joining them. We offer a close involvement in the life of the Orchestra with many opportunities to meet players, attend rehearsals and even accompany us on tour. For more information on supporting the OAE please contact Emily Stubbs Development Director
emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk
0208 159 9318
WE MOVED INTO A SCHOOL We are thrilled to announce that we are now the resident orchestra of Acland Burghley School in Camden, North London. The residency – a first for a British orchestra – allows us to live, work and play amongst the students of the school. Three offices have been adapted for our administration team, alongside a recording studio and library. We use the Grade II listed school assembly hall as a rehearsal space, with plans to refurbish it under the school’s ‘A Theatre for All’ project, so for the first time, we will all be in the same place: players, staff and library! Crispin Woodhead, our chief executive who came up with the idea of a new partnership, says: “Our accommodation at Kings Place was coming to an agreed end and we needed to find a new home. I felt that we should not settle for a conventional office space solution. We already had a strong relationship with many schools in Camden through our education programme and our appeal hit the desk of Kat Miller, director of operations at Acland Burghley School. She was working on ways to expand the school’s revenue from its resources and recognised that their excellent school hall might be somewhere we could rehearse. It felt like a thunderbolt and meant we wanted to find a way for this place to be our home, and embark on this new adventure to challenge and transform the way we engage with young adults.” The school isn't just our landlord or physical home. Instead, it will offer the opportunity to build on twenty years of work in the borough through OAE’s long-standing partnership with Camden Music. Having already worked in eighteen of the local primary schools that feed into ABS, the plans moving forward are to support music and arts across the school into the wider community. This new move underpins our core ‘enlightenment’ mission of reaching as wide an audience as possible. A similar project was undertaken in 2015 in Bremen, Germany. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie moved into a local comprehensive school in a deprived area and the results were described as “transformational”, with improved academic performance, language skills, mental health and IQ scores; reputational benefits; greater interest in and engagement with music among pupils; strengthened links between school, orchestra and community; and even, according to some of the musicians who took part, an improvement in the Kammerphilharmonie’s playing. Margaret Faultless, OAE leader and violinist, said: “As classical musicians, it can often feel as though we exist in a bubble. I think I can speak for the whole Orchestra when I say that we’re all looking forward to this new adventure. We are all used to meeting with people from outside the classical music world of course, but the value of our new project lies in the long-term work we’ll be doing at the school and the relationship that will hopefully develop between the students, their parents and teachers and the orchestra.” “The members of the Bremen Kammerphilharmonie said their experience actually improved them as an orchestra and I think the same will happen to us over the next five or so years, and it will remind all of us of the reasons we make music, which are sometimes easy to forget, especially in our strange and troubled times.” continues Margaret. “I am certainly looking forward to learning from the young people at Acland Burghley and in turn introducing them to the joys of our music and music-making.” The move has been made possible with a leadership grant of £120,000 from The Linbury Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Their support is facilitating the move to the school and underwriting the first three years of education work.
OAE EDUCATION A PROGRAMME TO INVOLVE, EMPOWER AND INSPIRE Over the past twenty years OAE Education has grown in stature and reach to involve thousands of people nationwide in creative music projects. Our participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and we pride ourselves in working flexibly, adapting to the needs of local people and the places they live. The extensive partnerships we have built up over many years help us engage fully with all the communities where we work to ensure maximum and lasting impact. We take inspiration from the OAE's repertoire, instruments and players. This makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone is involved; players, animateurs, composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders all have a valued voice.
SUPPORT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMME The work we do could not happen without the support of our generous donors. If you would like to support our education programme please contact Marina Abel Smith, Head of Individual Giving and Digital Development marina.abelsmith@oae.co.uk 0208 159 9319
OAE TOTS at Saffron Hall
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The OAE is a registered charity number 295329 Registered company number 2040312. Acland Burghley School, 93 Burghley Road, London NW5 1UH 0208 159 9310 | info@oae.co.uk Photography | Zen Grisdale