Program Information

Zurich Chamber Orchestra with Sharon Isbin

Program Information    Program Notes     Zurich   Howard Griffiths    Sharon Isbin

PROGRAM INFORMATION*

Five German Dances and Seven Trios with Coda, D. 90 Franz Schubert

Concerto in A major RV 82 Antonio Vivaldi (arranged by Emilio Pujol/Edited by Sharon Isbin)

Sharon Isbin, Guitar

Adagio in G minor Tomaso Albinoni/Remo Giazzotto (Arr. John Duarte)

Sharon Isbin, Guitar

Concerto in D major for Guitar and Strings, RV 93 Antonio Vivaldi (arranged by Emilio Pujol/Edited by Sharon Isbin)

Sharon Isbin, Guitar

Intermission

Labyrinth for string orchestra Fabian Müller

Serenade for strings in E major, op. 22 Antonin Dvorák

*PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE

PROGRAM NOTES

Five German Dances and Seven Trios with Coda, D. 90 Franz Schubert

Unlike Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, of all the so-called "Viennese masters," only Schubert was actually born and raised in that city. His aptitude for music was exhibited very early in his life. At the age of nine, he was under the tutelage of Michael Holzer, from whom he received instruction in violin, piano, singing and theory, as well as organ. Of these early years in Schubert's life, Holzer once said: "If I wished to instruct him in anything fresh, he already knew it. Consequently, I gave him no actual tuition but merely conversed with him and watched him with silent astonishment." Schubert would go on to become one of the most prolific composers of all time; his catalogue of works includes six hundred songs, nine symphonies, and numerous choral and chamber works.

In the year 1813, at the age of sixteen, Franz Schubert produced more music than most composers today produce in a lifetime. That year alone the composer created his first symphony, twenty-five choral works, twelve songs, 5 piano pieces, and twelve chamber works, including a wind octet, a wind nonet, five string quartets and the Five German Dances and Seven Trios with Coda, D. 90. As rapid writers as Bach, Handel and Haydn were, none of them ever showed a feat of fecundity such as this. Indeed, having died at age 31, his short creative period of eighteen years produced over one thousand works.

The Five German Dances and Seven Trios with Coda, which follow the traditional style of similar compositions by Haydn and Mozart, show melodic and harmonic characteristics pointing to the mature Schubert. They were written for strings only, probably because that was all that was available on the occasion for which they were produced. It has been espoused that horn parts, now lost, were added later, possibly by the composer's brother Ferdinand.

The second trio of the first of these dances is noteworthy for its viola solo, an unusual feature of that period. Schubert played the viola himself, and it is probable that he wrote this solo passage for his own performance. The coda is also unusual in its extension and interesting pedal effect.

It is curious that besides the Five Minuets with Six Trios, also dated 1813, Schubert never again wrote dances for orchestra, although in later years he composed an inordinate amount of dances for piano.

Courtesy of Columbia Artists Management Inc.

Concerto in A major RV 82

Concerto in D major for Guitar and Strings, RV 93

Antonio Vivaldi

Born in Venice in 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was the most original and influential Italian composer of his generation. His most important achievement was laying the foundations for the mature Baroque concerto. He codified the concerto form, becoming the first to regularly use the ritornello form in the fast movements of his concerti, and establishing the typical three-movement (fast-slow-fast) structure. His concept was adopted in most of Italy and in France by 1725 and remains to this date a standard throughout Western culture.

Vivaldi's Concerto in A major RV82 was originally conceived as a trio sonata for violin, lute and basso continuo, and his Concerto in D major RV93 was written for two violins, lute and continuo. Emilio Pujol has added a viola part in his arrangements of these works.

The Allegro of RV93 begins with a substantial orchestral tutti, striking a lively popular note in its folk-dance rhythm and going on to a fanciful interplay between major and minor. In the ensuing alternation between solo guitar and tutti, Vivaldi enhances the range and brilliance of the soloist's statements on each of its reappearances. In the Largo, the guitar gracefully elaborates a melody over sustained notes from the strings. In the tradition of baroque performance practice, Sharon Isbin adds her own embellishment in the repeats. It is certainly among the loveliest works ever written for guitar or lute. The energetic concluding Allegro is a bright epilogue, with highly effective virtuoso passages.

Courtesy of 1994/96 Columbia Artists Management Inc.

Adagio in G minor

Tomaso Albinoni/Remo Giazzotto

The son of a wealthy paper merchant, Tomaso Albinoni studied violin and voice as a child. His career as a composer resulted in an immense output and his music, much in demand during his lifetime throughout Europe, was ranked alongside that of Corelli and Vivaldi.

The Adagio is based upon a fragment of manuscript discovered in the Dresden State Library after World War II by Remo Giazotto, a Milanese musicologist. Only the bass line and six measures of melody survived, and it is from this that Giazotto reconstructed the now-famous Adagio c. 1945. John Duarte’s arrangement for guitar and strings preserves Giazotto’s lush treatment, and gives the guitar a starring role that underscores the yearning lyricism of the piece.

Courtesy of 2000 Columbia Artists Management Inc.

Labyrinth for string orchestra

Fabian Müller

The “Labyrinth” for string orchestras was composed in the summer of 2004. I retired at that time to St. Gerold in Austria near the Swiss border in order to compose. From the priory in St. Gerold where I resided, a path leads to the nearby forest, which suddenly opens up to a labyrinth. A labyrinth is not, as frequently assumed, a maze, but a coiled paths leading to the center, in other words, a symbol for man’s fateful destiny.

Inspired by this symbol, it occurred to me to write a musical; a labyrinthine path in motif and harmony leading to a musical center, to be followed by a return path – defined by a 180 degree change in perception - to the beginning. The center of my “Labyrinth” is reached after a dramatic accent more or less in the middle of the composition. A melodic motif, which appears at the beginning of the first violin, leads through the different movements of the entire work. At times dramatically impelled, then again melting into serene elegiac waves, it is symbolic of the human being who usually does not go through life in a straight line.

“Labyrinth” was composed for the Zurich Chamber Orchestra’s 2005 USA tour at the behest of Dolf Teuscher. The work is dedicated to him.

Serenade for strings in E major, op. 22

Antonin Dvorák

Born in Nelahozeves, near Kraluj, the son of a village innkeeper and butcher, the precocious Dvorák often played violin for his father's patrons and in the village orchestra before leaving school reluctantly at the age of twelve to learn the trade of butchery. By the age of sixteen, it was evident that he was not destined to follow his father's trade and left to study at the Prague Organ School. For years he lived in poverty, earning a minimal salary playing the violin in a café orchestra. In 1862, he joined the orchestra of the newly founded National Theatre of Prague, conducted by Bedrich Smetana. The salary was still meager and it was ten more years before he gained musical and financial recognition for the impressive patriotic Hymn: the Heirs of the White Mountain.

Dvorák was one of the most prolific composers and most distinguished musical personalities of the nineteenth century. As a traditionalist he accepted the forms of his art without question, but he regenerated them by interjecting a strong national feeling, giving brilliant vitality, depth and warmth to all his works. He possessed genuinely Slavonic characteristics that gave an imperishable color and lyrical character to his art.

Dvorák's music has the sound of a composer at peace with himself and content with his life. He was successful, highly respected and free of the stress and anxiety that plagued so many other composers. His special strengths - the ability to create original melodies of great appeal, beauty and freshness and a highly developed musical intelligence please us to this day.

The Serenade in E major, Op. 22 was composed during the short span of fifteen days in 1875, shortly after Dvorák had won a competition sponsored by the Austrian State Stipendium, an endowment established by the government to assist young composers. The judges for the event were Johann Herbeck (Director of the Imperial Opera), the publisher Hanslick and Brahms, who became a leading campaigner of Dvorák. The prize winning piece was the Quintet in G major, later published as Opus 77. The success of this quintet, using a double bass in addition to the usual quartet of strings was the motivation behind trying his hand at another piece - the String Serenade - for the same combination, this time augmented to include the entire orchestral string forces. Moreover, Dvorák had recently gotten married and the Serenade was intended as a bridal present. The first performance of Dvorák's Serenade for Strings took place in Prague on December 10, 1876. As fate and luck seemed to be on his side in more than one way, the Serenade seems to breath contentment and optimism.

The first movement, with its relaxed, lyrical theme in the violins, sets the mood for the entire Serenade. Following a contrasting middle section, the opening material is repeated with altered scoring: the melody is in the cellos and the movement ends with a brief coda.

The foundation of the Tempo di valse movement is a light and graceful waltz theme, occasionally leaning towards meditation. The Trio section is marked dolce and then dolente on its restatement. The Scherzo features two cheerful outer sections juxtaposed with a melodic middle section. In the coda, the material from the Trio returns, harmonized with diminished sevenths, before the opening theme is restated.

The fourth movement, the melodious Larghetto, bears the greatest accent on love. The Finale, marked Allegro vivace, acts as a bold contrast. It begins in the unexpected key of F- sharp minor, with the theme presented in canon. The movement is a treatment of the usual sonata form, but the composer brings back excerpts from the preceding movements to summarize the entire piece.

Courtesy of 2001 Columbia Artists Management Inc.

ZURICH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

The Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZCO) was founded in the 1940’s by Edmond de Stoutz, and rapidly gained international recognition as an elite ensemble. In 1996 Howard Griffiths became the Artistic Director. Under Griffiths the ZCO has attained new heights as a well-established professional body and has successfully developed its mastery of repertoire extending from early Baroque to contemporary times. In addition to its core ensemble of 23 string players, the orchestra may also call upon 20 other musicians. It is thanks to this flexible concept, which also ensures stability in each section, that the Zurich Chamber Orchestra masters such a widely varied repertoire.

Thanks to Griffith’s experience and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra’s collaboration with reputed guest conductors such as Reinhard Goebel, Bruno Weil, Paul Goodwin and David Stern, the ZCO has acquired an outstanding reputation in the field of "ancient music" – long regarded as the domain of specialized ensembles. Focusing in particular on the Viennese masters and their disciples, the ZCO can be heard at its best in superlative recordings of Haydn's Creation (with Edita Gruberova), Mozart and Ferdinand Ries symphonies and works by Kozeluch, Cherubini and Beethoven. Such excellence is also clearly evident in the concert hall; during the first Mozart festival in 2001 the ZCO performed all Mozart's piano concerti, and in 2002 all those of Beethoven with Mikhail Pletnev in Berne, Lucerne and Zurich. In May 2004 a second Mozart festival focused on the works for wind instruments and strings and in June 2006 the third Mozart festival will take place celebrating Mozart’s 250th birthday.

In addition to Romantic and classical modern music the Zurich Chamber Orchestra also champions contemporary works and new musical styles. Through premieres of commissioned works, collaboration with leading musicians of various musical genres (jazz, flamenco, film music, folk music, lieder, etc.), as well as innovative events such as open-air and children's concerts the ZCO also appeals to a broad cross-section of young people.

Apart from some forty performances in Zurich every year, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra regularly appears at leading concert halls and festivals in Switzerland and abroad (such as Prague Autumn Festival, the Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Musikhalle, Istanbul Festival, and Berlin Konzerthaus). On its concert tours abroad, the ZCO has visited China, Austria, Germany and Slovakia among other countries. After nearly 20 years the ZCO returns to the United States in October 2005 for a 17-city tour and in 2006 it will travel for the second time to China. The orchestra has collaborated with many of the world's leading soloists including: Backhaus, Menuhin, Michelangeli and Arrau, Ashkenazy, Battle, Bell, Buchbinder, Fellner, Galway, Gruberova, Hahn, Isserlis, Leonskaja, Mustonen, Maisky, Pletnev, Rachlin, Repin, Say, Scholl, Shaham and Zehetmair. Furthermore, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra is in high demand for benefit concerts and gala events.

In recent years the Zurich Chamber Orchestra has also been innovative as an enterprise. By taking over the Master Cycle concerts in Basle, Berne and Zurich and launching a new series with partners in Chur and Lucerne, ZCO has established itself as an event organizer for the Swiss classical music scene. Since summer 2002 the orchestra has had its own headquarters and administration building – the "ZCO-Haus" – with an auditorium for rehearsals and small concerts, which is also rented out for third-party events.

The Zurich Chamber Orchestra has a remarkably large "fan club": the Zurich Chamber Orchestra Supporters Association counts more than 1600 members so far.

First Violins

Second Violins

Viola

Violoncello

Double bass

Stage Manager

HOWARD GRIFFITHS

Howard Griffiths, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra since 1996, was born in England and studied at the Royal College of Music in London. Since taking up residence in Switzerland in 1981, Griffiths has performed as Guest Conductor with many leading orchestras worldwide including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, the Orchestre National de France, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Radio, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Finland, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestra Basel, London Mozart Players, Orquesta Nacional de Espańa, Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR and SWF orchestras in Germany and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. From 1994 to 1997 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Oxford Orchestra da Camera.

Howard Griffiths collaborates on a regular basis with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia of England with whom he has given many concerts, made many CDs and undertaken several tours.

With the Collegium Novum Zurich, which specializes in contemporary music, first performances by Howard Griffiths include the Swiss premiere of Hans Werner Henze's Requiem in the presence of the composer, he also worked closely together with Sofia Gubaidulina, George Crumb, Arvo Pärt and Mauricio Kagel.

Time and again, Howard Griffiths’ enthusiasm is roused by new and extraordinary challenges: be it Gustav Mahler’s 8th Symphony – called “Symphony of Thousand” – which he conducted in Basel with more than a thousand performers or crossover-projects with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra teaming up with Giora Feidman or Abdullah Ibrahim. He also met with great success conducting the original scores to films by Charles Chaplin with the ZCO playing at the same time the movie was projected on a huge screen.

More than sixty CD recordings by Howard Griffiths under various labels (Warner, Universal, cpo, Sony, Koch e.a.) bear witness to his extremely broad artistic profile. These include, for example, works by contemporary Swiss and Turkish composers, as well as first recordings of rediscovered eighteenth and nineteenth century music. His recently published recordings of all eight symphonies by Beethoven pupil Ferdinand Ries have been acclaimed by critics worldwide. Readers of the British journal Classic CD voted Griffiths' recording of works by Gerald Finzi as "Classic CD of the Year" in this category. Howard Griffiths' interpretations of Mozart symphonies with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra on CD and in the concert hall have also been highly praised. Together with NDR’s Radiophilharmonie Hannover there are plans to record the complete symphonies of Louis Spohr as well as the piano concertos of Ferdinand Ries.

The partnership between Howard Griffiths and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra goes back many years and since the start of the 1996/97 season he has been Artistic Director of this orchestra, upholding and broadening its long tradition of excellence to even greater perfection. Audiences and the press have reacted very enthusiastically to this collaboration both in Switzerland and abroad.

Howard Griffiths works with numerous reputed artists, including among others Maurice André, Kathleen Battle, Joshua Bell, Rudolf Buchbinder, Augustin Dumay, Sir James Galway, Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Evelyn Glennie, Edita Gruberova, Mischa Maisky, Olli Mustonen, Güher and Süher Pekinel, Mikhail Pletnev, Julian Rachlin, Vadim Repin, Maria Joăo Pires, Fazil Say, Gil Shaham and Thomas Zehetmair. Apart from his teamwork with great names in the world of music, Howard Griffiths is also deeply committed to supporting and promoting young musicians - as reflected in his work with the Orpheum Foundation for the Promotion of Young Soloists, of which he has been artistic director since 2000.

Please see www.howard.griffiths.ch for more information.

SHARON ISBIN

Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility, GRAMMY Award winner Sharon Isbin has been hailed as "the pre-eminent guitarist of our time." Winner of the Madrid, Toronto, and Munich Competitions, and Guitar Player’s "Best Classical Guitarist" award, Ms. Isbin gives sold-out performances throughout the world in the greatest halls including New York's Carnegie and Avery Fisher Halls, Boston's Symphony Hall, Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, London's Barbican and Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, Munich's Herkulessaal, and Madrid's Teatro Real. She has served as Artistic Director/Soloist of festivals she created for Carnegie Hall and New York's 92nd Street Y, and the acclaimed national radio series Guitarjam. A frequent guest on NPR’s All Things Considered and Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, she has been profiled on CBS Sunday and A&E television, and was a featured guest on Showtime Television’s hit series The L Word. On September 11, 2002, Ms. Isbin performed at Ground Zero for the internationally televised memorial. She has been featured in periodicals from People to Elle, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, as well as on the cover of more than 30 magazines.

Ms. Isbin's catalogue includes over 25 recordings, from Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th Century to crossover and jazz-fusion. In her latest best-selling Warner Classics CD, she is joined by the New York Philharmonic in their first-ever recording with guitar, performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and concerti by Ponce and Villa-Lobos. In their June ’04 concerts, Ms. Isbin became the Philharmonic’s first guitar soloist in over 26 years. Her Dreams of a World soared onto top classical Billboard charts, edging out The 3 Tenors, and earned her a 2001 GRAMMY, making her the first classical guitarist to receive the award in 28 years. Baroque Favorites, with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in concerti by Bach, Vivaldi and Albinoni, remained on the Billboard Top 10 Classical Chart for 16 weeks. Her recording of concerti written for her by Rouse and Tan Dun received a 2002 GRAMMY and Germany's Echo Klassik Award. Her Journey to the Amazon with Brazilian percussionist Thiago de Mello and saxophonist Paul Winter received a 1999 nomination.

Other CDs include Wayfaring Stranger with mezzo Susanne Mentzer, and Aaron Jay Kernis' Double Concerto with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO). Her eight best-selling titles for EMI/Virgin Classics include J.S. Bach Complete Lute Suites and concerti by Rodrigo which the composer praised as "magnificent." She is featured on the GRAMMY Foundation's Smart Symphonies distributed to five million families.

Sharon Isbin has expanded the guitar repertoire with some of the finest new works of the century. Her American Landscapes with the SPCO features concerti written for her by Corigliano, Schwantner, and Foss. Others who have written for her include Tower, Diamond, Rorem, Kernis and Brouwer. In 2003, she premiered Duarte’s Joan Baez Suite, and in 2005, she premiered a duo by rock guitarist Steve Vai in their joint concert in Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet.

Ms. Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 160 orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, St. Louis, New Jersey, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Utah, and Honolulu Symphonies. She has also appeared with the London Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Scottish Chamber, Zurich and Lausanne Chamber Orchestras, BBC Scottish, Gulbenkian, Prague, Milan, Mexico City, Jerusalem, and Tokyo Symphonies. Festival appearances include Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Ravinia, Interlochen, Santa Fe, Mexico City, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Montreux, Strasbourg, Paris, Athens, Istanbul, Prague Spring and Budapest International Festivals.

Sharon Isbin began her studies at nine in Italy, and later studied with Andrčs Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia, and Rosalyn Tureck. She received a B.A. and Masters from Yale, and is the author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book. She directs guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and The Juilliard School.

Please see www.sharonisbin.com for more information.