Gary Graffman returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in the second part of their series Through Brahms, an examination of Johannes Brahms and those he influenced. November 5th and 7th at Alice Tully Hall.
The evening will include works by Brahms, Anton Webern, Erich Wolfgang Korngold leading to contemporary American composer Leon Kirchner and his work for piano left-hand, titled simply, For the Left Hand.
In addition to Mr. Graffman the other performers on the program will
be: David Shifrin, Ida Kavafian, Erin Keefe, Andres Diaz, Andre-Michel
Schub and the Daedalus Quartet
A whole season could be dedicated to the composers who owed a debt to Brahms. Whole web sites could be filled with a explanation of how little understood Brahms' late compositions are, and how influential he was, as composer and as a mentor to young composers, in the last quarter of the 19th Century. Among them Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler
For the now (so as not to turn this into All Brahms All The Time — see below) we would like to restrict ourselves to recognizing Gary Graffman who will perform Korngold's Suite for Two Violins, Cello and Piano, Op. 23 and Kirchner's For the Left Hand at the Chamber Music Society's concerts.
First Korngold, although Erich Wolfgang Korngold has been having a bit of a renaissance recently, his name is (and forever will be ) attached to his compositions for the movies (much like Requiem composer Sir Paul McCartney's name is forever attached to a mid-century British pop group).
In the second decade of the last century Korngold was considered the great hope for the continuation of the late Romantic Viennese school of composers. Gustav Mahler, currently understood as the school's greatest representative; it was Mahler who asked Alexander von Zemlinsky (who also taught Schoenberg among many other composers) to tutor the boy, then age nine.
Starting in 1910 when Korngold was 13 an incredible confluence of great names helped the young composer on his way.
1910, Zemlinsky orchestrates work for piano four-hands, The Snowman.
1911, Artur Schnabel premiered the Piano Sonata #2.
Artur Nikisch give the world-premiere of the Schauspiel Overture, Op. 4.
1913, Weingartner conducts the premiere of the Sinfonietta, Op. 5 in Vienna.
Violin Sonata, Op. 6 was premiered by Karl Flesch and Schnabel.
1916, Bruno Walter conducts Der Ring des Polykrates and Violanta.
1917, Rose Quartet premiered the Sextet for Strings, Op. 10 in Vienna.
1920 Korngold's third opera Die tote Stadt premieres, the opera makes its first Met performance in 1921.
The above chronology taken from The Korngold Society
Korngold's Suite for Two Violins, Cello and Piano, written when the composer was in his early 20s, shows his mastery of late-19th-century harmony and form. The late-romanticism is tempered by a steely modernity. Korngold wrote the work and a one movement piano concerto, for Paul Wittgenstein, the brother of the philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Initially a promising concert pianist, Wittgenstein's career was interrupted by Austrian army service at the beginning of the First World War, and soon permanently transformed when his badly wounded right arm had to be amputated while the pianist was held in a Russian Prisoner of War Camp.
Wittgenstein made a second career out of commissioning (but not always performing) works for piano left-hand, including concertos and chamber works. In addition to Korngold's Suite and Piano Concerto, chief among this body of work is the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand, written in 1929.
Gary Graffman is a very familiar name to most classical music listeners as one of the most important pianists among the great number of excellent American musicians who came to prominence in the 1950s and 60s.
In 1979 a right hand injury forced Mr. Graffman to channel his activities to the literature for left hand, and like Witt before him, this has not changed or lessened his skill and interpretive powers. As the interview (linked above) attests, at 78 Mr. Graffman remains in demand and still keeps the globetrotting schedule of many a young boy-toy string quartets band.
Through Brahms — A Path From Schubert to Kirchner
Brahms: Clarinet Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2
Brahms: Klavierstucke, Op. 118
Webern: Langsamer Satz for String Quartet
Kirchner: For the Left Hand (NY Premiere)
Korngold: Suite for Two Violins, Cello and Piano, Op. 23
November 5, 2006 5:00 pm
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
Details
November 7, 2006 7:30 pm
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
Details