BREVARD MUSIC CENTER | OVERTURE
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Overture to The Impresario The Impresario was premiered at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna on February 7, 1786. This overture is the perfect way to open an evening of operatic masterworks, since it’s a piece about the inner workings of an opera. In this 1786 Singspiel (opera with spoken dialect) the impresario struggles to keep two divas happy. The whole play consists of only four musical numbers and runs less than 30 minutes. The farcical nature of the story becomes obvious right from the start of the overture, and intrigue and wit are ever-present once the secondary theme with its weirdly strong accents is heard. There may not be another overture under four minutes with this much punch! WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major, K. 364 While this is the only work on tonight’s program not taken from opera, it might nevertheless be the most dramatic. As a concerto for two soloists, it has all the makings of competition, intrigue, and blissful union. Symphonia Concertantes were all the rage in 1770s Paris. So upon his return in 1778 to provincial Salzburg from cosmopolitan Paris, Mozart decided to bring some of the glitz and glamour to his hometown. Using all of the fashionable techniques, Mozart set out to write a work in the Parisian style. Having also traveled to Mannheim, however, which was home of the most famous and progressive orchestra at the time, Mozart added more depth to his work by giving the orchestra a more prominent role than was customary in Paris. In fact, this piece is almost as much symphony as concerto. In the first movement the stage is set by the orchestra, before the two main characters enter in the form of the competing soloists. The slow movement presents a beautiful love duet, while the Presto bursts with joy and excitement, bringing the drama to a happy ending. RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde Premiered on June 10, 1865, in Munich under the direction of Hans von Bülow. If you don’t have five hours to enjoy the full music drama Tristan und Isolde, “Prelude and Liebestod” will give you the Reader’s Digest version, as it offers not only the beginning and end of the score but, most importantly, resolves the unremitting question posed by the famous Tristan Chord — all within twenty minutes! When Wagner decided to take up the medieval Tristan tale, he did so partly because of two factors: his growing interest in Schopenhauer (in particular his The World as Will and Representation) and his love affair with Mathilde Wesendonck. Put in (very) simple terms, Wagner wanted to express love as an ideal that transcends our perceived existence of which humanity can only catch glimpses within its limited sense of reality. Tristan is a watershed event in the history of opera. Among many innovations, Wagner is able to express the unfolding drama first and foremost in the score itself. This is presumably the reason for the popularity of this orchestral excerpt, as it is able to convey the
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essence of the work harmonically (by resolving the Tristan chord) as well as on an emotional level. RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) Siegfried’s Rhine Journey from Götterdämmerung Premiered on August 17, 1876, in Bayreuth. Before there was Star Wars there was Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Conceived as a cycle of four operas, Wagner is able to create his own world based on Norse sagas in such a vivid way that the audience has no choice but to experience it with all its wonders and curses. “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” is the prelude to the sixth scene of the last opera of the cycle, Twilight of the Gods. In a way this music is the counterpart to “Liebestod.” Siegfried and Brunnhilde’s professed love for one another prepares them for what lies ahead: Siegfried is preparing himself for the fate that awaits him as Brunnhilde bestows her godly wisdom on him. As was the case with Tristan, the score contains all of the elements of the drama — from expressed love that not only dispels darkness but completes the complex characters of the two heroes, to the foreshadowing of deeds of valor in the face of impending doom. RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) Prelude to Die Meistersinger Premiered on November 2, 1862, in Leipzig under the direction of the composer. This prelude is the other bookend to tonight’s operatic affair, as it is taken from another opera about music. In this case, it’s about a 16th-century song competition. However, here the contestants are not divas but members of the Mastersingers musician guild. Intrigue and jostling for position are nevertheless also part of the story. The prelude opens with a processional of the Mastersingers, followed by a love theme of the main protagonists, Eva and Walther. After much intrigue and buffoonery (yes, Wagner did indeed write a comedy), all the themes reappear, pointing toward a surprisingly happy ending. The music drama is not all fun and games, however, as the competition pits musical conservatives against agents of change. The hero is of course a progressive, which makes for a rather lopsided affair in favor of the “music of the future.” -Siegwart Reichwald
The famous Bayreuth Festspielhaus was constructed in order to have a performance space to handle the demands of Wagner’s epic musical dramas.