Utah Symphony Presents Triumvirate of Classical Music

Utah Symphony Presents
Triumvirate of Classical Music
Beethoven, Haydn & Mozart
with Guest Pianist Ronald Brautigam

Classical music triumvirate creates a powerful repertoire with Utah Symphony and guest pianist Ronald Brautigam.
Abravanel Hall, Friday Nov. 15, 8:00 PM / Saturday Nov. 16, 8:00 PM 

Classical music triumvirate Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn create a powerful repertoire that includes perennial favorite, “The Magic Flute” Overture, for Maestro Thierry Fischer’s sixth Masterworks concert on November 15 and 16 with Utah Symphony, and acclaimed guest pianist Ronald Brautigam.

The Utah Symphony continues the season-long exploration of the works of Carl Nielsen with his Symphony No. 3, an explosive work with ethereal solos for soprano and baritone. Pianist Brautigam returns to Utah for a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s dramatic, and Mozart-inspired, third piano concerto.

Although this was Beethoven’s third piano concerto, it is still an early work and has more in common with his early classical period, rather than his middle period. The work has a similar theme to the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24, and is considered a nod to that work. Beethoven played the piano in its premiere, and his page turner noted that there were quite a few blank pages in the score. Scholars note that either Beethoven played it from memory without annotating it, or he improvised those sections until a later date when he had enough time to write them down.

Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto was last performed on a Utah Symphony Masterworks program in 2007. Fabio Bidini was soloist under Matthias Bamert.

Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 was premiered in 1912, and was soon after performed in other parts of Europe. It can probably be considered the first piece that gave him some international fame and credibility as a composer. Nielsen never really commented directly on the subtitle he gave the work – espansiva – but it is believed that it refers to the workings of the mind and creativity which starts inside a person but can grow in scope and touch all humanity.

Mozart’s Overture to “The Magic Flute”, was the last opera he completed in his lifetime during his incredibly prolific – and last – year of 1791. Utah Symphony has performed “The Magic Flute” Overture countless times on virtually every concert series. Utah Opera has staged “Flute” on four separate occasions – 1987, 1993, 2006 and 2013.

Also on the program is Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 4, a very early work of the composer’s considering he wrote 104 symphonies in his lifetime. This will be the Utah Symphony premiere of Haydn No. 4, and part of Maestro Fischer’s project to present one Haydn symphony each year in chronological order.

Related Events:
Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam has graciously agreed to teach a Masterclass onstage at Abravanel Hall on November 16 from 10 AM to 12 noon. Mr. Brautigam is renowned for his performances on both the modern piano and fortepiano. He was a student of Rudolf Serkin.

Music Director Thierry Fischer and Vice President of Artistic Planning Toby Tolokan will present a free pre-concert chat each night, one hour prior to the start of the performance on the orchestra level of Abravanel Hall. They will be joined by local Nielsen scholar Mogens Mogensen, who has written about Nielsen’s life in five published volumes, and has commissioned paintings inspired by each of Nielsen’s symphonies (which will also be on display).

Tickets can be purchased by phone at (801) 355-2787, in person at the Abravanel Hall ticket office (123 W. South Temple) or online by visiting www.utahsymphony.org.

About Ronald Brautigam, Piano
Ronald Brautigam, one of Holland’s leading musicians, is remarkable not only for his virtuosity and musicality but also for the eclectic nature of his musical interests. He studied in Amsterdam, London and the United States of America - with Rudolf Serkin. Ronald Brautigam performs regularly with leading European orchestras under distinguished conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, Frans Brüggen, Christopher Hogwood, Andrew Parrott, Philippe Herreweghe, Iván Fischer and Edo de Waart.

Besides his performances on modern instruments Ronald Brautigam has established himself as a leading exponent of the fortepiano, working with orchestras such as the 18th-Century Orchestra, Tafelmusik, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Hanover band, Concerto Copenhagen and l’Orchestre des Champs-Elysées. In 1995 Ronald Brautigam began what has proved a highly successful association with the Swedish label BIS. Among the almost 40 titles released so far are Mendelssohn’s Piano Concertos (with Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam), and the complete works of Mozart and Haydn on fortepiano.

The year 2004 saw the release of the first of a 17-CD Beethoven cycle, also on fortepiano. Already after the appearance of the first six volumes this series has become firmly established as the reference recording as far as fortepiano cycles are concerned. According to US magazine Fanfare “this could be a Beethoven piano-sonata cycle that challenges the very notion of playing this music on modern instruments, a stylistic paradigm shift.” Besides his work for BIS, Ronald Brautigam has recorded piano concertos by Shostakovich, Hindemith and Frank Martin with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly, for Decca, as well as several CDs with his long-standing duo-partner, violinist Isabelle van Keulen. His recordings have earned him numerous awards, including 2 Edison Awards, a Diapason d’Or de l’année and, in 2004, a Cannes Classical Award for that year’s best solo piano recording. Ronald Brautigam is Professor at the Musik Hochschule in Basel, Switzerland.

Program
       The Utah Symphony presents Beethoven, Mozart and Nielsen
              Thierry Fischer, conductor
              Ronald Brautigam, piano
              Melissa Heath, Soprano
              Shea Owens, Baritone
                     **Utah Symphony wishes to acknowledge the Mormon
                     Tabernacle Choir for the use of the harpsichord

Franz Joseph Haydn
       Symphony No. 4 in D major
              I. Presto
              II. Andante
              III. Tempo di menuetto

Ludwig van Beethoven
       Concerto No. 3 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 37
              I. Allegro con brio
              II. Largo
              III. Rondo: Allegro
                     Ronald Brautigam, Piano

Intermission

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
       Overture to Die Zauberflöte, K. 620

Carl Nielsen
       Symphony No. 3 in D minor, Opus 27, "Sinfonia espansiva"
              I. Allegro espansive
              II. Andante pastorale
              III. Allegretto un poco
              IV. Finale: Allegro
                     Melissa Heath, Soprano
                     Shea Owens, Baritone


Abravanel Hall
123 West South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT


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