Concerto

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major: Lighthearted, Brilliant, and Bluesy

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With the slap of a whip, Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major springs to life. Suddenly, a magically intricate machine is propelled into motion. With the solo piano in its twinkling highest register, a toy soldier march in the piccolo, delicate string pizzicati and harmonics, and the almost imperceptible whir of the snare drum, we are whisked into an enchanting world of innocence and imagination. In these glistening opening bars, we …

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Villa-Lobos’ “Ciranda das Sete Notas”: Brazilian Bassoon Bliss

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The Ciranda is a traditional Brazilian children’s dance. In the ultimate expression of community, participants (including adults) join hands and engage in a round dance of moderate tempo. The Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), was serving his country as minister for national music education when, in 1933, he wrote Ciranda das sete notas (“Round Dance for Seven Notes”). A single movement concerto for bassoon and string orchestra, the piece explores the sunny …

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Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto: A Swan Song

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The Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 has been called Mozart’s swan song. His last completed work, it was first performed on October 16, 1791 in Prague, less than two months before the composer’s death at the age of 35. At the time, the clarinet was a young instrument still in development, and a newcomer to the orchestra. When the 22-year-old Mozart visited Mannheim, a progressive musical center far ahead of provincial …

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Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto: Dangerous Music for the “Desk Drawer”

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The music of Dmitri Shostakovich falls into two categories. There are the faceless proletarian marches, patriotic hymns, propagandistic film scores, and other superficial works which were written to appease Stalin and his cultural censors. Then, there is the music that Shostakovich dared not release publicly until after Stalin’s death in 1953. Much of this music ended up hidden in the composer’s “desk drawer.” The Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor was …

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Violinist María Dueñas: Three Recordings

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María Dueñas, the exceptional 20-year-old Spanish violinist, was our guest soloist at the Richmond Symphony last weekend. She performed Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole. Dueñas was the first prize winner in the 2021 Menuhin Violin Competition, which was hosted in Richmond. In 2022, she signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She performs on the 1736 “Muntz” Guarneri del Gesú violin. Paganini: Caprice No. 4 The fourth of Niccolò Paganini’s Twenty Four Caprices …

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Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto: An Exuberant and Daring Conception

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Beethoven was a newcomer to Vienna when, in 1795, he completed the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major. It is bold music which was designed to showcase the young composer’s skills as one of the preeminent virtuoso pianists of the time. Although the C major Concerto was the first to be published (in 1801), its composition was preceded by the piece we now know as Piano Concerto No. 2. While the Second Concerto …

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Remembering Stanley Drucker

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The legendary clarinetist Stanley Drucker passed away on December 19. He was 93. Born in Brooklyn, Drucker entered the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 15, but left after a year to accept a position with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He went on to become principal clarinetist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1948, Drucker joined the New York Philharmonic. His nearly five-decade-long tenure as principal clarinetist of the New York …

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