Rameau and the Rigaudon
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Jean-Phillippe Rameau apparently loved the lively dance-form rigaudon, since he used at least one in almost all his operas. In honor of his birthday (1683), we play a suite of them...
Evening Music opens with a Rameau rigaudon, played with gusto by violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Samuel Sanders. More rigadons follow; pianist Ivo Janssen plays Prokofiev’s opus 12/3, and harpist Susann McDonald and flutist Louise di Tullio play one by Joseph Lauber. The dancing continues with another from Rameau, this time an overture and four dances from “Nais.”
James Levine leads the Chicago Symphony as Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G Minor takes us to a more somber place; Schumann said it had an air of “Grecian ethereal grace.” Mozart’s brief but calmly beautiful part song, “Luci care, luci belle,” follows.
Were Dmitri Shostakovich still alive, he would have been 96 today. In his honor, we bring you his Piano Concerto No 2, Joshua Pierce as soloist. Eric Salzman writes that the concerto is “light-hearted almost to the point of seeming manic.” Then, to go with our Shostakovich birthday cake, we’ll have a little “Tea for Two”or Dmitri’s take on it, which he called “Tahiti Trot.” Conductor Nicolai Malko had challenged the young composer orchestrate the song. It took Shostakovich only 40 minutes; listening will take us less than a fun-filled four!
We could light more candles for even a third birthday cake if we wished, as we listen to cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Glenn Gould (born 72 years ago today) perform Bach’s Gamba Sonata No. 3 in G Minor. Such a pleasure!
Evening Music opens with a Rameau rigaudon, played with gusto by violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Samuel Sanders. More rigadons follow; pianist Ivo Janssen plays Prokofiev’s opus 12/3, and harpist Susann McDonald and flutist Louise di Tullio play one by Joseph Lauber. The dancing continues with another from Rameau, this time an overture and four dances from “Nais.”
James Levine leads the Chicago Symphony as Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G Minor takes us to a more somber place; Schumann said it had an air of “Grecian ethereal grace.” Mozart’s brief but calmly beautiful part song, “Luci care, luci belle,” follows.
Were Dmitri Shostakovich still alive, he would have been 96 today. In his honor, we bring you his Piano Concerto No 2, Joshua Pierce as soloist. Eric Salzman writes that the concerto is “light-hearted almost to the point of seeming manic.” Then, to go with our Shostakovich birthday cake, we’ll have a little “Tea for Two”or Dmitri’s take on it, which he called “Tahiti Trot.” Conductor Nicolai Malko had challenged the young composer orchestrate the song. It took Shostakovich only 40 minutes; listening will take us less than a fun-filled four!
We could light more candles for even a third birthday cake if we wished, as we listen to cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Glenn Gould (born 72 years ago today) perform Bach’s Gamba Sonata No. 3 in G Minor. Such a pleasure!
