Videos, DVDs & CDs
The Evanston Symphony Orchestra is proud to provide videos to educate you about the pieces we perform and, at times, the soloists who will be performing. The video(s) below are examples only and do not represent performances by the Evanston Symphony Orchestra unless noted.
Brahms/Schoenberg
4th movement Paavo Jarvi/Frankfurt Radio Symphony
The final movement, the “Gypsy Rondo,” of Brahms' First Piano Quartet with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Paavo Jarvi. All four movements of this performance are on Youtube. The orchestration by Schonberg employs many more instruments than Brahms ever used, but all of the notes are by Brahms.
Bach/Stokowski
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Andrew Litton/Royal Philharmonic
Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski, and conducted by Andrew Litton and the Royal Philharmonic.
Mathieu Dufour
Flute Sonata Poulenc
Mathieu Dufour playing the complete Flute Sonata of Francis Poulenc in a 2006 performance in Tokyo.
Our Soloist
Mathieu Dufour, flute
At the age of 25, Mathieu Dufour was appointed principal flute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Daniel Barenboim, making him one of the youngest players ever to hold such a position. Since then, he has performed numerous times as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, in the concertos of Devienne, Mozart, Ibert, Bach, Jolivet, and Nielsen. Under the direction of Daniel Barenboim, his performances of Mozart’s G major concerto in at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Bach’s Second Suite at the Philharmonie in Berlin earned him rave reviews. He has performed as soloist at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland; one critic wrote of a performance, “the ornate solo lines unfurled like yard upon yard of fine embroidered silk.”
As soloist, Mr. Dufour has performed with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Fabio Luisi and Nicholas McGegan. Of a recent performance of Nielsen’s Flute Concerto with the Chicago Symphony, the Chicago Tribune wrote, “Throughout the concerto he confirmed his uncanny mastery of color and dynamics, filling the hall with a vibrant, crystalline sound.”
Mr. Dufour performs concertos and recitals every year in Japan. He has performed recitals in major halls in Tokyo and concertos with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra and the Hiroshima Symphony.
As chamber musician, he has collaborated with Mitsuko Uchida, Pinchas Zukerman, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Julia Fischer, Eric LeSage, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is also a member of the Chicago Chamber Musicians. He has performed chamber music concerts in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in New York and at the Lucerne Festival, the Davos Festival in Switzerland, and the Domaine Forget Festival in Canada. He is in demand around the world as a recitalist and has dazzled audiences in Japan, the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, and South America. His recitals have been televised on the Mezzo French channel and on Japanese television.
Mr. Dufour was born in Paris, and he began his flute studies with Madeleine Chassang. He then studied with Maxence Larrieu at the Lyon Conservatory, where he was unanimously awarded first prize. He won second prize at the Jean-Pierre Rampal International Flute Competition in 1990, third prize at the International Flute Competition in Budapest in 1991, and second prize at the International Flute Competition in Kobe, Japan, in 1997. At the age of 20, he was appointed principal flutist of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and three years later he became the principal flutist of the Paris National Opera. He was also a member of the Juventus Foundation.
Mr. Dufour is also highly in demand as a teacher, although his concertizing permits him time for very few students each year. He is passionate about teaching the young generation of musicians, frequently giving master classes wherever he performs. He has taught many times at the Domaine Forget Festival in Canada. He is currently on faculty at DePaul University in Chicago.
In 2009-2010, Mr. Dufour performs Dalbavie’s Flute Concerto with the Chicago Symphony in Chicago and at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Pierre Boulez.
Mr. Dufour’s discography includes a solo recital of sonatas by Prokofiev, Martinů, and Hindemith on Harmonia Mundi; Poulenc’s complete chamber music on RCA/BMG; the complete works for flute by Roussel on Saphir Records; and Molique’s concerto with the Czech National Orchestra on Cedille Records. In 2010 he releases a CD of fantasies for flute and piano by Taffanel, Fauré, Doppler, Hüe, Gaubert, and Borne on Cedille Records.
–September 2009,
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, May 13, 2012
2:30 pm
Dufour Plays Mozart
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Mathieu Dufour, principal flute of the Chicago Symphony, plays Mozart’s own reorchestration of his Oboe Concerto into a Flute Concerto. Renowned conductor Leopold Stowkowski orchestrated one of Bach’s great organ works, and Schönberg took one of Brahms’ most popular chamber pieces and without changing a note created what many have called Brahms’ “Fifth” Symphony.
Program
Bach
(orch. Stokowski)
- Toccata & Fugue in D Minor
Mozart
- Flute Concerto #2 in D Major
- Mathieu Dufour, Flutist
Brahms
(orch. Schönberg)
- Piano Quartet in G Minor
Sponsored by
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Children 12 and younger are admitted absolutely FREE.
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Friday, May 11, 2012 at 1:30 PM
FREE.
Program Notes
by David Ellis
TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN D MINOR, BWV 565
Orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor was composed for solo organ, probably during his years in Weimar (1708–1717). The word “toccata” refers to “playing” in Italian, and this part of the composition lasts about three minutes or a little more. Bach is the unparalleled master of the fugue, a form in which an initial theme is imitated with successive entries in a variety of registers (or voices). The theme is developed through various combinations of voices and keys in the technique called counterpoint, before a final summation in the original key. The Fugue in D Minor is another six minutes in length giving a total playing time of over nine minutes.
The famous conductor Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977) transcribed about 200 works for orchestra, of which almost 40 were by Bach. Stokowski employs a large orchestra, including two harps, but only the timpani among the percussion instruments. This orchestration, from 1926, was almost immediately recorded (in 1927), and was then used as the opening number in Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940), which means that this is the most watched performance of Bach’s music in history.
CONCERTO NO. 2 FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA
IN D MAJOR, K 314
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
In late 1777 Mozart received a commission from a wealthy Dutch amateur flutist named DeJean (or DeJong) for two quartets for flute and strings and three “short and simple” flute concertos. However, Mozart was only able to finish one of the three concertos, as he wrote to his father “you know that I become quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear.” The completed work was the Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major.
In order to try and fulfill more of his commission (and collect more of the agreed fee) Mozart adapted a work composed a few months earlier, the Oboe Concerto in C Major, into the Second Flute Concerto in D Major. Ironically, the Oboe Concerto vanished until its rediscovery in the middle of the 20th century, but this flute concerto has maintained its repertory status since its inception. Mozart never received all of his fee either; in addition to not composing the third concerto, the client found the two completed concertos definitely neither short nor simple, and he was also aware that the D Major concerto was not originally for the flute.
The concerto is in the standard three movement format of the classical period, with a cadenza for the soloist near the end of each movement. Mozart reused the main theme of the final movement as Blondchen’s aria “Welche wonne, welche Lust” in his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio.
PIANO QUARTET NO. 1 IN G MINOR, OP. 25
Orchestrated by Arnold Schönberg
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Brahms composed 24 works in the genre of chamber music, making it arguably the most substantive genre in his output. His Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor dates from 1861 and is one of his earliest large-scale masterpieces, with a symphonic breadth and length (40 minutes). Clara Schumann played the piano part in its premiere and Brahms selected it for his introductory concert in Vienna in 1862.
In 1937 the noted avant-garde composer Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951) created a full orchestra version at the suggestion of Otto Klemperer, then the Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Schönberg’s orchestration includes many instruments never used by Brahms in his symphonies or concertos, including English horn, E flat and bass clarinets, glockenspiel, xylophone, tambourine, bass drum, snare drum and cymbals.
Schönberg actually was deeply respectful of past Austro-German composers; in 1933 he wrote a famous article titled “Brahms the Progressive.” Like Stokowski he orchestrated several of Bach’s works, and he also arranged for chamber ensemble the “Emperor” and “Roses from the South” waltzes of Johann Strauss II.
I. Allegro. Woodwinds and strings dominate the scoring, with a few cymbal/bass drum crashes at the climax of this sonata form movement. This 14-minute movement is among the longest in Brahms’ chamber music, and the longest he had composed thus far with the exception of the first movement of his Piano Concerto No. 1.
II. Intermezzo. Originally titled “Scherzo,” Brahms changed the heading at the suggestion of Clara Schumann. Its character is that of an interlude, in the normal ABA form of a scherzo or minuet.
III. Andante con moto. The rich opening theme with its hymn-like character is among the most memorable in all of Brahms’ music, and the Schönberg emphasizes this richness with the full orchestra strings. The central contrasting section is a rousing march in which the brass and percussion add sonic thrills beyond the power of the original chamber ensemble. The opening theme returns to conclude the movement.
IV. Rondo alla zingarese: Presto. Zingarese is Italian for “gypsy-like,” and this finale alternates several colorful themes resulting in one of the most popular movements in all chamber music. Brahms greatly admired Hungarian music (at this time Hungarian music and Gypsy music were not differentiated), and the finales for his Violin Concerto and Double Concerto also have a strong Hungarian flavor.
Schönberg finally unleashes his substantial percussion section, frequently assigning the original piano part to the xylophone, and this orchestral version delivers a rousing conclusion. Schönberg hoped that his orchestration would come to be regarded as Brahms’ “Fifth” Symphony; his success will have to be determined by each listener individually.
