Student Recital: Mozart, Beethoven, Kreisler

Curtis student performers

A varied student recital. The program:

Mozart: Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452
Corbin Stair, oboe; Slavko Popovic, clarinet; Catherine Chen, bassoon; Sarah Boxmeyer, horn; Di Wu, piano
When the Quintet premiered at the Imperial Court of Vienna in 1784, the 27-year-old Mozart told his father that it was the best thing he had composed up to that point. And excellent it is, having become a staple of the chamber literature ever since. It also served as an inspiration for Beethoven’s early E-flat Quintet. The work’s three movements are marked: Largo – Allegro moderato; Larghetto; and 
Allegretto.

Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.5, Op.24 “Spring”
Gergana Haralampieva, violin; Daniel Hsu, piano
Dating from 1801, this sonata was one of several works Beethoven dedicated to one of his favorite patrons, Count Moritz von Fries. It’s worth noting that Beethoven did not give this sonata its nickname; that was added after his death. But it certainly describes nicely the sunny nature of this popular work. The sonata’s four movements are marked: Allegro; Adagio molto espressivo; Scherzo: Allegro molto; and Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo.
(This sonata was coached by violinist Jacqueline Ross as part of her residency at Curtis in April, 2014.)

Kreisler: Praeludium and Allegro
Jung Min Choi, violin; Jungeun Kim, piano
We think of the virtuoso violinist Fritz Kreisler as specializing in light “bons bons” like Liebesleid. But he also contributed some weightier works to the literature like this one. Interestingly, it’s subtitled “In the Style of Pugnani.” Kreisler originally credited Gaetano Pugnani as the composer, but later revealed that he himself wrote this work, as well as others in that vein.

Music Word of the Week: Rondo
“One of the fundamental forms in music, in which a repeated section alternates with at least two different episodes. At its simplest, it can be represented as ABACA.” (from the Oxford Dictionary of Music)

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