Camilla Tilling and Emanuel Ax | October 31, 2023 | House Program

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CLASSICAL / VIRTUOSI SOLOIST SERIES CAMILLA TILLING, SOPRANO AND EMANUEL AX, PIANO PROGRAM FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Hexenlied, Op. 8, No. 8 Die Liebende schreibt, Op. 86, No. 3 Allnächtlich im Traum, Op. 86, No. 4 Der Mond, Op. 86, No. 5 Blumenstrauss, Op. 47, No. 5 Frühlingslied, Op. 47, No. 3 Pagenlied, Op. Posth. Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, Op. 34, No. 2 FREDERIC CHOPIN (1810-1849) FREDERIC CHOPIN and PAULINE VIARDOT (1821-1910) Nocturne for solo piano Mazurka for solo piano Mazurka, Op. 33, No. 2, Aime-moi INTERMISSION ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Arabeske, Op. 18, for solo piano Lieder und Gesänge aus “Wilhelm Meister”, Op. 98A Heiss mich nicht reden, heiss mich schweigen [No. 5] Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt [No. 3] So lasst mich scheinen [No. 9] Singet nicht in Trauertönen [No. 7] Liederalbum für die Jugend, Op. 79 Er ist‘s [No. 23] Marienwürmchen [No. 13] Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint, Op. 37, No. 1 Der Nussbaum, Op 25, No. 3 FrühlingsNacht, Op. 39, No. 12 An den Sonnenschein, Op 36, No. 4
PROGRAM NOTES The thread running through this concert is the 19th-century singer, Jenny Lind (1820- 1887), affectionately known as the “Swedish Nightingale.” Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling has felt a connection to Jenny Lind since receiving a scholarship named in Lind’s honour when she was 24. In 2020, Tilling curated tonight’s program to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lind’s birth, by focussing specifically on Lind’s passion for German Lieder. As Tilling writes, “… the composers on this program not only featured on Jenny’s famed US tour that was promoted by the showman, P.T. Barnum, but were also linked to Jenny through musical collaboration and friendship. Indeed, the Schumanns were such dear friends–Jenny regularly performed works by Robert—and she would on occasion join Clara Schumann (a most celebrated concert pianist and tourer at this time) on stage to bolster audience numbers at Clara’s concerts. Through the Schumanns, Jenny was introduced to both Chopin–it is rumoured she even gifted him a large sum to help him in his final years—and Mendelssohn with whom Jenny had a supposedly turbulent romantic entanglement.” Mendelssohn’s Opus 8, No. 8, “Witches’ Song,” uses fiery piano octaves and a demonic energy to convey Beelzebub and his witches and certainly seems highly appropriate for this concert taking place on Halloween. The next three Opus 86 Lieder are taken from a six-song collection that was assembled posthumously, noting that all of the songs in this collection have a more singular focus on love poetry than the variety of songs that the composer himself usually assembled for publication: “The Beloved Writes” (No. 3), is a desperate love letter to someone who has yet to return their advances; “Nightly in My Dreams” (No. 4), describes an unsatisfied relationship where the love’s vision is only present in dreams; and “The Moon” (No. 6), personifies the love interest as the moon, with pleas to have it lighten the night. Of the concluding set of four Mendelssohn songs, the last one, “On Wings of Song,” is one of the composer’s most recognizable melodies. It might also be familiar to listeners from the 1954 version that Doris Day recorded under the title, “Til My Love Comes to Me.” French mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, born a year later than Jenny Lind, also had an illustrious career. She counted amongst her friends, Chopin, who in addition to advising her on piano playing and composing, gave her approval to rework some of his solo piano mazurkas into songs. The piano part in these arrangements generally stays true to Chopin’s originals but, as you will hear in Opus 33, No. 2, Viardot’s flirtatious text and vocal delivery, take this Polish dance to another level. Schumann’s Opus 98A adds music to a total of nine songs sung by different characters in Goethe’s eight-part novel, Wilhelm Meister, noting that Opus 98B also uses the same source material in a cantata-type work titled, Requiem for Mignon. The two Opus 79 songs are exquisite miniatures from his “Song Album for the Young.” with No. 23 (“Spring is Here”) employing a piano part that generates spaces for the singer’s beautiful high notes to shine through, and No. 13 (Ladybug), sets to music the German equivalent of “Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home….” In 1840, Robert Schumann composed over 130 songs, a truly prolific year. The focus on so much romantic poetry that year can be traced to the legal battle that he and Clara had won over her father’s refusal to allow them to marry. The final four songs on this program are from this “year-of-song” with the period’s happiness heard most prominently in Op. 39, No. 12 (Spring Night), which builds repeated chordal patterns to a powerful ending as the poem highlights the many aspects of spring that are crying out, “She is yours!” All of the composers on tonight’s program were highly skilled pianists and their understanding of the keyboard is often used to generate textures between the two hands that can be remarkably intricate and complex. The opportunity to hear some of the solo piano music performed in the context of a vocal recital, helps to emphasize the songlike quality of their instrumental melodic writing, as can be heard in the very operatic melodic focus of Chopin’s Nocturnes and the lyrical flowering of the coda that ends Schumann’s Arabeske. ©2023 by John Burge for the Isabel
Page 1: CLASSICAL / VIRTUOSI SOLOIST SERIES
Page 5 and 6: TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS ANDRES MAIEN
Page 7 and 8: DER BLUMENSTRAUSS Mendelssohn / Kli
Page 9 and 10: Tu commandes qu’on t’oublie [et
Page 11 and 12: Mit wie leichtem Herzensregen Horch
Page 13: FRÜHLINGSNACHT Schumann/Benedikt a

Camilla Tilling and Emanuel Ax | October 31, 2023 | House Program

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