2021-2022 Season
Classical Concert Beethoven
CONTENTS Theater Staff.......................................................................................................... 2 Whitney Morse on The Sharon® L. Morse Performing Arts Center........................ 3 A Note from the Maestro...................................................................................... 4 Program................................................................................................................ 5 Program Note.....................................................................................................5-7 Biographies........................................................................................................8-9 Orchestra Roster................................................................................................. 10 VPO Donors 2021-22 Concert Season..........................................................11-12 Coming Soon.................................................................................................13-15
STAFF Director of Operations................................................................... Jason Goedken Artistic Director.............................................................................Whitney Morse Technical Director..................................................................... Kenneth Constant Production Manager..............................................................................Jon Cronin Booking Coordinator & Administrator....................................Elizabeth Constant Executive Administrator.................................................................... Sean Graham Lighting Director..............................................................................David Krupla Artist Liaison/Hospitality Management........................................... Leslie Munson Cassandra Francois Audio/Visual.........................................................................................Luke Bezio Sound/AV Designer.........................................................................Nick Erickson House Manager...................................................................................Heather Ard Director of Ticketing & Customer Relations............................... Yasmeen Stogden Promotion & Marketing...................................... The Villages Sales & Marketing Ad Sales.........................................................................The Villages Media Group
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WHITNEY MORSE on
The Sharon L. Morse ®
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Dear Patron of the Arts
,
Welcome to The Sharon® L. Morse Performing Arts Center! We are so grateful to re-open our doors after such a trying season. We invite you back to view the national and international performing art tours we host here for your entertainment. Much like the building’s namesake, my grandmother, Sharon L. Morse, we love all varieties of the performing arts here. It is in her memory that I, along with my amazing team of artists and arts administrators, strive to bring many different types of the highest quality entertainment here to The Sharon. Since opening in 2015, we hope we have established a relationship of trust; that any show at The Sharon will be a show worth seeing. Perhaps you find yourself here today to see a concert of one of your favorite musicians, or to take in the national tour of a Broadway show. Either way, we encourage you to consider trying out a new show that perhaps you haven’t heard of before, knowing that it has been intentionally curated by our team. We welcome you to The Sharon: a place for you to see an old favorite, but also a place to discover your new favorite. I sincerely hope you enjoy the show today, and I look forward to seeing you here again soon!
Whitney Morse
See You at The Sharon,
Artistic Director
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A NOTE FROM THE MAESTRO Carissimi, Ludwig van Beethoven was born 252 years ago and his musical legacy continues to extend into countless works by other composers. With tonight's concert we celebrate Ludwig Van Beethoven's musical legacy. Beethoven is the preeminent example of a great composer at the forefront of music who was ahead of his time. Before Beethoven there was no "romantic era" in music. We can trace this transformative passage through a cycle of nine symphonies. The first two symphonies are modeled after those of Haydn and Mozart; follow the innovations of the third and fifth symphony which necessarily lead to the magnificent and romanticism of his ninth and final symphony. His music is not only famous for being fundamental, it is also deeply radical, beautiful and intelligently written. Surprisingly, Beethoven not only helped invent a new musical style, but he also perfected it. On March 21, 2022, The Villages® Philharmonic Orchestra will welcome the return of the extraordinarily talented concert pianist Antonio Pompa Baldi - live from The Sharon® L Morse Performing Arts Center. Antonio will perform the Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, "Emperor" for piano and orchestra by Ludwig Van Beethoven. The second part of this program will see the orchestra perform one of Ludwig van Beethoven's finest symphonies, The Symphony No. 8 in F major Op.93. Music is a necessity for those who interpret these wonderful pages of this musical literature, that is immortal, and those who listen to it. Having a special audience that gives great support to the arts is a fundamental for every musician, and I sincerely thank everyone. We invite you to share with us this wonderful dream of making music and being able to create emotions that we will carry in our hearts every day of our life. Musically yours, Pasquale Valerio
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PROGRAM L. V. Beethoven's Symphony N. 8 in F major, Op. 93 L. V. Beethoven's Concerto N. 5 in Eb major Op. 73 for Pianoforte & Orchestra
PROGRAM NOTE LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN In the spring of 1809 Napoleon–intent upon consolidating his hold on Europe–went to war with Austria. He laid siege to Vienna in May, and after a brief bombardment the city surrendered to the French and was occupied through the remainder of the year. The royal family fled early in May and did not return until January 1810, but Beethoven remained behind throughout the shelling and occupation, and it was during this period that he completed his Fifth Piano Concerto. Some critics have been ready to take their cue from the French occupation and to understand the concerto as Beethoven’s response to it. Musicologist Alfred Einstein identified what he called a “military character” in this music, and Maynard Solomon has particularized this, hearing “warlike rhythms, victory motifs, thrusting melodies, and affirmative character” in it. But, far from being swept up in the fervor of the fighting, Beethoven found the occupation a source of stress and depression. During the shelling, he hid in the basement of his brother Caspar’s house, where he wrapped his head in pillows to protect his ears. To his publishers, Beethoven wrote: “The course of events has affected my body and soul... Life around me is wild and disturbing, nothing but drums, cannons, soldiers, misery of every sort.” The concerto he wrote during this period may be noble and powerful music, but it is noble and powerful in spite of the military occupation rather than because of it. And in fact, Beethoven had done much of the work on the concerto before the French army entered Vienna: His earliest sketches date from February 1809, and he appears to have had the concerto largely complete by April, before the fighting began. Beethoven defies expectations from the opening instant of this music. The Allegro bursts to life with a resplendent E-flat major chord for the whole orchestra, but this is not the start of the expected orchestral exposition. Instead, that chord opens the way for a cadenza by the solo piano–a cadenza that the orchestra punctuates twice more with powerful chords before sweeping into the movement’s main theme and the true exposition. This first movement is marked by a spaciousness and grandeur far removed from Beethoven’s misery over the fighting that wracked Vienna. This is music of shining sweep, built on two main ideas, both somewhat in the manner of marches: the strings’ vigorous main subject and a poised second theme, sounded first by the strings, then repeated memorably as a duet for horns. 352-751-7799
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PROGRAM NOTE After so vigorous an exposition, the entrance of the piano feels understated, as it ruminates on the two main themes, but soon the piano part–full of octaves, wide leaps, and runs–turns as difficult as it is brilliant. This Allegro is music of an unusual spaciousness: At a length of nearly 20 minutes, it is one of Beethoven’s longest first movements (and is longer than the final two movements combined). Beethoven maintains strict control–he does not allow the soloist the freedom to create his own cadenza but instead writes out a brief cadential treatment of themes before the movement hurtles to its powerful close. The Adagio un poco mosso transports us to a different world altogether. Gone is the energy of the first movement, and now we seem in the midst of sylvan calm. Beethoven moves to the remote key of B major and mutes the strings, which sing the hymn-like main theme. There follow two extended variations on that rapt melody. The first, for piano over quiet accompaniment, might almost be labeled “Chopinesque” in its expressive freedom, while the second is for winds, embellished by the piano’s steady strands of sixteenths. As he did in the Fourth Piano Concerto, Beethoven links the second and third movements, and that transition is made most effectively here. The second movement concludes on a low B, and then Beethoven drops everything one halfstep to B-flat. Out of that expectant change, the piano begins, very gradually, to outline a melodic idea, which struggles to take shape and direction. And then suddenly it does; it is as if these misty imaginings have been hit with an electric current that snaps them to vibrant life as the main theme of the final movement. This Allegro is a vigorous rondo that alternates lyric episodes with some of Beethoven’s most rhythmically energized writing–this music always seems to want to dance. Near the close comes one of its most striking moments, a duet for piano and timpani, which taps out the movement’s fundamental rhythm. And then the piano leaps up to energize the full orchestra, which concludes with one final recall of the rondo theme. At the time he wrote this concerto, Beethoven was 38 and his hearing was deteriorating rapidly. It had become so weak by this time that he knew he could not give the first performance; this is the only one of his piano concertos for which he did not play the premiere. That premiere had to wait two years after the concerto’s completion: It took place in Leipzig on November 28, 1811, with Friedrich Schuster as soloist. That performance, which Beethoven did not attend, was a great success; a reviewer wrote that “It is without doubt one of the most original, imaginative, most effective but also one of the most difficult of all existing concertos...the crowded audience was soon put into such a state of enthusiasm that it could hardly content itself with the ordinary expressions of recognition and enjoyment.
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PROGRAM NOTE L. V. Beethoven Symphony N.8 in F major The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies were sketched almost simultaneously near the end of 1811, with the former being completed in May and the latter in October of 1812. The premiere of the Eighth had to wait until February 27, 1814, at a concert that included performances of the already immensely popular Seventh Symphony and Wellington’s Victory. Not surprisingly, it was over-shadowed by the other works and received a less than enthusiastic reception, to which Beethoven grumpily responded, “That is because [the Eighth] is so much better!” Subsequent performances proved its popularity and staying power. The mood of the work in no way mirrors the conditions in the composer’s life at the time of its composition. He had just quarreled with a good friend, Malzel, and was depressed by the mortal illness of a brother. Out of this mood, and perhaps as a release from his inner turmoil, came a work of brightness and good humor. Each movement is marked by a degree of unconventionality. The first sets the tone for the entire work by loudly proclaiming the theme without benefit of an introduction or even an opening chord. The second movement is Beethoven’s humorous attempt to mend his friendship with Malzel, inventor of the metronome. With monotonous regularity, the orchestra “tick-tocks” its way through the movement while accompanying a little tune originally written as a canon to the text “Ta-Ta-Ta, Lieber Malzel.” The third movement is a vigorous minuet with a contrasting trio for two horns and clarinet. The finale… is the great movement of the symphony. It is pure Beethoven in his most individual and characteristic vein, full of those surprises and unexpected effects, those mixtures of tragedy and comedy, not to say farce, which make his music so true a mirror of human life, equal in his branch of the art to the great plays of Shakespeare in his – and for the same reasons.
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BIOGRAPHIES PASQUALE VALERIO Pasquale Valerio is the creator, nurturer, mentor, and guiding light for The Villages® Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale. Pasquale was born in Naples, Italy and began his music studies at the age of 9. He began studying Trumpet Performance at The N. Puccinni Conservatory of Music graduating in 1985. His studies were not limited to trumpet, but included Applied Complementary Piano Studies, Harmony, and Lectures from Maestro Filippo Veniero, who was his guide and mentor from 1967 to 1989. His adult musical career began during his national service as a member of the Carabinieri (Italian Military Police). Fortunately for his musical development, most of this was with the Band. After his discharge, he began studying conducting. Pasquale Valerio served as an apprentice under Sir Antonio Pappano for 6 years. Pasquale followed him all around the world from 2006-2011 and learned directly from the Conductor of the Royal Opera House in London. To that end, Pasquale believes fully in the magic of education through music, and that children are never too young to start discovering to power of harmony. In 1996, Pasquale relocated to the United States continuing his conducting studies with J. Whitney and Günter Schmidt. In 2004, he became the Founder and Music Director of The Villages Philharmonic Orchestra where he continues to serve today. Maestro Valerio was also the founder of Lake Sumter Chamber Orchestra as well as co-founder and conductor of The Florida Lakes Symphony from 20052006. Pasquale has been regularly invited as a guest conductor at the Orchestra Filarmonica 900', Teatro Regio, and the Viotti International Music Festival. ANTONIO PAMPA-BALDI Antonio Pampa-Baldi was born and raised in Foggia, Italy. He won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999 and embarked on a multifaceted career that continues to extend across five continents. A top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition of Paris, France, Antonio Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Pompa-Baldi studied with two important exponents of the great Neapolitan School: Annamaria Pennella, and Aldo Ciccolini. He also received great guidance in masterclass settings with Paul Badura Skoda and Jörg Demus. Mr. Pompa-Baldi appears at the world’s major concert venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Milan’s Sala Verdi, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Shanghai’s Grand Theatre, and Paris’ Salle Pleyel, to name a few. He has collaborated with leading conductors including Hans Graf, James Conlon, 8
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BIOGRAPHIES Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Theodore Kuchar, Benjamin Zander, Louis Lane, and Keith Lockhart. He has performed with ensembles and colleagues such as Takacs String Quartet, Alison Balsom, Sharon Robinson, and principals of the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Juilliard Quartet, among others. With a concerto repertoire including more than 60 works, Mr. Pompa-Baldi recently performed cycles of all the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, the five Beethoven Piano Concertos, and both Brahms Concertos with various orchestras. He has played recitals in most major venues over the world. In 2019, he was a returning guest at the third edition of the Lang Lang International Piano Festival in Shenzhen, China, continued his honorary guest professorship at the Beijing China Conservatory, and was named honorary professor at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Among the stops on his tours, he performed in Vienna (Austria), Malaga (Spain), Nancy (France), New York, and throughout China (Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Dalian, Guangzhou). Mr. Pompa-Baldi has recorded over 30 CDs to date, for various labels including Centaur Records, Harmonia Mundi, Steinway, TwoPianists, Azica, and Brilliant Classics. Among them, the complete piano and chamber music works of Grieg, the Josef Rheinberger Piano Sonatas, the complete Hummel Piano Sonatas, and CDs dedicated to Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Respighi, and Rachmaninoff. For the Steinway label, Pompa-Baldi recorded a disc of songs by Francis Poulenc and Edith Piaf, arranged for solo piano, to commemorate the 50th year of the passing of both French musical icons, as well as a CD titled Napoli, which features new piano versions of famous Neapolitan songs, elaborated by Roberto Piana. His latest releases feature Concertos for Violin, Piano and Orchestra by Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Hummel. Antonio Pompa-Baldi is a Steinway Artist since 2003. He is often invited to judge international piano competitions such as the Cleveland, Hilton Head, E-Competition (Minneapolis), BNDES Rio de Janeiro, and Edward Grieg (Bergen), among many others. He serves as president of the jury and artistic advisor for the San Jose International Piano Competition since 2006. Pompa-Baldi is on the Piano Faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music. His students have been prizewinners in important competitions such as Marguerite Long, Hilton Head, Isang Yun, and Gina Bachauer. He is regularly invited to teach masterclasses in countless Universities, Music Schools, and Festivals in the US and all over the world. In 2015, Pompa-Baldi founded the Todi International Music Masters festival, of which he is also Artistic Director and Faculty Member. This summer festival takes place every August in the beautiful Italian town of Todi. It features 15 concerts in 15 days, with internationally renown faculty members, and students from all over the world. 352-751-7799
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ORCHESTRA ROSTER FLUTE Tanja Agretier, Principal Carmen Isabel Delgado OBOE Lora MacPherson, Principal Dawn Hardy CLARINET Jason Gibbs, Principal Dominique Snider BASSOON Kathryn Sleeper, Principal Chris Eberle FRENCH HORN Héctor Rodriguez, Principal Kathy Thomas TRUMPET John De Paola, Principal Daniel Sapochetti
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TYMPANI Christopher Nolin FIRST VIOLIN Gregory Carreno, Concertmaster Marius Tabacila Michael De Jesus José Guedez Dajiang Qi Xin Qi Baoling Xu Imanuel Sandoval Samvel Arakelyan SECOND VIOLIN Israel Mendez, Principal Jesus Domingo Sira Martinez Ebert Ceballo Sheryl Genco Elizabeth Kitts Ivette Ferreira Luisamar Navarro David Guevara
VIOLA AngelonGoderre Juan Carlos Siviero Andrea Oliveira Luis Aguilar Francia Laurents Rafael Ramirez CELLO David Calhoun Roy Garcia Valentina Hernández Espitia Petar Kacenovici Olga Beliaieva DOUBLE BASS Kevin Gallagher Luis Luna Mikey McCabe Christopher Riley
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VPO DONORS 2021-22 CONCERT SEASON ORCHESTRA CIRCLE $10,000+ Anonymous Donor Joe & Marlene Borda Margaret M. Dick Donation in Memory of Carolyn Johnson MAESTRO CIRCLE $5,000 – $9,999 Augusto Bernardini Crysberg Inc. Linda Ferens Charlotte & John Gates Geraldine Irwin O. Maurice Joy David & JoAnne Kelch Diane Kupchak SYMPHONY CIRCLE $2,500 – $4,999 Janice Barone CONCERTO CIRCLE $1,000 – $2,499 Anonymous Donor Avrum Abramowitz John Canner Dennis R. Carney John Collins David & Jeanette Colvin Roger & Julie Cooper Mr. & Mrs. Joseph DeVuono William & Judith Doran Carol Guglielm Donald & Nancy Hickman Sarah Jordan
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Phyllis Lachman George & Carol Majestic Doris Martin Win & Christine Stringer Richard & Sharon Williams OVERTURE CIRCLE $500 – $999 Richard Allgaier Katheryn Batman DuWayne & Bonita Carnes Ruth DiMare Maurice & Nettie Joy William & Sharron Leonhirth Peter & Mary Jane Moeller John Nickelson Scott Sander Ken & Mary Shutts Tony & Joanne Sutylo SUITE CIRCLE $100 – $499 Donna Austin Tim Barry Robert Becker Frank & Linda Blews Carl & Doris Branson Linda Casey Todd Collins Robert & Charlotte Conway Thomas Davis Barbara Dipol John & Bonnie Eckstein Greg & Mary Feichtel Jack & Nancy Fieldman William & Gail Fraser-Giacchi Lisa French
Peter Fritz & Carol Mangan Fritz Alan Geller Doris Goodwin David & Kathleen Haviland Richard & Estella Hoag Dr. Bill Hole Linda Holmes Deborah Hurtt Richard & Susan Jacobs Richard & Charlene Kinder Brad Koozman Alma Macht James McQuiniff Nick & Donna Meister Nancy Padden Robert A. Phillips Barbara Reynolds John & Beverly Scott Andrew Sloan Rhoderic Soutar Michael Spinelli Karen & Lowell Stockman Roy & Jackie Ullrich Richard & Grace Waller Robert & Joan Waller Shannon & Brandon Waters Jeffrey Wheeler Theresa R. White Sonya Wilt Sunny & Roy Witt Keith Workowski Joseph & Ginger Wray Joseph Zientara
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VPO DONORS 2021-22 CONCERT SEASON ARIA CIRCLE Up to $99 Barbara Athanasiou Donation in Memory of Bill Barnes Kathryn Bates Jeff & Ursula Bergman Irene Coen Katheen Eikhof Arthur Elwood Susan Escobedo Paul F. Gaecke
Kevin Gallagher Jordan Galvarino Brenda & Bob Gold Valery Heyduk K. L. Hoffman Irene Hong-McAtee Lora MacPherson Joanne Michalski Donald Mooty Robert Muzzi Patrice Pastore Geraldine Piscitelli
Marianne Reinhard Sally Rowe Erika Schaffer Kathryn Sleeper Joyce Smidt Robert Smidt Jack & Maryann Swisher C & H Van Benthuysen Donald & Nancy Walker Eric Williams
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COMING SOON
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SEASON MARCH 23 / SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS WITH NO CHANGES APRIL 13 / SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS WITH CHANGES MAY 11 / NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS & INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ON SALE CHOOSE AT LEAST 4 SHOWS & GET 10% OFF PURCHASE ALL 9 SHOWS & GET 15% OFF
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COMING SOON
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*Ticket stub must be from a show in the last six months. It may be shown digitally or printed.
No. 6 By T.J. Young
Can we weather the unknown together?
Surprisingly humorous, this unit-set drama puts everything in perspective; who are our neighbors when it feels like the end of the world? 2017 Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award Winner – KCACTF
MAR 29TH - APR 30TH
ON SALE NOW!
“No. 6” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
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