A Celebration of the Cello

Tuesdays, July 19 & 26, 3:00 PM

Allen Whear Memorial Chamber Music Recital

Music by Boccherini, Mozart and Schubert, led by Cynthia Roberts

Cynthia Roberts, Chloe Fedor, violin; Kyle Miller, viola; Kieran Campbell,
Eva Lymenstull, cello

FRANZ SCHUBERT 

Trio in B-flat Major, D.471

(1797–1828)

Allegro

LUIGI BOCCHERINI 

Quintet in E Major, Op.13, No. 5

(1743 –1805)

Amoroso

Allegro con spirito

Minuetto

Rondeau: Andante

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 

Quartet in D Major, K 575

(1756–1791)

Allegretto

Andante

Menuetto: Allegretto

Allegretto

 

Program Notes

Franz Schubert, Trio in B-flat Major, D.471

Franz Schubert is one of the most intriguing composers of his day, but during his short lifetime, he received minimal praise from the public. He did have support from a small network of scholars, composers, and artists who collaborated and encouraged each other’s creative endeavors. Known for German lieder (poetry set to music), his music is famous for its catchy, singable melodies and dramatic flair. He wrote during the late Classical and early Romantic era, and most of his music is what one might call “crossover” between the two starkly different styles. This Trio in B-flat, of which he completed only one movement, is a particularly classical example in Schubert’s catalogue. In the final bars, a suspension in the violin adds some color to an otherwise predictable cadence.

Luigi Boccherini, Quintet in E Major, Op.13, No. 5
This quintet is a rare joy to hear because it features an additional cellist, a curious, unusual combination. It turns out Boccherini was employed by a member of the Spanish royal family to compose string quartets for the Font String Quartet to perform, and occasionally he would write an additional cello part so he could play along with them. The extra bass instrument is seemingly a subtle scoring change, but it truly shifts the focus toward the low strings and away from the violins, who tend to dominate the spotlight in traditional string quartets.

The Amoroso opens with all parts labeled con sordina (with mute), which creates a subtle, almost whisper-like introduction. The celli pass melodies back and forth in a lovely duet. The violins introduce the opening theme in the Allegro con spirito, then the celli muse on the theme playing it first romantically, then with cheeky staccato accompaniment. The imaginative harmonic and stylistic shifts seem to suggest that Boccherini’s use of the word spirito means not only “animated” but instead refers to the entire emotional palette. Minuetto opens with a famous melody written in the score for violin, but often played on the cello. This chipper minuet feels perpetually optimistic. Even when the music shifts to the minor mode and darkens, there’s a sense that we will return to the hummable opening tune. The Rondeau features two melodies in gentle competition, the celli and violins in quietly dueling duet. As the exposition

progresses, the two pairs begin to quote one another and play off each other more directly. In the development, the music shifts to minor, and the celli shine in a passionate duet. The movement ends in triumphant redeclaration of the themes sung throughout the movement.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Quartet in D Major, K 575
Mozart’s Quartet in D Major is from a set of three quartets dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, who played the cello at an amateur level. Mozart wrote all three quartets in the final three years of his life, and they were published just weeks after his death.

The piece is notably different from other quartets in Mozart’s catalogue due to the balance among the four instruments. Each instrument has its solo moments, but Mozart gives special attention to the cello — presumably for Friedrich Wilhelm’s benefit. It’s also unique in its outward playfulness. By many accounts, Mozart’s personality could switch from bubbly to serious at a moment’s notice, and this quartet seems to mirror that beautifully.

The first movement is carefree. The music alternates on a whim from long legato phrases to staccato passages littered with pauses. The Andante is especially spritely with plenty of 32nd note embellishments to ensure the piece doesn’t lose momentum before the Menuetto. Then, rather unexpectedly, the movement lacks the steady pulse one would typically associate with a Menuetto, and instead sloshes casually from lively to lazy and back again. The final movement begins rigidly in time and sounds more characteristically Mozartian with lyrical first violin melodies juxtaposing staccato counter melodies in the viola and cello. As the end approaches, he weaves triplets between the low string voices in seamless hand-offs, building speed and intensity toward the classic dominant to tonic conclusion.

—Jennifer Candiotti

 

Tags:

Director

Cynthia Roberts
Cynthia Roberts

Date

Jul 26 2022

Time

3:00 pm

Starting at

$31.00

Featuring

  • Cynthia Roberts
    Cynthia Roberts
    Principal Second Violin

    Cynthia Roberts is one of America’s leading period instrument violinists, appearing as soloist, concertmaster, and recitalist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She is a faculty member of the Juilliard School. She specializes in classical chamber music performance with historic keyboards and has performed throughout the world with fortepianist Christoph Hammer. She appears regularly with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Smithsonian Chamber Players, Tafelmusik, and the Boston Early Music Festival. She has performed as concertmaster of Les Arts Florissants with William Christie and appeared with Orchester Wiener Akademie, the London Classical Players, and the Bach Collegium Japan. She was featured as soloist and concertmaster on the soundtrack of the Touchstone Pictures film Casanova, and accompanied soprano Renee Fleming on Late Night with David Letterman.

    Ms. Roberts also teaches at the University of North Texas and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute and has given master classes at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Indiana University, Eastman, the Cleveland Institute, Cornell, Rutgers, Minsk Conservatory, Leopold-Mozart-Zentrum Augsburg, Shanghai Conservatory, Vietnam National Academy of Music, and for the Jeune Orchestre Atlantique in France. Ms. Roberts made her solo debut at age 12 playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Grant Park Symphony of Chicago. Her recording credits include Sony, CPO, and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.

  • Kyle Miller
    Kyle Miller
    Viola

    Violist Kyle Miller made his concerto debut in 2005 with the Reading (Pennsylvania) Symphony Orchestra as ‘the dog’ in P.D.Q. Bach’s Canine Cantata, Wachet Arf! After that watershed performance, Kyle went on to study at the New England Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and The Juilliard School.

    A member of ACRONYM, Diderot String Quartet, Four Nations Ensemble, and New York Baroque Incorporated, Kyle also has appeared onstage with A Far Cry, the American Classical Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, the Clarion Orchestra, the English Concert, Handel and Haydn Society, House of Time, the Knights, Opera Lafayette, Quodlibet Ensemble, the Sebastians, Seraphic Fire, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Teatro Nuovo, TENET, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and the Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra.

    Kyle performs regularly at the Carmel Bach Festival and the Staunton Music Festival; and as a member of Diderot String Quartet, he has served as a guest artist and coach at Oberlin College’s Baroque Performance Institute. In 2017 and 2018, Kyle wore a wig and frock coat on Broadway, where he performed in a run of Claire van Kampen’s play Farinelli and the King.

  • Keiran Campbell
    Keiran Campbell
    Cello

    Keiran Campbell was drawn to the cello after he stumbled across one in his grandmother’s basement and was baffled by its size. Once he turned 8, he began taking lessons—on a much smaller cello—in his native Greensboro, North Carolina. After studying extensively with Leonid Zilper, former solo cellist of the Bolshoi Ballet, he received his Bachelors and Masters at the Juilliard School, working with Darrett Adkins, Timothy Eddy, and Phoebe Carrai. Keiran also spent several springs in Cornwall, England, studying with Steven Isserlis and Ralph Kirshbaum at Prussia Cove. He is now based in Toronto, Ontario, and is principal cello in Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

    Keiran has performed with orchestras including The English Concert, NYBI, Philharmonia Baroque, The Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Mercury Baroque, and Le Concert des Nations. During the summer, Keiran plays in NYC with Teatro Nuovo, an opera company dedicated to performing bel canto opera on period instruments, and he also performs at Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota. Keiran has given lectures and masterclasses at UNC Chapel Hill, RNCM Manchester, Western University, and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. Performances this season include concerto appearances with Tafelmusik and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, a concert of Monteverdi Madrigals with Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations in Carnegie Hall, and performances at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival with The English Concert. He can be heard on the newly released recording of Beethoven Symphonies by Le Concert des Nations and Jordi Savall.

    Keiran is also fascinated by instrument making, which he studies with the maker of his cello, Timothy Johnson.

  • Chloe Fedor
    Chloe Fedor
    Violin

    Lauded for her “lovely, plush, seductive tone” and described as “clearly gifted” by the New York Times, violinist Chloe Fedor is sought after throughout the country as a concertmaster, soloist and chamber musician. She appears regularly with The American Classical Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, Early Music New York, New York Baroque Incorporated, The Sebastians, and Trinity Wall-Street Baroque Orchestra, among others.

    In 2018, Chloe joined the cast of Shakespeare’s Globe on Broadway as the onstage Baroque violinist in Farinelli and the King, starring Sir Mark Rylance and Iestyn Davies. Chloe spends her summers at the Carmel Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival and Lakes Area Music Festival, where she leads the Baroque program.

    Chloe was a concerto competition winner at both of her Alma Maters, The Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School, and was one of 15 Juilliard 2015 graduates to receive the Career Advancement Fellowship.

  • Eva Lymenstull
    Eva Lymenstull
    Cello

    Los Angeles-based baroque cellist and violist da gamba Eva Lymenstull enjoys a diverse career that has taken her across North America and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician, continuo player and orchestral musician. She has performed recently as concerto soloist and principal cellist with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, guest principal cellist of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, and Musica Angelica, and has also appeared with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Voices of Music, Tesserae, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Holland Baroque Society. She has performed at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Utrecht, Boston, and Berkeley Fringe Festivals, and on the Gotham Early Music and Academy of Early Music series.

    As winner of the 2017 Voices of Music Bach Competition, Ms. Lymenstull recorded Bach’s D minor cello suite for their online video archive. With performance and research interests ranging from the early Renaissance to the twentieth century, she particularly enjoys playing Classical and Romantic chamber music on historical instruments. Recent recordings can be heard on the Brilliant Classics and Violet Ear labels.

    In addition to performing, Ms. Lymenstull teaches baroque cello and viola da gamba as a regular guest artist at the University of Michigan. She holds degrees from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (Jaap ter Linden), Rice University (Desmond Hoebig) and University of Michigan (Richard Aaron), and a doctorate in historical performance practice from Case Western Reserve University.

Location

All Saints' Episcopal Church
All Saints' Episcopal Church
Dolores St between 9th and 10th Ave, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921
Website
https://www.allsaintscarmel.org/

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