Sinfonietta DuPage presents Mozart and Beethoven masterpieces
The Sinfonietta DuPage, under the direction of Dan D’Andrea, will present its spring concert featuring Terri Van Valkinburgh, assistant principal violist with The Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Kevin Case, assistant concertmaster of the Music of the Baroque.
They will perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra K. 364. The program also includes the beautiful classical masterpiece Beethoven Symphony No. 8 in F and Boieldieu’s Overture from the Caliph de Bagdad.
The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, at Peace Church, 21W500 Butterfield, Lombard.
Tickets are available only at the door. Adult admission is $22 or $12 for students and seniors. Information can be found through the Sinfonietta DuPage Facebook page. Parking is free and there is ample intimate seating.
Terri Van Valkinburgh is also principal viola with The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. Kevin Case performs frequently in Chicago as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. He has served as concertmaster of the Midwest Mozart Festival as well as being concertmaster of the Memphis Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, and Dallas Opera. Case received a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, where he was the teaching assistant to the renowned violinist Zvi Zeitlin.
Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante was composed in 1779, while on a tour of Europe with his mother, and in search of a permanent position. This tour included stays in Mannheim, Munich and Paris.
During this time Mozart became acquainted with the famous Mannheim orchestra, the best in Europe at its time. It was during this time that he composed the Sinfonia Concertante, a brilliant combination of both symphony and concerto.
The premiere of Beethoven’s 8th Symphony took place on Feb. 27, 1814, at a concert in Vienna. Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time but nevertheless insisted on leading the premiere. The orchestra ignored Beethoven and followed the principal violist instead. Beethoven was angered at the reception that the 8th Symphony received, considering it one of his highest achievements.
The work is more classic and the in style of Haydn or Mozart, yet it explodes with incredible motivic and thematic inventions, counterpoint, shifting cross rhythms, and sudden changes in dynamics.
All four movements have their own unique quality and often show a humorous side of Beethoven that is not often seen. The allegro scherzando second moment is an affectionate parody of the metronome, a time measuring instrument invented by Beethoven’s friend Johann Maelzel. The third movement minuet has the use of sforzando attacks on both the principal beat and then on the offbeat, absolutely poking fun at the traditional dance form. This minuet is then followed with a Trio section that contrasts with an incredible duet between the horn and clarinet.
The final movement, Tchaikovsky called “One of the greatest symphonic masterpieces of Beethoven.” In this finale of crashing crossing rhythms of even eighths against triplets, you have a rogue C sharp thrown in the Key of F. This startling note then gives us a humorous long distance harmonic ride to the end.
François-Adrien Boieldieu was primarily a composer of Opera-Comique, a classic opera that contained spoken dialogue, and contrasted with the competing Italian Opera Buffa. Boieldieu composed Le Calife de Bagdad in 1800. It is light and avoids excessive ornamentation and very much typifies the more conservative French style. Hector Berlioz described Bordelais’s music as “a pleasing and tasteful Parisian elegance.”
This program is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Art of DuPage from the DuPage Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.
Learn more about Sinfonietta DuPage at sinfoniettabelcanto.org.