THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2018-2019 47
Program Notes
level of the Classical-era tradition. The keyboard
gave Mozart the vehicle to explore his prodigious
skill, the symphonic writing clothed it, and from
opera came the song.
The entrance of the piano after a delicate orchestral
introduction feels as if the soloist is barely touching
the keys. Flourishes in the minor keep the central
theme from soaring too high, but the piano soon
breaks away in a song of its own. Mozart provides
a cadenza in the allegro but not in the sense of a
virtuosic showpiece; this one is so understated as to
be almost invisible. Fittingly, the movement closes
as quietly as it begins.
The larghetto is the heart of the work, often called
“childlike’’ in its simplicity, but no child could
master the nuance needed for this to be convincing,
as this is Mozart at his most serene. The third
movement is in the form of a rondo because its
opening theme keeps returning, but in different
keys. Adding a bit of excitement are not one but two
cadenzas that give the soloist a chance to improvise
and carry the work to its stylish conclusion – ending
one of the most loved compilations of concertos by
any composer.
“It was not in the Requiem that he said his last word,
but in this work, which belongs to a species in which
he also said his greatest,’’ wrote Alfred Einstein in
his seminal book, Mozart: His Character, His Work.
“This is the musical counterpart to the confession
he made in his letters that life had lost attraction for
him.’’
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
OVERTURE AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC TO A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Op. 21 and 61
Duration: ca. 50 minutes
The celebrated cellist Pablo Casals described
Felix Mendelssohn as “a romantic who felt at ease
within the mold of classicism.” Mendelssohn
broke no new ground, nor did he compose
revolutionary works. He wrote safely in his
comfort zone, borrowing from the past rather
than exploring the future. But what was born
from his imagination was nothing less than
astounding.
He was one of the most gifted musicians of his age,
noted as much for his exacting craftsmanship as the
opulent charm and tunefulness of his music. He was
a loyalist to tradition, and believed in preserving
the essential works of those who came before him,
especially Bach. It was Mendelssohn who conducted
the second performance of the monumental but
forgotten St. Matthew Passion, leading to a revival of
Bach throughout Europe.
At 16 he composed his famous Octet, and the following
year his overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, what
the music scholar George Grove called “the greatest
marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen
in music.’’ Mendelssohn received a commission more
than a decade later for what would be the Incidental
Music, which he composed with no discernible gap in
style.
Orchestras rarely play the Overture and Incidental
Music together, but TFO Music Director Michael Francis
wanted both in honor of this month’s Shakespearethemed
Celebration of the Arts because “an effort like
this is very much part of our cross-pollination with other
artistic institutions in the Tampa Bay area,’’ he said.
The Overture is effervescent in its delicate dance of
fairies, procession, and braying of the donkey. It’s
also a marvel of transparency, musical figuration
and harmonic balance. For the Incidental Music,
Mendelssohn wrote 13 numbers – mixing vocal and
instrumental sections. A sparkling Scherzo matches
the elfin magic of the Overture, and leads into the first
melodrama, and a Fairy March ushers the arrival of
Oberon. Rarely performed in its entirety, the Incidental
Music usually includes Ye spotted snakes; a pair of
Intermezzos; the Nocturne with its noble solo horn; a
Funeral March that sounds downright Mahlerian; the
spirited Dance of the Clowns; and of course, the Wedding
March – a favorite of brides and grooms all over the
world.
Program notes by Kurt Loft, a freelance writer and
former music critic for The Tampa Tribune.