Concert 3
Music of Beethoven, Salonen, Debussy and Mozart
Friday, April 13, 2012 at 8:00 PM
(Pre-Concert Conversation at 7:00 PM)
Jordan Hall
New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA
(Please Note: different venue and time)
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 2
Salonen Mania for Cello and Chamber Orchestra
Kacy Clopton, cello
Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Mozart Symphony No. 39
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Discovery Ensemble’s final concert of the year divides very nicely into a first half of tension and a second half of relaxation.
We begin in the mode of high drama with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 2. This is the overture that preceded Beethoven’s opera Fidelio in the opera’s first version. Although less frequently played than Leonore No. 3 it is, in fact, the more surprising of the overtures, finding Beethoven in his most experimental, exploratory mood.
That the famous Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is also one of the distinguished composers of our day is not as well known in America as it is in Europe, where his works are performed with considerable frequency. Mania, for cello and small orchestra, is a perfect place to begin one’s acquaintance with the music of Salonen, whose style is rather like a mixture of Debussy and Sibelius, with the addition of a very modern nervous streak. The piece is in one uninterrupted movement that traverses a great variety of moods, from uncomfortably thorny to almost sinfully sensuous and exotic, with the frenetic soloist moving ever forward to a surprising and electrifying conclusion. The unusual demands placed on the soloist require a truly formidable cellist. Kacy Clopton, for two years principal cello of Discovery Ensemble and a performer of tremendous virtuosity and intensity is an ideal exponent of this powerful and deeply rewarding piece.
Debussy’s beloved Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun was a seminal piece for Salonen’s musical development, so it seems appropriate to program it in conjunction with Mania. It will doubtless prove very interesting for audiences who are used to hearing this exquisite piece played by huge orchestras in large halls to experience it played with the delicacy of a chamber orchestra in a more intimate space.
Closing the concert is that sunniest and most serene of classical symphonies, Mozart’s Symphony No. 39. Its good humor throughout, and particularly the crackling wit of its last movement, bear testimony to the composer’s deep affection for the music of Haydn. Highly concentrated – more like the greatest of Mozart’s chamber works than most of the symphonies – it shows Mozart operating at his very highest level of inspiration and of invention.
Kacy Clopton
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Described by The Washington Post as “Poised, polished, and passionate,” Kacy Clopton began playing the cello at age five in her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. Kacy Clopton served as the principal cellist of Discovery Ensemble for two seasons (2008 – 2010).
She recently received a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory where Ms. Clopton won the 2010 Strings Concerto Competition.
She has performed frequently at Jordan Hall and Sanders Theatre, at the Millennium Stage and the Terrace Theatre at the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art Concert Series, and at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
Ms. Clopton is a passionate and active chamber musician and she currently resides in Lucerne, Switzerland where she is pursuing a career with her string quartet, the Excelsa Quartet. The quartet has won several prestigious chamber music awards including first prize at the Charles Hennen International Chamber Music Competition in the Netherlands and the Prix du “Jeune Jury” et Prix du Public at the Illzach International Chamber Music Competition in France.
