Chamber Music New Zealand Presents

Eggner Trio

with Amihai Grosz (viola)

We are very pleased to support our friends in the Eggner Trio again, especially with the addition of Amihai Grosz from the world-renowned Berlin Philharmonic, and to continue to foster cultural exchange between Austria and New Zealand.

Gute unterhaltung – Enjoy the concert!

Carolyn and Peter Diessl

As Honorary Consul-General of Austria, a former Chair and valued Life Member of Chamber Music New Zealand and a member of the NZSO Board, Peter Diessl combines his business expertise with political and diplomatic experience, and he and Carolyn are very generous supporters of the Arts in New Zealand.

From the Tour Supporters

Next year Chamber Music New Zealand marks the 50th Jubilee of the NZCT Chamber Music Contest.

Book-ended by two international ensembles, our Kaleidoscopes Concert Season will feature a star-studded line up of Contest Alumni.

It is a year of superb music and musicians crafted to celebrate the extraordinary impact the iconic chamber music contest has had on the lives of so many New Zealanders.

Be one of the first to be in the know when we launch the season – sign up to get IN THE LOOP: www.chambermusic.co.nz/in-the-loop

Countdown to 2015 CONCERT SEASON LAUNCH!

1Eggner Trio with Amihai Grosz

Mozart Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor K478 4

Beethoven Piano Trio in D Opus 70 No 1 ‘Ghost’ 5

Interval

Anthony Ritchie Oppositions 6

Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat Opus 47 7

Auckland 16 September Palmerston North 19 September Napier 20 September Dunedin 23 September

ProgrammeWelcome

We are delighted to welcome back the Eggner Trio from Austria, along with violist Amihai Grosz. These four dynamic musicians already enjoy a special relationship with audiences in our part of the world, although this is the first time that we have paired them together as a piano quartet.

They will perform some of our favourite piano trios and quartets as well as introducing us to a 21st century work by Dunedin composer Anthony Ritchie. It is great to know that Aotearoa New Zealand has music to offer these international performers, and it makes the collaboration even richer.

We acknowledge the very generous support of Carolyn and Peter Diessl who over the past decade have made all four tours by the Eggner Trio possible.

Thanks for joining us and prepare to be thrilled!

Euan MurdochChief Executive Chamber Music New Zealand

The Auckland concert will be recorded for broadcast

by Radio NZ Concert

Please respect the music, the musicians, and your fellow audience members, by switching off all cellphones, pagers and watches. Taking photographs, or sound or video recordings during the concert is strictly prohibited unless with the prior approval of Chamber Music New Zealand.

© W

anak

a Ph

otog

raph

y

2 Chamber Music New Zealand

Founded in 1997, the Eggner Trio came to international attention by winning First Prize in the International Brahms Competition in Pőrtschach in 1999, then First Prize in the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2003. The Trio was selected for the European Concert Hall Organisation’s ‘Rising Stars’ programme for the 2005-06 season, enabling it to perform at major concert halls around Europe and make its American debut in New York’s Carnegie Hall. They are now invited to leading chamber music events such as the Schubertiade and Lockenhaus festivals, and regularly perform at the Wigmore Hall, London and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

In 2013 their CD of music by Clara Schumann and Brahms was given an award by Radio Austria. Four earlier CDs include music by Shostakovich, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, as well as trios written for the group by contemporary Austrian composers.

Since 2006 the Eggner Trio has made regular concert tours of Australia and New Zealand, and members of the group have established themselves as audience favourites. They have just finished tutoring at the Australian Youth Orchestra Chamber Players programme in Melbourne.

Georg Eggner started violin lessons at the age of seven, then studied with Boris Kuschnir in Linz and Guenter Pichler in Vienna. He has won first prizes in the national competitions Jugend Musiziert and Prima la Musica (Austria), as well as the international competition Concorso Internationale di Musica per I Giovani, Stresa (Italy). Georg has given recitals in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain and Italy.

Florian Eggner began his cello studies at the age of seven. He studied with Wilfried Tachezi in Linz, then with Wolfgang Herzer

Georg Eggner violin

Florian Eggner cello

3Eggner Trio with Amihai Grosz

and Stefan Kropfitsch in Vienna, and with Clemens Hagen in Salzburg. He was first prize winner in the Austrian competition Prima la Musica in 1996, and has given concerts in the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Spain as well as Austria. He is a co-founder of the fusion ensemble ‘Table 6’ for which he also composes.

Christoph Eggner started piano lessons at the age of eight. He received a scholarship to the Bruckner Conservatory Linz, and gave his first solo piano recital at the age of sixteen. In Vienna he studied with Paul Badura-Skoda, Ludwig Hoffmann and Oleg Maisenberg and he has been Maisenberg’s assistant since 2000. He has also studied with Brigitte Engerer and Michel Béroff in Paris. Christoph has given recitals in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Luxembourg and Turkey and has been a prize winner in several competitions.

Amihai Grosz learned the violin from the age of five, and changed to the viola when he was eleven. He entered a programme for outstanding musical talents at the Jerusalem Music Center, and later studied with Tabea Zimmermann in Germany and Haim Taub in Tel Aviv. As a founding member of the Jerusalem Quartet he has toured New Zealand several times for Chamber Music New Zealand.

In 2010 he left the Quartet to take up the position of Principal Violist with the Berlin Philharmonic, and now performs as a soloist and chamber musician with leading artists such as Yefim Bronfman, Mitsuko Uchida, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin and David Geringas.

Christoph Eggner piano

Amihai Grosz viola

4 Chamber Music New Zealand

Wolfgang Amadeus MozartBorn Salzburg, 27 January 1756Died Vienna, 5 December 1791

Piano Quartet in G minor K478AllegroAndanteRondo (Allegro)

The 1780s saw many changes in Mozart’s life. After being dismissed as a court musician in 1781 by the Archbishop of Salzburg, he settled in Vienna and married the singer Constanze Weber. His German language opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail brought him success and wide recognition as a composer, and he made a good living from writing and performing his own piano concertos. Between 1782 and 1785 he studied the music of Bach and Handel, developing his own abilities in writing counterpoint, and he produced a set of six string quartets that were dedicated to his friend Haydn.

During 1785 Mozart was particularly busy. Among other things, he worked on the opera The Marriage of Figaro, which was to be his next major success, published his ‘Haydn’ quartets and wrote two substantial piano concertos (No 20 in D minor and No 21 in C). A commission from the publisher Hoffmeister to write three piano quartets was less successful, however.

There was a flourishing market among the Viennese public for chamber works suited to amateur musicians, and the piano trio was especially popular. Hoffmeister saw an

opportunity to create a new ensemble by adding a viola part, but was disappointed by the complexity of the first one written, the Piano Quartet in G minor. When it failed to sell, he cancelled the commission, though apparently allowed Mozart to keep the advance payment. A few years later one reviewer commented: “Many another piece can sustain a mediocre performance; this product of Mozart is, however, scarcely bearable if it is performed by mediocre, dilettante hands and carelessly presented”.

It may not have been widely appreciated when it was written, but since then the Piano Quartet in G minor has become recognised as the first masterpiece written for that ensemble. Mozart had not moved very far from the accepted ‘accompanied piano sonata’ style, though, and at times the piano almost seems to be the soloist in a concerto, with the trio of strings forming a balancing texture.

The serious first movement opens with a unison statement of the main theme, which dominates the music throughout. A second theme features a syncopated melody, immediately balanced by the simpler passage that follows.

The Andante second movement has a melancholy air despite being in the relative major key, B flat. The piano again leads with a singing melody, but the strings quickly assert themselves and introduce the second theme, after which the music becomes a constant intertwining of all four instruments. The final Rondo is in G major and sparkles with melodic inventiveness. Occasional diversions into the minor key provide only brief reminders of the work’s home key.

5Eggner Trio with Amihai Grosz

Ludwig van BeethovenBaptised Bonn, 17 December 1770Died Vienna, 26 March 1827

Piano Trio in D Opus 70 No 1 ‘Ghost’Allegro vivace con brioLargo assai et espressivoPresto

Beethoven’s two Piano Trios Opus 70 were composed in the autumn of 1808, towards the end of what is known as his second period (1803-12). They belong amongst a group of Beethoven’s popular works, appearing after the 6th Symphony and Violin Concerto, and before the 5th Piano Concerto and his only opera Fidelio.

At the time, the composer was living in Vienna, in the apartments of Countess Anna Marie von Erdödy, a talented pianist whose salon was a leading performance venue for chamber music. According to some contemporaries Beethoven was attracted to her, and when the Trios were printed he insisted that the fingering he had notated for the Countess be preserved.

The first performance was given in her house in December 1808, with Beethoven himself on piano and his colleagues Ignaz Schuppanzigh and Joseph Linke, whose string quartet later gave the premiéres of his final string quartets, taking the string parts. One audience member wrote: “Beethoven himself played with great bravura and resolution an entirely new trio .... of great power and originality”.

Around the same time as he wrote the Piano Trio in D, Beethoven was also planning to compose an opera based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. He set a few parts of text to music before deciding that the libretto, written by his friend Heinrich Collin, was “too gloomy” and not suitable. At the top of a page containing sketches for the music of the slow movement of the Trio in D he made reference to the ending of Macbeth, in which the ghost of the murdered Banquo appears. But the work did not acquire its nickname until 1842, when Beethoven’s pupil Czerny commented that the music reminded him of the ghost in Hamlet.

The central Largo is certainly one of the most unusual slow movements Beethoven wrote. It has an elusive quality – its thematic material is fragmentary, and the instrumental gestures seem to add colour rather than musical argument. The sudden outbursts, low piano rolls and tremolandi also point to Beethoven’s delight in the increased expressive capability of the pianoforte at that time.

In contrast to the D minor Largo, the D major outer movements seem almost carefree. The unison rhythmic figure that opens the Allegro leads seamlessly to a singing main theme, and both are featured during the development section. The final Presto is also written as a sonata form movement, enlivened with a few theatrical gestures.

6 Chamber Music New Zealand

Anthony RitchieBorn Christchurch, 18 September 1960

Oppositions

Now one of New Zealand’s most experienced composers, Anthony Ritchie graduated from Canterbury University then went on to further composition studies at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. On his return he spent a year as Composer-in-Schools in Christchurch, before taking up the post of Mozart Fellow at Otago University for the years 1988-89. As Composer-in-Residence with the Dunedin Sinfonia, he produced his first symphony Boum, Flute Concerto, Viola Concerto and orchestral work Remember Parihaka. He spent twelve years as a freelance composer, writing commissioned pieces for leading ensembles such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Footnote Dance Company, and in 2000 he became a lecturer in composition at Otago University, where he is now Associate Professor.

In 2004 Anthony Ritchie’s opera The God Boy was premièred at the Otago Festival of the Arts, and the previous year the chamber opera Quartet appeared as part of the International Festival of Arts in Wellington. Many of his works have been performed overseas, and the most recent CD devoted to his music, A Bugle Will Do, was named as a ‘CD of the Year’ by Music Web International as well as ‘Classical Album of the Year’ by the NZ Listener.

He has written for a wide variety of genres, including songs, sonatas, solo piano, chamber music and school choirs.

Local literature frequently inspires his work, most obviously in the CD New Zealand Poets in Song, performed by Anna and Matthew Leese with Tom McGrath. Wind Quintet, written for the 2009 Chamber Music New Zealand tour by Zephyr, is based on poems by Brian Turner and James K Baxter, and his recent Symphony No 4 includes settings of poems by Bernadette Hall for soprano.

Oppositions was composed in 2005 for the New Zealand Piano Quartet, and was included in their 2006 recording of chamber music by Anthony Ritchie. The composer writes:

“It is in one movement, and is based around the idea of opposing forces, whether they be literal or imaginative. In musical terms, the piano is frequently pitted against the strings, while musical themes seem to jostle for supremacy. After a short and ominous introduction, the strident first theme is played on violin, accompanied by hammered chords.

A second theme has all three stringed instruments playing in ‘cluster’ harmonies. The cello announces a lyrical but turbulent idea, and this is played in counterpoint with the first theme.

The piano is to the fore in a third theme, which is stealthy and marked by sudden outbursts.

These themes are discussed in a middle section that gradually winds down to very soft, thudding chords, before building up to a vigorous return of the opening. In this final section themes are fragmented and tossed around violently, before a brief Coda in which the first theme appears dominant.”

7Eggner Trio with Amihai Grosz

Robert SchumannBorn Zwickau, Saxony, 8 June 1810Died Endenich, near Bonn, 29 July 1856

Piano Quartet in E flat Opus 47Sostenuto assai; Allegro ma non troppoScherzo: Molto vivace – Trio I – Trio IIAndante cantabileFinale: Vivace

His marriage to the pianist Clara Wieck in September 1840 brought Schumann great happiness, inspiring him to compose prolifically. During that year he concentrated on writing songs, in 1841 it was symphonies, and the following year he turned to chamber music.

Temporarily parted from Clara, who was on a concert tour of northern Europe, Schumann undertook a rigorous study of quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven as well as contrapuntal techniques. This was an effort to compensate for the lack of formal training which he felt had deterred him from writing large-scale abstract music in the past. Until then, the majority of his compositions had involved some form of literary stimulus, but now he was deliberately trying to avoid writing programmatic works.

Between June and November 1842, he wrote a number of significant chamber works, including three Quartets Opus 41, and the Piano Quintet Opus 44. This period of astonishing creativity finished with the Piano Quartet Opus 47. It was composed at the request of Count Mathiew Wielhorsky, a talented amateur cellist of Schumann’s acquaintance, and as a result the role of

the cello is second only to that of the piano which, in the words of one critic, “seems determined to be in on everything”.

A spacious movement in full sonata form opens the quartet. The main theme appears in three different guises: in a melancholy vein during the slow introduction; rhythmic and vital, as played by the piano in the ensuing Allegro; and in a song-like version for cello. Although there is a subsidiary theme, Schumann concentrates most of his attention on this main melody, punctuating its development with some powerful climaxes and, at one point, a surprise repeat of the opening slow section.

The Scherzo begins with cello and piano in their low registers, but quickly settles into a lighter mood. A charmingly imitative Trio leads to a repeat of the Scherzo. A second Trio is chordal in character and is interrupted repeatedly by the Scherzo, which eventually succeeds in taking over again.

The Andante cantabile is the emotional core of the work. It is in ternary form and is notable for a passionate cello melody which dominates the musical material. As the movement ends, the cello sustains a low pedal note while the other instruments make fleeting moves toward to the main melody of the Finale. This last movement is full of both high spirits and melody. Schumann pours out a stream of lyrical ideas, interspersing them with ingenious contrapuntal passages which seem only to enhance the musical flow, never impede it. Although worn out after so many months of feverish compositional activity, the Finale shows no hint of Schumann’s deteriorating physical state and is the most buoyant and optimistic movement in the entire work.

8 Chamber Music New Zealand

Level 4, 75 Ghuznee Street PO Box 6238, Wellington

Tel (04) 384 6133 Fax (04) 384 3773

info@chambermusic.co.nzwww.chambermusic.co.nz /ChamberMusicNZ

For all Concerts Managersphone 0800 CONCERT (266 2378)

BoardChair, Roger King; Peter Walls, Paul Baines, Gretchen La Roche, Sarah Sinclair, Lloyd Williams.

StaffChief Executive, Euan MurdochBusiness Manager, Jenni Hall Business Support Coordinator, Gemma RobinsonOperations Coordinator, Rachel HardieArtist Development Manager, Catherine Gibson Programme Coordinator (Contest), Pip WantProgramme Coordinator (Education and Outreach), Sue Jane Programme Writer, Jane Dawson Audience Development Manager, Victoria DaddMarketing & Communications Coordinator, Candice de VilliersTicketing & Database Coordinator, Laurel BruceDesign & Print, Chris McDonaldPublicist, Sally Woodfield

BranchesAuckland: Chair, Victoria Silwood; Concert Manager, Ros Giffney

Hamilton: Chair, Murray Hunt; Concert Manager, Gaye Duffill

New Plymouth: Chair, Joan Gaines; Concert Manager, Susan Case

Hawkes Bay: Chair, June Clifford; Concert Manager, Liffy Roberts

Manawatu: Chair, Graham Parsons; Concert Manager, Virginia Warbrick

Wellington: Concert Manager, Rachel Hardie

Nelson: Chair, Annette Monti; Concert Manager, Clare Monti

Christchurch: Chair, Colin McLachlan; Concert Manager, Jody Keehan

Dunedin: Chair, Terence Dennis; Concert Manager, Richard Dingwall

Southland: Chair, Shona Thomson; Concert Manager, Jennifer Sinclair

Regional Presenters Blenheim, Cromwell, Gisborne, Gore, Hutt Valley, Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Morrinsville, Motueka, Rotorua, Taihape, Tauranga, Te Awamutu, Tokoroa, Upper Hutt, Waikanae, Waimakariri, Waipukurau, Wanaka, Wanganui, Warkworth, Wellington, Whakatane and Whangarei.

© Chamber Music New Zealand 2014 No part of this programme may be reproduced without the prior permission of Chamber Music New Zealand.

Regional Concerts & Other Events

The Troubles ( jazz band)Whakatane, 10 OctoberWarkworth, 12 OctoberWhangarei, 15 OctoberKaitaia, 18 October

Donizetti Trio (flute, bassoon, piano)Tauranga, 21 SeptemberRotorua, 6 OctoberWanganui, 8 OctoberGisborne, 10 OctoberGore, 19 OctoberWanaka, 21 OctoberCromwell, 22 OctoberMotueka, 24 October

A Special Thank You to all our Supporters

Education:

FARINA THOMPSON CHARITABLE TRUST

MARIE VANDEWART TRUST

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Auckland, Nice Hotel New Plymouth, County Hotel Napier, InterContinental Wellington, Kelvin Hotel Invercargill

Coffee supplier: Karajoz Coffee Company | Chocolatier: de Spa Chocolatier

WINTON AND MARGARET BEAR CHARITABLE TRUST

Encore, CMNZ's Supporter Programme, provides many ways of gifting your support. You can support the future of chamber music in New Zealand by giving to our Foundation.

We thank all contributors for their generous support.

For more information about Encore, visit www.chambermusic.co.nz/support-us