Teresa Orozco, Christina Mok, Vladimir Khalikulov & Drew Ford
Last night in Irvine Auditorium at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, we heard the second program in what has become a valuable addition to the classical music scene on the Monterey Peninsula. Four of the Monterey Symphony’s finest musicians, violinist Christina Mok, flutist Teresa Orozco, violist Vladimir Khalikulov and cellist Drew Ford came together to perform a program of works from the first Viennese Classical School of the late 18th and early 19th century.
Since this concert represents a joint venture between the Monterey Symphony and MIIS — a synergistic melding of culture and educational outreach — the audience was an interesting mixture of intense young students from MIIS, the President and Board Members of MIIS, and representatives from the Monterey Symphony, including Maestro Max Bragado-Darman, his wife Mary, and Chairman of the Board Lee Rosen. Also in the audience were the Co-Presidents of the Carmel Music Society, Anne & Peter Thorp.
Preceding the concert we heard a brief introductory talk by Dr. Todd Samra, which served to remind us of the international cross-cultural importance of the Viennese Classical School. Joseph Haydn began his illustrious career as a liveried servant providing music services for Prince Nicholas Esterhazy, yet as his fame grew, important visitors from all over Europe were coming to visit him, rather than his employer, the Prince. Mozart was also for a significant part of his life an employee of one of the Electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Samra pointed out that Beethoven was the first significant composer of this era to declare his independence of patronage and as a “freelancer” become the most famous composer of his time.
The music we heard on this occasion was an intimate selection of two string trios by Haydn and Schubert plus Beethoven’s masterpiece, Serenade in D Major, Op. 25, and concluded with another masterpiece, Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D Major, K.285 (don’t let the low Koechel number fool you, for it is a knockout). It was interesting that this program was so well chosen that it gathered in momentum and achieved a powerful cumulative effect. It is always a pleasure to hear violinist Christina Mok, for her mastery and high level of musicianship enhances everything she performs. Flutist Teresa Orozco was dazzling on this occasion, especially in her playing of her fabulous solo flute aria against pizzicato string accompaniment in the Adagio movement of the Mozart. Violist Khalikulov and cellist Ford both had important solos and impressed us with their solid and exciting playing.
An interesting historical note not mentioned by Dr. Samra was that the First Viennese Classical period came to an ignominious end after the death of Carl Maria von Weber in 1826, Beethoven in 1827 and Schubert in 1828. Europe’s musical center shifted from Vienna to Paris where public enthusiasm for opera so dominated public taste that fashionable composers churned out superficial variations and potpourri fantasies on opera tunes, and one of the great patrons of the time, Jakob Rothschild, hired set designers from the Paris Opera to complete the interior decoration of the public rooms in his Chateau with scenes from his favorite operas.
This was a very successful concert with a lovely reception following, and we hope this series will continue to be presented by MIIS and the Monterey Symphony.
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