CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

Zankel Hall
Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 7:30 PM

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Jeanne Lamon, Music Director

RAMEAU Suite from Dardanus
HANDEL Water Music (complete)

Encores:
HANDEL Alla Hornpipe from Water Music
RAMEAU Tambourins from Suite from Dardanus

Program Notes:

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU (1683–1764)
Suite from Dardanus

Rameau’s tragedy Dardanus was first presented at the Paris Opera in 1739. Although the 56-year-old Rameau was at the height of his career and in the previous six years had produced four very successful operas, this newest tragedy was given a mixed reception. Before reviving it in 1744, Rameau and his librettist, Le Clerc de la Bruyère, made radical changes, completely rewriting three of the five acts. This nouvelle tragédie, as Rameau called it, was much more successful. It also formed the basis of yet another revival in 1760—this one triumphant. For this final production the 77-year-old composer made yet more additions and substitutions. The three versions of Dardanus thus encompass an enormous amount of music, including a vast amount of purely orchestral music. Indeed an anonymous critic of the first production complained that it was “so laden with music that for three whole hours the orchestra players have not time to sneeze.” Tafelmusik has selected a suite of these symphonies and dances for tonight’s program.

The Suite from Dardanus receives its Carnegie Hall premiere in its entirety this evening. The first selection of any kind from Dardanus to be performed at Carnegie Hall was the Rigaudon (arr. Vincent d’Indy’s) on November 10, 1909, with the New York Philharmonic and Gustav Mahler, conductor.



GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
Watermusic

At about eight in the evening the King repaired to his barge. Next to the King’s barge was that of the musicians, about 50 in number—trumpets, horns, oboes, bassoon, German flutes [transverse flutes], French flutes [recorders], violins, and basses, but no singers. The music had been composed specially by the famous Handel, a native of Halle, and his Majesty’s principal court composer. His Majesty’s approval of it was so great that he caused it to be played three times in all; twice before and once after supper, even though each performance lasted an hour. The evening was fine as could be desired for the occasion, and the number of barges and boats full of people wanting to listen was beyond counting.


It was on the occasion of the royal river excursion of July 17, 1717, described above by the Brandenburg Resident in London, Friedrich Bonet, that Handel’s celebrated Water Music was first performed. River parties were regular occurrences during the summer season in 18th-century London, and royal excursions were important social occasions. The 1717 event was apparently the grandest, and possibly the last, of King George I’s water parties. A contemporary newspaper account reported that there were so many boats filled with “persons of quality” that “the whole river in a manner was cover’d.” The barges floated up the river from Whitehall to Chelsea, riding the tide. The King and his party were served dinner at Chelsea at one o’clock in the morning, returning to St. James’s Palace at half-past four.

Handel’s reputation, both with the royal family and the more general public, was served well by his contribution to the “royal cruise.” Movements from the so-called Water Music appeared in various publications for several decades, and concert performances were very popular. Throughout the work the wind instruments, so well suited for outdoor use, figure prominently. Water Music can be divided into three suites: an extended suite in F major featuring the oboes, bassoon and horns; a short suite in G major featuring the recorder; and a majestic suite in D major featuring the trumpets and horns. Tonight’s complete performance of Water Music uses an arrangement of movements commonly used in 18th-century concert versions.

Water Music (complete) received its Carnegie Hall premiere on April 18, 1963, with the Telemann Society Festival Orchestra and Richard Schulze, conductor. The first selection of any kind from Water Music to be performed at Carnegie Hall was the Hornpipe on December 5, 1923, with Percy Grainger, piano.


—Charlotte Nediger

© 2009 by The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Jeanne Lamon, Music Director
Tafelmusik was founded in 1979 and celebrates its 30th Anniversary this season. Under the inspired leadership of Music Director and concertmaster Jeanne Lamon since 1981, Tafelmusik has achieved international recognition for its concerts and recordings.

Tafelmusik’s success has taken it around the world, with regular tours across North America, Europe, and Asia. This season’s tour schedule includes the Orchestra’s 16th annual residency at the Klang und Raum Festival in Germany, a residency at the Banff Centre, and tours of Mexico, Ontario and Quebec. Tonight’s concert, Tafelmusik’s Carnegie Hall debut, is part of a US tour that includes stops in New Mexico, Kansas, and Wisconsin.

Tafelmusik performs over 50 concerts each season at its home base, the historic Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre in downtown Toronto. It also presents a three-concert series at the George Weston Recital Hall and presents community concerts in various Toronto venues. The Tafelmusik Orchestra and Chamber Choir have a longstanding partnership with Toronto’s Baroque opera company, Opera Atelier.

Tafelmusik is the Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence at the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto, offering graduate programs in period performance. The Faculty of Music is also home to the annual Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, an intensive two-week training program for senior students and pre-professional and professional musicians, scheduled this year for June 4 through 17.

Tafelmusik has released 76 CDs on the Analekta, Sony Classical, CBC Records, BMG Classics, Hyperion, and Collegium labels, and has been awarded numerous international recording prizes, including nine JUNO awards. The orchestra’s newest CD is of Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8, with conductor Bruno Weil, released on Analekta. Another recent Analekta release is Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico with violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch, which includes a bonus DVD, The Four Seasons Mosaic, an internationally acclaimed documentary from Media Headquarters featuring the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. It takes viewers on a world tour of European, Inuit, Chinese, and South Asian music traditions through the reinvention of Vivald’s Four Seasons. Several of the orchestras recordings are available for download from iTunes.


TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Jeanne Lamon, Music Director



FIRST VIOLINS
Jeanne Lamon
Geneviève Gilardeau
Aisslinn Nosky
Julia Wedman
Christopher Verrette

SECOND VIOLINS
Patricia Ahern
Rona Goldensher
Stephen Marvin
Cristina Zacharias

VIOLAS
Patrick G. Jordan
Elly Winer
Thomas Georgi

VIOLONCELLOS
Christina Mahler
Allen Whear
Kate Haynes

BASSES
Alison Mackay
Sue Yelanjian

FLUTE/RECORDER
Grégoire Jeay
Alison Melville

OBOES
John Abberger
Marco Cera
Stephen Bard
Meg Owen

BASSOONS
Dominic Teresi
Anna Marsh

HORNS
Derek Conrod
Scott Wevers

TRUMPETS
John Thiessen
Norman Engel

HARPSICHORD
Olivier Fortin