Jörg Widmann
Mitsuko Uchida
Performers
Jörg Widmann, Clarinet
NY Recital Debut
Mitsuko Uchida, Piano
Program
BRAHMS Clarinet Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120, No. 1
BERG Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5
JÖRG WIDMANN Fantasie for Solo Clarinet
SCHUBERT Impromptu in C Minor, D. 899, No. 1
JÖRG WIDMANN Sonatina facile (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
SCHUMANN Fantasiestücke
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.Lead support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Public support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional funding is provided by members of Carnegie Hall's Composer Club.
At a Glance
At the time of Brahms’s death three years later, Alban Berg was already a teenager and would soon begin to compose music in his own right, starting with songs and later—under the guidance of his teacher Arnold Schoenberg—a series of increasingly bold instrumental works. The harmonic language of this so-called Second Viennese School reached an expressive peak just before World War I, as heard in the Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano that Berg wrote in 1913. Aphoristic and atonal though they may be, these works pack a considerable emotional punch.
That is also the case, of course, in Schubert’s miniatures—written nearly a century earlier—such as his 1827 piano impromptus. We hear one of these poetic songs without words between contemporary composer and clarinetist Jörg Widmann’s life-filled Fantasie—in which he imagines various figures coming together “in the spirit of commedia dell’arte”—and his Sonatina facile, a work that reflects the composer’s creative engagement with music of the past, in this case Mozart’s popular Piano Sonata in C Major. Schumann’s musical vision takes center stage in the final work on this afternoon’s program; the composer often trod a difficult emotional path, but in his 1849Fantasiestücke, we find him reconciling differences and closing on a palpably positive note.
Bios
Jörg Widmann
Clarinetist, composer, and conductor Jörg Widmann is one of the most versatile and
intriguing artists of his generation. During the 2016-2017 season, he appears as a soloist
with orchestras that include Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and Bamberger Symphoniker.
In July 2017, he will be featured as a soloist on tour with the Deutsches
Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Kent Nagano.
In January 2017, Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie opened with the premiere of a new oratorio by
Mr. Widmann. He will be featured in an artist portrait during the hall's first season,
including a solo recital, a duo recital with Mitsuko Uchida, and a concert with Ensemble
Resonanz.
Mr. Widmann's residencies include Brussels' BOZAR, where he will be featured as a soloist
with the National Orchestra of Belgium under Xian Zhang and with the Irish Chamber
Orchestra in a program that will include him as both soloist and conductor. Also included
in his residency are performances of his works by Ensemble Modern and Quatuor Diotima. As
the Munich Chamber Orchestra's artist-in-focus, he leads and performs with the orchestra,
in addition to his compositions being presented as part of a portrait concerto.
Mr. Widmann regularly partners with renowned soloists and ensembles, including Sir András
Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, Elisabeth Leonskaja, and the Hagen Quartet. Chamber music
performances this season include duo recitals with Ms. Uchida-including the premiere of a
new work he wrote for the pianist-at London's Wigmore Hall and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie; a
US recital tour with the Pacifica Quartet; and recitals with the Hagen Quartet that feature
the premiere of his new Clarinet Quintet at Madrid's Auditorio Nacional.
Continuing his engagements as a conductor, Mr. Widmann performs this season with the
Kammerphilharmonie Potsdam and embarks on a tour throughout Germany and Europe with the
Irish Chamber Orchestra, of which he is the principal conductor.
Mitsuko Uchida
Legendary pianist Mitsuko Uchida brings a deep insight into the music she plays through her
own quest for truth and beauty. Renowned for her interpretations of Mozart, Schubert,
Schumann, and Beethoven, she has also illuminated the music of Berg, Schoenberg, Webern,
and Boulez.
In 2016, Ms. Uchida was appointed an artistic partner to the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and
began a series of concerts directing Mozart concertos from the keyboard in tours of major
European venues, as well as in Japan. Other recent highlights include an acclaimed
performance of Schoenberg's piano concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and
Vladimir Jurowski, and play-directing The Cleveland Orchestra in performances at
Cleveland's Severance Hall and Carnegie Hall. Recital tours in 2016 included performances
at Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Vienna's Konzerthaus, and London's Royal
Festival Hall.
In 2017, Ms. Uchida embarks on a Schubert sonata series-featuring 12 of Schubert's major
works-which she will tour throughout Europe and North America. She also returns to the
Salzburg and Edinburgh festivals, and appears with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir
Simon Rattle, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti, and the Orchestra
dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Sir Antonio Pappano.
Ms. Uchida's relationship with the finest orchestras and concert halls has resulted in
numerous residencies. She has been artist-in-residence at The Cleveland Orchestra, Berliner
Philharmoniker, Vienna's Konzerthaus, Salzburg Mozartwoche, and Lucerne Festival, as well
as a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons.
Ms. Uchida records exclusively for Decca, and her extensive discography includes the
complete Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas. Her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto
with Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland Orchestra won four awards, including the
Gramophone Award for Best Concerto. She recently finished recording Mozart's
piano concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra, the last installment of which was released
this past fall.
Highly committed to aiding the development of young musicians, Ms. Uchida is a trustee of
the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and director of the Marlboro Music Festival. Ms. Uchida was made
a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2009.