LINCOLN CENTER

Alice Tully Hall
Chamber Music Society of New York

Joyous Mendelssohn

Huw Watkins - Piano
Orion Weiss - Piano
Paul Huang - Violin
Sean Lee - Violin
Matthew Lipman - Viola
Paul Neubauer - Viola
Paul Watkins - Cello

Beethoven - Variations in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 44 (1804)
Mendelssohn - Andante and Allegro brilliant for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 92 (1841)
Mendelssohn - Sonata in D major for Cello and Piano, Op. 58 (1843)
Chopin - Ballade in A-flat major for Piano, Op. 47 (1841)
Mendelssohn - Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major for Two Violins, Two, Violas, and Cello, Op. 87 (1845)

"Blessed with a loving family, a thriving career, and all the talent one could ever hope for, Mendelssohn was among the most fortunate of the immortal composers. In this program of glowingly optimistic music, we find Beethoven at his wittiest, the melancholy Chopin in a pleasant mood, and Mendelssohn contributing three of his sunniest creations.

Today we will immerse ourselves in a musical world filled with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to one of life's most treasured emotions: pure joy. We might have also titled this concert Fortunate Mendelssohn, as he was blessed with so many attributes that have traditionally been in short supply for so many great artists: financial security, a happy family, a thriving career, universal respect during one's lifetime, and emotional stability. Enabled by Mendelssohn's overwhelming talent, music poured forth from the composer that truly reflected the kind of personal exuberance that the lucky enjoy and that all crave. Today, we celebrate that precious, and often rare, human experience through music which penetrates the soul with good feeling.

Accompanying Mendelssohn's pieces on our concert are works in a similar vein by two composers very important to Mendelssohn. Only 18 at the time of Beethoven's death in 1827, Mendelssohn was among the first of the major composers to honor Beethoven with compositions reflective of the master's style. Chopin first heard Mendelssohn perform in 1828 and thereafter developed a mutually admiring relationship with him. Chopin and Beethoven— both famously moody—are represented in our program with works that show the kind of sunshine and good humor that came when the spirit moved them. How fortunate we are to have such music, forever there to lift our spirits."