Music In The Mountains Spring Fest Begins Today!

Featuring Gregory Vajda conducting the Soloists of the MIM Festival Orchestra with Richard Zeller, baritone.

Johann Strauss.... Rosen auf den Suden (Roses from the South)
Johann Strauss.... Schatzwaltz (Treasure Waltz)
Johann Strauss.... Lagunen-Walzer
Johann Strauss.... Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Women and Song)
Arnold Schoenberg.... Weihnachtmusik (Wedding-music)
Gustav Mahler.... Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen
Johann Strauss.... Kaiserwaltz (Emperor Waltz)

Listen to Richard Zeller

This Concert is Sponsored by Scinto Graziano, LLP

PROGRAM NOTES by Jack Roberts

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) Time Travel
The Viennese waltz is grand music, and it is also a state of mind. Now sit back and let yourself be transported to old Vienna: the rhythmic beauty of the waltz, visiting homes of the great composers, the Prater Park Ferris wheel, Sacher Tortes at the Café Mozart, walking the Kartnerstrasse… the idealized Vienna Life… enjoy!

It all began with Johann Strauss I (1804-1849), who founded his own salon orchestra. Later, his son Johann II (or Junior) started his own orchestra – Aha! We have a Father/Son competition! A few years later, when dear old dad died, Junior merged the two orchestras with exceptional results. They toured Europe, Russia and England. An 1872 visit to the U.S. was also a monumental success. He wrote over 500 waltzes, polkas and marches, earning the title of the “Waltz King”. Tonight, we celebrate his creativity with five enjoyable works…the concluding number is his well known Emperor Waltz.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) What’s In A Name?
Schoenberg is a name that brings either shivers of consternation or enthusiastic anticipation to the average concertgoer. While he started out in a compositionally conventional way, he later broke with tradition and blazed a trail of “post romanticism” – or “modern/expressionism”, if you prefer. In 1908, he began to liberate himself from tonality and the harmonic rule book. This later evolved into his 12-tone period, but lurking beneath all this was a soul of the Romantic period, as demonstrated by his 1921 Weihnachtmusick (Wedding Music)… long melodic lines with brief touches of Brahms, and even the Baroque.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Down With Program Notes!
So proclaimed Gustav Mahler, who went on to say, “the audience should be left to its own thoughts… should not be forced to read…”, and so on, and so on. His outburst was fully in keeping with the incredibly complex person that was Mahler – a demanding perfectionist as a conductor who brought orchestras to greatness despite his despotic ranting and supercritical attitude, and a composer whose lieder and symphonies were continually raising the standards of creativity.
His musical inclinations were quickly recognized, and he gave his first public recital at age ten. He graduated from the Vienna Conservatory when he was 18, and assumed his first conducting position two years later. The year 1884 left Gustav in the wake of an unhappy love affair and to console himself he wrote the musically magnificent lieder, Songs of a Wayfarer. He also wrote the text: drippy and maudlin, but considering his romantic derailment, we can excuse his dabbling in bathos. That same year, he completed his Symphony No. 1. A poet? Hardly. A diplomat? Not at all. A composer of beauty, breadth and power? A resounding yes! You’re the man, Gus.

Details:
Directions:To Amaral Family Festival Center, Gate 1, Bldg. 1 in the Nevada County Fairgrounds: 11228 McCourtney Road, Grass Valley. Take Highway 49 to Highway 20 toward Marysville. Take the first exit (right on Mill, right on McCourtney) and continue approximately ¼ mile. The Fairgrounds are on your right. Please follow the signs and park as directed. Amaral Family Festival Center is the red building next to the parking area.
Handicap Access: Park in Gate 1 parking lot. For more information call the Box Office 265-6124.

Order Your Tickets On-Line Above or:
By Phone: call (530) 265-6124 or (800) 218-2188
In Person: Between noon and 4pm, Monday thru Friday, 530 Searls Ave, Nevada City, CA.