A WINTER EVENING OF CHAMBER MUSIC: FRIDAY JANUARY 23 6:00PM

An exceptional young quintet, all members of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra mentored by David Currie as stars of

tomorrow, will perform music from the 18th and 19th centuries in the Lounge, which will be reserved and configured for

the occasion.

The evening will start with refreshments (coffee, cookies, and sandwiches) at 6:00. Children who are interested in

classical music are not only welcome, but invited. (the Club Room is being arranged to host other children for the

duration of the concert with refreshments and with a member of staff present)

THE PROGRAMME (approx. 55 minutes):

(all the pieces are available to preview on U Tube, and brief bios of the composers are attached).

Anton Dvorjak (1841-1904) string quintet in G major (34 minutes)

Carlo Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901) Caprice #7

Jean Marie LeClair (1697-1764) Sonata no 5 for two violins

THE PERFORMERS:

Isidora Nojkovic (cello),originally from Belgrade, a finalist in several national competitions, including the Canadian Music

Competition, and a recipient of a number of scholarships, performs at music festivals in Canada and Europe, and is now

studying with Paul Marleyn at the University of Ottawa

David Endemann (violin)was born in and has returned to Ottawa. While at McGill, he was a founding member of the

Classical Revolution Montreal , dedicated finding unconventional and informal venues for classical music performances.

Now studying at the University of Ottawa with David Regehr.

Ben du Toit (contrabass) originally from Northern Ontario, has been on a musical journey that led him to explore the

violin, piano and the Celtic fiddle. He has been studying with David Currie for four years and performed in various

groups including the Ottawa Youth Orchestra, before joining the OSO

Kathryn Koch (violin) originally from Buffalo NY has a degree in Violin Performance from Boston University. She is now

pursuing a Masters at the University of Ottawa studying with Yehonatan Berick

Jessie Ramsay (violin) originally from Regina, has won a number of competitions in the province including the

Schumiacher Competition for Strings. She has a wide variety of musical interests, including performing with the Calgary

based Volante String Quartet… and busking.

The cost of the evening is $40 inclusive.

Parking for members is complimentary, and the Friday night two for one offer is available in the main dining room after

the concert.

Please reserve with Caroline at lepagec@rideauclub.ca

THE COMPOSERS

ANTONIN DVORJAK displayed his musical gifts at an early age, being an apt student of violin playing from age 6. The

first public performances of his works were in Prague in 1872 and, with special success, in 1873, when he was age 31.

Seeking recognition beyond the Prague area, he first submitted a score of his First Symphony to a prize competition in

Germany, but he did not win, and the manuscript, not returned, was lost until rediscovered many years later. Then in

1874 he first made a submission for the Austrian State Prize for Composition, including scores of two further symphonies

and other works. Brahms, unbeknownst to Dvořák, was the leading member of the jury and was highly impressed. The

prize was awarded to Dvořák in that year and again in 1876 and in 1877, when Brahms and the prominent critic Eduard

Hanslick, also a member of the jury, made themselves known to him. Brahms recommended Dvořák to his

publisher, Simrock, who soon afterward commissioned what became the Slavonic Dances, Op. 46. These were highly

praised by the Berlin music critic Louis Ehlert in 1878, the sheet music (of the original piano 4-hands version) had

excellent sales, and Dvořák's international reputation at last was launched.

Dvořák's first piece of a religious nature, his setting of Stabat Mater, was premiered in Prague in 1880. It was very

successfully performed in London in 1883, leading to many other performances in the United Kingdom and United

States.[2] In his career, Dvořák made nine invited visits to England, often conducting performances of his own works.

His Seventh Symphony was written for London. After a brief conducting stint in Russia in 1890, Dvořák was appointed as

a professor at the Prague Conservatory in 1891. In 1890-1891, he wrote his Dumky Trio, one of his most

successful chamber music pieces. In 1892, Dvořák moved to the United States and became the director of the National

Conservatory of Music of America in New York City. While in the United States, Dvořák wrote his two most successful

orchestral works. The Symphony From the New World spread his reputation worldwide.[3] His Cello Concerto is the most

highly regarded of all cello concerti. Also, he wrote his American String Quartet, his most appreciated piece of chamber

music. But shortfalls in payment of his salary, along with increasing recognition in Europe and an onset of homesickness,

led him to leave the United States in 1895 and return to Bohemia.

Dvořák's ten operas all have librettos in Czech and were intended to convey Czech national spirit, as were some of his

choral works. By far the most successful of the operas is Rusalka. Among his smaller works, the

seventh Humoresque and the song "Songs My Mother Taught Me" are also widely performed and recorded. He has been

described as "arguably the most versatile...composer of his time".[4]

JEAN MARIE LECLAIR was born in Lyon, but left to study dance and the violin in Turin. In 1716, he married Marie-Rose

Casthanie, a dancer, who died about 1728. Leclair had returned to Paris in 1723, where he played at the Concert

Spirituel, the main semi-public music series. His works included several sonatas for flute and basso continuo.

In 1730, Leclair married for the second time. His new wife was the engraver Louise Roussel, who prepared for printing all

his works from Opus 2 onward. Named ordinaire de la musique by Louis XV in 1733, Leclair resigned in 1737 after a clash

with Guidon over control of the musique du Roy.

Leclair was then engaged by the Princess of Orange – a fine harpsichordist and former student of Handel – and from

1738 until 1743, served three months annually at her court in Leeuwarden, working in The Hague as a private maestro di

cappella for the remainder of the year. He returned to Paris in 1743. His only opera Scylla et Glaucus was first performed

in 1746 and has been revived in modern times. From 1740 until his death in Paris, he served the Duke of Gramont.

Leclair was renowned as a violinist and as a composer. He successfully drew upon all of Europe's national styles. Many

suites, sonatas, and concertos survive along with his opera, while some vocal works, ballets, and other stage music is

lost.

In 1758, after the break-up of his second marriage, Leclair purchased a small house in a dangerous Parisian

neighborhood, where he was found stabbed to death in 1764. Although the murder remains a mystery, there is a

possibility that his ex-wife may have been behind it – her motive being financial gain – although the strongest suspicion

rests on his nephew, Guillaume-François Vial.

Whether at the hands of a relative who had not forgiven him for abandoning the family, or as the work of another

musician envious of his talent, on or about October 23, 1764, Jean-Marie Leclair was killed by a stab in the back.

CARLO ALFREDO PIATTI was born at via Borgo Canale, in Bergamo and died in Mozzo, 4 miles from Bergamo.

The son of a violinist, Antonio Piatti, he originally began his studies on the violin before switching to the cello. As a

cellist, he studied under his great-uncle, Gaetano Zanetti, a great cellist. After two years of studying, he joined the

theater orchestra, where he played for three months - for ten shillings, half of which his grandfather took. After Zanetti's

death, he became a pupil at the conservatorio of Milan under Vincenzo Merighi. He made his concert debut at 15 and

started touring at 16. No one doubted the young virtuoso's skill on the instrument, but he did not draw large crowds. As

a result, when Piatti fell ill during an engagement, he was forced to sell his cello to cover the medical costs. Franz

Liszt invited him to appear as a guest performer at one of his recitals; stunned by what the boy could do on a borrowed

cello, Liszt presented him with a superb new instrument. Piatti went on to become one of the most celebrated cellists of

his day, as popular for the pieces he wrote as for the robust and unsentimental way he performed them.

From 1838, he journeyed over Europe, playing with extraordinary success in all the important cities of the continent. In

1844 he appeared before the London public at a Philharmonic Concert.

In 1852 he premiered (and became the dedicatee) of a Duo for cello and piano, Op. 32, by William Sterndale Bennett,

having been given the music in the morning, studied it on a train and played it from memory that same evening.

In 1859, on the foundation of the Popular Concerts, he took up the work with which he was most intimately connected

for thirty-nine seasons. He retained until 1897 the post of first cello at these famous chamber concerts, during the latter

half of each series. He played a Stradivarius which now is named after him Piattiand is owned by the Mexican

cellist Carlos Prieto.

He composed two cello concertos, one cello concertino, six cello sonatas, lieder for voice and cello accompaniment, and

cello solos, as well as a cello method.

His pupils were many, and included Robert Hausmann.

The Rideau Club celebrates its sesquicentennial in 2015

Le Rideau Club célèbre son sesquicentenaire en 2015