Sunday Classics: There's no reason to couple "Exsultate" and the "Sinfonia concertante" -- except that they "play" fabulously together

Soprano Arleen Augér sings the "perky," Figaro-esque slow movement and the "Alleluja" from Mozart's motet Exsultate, jubilate, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra some months before he died in 1990. (The opening movement and connecting recitative can be seen here.)

by Ken

We have no great theme this week, just two singularly wonderful works, the motet Exsultate, jubilate (Rejoice and be glad) and the Sinfonia concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, which are kind of orphans in Mozart's vast output, in that neither has an obvious "companion" work for (for example) disc-coupling purposes.


FIRST: EXSULTATE, JUBILATE

In Friday night's preview we sampled the uniquely joyful concluding "Alleluja" of this relatively early piece. Now I think we're ready to hear the whole thing. There's nothing really fancy about the form, which is basically your good old-fashioned fast-slow-fast sequence. The materials just happen to be crafted by one of the supreme musical geniuses. First we'll hear it broken down into its component parts. I think the appeal of the first and last movements is pretty obvious; the perky central Andante, by a good margin the work's longest movement, is a quintessentially Mozartean operatic aria that makes it sound as if the composer is on the brink of composing The Marriage of Figaro.

MOZART: Exsultate, jubilate (motet), K. 165

i. Allegro, "Exsultate, jubilate"

Rejoice and be glad,
ye blessed spirits,
singing sweet songs;
the heavens join with me
echoing your chant.

ii. Recitative, "Fulget amica dies"

The friendly day is shining
now that clouds and storms have fled;
sudden calm has risen on the just.
Dark night reigned all around;
but now arise in gladness,
ye who until now were afraid,
and offer leaves and lilies
with a generous hand,
rejoicing in the happy dawn.

iii. Andante, "Tu virginum corona"

Thou crown of virgins,
give us peace;
and console our minds
and our heavy hearts.

iv. Allegro, "Alleluja"

Alleluja! [and so on, and on]

Sylvia McNair, soprano; English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner, cond. Philips, recorded March 1993

And in case you'd like to hear the whole thing put together:

MOZART: Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165

i. Allegro, "Exsultate, jubilate"
ii. Recitative, "Fulget amica dies" [at 4:34]
iii. Andante, "Tu virginum corona" [at 5:33]
iv. Allegro, "Alleluja" [at 12:02]

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano; Vienna Chamber Orchestra, György Fischer, cond. Decca, recorded March-Apr. 1993


NOW, AS TO THE SINFONIA CONCERTANTE . . .

The Sinfonia concertante, which we sampled last night, is basically a double concerto, for violin and viola, which seems like a straightforward and workable enough idea -- you let your two soloists have their own versions of your thematic material, or maybe contrasting materials, and periodically you put them together. Doesn't sound all that daunting, and Mozart made it sound like a snap. Here he is at the height of his creative powers -- each of the three movements seems to me musical perfection of its assigned sort -- and the way he handles his two solo instruments, he makes it sound like anybody could do it. Goodness knows, lots of composers tried it, but really only Brahms produced a real masterpiece, in his Double Concerto in A minor for violin and cello. Beethoven actually pulled off a Triple Concerto (for violin, cello, and piano), but it's really a pretty specialized entry in B's catalog.

IT'S NOT REALLY TRUE THAT THE SINFONIA
CONCERTANTE HAS NO MATE IN MOZART'S OUTPUT

In fact, at the very same time Mozart composed another double concerto, in the same key (!), and the two works were clearly connected in his mind. But the two-piano concerto (which wound up being numbered in the sequence of Mozart's piano concertos, as No. 10, K. 365) represents such a different sort of soloist-combining challenge that the actual music doesn't seem to me to mate especially well with the Sinfonia concertante; it winds up being another piece that occupies a genre pretty much of its own -- unless you count the three-piano concerto (which also wound up numbered among the piano concertos, as No. 7 in F, K. 242). While the latter is often paired with the two-piano concerto, it's a notably less adventurous work; again, the two really don't seem to me to have much in common.

First movement

These days the Sinfonia concertante is often lumped together with Mozart's five violin concertos, as is the case with the recording from which we're going to hear the first movement of the Sinfonia concertante. The violin concertos are wonderful works all, but they're from a significantly earlier era in the composer's life and really have little in common with the later work. Note the scale of this first movement as well as the way Mozart distributes the solo activity between the two soloists.

I've had occasion before to express my admiration for Anne-Sophie Mutter's Mozart concerto cycle, which I continue to find a joy. As conductor, Mutter seems to have cast a spell over the London Philharmonic violins in particular, who really seem to be trying to emulate her phrasing. We've also had happy encounters with violist Yuri Bashmet (most recently in Berlioz' Harold in Italy).

Sinfonia concertante in E-flat, K. 364:
i. Allegro

Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Yuri Bashmet, viola; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Anne-Sophie Mutter, cond. DG, recorded July 2005

Second movement

For this, one of the great Mozart slow movements, note that he has slipped into the minor. Note too how the character of the beautiful principal theme changes character as it's handed off from orchestra to the solo violin and then, most broodingly, to the solo viola -- played especially hauntingly here by Amadeus Quartet violist Peter Schidlof.

In this 1987 photo of the Amadeus Quartet, that's violist Peter Schidlof and first violinist Norbert Brainin standing, with second violinist Siegmund Nissel and cellist Martin Lovett sitting.

It was Schidlof's death in 1987 that ended the remarkable 40-year run of the Amadeus. The quartet had never had a personnel change in its long history, and Schidlof's colleagues couldn't imagine replacing him. As I mentioned last night, when we heard the concluding Presto of the Sinfonia concertante from this recording, it's the last of three recordings of the piece> made by Schidlof and his Amadeus colleague violinist Norbert Brainin. It's an exceptionally broad performance, and its ruminative quality is why I've picked its slow movement -- but if you listen to the complete performance down below, I think you'll notice a remarkable difference between Brainin and Schidlof's 1983 performance and our others.

Sinfonia concertante in E-flat, K. 364:
ii. Andante

Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Alexander Gibson, cond. Chandos, recorded Apr. and June 1983

Third movement

We have a pretty standard rondo finale, but one that's exceptionally vivacious even by Mozart's standards. It would be hard to imagine a lither or more buoyant performance than this one by Vladimir Spivakov (conducting as well as fiddling), Shlomo Mintz, and the Moscow chamber orchestra.

Sinfonia concertante in E-flat, K. 364:
iii. Presto

Vladimir Spivakov, violin; Shlomo Mintz, viola; Moscow Virtuosi, Vladimir Spivakov, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded c1992


OK, YOU'RE WONDERING WHY THE HECK
WE'RE HEARING THESE TWO MOZART WORKS

You mean we need a reason?

Okay, okay. Once upon a time Columbia Masterworks took advantage of their relative orphan status to make an LP of them, in really lively, beautiful performances by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra -- with the orchestra's concertmaster and viola principal, Rafael Druian and Abraham Skernick, as soloists in the Sinfonia concertante and the lovely American soprano Judith Raskin as soloist in Exsultate. I really loved that LP, which had the bonus feature that the third movement of the Sinfonia concertante, the Presto we heard in Friday night's preview, was pushed onto the start of the "B" side, before Exsultate, making it a snap to listen just to that irresistible movement.

Naturally with the coming of CD that sublimely improvised coupling was sundered. I already had the Raskin-Szell Exsultate as a filler with the Szell-Cleveland Mahler Fourth Symphony -- in which Ms. Raskin is again the soloist. Just recently, though, I stumbled across a CD on which Sony has coupled that Sinfonia concertante with the Szell-Cleveland Mozart Clarinet Concerto (with the orchestra's clarinet principal, Robert Marcellus), a perfectly agreeable coupling that more importantly makes the old Columbia whole for me on CD.

Just so you can hear these performances sort of the way I still hear them in my mind, here they are. (Don't forget to imagine the LP side break between the second and third movements of the Sinfonia concertante.)

MOZART: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, K. 364

i. Allegro

ii. Andante

iii. Presto

Rafael Druian, violin; Abraham Skernick, viola; Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell, cond. Epic/Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded Nov. 28, 1963

MOZART: Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165

i. Allegro, "Exsultate, jubilate"
ii. Recitative, "Fulget amica dies"
iii. Andante, "Tu virginum corona"
iv. Allegro, "Alleluja"

[i. 0:00; ii. 5:25; iii. 6:19; iv. 13:04] Judith Raskin, soprano; Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded May 11, 1964


WANT TO HEAR MORE OF EXSULTATE, JUBILATE?

We hear first the veteran soprano Eleanor Steber, bringing to the music a voice of considerably larger format, yet singing it with plenty of panache. Then we've got a simply lovely all-around performance in the Hendricks-Marriner.

MOZART: Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165

i. Allegro, "Exsultate, jubilate"
ii. Recitative, "Fulget amica dies"
iii. Andante, "Tu virginum corona"
iv. Allegro, "Alleluja"

[i. 0:00; ii. 4:44; iii. 5:45; iv. 12:56] Eleanor Steber, soprano; orchestra, Robert Lawrence, cond. VAI, recorded live, 1960

[i. 0:00; ii. 4:58; iii. 5:54; iv. 13:08] Barbara Hendricks, soprano; Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner, cond. EMI, recorded April 1987


AND THE WHOLE OF THE SINFONIA CONCERTANTE . . .

Here are the complete performances from which we've heard individual movements of the Sinfonia concertante. In addition, along with the 1983 Brainin-Schidlof recording I thought it might be fun to hear their (mostly) 1953 one.

MOZART: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, K. 364

i. Allegro
ii. Andante
iii. Presto

Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Yuri Bashmet, viola; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Anne-Sophie Mutter, cond. DG, recorded July 2005

Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; English Chamber Orchestra, Sir Alexander Gibson, cond. Chandos, recorded Apr. and June 1983

Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; London Mozart Players, Harry Blech, cond. EMI/Testament, recorded Jan. 20-21, 1953, and April 1954

Vladimir Spivakov, violin; Shlomo Mintz, viola; Moscow Virtuosi, Vladimir Spivakov, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded c1992

BONUS: HERE ARE THE FIRST MOVEMENTS OF THOSE
THREEE OTHER WONDERFUL MULTIPLE CONCERTOS

BRAHMS: "Double" Concerto in A minor
for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra, Op. 102:
i. Allegro
Henryk Szeryng, violin; János Starker, cello; Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips, recorded September 1970

BEETHOVEN: "Triple" Concerto in C
for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Orchestra, Op. 56:
i. Allegro
Renaud Capuçon, violin; Mischa Maisky, cello; Martha Argerich, piano; Orchestra of Svizzera Italiana, Alexandre Rabinovich-Barakovksy, cond. EMI, recorded live, June 2003

MOZART: Concerto in E-flat for Two Pianos
and Orchestra (Piano Concerto No. 10), K. 365:
i. Allegro
Murray Perhahia and Radu Lupu, pianos; English Chamber Orchestra, Murray Perahia, cond. CBS/Sony, recorded June 23-24, 1988

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