Fewer than sixty years separate the births of Johannes Brahms and Sergey Prokofiev, and yet their compositions are musical worlds apart. Both of them, however, had a genius for orchestration, a knack for memorable melodies, and a love of the human voice. In the Kansas City Symphony concerts for the weekend of May 20–22 local audiences will have the chance to experience among the finest works of both composers.

Brahms, one of the giants of German music, came along in the generation after the towering figures of Beethoven and Schubert who had virtually reinvented orchestral sound. In the field of choral music, Brahms’ great masterpiece was the Deutsches Requiem, but ranking alongside it as one of his most popular vocal compositions is the Alto Rhapsody, to be performed by the Symphony this weekend. In this composition, the 36-year-old Brahms took as his text Goethe's Harzreise im Winter, but in the view of many there are romantic undercurrents to the piece. It was ostensibly composed in honor of the wedding of Robert and Clara Schumann’s daughter Julie, and some biographers feel that Brahms himself had romantic attractions to Julie.  Thus the words of the text, which have to do with finding spiritual sustenance amidst the throes of suffering, may have had special meaning for Brahms at this difficult time for him.

Vocally, the Alto Rhapsody has long been considered one of the masterpieces for the alto voice, as accompanied by a male choir.  Solos for altos are somewhat rare, as many works for solo women are composed for the higher soprano voice instead.  At its public premiere, the piece was sung by the famed Pauline Viardot. Among the 20th Century’s greatest performers of the Alto Rhapsody was the incomparable contralto Marian Anderson.  Other famous interpreters include Dame Janet Baker, Marilyn Horne, and contemporary mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe.

Sergey Prokofiev, born in the last decade of the 19th century, counted himself at least partially among the radical composers of the kind Brahms eschewed. He loved experimenting with dissonant harmonies and unusual time signatures, but his compositions were always grounded in traditional classical structures. His early Classical Symphony, a deliberate attempt to imitate, in modern garb, the symphonic structure used by Haydn, is an example.

Prokofiev is known for his ballets composed for Ballet Russes, the famous company run by Diaghilev, such as Romeo and Juliet andThe Prodigal Son.  He is also remembered for his ambitious film scores, produced in an age of silent films. In the latter category are the scores for Lt. Kije, from which he later extracted the famous Lt. Kije Suite for symphonic performances, and the work the Symphony will perform, Alexander Nevsky.

Alexander Nevsky was composed for the famous Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein, whose sweeping screen epic depicted one of the great figures of Russian history. Prince Alexander Nevsky was a legendary hero who turned back a Teutonic invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century. Inspired by the patriotic story, Prokofiev wrote some of his most grand and eloquent music. He later turned it into a large-scale cantata for mezzo-soprano, orchestra, and chorus, which has been extensively performed and recorded.

For the Symphony’s presentations of both of these works, the soloist is American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, who has sung with the orchestras of San Francisco, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and St. Paul, among others, and also performs operatic roles with the opera companies of Houston, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, and with the Metropolitan Opera. The men of the Kansas City Symphony Chorus will accompany her in the Brahms, with the entire Symphony Chorus, directed by Charles Bruffy, joining the vocal fireworks in the Prokofiev.

The third piece on the Symphony’s program is Beethoven’s very first symphony, written in 1801 when the composer was 31 years old, and just beginning the most productive period of his career.  In stark contrast to the much larger-scale and dramatic symphonies which were to later come from his pen, Symphony No. 1 is very classical in its formulation, sounding in some ways very much like those of his immediate predecessors Haydn and Mozart.  Charming in its own right, the composition also offers an interesting historical glimpse into the early years of what was to become one of the most stunning careers in all of music history.

PREVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Beethoven, Brahms and Prokofiev
Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21, at 8:00 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11th St and Central Ave, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, May 22, at 2:00 p.m.
Yardley Hall at Carlsen Center
Johnson County Community College
12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS
For tickets, call 816-471-0400, or online at www.kcsymphony.org.

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.

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