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Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

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available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development 

office at (202) 842-6450 or circk@nga.gov for more information.

cover: Paul Stevenson Oles, Sketch ofthe East Building Exterior, 1971,

National Gallery of Art Archives, Gift of I. M. Pei and Partners

The Seventy-first Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,932nd Concert

Edvinas Minkstimas, pianist

with members ofthe

National Gallery ofArt String Quartet,

National Gallery ofArt Orchestra,

and Phillips Camerata

March 27, 2013

Wednesday, 12:10 pm

East Building Auditorium

Admissionfree
Program

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Divertimento no. 1 in D Major, K. 136 (1772)

Allegro

Andante 

Presto

Mozart

Sonatafor Piano in A Minor, K. 310 (1778)

Allegro maestoso

Andante cantabile con espressione

Presto

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Concerto no. 2 in B-jlat Major, op. 19 (1795)

Allegro con brio

Adagio

Allegro molto

The Musicians

EDVINAS MINKSTIMAS

Widely regarded as one ofCentral Europe’s emerging young pianists, Edvinas

Minkstimas has brought his extensive repertory, solid technique, and wide

range ofmusical expression to concert venues throughout Europe and North

America. Since July 2012 he has served as a member ofthe jury and board 

of directors ofthe Salzburg Festival and a board member of Mahler Philharmoniker in Vienna, Austria. His upcoming performances include chamber

and solo performances at Carnegie Hall and concert tours in Europe and 

South America. Recent performances include recitals at the 2013 MozartSchubert Festival, hosted by the Austrian Embassy in Washington and produced by the Embassy Series. He has also appeared as a guest soloist with 

the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Zimmerman.

In 2011 Minkstimas received the doctor ofmusical arts degree from the 

Juilliard School of Music, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. He previously received the artist diploma from the Paris Conservatory under the 

tutelage of Michel Beroff and studied in Lithuania with Veronika Vitaite. In 

2010 Minkstimas won the Belz-Parker Young Artist Award in Memphis, and

in 2007 he won first prize at the Fifth International Ciurlionis Piano Competition in Vilnius, Lithuania.

A native of Kaunas, Lithuania, Edvinas Minkstimas attributes his early

artistic influences to Baltic mythology, Nordic poetry, and romantic imagery.

His goal of conveying the lyricism and poetry within a musical work through

displays of virtuoso technique has been strongly influenced by pianists Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1977) and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995), 

and composers Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Ligeti, and Penderecki.

Minkstimas has released two recordings, featuring solo and orchestral performances ofworks by Beethoven, Brahms, and Liszt. He maintains a web

site at wunv.minkstimas.com.

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NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART STRING QUARTET

The National Gallery ofArt String Quartet has performed regularly at the

Gallery since its debut in 1995. In addition to standard quartet repertoire, the

group presents rarely heard masterpieces of chamber music. The musicians

also perform under the name Sunrise Quartet, and in that capacity they

have been recognized with a Chamber Music America residency at the Duke

Ellington School ofthe Arts as well as with residencies at Concerts at the Beach

in Delaware and the Davies Concert Series in Camp Springs, Maryland. The

quartet appeared on the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for 

the Performing Arts and has collaborated in concert at the National Gallery

with pianists Miceal O’Rourke and Menahem Pressler. Members ofthe National

Gallery ofArt String Quartet performing in today’s concert are violinists

Claudia Chudacoff and Teri Lazar and violist Osman Kivrak. They are joined

by National Gallery ofArt Orchestra bassist Edgardo Malaga.

THE PHILLIPS CAMERATA

Founded in 2011, the Phillips Camerata appears in various combinations of

instruments to suit the demands of a wide variety of chamber music. Comprised ofsixteen leading instrumentalists from the Baltimore, New York,

Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, areas, and under the artistic direction of

Phillips Collection music director Caroline Mousset, the Camerata performs

the first and last Sunday concerts of each season at the Phillips Collection 

and offers additional performances at other chamber music venues. It made

its inaugural guest appearance at the National Gallery ofArt in 2012, playing

music written between 1890 and 1921 in honor ofthe exhibition Picasso’s

Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition. Representing the ensemble in

today’s concert are pianist Edvinas Minkstimas and cellist Charlie Powers.

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Program Notes

This is the second offive concerts planned collaboratively by Stephen Ackert, 

head ofthe music department at the National Gallery ofArt, and Caroline

Mousset, director ofmusic at the Phillips Collection, with the aim ofpresenting,

in the space of a few weeks, all five piano concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Taking advantage of a cadre ofmusicians who are in residence at the two

institutions, they have assembled a string quintet to perform the concertos

as they were arranged by Vincenz Lachner (1811-1893) in chamber music formation. Piano Concerto no. 1, op. 15, was performed on March 24 at the Phillips 

Collection by Irina Nuzova and members ofthe Phillips Camerata. Concertos

nos. 3-5 will be performed, respectively, by pianists Danielle DeSwert Hahn

(April 7 at 6:30 pm at the Gallery), Thomas Pandolfi (April 14 at 4:00 pm at

the Phillips Collection), and Mykola Suk (April 21 at 6:30 pm at the Gallery).

In each case, the pianists and members ofthe ensembles will offer additional

music to complete the programs.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major, K. 136, comes from

a place ofinnocence and unmitigated joy. This is the first ofthree works

known as the “Salzburg Symphonies,” which Mozart composed at age sixteen 

for Prince-Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg. Written in the style of an Italian

string concerto and consisting ofthree movements (lacking the usual minuet),

Mozart’s divertimento falls somewhere between his string quartet and symphonic genres. Foregoing motivic development and academic depth in favor 

oflong, lyrical melodies, the work embodies the galant style fashionable in

the mid- to late-eighteenth century. The first movement is a virtuosic dialogue

between the violinists in sonata form. The second movement, featuring an

eloquent, beautifully constructed melody, is the most overtly Italian ofthe

three in terms ofstyle. The finale, a vivacious Presto, is also in sonata form

with a short fugal development.

Mozart penned his Piano Sonata no. 8 in A Minor, K. 310, while concertizing in Paris in 1778. This was the gifted young composer’s first attempt at 

a keyboard sonata in the minor mode. The summer of 1778 witnessed two

events of great consequence for Mozart—his first love affair (with Aloysia

Weber, whose father denied Mozart permission to marry her,) and his mother’s

5
unexpected death—and the pathos ofthis work relative to his earlier sonatas

reveals his emotional turbulence at the time. The first movement’s marchlike primary theme is forceful, with dotted rhythms. Although the writing

eventually becomes smoother, with more linear melodic writing and arpeggiated Alberti bass accompaniment, this initial dotted motive continues

throughout the movement. Graceful running sixteenth notes characterize

the second theme in the relative major key of C major. The second movement, a gorgeous elegy in F major in which a lyrical theme is elaborated

throughout, counterbalances the turmoil ofthe first movement. The finale,

a brisk rondo in A minor, revisits the dark atmosphere ofthe first movement,

with a brief episode in A major providing a contrasting middle section.

Beethoven completed his Piano Concerto no. 2 in B-flat Major, op. 19,

before the one published as Piano Concerto no. 1, but it is the publication

dates that determine their numbering. The first two movements of Concerto

no. 2 originate from between 1785 and 1789* when the composer was a teenager in Bonn, Germany. The rondo-finale dates from 1795, the year when he

premiered the concerto in his Viennese concert debut. Beethoven’s childhood

friend, physician Franz Wegeler, recalled that Beethoven completed the finale 

only two days before the work’s public performance. While Beethoven did not

consider his first two concerti among his better works, they clearly embody

the genius of a Viennese master, and not merely the flashes of a brilliant

student composer.

The first movement, in double-exposition sonata form, allows the orchestra to state each primary theme before the soloist repeats and embellishes.

Beethoven’s cadenza, which was notated and published well after the premiere

and is therefore somewhat out of character stylistically, incorporates the movement’s first theme in a variety ofways. The second movement, a lyrical episode

in E-flat major, is in ternary form. Beethoven introduces the songlike cantabile

theme before he develops it in the middle section and embellishes it in the

recapitulation. The third movement displays the same wit that permeated

Joseph Haydn’s music. Based on a playful theme in 6/8 time, the interplay

between soloist and orchestra remains supple and alive throughout.

Program notes by Michael Jacko, music program specialist, National Gallery ofArt

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Upcoming Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt

Ars Vocalis

William Rivera, conductor

Music by Puerto Rican 

and other Hispanic composers

March 31, 2013

Sunday, 4:00 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Crowden School Ensemble

Music by Bach, Dvorak,

and other composers

April 3, 2013

Wednesday, 12:10 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Winners ofthe

2013 Feder Memorial String Competition

Presented in collaboration with the

Washington Performing Arts Society

April 6, 2013

Saturday, 3:30 pm

West Building Lecture Hall