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performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

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Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

For the convenience of concertgoers, 

the Garden Cafe remains open for light refreshments

until 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development 

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

The Seventy-first Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,926th Concert

Poulenc Trio

Irina Kaplan, piano

Vladimir Lande, oboe

Bryan Young, bassoon

with

Anton Lande, violin

Presented in honor ofAfrican American History Month

February 24, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Triofor Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano (1926)

Presto

Andante

Rondo

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Suite no. 1 (1925)

Andante

Napolitana

Espanola

Balalaika

Suite no. 2 (1921)

March

Valse

Polka

Galop

INTERMISSION

George Gershwin (1898-1937)

From Porgy and Bess, arranged by Jascha Heifetz

Summertime/ A Woman Is a Sometime Thing 

My Man’s Gone Now

It Ain’t Necessarily So

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) 

Arranged by Jonathan Jensen 

The Mooche / Black and Tan Fantasy

In a Sentimental Mood

Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948)

Afro-Cuban Suite

Afro

Danzon

Preludio y Merengue
The Musicians

POULENC TRIO

Consisting of pianist Irina Kaplan, bassoonist Bryan Young, and oboist

Vladimir Lande, the Poulenc Trio is committed to expanding the repertoire 

for wind trio through rediscovering old masterpieces and commissioning

new works. The ensemble has recently appeared in the Caribbean, as well

as in Italy, Mexico, and Russia (with violinist Hilary Hahn). Its concerts in

the United States include three appearances to date at the National Gallery

ofArt as well as performances at the Kennedy Center and Symphony Space

in New York City. Since 2004 the Trio has directed Music at the Museum, 

a series of entertaining and thought-provoking programs presented in great 

American museums, including the Baltimore Art Museum, the National

Gallery ofArt, and the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University.

The Trio has garnered positive attention in recent full-length profiles

in Chamber Music Magazine and the Double Reed Journal. The group has

been called “virtuosos of classical and contemporary chamber music” in

a profile on Russian television, and reviews from across the United States

have praised its “new and delicious sounds,” calling the members ofthe 

ensemble “three virtuosi in complete command oftheir instruments” who

“played with spirit and grace and brought the near-capacity crowd to its feet.”

The Poulenc Trio maintains a web site at www.poulenctrio.com

VLADIMIR LANDE

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he graduated from the Conservatory

of Music with degrees in oboe and piano, Vladimir Lande is currently the 

principal oboist ofthe Baltimore Opera. As principal oboist ofthe Saint

Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) Philharmonic Orchestra, he played for

its recordings of all ofthe Brahms symphonies as well as symphonies

by Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky. He has performed under

conductors Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Valery Gergiev, and Yuri

Temirkanov. Equally active as a conductor, Lande is associate conductor

ofthe Saint Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra. His conducting career

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includes appearances as guest conductor ofthe Baltimore and Tulsa symphony orchestras as well as the National Gallery ofArt Orchestra. In 2010

he served as guest music director ofthe National Gallery ofArt’s sixty-fourth

American Music Festival.

BRYAN YOUNG

Praised for his “voluptuous sound” by the Double Reed Journal, Washington, 

DC native Bryan Young was a prizewinner ofthe 2002 Gillet-Fox International Bassoon Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore

and National symphony orchestras as well as in recitals across the United

States and around the world. Reviewing a recent concert by the Poulenc

Trio, the Washington Post wrote, “Young’s music dances with a lightness

and grace uncommon for his instrument.” A principal bassoonist ofthe 

Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and a member ofthe iris Chamber Orchestra in Memphis, Young received his training at the Peabody Conservatory in

Baltimore and at Yale University.

IRINA KAPLAN

A graduate ofthe Saint Petersburg Conservatory of Music who currently 

teaches piano at the Peabody Institute ofJohns Hopkins University,

Russian-born pianist Irina Kaplan is a winner ofthe Baltimore Chamber

Music Award and the Montpelier Recital Competition. She has appeared

in the Bacchanalia Recital Series, New York Times Young Performers Series,

and Yale Gordon Concert Series. Performances in the Caribbean region 

as well as England, Germany, Italy, and Russia have garnered critical

praise of her “beauty and brilliance ofsound, astonishing flexibility, and

penetrating interpretation.” Fanfare Magazine took note ofher as “a strong

pianist who doesn’t settle for an accompanying role.”

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ANTON LANDE

Hailed in the Palm Beach Post as “a brilliant young violinist,” Anton Lande is

a graduate ofthe Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Conservatory,

where he majored in both violin performance and economics. A graduate 

ofthe Tanglewood Institute Quartet Program, he has performed at the 

Baltimore Museum ofArt, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institution, and

Walters Art Museum as well as in the Flagler Museum Series in Palm Beach,

Florida, and the Saint Croix Candlelight Music Series in the Virgin Islands.

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Program Notes

One of Francis Poulenc’s most popular chamber works, the Triofor Oboe,

Bassoon, and Piano is in the spirit of an eighteenth century divertissement—

light and witty, yet spiced with dissonances. Though the combination of

instruments is unusual, it is eminently logical, combining and contrasting

the two members ofthe double reed family with the percussive quality

ofthe piano. While composing the Trio in Cannes in 1926, Poulenc took

the advice of Maurice Ravel (with whom he had been studying) to base

the opening Presto on a Haydn Allegro and begin the closing Rondo with 

a nearly perfect quotation of a well-known Beethoven melody. After this 

reference to Beethoven, the Rondo makes a surprising turn into the fresh

vocabulary of Poulenc’s own distinctive language. Poulenc hinted that he 

patterned this movement after a piano concerto by Camille Saint-Saens.

The Andante is gracefully Mozartean, though any suggestion of parody

is dispelled by alluring shifts oftonality and chromaticism. The work is

dedicated to Manuel de Falla, whom Poulenc had met in 1918 at the home

of his teacher Ricardo Vines.

Stravinsky spent the years immediately following the premiere of The

Rite ofSpring (1914-1920) living in Switzerland. World War 1 had necessitated a temporary pause in the Paris operations ofthe Ballets Russes, the 

composer’s primary source ofincome, but he remained productive. He

concentrated mainly on works for smaller ensembles and used the time

to refine his compositional voice and delve more deeply into the language 

and folk heritage of his homeland. The two Suitesfor Small Orchestra were

orchestrated in 1921 and 1925, respectively, but date originally from 1915

and 1917, when the composer wrote them as sets of piano duets for young 

musicians. Titled Three Easy Pieces and Five Easy Pieces, the duets were

designed specifically for the education of Stravinsky’s two older children, 

with simple melodies to be played by the youngsters and more difficult

accompaniments meant for skilled hands. Beyond the simple charm and

witty personalization ofthese pieces in dance form, the suites contain a

premonition of Stravinsky’s approaching neo-classical period.

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When George Gershwin saw DuBose Heyward’s Porgy on stage in New

York City, he was inspired to write an opera based on the play. Turning to

Heyward for the opera libretto, Gershwin left New York City and lived for

several weeks in a waterfront shack in Charleston, South Carolina, to learn

about the lifestyle he wanted to capture in the opera. He incorporated 

impressions ofthe poignant melodies ofCharleston street cries, some of

the visceral rhythms ofthe Gullahs working or praying, and more than a

hint ofthe reverberating sounds of an oppressed community. Gershwin’s

longest and most ambitious composition, Porgy and Bess was not an instant

success at the time ofits premiere in 1935, but it did not take long for many

ofthe individual songs to become famous. Since that time, there have been

several revivals ofthe show on Broadway and the work has gained acceptance in the repertory ofthe world’s major opera companies.

A major figure in the history ofjazz, composer, pianist, and big-band 

leader Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington wrote in blues, gospel, popular,

and classical styles. With a career spanning more than fifty years that

included leading his orchestra on world tours, he was posthumously

awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. Ellington called his music “American”

rather than “jazz,” and liked to describe those who impressed him as

“beyond category.” Among the members of his orchestra who were “beyond 

category” were Melvin “Cootie” Williams, for whom he composed Concerto

for Cootie, which later became Do Nothing Till You Hearfrom Me with Bob

Russell’s lyrics; and Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton and James “Bubber” Miley,

for whom he wrote The Mooche.

Born in Cuba, Paquito D’Rivera began his career as a child prodigy.

A restless musical genius during his teen years, D’Rivera created various

original and groundbreaking musical ensembles. As a founding member

ofthe Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, he directed that group for two

years, while at the same time playing both the clarinet and saxophone with 

the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. He was a founding member and

codirector ofthe innovative musical ensemble Irakere, which featured an 

explosive mixture ofjazz, rock, classical, and traditional Cuban music never

before heard and toured extensively throughout America and Europe. In

the first movement of D’Rivera’s Afro-Cuban Suite, a slow introduction is

followed by a rhythmic and energetic modal dance in six-eight meter over

an Afro-Cuban ostinato. The Cuban danzon evolved in the 1870s from the 

contradanza, becoming a distinctive creole blend of African rhythms with

melodic elements drawn from the European country dance. The rubato 

introduction ofthe second movement sets a romantic atmosphere followed

by the danzon proper in clave, the rhythmic foundation of almost all Cuban 

music. Preludio y Merengue is an excellent example of D’Rivera’s unique mix

of Latin and modal jazz styles. The colorful and episodic Preludio is followed

by an energetic, lilting Merengue in five-eight time.

Program Notes by JeffCounts, program note writer, Utah Symphony

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Concerts in March 2013 at the National Gallery ofArt

Vienna Piano Trio

Music by Beethoven, Haydn, and Saint-Saens

March 3, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Hermitage Cats: A Musical

Music by Chris Brubeck

March 10, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

East Building Auditorium

Inscape Chamber Orchestra

Richard Scerbo, conductor

Music by Debussy, Delage, Hindemith, and Ravel

March 17, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Paul Posnak, pianist

Music by Gershwin and other composers

March 20, 2013

Wednesday, 12:10 pm

East Building Auditorium

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