Zoom & Zip Better Together

Better Together

The meeting of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra with two outstanding clarinetists — one of whom is also an acclaimed conductor — opens up remarkable possibilities for repertoire. The upcoming concert, titled Better Together, brings together a rarely performed gem from the Romantic catalogue of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and the vibrant rhythmic pulse of a contemporary work by Elena Kats-Chernin. The program also features music by Edvard Grieg, Benjamin Britten, and Aaron Copland. The orchestra’s distinguished guests for the evening will be Michael Collins and Pablo Barragán.

Zoom and Zip by Elena Kats-Chernin was composed in 1997 and premiered the following year. This vividly colored work is built on rhythmic interplay between melody and accompaniment. The composer has acknowledged inspiration from the sonorities characteristic of Russian music — a subtle return to the cultural landscape of her youth. Born in Tashkent (now the capital of Uzbekistan), she studied in Moscow before eventually settling in Australia.

The first clarinet work of the evening will be Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, one of the most celebrated compositions for the instrument in the 20th century. It was written for the legendary jazz musician Benny Goodman. Even for him, however, the technical demands proved formidable, leading to certain simplifications in performance.

Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück, Op. 114, was composed for the father-and-son clarinetists Heinrich and Carl Baermann, both close friends of the composer. Carl Baermann was also an excellent cook. Mendelssohn promised to write a piece for them if Carl prepared a meal for him — a bargain that was fulfilled. As a result, in 1832 and 1833, the musicians received not one but two Konzertstücke.

The second half of the evening opens with the beloved Holberg Suite, completed by Edvard Grieg in 1884. The work was written to mark the bicentenary of Ludvig Holberg, a Norwegian-born writer regarded as the father of Danish theatre. Grieg responded with a stylized homage to Baroque dance forms. Though inspired by 18th-century conventions, the suite is infused with unmistakably Romantic lyricism and emotional warmth.

The concert concludes with a composition by Benjamin Britten. In 1937, conductor Boyd Neel commissioned a new work for string orchestra for performance at the Salzburg Festival, where a premiere was required. He turned to the 24-year-old Britten, with whom he had previously collaborated. Within a month, the young composer completed the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. The theme was written by Britten’s teacher and mentor, and in his variations, Britten both honors and playfully reimagines it — at times even gently parodying classical forms.