LSO Discovery
Friday
Lunchtime Concert
Friday 23 April 2021 12.30pm
Friday 23 April 2021
LSO Discovery Lunchtime Concert
Mozart Divertimento in B-flat major K439b No 4
Paquito D'Rivera Habanera from 'Aires Tropicales'
Mozart arr Rainer Schottstädt Divertimento on 'Don Giovanni'
Chris Richards clarinet
Chi-Yu Mo clarinet
Katy Ayling bass clarinet
Rachel Leach presenter
This performance is broadcast live on youtube.com/lso.
Recorded at LSO St Luke's in COVID-19 secure conditions.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91)
Divertimento in B-flat major K439b No 4
✒️1783 | ⏰13 minutes
1 Allegro
2 Larghetto
3 Menuetto
4 Adagio
5 Allegretto
Mozart is now considered to be one of the greatest composers who ever lived and the central figure of the classical period. He wrote his first pieces at the age of five, his first symphony at eight, and an opera aged eleven. At around 17 he got a job as court composer in Salzburg and started churning out music on a daily basis, but he really wanted to be an independent ‘freelance’ composer in Vienna.
Disobeying his father for the first time, he resigned his lucrative post and travelled to Vienna in 1783, and whilst he did become the centre of the musical world there, it was also perhaps his downfall – the work was hard to come by and his celebrity lifestyle was hectic. He died tragically young aged just 35, burnt out and penniless.
Divertimento is the term for an often light-hearted chamber piece featuring several contrasting movements. Divertimenti were very popular in the 18th century and Mozart wrote many. This one, from 1783, is from a collection of five written for three basset horns (an earlier form of clarinet). Mozart was great friends with Anton Stadler, a famous clarinettist and basset hornist. It is likely he wrote this for Anton to play with friends during an informal evening at the Mozart home.
Note by Rachel Leach
Paquito D'Rivera (b 1948)
Habanera from 'Aires Tropicales'
✒️1994 | ⏰3 minutes
Paquito D’Rivera is a Cuban-American clarinettist, saxophonist and composer. Born and brought up in Havana, D’Rivera began taking saxophone lessons from his father aged just five. He attended the Havana Conservatory and then became a soloist in great demand. By 1980 he felt increasingly constrained by the communist regime in Cuba, so whilst on tour in Spain, he defected. He has lived in the United States ever since.
D’Rivera’s music often crosses genres and he is the only artist ever to have won Grammy awards in both 'Classical' and 'Latin Jazz' categories. This short piece was the first composition he ever wrote and features one of the oldest Cuban musical styles – the Habanera.
Note by Rachel Leach
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
arr Rainer Schottstädt
Divertimento on 'Don Giovanni'
✒️1787 (arr 1992) | ⏰12 minutes
1 Aria: Madamina, il catalogo e questo
2 Rondo: Non mi dir, bell’idol mio
3 Duettino: La ci darem la Mano
4 Quartett: Riposate, vezzose ragazze
The opera Don Giovanni is now regarded as Mozart’s masterpiece and one of the greatest operas ever written. Based on the exploits of Don Juan, it tells the tale of an arrogant womaniser who, thankfully, gets his come-uppance when he encounters a force that he cannot outwit. This is a collection of the ‘best bits’ arranged for clarinet trio and features a love song, a party song and a song in which the ‘hero’ of the opera lists his many, many conquests.
Note by Rachel Leach
Artist Biographies
Chris Richards
LSO Principal Clarinet
Chris Richards studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Julian Farrell, Joy Farrall and Thea King. He reached the finals of the 2001 Shell/LSO competition, performing as a soloist with the LSO, and after his studies was appointed Principal Clarinet with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Chris joined the LSO as Principal Clarinet in 2010.
He has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the LSO, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, James Gaffigan, Robin Ticciati, Thomas Zehetmair and H K Gruber. Chris has played chamber music at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, LSO St Luke’s, The Sage Gateshead and Aldeburgh Festival with artists including Thomas Adès, Howard Shelley, Pascal Rogé, and the Elias and Navarra string quartets.
Chi-Yu Mo
LSO Principal E-flat Clarinet
Chi-Yu Mo graduated from St John's College, Cambridge with first class honours and a PhD in chemistry before studying clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won many prizes and awards. He was winner of the Britten-Pears Concerto Competition as well as wind finalist in the Royal Over-Seas League competition.
Since joining the LSO, he has frequently played as guest Principal Clarinet with many UK orchestras as well as recording and touring with the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra and World Orchestra for Peace. He is committed to teaching the next generation of orchestral players and has given masterclasses and coached in China, France, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Spain and the US, as well as teaching at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is a Fellow. He has been a member of the LSO since 1998 having previously been Principal E-flat Clarinet of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Katy Ayling
bass clarinet
Katy Ayling began her studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2004 where she learnt with Barnaby Robson, Andrew Webster, Joy Farall and Laurent Ben Slimane. She went on to graduate with a Master's degree in performance from the Royal Academy of Music in 2009 where she won the Buffet Crampon Clarinet Prize playing Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto.
It was during her time at the GSMD that Katy's interest in the bass clarinet began and, after freelancing in London for some years, she was appointed Principal Bass Clarinet of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014. She continues to freelance alongside her position with other orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta.
Her performance work also includes recording for film and television, as well as working with various chamber ensembles. Alongside her performance career, Katy is involved in education and has also coached wind ensembles at both the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music, and adjudicated recitals at the Royal Academy of Music.
Thank You for Watching
Future Lunchtime Concerts
Friday 28 May: Guildhall Orchestral Artistry students
Friday 11 June: LSO string quartet (Relaxed performance)
Friday 18 June: Guildhall singers
Friday 16 July: LSO Soundhub preview
Concerts start at 12.30pm
We hope that we will be able to welcome audiences to LSO St Luke's from 17 May onwards, in line with government guidance.
To join us in person in the Jerwood Hall, you must book a free ticket in advance. Tickets will be released no earlier than two weeks prior to each concert via the LSO website.
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