Weill / Ibert / Berg Baton Rouge Symphony Chamber Players

• 1 I. Andante con moto 10:48
• 2 IIa. Notturno Allegro un poco tenuto 03:55
• 3 IIb. Cadenza Moderato 03:50
• 4 IIc. Serenata Allegretto 03:53
• 5 III. Allegro molto, un poco agitato 07:35
• 6 I. Pastorale Allant 03:21
• 7 II. Romance Souple 04:13
• 8 III. Gigue Anime 05:02
• 9 I. Thema scherzoso con variazioni, leicht beschwingt 08:56
• 10 II. Adagio 13:47
• 11 III. Rondo Introdutione 11:19
• Total Runtime 01:16:39

Info for Weill / Ibert / Berg

The son of a cantor, Kurt Weill was born in Dessau into a family that took in operatic performances as a main form of entertainment. When Weill was in his teens the director of the Dessau Hoftheater, Albert Bing, encouraged him in the study of music. Weill briefly studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and was already working professionally as a conductor when he attended composer Ferruccio Busoni’s master classes in Berlin. Delighted to see the positive responses of an audience to his first collaboration with playwright Georg Kaiser, Der Protagonist (1926), he thereafter resolved to work toward accessibility in his music.

French composer Jacques Ibert was born in Paris August 15, 1890. His father was a financier, his mother an accomplished pianist. She began his musical training when he was four years old, and despite his father’s objection, continued to encourage his ambition to become a musician. Upon returning from his wartime duties in the French Navy during World War I, he resumed his conservatory training, and in 1919 won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Le Poete et la Fee. His navy service in the Mediterranean gave rise to his arguably most famous composition, the 1924 symphonic suite Ports of Call (Escales). He continued to compose for virtually every genre, including seven operas, six symphonic works and five ballets, three choral works, plus scores of incidental pieces, songs, concertos, and scores for films.

Alban Maria Johannes Berg is one of the central figures of twentieth century musical composition. As one of the triumvirate of the Second Viennese School, Berg produced a rather small body of work that is nonetheless distinguished by a strongly Romantic aesthetic and a distinctive dramatic sense.

John Gilbert, violin Dmitri Schteinberg, piano George Work, cello Timothy Muffitt, conductor

Recorded at the Claude L. Shaver Theatre, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA ‐ March 17‐18, 2012
Producer: Dan Merceruio
Recording Engineer: Daniel Shores
Editing Engineers: Daniel Shores, Dan Merceruio
Mixing Engineer: Daniel Shores
Mastering Engineer: Daniel Shores

The Baton Rouge Symphony Chamber Players
is an ensemble of musicians from the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1947, the Baton Rouge Symphony is the oldest arts organization in the region and the oldest professional orchestra in the state. Along with the orchestra itself, the organization also includes a Symphony League, a Symphony Chorus, and the Louisiana Youth Orchestras. In addition to its Masterworks programming, The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra reaches over 7,000 young people per year through its numerous education and outreach programs.

In 1999, during the Baton Rouge Symphonyís 50th anniversary season, Dr. Timothy Muffitt was selected as Music Director and still currently holds the position. In 2007, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of David Torns, Music Director of the Louisiana Youth Orchestras, to the position of Assistant Conductor of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. In 2011, Dr. David Shaler was appointed as Chorus Master of the Baton Rouge Symphony Chorus.

The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestraís season consists of a seven-concert Masterworks series as well as a three-concert Chamber Series. The Chamber Series is sponsored by Charles and Carole Lamar. This particular program was partially funded by the Kurt Weill Foundation For Music, Inc. The Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation ìGreat Performers in Concertî series has brought world-class talent to Louisianaís capital city for the past ten years. These concerts in collaboration with the orchestra have featured artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Chris Botti, Itzhak Perlman, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and most recently, Natalie Cole.

The mission of the Baton Rouge Symphony is to develop and maintain a financially-sound, first-class symphony orchestra with a regional and national profile which will provide education and cultural enrichment for the people of the greater Baton Rouge region and neighboring communities.

Baton Rouge Symphony programs are made possible in part by: Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge; Community Funds for the Arts Campaign; City of Baton Rouge and the Parish of East Baton Rouge; Louisiana State Arts Council, Division of the Arts.

Booklet for Weill / Ibert / Berg