Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra—February 5, 2019—CAMA's International Series at The Granada Theatre—Centennial Season

label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions (PBP).
Born in England, Nicholas McGegan was
educated at Cambridge and Oxford and taught
at the Royal College of Music, London. He was
made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order
of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s
Birthday Honours for 2010 “for services to
music overseas.”
In 2016 he was the Christoph Wolff
Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Harvard and
is a frequent visitor to Yale.
Photo by Lauren Desberg
ALANA
YOUSSEFIAN
A
native of New Jersey,
“sensational” baroque and
modern violinist Alana
Youssefian (San Francisco Civic Center) has
quickly forged a reputation as an engaging and
spirited soloist, chamber player, and orchestral
musician. Hailed for her “incredible poise,”
“sensitive dynamics,” and “plangent emotional
involvement” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer),
as well as presenting performances that are
“utterly convincing” (Early Music America),
Ms. Youssefian has performed internationally
as a concertmaster and soloist, in addition to
holding engagements at venues such as the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts, the Mann Center, Carnegie Hall, and
Alice Tully Hall. Ms. Youssefian studied with
Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin Conservatory,
and completed a master’s degree in Violin
Performance at Rice University’s Shepherd
School of Music with Kenneth Goldsmith. She
most recently graduated from The Juilliard
School's Historical Performance Program in
Spring 2018, where she studied with Elizabeth
Blumenstock, Cynthia Roberts, and Rachel
Podger.
As winner of Juilliard's 2017 Historical
Performance Concerto Competition, she
performed Vivaldi's "Il Grosso Mogul" concerto
with Juilliard415 and Nicholas McGegan. She has
performed with Juilliard415 as concertmaster
and soloist on several occasions, including
their tours of India and New Zealand. She has
also performed with Ars Lyrica Houston, Bach
Society Houston, Mercury, Trinity Baroque
Orchestra, The Sebastians, New York Baroque
Incorporated, Sonnambula, Les Arts Florissants
at Dans le Jardin de William Christie, The Helicon
Foundation, and Teatro Nuovo as associate
concertmaster. She is a founding member of
the baroque ensemble les soûls d’amour, and
enjoys their residency at the Seabury Academy
at St. Paul’s on the Green in Norwalk, CT. Her
latest ensemble, The Cramer Quartet, was
selected for a residency at Avaloch Farm Music
Institute in Summer 2018. She was named an
American Fellow of The English Concert and
Juilliard Fellow of Mercury in 2018. In her free
time, Ms. Youssefian enjoys spending time with
her partner Jared and their cats Jimmy and
Django, reading thriller books, and rocking out
to The Rolling Stones. n
Viennese Pivot
PROGRAM NOTES BY BRUCE LAMOTT
Chorale Director and Scholar-in-Residence of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale
Vienna has been called many things: surrender in May 1814, the diplomats and
“The Imperial City,” “The City of nobility of Europe gathered in Vienna a year
Dreams,” “Waltz Capital of the World,” later to sort out the territorial havoc he caused
but rarely, if ever, “The Pivot.” Situated
centrally in the heart of Europe on the North-
South axis from Amsterdam to Naples and
East-West from Paris to Prague, its musical
significance was approaching its zenith just
in what is known as the “Congress of Vienna.”
So Vienna certainly has claim to be a
hubcap, but a pivot? Yes, because it is here
that the prevailing style of music gradually
pivoted from the galant propriety of the Classic
as its political significance was plunging to its Period—sometimes called the Viennese
nadir in 1800. Center of the conglomeration of
countries, city-states, and dioceses known as
the Holy Roman Empire (in Voltaire’s famous
opinion, none of the above) and ruled from
Vienna by the dynasties of Habsburg and
Habsburg-Lorraine, the Empire was dissolved
by Napoleon in 1808. However, following his
Classical Style—of Mozart and Haydn to the
unabashed personal expression and drama of
Romanticism of Schubert and late Beethoven.
And like a pivot—as opposed to a turnstyle—
these changes were gradual and fluctuating,
making the distinction of styles rather fuzzy
until 1820 or so.
10 CENTENNIAL SEASON CELEBRATION CAMA AT THE GRANADA THEATRE - PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA 11