Column 2, June 12, 2025 by Jim Berkenstock
Walter Preucil, charter member of Midsummer’s Music and our outstanding cellist for the first 29 years, used to say, “Everything is connected.” If there was a connection to be had, he would find it. He certainly would in our upcoming program featuring Mozart, Reicha, and Dvořák. And it would be fitting that Walter would find it, because he is into everything Czech, as is another founding member of our ensemble and current board member, Bill Koehler. These two were notorious for lobbying me to program Czech music.
Obviously, Dvořák was Czech and was born in Prague. You might not know that Reicha was also born in Prague in 1770, the same year that Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. Reicha moved to Bonn as a very young man and actually played with Beethoven in the Elector’s orchestra In Bonn. They became very good friends. (Another connection, Walter).
So, what is Mozart’s connection? Well, Mozart made several trips to Prague and was warmly received. His opera, The Marriage of Figaro, was performed there, which led to several more trips. The Prague public seemed to understand Mozart’s music more quickly than other audiences. The success of Figaro in Prague led to Mozart’s Prague Symphony, which was given its premiere there in January of 1787. Soon afterwards, he was commissioned to write Don Giovanni, which premiered there in October of 1787. Mozart went to Prague to conduct the premiere. Recently, Oryann Tsaig, our violist with the Griffon Quartet, who will be performing with us later in our season, told me that when touring Europe with her orchestra a few years ago, she was in the Estates Theater in Prague and saw the plaque in the floor of the orchestra pit that indicates where Mozart stood conducting his performances.
Mozart returned to Prague twice more including the final time for the premiere of his opera La Clemenza di Tito in 1791, shortly before he died. Mozart’s librettist for Don Giovanni, Lorenzo da Ponte, described the enthusiasm of the Czech people for Mozart’s music:
It is not easy to convey an adequate conception of the enthusiasm of the Bohemians for [Mozart’s] music. The pieces which were admired least of all in other countries were regarded by those people as things divine; and, more wonderful still, the great beauties which other nations discovered in the music of that rare genius only after many, many performances, were perfectly appreciated by the Bohemians on the very first evening.[1]
It could be argued that Mozart’s connection with Prague was more significant than Reicha’s.
Our next program, which opens Wednesday, June 18th, at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor, begins with Mozart’s 6th and final String Quintet, written just a few months before his final trip to Prague. It is not only his final quintet, it was to be his last chamber music composition.
Dvořák’s contribution to this program is a masterful String Sextet. Written in 1878, this was the first of Dvořák’s compositions to receive international recognition. Of it, Brahms said, “It is infinitely beautiful. This glorious ingenuity, freshness, and beauty of sound…”
Between these two masterpieces is a wonderful work for clarinet and strings, Anton Reicha’s Quintet in B-flat Major, Opus 89, which will feature JJ Koh on clarinet. It is a colorful and imaginative work offering interesting interplay between the clarinet and the strings. Reicha wrote a significant amount of chamber music including many fine works involving winds. He ended up in Paris and taught at the Conservatory and created several compositional textbooks that were used in music schools well into the 20th century.
After our Wednesday performance at Björklunden, you can also hear this program at a rare performance at the Peninsula School of Art, Friday, June 20th, the Kress Pavilion on Sunday, June 22ndat 4:00 pm., and Wednesday, June 25th at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor, at 7:00 pm. Call 920-854-7088 or visit www.midsummersmusic.com for tickets or more information. And … if you weren’t at our Opening Night Gala, you can still hear that program at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay on Saturday evening and MUSE in Sturgeon Bay, Sunday at 4:00 pm. Come on by and let’s get connected!
ALL CONTENT © 2025 BY DOOR GUIDE PUBLISHING
