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Triple Play

Featuring
 The Adkins Family Trio 
Christopher Adkins, cello
(Principal cellist, Dallas Symphony Orchestra)
Elisabeth Adkins, violin
(Associate concertmaster of the National Symphony in Washington)
Edward Newman, piano
Friday September 30, 2005 8:00pm
Lakeland Baptist Church (Directions)

"And maybe only shared DNA can yield lines so seamlessly from one instrument to another, from cellist Christopher Adkins ... to violinist Elisabeth Adkins."  Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News  

"I can't imagine that any orchestra has a finer principal cellist than the DSO's Christopher Adkins”   Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News  

"As I listened to Elizabeth Adkins, I realized that there is no violinist (including Perlman, Menuhin--anyone) whose playing I prefer."  Joseph McLellan of the Washington Post

Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Schubert: Symphony No. 3 in D Major
Adron Ming, Music Director/Conductor

Adkins Family website
You can hear extracts of recordings
 by Christopher Adkins, Elisabeth Adkins , Madeline Adkins
, Anthony Adkins,Clare Adkins Carlson, Alexandria Adkins Wenig,
 and Edward Newman (honorary Adkins)

More on:  Christopher Adkins  |  Elisabeth Adkins  |  Edward Newman  |  The Triple Concerto  |  Symphony No 3 

Christopher Adkins, cello 
Christopher studied with Adolfo Odnoposoff at the University of North Texas and with former Dallas Symphony principal Lev Aronson. After completing a master's degree at Yale with Aldo Parisot, he was named assistant principal cellist of the Denver Symphony. In 1986, he was appointed principal cellist of the Milwaukee Symphony, and the following year returned to Dallas to take over the principal chair once occupied by his teacher.

Christopher quickly became a favorite, not only of audiences, but of the critics. After his memorable performance of the cello solos in the Strauss Don Quixote last season, Dallas Morning News critic Scott Cantrell declared: "I can't imagine that any orchestra has a finer principal cellist than the DSO's Christopher Adkins, and he brilliantly personified the score's knight errant." He has also been quite active in chamber music, for a number of years as a member of the contemporary ensemble Voices of Change, then as a founding member of the Walden Piano Quartet, and now as artistic director of the Adkins String Ensemble.

Christopher made his family a real Dallas Symphony family by marrying DSO violinist Sasha Shtarkman. Much of his non-musical time is spent helping Sasha with daughters Rachel, Rebekah, Theresa, and Carmen, as well as a son Christian.

He has developed quite an enthusiasm for vintage opera posters, as Dallas Opera patrons may remember who viewed the beautiful display of original French posters in the foyer of the opera hall during a production of Massenet's Manon.

 Elisabeth Adkins, violin
After graduating from the University of North Texas, Elisabeth completed both a master's degree and a doctorate at Yale, where she studied with Oscar Shumsky. In 1983 she was named associate concertmaster of the National Symphony in Washington, where she has established a solid reputation as a concerto performer and recitalist.

In one 2001 performance Elisabeth was featured with the National Symphony at the special request of Iona Brown, with whom she played Bach's Concerto for Two Violins. The same season she joined her brother Christopher in a memorable performance of the Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello with the Dallas Symphony. The following season Elisabeth and youngest sister Madeline, assistant concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony, shared solo billing in a concert with the BSO featuring each sister in a concerto performance.

As solo violinist of the 20th-Century Consort, Elisabeth is a noted interpreter of the contemporary repertoire. Reviewers across the country have praised her playing in phrases such as "a spectacular performance," "a world-class violinist," "an impeccable technique and a tone that melted the heart and charmed the soul." Joseph McLellan, reviewing one of her recitals for the Washington Post, remarked: "As I listened to Adkins, I realized that there is no violinist (including Perlman, Menuhin--anyone) whose playing I prefer."

In their "free" time, Elisabeth and her husband Edward take great delight in their growing family-Gregory, 6 years old, and Cecily, now 3.

 Edward Newman, piano
Edward received both the B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard School, and has been soloist with numerous orchestras, among them the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony. He was awarded first prize in the 1979 Casadesus International Piano Competition. He was also a prizewinner in the Gina Bachauer and University of Maryland competitions, and was a semifinalist in the 1981 Van Cliburn Competition. A pianist of virtuosity and sensitivity, Edward combines the qualities of "brilliant technique" (Washington Star) and "a light touch of dazzling clarity" (Cleveland Plain Dealer) with "expressive lyricism" (Washington Post).

In addition to maintaining a private studio, Edward has performed with a number of chamber music ensembles. Following one such performance, the critic for the Washington Post declared: "Newman demonstrated again what local audiences have long known: that he is one of the Washington area's finest chamber musicians."

By virtue of his marriage to Elisabeth, Edward was declared an honorary Adkins. In 1995, he joined the Adkins String Ensemble, where he serves, not only as pianist, but as referee in the occasional artistic altercation.
 

Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Piano with Orchestra, Op. 56
   Ludwig van Beethoven
(Born Bonn, Germany, December 16[?],1770; died Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827)
Notes by Dr. John Green

Duration: ca. 40 minutes

            I.    Allegro
            II.   Largo
            III.  Rondo alla polacca

One soloist with the symphony orchestra we have come to expect; three is unaccustomed luxury. This is probably the chief reason why performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto are so relatively infrequent.  The idea of three soloists discoursing together is an attractive one, and harks back to the concerto grosso of the Baroque.  Beethoven’s reference to this work as a “concertante” in his correspondence with his publisher shows quite clearly that it was this model which he had in mind.  The work was sketched in 1803, and first performed and published in 1807.

The treatment of the solo group is an interesting story in itself:  not only does Beethoven balance the solo group against the orchestra, in the manner of the concerto grosso, and as Haydn and Mozart had done in their concertante works, but he also balanced them against each other, more often the violin and cello as a pair against the piano, which can hold its own, and often against various choirs of the orchestra, strings or woodwinds.  Of the solo instruments, it is the cello which leads off in each movement.

I.  Allegro.  The first movement runs true to the concerto form of its day, with the double exposition, first by the orchestra, then for the solo instruments.  In the second exposition (for the solo players), the main subject is entrusted to the cello.  The solo violin enters nine measures later, and soon the piano has its turn at the principal theme.  The development section is extensive, and there is a long coda.

 II.  Largo.  The solemn opening theme is introduced by muted strings.  The solo cello repeats it.  This theme serves as the basis for subtle harmonies and decorations.  An impressionistic coloring dominates the whole movement and, at the end, the music leads without pause into the finale.

 III.  Rondo all polacca.  The third movement is a polonaise, a dance which was a favorite in the rondos and finales of the era.  But Beethoven’s Rondo alla polacca borrows only the rhythm of the Polish folk dance, which is stylized and serves as the carrier of the spirited tone play.  Instead of the cadenza (customarily heard at the end of the movement), the three solo instruments engage in lively conversation with each other.  They burst into bare unison octaves in the coda as the full orchestra assists with fiery chordal strokes.

Symphony No. 3 in D Major           
Franz Schubert
Born Vienna, 31 January 1797; died there, 19 November 1828
Notes by Dr. John Green

Duration: ca. 25 minutes

         I.  Adagio maestoso; Allegro con brio

          II.  Allegretto

         III.  Menuetto

         IV.  Presto vivace

             Schubert’s early symphonies are “Hausmusik.”  They were either written for the small orchestra of the Konvikt (the religious seminary which the young Schubert attended) or for the amateur orchestra which frequently met and played in the home of Schubert’s father.

             Schubert completed the D Major Symphony in July, 1815 when he was just eighteen years old.  In the same year he wrote no less than four operas, forty-four songs, two masses and various chamber music works.  The first public performance of the Third Symphony did not occur until February 19, 1881, in London, sixty-six years since it had been written and fifty-three years after Schubert’s death.  It is constructed on a small scale, comparable to the Mozart and Haydn symphonies rather than the monumental symphonies of Beethoven.  Schubert’s Third shows a highly developed sense of form which was close to that of the older Viennese masters.

             I.  Adagio maestoso; Allegro con brio.  A broad yet restrained introduction precedes the Allegro

proper.  The first strain is a light-hearted phrase, first introduced by the clarinet, that is hardly a tune but simply a compound of harmony and a rhythmic figure.  The oboe is assigned the second theme that is a melody unmistakably Schubertian.  Absolute lucidity characterizes both the brief exposition and the recapitulation.

          II.  Allegretto.  In the place of a slow movement, Schubert created a graceful and disarming song, suggesting chamber music in its delicate balance between woodwinds and strings.  The substance of its middle section is a pleasant tune sung by clarinet to an “oom-pah” accompaniment.

         III.  Menuetto.  This exhuberant minuet, rustic and far removed from the courtly world, stomps rather than trips along, especially because of the accent on the third beat of each measure.  The trio is another Austrian country dance, leisurely indulged in by the oboe and bassoon.

         IV.  Presto vivace.  The sparkling finale in tarantella rhythm (stemming from a Neapolitan dance in rapid 6/8 time) has been said to sound like an opera buffo overture.  The pace is propulsive, the harmonies whirl, and there are Rossinian crescendos and unexpected crashes by the whole orchestra.  Both themes are based on a rising line and are elated and joyous by their very nature.    

GREAT MUSIC AT A FAIR PRICE AND A SHORT DRIVE