The vibrant Overture to The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Boulogne opens the show.
After Mary's fiery concerto performance, including some artistic improvisation, Mozart’s iconic Symphony No. 40 is a rich and fitting finale.
Why You Shouldn't Miss It
We’ll pair Mary's performance of the Violin Concerto No. 4 with Mozart’s most recognizable symphony, the by-turns elegant and fiery No. 40 in G minor.
Mary Papoulis is the Co-Concertmaster of the Great Falls Symphony and a member of the Cascade Quartet. She will be improvising her own cadenzas live on stage. Join us for never-before-heard Mary Papoulis original cadenzas and help us celebrate the vibrant energy and artistic depth Mary brings to our community!
CONCERT SPONSOR
PROGRAM NOTES
By Grant Harville
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756 – 1791
Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major
1775
Allegro
Andante cantabile (A major)
Rondeau
(Andante grazioso – Allegro ma non troppo)x
25 MINUTES
Symphony No. 40 in G minor
1788
Molto allegro
Andante
Menuetto, Allegretto
Finale, Allegro assai
30 MINUTES
Fundamental to the story of the Great Falls Symphony is its resident Cascade String Quartet, and fundamental to the story of the Cascade Quartet are its two longest-serving members, violinist Mary Papoulis and cellist Thad Suits. I have been proud to have Mary and Thad to my left and right, respectively, for many of my performances here in Great Falls.
Additionally, Mary was the first local soloist I shared the stage with (on Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole in 2019), and it’s only fitting that she be the last as well, this time for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4.
The two Mozart pieces on this program, Violin Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 40, were written at very different times in the composer’s life. Mozart was a teenager in provincial Salzburg, employed as the court’s concertmaster, when he wrote all five of his violin concertos in the mid-1770s; he was at the end of his short life and employed as Imperial Court Composer in the capital Vienna when he wrote Symphonies 39, 40, and 41 in the summer of 1788.
That said, the two pieces share things in common as well: In particular, in both cases we don’t know the precise situation that led to their composition, nor are there any verified accounts of performances of either piece in Mozart’s lifetime (though it almost certain that Mozart himself or another accomplished Salzburg violinist played the concerto, and there are several recorded performances of Mozart symphonies in the late 1780s and early 1790s that might plausibly have been the 40th.)
Additionally, much can be extrapolated from the compositions themselves, in conjunction with Mozart’s life circumstances at the time. Mozart’s teenage years in Salzburg represent the relatively brief time when his responsibilities as a violinist were at their peak, resulting in what might be called a “violin period:” All five concertos and all five sonatas for that instrument come from this time. (Compare this to Mozart’s piano output: 27 concertos and 18 sonatas, spanning almost 20 years.) His fourth violin concerto demonstrates not just youthful charm but an understanding of his audience honed since his days of climbing into Empress Maria Theresa’s lap as a six-year-old. Set in the typical three-movement form, the work exhibits Mozart’s ability to find beauty and innovation within the conventions familiar to the Salzburg court audience.
Meanwhile, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 was meant to impress and delight the cosmopolitan audiences of Vienna and beyond. If it was performed in Mozart’s lifetime, possible locations include Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, and elsewhere. One indication that Mozart is treating this symphony differently as an artistic statement is the key: Along with No. 25, it is one of only two
minor-key symphonies he wrote, both in G minor. (If you were a Great Falls Symphony patron in 2022, you can cross “hear every one of Mozart’s minor symphonies” off your bucket list.) In an era when not just Mozart, but all composers wrote overwhelmingly in major keys, minor-key works stand out for their poignant and
proto-Romantic qualities.
Furthermore, Mozart’s craft and melodic gift are on full display. The symphony opens with one of Mozart’s most beloved and recognizable tunes, both graceful and restless; the second movement consists of sinuous melodies weaving around each other in a gentle 6/8. The spirited minuet bucks rhythmic convention with barline-obscuring hemiolas and uncharacteristic three-bar phrases; the finale is one Mozart’s most daring creations, full of abrupt dynamic shifts, far-flung tonal adventures, and jumbled melodic fragments, all wrapped in a vivacious Allegro assai.
Overture to The Anonymous Lover
1780
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
1745 – 1799
16 MINUTES
In between these two works (among other adventures) was Mozart’s ill-fated trip to Paris in 1778-79, during which his professional endeavors met with mixed success and his mother died. This episode in his career will be familiar to those who saw Chevalier, the 2022 biopic of composer and violinist Joseph Bologne, which opens in Paris with a violin duel between the visiting Mozart and the title character. That duel never happened, though the timeline works – both composers were in Paris at the same time.
Nor is it implausible that Bologne would have won such a duel: Mozart was good at pretty much everything he did, but piano was his primary instrument, and Bologne was among the leading violinists in the French capital.
Bologne can also challenge Mozart in another way that few composers can: biographical intrigue. While Mozart lived a remarkable life by any measure, Bologne may have in his time been The Most Interesting Man in the World. He was born Christmas Day in 1745 in Guadalupe, the illegitimate son of a plantation owner and an enslaved woman. Brought to Paris to be educated at age 7, he became an expert-level fencer by age 15 (in this case, there was a duel: The teenage Bologne defeated one of France’s leading swordsmen in 1761), was named an officer of the king’s bodyguard and the Duke of Orleans Lieutenant of the Hunt, was painted fencing in front of the Prince of Wales, was mugged at least twice (possibly for political reasons), became a colonel in the post-Revolution National Guard, and spent 11 months in prison for his political activities in 1793. Future American president John Adams called him “the most accomplished Man in Europe in Riding, Running, Shooting, Fencing, Dancing, Musick. He will hit the Button, any Button, on the Coat
or Waistcoat of the greatest Masters.”
As a musician, he composed some of France’s first string quartets, played concertmaster for and later conducted the orchestra Concert des Amateurs, and spearheaded the commission of Joseph Haydn’s so-called Paris symphonies, conducting their premieres in 1786. Bologne composed six operas (three now lost), with L’Amant anonyme (The Anonymous Lover) coming in 1780. At the time, the distinction between overture and symphony was blurry (overtures were often called sinfonias), and L’Amant anonyme’s overture follows the
three-movement structure typical of short symphonies of the day.
GUEST ARTIST
Mary Papoulis
Mary Papoulis moved from New York in 1990 to join the Great Falls community as violinist with the Cascade Quartet and
co-concertmaster of the Great Falls Symphony.
She continues to enjoy sharing her love of the violin literature with the Great Falls Symphony to this day. Her solo appearances include the Mendelssohn concerto, Lalo concerto, Bach double violin concerto and concerto for violin and oboe, Vivaldi concerto for violin and cello, Haydn symphony concertante for violin, cello, horn and oboe, Elgar Introduction and Allegro for string quartet and string orchestra, and the scherzo from Schubert’s cello quintet with Yo-Yo Ma.
Mary feels privileged to have had the opportunity to share so much of the great vast literature for string quartet with the Great Falls community, the state of Montana and beyond.
In over three decades her appearances in rural school houses to major concert halls have touched thousands of hearts through music.
Mary also loves to work with the youth through private violin teaching, master classes, and chamber coaching. In addition to the Great Falls Youth Orchestra, she has adjudicated at state and district Montana festivals, taught at the Olympic Music Festival in Washington, the Summer Youth Orchestra Workshop in Bozeman, and a chamber music workshop with the Cascade and Ying Quartets in Great Falls.
Mary has a creative performance style that has taken her all over the world, and to all corners of Montana. She has toured with the String Orchestra of the Rockies and also performed with numerous festivals, including the Spoleto and Assisi Performing Arts Festival in Italy, Big Sky Classical Music Festival, Amadeus Festival, Big Sky Alive contemporary music festival, and appeared as soloist with Solero Flamenco in the Houston Spanish & Flamenco Festival.
She holds a DMA from SUNY Stony Brook, MM from Eastman, and BM from Indiana University. She studied baroque violin with Stanley Riche and jazz violin with the Turtle Island String Quartet.
Mary is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor, Tamalpa Life Arts Process practitioner and teacher of Nia Technique. She is the proud mother of two sons. She intertwines music into everything in her life, and plays often outside of the orchestra and Quartet. She enjoys performing as half of a duo with Richard Matoon playing a kaleidoscope of genres in the community, at fairs, and private parties. She
finds freedom in improvisation and the creative magic that happens when you let go of the structure of sheet music.
Mary thrives on connecting with her community, valuing the transformative power of art and its ability to go beyond words. Mozart’s D major concerto is a childhood favorite which she first learned at age 15. It is the first piece she can remember inspiring her to practice into the wee hours of the night. She looks forward to sharing the magic of improvising cadenzas in this piece, especially for the Great Falls community she calls home.