DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Pvs Classical Series

Title Sponsor:

SIBELIUS’ FIRST SYMPHONY & PROKOFIEV

Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, January 20, 2023 at 10:45 a.m.

Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 8 p.m. in Orchestra Hall

TABITA BERGLUND, conductor EDGAR MOREAU, cello

Anna Thorvaldsdottir Metacosmos (b. 1977)

Sergei Prokofiev Sinfonia concertante for (1891 - 1953) Cello and Orchestra, Op. 125

I. Andante

II. Allegro giusto

III. Andante con moto - Allegretto - Allegro marcato

Edgar Moreau, cello

Intermission

Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39 (1865 - 1957)

I. Andante, ma non troppo - Allegro energico

II. Andante, ma non troppo lento

III. Scherzo: Allegro

IV. Finale (quasi una fantasia): AndanteAllegro molto

Saturday’s performance will be webcast via our exclusive Live From Orchestra Hall series, presented by Ford Motor Company Fund and made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE | SIBELIUS & PROKOFIEV Forces of Nature

Metacosmos sets the tone for a thrilling experience where audiences will encounter a great depth of emotion and symphonic mastery. This piece is constructed around the natural balance of chaos and beauty, contemplating how elements can come together in utter chaos to create a unified, structured whole. Despite a long period of dismay from the criticism received upon the premiere of his Cello Concerto No. 1, Prokofiev joined forces with Mstislav Rostropovich to compose the masterpiece of a concerto that is his Sinfonia Concertante for Cello & Orchestra. The work channeled the energy of critics to fuel production of this now-standard component of the solo cello repertoire. Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1 is a symphonic gem, created from the chaos of breaking free of tradition and following a flight of inspiration to channel and assert pride in his Finnish culture. Each of these unique pieces is a force to experience in Orchestra Hall, harnessing the chaos of the outer world into symphonic masterpieces.

Program Notes

Metacosmos

Composed 2017 | Premiered 2017

Anna Thorvaldsdottir

B. July 11, 1977, Iceland

Scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, alto flute, 2 oboes, english horn, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 tubas, percussion, and strings. (Approx. 14 minutes)

OnMetacosmos, composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir writes the following: “Metacosmos is constructed around the natural balance between beauty and chaos—how elements can come together in (seemingly) utter chaos to create a unified, structured whole. The idea and inspiration behind the piece, which is connected as much to the human experience as to the universe, is the speculative metaphor of falling into a black hole—the unknown— with endless constellations and layers of opposing forces connecting and communicating with each other, expanding and contracting, projecting a struggle for power as the different sources pull on you and you realize that you are being drawn into a force that is beyond your control.

As with my music generally, the inspiration behind Metacosmos is not something I am trying to describe through the piece—to me, the qualities of the music are first and foremost musical. When I am inspired by a particular element or quality, it is because I perceive it as musically interesting, and the qualities I tend to be inspired by are often structural, like proportion and flow, as well as relationships of balance between details within a larger structure, and how to move in perspective between the two— the details and the unity of the whole.”

This performance marks the DSO premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Metacosmos.

Sinfonia Concertante for Cello & Orchestra

Composed 1950-1951 | Premiered February 18, 1952

Sergei Prokofiev

B. April 23, 1891, Sontsivka, Ukraine

D. March 5, 1953, Moscow, Russia

Scored for 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, keyboard, and springs. (Approx. 37 minutes)

Sergei Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante for Cello and Orchestra is a major work—and one of his only two cello concertos in existence. Divided into three movements, the cello part is virtuosic, giving the soloist a great task of endurance with few breaks throughout the piece. Prokofiev’s first cello concerto, premiered in Moscow in 1938, was not well-received by the audience. This was partially due to its level of difficulty compared to Prokofiev’s other works, as well as the soloist’s interpretation of the piece during the premiere. The aftermath of this performance caused Prokofiev to remove the concerto from his repertoire completely—and the work was never officially published. In fact, Prokofiev never heard the piece again until it was performed by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in the Small Hall at the Moscow Conservatory in 1947—a performance that Prokofiev attended, moving him to the point of offering to revise the concerto for Rostropovich.

Prior to the concerto revisions, Prokofiev wrote a cello sonata for Rostropovich, and upon hearing its premiere immediately began re-working his first concerto for the cellist. Prokofiev was so enthralled by Rostropovich’s playing that the collaboration between the two of them became transformational in developing new (soon-to-be) standard repertoire for the cello.

Rostropovich spent a few summers with the composer reworking and revising the concerto. In essence, Prokofiev’s second cello concerto was a complete re-working of his first, with Rostropovich giving its premiere in February of 1952 under the temporary title of “Cello Concerto No. 2.” Despite a successful premiere, Prokofiev was still not entirely happy with the work and continued to revise both the score and the title. The piece’s final form was presented with the Russian title “Sinfonia-Kontster,” meaning “Symphony Concerto” or “Sinfonia Concertante,” as it is known today. This title is representative of a genre present in the late-18th and early-19th centuries where more than one instrument carried the solo parts throughout—essentially a form of a “group concerto.” Although this piece is a concerto for solo cello and orchestra, it includes solos and melodies arising from within different sections of the orchestra, all supporting the work as a whole and intertwining with the solo cello lines.

Although he initially composed his first cello concerto during a happier part of his life—he was returning home to Moscow after several years of living in Paris—its success was largely due to Rostropovich’s input on the second version. During the time of its premiere in 1952, Prokofiev’s health was failing, and he was growing profoundly distraught and depressed by the severity of the censorship of his compositions by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Stalin’s regime. With Rostropovich’s help, the initial passion and enthusiasm of the first cello concerto continued to shine through this work, despite the many hardships Prokofiev faced at the time. Prokofiev died a year after the premiere in 1953, ironically one hour before Stalin’s passing—an ironic twist of fate that remained true to the unfortunate narrative Prokofiev had suffered with Stalin during his final years.

This performance marks the DSO premiere of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante for Cello and Orchestra.