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On Tonight’s Program A. CLYNE Within Her Arms HAYDN Piano Concerto No. 11 in D Major I. Vivace II. Un poco adagio III. Rondo all’Ungarese ˇ DVORÁK Serenade in D minor, Op. 44 I. Moderato, quasi marcia II. Minuetto. Tempo di minuetto III. Andante con moto IV. Finale. Allegro molto
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A . C LY N E WITHIN HER ARMS
ANNA CLYNE COMPOSER (b. 1980) • Anna Clyne is a Grammy-nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. She collaborates regularly with choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, and ensembles worldwide. • Clyne’s music has been performed by major orchestras around the globe. Currently, she is the Associate Composer for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has served as Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, and L’Orchestre national d’île-de-France. • Within Her Arms was written in 2009 and premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Clyne wrote the piece as an ode to her mother. • The piece opens with a four-note motif, or short musical idea, and transforms into a lush, emotional landscape reminiscent of Barber’s Adagio for Strings.
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H AY D N PIANO CONCERTO NO. 11
JOSEPH HAYDN COMPOSER (1732–1809) • Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 11 was published in 1784 for harpsichord or fortepiano, the predecessors of the modern-day piano. The original title page of the score proudly stated that this concerto was “the only Piano Concerto of Haydn which so far has appeared in print.” • With its catchy melodies and standard classical forms, this concerto was Haydn’s most often performed keyboard concerto during his lifetime and remains so today. • Exoticism, or the use of melodies and rhythms to evoke an atmosphere of far-off lands, is a common technique used by composers throughout history. Haydn incorporates exoticism into the final movement of this concerto. The movement is titled “Rondo all’ Ungarese” (Hungarian Rondo) and the dance-like themes are based on a Bosnian folk dance.
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H AY D N PIANO CONCERTO NO. 11
F U N FAC T S
A B O U T H AY D N
• He is often known as the “Father of the String Quartet” and “Father of the Symphony” because of his contributions to the genres. • In addition to his keyboard concertos, Haydn composed 106 symphonies, over 90 string quartets, 62 piano sonatas, and 32 piano trios—more hours of music than Mozart! • Haydn had such a pleasing singing voice when he was a child that he was invited to join the Choir School of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna when he was only five years old.
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DV O Ř Á K SERENADE IN D MINOR
ANTONÍN ˇ DVORÁK
COMPOSER (1841–1904) • Dvorák’s ˇ Serenade in D minor is often called the “Wind” serenade to distinguish it from the slightly earlier E major work for strings. This piece has a foundation of cello and bass beneath the winds (pairs of ˇ oboes, clarinets, and bassoon, plus three horns). • The Serenade in D minor was composed in 1878 and premiered that same year in Prague with the composer conducting. • Dvorák ˇ draws on his Czech heritage in the second movement, which is comprised of two Czech folk dances—the “sousedska,” a waltz-like dance, and the “furiant,” a rapid and fiery Bohemian dance. • The composer Johannes Brahms was a champion of Dvorák’s music ˇ and was particularly fond of this serenade. In May 1879, he wrote to his friend, the renowned violinist Joseph Joachim: “Take a look at Dvorák’s Serenade for Wind Instruments; I hope you will enjoy it as ˇ much as I do.” ˇ was one of the first Czech composers to achieve worldwide • Dvorák fame and was known for incorporating Czech folk songs into his compositions. He was also fascinated by African American spirituals in the United States, which he incorporated into his famous Symphony No. 9, From the New World.
ARTIST BIOS XIAN ZHANG CONDUCTOR
Xian Zhang currently serves as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Since taking up this position, she has commissioned works from such composers as Thomas Adès, Qigang Chen, Christopher Rouse, Tyshawn Sorey, Vivian Li, Gary Morgan, Christian McBride, and Paquito D’Rivera. She is responsible for introducing an annual Lunar New Year Celebration concert to the orchestra and will remain at the helm of the orchestra through and beyond their 100th anniversary in 2022. The acclaim she has been receiving for her work in New Jersey has resulted in a strong North American career, with upcoming engagements which include the Minnesota Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Last season, she performed with the Dallas, Baltimore, Montreal, and Ottawa (NAC) symphony orchestras. In August 2019, she returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to conduct the world premiere of Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory and Beethoven 9. Xian Zhang’s European engagements this season and next include the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde), Warsaw Philharmonic, and MDR Leipzig. Last season, she conducted the Orchestre National de Lyon at the Paris Philharmonie (Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique), and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France as part of La Folle Journée festival in Nantes. In the opera world, this season Xian Zhang will make her debut at The Metropolitan Opera with La bohème. She will also conduct Tosca for Cincinnati Opera, and La Traviata for Oslo Opera. Previous opera engagements have included Nabucco with Welsh National Opera, Otello with Savonlinna Festival, La Traviata for Den Norske Opera (Oslo), La bohème for English National Opera, and La forza del destino with National Opera, Washington D.C.
ARTIST BIOS Xian Zhang holds the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, following a hugely successful period from 2009–2016 as Music Director. She has previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales and was the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
GEORGE LI PIANO
Praised by the Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority and brilliant virtuosity far beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation and performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors such as Dudamel, Gaffigan, Gergiev, Gimeno, Honeck, Orozco-Estrada, Petrenko, Robertson, Slatkin, Temirkanov, Tilson Thomas, Long Yu, and Xian Zhang. Recent and upcoming concerto highlights include performances with the Los Angeles, New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo, and St. Petersburg Philharmonics; the San Francisco, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, and Montreal Symphonies; as well as the Philharmonia, DSO Berlin, and Orchestra National de Lyon. In the 2019–20 season, Li performed with the Baltimore, Fort Worth, and New Jersey symphony orchestras, as well as the Buffalo Philharmonic and National Arts Centre Orchestra. His eight-concert tour of Germany with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra included performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich, and the Stuttgart Liederhalle. He frequently appears with Valery Gergiev
ARTIST BIOS
and the Mariinsky Orchestra, including performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music, Graffenegg Festival, and in various venues throughout Russia. In recital, Li performs at venues including Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, the Mariinsky Theatre, Elbphilharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Poly Theater, and Amici della Musica Firenze, as well as appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Montreux Festival. An active chamber musician, Li has performed alongside Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Daniel Hope, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and Kian Soltani. Li is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist, with his debut recital album released in October 2017 which was recorded live from the Mariinsky. His second recording for the label features Liszt solo works and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic, and was released in October 2019. Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of ten, and in 2011 performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among Li’s many prizes, he was the recipient of the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, a recipient of the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the First Prize winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, continuing to work with Wha Kyung Byun. When not playing piano, Li is an avid reader and photographer, as well as a sports fanatic.