2020 SEASON
t n a g e l E e h T th
MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) gave its inaugural performance at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) on 17 August 1998. With the initial search for outstanding musicians involving a worldwide audition tour, the result was a symphony orchestra made up of musicians from 25 nations, including Malaysians, a remarkable example of harmony among different cultures and nationalities. A host of internationally-acclaimed musicians have performed with the MPO including Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Yehudi Menuhin, Joshua Bell, Harry Connick Jr., José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chris Botti and Branford Marsalis, many of whom have praised the MPO for its fine musical qualities and vitality. With each new season, the MPO continues to present an exciting programme of orchestral music drawn from over three centuries, as well as the crowd-pleasing concert series. Its versatility transcends genres, from classical masterpieces to film music, pop, jazz, traditional, contemporary and commissioned works.
The MPO regularly performs in major cities of Malaysia. Internationally, it has toured Singapore (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2018), Japan (2001, 2009 and 2017), Korea (2001), Australia (2004), China (2006 and 2019), Taiwan (2007) and Vietnam (2013). The MPO has also released 21 commercial CDs. Its Education and Outreach Programme (ENCOUNTER) reaches beyond the concert platform to develop musical awareness and appreciation through dedicated activities at such diverse venues as schools, colleges, hospitals and community centres. The MPO’s commitment to furthering musical interest in the nation has been the creation of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO); its debut concert at DFP in 2007 was followed by a Peninsula Malaysia tour. The MPYO has also performed in Sabah and Sarawak, Singapore, Brisbane, Hong Kong and Jakarta. The MPO remains steadfast in its mission to share the depth, power and beauty of great music. Its main benefactor is PETRONAS and its patron is YABhg. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali.
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Fri 1 Jan 2021 Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Naohisa Furusawa, conductor PROGRAMME NIELSEN Little Suite for Strings, Op. 1 15 mins BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 28 mins
All details are correct at time of publishing. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS reserves the right to vary without notice the artists and/or repertoire as necessary. Copyright © 2021 by Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (Co. No. 462692-X). All rights reserved. No part of this programme may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owners.
NAOHISA FURUSAWA
PROGRAMME NOTES
conductor
Beethoven’s and Nielsen’s lives spanned periods almost exactly a century apart: Beethoven from 1770-1827, Nielsen from 1865-1931. If anything can be found in common between them, it is their dogged determination not to follow in the footsteps of others, to proclaim their own voices, to adhere to their own paths. Yet the two works on this programme are only partially representative of their composers. Nielsen was still finding his way in the Little Suite for Strings (it is his first published work), and Beethoven took a few steps backward with his Eighth Symphony, a work that far more than any of his symphonies since the First looks more to the classical period just ending than to the romantic one just beginning. That said, each work nevertheless offers a generous measure of pleasure on its own terms, each a signpost from a great composer with a stirring message.
Naohisa Furusawa has been a member of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) double bass section since 2003. Born in Tokyo in 1973, he started to play the violin when he was 4 and joined his junior high school orchestra as a double bass player at 12; his first conducting experience was with this orchestra. Later, he studied double bass with Prof. Nobuo Shiga and conducting with Prof. Kazue Kamiya at Tokyo’s Toho Gakuen School of Music, and with Prof. Frank Reinecke at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Furusawa has performed as a double bass player with the NHK Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and other orchestras, under the direction of conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Horst Stein, Lorin Maazel, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez and Valery Gergiev. He conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony eight times with Tokyo’s MAX Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2015, he conducted Mahler’s Second Symphony with the MAX Philharmonic to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of Second World War.
CARL NIELSEN (1865-1931) Little Suite for Strings, Op. 1 (1888) I. Praeludium: Andante con moto II. Intermezzo: Allegro moderato III. Finale: Andante con moto – Allegro con brio
Furusawa was Resident Conductor of the MPO from 2016 - 2019. He also serves as conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and cover conductor for Mark Wigglesworth, Roberto Abbado, Stéphane Denève, Jun Märkl and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
The Background Carl Nielsen represents to Denmark what Grieg does to Norway and Sibelius does to Finland – his country’s most famous composer. In fact, Nielsen was born the same year as Sibelius (1865). However, unlike the grim austerity of much of Sibelius’ music, much of Nielsen’s output is sunny, warm and relaxed. Nielsen had a voice all his own, but he grew up in an era that included so many attention-grabbing personalities ̶ Debussy, Bartók, Mahler, Ravel, Satie, Schoenberg, Busoni, Strauss, Stravinsky, Varèse ̶ that there was little room left in the international consciousness for conservative
He conducted the MPO in Tokyo for the Asia Orchestra Week 2017, a festival under Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. He also conducted the MPO and Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra at Iwaki Performing Arts Center. He has conducted many youth ensembles including the MPO’s Encounter Training Ensemble and the Miri Tutti Project in East Malaysia as part of the MPO’s Education and Outreach Programme. wikimedia.org
music written by a quiet, simple man in Copenhagen. But times change and the Nielsen ratings are now significantly higher than they were just a few decades ago. His music, especially the six symphonies and three concertos (clarinet, flute, violin), is now encountered frequently and appreciated for its fresh approach to old forms, for its deeply ingrained spirit of humanity, its vital energy and ingratiating charm. The Little Suite for Strings, written in 1888 shortly after Nielsen left conservatory, marked his first work to be publicly performed (at the Tivoli Gardens Concert Hall on 8 September, 1888) and his first important success. The Music
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 (1811-1812)
The short opening movement has a gray, melancholic air to it, much like Sibelius’ well-known Valse triste (written fifteen years later). The melodic line begins in the cellos and henceforth wanders through the various string sections. The second movement is a wistful yet elegant waltz. Violins are muted throughout, adding a note of restraint and nostalgia to the music. The Finale, longest of the three movements, begins with a slow introduction that reminisces on the material of the Praeludium, then launches into a full-fledged sonata-form movement with themes in contrasting keys (A major, E major), a short development section, recapitulation and brisk coda.
The Eighth has earned a reputation as one of Beethoven’s “lesser” symphonies, not to be compared with such towering masterworks as the Eroica or the Ninth. Give or take a few minutes, it is also the shortest Beethoven symphony. Yet, in its own ways, the Eighth is as original and interesting a work as most other symphonies of Beethoven. Consider the generous amount of humour – surely more here than in any other Beethoven symphony. This includes the sudden outbursts in 2/4 meter within the 3/4 first movement, the “tick-tock” effect in the second movement, the rhythmic ambiguity at the beginning of the third movement, the quick “um-pahs” of the timpani in the finale and much more. Beethoven himself referred to the symphony as aufgeknöpft (unbuttoned).
I. Allegro vivace e con brio II. Allegretto scherzando III. Tempo di menuetto IV. Allegro vivace The Background The first public performance of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony took place under the composer’s direction in the Grand Redoutensaal in Vienna on 27 February 1814. Probably because of poor programming, it met with a cool reception, sandwiched as it was between the powerful, highly-charged Seventh Symphony and the bombastic Battle Symphony (Wellington’s Victory) complete with extra trumpets, drums, cannon and rifle fire.
wikimedia.org
©Getty Images
time.com Beethoven with the Rasowmowsky Quartet, drawn by the artist Borckmann.
One should, however, avoid the temptation to read into the work as a reflection of the composer’s personal life at the time of writing, for he was going through one of the most tortured periods of his existence. A persistent stomach ailment; the deepest love affair of his life (with Antonie Brentano), which was doomed, like all the rest, to failure; and his interference in the love life of his brother Johann all made for anything but the happy, joyous mood evinced in the Eighth Symphony. The Music With a burst of energy, the symphony begins immediately with the first theme – a bright, well-balanced, classical-style subject consisting of “question and answer” phrases. The second subject is a graceful, lilting melody in the violins. Further melodic material is heard as a closing theme. Beethoven omits the usual slow movement, using in its place a rather animated Allegretto scherzando. Legend has it that this movement was written as a humorous tribute to
Beethoven’s friend Mälzel, inventor of the metronome. Scholars are not agreed on the matter, but this detracts not a whit from the unavoidable feeling that there is some kind of tick-tock mechanism at work. One is tempted to think back also to Haydn’s Clock Symphony (No. 101) with its ticking second movement. For the third movement, Beethoven returned to the eighteenth century world of the minuet, but this “minuet” is unusually robust and heavy-footed, almost like the scherzos found in all his previous symphonies except the First. A typical Beethovenian joke is seen in the designation of the movement as Tempo di menuetto – not a real minuet, apparently, just the tempo of a minuet! The central section is a gracious and elegant Trio for two horns and clarinet, plus cello accompaniment. The boisterous finale is chock full of jollity and musical jokes. The movement begins quietly, with strings alone playing almost in
a whisper. Concertgoers familiar with Haydn symphonies may recall that the older master liked to play with his listeners’ expectations using such a beginning, which would be followed by a sudden burst of noise from the full orchestra. Beethoven brings his strings down to pianississimo (ppp) – a dynamic extreme he rarely used. Then the full orchestra charges in fortissimo with a restatement of what we have just heard pianissimo. But separating these two paragraphs is a single, very loud, intrusive note ̶ a C-sharp unison for the full orchestra. The effect is something akin to a jolt of musical electricity. In harmonic terms, it has absolutely nothing to do with anything that came before or that follows, nothing to do with the key Beethoven has been working
with (F major). “What’s that doing there?”, would be anyone’s reasonable question. There’s no time for an answer – on we go into a blizzard of notes. Throughout this movement lasting but six or seven minutes Beethoven again and again sets loud and soft passages violently against each other. There is a plethora of sforzandos – a brand of accents that requires something of a stinging attack. Surprise pauses abound. A false recapitulation leads music theorists down the garden path. And for a work of such modest means, Beethoven gives us an obviously overdone coda – one that would almost have befit the mighty Fifth Symphony, but which seems here almost clownish. Who says classical music always has to be serious?
MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR LAUREATE Kees Bakels
VIOLA Co-Principal Gábor Mokány
RESIDENT CONDUCTOR Gerard Salonga
Ong Lin Kern Sun Yuan Fan Ran Thian Ai Wen Celina Baran Juan Sebastian Castillo Diaz *Jebat Arjuna Kee Jia Liang
FIRST VIOLIN Co-Concertmaster Peter Daniš Principal Ming Goh Co-Principal Zhenzhen Liang Maho Daniš Martijn Noomen Sherwin Thia Runa Baagöe Miroslav Daniš Evgeny Kaplan Marcel Andriesii Tan Ka Ming Petia Davies SECOND VIOLIN Section Principal Timothy Peters Assistant Principal Luisa Theis Stefan Kocsis Anastasia Kiseleva Catalina Alvarez Ionuț Mazareanu Chia-Nan Hung Yanbo Zhao Ling Yunzhi Robert Kopelman
FLUTE Section Principal Ignacio de Nicolas Gaya Co-Principal Yukako Yamamoto Sub-Principal Rachel Jenkyns PICCOLO Principal Sonia Croucher
CELLO Co-Principal Csaba Körös Assistant Principal Steven Retallick Sub-Principal Mátyás Major
OBOE Section Principal Simon Emes
Gerald Davis Laurențiu Gherman Julie Dessureault Elizabeth Tan Suyin Sejla Simon Lee Seulki
CLARINET Section Principal Gonzalo Esteban Co-Principal David Dias da Silva Sub-Principal Matthew Larsen
DOUBLE BASS Section Principal Wolfgang Steike Jun-Hee Chae Naohisa Furusawa Raffael Bietenhader Andreas Dehner *Heinz-Peter Graf
Note: Sectional string players are rotated within their sections. *Extra musician.
COR ANGLAIS Principal Niels Dittmann
BASS CLARINET Principal Chris Bosco
HORN Section Principal Grzegorz Curyła Co-Principal James Schumacher Sub-Principals Laurence Davies Kartik Alan Jairamin Assistant Principal Sim Chee Ghee TRUMPET Section Principal Sergio Pacheco Co-Principal William Theis Sub-Principal Jeffrey Missal Assistant Principal Matthew Dempsey TROMBONE Section Principal Marques Young Co-Principal Fernando Borja TIMPANI Section Principal Matthew Thomas
BASSOON Section Principal Alexandar Lenkov Sub-Principal Denis Plangger
PERCUSSION Section Principal Matthew Prendergast Sub-Principals Joshua Vonderheide Tan Su Yin
CONTRABASSOON Principal Vladimir Stoyanov
HARP Principal Tan Keng Hong
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DEWAN FILHARMONIK PETRONAS Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) is Malaysia’s first concert hall dedicated to classical music and home to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO). Located at the PETRONAS Twin Towers, it was officially opened on 17 August 1998 by the Patron of the MPO, YABhg. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali and Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Designed by Cesar Pelli, the hall takes its inspiration from the traditional shoe-box shape of the great 19th century European concert halls with the magnificent Klais Pipe Organ providing a spectacular backdrop to the stage. The hall seats 920 people at one time which includes box seats, corporate suites and a royal suite. Acoustics experts Kirkegaard & Associates have incorporated unique acoustical devices into its design to maximize the hall’s natural qualities. DFP plays an integral part in the music and cultural landscape of the city of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. It continues to enthral audiences since the day it first opened its doors. World renowned orchestras that have performed here include the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony and Vienna Symphony.
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