RSNO Friday Night Club: Strauss’ Burleske and Der Rosenkavalier

Friday Night Club Fri 19 Jun 2020: 7.30pm STRAUSS Burleske for Piano and Orchestra STRAUSS Suite from Der Rosenkavalier Thomas Søndergürd Conductor Kirill Gerstein Piano Royal Scottish National Orchestra Recorded on Sat 12 May 2018, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

This performance was recorded for the RSNO Archive. Supported by the Iain and Pamela Sinclair Legacy.

RSNO Friday Night Club: Strauss’ Burleske and Der Rosenkavalier

Burleske for Piano and Orchestra Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

FIRST PERFORMED 21 June 1890, Eisenach, Germany, with Eugen d’Albert as soloist, conducted by Strauss DURATION 20 minutes Strauss’ works for solo instruments and orchestra have always been overshadowed by his great tone poems and operas. Yet before the age of 22 he had composed a Violin Concerto, his First Horn Concerto (written as a birthday present for his father) and this Burleske for piano and orchestra. In his old age came the Second Horn Concerto, the Oboe Concerto and the Duet-Concertino for clarinet and bassoon.

Between 1885 and 1886 Strauss worked in the German town of Meiningen as assistant to one of the greatest conductors of the day, Hans von Bülow, who some years earlier had had a spectacular falling-out with Strauss’ hornplaying father. Only two weeks after his arrival in Meiningen, Strauss made an unexpected debut as a pianist in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No24 in C minor K491. The experience galvanised the young man to compose two works for piano and orchestra: an unfinished (and now lost) rhapsody and a playful scherzo.

Bülow was deeply unimpressed by the latter, describing it as ‘horrifying’ and ‘complicated nonsense’ that was simply ‘unplayable’.

Undaunted, Strauss arranged a play-through with the Meiningen orchestra, only to arrive at a similar conclusion to that of Bülow. The scherzo was put aside.

A few years later, however, Strauss showed it to the great Glasgow-born pianist Eugen d’Albert, who immediately became an enthusiastic advocate of the work. Re-titled Burleske, it had its successful premiere. Uncharacteristically for Strauss, shortly afterwards he turned down a considerable sum for the work to be published, though he later came to love what he described as this ‘folly of his youth’, and it was included in the programme of his last London concert, at the Royal Albert Hall in October 1947.

The Burleske sits curiously in-between the various musical influences of its time: its one-movement structure, for example, surely gestures towards Liszt, as does the constant transformation of its thematic material. It opens with a four-bar solo for the timpani (an instrument that’s prominent throughout, with an insistent three-note figure) before the piano introduces a terse scherzo theme somewhat reminiscent of Brahms.

The waltz-like second main theme derives from the opening timpani solo, and the song-like third theme has discernible echoes of Chopin. During the central development section, these three main themes are further transformed, before the scherzo music returns in its original guise, followed once again by the other two themes.

There’s also a substantial and showy cadenza for the piano alone. Throughout the work, virtuoso and lyrical elements fight it out to great dramatic effect, and the pianist’s technique is consistently pushed to the limits – though it is the unrelenting timpani that has the final say. © Anthony Bateman

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RSNO Friday Night Club: Strauss’ Burleske and Der Rosenkavalier

Suite from Der Rosenkavalier Strauss’ opera Salome was premiered in Dresden in 1905. Sensuous and shocking in equal measure, it was banned by censors in both Berlin and London. Such controversy only drew more attention to the opera, however, and within two years it had been performed in 50 cities across Europe and America. It made Strauss famous, and it also made him rich. On the proceeds, the composer built himself a villa in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, where he wrote his next opera, Elektra.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

FIRST PERFORMED 5 October 1944, by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted

by Artur Rodziński DURATION 25 minutes

After the decadence of Salome and the jarring discords of Elektra, however, Strauss felt the need for a change. ‘Now I shall write a Mozart opera!’ he is reported to have said. For his librettist, Strauss turned to the novelist and poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. ‘We were born for one another and are certain to do fine things together,’ Strauss wrote to Hofmannsthal before they had even settled on the 18th-century Viennese tale that became their ‘comedy for music’, as they described it. The remarkable opera that resulted, Der Rosenkavalier, made them the most celebrated composer-poet team since Mozart and da Ponte.

Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose) was first performed to a packed house at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden in January 1911. Some critics disparagingly complained that waltzes were an anachronism in an opera set in the 18th century, before the dance form had been popularised, but audiences adored it. To accommodate the public demand for tickets, special Rosenkavalier trains ran from Berlin to Dresden, and the run was extended to 50 performances. By the end of 1911, the opera had been staged in Milan, Vienna, Rome and Berlin, and it has remained Strauss’ mostperformed and best-loved opera.

Scotland’s National Orchestra

The plot Hofmannsthal devised is a wonderful echo of a Mozartian farce set in the golden age of Viennese high society, full of courtly intrigue, amorous entanglements and gender confusion.

It concerns a certain field marshal’s wife, the Feldmarschallin Maria Theresa Princess von Werdenberg, who has taken the 17-year-old Count Octavian as her lover. The Marschallin’s cousin, the bumbling, lecherous Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, lacks both money and social graces, and has therefore arranged to marry Sophie von Faninal, who has both in abundance.

When Octavian is selected to present Sophie with a silver rose – an elaborate engagement ‘custom’ devised by Hofmannsthal – the two fall in love. Wise and generous, the Marschallin helps dispose of Ochs and, finally, relinquishes Octavian to Sophie.

The Suite begins with the horn call that opens the opera itself, depicting the youthful vigour of the Marschallin’s young lover Octavian. After we eavesdrop on the end of the lovers’ tryst, there follows the music from the opera’s rapturous ‘Presentation of the Rose’ scene, in which Octavian offers the silver rose to the beautiful Sophie.

Strauss was initially reluctant to create a concert suite from his new score, even though the waltzes in particular seemed perfect as concert music. Inevitably those waltzes were heard in a number of ‘pirated’ arrangements, and, preoccupied with other composing commitments, Strauss reluctantly sanctioned a ‘Rosenkavalier Waltz Sequence’ as arranged by the American conductor Otto Singer Jr.

The glorious music of the celebrated Act 3 trio for the Marschallin, Octavian and Sophie gives way to Octavian and Sophie’s final duet.

Unlike the opera, the Suite swirls to a rousing conclusion with a reprise of the Rosenkavalier Waltz.

Thirty years later, however, Strauss decided that Singer’s version was inadequate and, as the Second World War drew to a close, he wrote to his friend, conductor Heinz Tietjen: ‘During the past weeks I have carried out a task that I long had in mind. I have taken the Rosenkavalier Waltzes, which have been so unjustly vulgarised and whose poor arrangement by Singer always displeased me, and by adding the Introduction to the opera, I have made a new piece for full orchestra, with a longer, brilliant conclusion.’

We next meet the clumsy and conceited Baron Ochs, promising a chambermaid (against all evidence) that ‘with me no night is too long’, in the most famous of the opera’s waltzes.

‘Try and think of an old-fashioned Viennese Waltz,’ Hofmannsthal wrote to Strauss as he was preparing the libretto, ‘something sweet and saucy that should pervade the whole of the last act.’

© Mark Fielding

RSNO Friday Night Club: Strauss’ Burleske and Der Rosenkavalier

Kirill Gerstein PIANO He is the sixth recipient of the Gilmore Artist Award, which enabled him to commission new works from Timothy Andres, Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen and Brad Mehldau.

From Bach to Thomas Adès, Kirill Gerstein’s playing is distinguished by its clarity of expression, discerning intelligence and virtuosity.

Over the last season, Kirill’s collaboration with composer and pianist Adès came to the fore with the world premiere, and subsequent performances, of Adès’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and written especially for Kirill, the world premiere live recording was released by Deutsche Grammophon in February 2020. This was followed by Kirill’s own release on myrios classics of compositions

by Adès, including the world premiere recordings of Berceuse from The Exterminating Angel and the Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face for two pianos performed with the composer.

Based in Berlin, Kirill appears with the Chicago and Boston Symphony orchestras, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, London Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and gives recitals in London, Berlin, Vienna, Paris and New York.

Kirill’s carefully curated recording projects for myrios classics have recently included Strauss’ Enoch Arden with the late Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire; Downfall); Busoni’s Piano Concerto with the BSO and Sakari Oramo; The Gershwin Moment with the St Louis Symphony and David Robertson, plus special appearances from Storm Large and Gary Burton; and Liszt’s Transcendental Études. He has recorded Scriabin’s music for piano and orchestra with the Oslo Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko for LAWO Classics, and his recording of Tchaikovsky’s three piano concertos for Semyon Bychkov’s The Tchaikovsky Project with the Czech Philharmonic was released by Decca Classics in August 2019.

Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia, Kirill Gerstein attended one of the country’s special music schools for gifted children and taught himself to play jazz by listening to his parents’ record collection. Following a chance encounter with jazz legend Gary Burton in St Petersburg when he was 14, he was invited to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz piano but also continued his classical piano studies. At 16, he decided to focus on classical music and moved to New York to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky. He continued his studies with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid and Ferenc Rados in Budapest.

Believing that teaching is an integral part of being a musician, Kirill led piano classes at the Stuttgart Musik Hochschule between 2007 and 2017, and in October 2018 took up the post of Professor of Piano at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule in Berlin.

Scotland’s National Orchestra

Thomas Søndergård CONDUCTOR Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, making his debut in October 2018 after six seasons as Principal Guest Conductor.

He served as Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) from 2012 to 2018, and prior to this as Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra for three seasons.

He conducted the RSNO on its New Year 2019 tour to China, as well as recent tours to the West Coast of the USA and throughout Europe.

Thomas has conducted many leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Bamberg Symphony.

The 2019:20 season includes his debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He also tours South Korea with the orchestra of the Royal Danish Opera.

Thomas’ operatic engagements include the Bayerische Staatsoper (Turandot), Norwegian Opera (Die Zauberflöte) and Deutsche Oper Berlin (world premiere of Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini’s Edward II ), and Tosca, Turandot and Dialogues des Carmélites with the Royal Swedish Opera. He was described as ‘a sensation’ at his debut with the Royal Danish Opera conducting Poul Ruders’ Kafka’s Trial, and subsequent productions there have included Il

barbiere di Siviglia, Le nozze di Figaro, La bohème, The Cunning Little Vixen and Il viaggio a Reims.

Releases with BBC NOW include Sibelius’ Symphonies 1, 2, 6 and 7 and most recently a disc which shines light on Sibelius’ tone poems and theatre music (Linn Records). Other noteworthy recordings include Vilde Frang’s celebrated first recording for EMI, of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No1, and Ruders’ Piano Concerto No2 on Bridge Records, nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2011. The Lutosławski and Dutilleux cello concertos with Johannes Moser were released on Pentatone in 2018, and Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, Thomas’ debut recording with the RSNO, on Linn Records in 2019.

In 2011 Thomas was awarded the prestigious Queen Ingrid Foundation Prize for Services to Music in Denmark.

RSNO Friday Night Club: Strauss’ Burleske and Der Rosenkavalier

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1977. The Orchestra’s artistic team is led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, who was appointed RSNO Music Director in October 2018, having previously held the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan succeeds Søndergård as Principal Guest Conductor. They are joined by Assistant Conductor Junping Qian.

The RSNO performs across Scotland, including concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness. The Orchestra appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms, and has made recent tours to the USA, Spain, France, China and Germany.

The Orchestra is joined for choral performances by the RSNO Chorus, directed by Gregory Batsleer. The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, the RSNO Chorus is one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain, with a membership of around 160. The Chorus has performed nearly every work in the standard choral repertoire, along with contemporary works by composers including John Adams, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.

Formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd, the acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus, under its new director Patrick Barrett, also performs regularly alongside the Orchestra. Boasting a membership of over 400 members aged from 7 to 18, it has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television.

The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings, receiving two Diapason d’Or awards for Symphonic Music (Denève/ Roussel 2007; Denève/Debussy 2012) and eight GRAMMY Awards nominations. Over 200 releases are available, including the complete symphonies of Sibelius (Gibson), Prokofiev (Järvi), Glazunov (Serebrier), Nielsen and Martinů (Thomson) and Roussel (Denève) and the major orchestral works of Debussy (Denève). Thomas Søndergård’s debut recording with the RSNO, of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, was released on Linn Records in 2019.

The RSNO’s pioneering learning and engagement programme, Music for Life, aims to engage the people of Scotland with music across key stages of life: Early Years, Nurseries and Schools, Teenagers and Students, Families, Accessing Lives, Working Lives and Retired and Later Life.

The team is committed to placing the Orchestra at the centre of Scottish communities via community workshops and annual residencies across the length and breadth of the country.

Scotland’s National Orchestra

On Stage FIRST VIOLIN Sharon Roffman

CELLO

HORN

PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL

Elaine Clark Tamás Fejes Lena Zeliszewska Patrick Curlett Ursula Heidecker Allen Susannah Lowdon Jane Reid Caroline Parry Elizabeth Bamping Alan Manson Lorna Rough Kirstin Drew

Betsy Taylor Kennedy Leitch William Paterson Ruth Rowlands Rachael Lee Sarah Digger Miranda Phythian-Adams

Alison Murray Andrew McLean David McClenaghan Elise Campbell

DOUBLE BASS

Marcus Pope Brian McGinley

LEADER

SECOND VIOLIN

Xander van Vliet PRINCIPAL

Marion Wilson Harriet Wilson Paul Medd Sophie Lang Nigel Mason Michael Rigg Christopher Ffoulkes Katie Jackson Emily Nenniger Julia Norton Liam Lynch VIOLA

Tom Dunn PRINCIPAL

Jill Valentine Rik Evans Susan Buchan Claire Dunn David Martin Maria Trittinger Katherine Wren Francesca Hunt David McCreadie

Aleksei Kiseliov

Ana Cordova PRINCIPAL

Margarida Castro Michael Rae Paul Sutherland John Clark Sally Davis FLUTE

Christopher Gough

TRUMPET

Christopher Hart PRINCIPAL

TROMBONE

Dávur Juul Magnussen PRINCIPAL

Lance Green Alastair Sinclair

PRINCIPAL BASS TROMBONE

Katherine Bryan

TUBA

Helen Brew Janet Richardson

GUEST PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL

Simone Niboli

PRINCIPAL PICCOLO

TIMPANI

OBOE

PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL

PERCUSSION

Peter Dykes Henry Clay

PRINCIPAL

Adrian Wilson

COR ANGLAIS

CLARINET

Maura Marinucci GUEST PRINCIPAL

Robert Fairley Josef Pacewicz Duncan Swindells

PRINCIPAL BASS CLARINET

BASSOON

Luis Eisen

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

Grant McKay Christian Garcia CONTRABASSOON

Paul Philbert

Simon Lowdon John Poulter Martin Willis Tom Hunter Colin Hyson HARP

Pippa Tunnell Sharron Griffiths CELESTE

Mark Hindley

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