San Diego Symphony Program Notes - Tchaikovsky's Pathetique

FROM THE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

PHOTO CREDIT: LAUREN RADACK

DEAR FRIENDS, November is a month during which we are focused on giving thanks. Thanksgiving is our American holiday celebrating a bountiful and abundant harvest and sharing it with others.

Recently I was privileged to travel to New York to celebrate two distinguished honors being given to our very own generous and sharing philanthropists, Joan and Irwin Jacobs. Of course the San Diego Symphony is only one of the many institutions they support throughout the U.S. and internationally. The gift that they made on January 14, 2002, remains the largest gift ever given to an orchestra, and their annual generosity continues to this day. On October 15th Joan and Irwin were awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy created by Andrew Carnegie. Just four days later, on October 19th, the Americans for the Arts awarded Joan and Irwin Jacobs a National Arts Award for Philanthropy in the Arts.

What most impresses me is that the gifts of Joan and Irwin to so many institutions that they care for, made so that the organizations can thrive, are in large part making a difference right here in their own home city, San Diego. They are wise stewards of our institution, offering counsel and advice; and they firmly believe that the orchestra belongs to this community, not to any individual, regardless of the size of their financial contribution.

Martha Gilmer, Chief Executive Officer

This idea of giving during one’s lifetime, to the level of our individual ability, is something that honors the work of all recipients, and especially for us, our musicians. At the same time, it sets the example of philanthropy for the next generation, making manifest the ideal of being able to share our blessings with those who can benefit.

Joan and Irwin spoke eloquently about their desire to give so generously to so many institutions. Irwin talked about their recent support of our Downtown San Diego Library, expressing early skepticism about why, in a digital age, we would need a library to house physical books. After much thought and exploration, Joan and Irwin came to the conclusion that libraries are a place where people gather, enjoying literature and coming together to share the joy of the written word.

The same can be said about concert halls. In this new era of easy accessibility to recorded music, why do we need our concert halls? The answer is the same. As human beings we need and desire the opportunity to come together to experience our art form. Concert halls allow us to experience this act of creation with others in “real time.”

The San Diego Symphony is grateful to all individuals, corporations and foundations that support our institution. Over 65% of our operating costs are funded annually through the generosity of others.

As you reflect on your musical experiences with the San Diego Symphony, we ask you to consider making an end-of-year gift to support our many programs that reach audiences in San Diego through vibrant concerts in the Jacobs Music Center; in San Diego County performing spaces; at our outdoor venue at the Embarcadero; and in schools, community centers and libraries.

Whatever the size of your gift, our thanks is abundant and heartfelt. You will be part of touching lives through live music. Through your giving you honor our city, its citizens and our musicians.

Sincerely,

COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Compañia Flamenca José Porcel – Columbia Artists Management, Inc.

Martha Gilmer Chief Executive Officer

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P1

ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR

JAHJA LING

CD of Lucas Richman’s Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals with soloists Jon Kimura Parker and Orli Shaham distributed by Naxos in 2013. Under his leadership, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra has been designated a Tier One major orchestra by the League of American Orchestras, based on a new level of unprecedented artistic excellence, its continuing increase in audience attendance as well as its solid financial stability.

JA HJA L I NG ‘s distinguished career as an internationally renowned conductor has earned him an exceptional reputation for musical integrity, intensity and expressivity. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and now a citizen of the United States, he is the first and only conductor of Chinese descent who holds a music director position with a major orchestra in the United States and has conducted all of the major symphony orchestras in North America including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

The 2015-16 season marks his 12th season as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In October of 2013 Mr. Ling led the Orchestra for a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall with Lang Lang as soloist, followed by a tour to China where the Orchestra appeared in five concerts in Yantai (sister city of San Diego), Shanghai and Beijing (at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and at Tsinghua University) with soloists Joshua Bell and Augustin Hadelich. This two week tour was the first international tour and the first appearance of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (received with great acclaim) in their 104 year history. The Orchestra’s performances conducted by Mr. Ling have also received the highest praise from public and critics alike, having been broadcast both locally and nationally. Mr. Ling and the Orchestra have recently released eight new live recordings (the Orchestra’s first in a decade). Together they have undertaken commissions as well as premieres of many new works and recorded new works of Bright Sheng for Telarc Records (released in summer of 2009) and a new P4 PERFORMANCES MAGA ZINE

In recent and upcoming seasons Mr. Ling returns as guest conductor with the Adelaide Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Macao Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Philharmonia Taiwan (National Symphony of Taiwan), Royal Philharmonic of London, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, West Australia Symphony as well as Yale Philharmonia and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. In June of 2012 he conducted the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra in Berlin’s O2 World on the occasion of Lang Lang’s 30th birthday concert with Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock and 50 young pianists from around the world. The concert, attended by more than 10,000 people, was also telecast live by German and Spanish TV. Mr. Ling holds one of the longest continuous relationships with one of the world’s greatest orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra. In 2014 he celebrated his 30th anniversary with that esteemed ensemble with performances at Severance Hall, the Blossom Music Festival and Palm Beach, Florida.

He first served as Associate Conductor in the 1984-85 season, and then as Resident Conductor for 17 years from 1985-2002 and as Blossom Music Festival Director for six seasons (2000-05). During his tenure with the Orchestra, he conducted over 450 concerts and 600 works, including many world premieres. Among his distinguished services as Resident Conductor, Mr. Ling led the Orchestra’s annual concert in downtown Cleveland, heard by more than 1.5 million people. His telecast of A Concert in Tribute and Remembrance with the Orchestra for 9/11/2011 received an Emmy® Award. The United States House of Representatives presented a Congressional Record of his outstanding achievements in the United States Capitol in September 2006.

Prior to his Cleveland appointment, Mr. Ling served as Assistant and Associate Conductor

of the San Francisco Symphony. Deeply committed to education, Mr. Ling served as founding Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (1986-93) and the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (1981-84).

Mr. Ling made his European debut with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1988 to great acclaim. His other engagements abroad have taken him to the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic in Beijing, Guangzhou Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Macao Symphony, MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, NDR Radio Philharmonie in Hannover, NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse, Royal Philharmonic of London, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Shanghai Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony.

Mr. Ling began to play the piano at age four and studied at the Jakarta School of Music. At age 17 he won the Jakarta Piano Competition and one year later was awarded a Rockefeller grant to attend The Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Mieczysław Munz and conducting with John Nelson. After completing a master’s degree at Juilliard, he studied orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music under Otto-Werner Mueller and received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1985. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Wooster College in 1993. In the summer of 1980 Mr. Ling was granted the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood, and two years later he was selected by Mr. Bernstein to be a Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute.

As a pianist Mr. Ling won a bronze medal at the 1977 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel and was awarded a certificate of honor at the following year’s Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut as a pianist in 1987 and has appeared as both soloist and conductor with a number of orchestras in the United States and internationally.

Mr. Ling makes his home in San Diego with his wife, Jessie, and their young daughters Priscilla and Stephanie. n

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

JAHJA LING, MUSIC DIRECTOR

MATTHEW GARBUTT

Principal Summer Pops Conductor

SAMEER PATEL

Assistant Conductor

VIOLIN Jeff Thayer Concertmaster DEBORAH

PATE AND JOHN FORREST CHAIR

Jisun Yang Acting Associate Concertmaster Wesley Precourt Acting Assistant Concertmaster Alexander Palamidis Principal II Jing Yan Acting Associate Principal II Nick Grant Principal Associate Concertmaster Emeritus Randall Brinton Yumi Cho Hernan Constantino Alicia Engley Pat Francis Kathryn Hatmaker Angela Homnick Mei Ching Huang ˆ Ai Nihira* Igor Pandurski Julia Pautz Susan Robboy Shigeko Sasaki Yeh Shen Anna Skálová Edmund Stein John Stubbs Pei-Chun Tsai Joan Zelickman VIOLA Chi-Yuan Chen Principal KAREN AND WARREN KESSLER CHAIR

Nancy Lochner Associate Principal Rebekah Campbell Wanda Law Qing Liang Caterina Longhi Thomas Morgan Adam Neeley* Ethan Pernela Dorothy Zeavin CELLO Yao Zhao Principal Chia-Ling Chien Associate Principal Marcia Bookstein Glen Campbell

Andrew Hayhurst Richard Levine Ronald Robboy Mary Oda Szanto Xian Zhuo

Tricia Skye Douglas Hall

BASS

John MacFerran Wilds Ray Nowak

Jeremy Kurtz-Harris ˆ Principal OPHIE AND ARTHUR BRODY S FOUNDATION CHAIR

Susan Wulff Acting Principal Samuel Hager Acting Associate Principal W. Gregory Berton ˆ P. J. Cinque Jory Herman Margaret Johnston+ Daniel Smith* Michael Wais Sayuri Yamamoto* FLUTE Rose Lombardo Principal Sarah Tuck Erica Peel PICCOLO Erica Peel OBOE Sarah Skuster Principal

TRUMPET Micah Wilkinson Principal

TROMBONE Kyle R. Covington Principal Logan Chopyk Richard Gordon+ Michael Priddy BASS TROMBONE Michael Priddy TUBA Matthew Garbutt Principal HARP Julie Smith Phillips Principal TIMPANI Ryan J. DiLisi Principal Andrew Watkins Assistant Principal PERCUSSION Gregory Cohen Principal

Harrison Linsey Andrea Overturf

Erin Douglas Dowrey Andrew Watkins

ENGLISH HORN Andrea Overturf

PIANO/CELESTE Mary Barranger

DR. WILLIAM AND EVELYN LAMDEN ENGLISH HORN CHAIR

CLARINET Sheryl Renk Principal

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER Magdalena O’Neill ASSISTANT PERSONNEL MANAGER TBA

Theresa Tunnicliff Frank Renk

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN Courtney Secoy Cohen

BASS CLARINET Frank Renk

LIBRARIAN Rachel Fields

BASSOON Valentin Martchev Principal Ryan Simmons Leyla Zamora CONTRABASSOON Leyla Zamora HORN Benjamin Jaber Principal Darby Hinshaw Assistant Principal & Utility

* Long Term Substitute Musician + Staff Opera Musician ˆ On leave All musicians are members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 325.

Financial support is provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.

Danielle Kuhlmann

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P5

NOVEMBER 6, 7 & 8 TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHÉTIQUE JACOBS MASTERWORKS SERIES

FRIDAY November 6, 2015 – 8:00pm SATURDAY November 7, 2015 – 8:00pm SUNDAY November 8, 2015 – 2:00pm conductor Jahja Ling violin Sarah Chang

All performances at The Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall

PROGRAM JUDD GREENSTEIN

MAX BRUCH

Change (West Coast Premiere and co-commission with North Carolina Symphony) Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 Prelude: Allegro moderato Adagio Finale: Allegro energico Sarah Chang, violin

INTERMISSION PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74: Pathétique Adagio - Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale: Adagio lamentoso

The approximate running time for this program, including intermission, is one hour and fifty-five minutes.

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P9

ABOUT THE ARTIST

TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHÉTIQUE – NOVEMBER 6, 7 & 8 engagements will take her to Spain, Germany and Turkey, while, in Asia, she will appear in concert in Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Highlights from recent seasons have included performances with the New West Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Ravinia Festival, Aspen Music Festival and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. As a recital and chamber musician, Ms. Chang regularly travels throughout the world and has performed with such artists as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Wolfgang Sawallisch and members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

SARAH CHANG, VIOLIN

R

ecognized as one of the foremost violinists of our time, SARAH C HANG has performed with the most esteemed orchestras, conductors and accompanists in an international career spanning more than two decades. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of eight, Ms. Chang has dazzled audiences with her technical virtuosity and emotional depth.

In the coming season, Ms. Chang’s appearances in North America will include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Madison Symphony and New Jersey Symphony. Her European

Ms. Chang’s most recent recording for EMI Classics - her 20th for the label - featured the Brahms and Bruch violin concertos with Kurt Masur and the Dresdner Philharmonie; it was received to excellent critical and popular acclaim. Her 2007 recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons attracted international commendation, with BBC Music Magazine stating: “She has never made a finer recording.” She has also recorded: Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 live with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle; Fire and Ice, an album of popular shorter works for violin and orchestra with Placido Domingo conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker; the Dvořák Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis; as well as

several chamber music and sonata discs with artists including pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Vogt.

Along with Pete Sampras, Wynton Marsalis and Tom Brady, Ms. Chang has been a featured artist in Movado’s global advertising campaign “The Art of Time.” In 2006 Ms. Chang was honored in Newsweek Magazine’s “Women and Leadership, 20 Powerful Women Take Charge” issue. In March 2008 Ms. Chang was honored as a Young Global Leader for 2008 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for her professional achievements, commitment to society and potential in shaping the future of the world.

In 2012 Sarah Chang received the Harvard University Leadership Award, and in 2005 Yale University dedicated a chair in Sprague Hall in her name. For the June 2004 Olympic Games, she was given the honor of running with the Olympic Torch in New York; that same month she became the youngest person ever to receive The Hollywood Bowl’s Hall of Fame award. Also in 2004, Ms. Chang was awarded the Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Sienna, Italy.

She is a past recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Gramophone’s “Young Artist of the Year” award, Germany’s “Echo” Schallplattenpreis, “Newcomer of the Year” honors at the International Classical Music Awards in London and Korea’s “Nan Pa” award. In 2011 Ms. Chang was named an official Artistic Ambassador by the United States Embassy. n

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 M AX B RUC H Born January 6, 1838, Cologne Died October 2, 1920, Friedenau (Approx. 24 minutes)

M

ax Bruch appears fated to remain a one-work composer. His choral compositions are still admired in Germany, and one hears the Scottish Fantasy from time to time (including on last year’s Jacobs Masterworks opening concert), but Bruch’s reputation today rests squarely

P10 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE

on the fame of one work, his First Violin Concerto. Ironically, this concerto was a product of his youth – he began work on it at age 19, finished the first version nine years later, and had it in final form in 1868, when he was only 30. Joseph Joachim, the dedicatee, gave the successful premiere of this version, and the concerto’s instant popularity overwhelmed everything else Bruch wrote thereafter. He is said to have reacted with exasperation when young violinists came to play for him, for they always played

this concerto. He was left complaining that he had written some other pieces for violin.

There are several good reasons for this concerto’s continuing popularity. Bruch writes gorgeous melodies for the violin here – this is late German romanticism at its most lyric. He is then able to build these simple melodies into climaxes of tremendous power and excitement. Last, and certainly not least, this concerto is beautifully written for the violin: it sits gracefully under the fingers, and while the Concerto in G minor is very

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS

TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHÉTIQUE – NOVEMBER 6, 7 & 8

difficult, it is also very grateful to play. This concerto has an evergreen quality that will keep it fresh forever.

The form is slightly unusual, and the opening movement gave Bruch a great deal of trouble. The first two movements are joined, and Bruch worried that the opening section was not a complete movement. He called it Vorspiel (Prelude), and it is in an unusual form.

It begins with a slow orchestral introduction, and the violin enters with a cadenza-like recitative. The music soon rushes ahead on soaring themes and dramatic writing to a great climax, and then Bruch brings back the recitative of the very beginning to lead the way into the middle movement.

The Adagio is one of the great slow movements in all the violin concerto literature, and it shows Bruch’s considerable melodic gift. There are three separate themes, all gentle and yearning, and all of them wellsuited to the violin’s lyrical nature. Bruch weaves them into a climax of considerable power before the movement ends quietly.

The finale, aptly marked Allegro energico, is a rondo-like movement in G Major. The orchestra’s introduction leads to the impressive violin entrance, reminiscent of gypsy fiddling. Once again, Bruch offers some terrific writing for the violin, and his performance markings tell the tale: passages marked appassionato or con fuoco or con forza alternate with material marked dolce or tranquillo e grazioso. The movement races to its close on a Presto coda that sends the solo violin soaring to the very top of its range. n

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74: Pathétique P ET E R I LYCH TC H AIKOVSKY Born May 7, 1840, Votkinsk Died November 6, 1893, St. Petersburg (Approx. 46 minutes) Tchaikovsky made a successful visit to America in the spring of 1891, when he was one of the guest conductors at the opening of Carnegie Hall in New York City. During these years he frequently conducted abroad, including appearances in France, Belgium and Poland, but Tchaikovsky was always homesick for his native land when he was on tour, and he rushed back to Russia in 1892.

At his home in the village of Klin, north of Moscow, Tchaikovsky drafted the first three

movements of a symphony in E-flat Major, but he was dissatisfied and abandoned it, plunging once again into his perpetual terror that he had written himself out and would never compose again.

Then in February 1893 he began another symphony. This one grew out of a note he had written to himself the previous year: “The ultimate essence of the plan of the symphony is LIFE. First movement – all impulsive passion, confidence, thirst for activity. Must be short. (Finale DEATH– result of collapse.) Second movement love; third disappointments; fourth ends dying away (also short).” This note was the seed for Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, though the plan would be considerably modified in the course of composition. To his nephew Tchaikovsky wrote, “I had an idea for a new symphony, this time with a program – but a program of a kind that will remain an enigma to all. Let them guess it who can…

This program is permeated with subjective feeling…While composing it in my mind, I wept frequently.”

The draft of the symphony was complete by April 1893, and the orchestration was done in August. Though he was perpetually unsure about his new works, this time Tchaikovsky was confident that he had written well: “I love it as I have never loved a single one of my offspring… Never have I been so pleased with myself, so proud, so happy in the knowledge that I have created something good.”

Clearly, the new symphony was important to its creator, and he wished to take measure of its emotional significance with a suitable nickname. At first he wanted to call it “Program” Symphony, but he was quickly talked out of so bland a suggestion.

His brother Modest suggested the subtitle Tragic, but the composer disliked that. Then Modest suggested Pathétique, and the composer agreed immediately. The term pathétique is difficult to translate into English, and its automatic rendering as “pathetic” is misleading; as Tchaikovsky understood the term, it meant more nearly “emotional” or “passionate.” Yet the “meaning” of this symphony remains elusive. A generation or so ago, it was almost a convention that recordings of the Pathétique would feature a jacket illustration of a lugubrious hooded figure descending steps into the depths of a gloomy cloister. That image had nothing to

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

do with the music, but it seemed a sort of visual equivalent of this music’s unsettling emotional impact.

The Pathétique begins in darkness. Over the contrabasses’ open fifth, solo bassoon sings the somber opening melody, and this smoothly evolves into the movement’s main subject at the Allegro non troppo. The second episode is built on one of the most famous themes Tchaikovsky ever wrote, a heartfelt falling melody for strings that he marks “tenderly, singing, expansive”; these two ideas will form the basis of this vast sonataform movement. The exposition trails off in the woodwinds – Tchaikovsky wants the solo bassoon to play so quietly that he marks its part with SIX piano signs – but the opening of the development is the most violent in the symphonic literature. Out of that silence, the orchestra explodes (this is a moment famous for terrifying dozing concert-goers), and the tumultuous development centers on the opening theme. The climax comes on two huge smashes of sound – the first like a crack of thunder, the second exhausted and falling away – and finally a noble brass chorale draws this lengthy movement to its consoling close.

The second movement, Allegro con grazia, is a waltz, but instead of writing it in the waltz meter of 3/4, Tchaikovsky casts this one in 5/4. Despite the sour critic who claimed that this waltz could be danced only by someone with three feet, this is graceful music.

Tchaikovsky keeps the flowing trio section in 5/4 as well, and its lightness is set off by a deep contrabass line that throbs along beneath the easy flow of melody.

The Allegro molto vivace, one of Tchaikovsky’s most exciting movements, is both a scherzo and a march. It opens with skittering triplets, and solo oboe quickly sounds the sharp-edged march tune. This movement is beautifully controlled: Tchaikovsky gradually builds these simple materials into a powerful march that drives to an incandescent close.

It is a close that inevitably brings a burst of applause, but the true ending is still to come.

And it is dark indeed, for this symphony concludes with a grieving and dark slow movement that Tchaikovsky significantly marks Adagio lamentoso. The almost sobbing violin theme at the beginning is remarkable for its sound projection: Tchaikovsky has it

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P11

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS

TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHÉTIQUE – NOVEMBER 6, 7 & 8 played jointly by the two violin sections, and the melodic line moves back and forth between them at each note – in effect, neither section has the theme, which is heard only as product of their combined effort. The movement rises to an agitated climax, then slowly slips back into the blackness from which the symphony began.

Tchaikovsky takes an artistic risk here, closing with slow and bleak music rather than with the traditional excitement. Yet his instincts proved correct, and this symphony’s vanishing into the darkness – however strange it must have seemed to that first audience – makes for a powerful conclusion.

Tchaikovsky led the premiere on October 28, 1893, before a St. Petersburg audience that could make little sense of so unexpected an ending. Nine days later Tchaikovsky was dead at the age of 53, apparently the victim of cholera, though the exact circumstances remain uncertain. At a second performance of this symphony twelve days after his death, the audience was overwhelmed by music that had left them mystified only a short time before, and the proximity of Tchaikovsky’s death to the premiere of this dark music gave rise to all kinds of retroactive interpretations of its meaning. Tchaikovsky himself gave no indication beyond his cryptic comment: “Let them guess it who can.” n

WHY THIS PROGRAM? WHY THESE PIECES?

by Dr. Melvin G. Goldzband, SDSO Archivist

When I interviewed Jahja Ling for these notes, he had not yet received the score for the new Judd Greenstein work. He, of course, could say little about it, other than it had been recommended by trustworthy sources, and he was looking forward to conducting its local premiere. This is also the first time that any of this composer's music has been played by the San Diego Symphony Orchesttra.

As to the Bruch Violin Concerto, our conductor reminisced: “This was the first piece I ever heard played live, when I was a child in Jakarta, at a rehearsal of an amateur orchestra. I left that hall and could not get that beautiful melody from the middle movement out of my head. It stayed with me, and became part of the impulse I later developed to pursue a conducting career.

From the beginning, I wanted to conduct it because I certainly could not have become that kind of violinist. The piece really had a great impact.”

The ever-popular Tchaikovsky Pathétique Symphony, as Jahja Ling recalled, was the first symphony he learned as a Yale Music School student, and afterwards “...was the first Tchaikovsky symphony I conducted with a fine orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, in 1983. When I learned it at Yale, my teacher, Otto Werner-Mueller, taught it to me. He

was a student of the great conductor, Igor Markevich, world-recognized as a Tchaikovsky expert. Again, it is a situation of a teacher passing down a great tradition to the student, a process I treasure.”

•••••••••••• Judd Greenstein's Change, a new work co-commissioned by this orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony, is receiving its West Coast premiere at these concerts.

The deservedly popular, beautiful Violin Concerto in G minor by Max Bruch was first played by the original San Diego Symphony Orchestra under Buren Schryock, its first music director, in1915. Arnold Krauss was the violin soloist. The reconstituted, post-war San Diego Symphony first played it under the direction of Fabien Sevitzky during the 1949 season, with Jerome Kasin as soloist. Since then it has been repeated here ten times, most recently under Jahja Ling's direction (when Glenn Dicterow was the soloist) during the 2006 season.

Tchikovsky's enormously popular Symphony No. 6: Pathétique began its extensive run here when it was led by Fabien Sevitzky during the 1959 season.

Notably, when he was music director here in the 1980s, David Atherton led it during four seasons of his tenure.

Ken-David Masur led it here most recently during the 2013-14 season, when the San Diego Symphony Orchestra gave it its fifteenth presentation. n

PROGRAM NOTES BY ERIC BROMBERGER

COMING UP NEXT JACOBS MASTERWORKS SERIES

FRI, DEC 4 – 8PM | SAT, DEC 5 – 8PM | SUN, DEC 6 – 2PM

THE RITE OF SPRING conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla; violin Karen Gomyo

MIRGA GRAŽINYTĖ-TYLA, CONDUCTOR

BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 3 SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto STRAVINSKY: Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) FRI, DEC 11 – 8PM | SAT, DEC 12 – 8PM | SUN, DEC 13 – 2PM

CHORAL AND ORGAN SPECTACULAR: BERLIOZ TE DEUM

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY

conductor Jahja Ling; cello Alisa Weilerstein; San Diego Master Chorale

SanDiegoSymphony.com 619.235.0804 ALISA WEILERSTEIN, CELLO

P12 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE

BRAHMS: Concerto for Violin and Cello BERLIOZ: Te Deum

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

PATRON INFORMATION TICKET OFFICE HOURS Jacobs Music Center Ticket Office (750 B Street) Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm Concert Tuesdays through Fridays: 10 am through intermission Concert Weekends: 12 noon through intermission

be allowed into the concert hall.

They must be held by an adult and may not occupy a seat, unless they have a ticket.

SUBSCRIPTIONS San Diego Symphony Orchestra offers an attractive array of subscription options.

Subscribers receive the best available seats and (for Traditional subscribers) free ticket exchanges (up to 48 hours in advance for another performance within your series). Other subscriber-only benefits include priority notice of special events and (for certain packages) free parking.

For more information, call the Ticket Office at 619.235.0804.

UNUSED TICKETS Please turn in unused subscription tickets for resale to the Ticket Office or by mailing them to 1245 7th Ave., San Diego, CA 92101 (Attn: Ticket Office). Tickets must be turned in anytime up to 24 hours in advance of your concert. A receipt will be mailed acknowledging your tax-deductible contribution.

TICKET EXCHANGE POLICY • Aficionado subscribers may exchange into most Winter series concerts for free! All exchanges are based on ticket availability.

• Traditional subscribers receive the best available seats and may exchange to another performance within their series for free. Build Your Own subscribers and Non-subscribers can do the same, with a $5 exchange fee per ticket.

• Exchanged tickets must be returned to the Ticket Office 24 hours prior to the concert by one of the following ways: In person, by mail (1245 Seventh Ave., San Diego, CA 92101, Attn: Ticket Office) or by fax (619.231.3848).

LOST TICKETS San Diego Symphony concert tickets can be reprinted at the Ticket Office with proper ID. GROUP SALES Discount tickets for groups are available for both subscription and non-subscription concerts (excluding outside events). For further information, please call 619.615.3941.

YOUNGER AUDIENCES POLICY Jacobs Masterworks, Classical Specials, and Chamber Music: No children under five years of age will be allowed into the concert hall.

Children five and older must have a ticket and be able to sit in an unaccompanied seat.

City Lights, Jazz @ The Jacobs, International Passport, Fox Theatre Film Series: No children under the age of two years will be allowed into the concert hall. Children two and older must have a ticket and be able to sit in a seat.

Family Festival Concerts: Children three years and older must have a ticket and be able to sit in a seat. Babies and children two years old and younger who are accompanied by a parent will

P32 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE

GIFT CERTIFICATES Gift certificates may be purchased in any amount at the Jacobs Music Center Ticket Office in person, online, by phone, or by mail.

They never expire!

Large-Print Programs: Large-print program notes are available for patrons at all Jacobs Masterworks concerts. Copies may be obtained from an usher.

PUBLIC RESTROOMS AND TELEPHONES Restrooms are located on the north and south ends of the upper lobby, and the north end of the lower lobby. An ADA compliant restroom is located on each floor. Please ask an usher for assistance at any time. Patrons may contact the nearest usher to facilitate any emergency telephone calls.

COUGH DROPS Complimentary cough suppressants are available to symphony patrons. Please ask our house staff for assistance.

QUIET ZONE Please turn all cellular and paging devices to the vibrate or off position upon entry into Symphony Hall. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated by fellow concertgoers and performers.

LOST & FOUND Report all lost and/or found items to your nearest usher. If you have discovered that you misplaced something after your departure from Jacobs Music Center, call the Facilities Department at 619.615.3909.

RECORDING DEVICES No unauthorized cameras or recording devices of any other kind are allowed inside the concert hall. Cell phone photography is not permitted.

PRE-CONCERT TALKS Patrons holding tickets to our Jacobs Masterworks Series concerts are invited to come early for “What’s The Score?” preperformance conversations beginning 45 minutes prior to all Jacobs Masterworks programs (Fridays and Saturdays, 7:15 pm; Sundays, 1:15 pm).

SMOKING POLICY Smoking is not permitted in Jacobs Music Center, its lobbies or the adjoining Symphony Towers lobby. Ashtrays can be found outside the building on both 7th Avenue and B Street.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND REFRESHMENTS Alcoholic beverages are available for sale in Jacobs Music Center lobbies before the concert and during intermission. Please have valid identification available and please drink responsibly. Refreshment bars offering snacks and beverages are located on both upper and lower lobbies for most events. Food and beverages are not allowed in performance chamber for concerts.

LATE SEATING Latecomers will be seated at an appropriate interval in the concert as determined by the house manager. We ask that you remain in your ticketed seat until the concert has concluded.

Should special circumstances exist or arise, please contact the nearest usher for assistance.

SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS Seating: ADA seating for both transfer and non-transfer wheelchairs, as well as restrooms, are available at each performance. Please notify the Ticket Office in advance at 619.235.0804, so that an usher may assist you.

Assistive Listening Devices: A limited number of hearing enhancement devices are available at no cost. Please ask an usher for assistance.

HALL TOURS Free tours of the Jacobs Music Center are given each month of the winter season. Check the “Jacobs Music Center” section of the website, or call 619.615.3955 for more details.

No reservations are necessary.

JACOBS MUSIC CENTER TICKET OFFICE 750 B Street (NE Corner of 7th and B, Downtown San Diego) San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619.235.0804 Fax: 619.231.3848 SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE 1245 7th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619.235.0800 Fax: 619.235.0005

Our Website: SanDiegoSymphony.com

Contact us to receive mailed or e-mailed updates about Orchestra events.

All artists, programs and dates are subject to change.

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

WINTER SEASON NOVEMBER 2015