FROM THE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Photo Credit: Lauren Radack
DEAR FRIENDS, We have had a very exciting fall season, welcoming new artistic partners to our stage and premiering new works by new and old composers. In January we are also featuring a new initiative as we launch a month-long festival which is the first of what we hope will be an annual occurrence. Upright & Grand focuses on the many aspects of the piano. Pianos can be found in concert halls, nightclubs, homes, schools, libraries and department stores. A pianist can play entire symphonies or a solo sonata. The piano can play the role of the orchestra in rehearsals of great opera and ballet scores, and it is a partner to instrumentalists and singers. The piano is both a solitary and independent instrument. In addition, many musical works began as a piece for piano which was then orchestrated. We are featuring many of these works such as Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, which is also the focus of our very first presentation of “Beyond the Score.”
MARTHA GILMER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
“Beyond the Score” is a creative performance that uses a narrator, actors and musical excerpts by the orchestra to explain the history and context of a piece of music. In the case of Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, you will discover the story behind the music and its dedication to one of Mussorgsky’s friends, the artist Viktor Hartmann, after his death. After intermission, the work will be performed in its entirety. At the core of this piano festival is the array of acclaimed artists who are at the top of their profession, performing the most exciting repertoire written for the piano – all in the span of just a few weeks. Jeremy Denk, Marc-André Hamelin, Horacio Gutiérrez, Ben Folds, Joshua White, Helen Sung, Eric Reed and our very own Jahja Ling and Jessie Chang, all perform as soloists in the festival. The festival crosses over all of our presentations including Jacobs Masterworks, City Lights and the new Jazz @ The Jacobs, as well as with our collaborative partners. The La Jolla Music Society presents pianist Emanuel Ax along with Itzhak Perlman in a sonata recital at the Jacobs Music Center, as well as a solo recital by Garrick Ohlsson at the Sherwood Auditorium. The San Diego Symphony will perform in Poway as part of Poway OnStage and at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido as part of the festival. Upright & Grand offers the public the opportunity to get involved, both by performing outdoors at any of the ten “Play Me” pianos in public spaces throughout San Diego, and by joining us on January 16 for our first “Community Day” where amateur pianists are welcome to participate in master classes and events, including piano-centric workshops focused on jazz piano and technology and the opportunity to perform on the stage of Copley Symphony Hall! (See page 20 for more information about these community projects). I hope to see you at many of the performances and activities throughout the month, and I thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm. Sincerely,
Martha Gilmer Chief Executive Officer
COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy Denk – Michael Wilson S AN D IEGO SYMPHO NY ORC HE ST RA WINT ER SEA SO N J A N UAR Y 2 016
P E R FOR M AN CE S MAGAZ I NE P1
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
Wesley Precourt Associate Concertmaster Jisun Yang 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 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
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
* Long Term Substitute Musician + Staff Opera Musician ˆ On leave
CONTRABASSOON Leyla Zamora
All musicians are members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 325.
HORN Benjamin Jaber Principal Darby Hinshaw Assistant Principal & Utility Danielle Kuhlmann Tricia Skye
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Financial support is provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
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JANUARY 8 & 10 ALL ABOUT THE PIANO: RHAPSODY IN BLUE FRIDAY January 8, 2016 – 8:00pm SUNDAY January 10, 2016 – 2:00pm conductor Karina Canellakis piano Marc-André Hamelin JACOBS MASTERWORKS SERIES
All performances at The Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall
PROGRAM CLAUDE DEBUSSY / Orch. by Bernardino Molinari MAURICE RAVEL
L’isle joyeuse
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major Marc-André Hamelin, piano
INTERMISSION
GEORGE GERSHWIN / Orch. by Frede Grofé
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF / Orch. by Ottorino Respighi
Rhapsody in Blue
Cinq Études-tableaux La mer et les mouettes (The Sea and the Seagulls) La foire (The Fair) Marche funèbre (Funeral March) Le Chaperon rouge et le Loup (Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf) Marche (March)
The appearance of Karina Canellakis is generously sponsored by The Dow Divas. T he approximate running time for this concert, including intermission, is one hour and forty minutes.
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SAN DI E GO SYM P H O N Y O R C H E ST R A W I N T E R S E AS O N JANUAR Y 2016
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ALL ABOUT THE PIANO: RHAPSODY IN BLUE – JANUARY 8 & 10 as well as her Los Angeles debut as guest soloist/conductor with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, which received glowing praise from the L.A. Times. Other engagements included the Colorado Symphony, Toledo Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. In the summer of 2014, Ms. Canellakis was one of only two Conducting Fellows at the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood Music Center.
KARINA CANELLAKIS, CONDUCTOR
C
urrently entering her second season as Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony, KARINA CANELL A K I S has rapidly gained international recognition as one of the most dynamic and exciting young American conductors. She recently made her European conducting debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the Styriarte Festival in Graz, Austria, filling in for Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Earlier in the season, she also made headlines filling in last minute for Jaap Van Zweden in two subscription concerts with the Dallas Symphony, conducting Shostakovich’s 8th Symphony and Mozart Piano Concerto No. 14 (K. 449) with soloist Emanuel Ax, earning rave reviews. In the 2015-16 season, Ms. Canellakis makes her debuts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and at the renowned Grand Tetons Music Festival in summer 2016. As the Assistant Conductor in Dallas, she conducts more than 30 concerts per season with the Dallas Symphony, including innovative programs on the Remix Series, standard repertoire on the "DSO On the Go" series, Youth and Family concerts as well as various other concerts geared towards specific audiences in the community. In 2015 she made her debuts with the Houston Symphony at Miller Outdoor Theatre, the North Carolina Symphony in two all-Russian programs at Booth Amphitheatre, the Grant Park Festival at Millennium Park in Chicago, Chautauqua Music Festival in New York, Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, Colorado,
She made her Carnegie Hall conducting debut in Zankel Hall in 2013, leading works of John Adams and Steven Mackey, and frequently appears as guest conductor of New York’s groundbreaking International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). Ms. Canellakis is a recipient of a 2015 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. She was also the winner of the 2013 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, founded by Marin Alsop. In 2014 she was the featured guest conductor for the annual commencement concert with the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. She was a selected conductor in the 2013 Lucerne Festival master class with Bernard Haitink, and conducted the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan as well as the Tonhalle Orchester in Switzerland as part of international master classes. Already known to many in the classical music world for her virtuoso violin playing, Ms. Canellakis was initially encouraged to pursue conducting by her mentor Sir Simon Rattle while she was playing regularly in the Berlin Philharmonic for two years as a member of their Orchester-Akademie. In addition to appearing frequently as soloist with various North American orchestras, she subsequently played regularly in the Chicago Symphony for over three years, and she appeared on several occasions as Guest Concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway. She spent many summers performing at the Marlboro Music Festival; her approach to conducting is firmly rooted in her detailed and dedicated experience as a chamber musician. She plays a 1782 Mantegazza violin on generous loan to her from a private patron. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in violin from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Master’s degree in orchestral conducting from The
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Juilliard School, where she was the recipient of the Charles Schiff Award for Excellence in Orchestral Conducting, the American Conductors Award and the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. In addition to Rattle and Zweden, her most prominent mentors are Alan Gilbert and Fabio Luisi. Karina Canellakis was born and raised in New York City. She speaks French, German and Italian, and is equally at home performing all genres of the repertoire. n
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN, PIANO
M
A R C - A N D R É H A M EL I N has rapidly gained international recognition as one of the is ranked among the elite of world pianists for his unrivaled blend of musicianship and virtuosity in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the neglected music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The summer of 2015 included a return to the BBC Proms for the Ravel Left Hand piano concerto on BBC NOW with François Xavier Roth, a work he repeats at the Colorado Music Festival. Recitals include the Ruhr Piano Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Festival Cully Classique, the International Keyboard Festival in New York City, Aspen Music Festival and Wigmore Hall. In 2015-16 Mr. Hamelin performs with the London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski at the Alte Oper Frankfurt (Liszt Totentanz and Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations) and again later in the season at the Royal Albert Hall for performances and a recordP E R FOR M AN CE S MAGAZ I NE P9
ABOUT THE MUSIC
ALL ABOUT THE PIANO: RHAPSODY IN BLUE – JANUARY 8 & 10 ing of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 and Medtner Piano Concerto No. 2. He tours North America with the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer to Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Maison symphonique de Montréal. Also, he will be participating in a three part residency at the Muziekgewbouw in Amsterdam while debuting at the Teatro alla Scala with the La Scala Orchestra led by Jakob Hrusa.
for solo piano by such composers as Alkan, Godowsky and Medtner, as well as brilliantlyreceived performances of Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Shostakovich.
Orchestral appearances in North America include Edmonton, Los Angeles Chamber, Manitoba, National Arts Centre, Quebec, San Diego and Toronto Symphony orchestras. In addition to the London Philharmonic, in Europe Mr. Hamelin appears with the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Hallé, the Lucerne Symphony and the Orchestra Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in repertoire ranging from Mozart to Brahms, Ravel and Messiaen.
In recital, he plays on the Keyboard Virtuoso series in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, as well as solo concerts for Chicago Symphony Presents, the Van Cliburn, Spivey Hall, ProMusica Montreal, Music Toronto and the Green Center in Sonoma. European recitals include Munich, DeSingel in Antwerp, Moscow State Philharmonic Society, Perugia, Heidelberg Festival, Bilbao and the Salzburg Mozarteum. Mr. Hamelin records exclusively for Hyperion Records. His most recent releases are a two-disc set of Mozart Sonatas and the Shostakovich Piano Quintet with the Takács Quartet. He was honored with the 2014 ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of Year (Piano) and Disc of the Year by Diapason Magazine and Classica Magazine for his three disc set of Busoni: Late Piano Music. Other recent recordings include Debussy Images and Préludes Book II, Haydn concertos with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadi; three double-disc sets of Haydn sonatas; and an album of his own compositions, Hamelin: Études, which received a 2010 Grammy® nomination (his ninth) and a first prize from the German Record Critics’ Association. The Hamelin études are published by Edition Peters. Mr. Hamelin’s Hyperion discography of over 50 recordings includes concertos and works
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Born in Montreal and a resident of Boston, Marc-André Hamelin is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the German Record Critic’s Association. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec and a member of the Royal Society of Canada. n
L’isle joyeuse CLAUD E D E BU S SY (Orch. Bernardino Molinari) Born August 22, 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye Died March 25, 1918, Paris After years of struggle, Debussy finally achieved success with his opera Pelléas and Mélisande in 1902 and began work on La mer. Then came a complete change. In June 1904, Debussy abandoned his wife of five years and ran off with Emma Bardac, a singer and the estranged wife of a wealthy banker. In the first rush of excitement, Debussy took Emma to the Isle of Jersey off the Normandy coast, and it was there, during the summer of 1904, that he composed his L’isle joyeuse. Debussy frequently drew his inspiration from contemporary sources, but for this brief piano piece he turned to the past, specifically to an early eighteenth-century painting, L’embarquement pour Cythère by the French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). Watteau’s painting depicts the moment of departure of a group of revelers for the island of Aphrodite, goddess of erotic love, and Debussy sets out to duplicate the sensual expectancy of such a scene. It is hard not to believe that the details of Debussy’s own life—he too was escaping to an island with a new lover—were the direct inspiration for this spirited music. L’isle joyeuse opens with a brief introductory passage marked Quasi una cadenza, built largely on anticipatory trills. The main theme quickly appears, so full of triplets and dancing dotted rhythms that it seems to spill over with rococo decoration, with an almost arabesque elegance. The music, fast and festive, is in rondo form, and Debussy
soon moves to a gently-rocking 3/8 meter, perhaps intended to suggest the motion of the boat. (He marks this section “undulating and expressive.”) Gradually the tempo accelerates, the music becomes more and more animated, and L’isle joyeuse rushes to a sonorous and exciting close. L’isle joyeuse is a spectacular work for the piano, and its proud creator wrote to his publisher: “This piece seems to embrace every possible manner of treating the piano, combining as it does strength with grace, if I may presume to say so.” However pianistic this music may be, its power and range of color suggested an orchestral sonority to even its earliest audiences. In 1917, working with Debussy’s approval, the Italian conductor Bernardino Molinari (1880-1952) made the orchestration of L’isle joyeuse heard on this program. Molinari transcribed L’isle joyeuse for a large orchestra, and it is a measure of this music’s power that he employed two harps, celesta, a large percussion battery and full wind and brass sections to orchestrate music that Debussy had conceived for one single piano. n
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major M AU R I CE R AV E L Born March 7, 1875, Ciboure, Basses-Pyrennes Died December 28, 1937, Paris In 1929, while he was at work on his Piano Concerto in G Major, Ravel had a visit from the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein, brother of the linguist and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, had been a promising young pianist before World War I, but during the war his right arm was shattered and had to be amputated, and the field hospital where he was being treated was overrun by the Russian army. Wittgenstein spent time in a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia before he was repatriated. While his career as a pianist appeared to be over, Wittgenstein set out to create a piano literature for the left hand, and he made use of the family fortune to commission works for the left hand from Richard Strauss, Prokofiev, Britten, Hindemith, Korngold, Schmidt and others. Now he asked Ravel to write a piano concerto for the left hand.
SAN DI E GO SYM P H O N Y O R C H E ST R A W I N T E R S E AS O N JANUAR Y 2016
ABOUT THE MUSIC
ALL ABOUT THE PIANO: RHAPSODY IN BLUE – JANUARY 8 & 10 One might think that Ravel, already consumed with writing one piano concerto, would have no interest in taking on another at the same time, particularly one that brought such a severe limitation with it. But he was intrigued by the challenge, accepted the commission, stopped work on the Piano Concerto in G Major, and wrote the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major in nine months in 1930. He then returned to work on the Concerto in G Major and completed it in 1931. The two piano concertos – Ravel’s final instrumental works – are quite different from each other, as the composer well knew. To his friend Michel Calvocoressi, Ravel wrote: It was an interesting experience, to conceive and realize the two concertos at the same time. The first [the Concerto in G Major], which I propose to play myself, is a concerto in the strict sense, written in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns. I believe that a concerto can be both gay and brilliant without necessarily being profound or aiming at dramatic effect… The Concerto for left hand alone is quite different, and has only one movement with many jazz effects; the writing is not so simple. In a work of this sort, it is essential to avoid the impression of insufficient weight in the sound-texture, as compared to a solo part for two hands. So I have used a style which is much more in keeping with the consciously imposing style of the traditional concerto. Rather than finding writing for the left hand a restriction a limit, Ravel appears to have found it liberating; he produced a work of the greatest virtuosity, sonority and color. No one hearing (but not seeing) this music – with its massive chords, huge leaps and runs across the range of the keyboard – would guess that it is being played by just one hand; one early reviewer wrote that it sounded at moments as if it were being performed by four hands rather than one. The Piano Concerto in G Major is glittering, sparkling music – Ravel himself described it as a divertissement – but the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand is darker, more substantial, more profound. In its progress from darkness toward light, in the unbelievable
virtuosity of its keyboard writing, in its dramatic extremes, this concerto is – in the words of the composer’s biographer Arbie Ornstein – “one of Ravel’s crowning achievements.” The French musicologist Henry Prunières was more specific about the source of its power. Noting that Ravel was usually reticent emotionally, he points out that “sentiment has taken its revenge for this long exile; it lights up the work magnificently and sometimes almost romantically. Those who have never understood that sentiment is always in abeyance in Ravel…were astounded to see him, for once, baring his soul.” Only about 18 minutes long, the concerto is in one movement in a sort of ternary form. It begins in the deepest register of the orchestra with divided cellos and basses slowly emerging from the darkness. Another deep instrument, the contrabassoon, sounds the long, lugubrious melody that will form the backbone of the concerto, and horns in octaves sing a subdued melody that will also figure importantly. The music slowly builds in volume, the rest of the orchestra enters, and out of a grand tutti the piano makes a brilliant entrance with a brief cadenza. The piano then declaims a chordal theme (written on two staves), and the ear recognizes this as a variation of the contrabassoon melody from the beginning. The piano also has an expressive second subject, simultaneously announcing that theme while accompanying itself; this is one of those passages almost impossible to believe is being played by one hand. The music gradually accelerates into the central section, marked Allegro, which marches smartly along its 6/8 meter. The piano dances into this march, and Ravel himself noted: “Only gradually does it become apparent that this episode in jazz style is actually built on the subjects of the first part.” Ravel develops these ideas at length, then makes a powerful return to the tempo of the opening section. A lengthy cadenza makes up most of this final section before the orchestra re-enters and rips the concerto to its violent close on a recall of the march rhythm. n
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Rhapsody in Blue G E O R G E G E R S H WI N (Orch. Ferde Grofé) Born September 26, 1898, Brooklyn Died July 11, 1937, Hollywood If – as Dvořák suggested – American classical music would have to come from uniquely American roots, then Rhapsody in Blue is probably the piece of American classical music. In it, Gershwin combined the European idea of the piano concerto with American jazz and in the process created a piece of music that has become famous throughout the world. In addition to its many recordings by American orchestras, Rhapsody in Blue has been recorded by orchestras in England, Germany, Australia and Russia. Gershwin was in fact aware that Rhapsody in Blue might become a kind of national piece; he said that during its composition he “heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of A merica – of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.” Classical purists argue that this is not a true piano concerto, and jazz purists argue that it is not true jazz. Of course both are right, but none of that matters: Rhapsody in Blue is a smashing success on its own terms. Gershwin was right to call this one-movement work a rhapsody, with that term’s suggestion of a form freer than the concerto. Soloist and orchestra are not so tightly integrated as in a concerto, and the Rhapsody tends to be episodic: the piano plays alone much of the time and then gives way to orchestral interludes; only rarely does Gershwin combine all his forces. Gershwin wrote the Rhapsody in the space of less than a month early in 1924, when he was only 25. Because he was uncertain about his ability to orchestrate, that job was given to Ferde Grofé, who would later compose the Grand Canyon Suite. At the premiere on February 12, 1924, Gershwin was soloist with a small jazz ensemble, but performances today almost always use Ferde Grofé’s version for full orchestra. The Rhapsody has one of the most famous beginnings in all of music: the clarinet trill that suddenly spirals upward in a seductive glissando leads directly into the main theme,
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ABOUT THE MUSIC
ALL ABOUT THE PIANO: RHAPSODY IN BLUE – JANUARY 8 & 10 which will recur throughout. The various episodes are easy to follow, though one should note Gershwin’s ability to move so smoothly from episode to episode – these changes in tempo and mood seem almost effortless. Also noteworthy is the big E Major string tune marked Andantino moderato con espressione; near the end Gershwin gives this to the brass and transforms its easy flow into a jazzy romp that ends in one of the most ear-splitting chords ever written. n
Cinq Études-tableaux S ER G EI R AC H MANINOFF (Orch. by Ottorino Respighi) Born April 1, 1873, Oneg Died March 28, 1943, Beverly Hills Late in 1929 Sergei Rachmaninoff received a proposal from Serge Koussevitzky that the conductor’s publishing firm – the Edition Russe de Musique – commission Ottorino Respighi to orchestrate several movements drawn from Rachmaninoff’s Études-tableaux; Rachmaninoff would be free to choose which ones. The proposal came at a good moment for all concerned. Seven years earlier, Koussevitzky had brought about one of the most successful of all arrangements when he commissioned Ravel to orchestrate Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; the conductor hoped to achieve a similar success with this project. Rachmaninoff was delighted with the proposal and wrote to Respighi in Italy that the proposed project gave him “great joy, for I am sure that in your masterly hands these Etudes will be made to sound marvelous.” Rachmaninoff’s two sets of Études-tableaux, composed in 1911 (Op. 33) and 1917 (Op. 39), are terrifically difficult works for solo piano. That title means “picture-studies,” which seems to imply a visual component, but when faced with questions about what this music “pictured,” Rachmaninoff had been evasive, saying “I do not believe in the artist discussing too much of his images. Let them paint for themselves what it most suggests.” Now, however, Rachmaninoff was more forthcoming, and in a letter to Respighi he revealed (perhaps!) what this music was “about.” That letter is worth quoting at length: “Will you permit me, Maître, to give you the secret explanations of their composer? These will certainly make the character of these P12 PERFORMA NCES MAG A Z IN E
pieces more comprehensible and help you to find the necessary colors for their orchestration. Here are the programs of these Etudes. The first Etude in A minor… represents the Sea and Seagulls. [This program was suggested by Mme. Rachmaninoff.] The second Etude in A minor…was inspired by the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. The third Etude in E-flat Major…is a scene at a Fair. The fourth Etude in D Major...has a similar character, resembling an oriental march. The fifth Etude in C minor…is a funeral march…” Respighi did a splendid job with the orchestration. He rearranged Rachmaninoff’s order but otherwise remained strictly faithful to these five pieces, keeping each in its original key and preserving all the performance markings of Rachmaninoff’s piano version. There are many wonderful touches here: the use of three solo violas at one spot in the first movement, the resplendent bells in the third, the gruff growls of the “wolf,” and the resounding close of The Fair among them. The Sea and the Seagulls (Op. 39, No. 2) may have suggested its title to Mrs. Rachmaninoff through the murmuring sounds at the opening, broken – in Respighi’s orchestration – by lonely violin and woodwind cries above these quiet triplets. Respighi shuffled the order of the remaining movements, placing the brief Fair (Op. 33, No. 7) second and bringing the Funeral March (Op. 39, No. 7) from Rachmaninoff’s final position to make it the central movement. For Respighi, Rachmaninoff prepared a more detailed program for this movement, and here we sense that we are hearing the movement’s original inspiration: “The initial theme is a march. The other theme represents the singing of a choir. Commencing with the movement in 16ths in C minor and a little further on in E-flat minor, a fine rain is suggested, incessant and hopeless. This movement develops, culminating in C minor – the chimes of a church. The Finale returns to the first theme, a march.” Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (Op. 39, No. 6) opposes its opening growl with more high-pitched material, which Respighi assigns to the violins, while the concluding March (Op. 39, No. 9) drives to a thunderous close. n
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
by Dr. Melvin G. Goldzband, Symphony Archivist L'isle joyeuse, a celebrated, lovely piano piece by Debussy, is being given its first hearing at these concerts in an orchestral arrangement by the Italian conductor, Bernardo Molinari. The sometimes harsh, sometimes tremendously moving but always tremendously demanding Piano Concerto for the Left Hand by Ravel was first heard at these concerts with Robert Casadesus as soloist during the 1961-62 season. Earl Bernard Murray conducted. The most recent performance here (its fourth) was during the 2011-12 season, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist and Jahja Ling conducting. Gershwin's eternal hit piece, his Rhapsody in Blue, was first played by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in 1950, just a quarter century after its headline-making Carnegie Hall premiere. Fabien Sevitzky conducted it then and, as a novelty, the duo-piano team of Bartlett and Robertson performed their adaptation of the piano part. The twelfth and most recent performance here was under Jahja Ling's baton, during the 2013-14 season, when Kevin Cole was soloist. The Respighi transcription of Rachmaninoff's Cinq Étudestableaux has never been heard at these concerts until now, but Yoav Talmi conducted his own orchestral transcription of these piano works with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra during the 1992-93 season, and even recorded it with the orchestra on an all-Rachmaninoff CD for Naxos. n
PROGRAM NOTES BY ERIC BROMBERGER
SAN DI E GO SYM P H O N Y O R C H E ST R A W I N T E R S E AS O N JANUAR Y 2016
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
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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 DI E GO SYM P H O N Y O R C H E ST R A W I N T E R S E AS O N JANUAR Y 2016