Yale Philharmonia: September 25, 2009

THE PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA OF YALE sep tember 2 5 , 2 0 09 路 f rid ay, 8 pm 路 wools e y h all

Shinik Hahm conductor

giuseppe verdi Overture to La Forza del Destino

max bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor I. Vorspiel (Allegro moderato) II. Adagio III. Finale (Allegro energico) Jiyun Han violin Intermission

b茅la bart贸k Concerto For Orchestra I. Introduzione II. Giucco delle coppie III. Elegia IV. Intermezzo interotto V. Finale

As a courtesy to others, please silence all cell phones and devices. Photography of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Robert Blocker, Dean

p ro g ra m no tes

Giuseppe Verdi » 1813-1901

Max Bruch » 1838-1920

Six loud brass attacks form the opening of Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera La Forza Del Destino (The Force of Destiny). The opera, which was first performed by the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1862, tells the tale of two lovers: the beautiful Donna Leonora, the daughter of a Sevillian marquis, and Don Alvaro, an Indian-Peruvian nobleman who has settled in Seville. The harshness and severity of these opening notes immediately suggests that the love is ill-fated, and indeed the lovers will face a tempest of murder and intrigue in their quest in La Forza.

Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G Minor is one of the pinnacles of the violin concerto repertoire, sitting alongside masterpieces by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Brahms. Originally composed for the great nineteenth-century virtuoso Joseph Joachim (for whom Brahms, Schumann, and Dvořák all wrote concerti), the concerto is nonetheless cast in an unusual form.

Rather than the traditional three-movement Allegro–Adagio–Allegro format used from the time of Vivaldi, Bruch cast his opening movement as a slow Vorspiel —a German word meaning both prelude and overture.

As the overture continues, we hear a scuttling opening theme in 3/8 time in the strings, but immediately Verdi brings back these six harsh chords, once more warning us (perhaps, like in Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony, a motif that suggests fate) that danger is near.

And the first movement does give this air of overture: rather than making a grand statement, the opening movement passes from moments of dramatic intensity to a gentle and romantic lyricism, with the violin often floating above the orchestra. Finally we are given a tantalizingly brief cadenza that segues into the second movement. This second movement, an Adagio, is in the great tradition of the nineteenth century's slow movements: gentle, tender, and lyrical. The violinist slowly traces up the instrument’s range, beginning low and gentle, but slowly and surely brings us to its altissimo register, where the music becomes almost marchlike, radiant and joyful. Finally the joy turns to triumph, and the violin and orchestra join for a stately but exuberant climax before a last restatement of the opening theme, and finally fading away.

Overture to La Forza del Destino

The second theme of the overture, however, is gentler; the winds seductively sing over a pizzicato string accompaniment; another string theme enters, as well; but the scuttling music quickly comes back to quash any true moment of release. Finally the scuttling turns wild, and a true tempest ensues in the orchestra.

After a momentary return to the seductive theme, Verdi brings us the first genuinely sweet and pastoral moment of the overture: a gentle melody in the clarinet accompanied by two harps and strings. The music becomes increasingly regal, and the brass joins in to create a grand and glorious sound. But the pastoral nature cannot last long, and once again the merriment turns dark. And so we are brought to the culmination of the overture with a giant climax that is both triumphant and tragic. Indeed, Verdi’s preternatural ability to combine these two elements is one of the most enduring treasures of his music.

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

In the third movement, marked Finale, Bruch finally gives the listener the wild allegro that had seemed suspiciously absent before. The Vorspiel’s foreboding G minor now transforms into a glorious G major, and the orchestra and violin celebrate together as cadenza after cadenza is followed by the affirmation of the orchestra, until Presto, the work exuberantly concludes.

Béla Bartók » 1881-1945 Concerto for Orchestra

Béla Bartok composed his Concerto for Orchestra in 1943, just two years before he succumbed to leukemia. One of his last pieces, it is many ways an amalgamation of the many types of music that his work synthesized: the folk melodies he collected as a musicologist, the radical approach to harmony of Debussy, and the apollonian restraint of composers like Mozart and Haydn. All of these various musics make appearances in the Concerto for Orchestra (so called because it features the entire orchestra as soloists).

The concerto, which is cast in five movements, opens with “night music”: slowly ascending and descending strings are met with nature sounds: a bird song in the flute, muted brass like frogs croaking. Finally, just as the night music seems to be turning into nightmare music, a more gleeful Allegro begins. An opening folk-like melody contrasts with a more lyrical melody in the oboe and flutes. A traditional development section features many imitative contrapuntal moments until we are once again brought the opening themes, concluding with a brass fanfare.

The second movement, a scherzando titled Giuoco delle coppie (Game of pairs), prominently features pairs of instruments throughout the movement. It opens with two bassoons playing a jovial melody. Soon, two staccato oboes continue the theme until taken over by two clarinets. A cheerful second section features two flutes, two violas, and two trumpets. Each instrument throughout the section plays a different musical interval—the bassoons and oboes play consonant major sixth and thirds respectively, but the clarinets and trumpets play the more dissonant intervals of minor sevenths and major seconds, creating a natural tension and release between the instruments.

The third movement, Elegia, recalls the night music of the opening movement: a plaintive oboe is surrounded by birdcalls from the clarinet, piccolo, and strings. Slowly the strings take over the melody, and music becomes more flowing before a second theme featuring brass and strings comes to a climax. Bartók then returns us to the more gentle night music.

The music brightens for a moment, and dies away gently with the piccolo.

The fourth movement, Intermezzo Interrotto (Interruped Intermezzo), features a folk-like melody that is juxtaposed against a march tune that parodies Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony—a work that Bartók famously loathed. The “interruption” happens in the middle of the movement with comicalsounding glissandi in the trombones before the march tune is haltingly brought back, which Bartók mocks by adding dissonances and pauses to the original tune.

The work closes with a fast and raucous finale, featuring the entire orchestra as soloists. Each section—the strings, the winds, brass, and percussion—is featured one by one. A central fugato section slows down the pace, but slowly the movement is brought to an intense and wild culmination that brings the concerto to a close.

—Christopher Cerrone

art i st p ro files

Jiyun Han violin

Shinik Hahm conductor

Jiyun Han was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to Germany at the age of three. She began studying violin at age 7 and started performing at 8, in venues including the Altes Rathaus and Stadthalle in Goettingen, Germany. In 1993 she gave her first concerto performance with orchestra, performing Haydn’s G major Concerto with the Goettingen Youth Symphony. During her years in Germany she was invited by the the Goettingen Symphony Orchestra to perform concertos by Mozart, Vieuxtemps, and Mozart in Goettingen and around Lower Saxony under Christian Simonis and Horst Langkamm. In 1997, she performed with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic and conductor Wojciech Rajski at the Classix Festival (former Braunschweiger Kammermusikpodium) in the Staatstheater of Braunschweig and Magdeburg. The concert in Magdeburg was broadcast live on Radio Berlin and Middle German Radio. She has also performed with the University of Kansas Symphony Orchestra.

Shinik Hahm was appointed Music Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale and professor of conducting at the Yale School of Music in 2004. One of the most dynamic and innovative conductors of our time, Hahm is a sought-after musician among top orchestras in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

In Germany she received lessons from Jens Ellermann at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater in Hannover. She studied with Ben Sayevich at the University of Kansas and then transferred to The Juilliard School to study with Hyo Kang. After receiving her BM from Juilliard, she continued her studies with Kang at the Yale School of Music, where she earned her MM and is now an Artist Diploma student.

She has participated in Chamberfest at Juilliard, Great Mountains Music Festival, the International Musical Arts Institute, and Violinkurse Stein in Germany. She received prizes from Jugend Musiziert competitions in Germany (1992 and 1994), Fourth International Leopold Mozart Violin Competition (1999), and the 2009 Woolsey Concerto Competition.

Hahm conducted the 2009 European tour of Germany’s prominent Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, including a concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He made his Chinese debut with the country’s most prestigious orchestras, China Philharmonic and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a remarkable collaboration with Mexican orchestras. After a successful debut with the Mexico National Symphony and Xalapa Symphony Orchestras, the maestro was immediately re-engaged for coming seasons. His re-appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at Disney Hall was likewise successful. His enthusiastic and creative music-making has distinguished Hahm as one of the most versatile conductors of his generation.

In 2006 Maestro Hahm completed his tenure as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Daejeon (Korea) Philharmonic Orchestra.

The DPO and Hahm performed in leading concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), Benaroya Hall (Seattle), Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, and Osaka Symphony Hall. The orchestra benefited from his artistic leadership and sold out all concerts.

For a decade, Hahm served as music director of the Abilene (Texas) Philharmonic Orchestra, successfully converting the community ensemble into a professional regional orchestra.

He was profiled on ABC’s World News Tonight for his central role in rejuvenating and revitalizing the Abilene community.

a b o ut yal e p h ilharmonia

The Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale is one of America’s foremost music school ensembles. The largest performing group at the Yale School of Music, the Philharmonia offers superb training in orchestral playing and repertoire.

shinik hahm Conductor

Performances include an annual series of concerts in Woolsey Hall, as well as Yale Opera productions in the Shubert Theater. The Yale Philharmonia has also performed on numerous occasions in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kennedy Center.

The orchestra undertook its first tour of Asia in 2008, with acclaimed performances in the Seoul Arts Center, the Forbidden City Concert Hall and National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing), and the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

renata steve Librarian

krista johnson Managing Director

farkhad khudyev Assistant Conductor adrian slywotsky Assistant Conductor

The Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale violin 1 Marc Daniel van Biemen, concertmaster Hyerin Kim Alissa Cheung Jane Kim Hyewon Kim Anastasia Metla Yeseul Ann Evan Shallcross Holly Piccoli Yoorhi Choi Piotr Filochowski Jae-Won Bang Hana Hlozkova Naria Kim violin 2 Marjolaine Lambert, principal Soo Ryun Baek Sun Min Hwang Hanna Na Yu-Ting Huang Ka Chun Gary Ngan Domenic Salerni Youngsun Kim Edson Scheid de Andrade Jae-In Shin Kensho Watanabe Ju Hyung Shin Qi Cao viola Vesselin Todorov, principal Minjung Chun Eve Tang Christopher Williams Colin Meinecke Mathilde Geismar Roussel Janice Lamarre Eren Tuncer Amina Myriam Tebini Kristin Chai

cello Sunhee Jeon, principal Arnold Choi Soo Jin Chung Philo Lee Neena Deb-Sen Sifei Wen Jung Min Han Jacques Wood Ying Zhang Wonsun Keem Mo Mo Shannon Hayden bass Alexander Smith, principal Aleksey Klyushnik Eric Fischer Nathaniel Chase Michael Levin Mark Wallace flute & piccolo Mindy Heinsohn, 2, 3* Christopher Matthews, 1*, 3 Piccolo Dariya Nikolenko, 1 Piccolo, 2*, 3 oboe Alexandra Detyniecki, 1* Emily Holum, 3 Steven Kramer, 1, 2 Carl Oswald, 2* Andrew Parker, 3 English Horn Joseph Peters, 3* clarinet Paul Won Jin Cho, 1 , 2 E-flat Clarinet Jaehee Choi, 1, 3* Soo Jin Huh, 2 Emil Khudyev, 2* Sara Wollmacher, 3 Bass Clarinet bassoon Thomas Fleming, 1*, 2*, 3 Jennifer Hostler, 1, 2, 3 Contrabassoon Scott Switzer, 3*

horn Katherine Herman, 1, 2 Scott Holben, 1, 2* Christopher Jackson, 1, 3* Leelanee Sterrett, 2, 3 Ryan Stewart, 2, 3 Elizabeth Upton, 1*, 3 trumpet Paul Florek, 3* Douglas Lindsey, 1*, 3 Ryan Olsen, 1 Kyle Sherman, 3 Andreas Stoltzfus, 2* David Wharton, 2 trombone Brian Reese, 1*, 2*, 3 Ted Sonnier, 1, 2, 3* bass trombone Jay Roberts, 3 Craig Watson, 1, 2 tuba Jerome Stover, 1 Bethany Wiese, 3 harp Keturah Bixby, 1, 3* Maura Valenti, 1*, 3 percussion Yun-Chu Chui, 1 John Corkill, 2 Timpani Leonardo Gorosito, 3 Denis Petrunin, 1 Timpani Ian Rosenbaum, 1, 3 Michael Zell, 3 Timpani 1- Performer in Verdi 2- Performer in Bruch 3- Performer in Bartók *- Denotes Principal Player

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