: and THIS week: We hear the U.S. premiere of the Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Thierry Escaich. Artist-in-

Transcription

1 Script for NYP (NATIONAL UNDERWRITING CREDIT #1) (AMBIENCE UP AND UNDER) AB: and THIS week: (MUSIC UP AND UNDER) AB: We hear the U.S. premiere of the Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Thierry Escaich. Artist-in- Residence Lisa Batiashvili is joined by her husband, Francois Leleux as soloist in that work and they will also be the soloists in the Violin and Oboe Concerto by Johann Sebastien Bach. The second half of the broadcast features the Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich. This is Alec Baldwin inviting you to listen with me as Music Director Alan Gilbert conducts The New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC UP AND OUT) (ACTUALITY) AB: Artist-in-Residence Lisa Batiashvili on performing with her husband, Francois Leleux for these concerts. (SLIGHT PAUSE) 24 25

2 AB: In 1729, J.S. Bach became director of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum. In this role, he was called upon to put on weekly concerts and this put him in a position to regularly present fresh material. To meet the demands of the job, Bach--like fellow Barqoue masters Handel and Vivaldi--recycled and re-purposed his own musical material in a variety of ways. This could be as simple a gesture as transcribing an existing concerto for some other instrument, such as turning a violin concerto into a harpsichord concerto. Or it could be as complex as connecting excerpts from several existing works to form one new complete work. The violin and oboe concerto that opens this program is a reconstruction of a work that we think evolved into the Concerto for Two Harpsichords; the manuscript doesn t seem to exist, so it s difficult to say for certain. What can be said with authority, however, is that this is a remarkably colorful example of a Baroque double-concerto. Lisa Batiashvili and Francois Leleux tell us more:

3 AB: Music Director Alan Gilbert added these remarks: (ACTUALITY?) (APPLAUSE) AB: and we go down to the stage for the Concerto for Violin, Oboe, and Strings, BWV 1060 by Johann Sebastien Bach. As soloists, we ll hear Lisa Batiashvili, violin and Francois Leleux, oboe. Alan Gilbert conducts The New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC) AB: Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Bach. The New York Philharmonic was conducted by its Music Director, Alan Gilbert. As soloists, we heard Artist-in- Residence Lisa Batiashvili, violin and Francois Leleux, oboe. Next, the husband-wife duo will turn their attention to the U.S. Premiere of the Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Thierry Excaich. Here s Lisa Batiashvili with a few words of introduction: (ACTUALITY?) AB: Alan Gilbert also spoke of this work: (ACTUALITY?)

4 AB: Composer, organist and improviser Thierry Escaich is a unique figure in contemporary music and a leading representative of the new generation of French composers. Mr. Escaich, who was born in 1965, views the three elements of his artistry as being inseparable. Moreover, this special combination of talents allows him to express himself as a performer, creator and collaborator in a wide range of settings. The Concerto for Violin and Oboe was written on a Co-Commission by the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg and the New York Philharmonic and it was given its world premiere in December, The artists for that performance? Lisa Batiashvili and Francois Leleux with Alan Gilbert. and we return to the stage for the U.S. premiere of the Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Thierry Escaich. Lisa Batiashvili and Francois Leleux are the soloists and Alan Gilbert conducts The New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC) (APPLAUSE)

5 AB: We just heard the U.S. premiere of the Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Thierry Escaich. The New York Philharmonic was led by its Music Director, Alan Gilbert. As soloists, we heard violinist Lisa Batiashvili and her husband, Francois Leleux. Ms. Batiashvili is the Philharmonic s Mary and James G. Wallach Arist-in-Residence for the 2014/15 Season. (SLIGHT PAUSE) AB: Our broadcast will continue shortly when Alan Gilbert returns to lead a performance of the Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich. I m Alec Baldwin and you re listening to the New York Philharmonic This Week. (ID) (ACTUALITY?) AB: Music Director Alan Gilbert. AB: The third and final work on this program is the Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Now prior to this piece, the last purely symphonic writing the composer did was this: (TRACK 9) (Excerpt from Symphony 9)

6 AB: That s from the Symphony No 9, written in While there is some interesting development there, it delivers neither the pioneering promise of the symphony No. 4, nor the instant accessibility of the Fifth Symphony. Well...after the political upheavals of 1948 and being brought up for a second time on charges of formalism, Shostakovich withdrew his first violin concerto and made a conscious decision to compose no more symphonies during Stalin s lifetime. When Stalin died, the 10th symphony emerged a poetically appropriate nine months later, in October, (MUSIC OUT) Now before Stalin s death, it could be generally surmised that Shostakovich s chamber music represented his inner self and that his symphonies displayed his public persona. With the release of his tenth symphony, however, Shostakovich began to skew this perspective, creating a work that was at once colossal in scope, yet intensely personal

7 Legendary broadcaster Norman Pellegini asked Shostakovich about this more personal turn in his symphonic writing in Here s what the composer had to say: (TRACK 9A) AB: The 10th symphony delivers great inventiveness in musical ideas and images...as well as a fundamentally direct musical language. The piece also features an terrific sense of unity. For instance, Shostakovich uses the same three notes to introduce each of the first three movements. We hear this figure in the cellos and basses to open the symphony: (TRACK 11) AB: Next, in the strings to introduce the 2 nd movement: (TRACK 12) AB: and now in the first violins to for the start of the 3 rd movement: (TRACK 13)

8 AB: At over 20 minutes in length, the first movement of the 10 th symphony is the largest and longest of the piece. It s marked moderato and even in this brief excerpt, you can hear the deliberate, but constant forward momentum of the music: (TRACK 14) AB: A lot has been written about the second movement of the Shostakovich 10 th Symphony which is ironic given that it comprises just 3 or 4 minutes worth of music. The official Soviet view point of this section was that it expressed an affirmation of the neverending cycle of life. Others saw it as a black march, condemning Stalin and the Stalin years. And there is indeed an account that Shostakovich himself said this was about the Stalin years in Solomon Volkov s controversial Testimony. Let s listen and you can decide for yourself: (TRACK 15) AB: In Allan B. Ho and Dmitir Feofanov s collection of essays, Shostakovich Reconsidered, Vladimir Zak draws up an interesting comparison of Shostakovich to Aesop, arguing that both are figures who invented a new language in order to be able to communicate the Truth.

9 AB: That said, we have in the third movement the introduction of Shostakovich s musical monogram: D E-flat C B, which corresponds to the Composer s initials, DSCH as transcribed in German. (TRACK 16: sample) AB: Trust me you ll be hearing a lot more of it. This same musical signature would go on to be featured in many of the composer s other works and it will turn up again in the finale of this symphony. So, to recap: We ve had a gloomy first movement, a forceful second, and a spiritually yearning third. What comes next can be a little surprising. Some have even criticized the composer for writing what might be described as a Hollywood ending. We disagree. The composer s voice seems wellrepresented here with plenty of underlying tension. The joy feels forced and the laughter, if there is any, is nervous: (TRACK 18)

10 AB: All in all, the tenth symphony can be said to be a work saluting the end of an era an era of great hardship and danger for Shostakovich and for his country. With its dramatic and technical prowess fused with relative economy of design, the Symphony No.10 is rightly regarded by many as one of the composer s greatest symphonic works. (APPLAUSE) AB: and let s go down to the stage to hear a complete performance of this masterpiece now. Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Alan Gilbert conducts The New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC) (APPLAUSE) AB: A joyous finale, dutifully towing the Communist Party s line, in terms of turning out music that was positive in scope. It s a bit of an ironic ending to a work that otherwise represents some of Shostakovich s most profound music. That was his symphony No. 10 in e-minor, op. 93. The New York Philharmonic was conducted by its Music Director, Alan Gilbert. (INSERT CLOSERS/PROMOS) 250

11 PROMO for NYP AB: Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill is the soloist in the Nielsen Concerto on our next New York Philharmonic broadcast. This is Alec Baldwin. Please join me for a program that will also feature highlights from Tchaikovksy s ballet, Swan Lake and the Noble and Sentimental Waltzes of Ravel. Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct The New York Philharmonic This Week.