Saturday 23 May 2015 West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

Transcription

1 Saturday 23 May 2015 West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge An orchestral adventure Sponsored by Image: dreamstime.com

2 Cambridge Philharmonic Supporters Scheme The Cambridge Philharmonic is a charitable organisation and has to be fully selfsupporting. Our main sources of revenue are ticket sales, membership fees and the generosity of Cambridge Philharmonic Supporters, which include businesses, trusts and individuals who share our vision, and whose support we gratefully acknowledge. For their continuing support we would especially like to thank: Patrons The Cambridge Philharmonic Supporters Scheme (CPSS) is open to all and is intended to give music lovers an opportunity to become more closely involved with the Cambridge Philharmonic and its objectives. We cater for various levels of support and in return offer a range of benefits. These include an advance copy of our season brochure allowing preferential booking, acknowledgement on the Cambridge Philharmonic website and in newsletters, invitations to open rehearsals and the opportunity to sponsor a concert. The funding we receive through the Supporters Scheme is vitally important. It allows us to be more ambitious with our programmes, to engage leading musicians to work alongside our largely nonprofessional membership, and to continue to attract the enviable roster of world-class soloists who perform with us every season. For information on becoming a Cambridge Philharmonic Supporter please write to: friendssec@cam-phil.org.uk For information about concert sponsorship write to: chairman@cam-phil.org.uk Cambridge Philharmonic Society Registered Charity Principal Benefactors John Short and Debbie Lowther The Pye Foundation Benefactors Gillian and Edward Coe Rob and Janet Hook Donors David and Jackie Ball Gerard and Margaret Chadwick Churchill College Trinity College Friends Emmanuel College Pembroke College

3 Cambridge Philharmonic presents Mendelssohn: Hebrides overture Debussy: Prélude à l après-midi d un faune Interval Wagner: The Ring an orchestral adventure (arr. Henk de Vlieger) Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Timothy Redmond Leader: Steve Bingham

4 Ladies and Gentlemen Welcome to tonight s performance of masterworks by Mendelssohn, Debussy and Wagner. This evening we also welcome Ali Khan and Black Swan Video, who will be filming the concert for the Cambridge Philharmonic s archive. Their brilliant DVD of our Berlioz Requiem in Ely Cathedral last season was as epic in scale as the work itself! After that concert, we had many requests from members of the audience wishing to buy a copy of the DVD for themselves. And so, although the recording of tonight s performance will not be on sale to the general public, we would like to invite all of you here with us at West Road to order a souvenir copy. You will find information on a separate leaflet. Henk de Vlieger s ingenious compilation of Wagner s orchestral music from The Ring, has been heard all around the world since it was created in We are delighted to be giving the first performance in Cambridge and we hope you enjoy the orchestral adventure! Timothy Redmond Principal Conductor, Cambridge Philharmonic Hebrides overture Felix Mendelssohn Opus 26 ( ) Mendelssohn first visited Britain in 1829 and, in that first visit, he went to Edinburgh and subsequently visited the island of Staffa to see Fingal s Cave. This was to result in the Hebrides overture. He subsequently returned to Britain nine times. Not only did he compose and perform; he also edited critical editions of Handel oratorios and Bach organ music. On his penultimate visit he conducted the premiere of Elijah which had been commissioned by the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival and on his last visit, in 1847, he conducted his Scottish symphony before Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Scotland played a crucial role in the development of the Romantic sensibility in early nineteenth-century Europe. In Britain we tend to think first of the Lake District as the focus of the search for the picturesque and the sublime, because of its association with the romantic poets, but, on the continent, two Scottish figures were pre-eminent. Sir Walter Scott was especially an influence on opera, with Rossini s La donna del lago

5 and Donizetti s Lucia di Lammermoor being only the most well-known of many, both in Italy and Germany. The other figure was Ossian. Although it became clear that most of his poetry was in fact written by his editor, James Macpherson, this did nothing to dim its powerful influence and the most famous of the Ossian poems was Fingal. Schubert used Ossian s poetry in several of his lieder. It was natural that a romantic composer such as Mendelssohn should want to visit what purported to be a central spot in Fingal s story. The Hebrides overture is an example of a genre whose invention is often credited to Mendelssohn, the concert overture. This is a free-standing, short work, unconnected with any dramatic performance. In his hands it followed a broad sonata shape without the exposition repeat. The famous opening theme paints a picture of swirling waters breaking on the rocks. As the music swells and calms a second subject is introduced in a similar mood though more peaceful. A more agitated section concludes the opening section. The central section opens with brass and wind calls echoing over the opening theme; the music quietens and becomes more serene before the pace quickens to a climax reminiscent of galloping horses. The third section sees a repeat of the opening material but constantly varied, with the second subject again providing a moment of peace before the final climax. John Harding Prélude à l après-midi d un faune First performed in December 1894 in Paris Claude Debussy ( ) Debussy s musical talent was recognised at an early age and he entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was ten and studied there for the next eleven years. During that time Debussy became more and more exploratory and experimental in his composition, causing consternation amongst his ultratraditional teachers. In 1884, to much surprise, Debussy won the Prix de Rome for his cantata L enfant prodigue; the prize being a further two years of funded study at the Villa Medici in Rome. Returning to Paris in 1887, this experience, together with his exposure to influences as diverse as Wagner s operas at Bayreuth and Gamelan music at the Paris Exhibition of 1889, combined in his writing to form a new compositional style evident in Prélude à l après-midi d un faune which Pierre Boulez called the work that saw the beginning of twentieth century music.

6 The Prélude was inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé s symbolist poem, written in Debussy wrote: The music of this prelude is a very free illustration of Mallarmé s beautiful poem. By no means does it claim to be a synthesis of it. Rather there is a succession of scenes through which pass the desires and dreams of the faun in the heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of pursuing the timorous flight of nymphs and naiads, he succumbs to intoxicating sleep, in which he can finally realise his dreams of possession in universal Nature. The opening music, languorously played on solo flute, moving chromatically down and up the devil s interval (a tritone or augmented fourth) and then expanding to cover an octave, but refusing to settle in any particular key, conjures up the sultry heat of a summer s afternoon. This opening material returns seven times in the piece, and Mallarmé s poem was divided into seven sections, but in each reappearance the material is varied. Debussy reacted against the well-established tradition of composition using motifs, determined to create a new kind of melodic evolution, with music [that is] truly freed from motifs, or constructed on only one continuing motif which nothing interrupts, and which never goes back on itself. This piece is a big turning point in music, opening our ears to the traditional system of keys and tonalities being stretched to their limit for the first time, but clearly building on the influence of the harmonies employed by Wagner. Debussy emphasises wind instruments. The flute dominates, along with the clarinet, oboe, and then harp. The orchestration is complicated and throughout the piece Debussy is experimenting and exploring different timbres and textures with frequently muted and divided strings. He uses two different kinds of tremolo bowed tremolo and fingered tremolo as well as the technique of bowing over the fingerboard. The harp plays harmonics and shimmering glissandi and the score includes antique cymbals tuned to a perfect fifth that appear near the end of the piece. Chords are used to create musical colour, a concept which would have a significant influence on future generations of composers. Debussy uses augmented chords with 9th, 11th and 13th notes and 7th chords, as well as non-resolving dominant 7th chords which leave the listener unsettled, waiting for the resolution and concordance to arrive. In many sections of the piece, there is a sense of freedom and rhythmic flexibility. Interval Alison Vinnicombe

7 The Ring an orchestral adventure A symphonic compilation by Henk de Vlieger of music from Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner ( ) Introduction The Ring an orchestral adventure, was commissioned by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert tour of Germany in 1992, and is an arrangement of themes from Wagner s Ring Cycle by Henk de Vlieger, the percussionist in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. The idea was to link the most important excerpts from the operas to form a single, coherent symphonic-style work, and as a result it not only conveys some of the brilliant music of The Ring but also manages to capture the sense of the musical drama. It also follows the chronology of the four operas as the drama developed, and its success in portraying the music has meant that it is now a familiar feature of concert programmes. The composition of The Ring Wagner had decided to embark on what would eventually become The Ring cycle as early as This was a time of revolution in central Europe and of the growth of pan-germanic ideals, and it is likely that Wagner was also influenced by an invitation, published in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, for the composition of a new national opera based on the Nibelungenlied, a 12th century High German poem that had been adopted by nationalists as a German national epic. Wagner began by writing the texts, drawing on both the Nibelungenlied and other Germanic and Norse myths. The first to be written was a libretto about the death of Siegfried, the hero of the Nibelungenlied, in what would eventually become the last of The Ring operas, Götterdämmerung. This was followed by a further text to explain the story of Siegfried s youth, until finally the project developed into four separate narratives beginning with the story of the Rheingold, and ending with the death of Siegfried and the downfall of the Gods. Wagner completed the texts in 1852, and in 1853 began on the music, this time following the chronological order of the story. By 1857 he had completed Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, after which there was a break of some twelve years, during which he wrote both Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger. He then resumed work on the remaining two operas, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. They were completing in 1874, and the full Ring cycle was given its first performance in August 1876 in Bayreuth.

8 The four operas of The Ring As a creation, Der Ring der Nibelungen is a work of huge proportions. The fact that the music is almost entirely made up of leitmotifs, recurring themes linked to the characters, feelings and symbolic objects of the story, also makes for a new kind of opera where the music itself forms part of the drama. The Ring is a saga of greed, ambition, love, betrayal, sacrifice and, in the end, of the triumph of love over power. It revolves around the story of a magic ring, wrought from a mythical hoard of gold taken from the Rhine, which gives its wearer the power to rule the world. The operas trace the story of the ring, of those who seek to own it, and the destruction that their struggle for power brings. The first of the operas, Das Rheingold, tells of how Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, steals the gold from the Rhinemaidens and fashions it into the ring. Wotan, the ruler of the Gods, then forces Alberich to relinquish the gold so he can use it as payment to the Giants, Fasolt and Fafner, for the building of Valhalla. Alberich curses the ring and all who seek to own it, and the curse claims its first victim when Fafner kills Fasolt in order to have the ring for himself. Fafner then changes into the form of a dragon and retires to a cave to guard the hoard and the fateful ring. Die Walküre introduces Siegmund and Sieglinde, the twin children of Wotan. The story begins with Siegmund meeting his long-lost sister, Sieglinde, who is unhappily married to a warrior, Hunding. Siegmund and Sieglinde gradually come to realise that they are brother and sister, and also fall in love. Learning that Siegmund is to fight Hunding, Wotan sends Brünnhilde, his Valkyrie daughter, to help defend him, but is forced to recant by his wife Fricka, the Goddess of Marriage and Fidelity, who denounces the incestuous union of brother and sister. However Brünnhilde defies her father, as a result of which Wotan appears at the fight and shatters Siegmund s sword, Nothung, with his spear. Siegmund is killed and, as punishment for her disobedience, Wotan puts Brünnhilde into a deep sleep, laying her on a rock surrounded by a ring of fire that only a hero will be able to breach. Siegfried is the story of the upbringing and heroism of Siegfried, Siegmund and Sieglinde s son. Siegfried reforges Nothung from the pieces retrieved by Sieglinde, and with it slays the dragon, Fafner. Siegfried then hears a woodbird in the forest who tells him to take the ring, and sings to him of a woman sleeping on a rock surrounded by fire. He sets off in search for Brünnhilde and wakes her, and the opera ends with them singing together of their love.

9 Finally, in Götterdämmerung, Siegfried is himself slain as part of a plot for Alberich to repossess the ring. However, the love between Siegfried and Brünnhilde, and the sacrifice of Brünnhilde as she rides into Siegfried s funeral pyre, finally overcomes the lust for power symbolised by the ring. The Gods are destroyed and the ring is rescued by the Rhinemaidens and returned to the Rhine from whence it came. De Vlieger s orchestral adventure The orchestral adventure is set in a series of sections following the chronology of The Ring operas. These are described in the following notes under the headings of the four operas from which they are taken. Das Rheingold (Rhinegold) I. Prelude II. Rhinegold III. The dwelling of the Nibelungs IV. Valhalla The Prelude quotes the long opening section of Das Rheingold, depicting the swirling waters of the Rhine. Three Rhinemaidens are playing innocently in the water, supposedly guarding the Rhinegold, when Alberich, the Nibelung dwarf, appears. The sun, playing on a rock, lights up the Rhinegold, and in Rhinegold they sing its praises. However Alberich, hearing the story of the Rhinegold, forswears love, seizes the gold, and makes off back to Nibelheim, the home of the Nibelungs. The dwelling of the Nibelungs depicts the descent of Wotan, the ruler of the Gods, and Loge, the God of Fire, as they go to Nibelheim in order to reclaim the gold. The passage starts with a descending scale, the leitmotif of the spear that gives Wotan his authority, followed by the fire music of Loge. As the Gods near Nibelheim the dotted rhythm of the leitmotif of Mime, Alberich s brother, is heard, gradually changing into the hammering of the anvils as Mime and the other Nibelungs, enslaved by Alberich, fashion the gold. The majestic final extract, Valhalla, is taken from the closing scene of the opera as the Gods make their way into Valhalla over a rainbow bridge created by Froh, the God of Spring. Loge warns of their forthcoming destruction while, far below, the Rhinemaidens mourn the loss of the gold.

10 Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) V. The Valkyries VI. The magic fire music The Valkyries, the first of the two musical extracts, comes from Act III of Die Walküre. The Valkyries, daughters of Wotan, are charged with taking fallen heroes to Valhalla to form an army against Alberich, and the familiar Valkyrie music accompanies them as they gather for their journey. In the opera Brünnhilde is attempting to take Sieglinde, who is pregnant with Siegfried, to Valhalla after the death of Siegmund. However her Valkyrie sisters refuse, and Sieglinde flees. The magic fire music comes from the end of the opera, where Wotan sends Brünnhilde into a deep sleep and lays her on a rock, surrounded by a ring of flame. The fire music of Loge, the God of Fire, first heard in Das Rheingold, depicts the flames they spread round the rock. Siegfried (Siegfried) VII. Forest murmurs VIII. Siegfried s heroic deed IX. Brünnhilde s awakening X. Siegfried and Brünnhilde The famous Forest murmurs passage is an interlude in the opera when Siegfried is on his way to slay Fafner. He stretches out under a lime tree, lost in thought, listening to the song of a woodbird. He cannot yet understand its meaning, but later it will tell him to take the ring and to seek out Brünnhilde. At the end of the Forest murmurs passage Siegfried plays his horn as the music moves into Siegfried s heroic deed. The horn call lures Fafner out of his lair and after a brief exchange he is killed by Siegfried. As the scene unfolds we hear various leitmotifs, including those of Alberich, Fafner, the Rheingold and the familiar fire music of Loge, foretelling Siegfried s encounter with Brünnhilde. On tasting the dragon s blood, Siegfried discovers that he now understands the woodbird s song. It tells of a woman lying on a rock surrounded by fire, and he sets off to find her. In Brünnhilde s awakening he discovers Brünnhilde, enters the circle of fire and kisses her. She awakens, is won over by Siegfried and renounces the world of the Gods and, in the ecstatic Siegfried and Brünnhilde, they sing together of light-bringing love.

11 Götterdämmerung (The twilight of the Gods) XI. Siegfried s Rhine journey XII. Siegfried s death XIII. Funeral music XIV. Brünnhilde s sacrifice The scene shifts back to the banks of the Rhine. Siegfried s Rhine journey depicts Siegfried s travels, and is a peaceful orchestral passage reprising various leitmotifs including those of Rhine and of Rhinegold, though near the end the theme of the curse of the ring reappears, foreshadowing Siegfried s own death. In the opera the action begins in the hall of the Gibichungs where Gunther and his chief minister and half-brother Hagen are hatching a plan to kill Siegfried and regain the ring. The plan is put into effect when Siegfried is given a potion that makes him forget Brünnhilde, and instead fall in love with Gunter s sister, Gutrune. Disguised as Gunter, Siegfried then claims Brünnhilde as his wife while secretly taking Gutrune for himself, in the process snatching back the ring which he had given Brünnhilde as a token of his love. When Brünnhilde later realises what has happened she agrees to facilitate Siegfried s death, and he is duly killed by Hagen. There follows the famous funeral march, Siegfried s death, in which the hero is mourned. The truth of what has happened has become all too clear, and Brünnhilde orders a funeral pyre for Siegfried to be built on the banks of the Rhine. In the final scene, Brünnhilde s sacrifice, Brünnhilde lights the funeral pyre, and then rides into it herself. As the fire rages, the hall of the Gibichungs collapses, the Rhine overflows and the Rhinemaidens recover the ring, while in the distance Valhalla can be seen being consumed in the flames. Chris Fisher

12 Timothy Redmond: Conductor Timothy Redmond conducts and presents concerts throughout Europe and has been principal conductor of the Cambridge Philharmonic since He is a regular guest conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, both in the recording studio and the concert hall, and conducts many of the UK s leading orchestras. He has given concerts with the Philharmonia, Hallé and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, with the BBC Concert, Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras, and with the Northern Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He has longstanding association with the Manchester Camerata, conducts concerts every season with the London Symphony Orchestra and broadcasts regularly on international TV and radio. Timothy Redmond is well-known as a conductor of contemporary music. Since working closely with Thomas Adès on the premiere of The Tempest at Covent Garden, he has conducted critically-acclaimed productions of Powder Her Face for the Royal Opera House and St Petersburg s Mariinsky Theatre. In the opera house he has also conducted productions for Opera Theatre of St Louis, English National Opera, Opera North, English Touring Opera and Almeida Opera, for the Aldeburgh, Bregenz, Buxton, Los Angeles, Tenerife and Wexford festivals and for New York s American Lyric Theater. As a member of music staff he also spent several seasons conducting at De Vlaamse Opera, Montepulciano, Strasbourg, Garsington and Glyndebourne. His recordings include Dreams with the French cellist Ophélie Gaillard and the RPO (Harmonia Mundi), discs with Natasha Marsh and Mara Carlyle for EMI, and CDs with the Northern Sinfonia and Philharmonia. Recent highlights have included a concert of jazz-inspired works to conclude the LSO s 2012 Stravinsky Festival, a series of concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York premiere of The Tempest, for which he assisted Thomas Adès at the Metropolitan Opera. Last season he toured in China with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, made his debut with the Rotterdam and London Philharmonic Orchestras and gave concerts in Macedonia, Germany and Finland. He also conducted the LSO in their annual BMW Open Air Classics concert to 10,000 people in Trafalgar Square and premiered a new production of Powder Her Face for ENO. This season sees the release of a new disc with Alison Balsom and Guy Barker for Warner Classics, his Hungarian debut with Concerto Budapest and regular concerts

13 in the UK with the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras. Timothy Redmond read music at Manchester University and studied oboe and conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music where he held the position of Junior Fellow. He furthered his studies at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, in masterclasses with Ilya Musin, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Pierre Boulez and as an assistant to Valery Gergiev, Elgar Howarth and Sir Colin Davis. He was recently appointed Professor of Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Steve Bingham: Leader Steve Bingham studied violin with Emmanuel Hurwitz, Sidney Griller and the Amadeus Quartet at the Royal Academy of Music from 1981 to 1985, where he won prizes for orchestral leading and string quartet playing. In 1985 he formed the Bingham String Quartet, an ensemble which has become one of the foremost in the UK, with an enviable reputation for both classical and contemporary repertoire. The Quartet has recorded numerous CDs and has worked for radio and television both in the UK and as far afield as Australia. The group has toured in Europe, the Middle East and Australia and has worked with distinguished musicians such as Jack Brymer, Raphael Wallfisch, Michael Collins and David Campbell. The Quartet s educational activities have included residencies at London s South Bank Centre, for several UK festivals and at Radley College. The Quartet is also known for its many performances of new works by some of the best young composers in Britain. Steve has appeared as guest leader with many orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English National Ballet and English Sinfonia. He has given solo recitals both in the UK and America and his concerto performances include works by Bach, Vivaldi, Bruch, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Sibelius, given in venues as prestigious as St John s Smith Square and the Royal Albert Hall. Steve is internationally renowned for his solo violin recitals, where he mixes acoustic pieces with live-looped electric violin arrangements in his own unique way. Steve has released four solo albums, Duplicity, Ascension, Third and The Persistence of Vision, alongside many single tracks, and is currently planning two new releases for stevebingham.co.uk

14 Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra 1st Violins Steve Bingham (leader) Kate Clow (co leader) Sophie Channon Paul Anderson Laura Smith Meriel Rhodes Rupert Swarbrick Viola Augstein Debbie Saunders Lucy Andrews Sarah Ridley Anne McAleer Hilary Crooks Sean Rock Edna Murphy 2nd Violins Naomi Hilton Emma Lawrence Adele Fryers Emily Moss Joanna Baxter John Richards Chui Yip Jenny Barna Fiona Cunningham Rebecca Forster Pat Welch Eleanor Winpenny Maydo Kay Ariane Stoop Jo Cumberbatch Violas Ruth Donnelly Gavin Alexander Jo Holland Alun Williams Anne-Cecile Dingwall Robyn Sorenson Janet O Boyle Emma McCaughan Evan Turner Cellos Vivian Williams Lucy Mitchell Lucy O Brien Catherine Alexander-Kiff Angela Bennett Helen Davies Clare Gilmour Hanna Granroth-Wilding Helen Hills Melissa Fu Sarah Bendall Double Bass Sarah Sharrock Tony Scholl Stephen Beaumont Susan Sparrow John Richens Mike Shields Elaine Taylor Flute Adrienne Kelly-Jackson Alison Townend Samantha Martin Cynthia Lalli Piccolo Samantha Martin Cynthia Lalli Oboe Judy Proctor Thomas Gillam Rachael Dunlop Cor Anglais Camilla Haggett Clarinet Graham Dolby David Hayton Berdel Efe Gulsen Bassoon Neil Greenham Jenny Warburton Phil Evans Horn Carole Lewis Helen Black George Thackray Chris Wykes Paul Ryder Jess Goff Catie Igoe Ed Griffiths Tony Hawkins Wagner tubas Paul Ryder Jess Goff Catie Igoe Ed Griffiths Trumpet Andy Powlson Naomi Wrycroft Sergio Moreira Bass trumpet Kris Garfitt Trombone Nick Byers Denise Hayles Bass trombone Alan Dimond Contra bass trombone Barnaby Medland Tuba George Ellis Timpani Dave Ellis Derek Scurll Percussion Oli Butterworth James Crook Ben Burton Harp Lizzy Scorah Anneke Hodnett

15 Saturday 11 July 2015 at 7.30pm Ely Cathedral Elgar s The Dream of Gerontius Timothy Redmond Conductor Yvonne Howard Mezzo soprano Daniel Norman Tenor Nicholas Garrett Bass baritone Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus Tickets (reserved): 15, 20, 25 / (unreserved): 10 (Students & under-18s 10 on the door) Box Office: (Ely Cathedral) Online: tickets.elycathedral.org Image Bill Hiskett

16 Cambridge Philharmonic Forthcoming concerts Saturday 11 July 2015 Ely Cathedral ELGAR: The Dream of Gerontius For further information visit: To leave feedback about our concerts and events To receive news of forthcoming concerts send a blank to: news-subscribe@cam-phil.org.uk Find us on Facebook: Follow us on