SEASON FINALE FANTASTIQUE with BERNSTEIN

Transcription

1 2017/18 SEASON CLASSICAL SERIES SEASON FINALE FANTASTIQUE with BERNSTEIN Friday and Saturday, June 22-23, 2018 at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 2 p.m. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts MICHAEL STERN, conductor RAN DANK, piano BERNSTEIN The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No. 2) for Piano and Orchestra Part I a) The Prologue b) The Seven Ages: Variations 1-7 c) The Seven Stages: Variations 8-14 Part II a) The Dirge b) The Masque c) The Epilogue RAN DANK, piano INTERMISSION BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique, op. 14 I. Reveries Passions: Largo Allegro agitato e appassionato assai II. A Ball: Waltz Allegro non troppo III. Scene in the Country: Adagio IV. March to the Scaffold: Allegretto non troppo V. Dream of the Witches Sabbath: Larghetto Allegro The 2017/18 season is generously sponsored by SHIRLEY and BARNETT C. HELZBERG, JR. The Classical Series is sponsored by Concert Weekend sponsored by CHARLES and GINNY CLARK Friday s concert sponsored by PAUL and BUNNI COPAKEN Guest Artist Ran Dank sponsored by DR. EDWARD and KIMBROUGH HIGGINS Special underwriting for A Century of Bernstein provided by Additional support provided by R. Crosby Kemper, Jr. Fund KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY 47

2 Bernstein based this work upon W.H. Auden s 1947 book-length poem. The protagonists attempt to come to grips with a world ravaged by war and creeping materialism. The solo piano is a manifestation of Bernstein s extremely personal identification of myself with the poem. LEONARD BERNSTEIN ( ) The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No. 2) for Piano and Orchestra (1949) 35 minutes Solo piano, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, tenor drum, tam-tam, drum set, cymbals, temple blocks, triangle, glockenspiel, suspended cymbals, tubular bells, xylophone, celesta, two harps, piano and strings. W.H. Auden s book-length poem, The Age of Anxiety, first published in 1947, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry the following year. Bernstein regarded the literary work as one of the most shattering examples of pure virtuosity in the history of English poetry. Bernstein first read Auden s poem in the summer of In program notes for his symphony s premiere, Bernstein confessed, From that moment, the composition of a symphony based on The Age of Anxiety acquired an almost compulsive quality. Bernstein worked on the score over the following several months, completing the symphony on March 20, The premiere took place at Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 8, Bernstein was the piano soloist with Serge Koussevitsky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Set in New York City during World War II, The Age of Anxiety concerns the meeting and interaction of four people in a bar on Third Avenue. The four principals (Quant, Malin, Rosetta and Emble) attempt to come to grips with a war-torn and increasingly materialistic world. Auden s narrative is set for the most part in alliterative tetrameter /18 Season kcsymphony.org

3 The score is in two parts. Each part has three subsections, played without pause, which track the progression of Auden s original poem. The solo piano represents Bernstein s extremely personal identification of myself with (Auden s) poem. Part I a) The Prologue The four principals meet late at night in a Third Avenue bar. There, according to Bernstein, they attempt, through drink, to detach themselves from their conflicts, or, at best, to resolve them. The brief Prologue features an improvisation by two clarinets, resolving to a descending scale, which acts as a bridge into the realm of the unconscious, where most of the poem takes place. b) The Seven Ages: Variations 1-7 The protagonists offer their takes on the progression of one s life. Bernstein portrays this exchange with a series of variations. However, the variations are not based upon a single central theme. Rather, each succeeding variation incorporates and develops some characteristic of its immediate predecessor. c) The Seven Stages: Variations 8-14 The quartet embarks upon a dream-odyssey, in which they go on an inner and highly symbolic journey. The variations gather energy and momentum, leading to a hectic, though indecisive, close. Part II a) The Dirge The principals take a cab to Rosetta s apartment for a nightcap. Along the way, they mourn the loss of the colossal Dad, the great leader who can always give the right orders, find the right solution. b) The Masque The group arrives at Rosetta s apartment, weary, guilty, determined to have a party, each one afraid of spoiling the others fun by admitting that he should be home in bed. Bernstein scores this jazzy episode for piano solo and percussion. An upright piano reprises

4 The Masque, repetitiously and with waning energy, leading to the Epilogue. c) The Epilogue Bernstein observes, What is left, it turns out, is faith. A trumpet intones a statement of something pure. The Epilogue journeys to a positive statement of the newly recognized faith. RECOMMENDED RECORDING Bernstein: The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No. 2) for Piano and Orchestra Lukas Foss, piano New York Philharmonic / Leonard Bernstein, conductor Label: Sony Catalog # In this masterpiece, a musician experiences a series of drug-induced dreams, culminating in his execution and a frenetic Witches Sabbath. the work stunned the Paris audience. HECTOR BERLIOZ ( ) Symphonie fantastique, op. 14 (1830) 49 minutes Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, timpani (2 players), 2 bass drums, cymbals, suspended cymbals, snare drum, low bells (offstage), 2 harps and strings. Berlioz composed the path-breaking Symphonie fantastique as a musical expression of his infatuation with the beautiful Irish actress, Harriet Smithson. The premiere took place at the Paris Conservatoire on December 5, 1830, with François-Antoine Habeneck conducting the Orchestra of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. The drama, innovation and sheer audacity of /18 Season kcsymphony.org

5 A gifted and prolific writer, Berlioz provided the following about his Symphonie fantastique. A young musician of morbidly sensitive temperament and lively imagination poisons himself with opium in an attack of lovesick despair. The dose of the narcotic, too weak to kill him, plunges him into a deep slumber accompanied by the strangest visions, during which his feelings, his emotions, his memories are transformed in his sick mind into musical images. The Beloved herself becomes for him a melody, a cyclical theme (idée fixe) that he encounters and hears everywhere. [The flute and first violins introduce the idée fixe (fixed idea) approximately five minutes into the opening movement.] I. Reveries Passions: At first he recalls that sickness of the soul, those intimations of passion, the apparently groundless depression and intoxication he experienced before he met the woman he adores; then the volcanic love that she inspired in him, his delirious anguish, his furious jealousy, his return to tenderness and his religious consolation. II. A Ball: He meets his beloved again in the midst of the tumult of a glittering fête. III. Scene in the Country: On a summer evening in the country, he hears two shepherds piping back and forth a ranz des vaches [the traditional melody of Swiss shepherds summoning their flocks]; this pastoral duet, the peaceful landscape, the rustling of the trees gently rocked by the wind, some prospects of hope he recently found all combine to soothe his heart with unusual tranquility and brighten his thoughts. But she reappears, he feels his heart tighten, he is smitten with sad foreboding: what if she were to prove false? One of the shepherds resumes his simple tune; the other no longer responds. The sun sets distant roll of thunder solitude silence. IV. March to the Scaffold: He dreams he has murdered his Beloved, has been condemned to death and is being led to the scaffold. The procession advances to the sound of a march that is now somber KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY 51

6 and agitated, now brilliant and solemn, in which the muffled sound of heavy steps is suddenly juxtaposed with the noisiest clamor. At the end, the idée fixe returns for a moment like a final thought of love, suddenly interrupted by the death blow. V. Dream of the Witches Sabbath: He imagines himself at a Witches Sabbath, among a hideous throng of ghouls, sorcerers and monsters of every kind assembled for his funeral. Ominous sounds, groans, bursts of laughter, distant cries that other cries seem to answer. The Beloved s melody reappears, but it has lost its noble and timid character; it has become a vulgar dance tune, unworthy, trite and grotesque: there she is, coming to join the Sabbath A roar of joy greets her arrival She takes part in the infernal orgy The funeral knell, a burlesque parody of the Dies irae the witches round the dance and the Dies irae are heard together. RECOMMENDED RECORDING Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Concertgebouw Orchestra / Colin Davis, conductor Label: Philips Catalog # TUNE IN TO THE SYMPHONY The Kansas City Symphony offers podcasts for each of our Classical Series concerts. Hear concert previews, composer backgrounds and much more. Tune in by visiting kcsymphony.org, listening on SoundCloud or downloading our app for tablets and smartphones /18 Season kcsymphony.org

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8 About RAN DANK, piano TECHNICALLY DAZZLING AND INTELLECTUALLY probing artistry exemplify Ran Dank s pianism and musicality. In the 2017/18 season, Dank performed Saint- Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Eckart Preu, Bartók s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Ken Lam, Liszt s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Portland Symphony and Ken-David Masur, and Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Spokane Symphony and Morihiko Nakamura, finishing with Bernstein s The Age of Anxiety with the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern for their season finale. He performs recitals in a return to Pro Musica San Miguel de Allende and chamber music with the Amernet Quartet at Maverick Concerts, and he has duo appearances with pianist Soyeon Kate Lee for the Hilton Head Symphony and the Cleveland Piano Competition. During the 2016/17 season, Dank appeared in recital at the Ravinia Festival and performed Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Vermont Symphony led by Jaime Laredo and Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Toledo Symphony led by Marcelo Lehninger. He performed duo recitals with Soyeon Kate Lee at the Smithsonian Institute, Cincinnati s Linton Music and Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. Dank and Lee also performed the world premiere of Alexander Goehr s Seven Impromptus for two pianos at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Dank has performed duo recitals in settings including Portland Ovations, the Jewish Community Center of Rockville, Bargemusic, Ames Town and Gown Association in Iowa, the Hawaii Concert Association, and the world premiere of Frederic Rzewski s Four Hands at Le Poisson Rouge. The recipient of numerous honors, Dank won a coveted place on the Young Concert Artists roster in He was a laureate of the Cleveland International Competition, the Naumburg Piano Competition and the Sydney International Piano Competition, and he was first prize winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY FUN FACT NUMBER of CHILDREN WHO PARTICIPATE IN SYMPHONY EDUCATION PROGRAMS ANNUALLY 40, /18 Season kcsymphony.org