CONCERT PROGRAMME ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL SEASON

Transcription

1 CONCERT PROGRAMME ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL SEASON

2 MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) gave its inaugural performance at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) on 17 August With the initial search for outstanding musicians involving a worldwide audition tour, the result was a symphony orchestra made up of musicians from 25 nations, including 6 from Malaysia, a remarkable example of harmony among different cultures and nationalities. A host of internationally-acclaimed musicians has performed with the MPO including Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Yehudi Menuhin, Joshua Bell, Harry Connick Jr., José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chris Botti and Branford Marsalis, many of whom have praised the MPO for its fine musical qualities and vitality. With each new season, the MPO continues to present an exciting programme of orchestral music drawn from over three centuries, as well as the crowd-pleasing concert series. Its versatility transcends genres, from classical masterpieces to film music, pop, jazz, traditional, contemporary and commissioned works. The MPO regularly performs at major cities of Malaysia. Internationally, it has showcased its virtuosity to audiences in Singapore (1999, 2001 and 2005), Japan (2001, 2009 and 2017), Korea (2001), Australia (2004), China (2006), Taiwan (2007) and Vietnam (2013). Its Education and Outreach Programme, ENCOUNTER, reaches beyond the concert platform to develop musical awareness and appreciation through dedicated activities at such diverse venues as schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages and other community centres. The MPO s commitment to furthering musical interest in the nation has been the creation of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO); its inaugural concert at DFP on 25 August 2007 was followed by a tour in Peninsular Malaysia. It has performed in Sabah and Sarawak (2008), Singapore (2009 and 2017), Brisbane, Australia (2012), Kedah (2013) and Johor Baru (2014). The MPO has also released 21 commercial CDs. Fri 17 Aug 2018 at 8.30 pm Sat 18 Aug 2018 at 8.30 pm (Gala Concert) Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Jac van Steen, conductor Tengku Irfan, conductor/piano SMETANA DVOŘÁK TCHAIKOVSKY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV PROGRAMME Bartered Bride Overture 7 mins Carnival Overture 9 mins (to be conducted by Tengku Irfan) Piano Concerto No mins INTERVAL 20 mins Scheherazade 47 mins As it celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2018, the MPO remains steadfast in its mission to share the depth, power and beauty of great music. The MPO s main benefactor is PETRONAS and its patron is YABhg. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali. All details are correct at time of printing. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS reserves the right to vary without notice the artists and/or repertoire as necessary. Copyright 2018 by Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (Co. No X). All rights reserved. No part of this programme may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owners.

3 JAC VAN STEEN conductor Jac van Steen was born in The Netherlands and studied orchestra and choir conducting at the Brabants Conservatory of Music. Since participating in the BBC Conductors Seminar in 1985, he enjoys a very busy career and conducts the best orchestras in Europe, which included the posts of Music Director and Chief Conductor of the National Ballet of The Netherlands, the orchestras of Bochum, Nürenberg, Staatskapelle Weimar, The Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra of Dortmund, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Guest conductor at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. At present, he is Guest conductor of the Ulster Orchestra and Prague Symphony Orchestra. He made his debut with Opera North in 2013 as well as with the Volksoper in Vienna. In 2015, he has made a very succesful début at the Garsington Opera. He returned to Opera North with performances of Puccini s Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, the Volksoper Vienna with Korngold s Das Wunder der Heliane and Garsington Opera in 2017 with Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande. He visits the UK regularly with the Britisorchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, the CBSO, Royal Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra and made his debut in Tokyo with the New Japan Philharmonic. He participates in numerous recordings for the BBC, as well as 'live' broadcasts of his concerts. There are a substantial number of CD recordings of his work with various orchestras. Besides his activities as conductor, he is dedicated to teaching and is Professor for Conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. He also regularly works with the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham s School of Music (Manchester) as well as the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music (London). In May to June this year, he leads the Jette Park Young Artists showcase as organised by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London. (C) Simon van Boxtel TENGKU IRFAN MPO Youth Brand Ambassador conductor/piano Praised by the New York Times as eminently cultured and possessing sheer incisiveness and power, Tengku Irfan, 20, began piano lessons at 7 and made his debut at 11, performing Beethoven s Piano Concerto WoO4 and improvising his own cadenzas with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) in He has performed under Neeme Järvi, Robert Spano, George Stelluto, Nikolai Alexeev and Jeffrey Milarsky, among others. Previous performances include at the Montreal la Virée classique Festival (invitation from Kent Nagano), with AXIOM, Aspen Chamber Symphony, the Juilliard, Singapore Symphony, São Paulo State Youth, Estonian National Symphony, Peoria Symphony and Aspen Philharmonic orchestras, among others. He won the Aspen Music Festival 2013 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 Competition, followed by performances of this concerto worldwide. He served his fourth consecutive year as resident pianist for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble in After winning the 2012 ASCAP Charlotte Bergen and ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, his composition Sahibul Hikayat Fantasy Overture (world premiered by the MPO) won his second Morton Gould Award in His orchestral piece, Keraian, was commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic. His work has been commissioned by Harold Rosenbaum and the New York Virtuoso Singers, Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO) and Singapore Symphony Orchestras. Kristjan Järvi and MDR Sinfonieorchester commissioned Vivacity which was world premiered at the Leipzig Gewandhaus for the Leipzig Bachfest It won his third ASCAP Morton Gould Award in In 2015, he made his conducting debut with the MusicaNova Orchestra with the premiere of his string orchestral piece Nocturne. He conducted the premiere of his Pengembaraan Minda dan Kenyataan at Lincoln Center, New York. He made his conducting debut at DFP and the Esplanade Singapore with the MPYO in In conjunction with the MPO s 20th Season Anniversary, Irfan was appointed as the MPO Youth Brand Ambassador to cultivate appreciation in classical music among the new generation and inspire young musicians. Irfan is a double major in piano and composition under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Robert Beaser respectively at Juilliard, and studies conducting with George Stelluto and Jeffrey Milarsky. He studied composition with Ira Taxin in Juilliard Pre-College. Irfan served as a Teaching Artist Intern in the New York Philharmonic Composer s Bridge Program, and is a recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at Juilliard.

4 PROGRAMME NOTES 17 August marks a singular day in the history of the MPO. Exactly twenty years ago, 17 August 1998, the orchestra gave its first concert at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS. It was a memorable event, one being commemorated tonight in a special programme of music infused with exceptional verve and brilliance. Soloist in what may be the world s most popular piano concerto is Malaysia s own Wunderkind, Tengku Irfan, who was also born 20 years ago. Two Czechs and two Russians are the composers on tonight s programme. The Czechs are represented by an overture each a generous way to open a concert, to be sure. The Russians are represented by concerted works Tchaikovsky by piano, Rimsky-Korsakov by violin (serving as the voice of the lovely, mysterious Scheherazade). As it happens, all four composers were born within a 20-year time span ( ). So, here s cheers to twenty years! wikipedia.org BEDŘICH SMETANA ( ) Overture to The Bartered Bride (1866) The Bartered Bride is generally regarded as one of the half dozen or so best comic operas in the repertory. Strong musical characterizations, exuberant dances, earthy evocations of rural life in nineteenthcentury Bohemia, humour, melodic invention, brilliant orchestration this opera has it all. Not only that; it serves as a symbol of the Czech nation and its people, while its composer has been hailed as one of the chief builders of modern Czech civilization, one of the chief creators of Czech history (Vladimir Helfert). Walter Ducloux s description of the merry overture sets the tone for an evening of pure delight: An offbeat leap upward, a precarious teetering as if of a boy on a swaying tightrope, a riotous tumble earthward, amid the high-spirited crowd of Bohemian peasants. It is the day of the spring fair, when the circus is coming to town. A lusty fugue describes the joyous hubbub, absorbing one group after another in happy anticipation. Some moments of respite from the merry turmoil lead to a spell of tender lyricism, like a camera zooming in on two young lovers among a carefree crowd. Soon the lively noise resumes to close the overture brilliantly. ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK ( ) Carnival Overture, Op.92 (1891) The whirl and frenetic bustle of Carnival season (most of February) and the spirit of revelry associated with amusement shows have been depicted on numerous occasions in music. The best-known expressions of the carnival spirit in orchestral terms are probably Berlioz s Roman Carnival Overture and Tchaikovsky s Capriccio italien, with Dvořák s overture not far behind. Dvořák conceived his work on this subject as the central part of a triptych of overtures portraying feelings aroused wikipedia.org in him by three great creative forces of the universe - Nature, Life and Love. The sounds of merrymaking, laughter and revelry (or, if you will, the hurly-burly of life) are instantly conjured up in the arresting opening bars. When the bustle and noise subside, the violins then sing a passionate, lyrical theme in E minor, followed by still another idea presented first by violins, then by woodwinds. Suddenly the mood is shattered by the upward sweepings of an instrument hitherto unheard, the harp, which leads into the central slow section. The melodic material of the Allegro section is then developed, followed by a return to the whirl of gaiety with which the overture opened. Dvořák himself was apparently carried away by the exuberance of the coda, which several times seems to be on the verge of ending, only to rush on with even more wild abandon. PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY ( ) Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op.23 (1874) I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso - Allegro con spirito II. Andante semplice - Prestissimo - Andante semplice III. Allegro con fuoco On Christmas Eve 1874, Tchaikovsky sat before his friend, the conductor and pianist Nicolai Rubinstein, at the Moscow Conservatory to play for him the piano concerto he had almost completed. I played the first movement. Not a single remark! Then a torrent poured forth from wikimedia.org Nicolai, gentle at first, then growing more and more into the sound of Jupiter my concerto was worthless and unplayable. Tchaikovsky s description goes on at great length. Obviously, he was insulted and deeply hurt, but resolved to publish the concerto anyway. As a result of the bad feelings between Rubinstein and the composer, the dedication was changed to Hans von Bülow,

5 who performed it on a tour of the United States. The world premiere, on 25 October 1875, took place then, not in Russia but in Boston. It was a great popular success, and this work went on to become the world s most popular piano concerto. Even Rubinstein changed his mind in later years and performed the concerto often. Another curious fact about this work: its most famous theme, that beautiful, lyrical song played by the violins just after the opening horn fanfare, is used as introductory material only, and never returns. Furthermore, this theme occurs in the key of D flat major, not in the key of the concerto, B flat minor. NICOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV ( ) Scheherazade, Op.35 (1888) Wondrous to hear were Scheherazade s marvelous tales of intrigue and adventure set in exotic lands. Rimsky-Korsakov, with his masterful ability to exploit dazzling orchestral colours and sonorities, was just the composer to set these tales to music. Scheherazade, his four-movement narrative of scenes from the Arabian Nights, was written during the summer of It was first performed in St. Petersburg on 22 October 1888 with the composer conducting. A lengthy description of each movement would serve little purpose; the individual imagination must be free to roam. Nevertheless, one cannot miss the recurring voice of the lovely, seductive, mysterious Scheherazade, represented by a sinuous theme played by the solo violin, just one of the many tantalizing touches of orchestration found in the splendidly tinted score. I. The Sea and Sinbad s Ship (Largo e maestoso - Allegro non troppo) II. The Story of the Kalander Prince (Lento - Andantino - Allegro molto - Vivace scherzando) III. The Young Prince and the Princess (Andantino quasi allegretto) IV. Festival at Baghdad; The Sea; The Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock Surmounted by a Bronze Warrior; Conclusion (Allegro molto - Vivo - Allegro non troppo e maestoso - Tempo come I) The two hundred or so dramatically linked stories that constitute the Thousand and One Nights (or Arabian Nights) originated in Eastern lands centuries ago. The stories were handed down over the years and embroidered by each storyteller in his or her own fashion. A raconteuse named Scheherazade provided a convenient framework on which to drape a rich and colourful tapestry of these stories, folk tales, poems and dramatic narratives. In the form she related them, we are indebted to the misogynistic Persian king Shahriar. Having been outraged by his faithless wife, Shahriar resolved to avenge himself on the entire female population wikimedia.org of his city. Each night he would marry a beautiful young woman, only to kill her the following day. After some time, a girl of exceptional charm, wit and intelligence came forward with a plan to end this reign of terror. She offered herself to the King as his next bride, and the King gladly accepted, though he warned her that she would die on the following day. When bedtime approached, the girl began to relate an enthralling story to the King, but broke off just at the most exciting part, with a promise to continue the next day. The King postponed her execution so as to hear the outcome of this story, but the girl repeated her tactic the following night, and the night after that to a total of a thousand nights. By this time, she had borne him a son, the King had come to love her, and he finally renounced his categorical hatred of women. The Queen had in the meantime won the love and gratitude of the people as well, and they named her Scheherazade, which means Savior of the City. The Story of the Kalandar Prince The Sea and Sindbad s Ship The Young Prince and the Young Princess all photo credits: glorialana.com

6 DEWAN FILHARMONIK PETRONAS MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CORPORATE SUITE PREMIUM MEMBERS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Firoz Khan Mohd Yunus BUSINESS & MARKETING MANAGEMENT Yazmin Lim Abdullah RESIDENT CONDUCTOR Naohisa Furusawa FIRST VIOLIN Co-Concertmaster Peter Daniš Ming Goh Co- Zhenzhen Liang Maho Daniš Martijn Noomen Sherwin Thia Runa Baagöe Miroslav Daniš Evgeny Kaplan Marcel Andriesii Tan Ka Ming Petia Atanasova *Seiki Ueno *Mariya Medvedeva *Tobias Gossmann *Marco Roosink SECOND VIOLIN Section Timothy Peters Assistant Luisa Hyams Stefan Kocsis Anastasia Kiseleva Catalina Alvarez Ionuț Mazareanu Chia-Nan Hung Yanbo Zhao Ling Yunzhi Robert Kopelman *Babette van den Berg *Tan Poh Kim *Runa Matsuura *Marius Biclea *Yu Tao-Ming VIOLA Co- Gábor Mokány Ong Lin Kern Sun Yuan Fan Ran Thian Ai Wen Emil Csonka *Nozomi Oe *Rebecca Saxby *Ida Margit Kovács *Jebat Arjuna Kee Jia Liang *Carol Pendlebury *Ling Li Yen CELLO Co- Csaba Körös Assistant Steven Retallick Sub- Mátyás Major Gerald Davis Laurențiu Gherman Julie Dessureault Elizabeth Tan Suyin Sejla Simon *Timothy Frank *Erika Kadi DOUBLE BASS Section Wolfgang Steike John Kennedy Jun-Hee Chae Naohisa Furusawa Raffael Bietenhader Andreas Dehner *Heinz-Peter Graf *Douglas Rutherford FLUTE Section *Catherine Gregory Co- Yukako Yamamoto Sub- Rachel Jenkyns PICCOLO Sonia Croucher Note: Sectional string players are rotated within their sections. *Extra musician. OBOE Section Simon Emes Sub-s Niels Dittmann *Tania Ramos Morado *Bernice Lee Wen Ting CLARINET Section Gonzalo Esteban Co- David Dias da Silva Sub- Matthew Larsen BASS CLARINET Chris Bosco BASSOON Section Alexandar Lenkov Sub- Denis Plangger CONTRABASSOON Vladimir Stoyanov HORN Section s Grzegorz Curyla *Albert Galka Co- James Schumacher Sub-s Laurence Davies Barkin Sönmezer Assistant Sim Chee Ghee TRUMPET Co- William Theis Sub- Jeffrey Missal Assistant s Matthew Dempsey *Kenny Ooi Chia Fu TROMBONE *Dimo Pishtyalov Co- Fernando Borja BASS TROMBONE *Aldwyn Tan Chor Guan TUBA *Jose M Redondo TIMPANI Section Matthew Thomas PERCUSSION Section Matthew Prendergast Sub-s Joshua Vonderheide *Kyle Ritenauer *Tan Su Yin *Matthew Kantorski HARP Tan Keng Hong CORPORATE SUITE CLUB MEMBERS PARTNER HOTELS F&B PARTNER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Wan Yuzaini Wan Yahya At Ziafrizani Chek Pa Nurartikah Ilyas Kartini Ratna Sari Ahmat Adam Aishah Sarah Ismail Affendee MARKETING Munshi Ariff Abu Hassan Hisham Abdul Jalil Farah Diyana Ismail Noor Sarul Intan Salim Muhammad Shahrir Aizat Ahmad Kusolehin Adha Kamaruddin CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT Yayuk Yulianawati Rila Jalwati Mohd Noor MUSIC TALENT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT Soraya Mansor PLANNING, FINANCE & IT Mohd Hakimi Mohd Rosli Norhisham Abd Rahman Siti Nur Ilyani Ahmad Fadzillah Nurfharah Farhana Hashimi PROCUREMENT & CONTRACT Logiswary Raman Norhaszilawati Zainudin HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION Sharhida Saad Mas Arinah Hamzah Muknoazlida Mukhadzim Nor Afidah Nordin Nik Nurul Nadia Nik Abdullah TECHNICAL OPERATIONS Firoz Khan Mohd Yunus Mohd Zamir Mohd Isa Shahrul Rizal Mohd Ali Dayan Erwan Maharal Zolkarnain Sarman MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Firoz Khan Mohd Yunus GENERAL MANAGER Khor Chin Yang Soraya Mansor GENERAL MANAGER'S OFFICE Timmy Ong ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION/ ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT/ MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA Ahmad Muriz Che Rose Sharon Francis Lihan Fadilah Kamal Francis Shireen Jasin Mokhtar Katherine Tan Jia Yiing MUSIC LIBRARY Ong Li-Huey Wong Seong Seong Muhamad Zaid Azzim Mohd Diah EDUCATION & OUTREACH Shireen Jasin Mokhtar Shafrin Sabri DEWAN FILHARMONIK PETRONAS X MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA H

7 Box Office: Ground Floor, Tower 2, PETRONAS Twin Towers Kuala Lumpur City Centre Kuala Lumpur Telephone: Online Tickets & Info: mpo.com.my malaysianphilharmonicorchestra DEWAN FILHARMONIK PETRONAS X MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA H