MORNING MASTERWORKS QSO PLAYS THE RUSSIANS FRI 16 SEP 11AM Concert Hall, QPAC Conductor Łukasz Borowicz Cello Kian Soltani (Australian debut) Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 The Morning Masterworks series is proudly supported by 4MBS Classic FM.
PROGRAM NOTES Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op.33 [Fitzenhagen version] Introduction (Moderato quasi andante) Theme (Moderato semplice) Variation I (Tempo della thema) Variation II (Tempo della thema) Variation III (Andante sostenuto) Variation IV (Andante grazioso) Variation V (Allegro moderato) Variation VI (Andante) Variation VII and Coda (Allegro vivo) By the time the Rococo Variations came to be published in orchestral form, ten years had elapsed, during which Fitzenhagen had performed the work successfully both inside and outside Russia, and it had entered the repertoire. The theme is Tchaikovsky s own. It has an orchestral postlude, with a final question from the cello. This, increasingly varied, rounds off most of the variations. In no way does it detract from the success of Tchaikovsky s Variations that the Mozart he emulates contains no turbulent emotions. In short, the Variations are far from the real Mozart. Charming, elegant, deftly written, they are equally gratifying to virtuoso cellists and to audiences. The light and airy accompaniment, which enables the cello to stand out beautifully, is for 18th-century forces: double winds, two horns and strings. Adapted from a note by David Garrett 2007 A nostalgia for the world of the 18th century, thought of as refined, elegant and gently civilised, is never far from the surface in the highly Romantic art of Tchaikovsky, and it was Mozart who symbolised for him the best of the former century. This set of variations is his finest tribute to his idol s art. Tchaikovsky composed the work in 1876 for a cellist and fellow-professor at the Moscow Conservatorium, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. Fitzenhagen had requested a concerto-like piece for his recital tours, so Tchaikovsky first completed a version for cello and piano. Before orchestrating it he gave the music to Fitzenhagen, who made changes in the solo part. The cello and piano version was the first to appear in print, in 1878, with substantial alterations which Fitzenhagen claimed were authorised but about which Tchaikovsky complained bitterly. Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) Symphony No.2 in E minor, Op.27 Largo Allegro moderato Allegro molto Adagio Allegro vivace It seems perplexing now that this fervent, warm-hearted symphony should have been neglected for so long. Between the two world wars its emotional grandeur was mistrusted by many critics. 1
PROGRAM NOTES It was also, for many years, the usual practice to perform it with disfiguring cuts, which the composer had reluctantly approved (nowadays it is nearly always performed complete). The symphony is now established as one of the most popular of all Russian orchestral works. Max Harrison s words seem particularly apt: Composers great and less great win their place in music history through having ideas of their own, and as time passes it counts for little whether these were cast in an advanced or traditional language. The circumstances of this symphony s composition are unremarkable: between 1906 and 1909, Rachmaninov and his family spent much of each year in Dresden. These Dresden years were his most consistently fruitful as a composer: his First Piano Sonata, the tone poem The Isle of the Dead and his Third Piano Concerto all date from this productive period. A secretive composer at the best of times, he was particularly reluctant to discuss his work on this symphony with colleagues. The premiere of his Symphony No.1 in 1897 was a fiasco so shattering to Rachmaninov that he was unable to compose at all for three years. He was now cautious about its successor. But its first performances, which Rachmaninov conducted himself, were great successes, and the work was awarded a major Russian composition prize in 1908. The Second is Rachmaninov s only symphony to date from the years of his full-blown Romantic style. It is as expansive as the symphonies of his contemporaries Mahler and Elgar, but it is more direct in its expressive ambitions. Like the symphonies of Mahler, Elgar and Bruckner, it is post-wagnerian in its time-scale and ambitions, particularly in its frequent changes of key within movements, the long span of its melodies, the way Rachmaninov creates harmonic tension by refusing to return to established keys at expected moments, and the use of motto themes to bind the individual movements together. Yet, structurally, the symphony is quite conventional: a first movement in sonata form (complete with slow introduction); a scherzo and trio; and, following the Adagio (sounding at times like a Russian meditation on Tristan und Isolde it is perhaps the greatest love duet never written for the stage), a finale of wellbred Classical proportions yet displaying exceptional high spirits. Was Rachmaninov ever again this unbuttoned? When this symphony was new, music critic Philip Hale declared that its early popularity revealed a weakness in its composition, and that one day the work would be buried snugly in the great cemetery of orchestral compositions. The increasing popularity of Rachmaninov s Symphony No.2 since the 1970s is a victory for the broad commonwealth of music-lovers over the critical fraternity who once declared it obvious and naïve. It might even be a signal that a concern for human feeling is the primary value most audiences seek in music old or new. Edited from a note by Phillip Sametz 1996/2006 2
BIOGRAPHIES Łukasz Borowicz Conductor Kian Soltani Cello Maestro Borowicz has appeared as a guest conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, Wiener Volksoper, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and all the major Polish symphony orchestras. Maestro Borowicz has conducted at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro and the Schleswig- Holstein Music Festival. He made his operatic debut with Don Giovanni at the Warsaw National Opera in Warsaw followed by Orfeo ed Euridice, Midsummer's Night Dream and The Rite of Spring. Further operatic credits include: Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin and Halka (Kraków Opera), Die Zauberflote, Rusalka, Bluebeard s Castle and Dido and Aeneas (Grand Theatre in ódÿ), and Szymanowski s King Roger (ABAO Bilbao). He has conducted ballet performances at the Warsaw National Opera ( Swan Lake, La Bayadere ). Maestro Borowicz s symphonic recordings include the Complete Violin Concertos by Bacewicz for Chandos and the Complete Symphonic Works by Andrzej Panufnik (Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Konzerthausorchester Berlin for CPO). The final installment of the Panufnik cycle was Editor s Choice in Gramophone magazine and Borowicz received the ICMA Special Achievement Award in 2015 for his pioneering work on the cycle. 3 By the time he won first prize at the International Paulo Cello Competition 2013 in Helsinki, the 24-year-old Kian Soltani had joined the top rank of today s new generation of cello soloists. Earlier first prizes include the Karl Davidoff International Cello Competition and the International Antonio Janigro Competition. Soltani held a scholarship at the Mozart-Gesellschaft Dortmund and is a member of the renowned Anne-Sophie Mutter foundation. Accepted into Ivan Monighetti s class at the Basel Music Academy at twelve, he has been part of the Young Soloist program at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson since 2014. As a soloist, Soltani has appeared with ensembles such as the Zagreb Soloists, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Basel Sinfonietta, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jyväskylä Sinfonia and the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and has collaborated with conductors including Barenboim, Geringas, Srzic, Tewinkel, Monighetti, Krumpöck, Storgårds, Shinozaki, Iisakkila and Csaba. Recent and upcoming highlights include concerts with the Zürich Tonhalle-Orchestra and Sir Neville Marriner, a summer tour as soloist with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, for whom he regularly tours as principal cellist, and Beethoven Triple Concerto with Daniel Barenboim as pianist and conductor, his own chamber music
BIOGRAPHIES weekend at the Schubertiade, the premiere of Vali s Cello Concerto, dedicated to Soltani, multiple tours with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mutter s Virtuosi and performances at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Bergen International Festival, Lugano Festival, Mozartfest Würzburg, Louvre Auditorium and Herkulessaal Munich. SEASON 2017 ALONDRA DE LA PARRA MAXIM VENGEROV PIERS LANE CARMEN IN-CONCERT SAVE 29% ON 10-PACK MAESTRO CONCERTS* BOOK NOW! qso.com.au Alondra de la Parra Music Director The QSO Music Director is proudly supported by Timothy Fairfax AC. *vs adult single ticket prices
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