Karen Gomyo, violin BEETHOVEN VIOLIN CONCERTO 26
CONCERT PROGRAM Cheryl Cooney Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to (a) new era?: Sesquie for Canada s 150th (Apr 1 only; TSO PREMIÈRE/TSO CO-COMMISSION) Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 I. Allegro ma non troppo II. Larghetto III. Rondo: Allegro Intermission (Apr 2 only) Claude Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) (Apr 2 only) Igor Stravinsky Petrushka (1947 revision) First Part Wet-Nurse s Dance Danse Russe Peasant with Bear Second Part Gypsies and a Rake Vendor Third Part Dance of the Coachmen Valse Masqueraders Fourth Part Please note that the performance on April 1 is being recorded for online release at TSO.CA/CanadaMosaic. Saturday, April 1, 2017 7:30pm Sunday, April 2, 2017 3:00pm George Weston Recital Hall Robert Trevino conductor Karen Gomyo violin THE CASUAL CONCERT SERIES IS PRESENTED BY In gratitude for their generous philanthropy, Blake and Belinda Goldring are recognized as Patrons of Karen Gomyo s appearance with the TSO. The Three at the Weston Series performances are generously supported by Margaret and Jim Fleck. Peter Oundjian Music Director Robert Trevino makes his TSO début with soloist Karen Gomyo in a concert of contrasts. Beethoven s Violin Concerto is possibly the cornerstone of the entire violin concerto repertoire. There is a depth and nobility to the first movement that makes it almost symphonic; the beautiful slow movement leads to one of his most energetic dance-like finales, with a lyricism and charm that is truly uplifting. On Sunday, Debussy s ravishing Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune provides a radical contrast with Beethoven s mighty concerto. This short tone poem is stunningly beautiful, languid and rhapsodic. Stravinsky s great ballet Petrushka is one of his masterpieces acerbic, playful, lyrical, and dynamic. Stravinsky was a masterful orchestrator, and the colours he creates are truly singular. Petrushka is a showcase for the entire orchestra. 27
THE DETAILS For a program note to Cheryl Cooney s Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to (a) new era?: Sesquie for Canada s 150th, please turn to page 6 of the Sesquies Canada Mosaic program. Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 42 min Baptized: Bonn, now in Germany, Dec 17, 1770 Died: Vienna, Austria, Mar 26, 1827 Composed: 1806 Beethoven studied the violin in childhood, and although he was never more than a mediocre player his performances of his own violin sonatas, according to his accompanist, were dreadful he came to know the instrument s resources intimately. He composed his only violin concerto for a leading Viennese virtuoso, Franz Clement, whose playing was admired not so much for power and bravura as for beauty, elegance, and delicacy. Beethoven obviously kept this in mind: witness the insistent lyricism and high tessitura of the solo part in the first movement, and the gracious ornamentation in the second. (Clement may have collaborated on the solo part, with which Beethoven struggled.) The concerto was written in haste, apparently in just four or five weeks (the manuscript is a mess), and finished just in time for the première on December 23, 1806, at which Clement was virtually sight-reading. The first movement, long and crowded with incident, has the heroic, occasionally militaristic CHAMPIONED BY JOACHIM At its première, Beethoven s Violin Concerto had a mixed reception it was considered too long, too difficult to follow. It was not until May 1844, when virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim (1831 1907) performed it (with Felix Mendelssohn conducting) in London, that the concerto received acclaim. It became one of the works Joachim played most often throughout his career. tone of many of Beethoven s middle-period works, but it is also leisurely, lyrical, and quiet to a degree unusual in a fast movement of a concerto. Beethoven was thinking symphonically; note, for instance, how the motive of five repeated notes, quietly introduced by the timpani in the opening bars, pervades the movement. Indeed, the soloist often seems incidental, embellishing and commenting on ideas that are introduced and primarily developed by the orchestra. The slow movement, its solemn, hymn-like theme quietly introduced by muted strings, unfolds at first as a conventional set of variations, but changes course midway, becoming something altogether more remarkable and profound. A second theme is introduced among the variations, then a third; the original theme seems all but forgotten; the movement evolves as a kind of rhapsodic fantasy. The music is deeply expressive, dreamy, poetic, and the pastoral mood and picturesque solo-orchestra dialogues hint that Beethoven may have been composing with some private program in mind. The finale, which follows without a break, is also pastoral: it has the rhythm of traditional hunting music. The wit, playfulness, and studied naïveté of the music nicely balance the grandeur of the first movement, though there is also a sweetly melancholy episode in the middle. The long, jubilant coda is founded on transformations of the main theme, and the violin gets one last, charming solo very quietly just before the final chords. Program note by Kevin Bazzana 28
Claude Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) (Apr 2 only) 10 min Born: St. Germain-en-Laye, France, Aug 22, 1862 Died: Paris, France, Mar 25, 1918 Composed: 1894 This masterpiece of musical atmosphere heralded the emergence of Debussy s mature style. Poet Stéphane Mallarmé wrote L aprèsmidi d un faune in 1876. When Debussy encountered it some ten years later, he recognized in it a style similar to his view of music. The words of the poem are those of a faun or satyr, a lazy, pleasure-loving half-man, half-goat creature from Classical mythology. Debussy described his musical reflection as a very free rendering of Stéphane Mallarmé s beautiful poem. It does not purport to contain everything that is in the poem. It is rather a succession of scenes in which the desires and dreams of the faun pass through in the heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of chasing the frightened nymphs and naiads, he gives in to intoxicating sleep. Music as free and as sensuous as this had never been heard before. Its improvisational quality would become a Debussy trademark. Conjured out of silence by the unaccompanied call of the faun s flute, it evokes Mallarmé s hazy, dreamlike ideas with effortless tonal magic. Short phrases melt one into the other; solo winds take the spotlight in turn; coolness alternates with passion. When the opening phrase returns for the last time at the close, this time on a pair of flutes instead of one, Debussy decorates it with the delicate tingle of antique cymbals a simple yet unforgettable touch. Recalling the première, conductor Gustave Doret wrote, There was a vast silence in the hall as I ascended the podium with some emotion, but full of confidence. I waited a long moment, after imposing silence on the audience, then our marvellous flutist Barrère unrolled his opening theme. Suddenly I felt behind my back a completely captivated public! The triumph was complete, so much so that I did not hesitate to break the rule forbidding encores. The orchestra was delighted to repeat this work, which it had come to love and which, thanks to them, the audience had now accepted. The grateful Mallarmé gave Debussy a copy of the poem, inscribed with a verse which may be translated as: Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 1950) as the Faun in his début ballet using Debussy s music (1912). Oh forest god of breath primeval If your flute be true, Listen now to all the light Debussy will breathe through you. Program note by Don Anderson 29
THE DETAILS Igor Stravinsky Petrushka (1947 revision) 34 min Born: Oranienbaum, Russia, Jun 17, 1882 Died: New York City, New York, USA, Apr 6, 1971 Composed: 1910 1911; rev. 1947 Stravinsky s involvement in his first great success, the dance score The Firebird, came about thanks to impresario Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes. Their next project, Petrushka, scored another triumph for all concerned. The supreme command of the orchestra displayed in the ballet s score has earned it a parallel life in the concert hall. These performances feature the revised, reduced, and in Stravinsky s view, improved orchestration that was published in 1947. The work is one of his most brilliant achievements, bursting with the energy and inventiveness of youth. The music for Petrushka himself, centred on the wind instruments and piano, achieves a remarkable depth of characterization. Stravinsky gives the melancholy puppet enough personality to make listeners care about him, without letting us forget that he is made of straw and cloth, not flesh and blood. The setting is a Shrovetide fairground in Admiralty Square, St. Petersburg, Russia, on a sunny winter day, circa 1830. The music for the first and last scenes quotes numerous Russian folk songs, popular tunes, children s ditties, and authentic cries of street vendors. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the carnival is a puppet show, overseen by a mysterious, aging charlatan. His enchanted flute brings to life three characters: Petrushka, the handsome Blackamoor, and the lovely Ballerina. The three puppets perform a vivacious Russian Dance. The action then moves backstage to Petrushka s small, bare room. He professes his love for the Ballerina but she rejects him coldly. The next scene is in the Blackamoor s quarters, where he and the Ballerina are enjoying an amorous rendezvous. The jealous Petrushka appears, only to be chased away by his rival. Back outside, evening is falling and the fair is in full swing. Suddenly Petrushka appears running through the crowd. The Blackamoor pursues him, then strikes him down with a sword. (Stravinsky instructs the tambourine player to drop the instrument to the floor to mark the puppet s passing.) The charlatan demonstrates to the shocked crowd that the apparent murder victim was only a puppet. But as he drags the body away, Petrushka s ghost appears above the theatre, rudely mocking his former master. Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 1950) as the puppet Petrushka in 1911. Program note by Don Anderson 30
THE ARTISTS Robert Trevino conductor These performances mark Robert Trevino s TSO début. Robert Trevino has rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting American conductors performing today, one of the most in-demand talents of the younger generation. He is immensely proud to have been named, in 2016, as the incoming Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra. He previously served as Associate Conductor at the Cincinnatti Symphony Orchestra (2011 2015) and, prior to that, as Associate Conductor to New York City Opera at Lincoln Center (2009 2011). Recent seasons have seen Trevino crossing continents in an ever-growing number of major débuts. The coming seasons will bring him to the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, The Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, hr-sinfonieorchester, Tonkünstler Vienna, MDR Leipzig, Maggio Musicale Florentino, Helsinki Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Robert Trevino has commissioned, worked closely with, and premièred works by many of today s leading composers, among them Augusta Read Thomas, Sir André Previn, Jennifer Higdon, Philip Glass, Shulamit Ran, and John Zorn. Karen Gomyo violin Karen Gomyo made her TSO début in April 2004. Born in Tokyo, violinist Karen Gomyo grew up in Montréal and New York. Praised by the Chicago Tribune as a firstrate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance, and intensity, she continues to captivate audiences worldwide. Ms. Gomyo has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, OSESP Sao Paulo, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, City of Birmingham, Salzburg Camerata, and many more of the world's leading orchestras. In 2017, she performs in recital at the Sydney Opera House. Strongly committed to contemporary works, Karen Gomyo performed the North American première of Matthias Pintscher s Concerto No. 2 Mar'eh with the composer conducting the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as Peteris Vasks s Vox Amoris with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds. In 2017/18, she will perform Samuel Adams s Violin Concerto in the US and Canada. Ms. Gomyo plays the rare Ex Foulis Stradivarius of 1703 that was bought for her exclusive use by a private sponsor. 31