CARL MARIA VON WEBERBIO:
OBERON – OVERTURE
EDVARD GRIEGBIO:
PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR, OP. 16
INTERVAL
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKYBIO:
SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN E MINOR, OP. 64
A fairy overture composed for England by the founder of German romantic opera; the unique piano concerto of the celebrated composer of the Norwegian nation and the “Fate” symphony of a Russian master fighting his composer’s block – it’s barely possible to put together a more colorful, more international program. The pieces and the performers are of course connected by the universal language of the European traditions of classical music. The output of Weber, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky has always crossed boundaries – although all three of them drew tunes from their respective treasuries of folk music. The piano soloist of the evening is Javier Perianes from Spain, who, in 2019, was chosen Artist of the Year by ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) and the Festival Orchestra is conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Colombian music director of the Wiener Symphoniker.
Great romantic opera and fairy tale in three acts – so goes the title page of Oberon’s score. Commissioned by Covent Garden, the ailing Weber’s finishing touches were applied to the opera in London. The Overture is based on the melodies of the opera. In the slow introduction, the French horn immediately creates Oberon’s mysterious world, which is further illuminated by the march of the Fairy King. Several themes from the opera follow, citing the leading character’s love song as well as the aria “Ocean, thou mighty monster,” while the supernatural powers never cease watching. Weber composed this storming, hilarious fairy music just a couple of weeks before his death, a fact that gives an even more ethereal touch to the work.
The young Grieg regarded his four years in Leipzig as time spent in prison: still, his studies at the conservatory there soon yielded masterpieces. Composed in 1868, his Piano Concerto in A minor reflects the influence of Schumann in the first place. One of the most popular pieces of all romantic concertos, the work teems with almost over-exaggerated effects, though one also finds the refined settings of a mature maestro. The iconic drum roll and piano passage of the first movement carries the listener away immediately. The slow movement, paying a visit to the world of small, lyrical forms, displays Grieg’s best-loved profile. The Finale, bursting in attacca, lets Norwegian dance music and Lisztian virtuoso playing rule the piano and the orchestra parts alike.
“It is not easy but I try to squeeze out a symphony from my muffled mind” – wrote Tchaikovsky to his brother in the spring of 1888. Towards the end of summer in the same year, he sent this to his patron, Nadezhda von Meck: “It seems to me that I haven’t failed and that is good.” And a little later: “It is a failure. There is something repellent in it.” He was not the only one with ambivalent feelings about the piece, Symphony No. 5 divided the audience, too. The four movements are stuck together by the gloomy Fate motif, first appearing in the slow introduction. The movement, full of themes, is followed by a slow one, rich in melodies, then comes an elegant waltz while light defeats darkness in the Finale.
Did you know? Weber’s opera was first performed in London on 12 April 1826, Grieg’s Piano Concerto was premiered in Copenhagen on 3 April 1869, with Edmund Neupert as soloist and Holger Simon Paulli conducting, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 was premiered in St Petersburg on 17 November 1888, conducted by the composer. The Festival Orchestra last played Weber’s overture on 18 April 2011 (conductor: Leonidas Kavakos), the Piano Concerto on 12 October 2003 (soloist: Yundi Li, conductor: Asher Fisch) and the Symphony on 27 April 2019 (conductor: Manfred Honeck).
Contemporary events French painter Eugène Delacroix completed his painting The Execution of Doge Marino Faliero in 1826 / in 1826, American author James Fenimore Cooper published his novel The Last of the Mohicans / French chemist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first surviving photograph in 1826 / Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot was published in 1869 / on 22 September 1869, Richard Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold was premiered in Munich / in 1869, the English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill published his work The Subjection of Women / German Emperor Wilhelm II ascended the throne on 15 June 1888 / on 28 October 1888, the drama The Bear by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov was performed in Moscow / in 1888, French painter Paul Gauguin painted his Vision After The Sermon
CARL MARIA VON WEBERBIO:
OBERON – OVERTURE
EDVARD GRIEGBIO:
PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR, OP. 16
INTERVAL
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKYBIO:
SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN E MINOR, OP. 64
A fairy overture composed for England by the founder of German romantic opera; the unique piano concerto of the celebrated composer of the Norwegian nation and the “Fate” symphony of a Russian master fighting his composer’s block – it’s barely possible to put together a more colorful, more international program. The pieces and the performers are of course connected by the universal language of the European traditions of classical music. The output of Weber, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky has always crossed boundaries – although all three of them drew tunes from their respective treasuries of folk music. The piano soloist of the evening is Javier Perianes from Spain, who, in 2019, was chosen Artist of the Year by ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) and the Festival Orchestra is conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Colombian music director of the Wiener Symphoniker.
Great romantic opera and fairy tale in three acts – so goes the title page of Oberon’s score. Commissioned by Covent Garden, the ailing Weber’s finishing touches were applied to the opera in London. The Overture is based on the melodies of the opera. In the slow introduction, the French horn immediately creates Oberon’s mysterious world, which is further illuminated by the march of the Fairy King. Several themes from the opera follow, citing the leading character’s love song as well as the aria “Ocean, thou mighty monster,” while the supernatural powers never cease watching. Weber composed this storming, hilarious fairy music just a couple of weeks before his death, a fact that gives an even more ethereal touch to the work.
The young Grieg regarded his four years in Leipzig as time spent in prison: still, his studies at the conservatory there soon yielded masterpieces. Composed in 1868, his Piano Concerto in A minor reflects the influence of Schumann in the first place. One of the most popular pieces of all romantic concertos, the work teems with almost over-exaggerated effects, though one also finds the refined settings of a mature maestro. The iconic drum roll and piano passage of the first movement carries the listener away immediately. The slow movement, paying a visit to the world of small, lyrical forms, displays Grieg’s best-loved profile. The Finale, bursting in attacca, lets Norwegian dance music and Lisztian virtuoso playing rule the piano and the orchestra parts alike.
“It is not easy but I try to squeeze out a symphony from my muffled mind” – wrote Tchaikovsky to his brother in the spring of 1888. Towards the end of summer in the same year, he sent this to his patron, Nadezhda von Meck: “It seems to me that I haven’t failed and that is good.” And a little later: “It is a failure. There is something repellent in it.” He was not the only one with ambivalent feelings about the piece, Symphony No. 5 divided the audience, too. The four movements are stuck together by the gloomy Fate motif, first appearing in the slow introduction. The movement, full of themes, is followed by a slow one, rich in melodies, then comes an elegant waltz while light defeats darkness in the Finale.
Did you know? Weber’s opera was first performed in London on 12 April 1826, Grieg’s Piano Concerto was premiered in Copenhagen on 3 April 1869, with Edmund Neupert as soloist and Holger Simon Paulli conducting, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 was premiered in St Petersburg on 17 November 1888, conducted by the composer. The Festival Orchestra last played Weber’s overture on 18 April 2011 (conductor: Leonidas Kavakos), the Piano Concerto on 12 October 2003 (soloist: Yundi Li, conductor: Asher Fisch) and the Symphony on 27 April 2019 (conductor: Manfred Honeck).
Contemporary events French painter Eugène Delacroix completed his painting The Execution of Doge Marino Faliero in 1826 / in 1826, American author James Fenimore Cooper published his novel The Last of the Mohicans / French chemist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first surviving photograph in 1826 / Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot was published in 1869 / on 22 September 1869, Richard Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold was premiered in Munich / in 1869, the English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill published his work The Subjection of Women / German Emperor Wilhelm II ascended the throne on 15 June 1888 / on 28 October 1888, the drama The Bear by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov was performed in Moscow / in 1888, French painter Paul Gauguin painted his Vision After The Sermon
WILLIAM GRANT STILL:
DARKER AMERICA
JOHN ADAMS:
VIOLIN CONCERTO
INTERVAL
CHARLES IVES:
SYMPHONY NO. 2
LEILA JOSEFOWICZ (violin)
A Concert from America – this could be the title of the program, as this time, the protagonists will be three iconic figures of American music writing, a conductor born in California and an American-Canadian violinist. The evening will start with a piece by William Grant Still, the “doyen of Afro-American composers” and an iconic figure of symphonic jazz, and continue with the Violin Concerto of John Adams, one of the greatest composers post-Steve Reich. We could hardly find more authentic performers for the latter than Leila Josefowicz. She collaborates in person with the composer and David Robertson, who made three recordings from Adams’s oeuvre as the musical director of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Following the concerto with an “endless melody”, the program will conclude with the king of musical references, the symphony of Charles Ives, displaying the most bizarre final chords in the history of music.
Although Gershwin is the first composer to come to mind when thinking of early 20th century American works combining jazz with symphonic music, several other artists of the era also produced significant milestones in the field. African-American William Grant Still successfully blended European composed music with genres of African roots and managed to draw the appreciation of the profession. Several of his compositions were inspired by the relationship between African Americans and society. In his symphonic poem entitled Darker America, the wavering theme introduced by the strings recalls the journey of his own people, and is then extended by the themes of “sorrow” (English horn) and “hope” (brass).
“Anyone who wants to become familiar with contemporary music should listen to this”, recommended Kristóf Csengery John Adams’s Violin Concerto composed in 1993. The composer had to overcome several obstacles before starting this piece. As he had no deep knowledge of the instrument, he needed the help of a violinist, which was provided by Jorja Fleezanis, who was also the soloist at the premiere. In addition, he thought a concerto needed some melody, while he had been writing music without melodies for years. Eventually, he could overcome this obstacle as well and completed the “hypermelodic” Violin Concerto. After the dreamlike rhapsody of the first movement, the violin hovers around the musical fabric of the orchestra like a ghost and then the concerto concludes with a virtuoso, almost motoric finale.
Ives composed his second symphony at the turn of the last century between his first, a European composition to the last note, and his third, an entirely American piece. The premiere half a century later was a huge success. However, the composer, who was listening to the concert on the radio, only silently spat when the ovation started. He was just like that: he didn’t care for success. In the five-movement composition Ives alludes to the simple American songs, marches and hymns of his childhood, as well as melodies by the greatest masters of European music (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner etc.), however, always creating original music from them. The pleasantly melodic piece concludes with unexpected and harsh dissonance.
Did you know? Still’s work premiere in New York on November 22, 1926 (conductor: Eugene Goossens), Adams’ Violin Concerto in Saint Paul on January 19, 1994 (soloist: Jorja Fleezanis, conductor: Edo de Waart), Ives’s symphony written between 1897 and 1902 premiered in New York on February 22, 1951 (conductor: Leonard Bernstein); the pieces have never been played by the Festival Orchestra before
Contemporary events The Russian writer Isaac Babel’s collection of short stories Red Cavalry was published in 1926 / on November 27, 1926 Béla Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin premiered in Köln, but after the first performance it was taken off the program due to the scandal it caused / Max Scheler German philosopher published his work Die Wissensformen und die Gesellschaft in 1926 / after ten years of restoration Michelangelo’s fresco, The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel was opened to the public in 1994 / a referendum in 1994 confirmed Austria’s accession to the European Union / John Updike American writer published his novel Brazil in 1994 / on June 9, 1902 Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 premiered in Krefeld and was conducted by the author himself / Hugo von Hofmannstahl’s essay The Letter of Lord Chandos was published in 1902, in which he refuses the ideal of beauty alienated from life / Frank W. Benson American painter painted his painting Eleanor Holding a Shell in 1902.