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16 knoxville symphony orchestra

knoxville symphony orchestra 17

GIOACHINO ROSSINI Overture to Semiramide (1823) (1792-1868)

ANTONIO VIVALDI Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), (1678-1741) Opus 8, Nos. 1-4 (ca. 1725)

La primavera (Spring), Opus 8, No. 1 in E Major I. Allegro II. Largo e pianissimo sempre III. Danza pastorale. Allegro

L’estate (Summer), Opus 8, No. 2 in G minor I. Allegro non molto II. Adagio; Presto III. Presto

Giora Schmidt, violin

GIACOMO PUCCINI Capriccio sinfonico (1883) (1858-1924)

I N T E R M I S S I O N

GIACOMO PUCCINI Act III Intermezzo (1858-1924) from Manon Lescaut (1893)

ANTONIO VIVALDI Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), (1678-1741) Opus 8, Nos. 1-4 (ca. 1725)

L’autunno (Autumn), Opus 8, No. 3 in F Major I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro L’inverno (Winter), Opus 8, No. 4 in F minor I. Allegro non molto II. Largo III. Allegro

Giora Schmidt, violin

CONCERTS OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016, AT 7:30 PMTENNESSEE THEATRE

James Fellenbaum, conductorGiora Schmidt, violin

Performances of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra are made possible in part by grants from the City of Knoxville, the Knox County Government and by contributions to the Knoxville Symphony Society’s Annual Support Drive. This project is funded under an agreement with the TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISSION. Latecomers will be seated during the first convenient pause in the performance. The use of recording devices and/or cameras is strictly forbidden. Please remember to turn off all electronic devices and refrain from text messaging during the concert, Programs and artists subject to change.

This concert will air on WUOT 91.9 FM on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. This concert will rebroadcast on Monday, July 17, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

Sponsored by

VIVALDI’S THE FOUR SEASONS

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Overture to Semiramide (1823)

Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro, Italy, on February 29, 1792, and died in Passy, France, on November 13, 1868. The first performance of Semiramide took place at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy, on February 3, 1823. The Overture to Semiramide is scored for piccolo, flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, and strings.

Duration: 12 minutes

Semiramide, the final opera Rossini composed for the Italian stage, premiered at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice on February 3, 1823. The libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, was based upon a tragedy by Voltaire. Semiramide concerns the story of the evil Queen of Babylon, who conspires with Prince Assur to murder her husband, King Nino. After a long absence, Semiramide and Nino’s son—now known as the warrior Arsace—returns to Babylon. Semiramide and Arsace are each unaware of the other’s identity, and the Queen falls in love with the young hero. Ultimately, Arsace learns of his mother’s perfidy and swears vengeance. Arsace is unable to bring himself to kill his mother. However, in attempting to strike Assur, he accidentally stabs Semiramide. Arsace, racked with guilt, is crowned King by the Babylonians, who in turn arrest Assur.

In the first half of the 20th century, Semiramide suffered neglect, due in great part to a lack of singers able to do justice to Rossini’s demanding score. In more recent decades, a renaissance of superb Rossini vocalists spurred numerous revivals of this magnificent opera. But while the fortunes of the opera have fluctuated, Semiramide’s glorious Overture, incorporating music from the lyric drama, has maintained a constant presence in the concert hall.

Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy, on December 22, 1858, and died in Brussels, Belgium, on November 29, 1924.

Act III Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut (1893)

The first performance of Manon Lescaut took place at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, on February 1, 1893, with Alessandro Pomé, conducting. The Intermezzo is scored for piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, harp, and strings.

Duration: 5 minutes

The February 1, 1893 premiere of Puccini’s opera Manon Lescaut was one of the composer’s early triumphs. The Teatro Regio audience called the composer to the stage 25 times during the course of the performance. But initially, there was a question as to whether Puccini should have even composed the work. In 1884, Jules Massenet’s Manon enjoyed a similar triumph. Many feared that Puccini’s adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel would be subject to an unfavorable comparison with Massenet’s opera. Puccini was undeterred: “Massenet feels it as a Frenchman with the powder and the minuets; I shall feel it as an Italian, with desperate passion.”

From the start of his career, Giacomo Puccini appreciated the importance a rich orchestral score played in the operatic narrative. The “desperate passion” of Puccini’s dramatic conception is evident in the orchestral Intermezzo preceding Act III, and Manon’s deportation to the Americas.

Capriccio sinfonico (1883)

The first performance of the Capriccio sinfonico took place in Milan, Italy, on July 14, 1883, with Franco Faccio, conducting. The Capriccio sinfonico is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle, harp, and strings.

Duration: 16 minutes

From 1880-1883, Puccini studied at the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Amilcare Ponchielli (composer of La gioconda). For his graduation piece, Puccini composed an orchestral work, Capriccio sinfonico. The premiere took place in Milan on July 14, 1883, with an orchestra chiefly composed of students, led by Franco Faccio, who conducted the Italian premiere of Verdi’s Aida, and world premiere of the composer’s Otello. After the premiere of the Symphonic Capriccio, an influential Milan critic praised the “(u)nity of style, personality, character, more of these than is generally found among more mature composers of orchestral music or concerti.” The Capriccio sinfonico is in three

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sections. An imposing introduction (Andante Moderato) resolves to a lively central episode (Allegro Vivace) that later served as the basis for the opening of Puccini’s La bohème (1896). The Symphonic Capriccio ends with a radiant Andante Moderato.

Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), Opus 8, Nos. 1-4 (ca. 1725)

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy, on March 4, 1678, and died in Vienna, Austria, on July 28, 1741. The Four Seasons is scored for solo violin, continuo, and strings.

Duration: 37 minutes

Antonio Vivaldi was one of the most prolific musicians of the Baroque era. He composed approximately 550 concertos, of which more than 230 are for solo violin. Among these violin concertos, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is by far the best known. Indeed, almost three centuries after its composition, The Four Seasons remains one of the most popular works in all of concert music.

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, scored for solo violin, strings, and continuo, is part of a larger work, a series of twelve concertos for violin and orchestra entitled Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest of Harmony and Invention), Opus 8, first published in 1725. The Four Seasons comprise the first four of the Opus 8 concertos.

The 1725 score of The Four Seasons includes sonnets (that may have been written by Vivaldi), indicating the programs for each of the twelve movements. Certain passages in the score are accompanied by additional captions describing what the music is intended to portray. For example, the repeated forte viola figure in the second movement of Spring is designated by the composer as “Il cane che grida”—the goat herd’s “barking dog”!

What is remarkable is that while Vivaldi incorporates dozens of such descriptive touches into The Four Seasons, the music never lapses into a mere series of effects. Rather, The Four Seasons demonstrates an admirable—and highly satisfying—sense of cohesion. This is achieved, in great part, by Vivaldi’s use of the ritornello (a recurring instrumental phrase) in the outer movements of each “Season.” Further, Vivaldi’s considerable melodic gifts, daring harmonies and brilliant writing for the solo instrument produce an immensely entertaining work. If there was ever a piece of music that radiated the composer’s joy in its creation, it is Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The continued affection for Vivaldi’s masterpiece reflects that such enthusiasm was not misplaced.

Each “Season” consists of a three-movement concerto. Two fast-tempo outer movements frame a central slow movement. The sonnets included in the score provide a specific description of each movement. A prose translation of the original Italian is provided below.

La primavera (Spring)Opus 8, No. 1, in E Major

I. Allegro— Festive Spring has arrived, The birds salute it with their happy song. And the brooks, caressed by little Zephyrs, Flow with a sweet murmur. The sky is covered with a black mantle, And thunder, and lightning, announce a storm. When they are silent, the birds Return to sing their lovely song.

II. Largo e pianissimo sempre— And in the meadow, rich with flowers, To the sweet murmur of leaves and plants, The goatherd sleeps, with his faithful dog at his side.

III. Danza pastorale. Allegro— To the festive sound of pastoral bagpipes, Dance nymphs and shepherds, At Spring’s brilliant appearance.

L’estate (Summer)Opus 8, No. 2, in G minor

I. Allegro non molto— Under the heat of the burning summer sun, Languish man and flock; the pine is parched. The cuckoo finds its voice, and suddenly, The turtledove and goldfinch sing. A gentle breeze blows, But suddenly, the north wind appears. The shepherd weeps because, overhead, Lies the fierce storm, and his destiny.

II. Adagio; Presto— His tired limbs are deprived of rest By his fear of lightning and fierce thunder, And by furious swarms of flies and hornets.

III. Presto— Alas, how just are his fears, Thunder and lightening fill the Heavens, and the hail Slices the tops of the corn and other grain.

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L’autunno (Autumn)Opus 8, No. 3, in F Major

I. Allegro— The peasants celebrate with dance and song, The joy of a rich harvest. And, full of Bacchus’s liquor, They finish their celebration with sleep.

II. Adagio— Each peasant ceases his dance and song. The mild air gives pleasure, And the season invites many To enjoy a sweet slumber.

III. Allegro— The hunters, at the break of dawn, go to the hunt. With horns, guns, and dogs they are off, The beast flees, and they follow its trail. Already fearful and exhausted by the great noise, Of guns and dogs, and wounded, The exhausted beast tries to flee, but dies.

L’inverno (Winter)Opus 8, No. 4, in F minor

I. Allegro non molto— Frozen and trembling in the icy snow, In the severe blast of the horrible wind, As we run, we constantly stamp our feet, And our teeth chatter in the cold.

II. Largo— To spend happy and quiet days near the fire, While, outside, the rain soaks hundreds.

III. Allegro— We walk on the ice with slow steps, And tread carefully, for fear of falling. If we go quickly, we slip and fall to the ground. Again we run on the ice, Until it cracks and opens. We hear, from closed doors, Sirocco, Boreas, and all the winds in battle. This is winter, but it brings joy.