St. Louis Symphony Program - Jan. 25-27, 2013

7/29/2019 St. Louis Symphony Program - Jan. 25-27, 2013

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CONCERT PROGRAMJanuary 25-27, 2013

Gilbert Varga, conductorPeter Serkin, piano

GLINKA Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture (1842) (1804-1857)

BARTK Piano Concerto No. 3 (1945)(1881-1945)

AllegrettoAdagio religioso; Poco pi mosso; Tempo IAllegro vivace

Peter Serkin, piano

INTERMISSION

MUSSORGSKY/ Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)/(1922) orch. Ravel

(1839-1881)/(1875-1937) PromenadeGnomusPromenade

The Old CastlePromenadeTuileriesBydloPromenadeBallet o the Chicks in Their ShellsSamuel Goldenberg and SchmuyleThe Market at LimogesCatacombs (Sepulchrum romanum)Cum mortis in lingua mortuaThe Hut on Fowls Legs (Baba-Yaga)The Great Gate at Kiev


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Gilbert Varga is the Linda and Paul Lee Guest Artist.

Peter Serkin is presented by the Whitaker Foundation.

The concert of Friday, January 25, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Prof. Mary Sale.

The concert of Saturday, January 26, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Mr. and Mrs. Mark E. Hood.

The concert of Sunday, January 27, is underwritten in part by a generous gift

from William M. Carey.

Pre-Concert Conversations are presented by Washington University Physicians.

These concerts are part of the Wells Fargo Advisors Series.

Large print program notes are available through the generosity of MosbyBuilding Arts and are located at the Customer Service table in the foyer.


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FROM THE STAGEMike Walk on the trumpet part in Pictures at an Exhibition: Its the kickoff

for 80 percent of all orchestra auditions. I rst played it with the RochesterPhilharmonic. I was subbing as a student from Eastman on a run-out. Iactually played the third part, with nothing much to do.

Everybody has their own interpretation of the Promenade. I like tohear it with consistent sound, consistent articulation, consistent time. Thetrick is to make it sound almost like an organ.

The Promenade is Mussorgsky walking. Hes walking through anexhibition of his dead friends paintings. Mussorgsky is 300 pounds,probably drunk, so it should not go fast; it should not sound happy. But a

sense of awe is appropriate, because it is so elegiac, as well as noble.

Scott FerguSon

Mike Walk


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TIMELINKS

1842GLINKARuslan and LyudmilaOvertureBritish orces annihilated

in retreat rom Kabul inAghanistans Khyber Pass

1874MUSSORGSKYPictures at an ExhibitionSerge Koussevitskyborn in Russia, he wouldcommission Ravel toorchestrate Pictures at

an Exhibition

1922RAVELPictures at an ExhibitionJames Joyces Ulyssespublished in Paris

1945BARTK

Piano Concerto No. 3Soviet Union beginsasserting infuenceon Eastern Europe inatermath o WorldWar II

What connection, if any, exists between music

and visual imagery? Can a musical compositionmeaningfully be compared to a painting ordrawing? Do certain sounds provide auralanalogies to line, color, or brushwork?

Over the centuries, many composers havetaken inspiration from visual art. Tchaikovskyconceived his tone poem Francesca da Rimini notonly from the account of that poignant lover inDantes Inferno but by an engraving by the 19th-

century artist Gustave Dor. Paul Hindemith usedthe Isenheim Altarpiece, the most famous workby the Renaissance artist Mathias Grnewald,as the basis for his Mathis der MalerSymphony.More recently, the late American composerMorton Feldman was, by his own admission,deeply inuenced by the painters of the NewYork abstract expressionist school, many of

whomPhilip Guston, Mark Rothko, and FranzKline, for instancehe knew personally.Our concert concludes with perhaps the

most famous musical rendering of graphic art,Modest Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition,which we hear in the brilliant and many-huedorchestration by Maurice Ravel. But the other twopieces on our program may also bring imagesto mind. Mikhail Glinkas overture to his opera

Ruslan and Lyudmila suggests adventure andromance. Bla Bartks Third Piano Concertoconjures a nocturnal atmosphere in its secondmovement; elsewhere, it conveys a folkloricsound redolent of the Hungarian villages wherethe composer spent many weeks hearing andrecording peasant musicians. Listeners withvivid visual imaginations might supply suitablescenes in their minds eyes.

MUSICAL PICTURESBY PAUL SCHIAVO


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MIKHAIL GLINKARuslan and Lyudmila Overture

MUSIC OVER PLOT Mikhail Glinka was Russias

rst signicant composer of art music and, notcoincidentally, the rst to impart a discerniblyRussian character to his work. As such, he stood asspiritual father to Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakovand, to some extent, Tchaikovsky, composerswho gave Russian music a distinctive identityduring the second half of the 19th century.

Completed in 1842, Glinkas opera Ruslanand Lyudmila is based on a narrative poem ofthe same title by Alexander Pushkin, Russiasgreat Romantic writer. Unfortunately, its libretto,which Glinka and several other collaboratorsaltered in various ill-considered ways, adaptedPushkins story poorly, accentuating itspreposterous elements while capturing little ofits irony. The opera is an extravagant fairy taleset in ninth-century Russia. Lyudmila, daughter

of the Grand Duke of Kiev, is engaged to marrythe knight Ruslan, but at the feast celebratingtheir betrothal she is abducted by the evil dwarfChernomor. Ruslan, of course, sets out to ndher. Along the way, he encounters varioussupernatural creatures and happenings. In theclimactic scene, Ruslan defeats Chernomor andrescues his beloved.

The shortcomings of its plot notwithstanding,

Ruslan and Lyudmila contains much brilliantmusic, and its overture has long been a popularconcert piece. Glinka wrote this prelude aftercompleting the rest of the opera, composing it, herecalled in his autobiography, between rehearsalsfor the rst production. The energetic initialtheme, with its rocketing scale passages, derivesfrom the operas last scene; the broader and more

lyrical second subject is that of Ruslans big ariain the second act. Glinkas colorful orchestrationenlivens the entire work, and the acceleratedcoda with which the piece closes makes for anexciting conclusion.

BornJune 1, 1804, Novospasskoye,

RussiaDiedFebruary 15, 1857, Berlin

First PerormanceDecember 9, 1842, St.Petersburg

STL Symphony PremiereMarch 16, 1923, Rudol Ganzconducting

Most RecentSTL SymphonyPerormanceMay 6, 2012, Peter Oundjianconducting

Scoring2 futes2 oboes2 clarinets

2 bassoonscontrabassoon4 horns2 trumpets3 trombonestimpanistrings

Perormance Timeapproximately 5 minutes

Ilya

RepIn


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BLA BARTKPiano Concerto No. 3

LAST WORK Bla Bartk, one of the majorcomposers of the 20th century, was a musician

whose importance was not fully appreciatedduring his lifetime. Over the course of hiscareer, Bartk created a remarkably originalcompositional style, drawing on two disparatesources. One was the possibilities for harmonicinnovation and tonal freedom that emerged atthe end of the 19th century, and which Bartkeagerly embraced. The other was the folkmusic of his native Hungary and other EasternEuropean countries, whose unusual rhythms,scales, and tonal inections became part of thecomposers own musical language. Meldingthese two resources, Bartk achieved a uniqueand personal modern idiom.

Bartks nal compositions were a pairof concertos written in tandem during thelast months of his life. One of them, for viola

and orchestra, had been commissioned by arenowned virtuoso, violist William Primrose. Theother was a piano concerto that Bartk intendedfor his second wife, Ditta Pasztory Bartk. Thecomposer and his spouse had arrived almostpenniless in New York some four years earlier. Hehad nothing in the way of assets and only avery modest income from Columbia University,where he was engaged in research on Balkan

folk music. The royalties from his compositionswould not sufce to support Ditta, so Bartkthought to leave her a piece she might performafter he was gone, and thereby support herself asa concert artist.

Bartk barely nished the concerto before hesuccumbed to polycythemia, a blood disease, inSeptember 1945. (Actually, he failed to orchestrate

its last 17 measures, but this task was completedby his student, Tibor Serly.) The works premiereperformance was given not by the composerswife but by Gyrgy Sndor, another of Bartksstudents and a pianist who championed histeachers music.

A FINAL CLARITY The Third Piano Concertoextends a process of stylistic clarication Bartk

BornMarch 25, 1881,

Nagyszentmikls, HungaryDiedSeptember 26, 1945,New York

First PerormanceFebruary 8, 1946, inPhiladelphia, Gyrgy Sndorplayed the solo part, andEugene Ormandy conductedthe Philadelphia Orchestra

STL Symphony PremiereJanuary 12, 1953, LeonardPennario was soloist, withVladimir Golschmannconducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerormanceNovember 29, 2008, OrliShaham was soloist, withMarc Albrecht conducting

Scoringsolo piano2 futespiccolo2 oboesEnglish horn2 clarinetsbass clarinet

2 bassoons4 horns2 trumpets3 trombonestubatimpanipercussionstrings



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undertook in his last years. Here the angular lines, rhythmic complexities,and high level of dissonance that earned the composer his reputation as anuncompromising modernist give way to clear harmonies and singing melodies.The user-friendly quality of the Third Piano Concerto extends to its overallform, which follows the traditional concerto design of three movements in a

fast-slow-fast pattern.All the important themes of the opening Allegretto are imbued with the

avor of Hungarian folk music. Despite a few fully scored passages, much ofthis movement presents wonderfully transparent orchestral textures. That rstquality is quite typical of the composers music; the latter is rather unusual.

The second movement, in every way the heart of the concerto, unfolds ina modied ABA design. Its outer sections pose spare, lucid passages for theorchestral strings against short, poetic phrases from the piano. The central

episode brings a bit of Bartkian night music, with evocations of bird andinsect sounds.The nale takes the form of a spirited rondo. Its recurring principal theme

conveys the impulsive energy that marks many of Bartks closing movements,and the intervening episodes include a pair of contrapuntal passages. Themovement as a whole conveys a joyous, life-afrming outlook that gives nohint of its authors grave illness.


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MODEST MUSSORGSKY/orch. RavelPictures at an Exhibition

A MUSICAL TRIBUTE In 1874, the Russian

composer Modest Mussorgsky was immersed inwork on his huge opera Khovanshchina when hereceived word of a memorial exhibit of picturesby the artist and architect Victor Hartmann, whohad died a year earlier. Hartmann had been aclose friend of Mussorgsky, and after visiting thegallery where his late companions pictures weredisplayed, the composer resolved to pay his owntribute by writing a set of piano pieces inspiredby the drawings. In June he wrote to the art criticVladimir Stasov, the organizer of the exhibition:My Hartmann is boiling ... Sounds and ideas llthe air, and I can barely scribble them down fastenough. This report can scarcely be doubted.Mussorgsky worked with remarkable speed,completing the lengthy score on June 22.

The nished work represented 10 of

Hartmanns images, a format which might havemade for a loose suite of unrelated movements.But Mussorgsky prefaced his musical pictureswith a prelude in which he imagined himself, ashe described, roving through the exhibitionnow leisurely, now brisklyin order to come closeto a picture that has attracted [my] attention.The theme of this Promenade unies thecomposition: it forms the subject of several

interludes between movements and reappears intwo of themmysteriously in Catacombs andtriumphantly in The Great Gate at Kiev.

INSPIRED ORCHESTRATION Pictures at anExhibition was performed infrequently duringMussorgskys lifetime. But in 1922, conductorSerge Koussevitsky commissioned the French

composer Maurice Ravel to orchestrate themusic. Ravels scoring was inspired even whenunorthodox: the presentation of the mournfulmelody of The Old Castle by the saxophone isas effective as it is unexpected; the folk tune heardin Bydlo (whose title refers to a three-wheeledcattle cart) is both ponderous and lyrical whensung in the high register of the tuba.

MODEST MUSSORGSKYBornMarch 21, 1839, Karevo, Russia

DiedMarch 28, 1881, St. Petersburg

MAURICE RAVEL

BornMarch 7, 1875, Ciboure, France

DiedDecember 28, 1937, Paris


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First perormanceOctober 19, 1922, in Paris,conducted by SergeKoussevitzky

STL Symphony Premiere

October 31, 1930, EnriqueFernndez Arbs conductingselections rom the work

Most RecentSTL SymphonyPerormanceJanuary 16, 2011, DavidRobertson conducting

Scoring3 futes2 piccolos3 oboesEnglish horntwo clarinetsbass clarinetalto saxophone2 bassoonscontrabassoon4 horns3 trumpets

3 trombonestubatimpanipercussion2 harpscelestastrings


The music is sufciently suggestive thatthe individual pictures require but a littledescription. Tuileries is the famous gardensin Paris, here portrayed with children at play.Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells derives from

Hartmanns sketch of decor for a diversion byMarius Petipa, the renowned choreographer atthe Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. SamuelGoldenberg and Schmuyle is a composite oftwo portraits Hartmann drew near the Warsawghetto. Mussorgsky, who owned these drawings,described them as two Jews, one rich, the otherpoor, and to judge by the music, they seem to

be quarreling.Catacombs is for a drawing Hartmannmade of the famous Roman tombs. Its musiccontinues directly into Mussorgskys meditationon an inscription there: Cum mortis in linguamortua With the Dead in the Language of theDead. Baba-Yaga is a witch familiar in Russianfolklore. She lives in a dreadful hut adorned withhuman skulls and walks through the forest on

giant chicken legs. The nale depicts Hartmannsdesign for a majestic stone arch to be built over asmall chapel in Kiev; Mussorgsky imagines boththe churchwe hear a traditional Russian hymnand ringing bellsand the great arch sheltering it.

Program notes 2013 by Paul Schiavo


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GILBERT VARGALINDA AND PAUL LEE GUEST ARTIST

Gilbert Varga, son of the celebrated Hungarianviolinist Tibor Varga, studied under three very

different and distinctive maestros: FrancoFerrara, Sergiu Celibidache, and Charles Bruck.A commanding and authoritative gure on thepodium, Varga is renowned for his elegant batontechnique, and has held positions with andguest-conducted many of the major orchestrasthroughout the world.

Over the past decade, Vargas reputationin North America has grown rapidly, andthe 2012-13 season sees his return to thesymphony orchestras of Baltimore, Houston,Atlanta, Milwaukee, Colorado, and Utah,among others, and to the MinnesotaOrchestra, which he conducts every season.In Europe Varga regularly conducts the majororchestras in musical centers such as Berlin,Leipzig, Frankfurt, Cologne, Budapest, Lisbon,

Brussels, and Glasgow, with soloists such asTruls Mrk, James Ehnes, Marc-Andr Hamelin,and Kirill Gerstein. Highlights of the 2012-13season include his return to the GurzenichOrchestra, Berlin Konzerthausorchester,MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, and RoyalScottish National Orchestra.

In the earlier part of his conducting careerVarga concentrated on work with chamber

orchestras, particularly the Tibor Varga ChamberOrchestra, before rapidly developing a reputationas a symphonic conductor. He was ChiefConductor of the Hofer Symphoniker between1980 and 1985, and from 1985 to 1990 he wasChief Conductor of the Philharmonia Hungaricain Marl, conducting their debut tour to Hungarywith Yehudi Menuhin. In 1991 Varga took up

the position of Permanent Guest Conductor ofthe Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra until 1995,and from 1997 to 2000 was Principal Guestof the Malm Symphony. From 1997 to 2008,Varga was Music Director of the Basque NationalSymphony Orchestra, leading them through10 seasons, including tours across the U.K.,Germany, Spain, and South America.

Gilbert Varga most recentlyconducted the St. Louis

Symphony in October 2010.

FelIx

BRoede


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PETER SERKINWHITAKER GUEST ARTIST

Peter Serkins rich musical heritage extends backseveral generations: his grandfather was violinist

and composer Adolf Busch and his father pianistRudolf Serkin. In 1958, at age 11, he entered theCurtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia wherehe was a student of Lee Luvisi, MieczyslawHorszowski, and Rudolf Serkin. He latercontinued his studies with Ernst Oster, MarcelMoyse, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel. In 1959 Serkinmade his Marlboro Music Festival and NewYork City debuts with conductor AlexanderSchneider. Invitations soon followed to performwith the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szellin Cleveland and Carnegie Hall, and with thePhiladelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandyin Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall. He has sinceperformed with the worlds major symphonyorchestras and with such eminent conductorsas Seiji Ozawa, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim,

Claudio Abbado, and Simon Rattle.An avid proponent of the music of manyof the 20th and 21st centurys most importantcomposers, Serkin has performed manyimportant world premieres, in particular, worksby Toru Takemitsu, Peter Lieberson, and OliverKnussen, all of which were written for him. Mostrecently, Serkin played the world premieres ofCharles Wuorinens Piano Concerto No. 4 with

the Boston Symphony, James Levine conducting,in Boston, at Carnegie Hall, and at Tanglewood,as well as a fth piano concerto by Wuorinenwith the Met Opera Orchestra and Levine, alsoat Carnegie Hall; a solo work by Elliot Cartercommissioned by Carnegie Hall and the GilmoreInternational Keyboard Festival; and Wuorinensnew piano quintet (commissioned by the

Rockport Music Festival) with the BrentanoString Quartet.Peter Serkin is a Steinway Artist and has

recorded for Arcana, Boston Records, Bridge,Decca, ECM, Koch Classics, New World Records,RCA/BMG, Telarc, and Vanguard Classics.

Peter Serkin most recentlyperormed with the

St. Louis Symphony inOctober 2008.


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YOU TAKE IT FROM HEREIf these concerts have inspired you to learn more, here are suggested sourcematerials with which to continue your explorations.

russian-crats.com/tales/rus_lud.htmlA translation of Alexander Pushkinslengthy poem Ruslan and Lyudmila, goodfor a long Russian winter night

Kenneth Chalmers, Bla BartkPhaidonA good, concise biography

David Brown,Musorgsky: His Life and WorksOxord University PressAn excellent biography by Englandsleading scholar of Russian music

Richard Taruskin,Musorgsky: Eight Essaysand an EpiloguePrinceton University PressA detailed study by Americas leadingscholar of Russian music

Read the program notes online atstlsymphony.org/planyourvisit/programnotes

Keep up with the backstage life of the St. Louis Symphony, as chronicled by

Symphony staffer Eddie Silva, via stlsymphony.org/blog

The St. Louis Symphony is on


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CORPORATE DONOR SPOTLIGHTARTS AND EDUCATION COUNCIL OF ST. LOUIS

What is planned or the Arts and Education Councils 50th anniversary year?

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) kicked off its 50th anniversarycelebration at the annual St. Louis Arts Awards on January 21. As part of theanniversary celebration, A&E has created 50 Years of Shaping a VibrantArts Community for All, a historical exhibit that traces the history of thearts in St. Louis through the past ve decades. The historical timeline is amoving pictorial of St. Louiss arts scene, including photos and memorabiliarepresenting theater, dance, music, and visual arts organizations. A 50thanniversary timeline is also available at keeparthappening.org.

Regarding the St. Louis Arts Awards, why were these awards created, and whoreceived awards this year?Presented since 1992, the St. Louis Arts Awards is the preeminent awardceremony honoring individuals who achieve a legacy of artistic excellence,and organizations and businesses that enrich St. Louiss arts and culturalcommunity. Those honored were: Chuck Berry, Lifetime Achievement in theArts; PNC Bank, Corporate Support of the Arts; Judy and Jerry Kent, Excellencein Philanthropy; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Excellence in the Arts; Michael

Uthoff, Excellence in the Arts; St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU, Championof the Arts; and Duane Martin Foster, Art Educator of the Year.

The STL Symphony has been a grateul benefciary o support since A&Esounding. How many regional arts organizations has the A&E Council supportedthrough the years and how does it select its recipients?The anniversary milestone signies a half century of A&Es high-impactfunding of nonprot arts and arts education organizations throughout the16-county, bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area that it serves. Since 1963, A&E

has provided over 2,800 grants totaling over $100 million in funds raised fromtens of thousands of individual, foundation, and corporate donors. Each year,A&E grants are directed to nearly 70 organizations. That support has resultedin an economic impact of $714 million regionally, with more than 12 millionpeople attending art performances, classes and events each year.

A&E is unique in its support o both the arts and education; what can you tell usabout the A&E Councils educational endeavors?

A&E encourages its member organizations to develop unique approaches toproblem solving, leadership, and community involvement. In addition, A&Erequires that every group it funds have an educational component to its missionas studies continue to show that children who are involved in the arts get bettergrades, have fewer problems and are more likely to graduate from high school.Many of A&Es grantees work directly with schools, students, and teachers toprovide educational opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable.


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Outside food and drink are notpermitted in Powell Hall. No food ordrink is allowed inside the auditorium,except for select concerts.

Powell Hall is not responsible for

the loss or theft of personal property.To inquire about lost items, call314-286-4166.

POWELL HALL RENTALS

Select elegant Powell Hall for your nextspecial occasion.

Visit stlsymphony.org/rentalsfor more information.


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St. Louis Symphony Program - Jan. 25-27, 2013

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