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Home , Der Graf von Luxemburg, Die Fledermaus, Giuditta, Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss

A NIGHT IN NO V EMBER

FRIDAY 28 November 7.30pm SATURDAY 29 November 7.30pm Federation Concert Hall, Hobart Albert Hall, Launceston

Marko Letonja conductor JOHANN STRAUSS II Lorina Gore soprano The Beautiful Blue Duration 9 mins

SUPPÉ INTERVAL Duration 20 mins Light Cavalry – Duration 6 mins JOHANN STRAUSS II – Overture Duration 8 mins Sphärenklänge Duration 9 mins Frühlingsstimmen Duration 8 mins LEHÁR Csárdás from Ritter Pásmán Duration 5 mins ‘Vilja Song’ from Duration 6 mins ‘Laughing Song’ from Duration 4 mins JOHANN STRAUSS II Egyptian March Duration 5 mins Persian March Duration 6 mins LEHÁR Tritsch-Tratsch- Duration 5 mins ‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss’ This concert will end at from Duration 4 mins approximately 9.30pm.

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45 Franz von Suppé (1819-1895)

Light Cavalry – Overture The two-act Light Cavalry is today best known for its overture. A real tub- Born in Split, Suppé was whisked away thumper, it draws together a range of styles by his mother to her hometown of Vienna and idioms including fanfares, following the death of his father in 1835. military marches and a melody ‘in the It was in Vienna that his career in music MARKO LETONJA LORINA GORE Hungarian style’. took off. Suppé wrote a vast quantity of Marko Letonja is Chief Conductor and Lorina Gore is a regular performer music for the stage, mostly . Artistic Director of the Tasmanian with Australia, where her roles These included Light Cavalry, Flotte Bursche, I ST PRO FI LES ART have included the Queen of the Night and Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna.

Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director PROGRAM NOTES (The Magic Flute); Fiakermilli (Arabella); of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Amina (La sonnambula); Lisa (La Strasbourg. Born in Slovenia, he studied at sonnambula); Leila (The Pearl Fishers); Josef Strauss (1827-1870) the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and the Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream); Vienna Academy of Music. He was Music Honey B (Bliss); Marzelline (Fidelio); Director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Oscar (A Masked Ball); Yum-Yum Sphärenklänge (Sounds of the Spheres) with his older brother for the better part (The Mikado); Niece (Peter Grimes); of the next decade (that said, Johann Orchestra from 1991 to 2003 and Music Second son of and younger Despina (Così fan tutte); Musetta Strauss II resented his brother’s new-won Director and Chief Conductor of both the brother of Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss (La bohème); Nanetta (Falstaff); and fame and tried, for a time, to push him out Symphony Orchestra and the Opera in Basel was an architect and mechanical engineer Woglinde (the Ring cycle). In 2010 she of the limelight). But, sadly, he was destined by profession. He pursued musical activities from 2003 to 2006. He was Principal Guest performed as Pip in Jake Heggie’s Moby- not to have a long life and died at the age in his spare time until his older brother Conductor of in 2008 and Dick for State Opera of South Australia, of 42, most probably from a brain tumour. suffered a nervous breakdown in 1853, made his debut with the TSO the following for which she received a Helpmann Award which temporarily put him out of action. Josef Strauss’s original compositions year. His many opera engagements have nomination. Her international performances number approximately 300 and he wrote have included the title role in Lucia di Josef agreed to step up as interim conductor included Pique Dame at the Grand Théâtre many more arrangements of works by other Lammermoor for Iford Arts; Fiakermilli of the famous Strauss Orchestra. His earliest de Genève, Nabucco at the Semperoper compositions also date from this time. composers (most of which do not survive). (Arabella) for Garsington Opera; Giulia This work, is notable for its Dresden, Il dissoluto assolto/Sancta Susanna Sphärenklänge (La scala di seta) for Independent Opera; Josef presumably enjoyed his time on the refined orchestration and subtle treatment and The Makropulos Case at La Scala Milan, Blonde (The Abduction from the Seraglio), podium for he shared conducting duties of waltz idioms. La traviata for , Rigoletto Agilea (Teseo) and Sandrina (L’infedeltà for the West Australian Opera, Madama delusa) for English Touring Opera; and Norina ( ) and Violetta Butterfly at the Staatsoper Berlin, Don Pasquale (La traviata) for New Zealand Opera. Die Walküre at the Opéra du Rhin, and Die Lorina Gore studied at the Australian Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung at National University in Canberra and the the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon. He returned National Opera Studio in London and has to La Scala in 2012 for a season of Les been the recipient of numerous prestigious contes d’Hoffmann. Recent engagements opera awards. She has recorded highlights include Romeo ét Juliette at the Arena di from with Yvonne Kenny, and selections from Handel’s Rodelinda Verona and Pique Dame at the Vienna State conducted by Richard Bonynge, both for Opera. He will return to the Vienna State ABC Classics. She will perform the roles Opera in coming seasons for Pique Dame, of Violetta and Musetta for Opera Australia Boris Godunov and Les contes d’Hoffmann. in 2015. 46 47 Franz Lehár (1870-1948) Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)

‘Vilja Song’ from The Merry Widow bandmaster and enjoyed only moderate success The Egyptian March was written in 1869. as a composer of operetta. But all that changed It was precisely at this time that Egypt was The Merry Widow (original title: Die lustige with The Merry Widow. flavour of the month in Europe with the Witwe) was the work that brought Hungarian- opening of the Suez Canal in November of born Lehár to international attention. Premièred In this number, the ‘merry widow’ of the title, that year. Predictably, the Egyptian March in Vienna in 1905, it soon went on to conquer Hanna, sings what she claims is a national folk tale flirts with minor-key sonorities – the the stages of the world. Up to that point – the story of the wood nymph Vilja, who enchants augmented second interval, which forms Lehár had eked out an existence as a military a young huntsman and leaves him besotted. part of the minor scale, had long been used as a signifier of the ‘Orient’. Another ‘exotic’

colour is the unusually prominent role of PROGRAM NOTES the sharpened fourth degree of the scale. Es lebt’ eine Vilja, ein Waldmägdelein, There lived a Vilja, a wood-maiden, Ein Jäger erschaut’ sie im Felsengestein! A hunter spied her in a rocky cliff! Dem Burschen, dem wurde The fellow, became So eigen zu Sinn, So strangely affected, Er schaute und schaut He looked and looked auf das Waldmägdlein hin. At the little wood-maiden. Und ein niegekannter Schauder And a never known shudder Fasst den jungen Jägersmann, Seized the young hunter, Egyptian March Sehnsuchtsvoll fing er still zu seufzen an! Longingly he began quietly to sigh! Vilja, o Vilja, Du Waldmägdelein, Vilja, O Vilja, you little woods-maiden, ‘You’re the melody from a symphony Fass’ mich und lass’ mich Take me and let me , / You’re a Bendel bonnet, / Dein Trautliebster sein! Be our dearest true love! a Shakespeare sonnet, / you’re Mickey Vilja, O Vilja, was tust Du mir an? Vilja, O Vilja, what are you doing to me? Mouse!’ The ‘Strauss’ in Cole Porter’s Bang fleht ein liebkranker Mann! Fearfully begs a lovesick man! ‘You’re the Top’ is most probably Johann Strauss II, even though he was a composer Das Waldmägdelein streckte The woods-maiden stretched of waltzes, and the like, and not die Hand nach ihm aus Out her hand to him symphonies. The fact is, Porter would have Und zog ihn hinein in ihr felsiges Haus. And pulled him into her cliff-dwelling. known that the name Strauss would have Dem Burschen die Sinne vergangen fast sind The lad almost lost his senses, ( for) meant ‘’ to his audience. So liebt und so küsst gar kein irdisches Kind. Thus loved and kissed no earthly child. Als sie sich dann satt geküsst As soon as she was sated with kissing Composer of ‘’, ‘Tales Verschwand sie zu derselben Frist! She disappeared at that moment! from the Vienna Woods’, and the operetta Einmal hat noch der Arme sie gegrüsst: Just once did the poor lad wave to her: Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss II trained Vilja, o Vilja, Du Waldmägdelein, Vilja, O Vilja, you little woods-maiden, (briefly) as a banker before following in Fass’ mich und lass’ mich Take me and let me his father’s footsteps and becoming a Dein Trautliebster sein! Be our dearest true love! conductor and composer. (His father, Johann Vilja, O Vilja, was tust Du mir an? Vilja, O Vilja, what are you doing to me? Strauss I, was the composer of the ‘Radetzky Bang fleht ein liebkranker Mann! Fearfully begs a lovesick man! March’.) It turned out to be a wise move, as he enjoyed a 50-year career in music and Translation by Lea Frey became known as ‘The Waltz King’.

48 49 Franz Lehár Johann Strauss II

‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss’ from Giuditta This song, ‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss’ An den schönen, blauen Donau The Gypsy Baron – Overture (My lips, they give so fiery a kiss), comes from his (On the beautiful, blue Danube) Having made his name with The Merry Widow, Austrian statesman Prince Metternich last stage work, Giuditta, which was premièred Lehár went on to compose a string of operettas Nearly everybody recognises the Blue Danube famously remarked that ‘Asia begins at the at the in 1934. Giuditta is including (The Count melody, the first of the chain of waltz Landstrasse’. In other words, Asia begins at set for the most part in North Africa, where the of Luxembourg), Zigeunerliebe (Gypsy Love) and tunes that make up this elaborate, almost the east-facing road out of Vienna. It was title character, who becomes a famous nightclub Das Land des Lächelns (). symphonic composition. Like many of the down that road that exotic peoples dwelt, performer, lives with her soldier lover, Octavio. greatest ideas, it is marvellously simple, none more so than the Gypsies. ‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss’ is one of the based on the rising triad of a songs that Giuditta performs as part of her act. chord. This comes with punctuation saying Gypsy music, or an approximation of it,

immediately ‘Viennese waltz’, and continues had long been popular in Vienna (Brahms’s PROGRAM NOTES Ich weiss es selber nicht, I don’t understand myself, to delight for the 32 bars of its course. so-called Hungarian Dances are actually warum man gleich von Liebe spricht, why they keep talking of love, appropriations of the Gypsy style). Johann wenn man in meiner Nähe ist, if they come near me, As he thought up this theme, Strauss Strauss II was able to exploit the fashion in meine Augen schaut und meine Hände küsst. if they look into my eyes and kiss my hand. recalled a poem by Karl Isidor Beck, a love poem to Vienna or to a woman in Vienna, for Gypsy themes in his operetta The Gypsy Ich weiss es selber nicht I don’t understand myself, ending, ‘By the Danube, the beautiful blue Baron, which was premièred at the Theater warum man von dem Zauber spricht, Why they talk of magic, an der on 24 October 1885, on the eve dem keiner widersteht, wenn er mich sieht you fight in vain, if you see me Danube’. Strauss had his title. of the composer’s 60th birthday. wenn er an mir vorüber geht. If you pass me by. In its original form, the Blue Danube was for Doch wenn das rote Licht erglüht But if the red light is on orchestra and chorus and was first performed The overture to The Gypsy Baron opens Zur mitternächt’gen Stund In the middle of the night by the Men’s Choral Society of Vienna in with a forceful, rhetorical Gypsy flourish. Und alle lauschen meinem Lied, And everybody listens to my song, 1867. But it was repeated only once in this This gives way to snatches of melodies dann wird mir klar der Grund: Then it is plain to see: form – a failure by the standards of the here, more fully worked out themes there Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss My lips, they give so fiery a kiss, famous and popular Johann Strauss. But (including a beguiling melody played by the Meine Glieder sind schmiegsam und weiss (weich), My limbs, they are supple and white, later in the year a performance by orchestra ), and frequent changes of mood and n den Sternen da steht es geschrieben: It is written for me in the stars: alone at the Paris World Fair began the craze. tempo (typical of the two-tempo verbunkos Du sollst küssen, du sollst lieben! Thou shalt kiss! Thou shalt love! The Danube may not be blue except when pattern). As you might expect from ‘The Meine Füsse sie schweben dahin, My feet, they glide and float, it reflects a cloudless sky, but Strauss’ most Waltz King’, a waltz theme appears but meine Augen sie locken und glüh’n My eyes, they lure and glow, famous waltz, as Egon Gartenberg rightly it soon gives way to a quick duple-metre und ich tanz’ wie im Rausch den ich weiss, And I dance as if entranced, ‘cause I know! says, made it blue for all the world. meine Lippen sie küssen so heiss! My lips give so fiery a kiss! dance in the Gypsy style. In meinen Adern drin, In my veins Listeners may imagine the beginning as da rollt das Blut der Tänzerin runs a dancer’s blood, morning in the mist, with the rippling sound Denn meine schöne Mutter war Because my beautiful mother of the play of waters on the river’s bottom. Des Tanzes Knigin im gold’nen Alcazar. Was the Queen of dance in the gilded Alcazar. The main body of the river is in the full Sie war so wunderschön, She was so very beautiful, statement of the immortal theme, which ich hab’ sie oft im Traum geseh’n. I often saw her in my dreams, will return, after being followed by a string Schlug sie das Tamburin, zu wildem Tanz, If she beat the tamburine, to her beguiling dance of others – tributaries, each as inspired as dann sah man alle Augen glühn! All eyes were glowing admiringly! its predecessor. Strauss’ refined and subtle Sie ist in mir aufs neu erwacht, She reawakened in me, scoring is most evocative in the introduction ich hab’ das gleiche Los. mine is the same lot. and in the coda, with its nostalgic trumpet. Ich tanz’ wie sie um Mitternacht I dance like her at midnight The world can’t get this music out of its Und fühl das eine blos: And from deep within I feel: head – but why should it? Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss! My lips, they give so fiery a kiss! Adapted from a note by David Garrett © 2004

50 51 Johann Strauss II Fundelnd ferne wie Sterne, Ah – sparkling far away like stars, ah – Zauber schimmert wie des Mondes Strahl, Magic shimmers like moonbeams, Ah-wallt durch’s Tal! ah – reigns through the valley. Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) concert piece’. Some found it too virtuosic, Kaum will entschwinden die Nacht, Hardly has the night vanished, too French and too trifling, butVoices of Spring Lerchensang frisch erwacht when the lark’s song wakes anew, Composed in 1883, Voices of Spring features was well received and it was predicted that Licht kommt sie künden, coming to tell of light, the voice in the music as well as in the title. sopranos of all languages would include the Schatten entschwinden! Ah – and shadows disperse! Ah – It was written to show off the brilliance of Bianca work in their repertoire. Bianchi herself proceeded Die Lerche, etc… The lark, etc… Bianchi, a at the Vienna Court to interpolate it in her opera performances, entfloh’n ist’s heut’ gar weit. Ah – today has flown far away. Ah – Opera. As one reviewer recognised at the time, including Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Des Frühlings Stimmen klingen traut, Ah Voices of spring sound so dear, ah Voices of Spring was ‘less a dance piece than a Ah- o süsser Laut, Ah-ha! ah – o sweet sound, ah – yes. Abridged from a note by Yvonne Frindle © 2002 Die Lerche in blaue Höh’entschwebt, The lark soars in the blue sky above, Translation: Symphony Australia © 2002 PROGRAM NOTES Der Tauwind weht so lau, the dew-wind blows so warm, sein wonniger milder Hauch belebt its mild breath brings life, und küsst das Feld, die Au. and kisses the field, the meadow. Der Frühling in holder Pracht Spring in all her splendour erwacht, Ah! Alle Pein zu End’ mag sein. awakes, Ah! All pain may be at an end Johann Strauss II Alles Leid entflohn’n ist es weit! All suffering is flown far away. Schmerz wird milder Pain eases, frohe Bilder scenes of gladness, Csárdás from Ritter Pásmán der Glaub’ an Glück faith in happiness A csárdás is a Hungarian dance in two kehrt zurück. returns. Sonnenschein The sunshine contrasting sections: the first slow, the dringt nun ein. Ah now breaks through. second fast and wild. A ‘csárda’ is a country Alles lacht! Ah – Erwacht. Everything laughs. Ah – everything wakes. inn but there is no reason to believe that the Die Lerche, etc… The lark, etc… csárdás originated as a rustic dance. It was more likely invented by aristocrats. Franz Da strömt auch der Liederquell, There also flows a stream of songs der so lang schon schien zu schweigen: that for so long seemed to be silenced; Liszt was among the first to popularise the Klingen hört dort wieder rein und hell, hear again the sounds both pure and clear dance in his piano music. süsse Stimmen aus den Zweigen, Ah – sweet voices from the branches, Ah! – Ritter Pásmán is Johann Strauss’s only Leis’ lässt die Nachtigall Gently the nightingale Schon die ersten Töne hören lets her first song be heard; opera (his works for the stage are mostly um die Kön’gin nicht zu stören so as not to disturb the queen, operettas). That said, it was not particularly schweigt ihr Sänger all’! hush you singers all! successful in its opening season in 1892 Voller schon klingt bald ihr süsser Ton, Fully now soon her sweet song sounds, (it was premièred at the Vienna Court Ach, bald, Ah – Ah soon, ah – Opera) nor has it entered the repertory O Sang der Nachtigall O song of the nightingale, since. Nevertheless, the csárdás from holder Klang, ah-ja lovely song, ah yes, Liebe durchglüht, Ah – Love glows through, ah – Ritter Pásmán has enjoyed success as Tönet das Lied, Ah – The song sounds, ah – a concert work. süss und traut, sweet and dear, scheint auch Klagen zu tragen, Ah It seems to bring plaints as well, ah, wiegt das Herz in süsse Träume ein Ah – lulls the heart into sweet dreams, ah – leise ein. gently. Sehnsucht und Lust, Ah – Longing and pleasure, ah – Wohnt in der Brust, dwell in the breast Wenn ihr Sang lockt so bang when her song tempts so fearfully

52 53 Johann Strauss II

‘Laughing Song’ from Die Fledermaus but decides to attend a ball instead and Mein Herr Marquis, ein Mann wie Sie My dear Marquis, a man like you surrender himself the following morning. sollt’ besser das verstehn, should know better than that. He doesn’t mention this to his wife Rosalinde, darum rate ich, ja genauer sich That’s why I say it’s important and she likewise fails to mention her utilising die Leute anzusehn! to take a closer look at people. his absence to entertain Alfred, an old flame. To keep this reunion private, Rosalinde gives her Die Hand ist doch wohl gar so fein, hahaha, My hand is awfully elegant, maid Adele the evening off. This greatly pleases dies Füßchen so zierlich und klein, hahaha, my little foot so petite, Adele, who has acquired an invitation to the die Sprache, die ich führe, the way I speak, ball. When Eisenstein leaves, the police arrive die Taille, die Tournüre, my waist, my bustle,

and arrest the unfortunate Alfred, who gallantly PROGRAM NOTES dergleichen finden Sie you won’t find anything like that impersonates Eisenstein to protect Rosalinde from embarrassment. bei einer Zofe nie! on a maidservant! Gestehen müssen Sie fürwahr, You really must admit, Viennese operetta was created indirectly by At the ball, Eisenstein is surprised when he sehr komisch dieser Irrtum war! it’s a very funny mistake! Frenchman . When his thinks he sees his maid. Adele, however, rather works arrived in Vienna in the late 1850s their publicly points out how silly Eisenstein is to tremendous reception led to demand for home- mistake a lady such as herself for a maidservant. Ja, sehr komisch, hahaha, Yes, very funny, hahaha, grown product, to which various composers She makes this clear in her ‘Laughing Song’. ist dies Sache, hahaha, all this affair, hahaha, responded with mixed success. Vienna’s theatre Adapted from a note by Alastair McKean © 1999 drum verzeihn Sie, hahaha, so forgive me, hahaha, producers believed that great rewards awaited if wenn ich lache, hahaha! if I laugh. Strauss, ‘The Waltz King’ – who at this point had led Viennese popular taste for 20 years – could be talked into writing operetta. Mit dem Profil im griech’schen Stil My Grecian profile beschenkte mich Natur; was a gift of nature; Strauss wrote 16 operettas, but from investing so much of his working life he got a rather wenn nicht dies Gesicht schon genügend spricht, If this face isn’t proof enough, poor return. This was because the operettas so sehn Sie die Figur! then look at my figure! were usually concocted primarily as an excuse Schaun durch die Lorgnette Sie dann, ah, Then take a look through your lorgnette to string together waltzes and polkas, the most sich diese Toilette nur an. at my outfit. catchy of which would then be extracted as Mir scheinet wohl, die Liebe I really think love dance numbers. Their dramatic integrity was virtually nonexistent. Although well received macht Ihre Augen trübe has clouded your eyes. and produced across Europe, their inherent lack der schönen Zofe Bild The image of your beautiful maidservant of theatrical interest ultimately consigned them hat ganz Ihr Herz erfüllt! has so filled your heart, to oblivion. Moreover, Strauss never had a very Nun sehen Sie sie überall, that you think you see her everywhere. secure sense of stagecraft, and consequently sehr komisch ist fürwahr der Fall! The whole thing really is very funny! was particularly hampered by his uninspired librettists and asinine plots. Translation: Symphony Australia © 2003 The glittering exception is Die Fledermaus, to whose sparkling Strauss responded with unalloyed brilliance. Eisenstein is supposed to be commencing a short sentence in prison,

54 55 Johann Strauss II

Marche persane (Persian March) Like the Egyptian March, the Persian March demonstrates Strauss in ‘Oriental’ mode The Persian March was the hit of Strauss’s TEDDY TAHU (indeed, it predates the Egyptian March) and, 1864 season with his orchestra at the like the later work, relies to a large extent upon Russian summer resort town of Pavlovsk, near use of the augmented second interval to provide St Petersburg. For his efforts, Strauss was RHODES ‘exotic’ colour. Strauss reprised the work in awarded the Persian Order of the Sun by the Vienna later that year at a concert marking SERIOUS SONGS Shah of Persia, Naser al Din. the 20th anniversary of his career in music. Music by Brahms-Glanert, Schubert and Barber Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Australian String Quartet, Kristian Chong

Graben, Vienna

Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka developed in Vienna in the 1850s, including a slowish variety and even one in triple time. The polka charged into the ballrooms of Europe from rural Bohemia. It may have originated in This work, the Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, is most (‘polka’ being the Czech word for a Polish definitely an example of the lightning quick woman) but the precise origins of the dance and variety. It is one of Strauss’s most popular works. Featuring the Australian debut recording of Detlev Glanert’s amazing its name are not known. In any case, the polka Although the work always goes by its German ‘recomposition’ of Brahms’ Four Serious Songs and Max Reger’s became tremendously popular in the 1840s and title, ‘tritsch-tratsch’ might be translated as powerhouse arrangement of Schubert’s “Erl-King”. was danced from Prague to St Petersburg, Paris ‘chit-chat’ – Vienna being a city that has always to Vienna, London to Calcutta. A round dance loved gossip and intrigue. (i.e. the dancers form a large circle), the polka is Program notes © Robert Gibson 2014, most typically a lively dance but several varieties Available at tso.com.au AND unless otherwise indicated. TSO Box Office 1800 001 190 56 57