27 Season 2012-2013 Thursday, December 13, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, December 14, at 8:00 Saturday, December 15, Gianandrea Noseda Conductor at 8:00 Alisa Weilerstein Cello Borodin Overture to Prince Igor Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 I. Adagio—Moderato— II. Lento—Allegro molto III. Adagio IV. Allegro—Moderato—[Cadenza]—Allegro, ma non troppo—Poco più lento—Adagio—Allegro molto Intermission Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 (“Polish”) I. Introduzione ed allegro: Moderato assai (tempo di marcia funebre)—Allegro brillante II. Alla tedesca: Allegro moderato e semplice III. Andante elegiaco IV. Scherzo: Allegro vivo V. Finale: Allegro con fuoco (tempo di polacca) This program runs approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes. The December 14 concert is sponsored by Medcomp. 228 Story Title The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin Renowned for its distinctive vivid world of opera and Orchestra boasts a new sound, beloved for its choral music. partnership with the keen ability to capture the National Centre for the Philadelphia is home and hearts and imaginations Performing Arts in Beijing. the Orchestra nurtures of audiences, and admired The Orchestra annually an important relationship for an unrivaled legacy of performs at Carnegie Hall not only with patrons who “firsts” in music-making, and the Kennedy Center support the main season The Philadelphia Orchestra while also enjoying a at the Kimmel Center for is one of the preeminent three-week residency in the Performing Arts but orchestras in the world. Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and also those who enjoy the a strong partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra’s other area the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Orchestra has cultivated performances at the Mann Festival. an extraordinary history of Center, Penn’s Landing, artistic leaders in its 112 and other venues. The The ensemble maintains seasons, including music Philadelphia Orchestra an important Philadelphia directors Fritz Scheel, Carl Association also continues tradition of presenting Pohlig, Leopold Stokowski, to own the Academy of educational programs for Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Music—a National Historic students of all ages. Today Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Landmark—as it has since the Orchestra executes a and Christoph Eschenbach, 1957. myriad of education and and Charles Dutoit, who community partnership Through concerts, served as chief conductor programs serving nearly tours, residencies, from 2008 to 2012. With 50,000 annually, including presentations, and the 2012-13 season, its Neighborhood Concert recordings, the Orchestra Yannick Nézet-Séguin Series, Sound All Around is a global ambassador becomes the eighth music and Family Concerts, and for Philadelphia and for director of The Philadelphia eZseatU. the United States. Having Orchestra. Named music been the first American For more information on director designate in 2010, orchestra to perform in The Philadelphia Orchestra, Nézet-Séguin brings a China, in 1973 at the please visit www.philorch.org. vision that extends beyond request of President Nixon, symphonic music into the today The Philadelphia 29 Conductor Sussie Ahlburg Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda is music director of the Teatro Regio in Turin, chief guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, Victor De Sabata Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, laureate conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, principal conductor of the Orquesta de Cadaqués, and artistic director of the Stresa Festival near his hometown of Milan. He served as the first foreign principal guest conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre from 1997 to 2007 and regularly conducts many of the leading international orchestras. Mr. Noseda made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2010 and has returned several times since to lead the ensemble, most recently this past summer at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Recent highlights of Mr. Noseda’s career include performances of Britten’s War Requiem with the London Symphony and Chorus in London and New York; his highly anticipated debut at the Teatro alla Scala in June 2012 with a new production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller; and debuts at the Edinburgh International Festival and the Vienna State Opera. During the 2012-13 season he makes debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival with the London Symphony in a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto by Robert Carsen. In addition to conducting numerous productions in Turin each season, Mr. Noseda’s work with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Regio includes major recording projects, international tours, and residencies he instituted in Asia and Europe. In May 2013 he takes the ensemble to Vienna for the first time, performing Verdi’s Requiem at the Konzerthaus. Mr. Noseda has conducted five Verdi operas at the Metropolitan Opera, most recently last season’s revival of Macbeth; he returns to the Met in the 2013-14 season. A supporter of young artists, Mr. Noseda led a multi-city tour of the European Union Youth Orchestra in August 2012. He also maintains an intense collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic; his live performances of Beethoven’s complete symphonies from Manchester with that ensemble in 2005 have seen more than 1.4 million downloads from BBC Radio 3. An exclusive Chandos artist since 2002, Mr. Noseda’s discography includes over 35 recordings featuring, among others, works by Prokofiev, Karłowicz, Dvorˇák, Shostakovich, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, and Bartók. 30 Soloist Jamie Jung A 2011 recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius grants,” American cellist Alisa Weilerstein discovered her love for the cello when she was just two years old after her grandmother assembled a makeshift set of instruments out of cereal boxes to entertain her when she had the chicken pox. Frustrated that the Rice Krispies box “cello” didn’t make any music, she convinced her parents to buy her a real one at age four and gave her first public concert six months later. At age 13 she made her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra playing the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations; her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony soon followed. Since then she has appeared with all the major American and European orchestras. Ms. Weilerstein made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2006. In May 2010 Ms. Weilerstein marked a major milestone in her career when she performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim in Oxford, England. The concert was televised live to an audience of millions worldwide and also released on DVD by EuroArts. That same year she became an exclusive recording artist for Decca Classics, the first cellist to be signed by the prestigious label in over 30 years. Ms. Weilerstein’s debut album with Decca, featuring performances of the Elgar and Elliott Carter concertos with Mr. Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle, was released this fall. Ms. Weilerstein’s 2012-13 season includes engagements in Canada, Belgium, Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, and across the United States. In January she tours Europe with pianist Inon Barnatan, visiting Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. She also makes her debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in March with a 16-city tour with Mr. Barnatan. Other highlights include appearances with conductor Lionel Bringuier and the Atlanta Symphony and with Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. Committed to expanding the cello repertoire, Ms. Weilerstein is a fervent champion of new music. She also performs with her parents, Donald and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, as the Weilerstein Trio, which is the Trio-in- Residence at the New England Conservatory in Boston. 31 Framing the Program For the dramatic solo theme that opens his great Cello Parallel Events Concerto, Edward Elgar indicated the expressive marking 1875 Music “nobilmente.” The noble theme reappears throughout the Tchaikovsky Bizet tightly unified piece. Elgar composed the Concerto in the Symphony Carmen wake of the devastating First World War and it premiered No. 3 Literature shortly before the death of his wife, Alice, in 1920. Aside Twain from some small pieces and incomplete projects during The Adventures his final 15 years, the Concerto represents Elgar’s last of Tom Sawyer major composition; in his catalogue of works he wrote: Art “Op. 85, FINIS R.I.P.” Monet Boating at Two dazzling Russian works frame Elgar’s noble Concerto. Argenteuil Alexander Borodin enjoyed greater fame during his History lifetime as an eminent chemist than as a musician. His Bell’s first voice scientific duties meant that he had limited chances to transmission compose and, not surprisingly, he left many projects unfinished. His greatest undertaking was the opera Prince 1887 Music Igor, Borodin Strauss on which he worked for some 18 years. His young Overture to Aus Italien colleague Alexander Glazunov eventually wrote out the Prince Igor Literature Overture based on memories of how Borodin had played Doyle it for friends; it was first performed at a memorial concert A Study in for the composer shortly after his death in 1887. Scarlett Tchaikovsky composed seven symphonies—six numbered Art ones and the Manfred (which chronologically would be Van Gogh Moulin de la 4 ½), based on Lord Byron’s poem. While the Fourth, Galette Fifth, and Sixth remain popular favorites today, his earlier History symphonies are less frequently performed and display a Miles patents more youthful side. After Tchaikovsky’s death, an English elevator conductor gave the five-movement Third Symphony the nickname “Polish” on account of its lively Polonaise finale. 1919 Music Elgar Falla Cello Concerto The Three- Cornered Hat Literature Conrad The Arrow of Gold Art Munch The Murder History Race riots in Chicago 32 The Music Overture to Prince Igor Russian music in the latter half of the 19th century was split between a group of cutting edge “Sunday” composers, busy otherwise with various day jobs, and an academically trained contingent that sought to bring their country into the musical mainstream of Europe.