ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY Orchestra
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PROGRAM: ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY OrchESTRA Saturday, November 2, 2013 / 7:30 PM / BING Concert HALL ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ARTISTS PROGRAM Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (1977) Neeme Järvi, conductor Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello Antonín Dvorˇák: Cello Concerto in B Minor, op. 104, B. 191 (1894–1895) Allegro The enso’s 2013 U.S. tour is made possible Adagio ma non troppo through the support of the Estonian Ministry Allegro moderato of Culture. *INTERMISSION* Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, op. 82 (1914–1919) Tempo molto moderato – Allegro moderato Andante mosso, quasi allegretto Allegro molto PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Please be considerate of others and turn off all phones, pagers, and watch alarms, and unwrap all lozenges prior to the performance. Photography and recording of any kind are not permitted. Thank you. 14 STANFORD LIVE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DeCEMBER 2013 PROGRAM: ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY OrchESTRA ARVO PÄRT (B. 1935) op. 82, no. 1—as the main theme of the Sibelius gradually unravels the CANTUS IN MEMORIAM slow movement. She died shortly after dissonances contained in the theme, only BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1977) Dvorˇák returned home to Prague. Dvorˇák resolving them in the widely separated, then added 60 or so new bars of music affirmative chords that bring the work to Peel back the dense, multilayered at the very end of the concerto, again its conclusion. The opening movement string textures of Estonian composer quoting and meditating on the same unfolds the latent energy of the theme, Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in memoriam song. It is a poignant and elegiac coda gradually working towards a radiant Benjamin Britten and there is a simple to the finale, which begins in a jubilant reprise on full brass, even more noble yet radical idea. In one of his earliest and robust mood with music that can be than the opening. Before it ends, the pieces after casting aside the complex traced back to a cello sonata that Dvorˇák tempo appears to quicken and, in one modernism of the 1960s and early 1970s, had sketched earlier in his time in the of the masterstrokes of the work, the Pärt explores the potential of a single states. Of the tender, reflective closing, musical argument evolves into a dance. descending minor scale, with the highest Dvorˇák wrote: “The concerto closes with In the period between the first (four- violins to the lowest basses playing a gradual diminuendo, like a sigh, with movement) and final (three-movement) simultaneously but at different tempos. reminiscences of the first and second versions of the work, Sibelius wove his A solitary funeral bell punctuates the movements. The solo dies down to opening movement and scherzo into a static serenity of the string sonorities, pianissimo, then swells again, and the last single, organic whole. Its new direction rich with overtones, constantly shifting. bars are taken up by the orchestra, which now seems inevitable as we listen, as Pärt’s music is the farthest music provides a stormy conclusion. That is does the fugal treatment of the motifs imaginable from the goal-oriented my idea and I cannot depart from it.” and thrilling, blazing conclusion. The music of a Beethoven. It is concerned excitement of the opening movement is with being and existing, not becoming. stabilized with the theme and variations Along the way it pays tribute to the JEAN SIBELIUS (1865–1957) that follow. It’s a fascinating, almost then-recently-deceased English composer, SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN E-FLAT hypnotic unfolding of a curious five-note whom he never met but in whose music MAJOR, OP. 82 (1914–1919) theme. Beneath an outer appearance he discovered “unusual purity.” of calm and order, the music has an On the evening of his 50th birthday, inner feeling of restlessness and unease. December 8, 1915, Sibelius conducted A slowly swaying bass line twice gives ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904) the Helsinki Municipal Orchestra in us a glimpse of a theme to come. The CELLO CONCERTO IN B MINOR, the premiere of his Fifth Symphony. It strings buzz excitedly. Then we hear OP. 104, B. 191 (1894–1895) was a heroic, uplifting score; the music the theme in its full glory in the finale, was powerful and festive. The day had tolling in bell-like leaping thirds on Written over a New York winter and been declared a national holiday for two pairs of horns. This glorious theme inspired by the playing of Victor Herbert, the Finns, marking a milestone in the has been likened to Thor swinging principal cellist at the Met, Dvorˇák’s life of Sibelius, their national hero. But his hammer. Certainly, by the end, Cello Concerto opens with two of the the Fifth Symphony itself was far from the noble theme has been solidly most beautiful themes he ever wrote. the masterpiece we know today. Ahead hammered in metal in as affirmative Virtuosity is called for from the soloist lay two major rewrites—“practically an ending as that of any symphony. in the opening movement, but there is composed anew,” Sibelius said, by the no cadenza. The cello plays a heroic time the final version was complete, —Keith Horner, 2013 but not domineering role throughout shortly after the end of the First World and is frequently heard in imaginative, War, five years after he first began chamber music–like combinations of work on the symphony. The work ESTONIAN NATIONAL instruments. The slow movement strikes grows organically from the noble horn SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA a deeply personal note. Like Mozart, motif with which the first movement The Estonian National Symphony Dvorˇák married a woman whose sister opens. It is a questioning theme that Orchestra (ENSO, known in Estonian he once loved. Dvorˇák heard that his ends inconclusively, in midsentence. as Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester – sister-in-law was ill while he was still in But within its uneven contours lies ERSO) started out as a small radio New York and quoted one of her favorite an argument that occupies the entire orchestra in 1926. Over the years, it songs—his own song Leave Me Alone, symphony and haunts every measure. has become Estonia’s representative 16 STANFORD LIVE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DeCEMBER 2013 Cantor Arts Center - TheatreWorks: 10/9 & Stanford Live: Nov/Dec 2013 Program Due: 9/6/13 CANTOR ARTS CENTER AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY Carrie Mae Weems, Carrie Mae Weems, orchestra and has powerfully increased Sky—Ancient Rome A Broad and Expansive its international scope, particularly in recent decades. Since 2010 it has been ARRIE AE led by Principal Conductor and Artistic C M Director Neeme Järvi, while Paavo Järvi has been its artistic advisor since WEEMS from 2002 and Olari Elts, its principal guest Roaming, THREE DECADES conductor since 2007. The orchestra’s OF PHOTOGRAPHY previous principal conductors were © Carrie Mae Weems Oregon. Portland; Private collection. 73 x 61 inches. Digital chromogenic print. 2006. AND VIDEO Olav Roots (1939–1944), Paul Karp (1944–1950), Roman Matsov (1950– THROUGH 1963), Neeme Järvi (1963–1979), Peeter JANUARY 5 Lilje (1980–1990), Leo Krämer (1991– 1993), Arvo Volmer (1993–2001), and Nikolai Alexeev (2001–2010). Experience more than 100 works by this internationally recognized artist, whose powerful work explores issues of race, gender, class, and how history defines us. Renowned guest conductors of ENSO throughout the years have included Hermann Abendroth, Karel Ancˇerl, 328 Lomita Drive at Museum Way, Stanford • Free admission • museum.stanford.edu CAC 082813 weems 1_3sq.pdf Paavo Berglund, Leo Blech, Albert The exhibition has been organized by Kathryn Delmez, curator, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, Tennessee. This exhibition is supported in part by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, and gifts from the HCA Foundation on behalf of HCA and the TriStar Coates, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Family of Hospitals, and Robert and Richard Menschel. Jansons, Aram Khachaturian, Kirill The exhibition's presentation at Stanford is made possible by the Clumeck Fund and Cantor Arts Center Members. Kondrashin, Dmitri Kitaenko, Nicolai Malko, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Kurt Sanderling, Leif Segerstam, Maxim QUATTRO Shostakovich, Leonard Slatkin, Igor Untitled-1 1 8/28/13 1:16 PM Stravinsky, Evgeny Svetlanov, Yuri THE SPA Temirkanov, and Osmo Vänskä. HOTEL The high quality of ENSO’s recordings has been recognized by several music magazines, and it has won many awards, including a Grammy Award for its recording of Sibelius’s cantatas (Virgin Classics). In addition to close cooperation between ENSO and Virgin Classics, the orchestra has also recorded for Alba Records, BIS, Antes Edition, Ondine, Finlandia Records, Melodiya, and other companies. The orchestra has toured widely throughout the world and has taken part in numerous music festivals at home and abroad. ENSO went on its first international concert tour to Romania and Bulgaria in 1972, with 650.566.1200 | www.fourseasons.com/siliconvalley Neeme Järvi and Roman Matsov 2050 UNIVERSITY AVE, EAST PALO ALTO conducting. In the 1970s and 1980s, encoreartsprograms.com 17 SLA_FSH 092613 hotel 1_3s.pdf ad proofs.indd 1 9/26/13 11:09 AM PROGRAM: ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY OrchESTRA ENSO toured the Soviet Union actively Over his long and highly successful BIS, and EMI, among others. Future (including the Far East and cities in career, he has held positions with releases on Chandos include complete Siberia and Transcaucasia) and was a orchestras across the world. Last season ballets by Tchaikovsky, symphonies regular performer in the renowned concert he took up his tenure as artistic and and orchestral music by Swiss composer halls of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) music director of the Orchestre de la Joachim Raff, and also music by and Moscow.