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Home , Alexander Scriabin, Asrael Symphony, Four Last Songs, Jan Lisiecki, Orchestra Mozart, Richard Strauss

PLAYS SCHUMANN

34 PROGRAM

John Rea Wednesday, February 15, 2017 Survivance: Sesquie for ’s 150th 8:00pm (Feb 15 only; TSO PREMIÈRE/TSO CO-COMMISSION) Thursday, February 16, 2017 8:00pm Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), Op. 24 Jakub Hrůša conductor Intermission Jan Lisiecki Piano in A Minor, Op. 54 I. Allegro affettuoso II. : Andantino grazioso III. Allegro vivace

FEB 15 PERFORMANCE PRESENTING SPONSOR Le poème de l’extase (), Op. 54 In gratitude for their generous philanthropy, Blake and Belinda Goldring are recognized as Please note that the performance on February 15 is being recorded for Patrons of Jan Lisiecki’s online release at TSO.CA/CanadaMosaic. appearance with the TSO.

The fabulous Jan Lisiecki joins conductor Jakub Hrůša for this colourful concert. Richard Strauss’s tone poem Death and Transfiguration is one of his finest. Like many late-Romantic , Strauss had a fascination with death, although he lived a very long and productive life. This work reveals an impressive and diverse range of emotions and memories as a dying artist looks Peter back on his life. Jan is the soloist in Schumann’s ever-popular , Oundjian one of the ’s most confident creations. From the thrilling stentorian Music call of the opening, through the rich rhapsody of the first movement, the warm Director and melodic slow movement, and the exciting finale, this is the work of a genuine master, ingeniously crafted and completely compelling. Scriabin was a true eccentric, an artist who evolved from late into his own unique style. His music pushes and traditional concepts of melody and form to their furthest reaches. The Poem of Ecstasy is a sprawling, powerful canvas, painted in bold colours, and yet also surprisingly intimate at times.

35 For a program note to John Rea’s Survivance: Sesquie for THE DETAILS Canada’s 150th, please turn to pg. 4 of the Canada Mosaic Sesquies program.

Richard Strauss Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), Op. 24

Born: , now in , Jun 11, 1864 24 Died: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Sep 8, 1949 min Composed: 1888–1889

Shortly after Strauss completed , his second tone poem and the first to win success, STRAUSS’S PROGRAM he set to work on a third such piece, Death and Transfiguration. He conducted the première in Five years after its composition, Strauss Eisenach, Germany, on June 21, 1890. revealed his inspiration for this initially terrifying yet ultimately uplifting piece in a letter to a Death and Transfiguration is a purely imaginary friend (the four sections of the piece have work, since the 25 year-old composer had not been added to the description below): undergone any life-threatening experiences by that point in his life. It is worth noting, “The idea came to me to write a tone poem however, that when he started its composition, describing the last hours of a man who has he was deeply in thrall with ’s striven for the highest ideals, presumably groundbreaking , —in an artist. 1888, he was hired to work as the repetiteur [I. Largo.] The sick man lies in bed (or vocal coach) for a production at the breathing heavily and irregularly in his . Death and Transfiguration sleep. Friendly dreams bring a smile to the owes much to Wagner’s opera, in concept face of the sufferer; his sleep grows lighter; (the opera’s plot features a “Liebestod”, or “love he awakens. death”, and ultimately culminates with Isolde’s [II. Allegro.] Fearful pains begin once more transfiguration), and in sound. It displayed to torture him, fever shakes his body. remarkable maturity for one so young, in terms [III. Meno mosso, ma sempre alla breve.] of creative confidence, philosophical ambition, When the attack is over and the pain and the skillful handling of the large, post- recedes, he recalls his past life; his Romantic . In it, he leads listeners on a childhood passes before his eyes; his youth harrowing but ultimately heartening, Beethoven- with its striving and passions and then, like journey from darkness to light. while the pains return, there appears to him the goal of his life’s journey, the ideal, Sixty years later, he quoted the noble, the ideal which he attempts to embody in symbolically rising “transfiguration” theme in his art, but which he was unable to perfect the concluding section of the , because such perfection can be achieved after the soloist has sung the words “Can this by no man. The fatal hour arrives. perhaps be death?” As he lay on his deathbed, [IV. Moderato.] The soul leaves the body, he whispered to his daughter-in-law, Alice, to discover in the eternal cosmos the “Dying is just as I composed it in Death and magnificent realization of the ideal which Transfiguration.” could not be fulfilled here below.” Program note by Don Anderson

36 Robert Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54

Born: Zwickau, now in Germany, Jun 8, 1810 31 Died: Endenich, now in Germany, Jul 29, 1856 min Composed: 1841–1845

Schumann composed the first movement of striking originality. All of the movement’s his only piano concerto in 1841, as a separate themes, in fact, are in a state of perpetual Fantasie; only in the spring and summer of 1845 metamorphosis, taking new shapes and did he add two movements to create a complete sampling new instrumental sonorities. The . His wife Clara gave its première at a is novel: it is mostly based on new Gewandhaus concert in Leipzig, on New Year’s ideas, and is conspicuously free of conventional Day, 1846. virtuoso fireworks. The whole concerto, in fact, is more poetic than bravura, and Schumann Even as it bows to the forms of the Classical orchestrates with a light touch, giving special concerto, this work is imbued with a burning attention to the woodwinds—above all the Romanticism. It opens with one of the boldest , the Romantic woodwind par excellence. salvos in the concerto literature: the curtain does not rise, it is torn open; the piano veritably The slow movement is exceptionally beautiful, pounces on the listener. The first movement but concise, like an extended introduction to the focuses with unusual insistence on one theme, finale. Schumann labelled it “Intermezzo”, and the mournful melody heard right after the aptly so: it is an island of tranquility. The gentle, introduction; piano and orchestra together childlike opening theme is a lovely surprise; the extend and vary it in an expansive, rhapsodic virile first movement has not prepared us for stream of melody, and later develop it with such innocence. Near the end, the main theme of the first movement is dramatically recalled to make a transition to the finale, which follows without a break. Boisterous and fleet-footed, CHIARA swept along by its waltz-like , the finale Schumann was fond of encoding names has an air of celebration. It is spacious, with in his musical works, especially his wife’s. some half a dozen themes and long, rhapsodic It has been pointed out that, in the first transitions, though again the first theme is movement, the first four notes of the firmly in charge. (The quiet, march-like second theme—C-B-natural-A-A—could be taken theme has a tongue-in-cheek pomp.) In a to spell "Chiara" (what we call B-natural long coda, Schumann delays the final cadence the call H), the Italian version to brilliant effect, racking his brain for every of Clara’s name. It is not known whether thematic variant, every lyrical interpolation, every Schumann intended this, but it is clear that harmonic digression, every new piano texture this oboe theme dominates the movement, he can think of in order to prolong it. But only assuming various guises—from poetic and a resolution this powerful fits a work of such singing to march-like and jubilant. passion, beauty, and audacity.

Program note by Kevin Bazzana

37 THE DETAILS

Alexander Scriabin Le poème de l’extase (The Poem of Ecstasy), Op. 54

Born: , , Jan 6, 1872 22 Died: Moscow, Russia, Apr 27, 1915 min Composed: 1905–1908

The young Scriabin focused his energies on humanity, through music, for the upcoming a career as a concert , both inside and intermingling of man and divinity. outside Russia. He played a great deal of his These feelings inspired him to compose music own music, which at that time was sufficiently of soaring emotion, new, unusual , traditional—with its echoes of Chopin and and immense instrumental colour. These Tchaikovsky—to find widespread favour with qualities are conveyed most successfully through audiences. He later shifted his efforts primarily to the orchestra, a medium to which he came composition. late. All of his orchestral scores date from the Time and a variety of influences made his music period 1895 to 1910. The first two more individual. He developed interests in Liszt, (1900 and 1901) display recognizable roots in Wagner, and Debussy, for example, three of mainstream late Romantic style. With the great musical radicals of the day. He also No. 3 (1904, subtitled “The Divine Poem”), he embraced philosophical concepts drawn from made a strong shift toward his mature style. eastern religions and non-conformist Russian Two years later, he published a lengthy poem. poetry. He came to think of music as a medium Initially titled Orgiastic Poem, he changed the for the expression of his mystical beliefs, as name to The Poem of Ecstasy, and declared well as a means to bring about the spiritual it the written embodiment of the orchestral enlightenment of listeners. He saw himself as the work that he had already begun. The single- purveyor of universal truth, his goal to prepare movement Poem of Ecstasy achieved, in a more compact and convincing way than the sprawling, three-movement Symphony No. 3, his goal of The Poem of Ecstasy is the Joy of Liberated channelling cosmic forces. Action. The Cosmos, i.e., Spirit, is Eternal Poem and music celebrate several types of Creation without External Motivation, ecstasy, including the creative and erotic a Divine Play of Worlds. […] When the varieties. Opening in quiet contemplation, [Creative] Spirit has attained the supreme the musical poem consists of repeated waves culmination of its activity and has been torn of energy. Interludes of relative repose divert away from the embraces of teleology and each wave from fulfilling the music’s maximum relativity, when it has exhausted completely emotional potential. Solo plays a its substance and its liberated active energy, featured role in leading the way, until finally all the Time of Ecstasy shall arrive. uncertainties evaporate in the overwhelming —Excerpt from the program note approved sunburst of the concluding section. by Scriabin for the work’s 1909 première Program note by Don Anderson

38 THE ARTISTS

Jakub Hrůša conductor

Jakub Hrůša made his TSO début in October 2014.

Born in the Czech Republic and described by Gramophone as “on the verge of greatness,” Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor of Bamberg Symphony, Permanent Guest Conductor of the , and Principal Guest Conductor of Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO).

He is a regular guest with the world’s greatest . Recent highlights include Bohemian Legends and The Mighty Five—two major series specially devised for the —and his début with the Royal Orchestra. The 2016/17 season sees him make major débuts with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, , Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. As a conductor of opera, he is a regular guest with the Glyndebourne Festival, and has served as Music Director of Glyndebourne On Tour for three years. Elsewhere he has led productions for , Opéra National de , Opera, Finnish National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, and Prague National Theatre.

As a recording artist, he has released six discs for Supraphon including a live recording of Smetana’s Má vlast from the Prague Spring Festival. He has made live recordings of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie, and Suk’s Asrael Symphony with TMSO for Octavia Records; other recordings include the Tchaikovsky and Bruch violin with Nicola Benedetti and the Czech Philharmonic (Universal), and a series of three discs with PKF-Prague Philharmonia for Pentatone, including orchestral works by Dvořák, and concertos with Johannes Moser. He will also embark on a new partnership in the coming seasons with Tudor and Bamberg Symphony. His latest disc, Má vlast with the Bamberg Symphony, was released in autumn 2016, coinciding with the start of his tenure as Chief Conductor.

Jakub Hrůša studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and is currently President of the International Martinů Circle. In 2015, he was the inaugural recipient of the Sir Prize.

39 THE ARTISTS

Jan Lisiecki piano

Jan Lisiecki made his TSO début in January 2012.

Just 21, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki has won acclaim for his extraordinary interpretive maturity, distinctive sound, and poetic sensibility. has called him “a pianist who makes every note count.”

Jan Lisiecki was born to Polish parents in Canada in 1995. He began piano lessons at the age of five and made his concerto début four years later. Lisiecki was brought to international attention in 2010, after the Fryderyk Chopin Institute issued a recording of Chopin’s piano concertos, performed live by Jan at ages 13 and 14; the release was awarded the prestigious Diapason Découverte.

Confirming his status among the most imaginative and poetic of his generation, (DG) signed an exclusive contract with Jan in 2011, when he was just 15 years old. For DG, he has released three recordings to date: Mozart’s Piano Concertos K. 466 and 467 (2012); Chopin’s Études Op. 10 and 25 (2013); and Schumann’s works for piano and orchestra (2016). In early 2017, Jan Lisiecki’s rendition of Chopin’s seldom-performed works for piano and orchestra with the NDR Orchester and Krzysztof Urbański will be published by DG.

In March 2013, Lisiecki substituted at short notice for , performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with under . Since then, the pianist’s development has taken place in company with many of the world’s leading orchestras. In the 2016/17 season, Jan will perform extensively across the world. Highlights include a tour with the Philharmonic Orchestra and , performing in the opening festival of the new Elbphilharmonie in with Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and a tour of and with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Peter Oundjian.

Foremost radio and television networks in Europe and have extensively broadcast Lisiecki’s performances; he was also the subject of the CBC National News documentary The Reluctant Prodigy. In 2013, he received the Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and was also named Gramophone Magazine’s Young Artist of the Year.

Jan is involved in charity work, donating his time and performance to such organizations as the David Foster Foundation, the Polish Humanitarian Organization, and the Wish Upon a Star Foundation. In 2012, he was named UNICEF Ambassador to Canada having been a National Youth Representative since 2008.

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