Philharmonia Orchestra Ducted by Valery Gergiev
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS PROGRAM NOTES Friday, November 9, 2012, 8pm Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. 1958) Zellerbach Hall Helix Composed in 2005. Premiered on August 29, 2005, in London by the World Orchestra for Peace con- Philharmonia Orchestra ducted by Valery Gergiev. Esa-Pekka Salonen, Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor Conducting is tough, composing probably even harder, but some of the most brilliant musi- PROGRAM cians—Busoni, Mahler, Bernstein, Boulez, Previn—have pursued parallel careers in both fields that enriched all the facets of their creative Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. 1958) Helix (2005) personalities. To this select company must now be added the Finnish composer-conductor Esa- Pekka Salonen. Born in Helsinki on June 30, 1958, Salonen majored in horn at the Sibelius Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 Conservatory, where he founded a “collective” (1811–1812) called Ears Open for promoting and perform- I. Poco sostenuto — Vivace ing new music with Jouni Kaipainen, Magnus II. Allegretto Lindberg, and Kaija Saariaho, now all major Esa-Pekka Salonen III. Presto — Assai meno presto musical figures in Finland. After graduating IV. Allegro con brio in 1977, Salonen studied composition privately Illustration by Tom Bachtell with Einojuhani Rautavaara and conducting with Jorma Panula, and attended conducting He also continues to guest conduct concerts and INTERMISSION courses in Siena and Darmstadt; he also stud- opera throughout the world and to serve as ar- ied composition with Niccolò Castiglioni and tistic director of the Baltic Sea Festival, which Franco Donatoni in Italy. In 1979, Salonen he co-founded in 2003. Esa-Pekka Salonen is Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (1830) made his professional conducting debut with the recipient of several major awards, including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana 1. Rêveries, Passions he was soon engaged as a guest conductor across (the first conductor ever to receive that distinc- 2. Un bal (“A Ball”) Scandinavia. Successful appearances conduct- tion), the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Opera 3. Scène aux champs (“Scene in the Country”) ing Wozzeck at the Swedish Royal Opera and the Award and Conductor Award, honorary doc- 4. Marche au supplice (“March to the Scaffold”) Mahler Symphony No. 3 with the Philharmonia torates from the Sibelius Academy, Hong Kong 5. Songe d’une nuit du Sabbat (“Dream of a Orchestra of London led to his appointment Academy of Performing Arts, and University of Witches’ Sabbath”) as conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Southern California, and the Helsinki Medal. Orchestra in 1985, a post he held until 1995. In 1998, he was awarded the rank of Officier de He was principal guest conductor of the Oslo l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French gov- The Philharmonia Orchestra would like to thank its Principal Supporter, Philharmonic from 1984 to 1989, and of the ernment. Musical America named him its “2006 The Meyer Foundation, and Proud Supporter British Airways. London Philharmonia from 1985 to 1994; he Musician of the Year.” On July 26, 2012, he was has also held positions with the New Stockholm chosen to carry the Olympic Flame as part of the Chamber Orchestra, Avanti! Chamber 2012 London Summer Games torch relay. Orchestra, Helsinki Festival, and London Though his widest recognition has been as a conductor, Salonen is also an accomplished The Philharmonia Orchestra’s residency under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen is made Sinfonietta. Salonen made his American debut composer. (“I actually think of myself more as possible, in part, by Ann and Gordon Getty, whose gift was made in honor of Jan Shrem and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984, and was that orchestra’s music director from a composer than a conductor,” he said in 1998.) Maria Manetti Shrem. Additional support is provided by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia 1992 until 2009; he was named the ensemble’s His early compositions, including a saxophone Foundation and by Patron Sponsors Shirley D. and Philip D. Schild. Conductor Laureate in April 2009. Since 2008, concerto, an orchestral piece titled Giro and a he has been Principal Conductor and Artistic few works for solo instruments and unconven- Cal Performances’ 2012–2013 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. Advisor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. tional chamber groupings, are rooted in the 16 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 17 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES avant-garde enthusiasms of his student days, to benefit themselves. Beethoven was eager to Richard Wagner, who called the work “the apo- earlier movements and make it the goal toward but since his LA Variations of 1996, written for have the as-yet-unheard A major Symphony of theosis of the Dance in its highest aspect…the which they had all been aimed. So intoxicat- the Los Angeles Philharmonic, his work has the preceding year performed, and he thought loftiest deed of bodily motion incorporated in ing is this music that some of Beethoven’s con- been more immediate and easily approachable. the financial reward worth the trouble, so he an ideal world of tone.” Couching his observa- temporaries were sure he had composed it in a Of his Helix, composed in 2005 on a commis- agreed. The concert consisted of this “Entirely tion in less highfalutin language, John N. Burk drunken frenzy. An encounter with the Seventh sion from the BBC for the Proms Festival in New Symphony” by Beethoven, marches by believed that its rhythm gave this work a feeling Symphony is a heady experience. Klaus G. Roy, London and premiered at the Royal Albert Hall Dussek and Pleyel performed on a “Mechanical of immense grandeur incommensurate with its the distinguished musicologist and former pro- on August 29, 2005, by the World Orchestra Trumpeter” fabricated by Mälzel, and an orches- relatively short, 40-minute length. “Beethoven,” gram annotator for the Cleveland Orchestra, for Peace conducted by Valery Gergiev, Salonen tral arrangement of Wellington’s Victory, a piece Burk explained, “seems to have built up this im- wrote, “Many a listener has come away from wrote, “I decided to compose a celebratory and Beethoven had concocted the previous summer pression by willfully driving a single rhythmic a hearing of this Symphony in a state of being direct overture-like piece that would neverthe- for yet another of Mälzel’s musical machines, figure through each movement, until the mu- punch-drunk. Yet it is an intoxication with- less be very rigidly structured and based on es- the “Panharmonicon.” The evening was such a sic attains (particularly in the body of the first out a hangover, a dope-like exhilaration with- sentially one continuous process. The form of success that Beethoven’s first biographer, Anton movement and in the Finale) a swift propulsion, out decadence.” To which the composer’s own Helix can indeed be described as a spiral or a Schindler, reported, “All persons, however they an effect of cumulative growth which is akin to words may be added. “I am Bacchus incarnate,” coil; or more academically as a curve that lies had previously dissented from his music, now extraordinary size.” boasted Beethoven, “appointed to give human- on a cone and makes a constant angle with the agreed to award him his laurels.” A slow introduction, almost a movement ity wine to drown its sorrow.... He who divines straight lines parallel to the base of the cone. The orchestra for this important occasion in- in itself, opens the Symphony. This initial sec- the secret of my music is delivered from the mis- “The process of Helix is basically that of a cluded some of the most distinguished musicians tion employs two themes: the first, majestic and ery that haunts the world.” nine-minute accelerando. The tempo gets faster, and composers of the day: Spohr, Schuppanzigh, unadorned, is passed down through the winds but the note values of the phrases become corre- Dragonetti, Meyerbeer, Hummel, and Salieri all while being punctuated by long, rising scales in spondingly longer. Therefore only the material’s lent their talents. Spohr, who played among the the strings; the second is a graceful melody for Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) relation to the pulse changes, not necessarily the violins, left an account of Beethoven as conduc- oboe. The transition to the main part of the first Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14a impression of speed itself. Hence the spiral met- tor. “Beethoven had accustomed himself to in- movement is accomplished by the superbly con- aphor: the material (which consists essentially of dicate expression to the orchestra by all manner trolled reiteration of a single pitch. This device Composed in 1830. Premiered on December 5, two different phrases) is being pushed through of singular bodily movements,” wrote Spohr. not only connects the introduction with the ex- 1830, in Paris, conducted by François Habeneck. constantly narrowing concentric circles until the “So often as a sforzando [a sudden, strong at- position but also establishes the dactylic rhythm music reaches a point where it has to stop as it tack] occurred, he thrust apart his arms, which that dominates the movement. By 1830, when he turned 27, Hector Berlioz has nowhere else to go. he had previously crossed upon his breast. At The Allegretto scored such a success at its had won the Prix de Rome and gained a certain “The musical expression changes quite dras- piano [soft] he crouched down lower and lower premiere that it was immediately encored, a notoriety among the fickle Parisian public for tically in the course of these nine minutes: the as he desired the degree of softness. If a crescendo phenomenon virtually unprecedented for a slow his perplexingly original compositions. Hector idyllic, almost pastoral opening phrase for pic- [gradually louder] then entered, he slowly rose movement.