Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Programs, Season 85, 1965
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
I K , 4 ^.^-M&i^s.V ^OOte. y/ /j L. r BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOUNDED IN 1881 BY // /f HENRY LEE HIGGINSON TUESDAY EVENING CAMBRIDGE" SERIES S • 1 4 *««/] X'SS :.''% < S^^*$>5^ %v.' r?^ =~-y~ ~*«»0/ '-<-» "»» /^ Sir' C»S. —.'""' f\ EIGHTY-FIFTH SEASON 1965-1966 The Boston Symphony BEETHOVEN "EROICA SYMPHONY BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCH. |! under Leinsdorf ERICH LEINSDORF "There is a daring quality in Beethoven that should never be lost" says Leinsdorf with particular reference to the great Third Symphony . the " Eroica". There is also a daring, prophetic quality in Mahler's First Symphony, though in a very different idiom. Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony give each of these works performances characterized by profound understanding and sonic beauty. Hear them in Dynagroove sound on RCA Victor Red Seal albums. RCA Victor* @The most trusted name in sound ! EIGHTY-FIFTH SEASON, 1965-1966 CONCERT BULLETIN OF THE Boston Symphony Orchestra ERICH LEINSDORF, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk The TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Henry B. Cabot • President Talcott M. Banks • Vice-President John L. Thorndike • Treasurer Abram Berkowitz E. Morton Jennings, Jr. Theodore P. Ferris Henry A. Laughlin Robert H. Gardiner Edward G. Murray Francis W. Hatch John T. Noonan Andrew Heiskell Mrs. James H. Perkins Harold D. Hodgkinson Sidney R. Rabb Raymond S. Wilkins TRUSTEES EMERITUS Palfrey Perkins Lewis Perry Edward A. Taft Oliver Wolcott Thomas D. Perry, Jr., Manager S. Shirk Norman James J. Brosnahan Assistant Manager Business Administrator Rosario Mazzeo Harry J. Kraut Orchestra Personnel Manager Assistant to the Manager Sanford R. Sistare Andrew Raeburn Press and Publicity Assistant to the Music Director SYMPHONY HALL BOSTON [3] "I happen to know this stock is going to skyrocket." Make no mistake, we're always open to suggestion. And from time to time, a little-known stock turns up that has all the earmarks of a brilliant future. If, after thorough professional analysis, it still looks promising, we're only too happy to put that stock to work to the advantage of our customers. Unfortunately, though, this is pretty rare. So, as it turns out, most of the so-called "red-hot" ones get a cool reception from us. Which is precisely why so many people with sizable holdings let us manage their investments. We protect them from themselves. And their friends. We don't get carried away by hot tips. We have the experience, the judgment, and the staff to dig deep into promising investment opportunities and come up with solid recommendations for our customers. The point: for our investment officers and analysts, investing is a full-time career; for you, it's probably not. We can help you. Now then. What was the name of that stock? THE FIRST & OLD COLONY The First National Bank of Boston and Old Colony Trust Company 4j EIGHTY-FIFTH SEASON NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE -SIXTY-SIX First Program TUESDAY EVENING, October 19, at 8:30 o'clock Wagner "Siegfried Idyll" INTERMISSION Beethoven Symphony No. 9, in D minor, with final chorus on Schiller's Ode to Joy, Op. 125 I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso II. Molto vivace: Presto III. Adagio molto e cantabile IV. Presto: Allegro Allegro assai Presto Baritone Recitative Quartet and Chorus: Allegro assai Tenor Solo and Chorus: Allegro assai vivace, alia marcia Chorus: Andante maestoso Adagio ma non troppo, ma divoto Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato Quartet and Chorus: Allegro ma non tanto Chorus: Prestissimo HARVARD GLEE CLUB and RADCLIFFE CHORAL SOCIETY Elliot Forbes, Conductor NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY CHORUS Lorna Cooke deVaron, Conductor Jane Marsh, Soprano Richard Cassilly, Tenor Eunice Alberts, Contralto Thomas Paul, Bass BALDWIN PIANO RCA VICTOR RECORDS [5] SIEGFRIED IDYLL By Richard Wagner Born in Leipzig, May 22, 1813; died in Venice, February 13, 1883 ft "'Siegfried Idyll" was composed in November, 1870, and first performed at Trib- sclien on December 25 of that year. It is scored for a small orchestra: flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, trumpet, 2 horns and strings. npHE Siegfried Idyll, a birthday gift to Cosima from Wagner in the -*• first year of their marriage, was performed as a surprise to her on Christmas day in the Wagners' villa on Lake Lucerne, at half-past seven in the morning. There were elaborate secret preparations — the copying of the parts, the engaging of musicians from Zurich, rehearsals in the foyer of the old theatre and at the Hotel du Lac in Lucerne. Christmas morning at Tribschen the musicians tuned in the kitchen, and assem- bled quietly on the stairs. There were fifteen players, Hans Richter taking both viola and trumpet, having practiced in seclusion upon the latter unaccustomed instrument. Wagner conducted from the top of the stairs what turned out to be, in the perhaps fatuous testimony of Richter, a "faultless" performance. The Siegfried Idyll is far more than an occasional piece of music, a passing incident of Wagner's family life at Tribschen. It could well be THE DAVID L GERMAN TRAVEL SERVICE Philadelphia's leading travel agency specializing in tours of musical and cultural interest is pleased to announce that their two WINTER OPERA AND THEATRE TOURS TO EUROPE 31 JANUARY — 21 FEBRUARY and 7 FEBRUARY — 9 AAARCH will be highlighted by attendance at the glamorous VIENNA STATE OPERA CONCERT AND BALL With the over 100-piece Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra as accompaniment, tour members will waltz in the gracious setting of the Vienna State Opera's rose-bedecked auditorium following the traditional "Command Performance" featuring many of the great stars of the operatic and concert stage. Supper will be served in your own private box from which you will view the evening's magnificent entertainment. Tour participants, in addition to the Concert and Ball, will attend opera and concert as well as theatre performances in Brussels, Paris, Munich, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid and London accompanied by a distinguished former member of the International Opera Scene who will act as tour host. The first group will be composed of those who cannot conveniently be away for longer than three weeks and who will be able to take advantage of the reduced rate 21-Day Excursion trans-Atlantic Airfare. The second group will enjoy a more leisurely journey with never less than four days in each city, allowing them an opportunity to relax amidst Europe's foremost culture centres while savoring some of its most exciting revivals and premieres. Tour Price, including Jet airline transportation, excellent hotels and meals, cultural touring and the best performance tickets: 31 JANUARY - 21 FEBRUARY: $990 • 7 FEBRUARY - 9 MARCH: $1,630 For further information and detailed itineraries apply to THE DAVID L. GERMAN TRAVEL SERVICE 1400 South Penn Square, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102 Telephone: LOcust 3-7045 [6] called the unflawed reflection of the first moment of deep serenity and felicity in the constantly unsettled life of the composer. The cradle folk-song, "Schlaf, mein Kind, schlaf ein," the only theme in the Idyll which does not also occur in the Third Act of Sieg- fried, of course implicates the namesake of the Norse hero, the son of Richard and Cosima. Their "Fidi," as they fondly called him, was eighteen months old when the Idyll was written. It was not less an expression of the peace of soul that Wagner had found at Tribschen, their idyllic promontory, as well protected as possible by the blue waters of Lake Lucerne from the pressing creditors, the prying visitors, che enemies at court and gossip mongers from which the pair had taken precipitate flight at Munich. Tribschen was a second "Asyl" a refuge at last, where Wagner could give himself to the creation of scores with- out fear of sudden stress and disruption. A "Tribschener Idyll" was Wagner's first title for the work. But in a deeper sense, Cosima is the true center of the Idyll. It was her love which brought his content, and the themes of the Idyll, deriv- ing from 'he love scene of Siegfried and Brunnhilde, had their inner source in the first union of Richard and Cosima.* When Wagner at Tribschen played her excerpts from the Third Act of Siegfried, which had just come into being, so writes du Moulin-Eckart, in his life of Cosima, "she felt as though she must faint for mingled pain and bliss. Then did she realize the object and duty of her life at Tribschen. But he rose and pointed to her portrait, saying that 'this was what he beheld as he had written it all; life still remained upon the heights.' . She * Associating each of Wagner's heroines with one of the women who profoundly influenced his emotional development. Paul Bekker identities Cosima von Biilow with Brunnhilde — not the Valkyrie of the earlier drama, but the very different Brunnhilde whom Siegfried aroused to a great and human passion. "She was an experience Wagner had to live through before he could express in music the love-story of Brunnhilde and Siegfried, the awakening of Woman by Man." [7] really felt that this third act of Siegfried was intimately bound up with her, and with her whole being; for the Master was now drawing upon the themes which had come into being during that period at Starnberg when she had come to him. At the time the two had intended them for quartets and trios, but now they found their true application, for they formed the setting of Briinnhilde's song: 'Ewig war ich, ewig bin ich.' And in this is revealed a wondrous mystery of love and creation." This song found its way into the Siegfried Idyll as its principal theme.