Season 2012-2013
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23 Season 2012-2013 Thursday, April 18, at 8:00 Friday, April 19, at 2:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Saturday, April 20, at 8:00 Nicholas McGegan Conductor Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 I. [no tempo indicated] II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Menuet—Trio I—Polonaise—Trio II David Kim, violin Richard Woodhams, oboe Jonathan Blumenfeld, oboe Peter Smith, oboe Jennifer Montone, horn Jeffrey Lang, horn Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 I. [no tempo indicated] II. Adagio III. Allegro Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 I. [no tempo indicated] II. Andante III. Allegro assai David Kim, violin Jeffrey Khaner, flute Richard Woodhams, oboe David Bilger, trumpet Intermission 24 Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 I. Allegro II. Andante III. Presto David Kim, violin Jeffrey Khaner, flute Loren Lind, flute Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 I. Overture II. Air III. Gavotte I—Gavotte II IV. Bourrée V. Gigue This program runs approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes. The April 18 concert is sponsored by Medcomp. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 2 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details 25 3 Story Title The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin Renowned for its distinctive Philadelphia is home and Carnegie Hall and the sound, beloved for its the Orchestra nurtures Kennedy Center while also keen ability to capture the an important relationship enjoying a three-week hearts and imaginations not only with patrons who residency in Saratoga of audiences, and admired support the main season Springs, N.Y., and a strong for an unrivaled legacy of at the Kimmel Center but partnership with the Bravo! “firsts” in music-making, also those who enjoy the Vail festival. The Philadelphia Orchestra Orchestra’s other area The ensemble maintains is one of the preeminent performances at the Mann an important Philadelphia orchestras in the world. Center, Penn’s Landing, tradition of presenting and other venues. The The Orchestra has educational programs for Philadelphia Orchestra cultivated an extraordinary students of all ages. Today Association also continues history of artistic leaders the Orchestra executes a to own the Academy of in its 112 seasons, myriad of education and Music, a National Historic including music directors community partnership Landmark. Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, programs serving nearly Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Through concerts, 50,000 annually, including Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, tours, residencies, its Neighborhood Concert Wolfgang Sawallisch, and presentations, and Series, Sound All Around Christoph Eschenbach, and recordings, the Orchestra and Family Concerts, and Charles Dutoit, who served is a global ambassador eZseatU. as chief conductor from for Philadelphia and for In February 2013 the 2008 to 2012. With the the U.S. Having been the Orchestra announced a 2012-13 season, Yannick first American orchestra recording project with Nézet-Séguin becomes the to perform in China, in Deutsche Grammophon, eighth music director of 1973 at the request of in which Yannick and The Philadelphia Orchestra. President Nixon, today The the ensemble will record Named music director Philadelphia Orchestra Stravinsky’s The Rite of designate in 2010, Nézet- boasts a new partnership Spring. Séguin brings a vision that with the National Centre extends beyond symphonic for the Performing Arts For more information on music into the vivid world of in Beijing. The Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra, opera and choral music. annually performs at please visit www.philorch.org. 4 Music Director Jessica Griffin Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. From the Orchestra’s home in Verizon Hall to the Carnegie Hall stage, his highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.” Over the past decade, Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. He has appeared with such revered ensembles as the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics; the Boston Symphony; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; the Dresden Staatskapelle; the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; and the major Canadian orchestras. His talents extend beyond symphonic music into opera and choral music, leading acclaimed performances at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, London’s Royal Opera House, and the Salzburg Festival. In February 2013, following the July 2012 announcement of a major long-term collaboration between Yannick and Deutsch Grammophon, the Orchestra announced a recording project with the label, in which Yannick and the Orchestra will record Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. His discography with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for BIS Records and EMI/Virgin includes an Edison Award-winning album of Ravel’s orchestral works. He has also recorded several award-winning albums with the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. A native of Montreal, Yannick studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. In 2012 Yannick was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors. His other honors include Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal. To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor. 26 Conductor Steve J. Sherman For 27 years conductor Nicholas McGegan has been music director of the San Francisco-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorale, one of the world’s leading period-performance ensembles. The orchestra has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the London Proms, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen where Mr. McGegan was artistic director from 1991 to 2011. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2002 and has appeared with major orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong philharmonics; the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Louis, Toronto, and Sydney symphonies; and the Cleveland, Northern Sinfonia, and Scottish Chamber orchestras. Born in England, Mr. McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire “for services to music overseas.” Other awards include the Halle Handel Prize; Germany’s Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony; the Medal of Honor of the City of Göttingen; and a declaration of “Nicholas McGegan Day” by the mayor of San Francisco in recognition of his work with the Philharmonia Baroque. His extensive discography includes recent releases on Philharmonia Baroque’s label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions, including Brahms’s serenades; Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été and Handel arias with mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson; Haydn symphonies No. 88, 101, and 104; and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and other concertos with violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock. Mr. McGegan has enjoyed a long collaboration with groundbreaking choreographer Mark Morris, notably the premiere performances of Morris’s production of Rameau’s Platée at the Edinburgh Festival, and Handel’s L’allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato at Ravinia and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. In 2014 he will rejoin the Mark Morris Dance Group, along with Philharmonia Baroque, for the premiere and touring performances of Mr. Morris’s new production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea in an arrangement by Mozart. Beginning in the 2013- 14 season Mr. McGegan becomes the principal guest conductor of the Pasadena Symphony, where he will have the opportunity to conduct a wide range of his favorite repertoire, which includes Dvorˇák, Britten, Elgar, Mahler, Brahms, and Wagner. 27 Framing the Program Bach’s Six Brandenburg Concertos, of which we hear the Parallel Events first four on the concert today, are now considered among 1721 Music his greatest and most famous compositions. Relatively little Bach Handel is known, however, about their genesis or performance Brandenburg Acis and history during his lifetime. He composed them around Concertos Galatea 1720, when employed as the court musician in Cöthen Literature and writing a large quantity of instrumental music. Montesquieu Lettres In March 1721 Bach assembled six recent concertos in persanes a handsome manuscript copy and affixed an elaborate Art dedication to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Watteau Brandenburg, an enthusiastic music patron and collector. Pilgrimate to Bach had a good job at the time but evidently was Cythera open to something better. Although the Margrave won History some measure of immortality due to these concertos, Regular postal Bach never got a job from him. The virtuoso writing service begins Bach crafted for the individual instrumentalists—each between London and concerto has a different orchestration—gives abundant New England opportunities for the Philadelphians to shine. Bach seems to have composed the third of his four 1731 Music Orchestral Suites (he called them Overtures) about 10 Bach Pergolesi years later, after he had moved on to a new position in Orchestral Magnificat Leipzig, where he spent the rest of his life. The Third Suite Suite No. 3 Literature became the most famous due to the wondrous second Prévost Manon Lescaut movement. Its nickname, “Air on the G String,” derived Art from a late-19th-century arrangement for piano with violin Hogarth playing on one string.