Toronto Orchestra Sir Andrew Davis, Interim Artistic Director

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 8:00pm Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 8:00pm

Thomas Dausgaard, conductor Alisa Weilerstein,

Rued Langgaard Prelude to Antikrist (original version 1921–1922, rev. 1926–1930)

Dmitri Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126 I. Largo II. Allegretto III. Allegretto

Intermission

Béla Bartók REV. 1945 Concerto for Orchestra I. Introduzione: Andante non troppo – Allegro vivace II. Giuoco delle coppie: Allegretto scherzando III. Elegia: Andante non troppo IV. Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto V. Finale: Pesante – Presto

The February 21 performance of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is dedicated to the memory of Thomas Fekete. ’s appearance is generously supported by Dr. Thomas Beechy. Alisa Weilerstein’s appearance is generously supported by Blake and Belinda Goldring.

As a courtesy to musicians, guest artists, and fellow concertgoers, please put your phone away and on silent during the performance.

FEBRUARY 20 & 21, 2019 33 ABOUT THE WORKS

Rued Langgaard Prelude to Antikrist

Born: , , July 18, 1893 10 Died: Ribe, Denmark, July 10, 1952 min Composed: 1921–1923; rev. 1926–1930

Although he was a very prolific dynamic range and contrasts—including works (he wrote over 400 works), Rued Langgaard by Wagner (Parsifal), (Salome), created only one opera: Antikrist. Its subject and Schoenberg (Gurrelieder). However, none of is the spiritual decline of civilization, depicted these aspects appear in the Prelude, which, in allegorically in the work as due to the presence the concert version you hear tonight, combines and negative influence of the New Testament the serene, “celestial” music that opens Antikrist figure of the Antichrist in this world, which with that of its concluding chorale. humankind can only overcome through divine The Prelude begins with a majestic power and insight. Based on P.E. Benzon’s 1907 orchestral unison. The then introduce dramatic poem, Antichrist, the libretto was a mysterious, melancholy theme, tinged fashioned by Langgaard himself into a series of with piquant dissonances; it is then taken tableau-like scenes consisting of monologues, up more assertively by the oboe, trumpet, akin to a medieval mystery play. In the revised and first violins, strikingly accompanied by a (and final) version, an orchestral Prelude combination of plucked strings, harp, a tenor opens this “mystery opera,” and is followed drum, timpani, bells, and organ. After a pause, by a Prologue that introduces the Antichrist. music marked “angelico” follows: violins Five scenes follow, each featuring figures present a lyrical melody, variants of which personifying the destructive forces of apathy, are added, in turn, by the various sections of superficial faith in progress and development, the strings. Ominous-sounding timpani rolls despair, lust, and hate. In the sixth and final briefly interrupt the tranquil progress of the scene, the Antichrist is destroyed by God, and a counterpoint, which is then resumed by the chorus sings the concluding moral message. woodwinds. The timpani quietly interjects The composer once said that he wanted his once more, signalling the end of the opera’s opera “to express the catastrophic, anti- Prelude. From here, the concert Prelude Christian moods of damnation, culminating continues with the return of the “angelic” through time with the end of the world.” music in the opera’s finale. This time, the full Musically, he achieves this apocalyptic vision orchestra joins in the celestial counterpoint. using stylistic elements that characterize It is perhaps helpful to also include the words music of the late-Romantic period—large sung (here in English translation) by the , lush textures, expressionistic use chorus, which, in the opera, joins the orchestra of dissonances and chromaticism, and wide in this musical celebration of heavenly peace:

34 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Only when God’s Ephphatha finds Its path, like lightning, to our minds, To shine on Nature’s treasure, Shall streams of life refresh our souls, While unrestrained our voice extols That heavenly joy and pleasure, That joy.

Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley

Dmitri Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126

Born: St. Petersburg, Russia, September 25, 1906 33 Died: Moscow, Russia, August 9, 1975 min Composed: 1966

Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Second the piece as “a darkly lit work with flashes Cello Concerto in less than two months in the of light...a dark and ominous work with a early spring of 1966; the première took place long and introspective opening Largo and a in Moscow on September 25 of that year, counter-balancing Allegretto finale, which is a at a concert celebrating his 60th birthday. sort of dusky barcarolle.” Indeed, it opens in an His close friend and musical colleague, atmosphere of deep meditation, a mood that Mstislav Rostropovich, was the soloist, and even the usually consoling participation of a Yevgeny Svetlanov conducted the USSR State harp can do little to soothe. Even the entrance Symphony Orchestra. It was his last major of the xylophone, announcing an animated work before Shostakovich’s first heart attack— central panel, provides only brief relief from an event that would herald the beginning of the dark atmosphere. the last decade of his life. Yet the work is not all gloomy: the central Like the First Cello Concerto, he composed it movement, also an Allegretto, is based in part for, and dedicated it to, Rostropovich. Unlike on a popular song of the ’20s, “Ubliki, kupitye, Concerto No. 1, which is an unfailingly vibrant, bubliki” (“Pretzels, Who’ll Buy My Pretzels?”). often humorous virtuoso display piece, No. 2 Apparently, at a New Year’s party just months is deeply introspective and subdued in nature, before he composed the work—Rostropovich and gives the orchestra a role virtually equal was also present at the party—Shostakovich in importance to that of the solo instrument. and friends had been “playing a game of Name There is, in fact, evidence that it started life That Tune and Shostakovich played that as what Shostakovich described in a letter to one which he said was one of his favourites.” his friend Isaak Glikman as his “Fourteenth Perhaps it reminded him of the innocent days Symphony with a solo cello part.” of his youth, although here, filtered through the prism of experience, it has a definite edge to it. In his introduction to the filmed broadcast of the work’s première performance, as posted Horn fanfares then usher in the finale, the most on YouTube, Gia Mezirides aptly describes enigmatic and daring section of the concerto,

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which follows on without a pause. The fanfares Two cracks of a whip are heard during the are, in turn, interrupted by a solo cadenza climax, first unexpectedly, and then ending the accompanied by the tambourine, followed tutti, after which the cello revisits the dance- by a series of dialogues between the soloist like statement from earlier in the movement. and several orchestral principals—passages Paradoxically, of Shostakovich’s six concertos, that alternate between manic violence and this is the only one to end quietly; an exchange an unsuccessful pursuit of repose. It builds between cello (replete with almost jazz-like in intensity, rising with an exchange of cello pizzicato) and woodblock draws this great, and bursts countered by the snare drum, eventually perennially underappreciated, work to a low developing into a furious climax, first restating and eerie close. the fanfare theme, and then reverting to a grotesque variation of the “Pretzel” theme. Program note by Don Anderson

Béla Bartók Concerto for Orchestra

Born: Nagyszentmiklos, Hungary, March 25, 1881 35 min Died: New York, New York, USA, September 26, 1945 Composed: 1944

In his American exile, Bartók was plagued by studying, but is also a veritable catalogue of financial troubles, anxiety, and failing health, early modernism, including neoclassicism— but was energized by a commission, in 1943, witness, say, the Classical forms and outbursts from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation. He of Baroque-like fugue in the outer movements. composed the Concerto for Orchestra quickly, The overall structure is that of an arch: the between August and October, at a private first and fifth movements are in sonata form; sanatorium in the Adirondacks, and, at its the second and fourth are lighter, intermezzo- première in Boston, on December 1, 1944, like; and the third, which Bartók called a it won considerable acclaim. “lugubrious death-song,” is the emotional Though accessible and popular, the concerto core. Throughout, the scoring updates the is by no means reactionary or domesticated. 18th-century concerto grosso or symphonie Balancing tradition and experiment, tonality concertante: pervasive interplay of temporarily and atonality, art music and folk music, order deputized soloists (or small groups of soloists) and chaos, this pluralistic music summarizes with fuller orchestral textures. Bartók’s whole creative development. It is In the middle movements, Bartók plays with shot through with the sounds and practices episodic forms. The ironic second movement of the folk music (not just Hungarian, or even (“Game of Couples”) offers a “chain” of five European) that Bartók had spent 40 years dances, each featuring a pair of instruments

36 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (bassoons, oboes, clarinets, flutes, and band, and may be a rare example of Bartókian trumpets). After a short brass chorale, the program music—note the braying trombones, “chain” is reprised, more elaborately scored. and the caustic parody of a tune from The dour Elegia (based on the opening of the Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” Symphony. Introduzione) is another “chain,” this time of The finale, with its horn calls, wild Rumanian emotionally troubled—at its climax, profoundly dances, and bagpipe-like drones is sometimes anguished—themes, the whole bracketed by delirious and comic but ultimately rousing. misty, impressionistic “night music.” The fourth Bartók saw it, in contrast to the “stern” movement is a beautiful, poignant serenade Introduzione, as a “life-assertion.” briefly interrupted by shrill, shrieking, vulgar music from what sounds like a drunken street Program note by Kevin Bazzana

THE ARTISTS

Thomas Dausgaard conductor Thomas Dausgaard made his TSO début in January 2002.

Thomas Dausgaard is Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In 2019/20, he will become Music Director of the , and currently serves as their Principal Guest Conductor. He also holds titles as Honorary Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT) and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, having previously served as its Chief Conductor from 2004 to 2011. He is renowned for his creativity and innovation in programming, the excitement of his live performances, and his extensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings. His programming in recent seasons has seen an increased focus on the exploration of influences to be found in folk and liturgical music on orchestral works by a range of including Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Nielsen, and Bartok. He regularly appears at international festivals worldwide and with leading orchestras in Europe, the US, and Asia. Recent highlights have included appearances at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, ’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and the George Enescu Festival; and guest conducting engagements with the Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester, Vienna Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In North America, he has appeared with The , Boston Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and with the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras. Engagements in Asia and Australia have included appearances with the New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Sydney and Melbourne . Current and upcoming recording projects include J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos combined with six newly commissioned companion works with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and Bruckner symphonies with the Bergen Philharmonic, both for BIS; Sibelius’s Kullervo with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Hyperion; and Bartók’s orchestral works with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Onyx. His most recent release is a critically acclaimed recording of

FEBRUARY 20 & 21, 2019 37 THE ARTISTS

Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 (Deryck Cooke version III) with the Seattle Symphony. In total, he has made well over 70 CDs to date, including complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Rued Langgaard. He has been awarded the Cross of Chivalry by the Queen of Denmark, and has been elected to the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden. His interests beyond music are wide-ranging and include architecture, landscape, and a fascination with the life and culture of remote communities. He lives in Copenhagen with his family.

Alisa Weilerstein cello Alisa Weilerstein made her TSO début in November 2007.

“A young cellist whose emotionally resonant performances of both traditional and contemporary music have earned her international recognition…Weilerstein is a consummate performer, combining technical precision with impassioned musicianship,” stated the MacArthur Foundation, when awarding American cellist Alisa Weilerstein a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship. In the 2018/19 season, Weilerstein releases Transfigured Nighton the Pentatone label, joined by Norway’s Trondheim Soloists for three masterworks of the First and Second Viennese Schools: Haydn’s First and Second Cello Concertos and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, from which the album takes its title. Two Scandinavian performances of the album repertoire with the same ensemble open the season. In the spring, she returns to Verklärte Nacht, this time in a trio version, when she tours Europe and the US with pianist and frequent collaborator Inon Barnatan, violinist Sergey Khachatryan, and percussionist Colin Currie. Between these bookends, she gives performances of Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto with five different orchestras, and tours the US playing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic led by Semyon Bychkov. She also performs the Schumann Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and gives accounts of Saint-Saëns’s First Cello Concerto, Britten’s Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, and Bloch’s Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hébraïque in cities from San Diego to Vienna. Finally, she gives two performances of Matthias Pintscher’s new cello concerto Un despertar (An Awakening), with the composer leading both the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony. In the midst of her orchestral engagements are five solo performances of Bach’s complete cello suites, in Beverly Hills, Boston’s Celebrity Series, Paris, the Elbphilharmonie, and Berkeley. Weilerstein’s career milestones include an emotionally tumultuous account of Elgar’s concerto with the and Barenboim in Oxford, England, and a performance at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. An ardent champion of new music, she has worked on multiple projects with and Matthias Pintscher, and premièred works by , , and Joseph Hallman. Weilerstein, whose honours include Lincoln Center’s 2008 Martin E. Segal prize and the 2006 Award, is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and . Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, she is a Celebrity Advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

38 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA