GUERRERO CONDUCTS MENDELSSOHN NASHVILLE SYMPHONY

CLASSICAL SERIES

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17 & 18, AT 8 PM

NASHVILLE SYMPHONY GIANCARLO GUERRERO, conductor THANK YOU TO AUGUSTIN HADELICH, OUR PARTNER

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH in A minor for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 99 [77] I. Nocturne II. Scherzo III. Passacaglia SERIES PRESENTING PARTNER IV. Burlesca Augustin Hadelich, violin

INTERMISSION

FELIX MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Opus 56, "Scottish" I. Andante con moto – Allegro agitato II. Scherzo: vivace non troppo III. Adagio cantabile IV. Allegro vivacissimo – Finale: Allegro maestoso assai

INCONCERT 39 TONIGHT’S CONCERT AT A GLANCE

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

• Like other artists in the U.S.S.R., Shostakovich was under the constant scrutiny of Soviet authorities and had to be extremely careful about expressing his individualism. After receiving backlash from the official state newspaper Pravda for his popular 1936 opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the composer felt compelled to step back and decided to withhold his Symphony No. 4 from publication. • Shostakovich rehabilitated his reputation with his Symphony No. 5 and his Leningrad Symphony. But by the time he wrote his First Violin Concerto in 1948, he was under scrutiny again. As a result, he kept the score locked in a drawer for several years, concerned that the work wouldn’t be approved by Soviet authorities. As a result, the concerto didn’t receive its premiere until 1957, several years after Stalin’s death. • Like J.S. Bach before him, Shostakovich encrypted messages in his music. In the Violin Concerto, he inserted his “musical signature” of D, E-flat, C, B into the second movement. These notes, when read using the German notation, spell the letters DSCH. This signature is played by the woodwinds and by the soloist, who repeats it with intensity. • The composer dedicated his concerto to Soviet violinist David Oistrakh, who premiered it and then toured with it in America. A highly demanding work, the score hardly allows the soloist to take a break. • Shostakovich’s orchestration for the ensemble is notable because he chose to include no or trombones. Even so, the music maintains a broad scope, from deep bass sounds to delicate brushstrokes from the celeste and harps.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3

• Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony No. 3 is one of two works inspired by a trip that the 20-year-old composer made to Scotland. This piece, in particular, was inspired by the ruins of Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh: “Everything round is broken and mouldering and the bright sky shines in,” he wrote. “I believe I have found today…the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.” • The castle was notable as the residence of Mary Queen of Scots in the mid-16th century, and it was there that the monarch witnessed the murder of her private secretary, who was suspected of being her lover. • It would take Mendelssohn another decade to complete his symphony. The music is vivid and expressive, but without making any specific references to Scottish scenery or lore. The Scherzo movement contains the most “Scottish”-sounding music, as Mendelssohn uses dotted rhythms to evoke Scottish folk and dance music. • , interestingly, thought that the symphony had a distinctly Italian flavor. • Although numbered as the third of his five symphonies, the “Scottish” was Mendelssohn’s last completed symphony and was dedicated to Queen Victoria, who called him “the greatest musical genius since Mozart.”

— Corinne Fombelle & Thomas May DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Born on September 25, Composed: 1947-48 1906, in Saint Petersburg, First performance: October 29, 1957, with David Russia; died on August 9, Oistrakh as the soloist and Eugene Mravinsky 1975, in Moscow conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic First Nashville Symphony performance:

January 18-20, 2007, with guest conductor Keith CLASSICAL Lockhart and soloist Leila Josefowicz Estimated length: 35 minutes

Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 77

lthough we’ve reached the centenary of for the fate of the individual. Whether we hear a Athe Bolshevik Revolution, the debate heroic assertion of the self, harmonic convergence surrounding Dmitri Shostakovich and his legacy with the group, or even total subjugation to it: all continues to generate passionate speculation. of these choices could be interpreted in political When the composer died in 1975, the prevailing and existential terms, as well as musical ones. view in the West was of a national cultural hero As with his symphonies, the concerto genre who, despite his clashes with authority in harsher posed dangers for Shostakovich. Indeed, five of his times, remained a true believer and dedicated six (two each for piano, violin and ) servant of the Soviet state. did not appear until after Stalin’s death in 1953. Yet Shostakovich remains among the most The dictator had first targeted the composer enigmatic geniuses of 20th-century music in large by having an opinion piece published in the part because his identity was — and remains — official Communist newspaper, Pravda, in 1936. such a question mark. Even with the benefit of Disguised as a review of Shostakovich’s wildly hindsight, it’s not easy to determine exactly how successful opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, it life in the Soviet Union caused his political and was a strong denunciation of “decadence” in his ideological values to become entangled with art — and a warning. In response, Shostakovich artistic ones. More than four decades after the decided to withdraw his recently completed composer’s death, and a generation after the Fourth Symphony — one of his most audaciously collapse of the Soviet Union, questions remain experimental scores — before the premiere. He about the relationship between Shostakovich’s meanwhile rehabilitated his public image with the identity and his musical expression — and they more populist Fifth Symphony and, during World are of particular relevance to the First Violin War II, with his rousing Leningrad Symphony. Concerto, which he voluntarily suppressed for But in 1948 the pendulum swung back, and nearly a decade. The Concerto provides a vivid another denunciation followed when the Supreme example of what was at stake for Soviet-era Soviet declared war on composers who had artists even when it came to producing the most allegedly fallen prey to the “corrupt” influences “abstract” pieces of concert music. of Western Modernism. Shostakovich, among In the years since Shostakovich’s death, many those named, was just then at work on his Violin critics and historians have claimed that there are Concerto No. 1 for the virtuoso David Oistrakh, hidden meanings and nested enigmas lurking in its dedicatee. He proceeded to complete the score his scores, which continue to move listeners in but withheld it (and several other projects) from the 21st century. The composer’s story touches the public. on fundamental questions about the kinds of Aspects of the Violin Concerto anticipate the meaning music can convey. The concerto format sound world of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, in particular, with its built-in dichotomy of composed not long thereafter. The latter score the soloist and the collective ensemble, offered contains his scathing portrait of Stalin and was Shostakovich a powerfully ambiguous metaphor premiered soon after the tyrant’s death in 1953.

INCONCERT 41 The new political atmosphere encouraged the 99 in 1956, Shostakovich later asked to have it composer to unveil his earlier Violin Concerto, catalogued as Op. 77 so as to reflect the moment CLASSICAL which Oistrakh also introduced to the West. in his career when it had originated. Although the score was initially published as Op.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

hostakovich’s decision to cast the First Violin C — B motto, which “translates” as “D. Sch” SConcerto in four movements is a clue that using German spelling). This is by no means his impetus went beyond writing a conventional unprecedented — J.S. Bach often used musical virtuoso concerto, with its predictable fast-slow- cryptograms — but it is a bold move in that it fast arrangement. There is a symmetry to the explicitly inserts the creator into his score. In plan, such that the first and third movements this oppressive cultural context, the composer are expansive and contain music of gravitas, relied on using coded messages — above all to while the second and fourth are relatively communicate defiance and dissent, if that is what brief and fast-paced. Oistrakh, who consulted is to be read into such gestures (though the debate with the composer about the solo part (as continues, unresolved). Shostakovich himself was not a string player but At the heart of the Concerto is its longest a pianist), observed that the Concerto overall movement, a vast Passacaglia of tremendous “does not fall easily into one’s hands.” It betrays emotional grandeur. This variation format, which a “surprising seriousness and depth of artistic unfolds over a constantly repeated bass line in content, an absolute symphonic thinking” and triple meter, pays tribute to the Baroque era, poses challenges for the soloist, whose part during which it was used frequently. Shostakovich Oistrakh compared to a Shakespearean role builds the Passacaglia over an immense bass of 17 requiring “complete emotional and intellectual measures, revolving through eight variations after commitment.” the initial statement, each shifting to a different Also unusual is the soundscape Shostakovich collection of orchestral colors. builds. His orchestra is large, but it omits trumpets After covering a spectrum of playing styles and trombones (standard participants in a throughout these variations, the ensemble dies canvas of this size), calling on deep, abysmal bass out and the violinist embarks on an extraordinary sounds as well as ethereally delicate ones, with cadenza bridging the way into the rapid-fire finale, brushstrokes from the celeste and harps. described by the composer as a “burlesque” and The opening movement is a nocturne whose permeated by his characteristic irony. drenching pathos has also been perceived as a search for earnest release amid a backdrop of In addition to the solo violin, the Violin Concerto stifled expression. Early on, the violin emerges in No. 1 is scored for 3 (3rd doubling piccolo), a lengthy rumination, setting the pattern for its 3 (3rd doubling English horn), 3 contemplative, at times almost withdrawn attitude. (3rd doubling bass ), 3 (3rd The Scherzo’s demonic, savage energy poses a doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, tuba, timpani, riveting contrast. Of special note here, this marks tambourine, tam-tam, xylophone, celeste, 2 harps the first instance of Shostakovich inscribing and strings. his initials into his music (the D — E-flat —

Shostakovich’s decision to cast the First Violin Concerto in four movements is a clue that his impetus went beyond writing a conventional virtuoso concerto, with its predictable fast-slow-fast arrangement.

42 NOVEMBER 2017 FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Born on February 3, 1809, Composed: 1829-42 in Hamburg, Germany; First performance: March 3, 1842, with the died on November 4, composer conducting the Leizpzig Gewandhaus 1847, in Leipzig, Germany Orchestra. First Nashville Symphony performance:

December 14, 1954, with music director Guy Taylor CLASSICAL Estimated length: 42 minutes

Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 (“Scottish”)

n 1829, long before Brexit, young Felix Palace until she was forced to abdicate. Even IMendelssohn heartily took up the promise today, a haunting gloom pervades the rooms, of the “European” spirit and embarked on an where she was forced to witness the notorious extensive grand tour of the continent. During its murder in 1566 of her private secretary (suspected course, he stored up impressions for a number of being her lover). In one of his dispatches of future compositions that would become home, Mendelssohn recounted a thrilling visit at masterpieces of the orchestral repertoire. These twilight to Holyrood, “where Queen Mary lived include The Hebrides and the Third and loved.” He was also fascinated by the poetic Symphony, as well as another of his finest ruins of the early medieval abbey church next to compositions, the Fourth Symphony (“Italian”), the palace: “Everything there is ruined, decayed prompted by his travels in Southern Europe. and open to the clear sky. I believe that I have 1829 was also the year when one of the most found there today the beginning of my Scotch astounding prodigies in music history entered Sy mp h ony.” his 20s. Mendelssohn’s famous revival of Bach’s As with The Hebrides Overture, Mendelssohn St. Matthew Passion that spring helped shore left no explicit program for the “Scottish” up his reputation as a leading and influential Symphony. Still, his allusion to Mary Tudor is musical thinker. Several months afterward, he was often cited as a subtext for at least some aspects a magnet among London’s glitterati but needed of the work. Other impressions from the Scottish a refreshing break — and found it in the scenic tour — from Celtic legend and folklore to the beauty of Scotland. An excursion to one of the Highland Games and the fiction of Sir Walter uninhabited islands in the Inner Hebrides give Scott — have been said to play a role as well. Mendelssohn the kernel idea for his Hebrides Yet for all its Romantic associations, the music Overture, a pioneering work that helped pave the refers to no specific literary source in the manner way toward the quintessential Romantic genre of of, say, the Overture to a Midsummer Night’s the tone poem. Dream. Rather, the Third Symphony integrates Another spontaneous musical inspiration the evocative power of early Romanticism with occurred during the composer’s trip to Edinburgh the composer’s mature admiration for classical — sparked by the palpable sense of history balance and consistent musical design. that imbues the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the British monarch’s official residence in Scotland. This melancholy musical idea remained dormant, though, for a dozen years before he began grappling with the “Scottish” Symphony. The Third is actually Mendelssohn’s last in chronological terms; both the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies were published after his death, thus acquiring their later numbers. Mary, Queen of Scots, lived in Holyrood

INCONCERT 43 WHAT TO LISTEN FOR CLASSICAL

endelssohn weaves his score into a seamless tonal portrait of Mary Stuart’s secret love and her Mwhole, with no interruption between the tragic fate, his dexterity as an orchestrator is clear four movements. The opening movement begins in the serenade-like pizzicato accompaniment and with a slow introduction suffused with a mood the afterthoughts spun by the woodwinds. of gloomy obsession: this is the musical idea In the wake of such intimate music, the finale that occurred to him at Holyrood Palace, and its opens up a more epic perspective. Mendelssohn dotted rhythm recurs in various guises later in the even asks for the Allegro to be played with work. The movement proper launches in a spirit “warlike” intensity. Biographer R. Larry Todd of restless agitation; after another variant of the remarks that the energy of this music, “with opening motif comes a second, singing theme. its jagged dissonances and contrapuntal strife, Mendelssohn adds a remarkably eventful and generalizes the topic of conflict in Scottish stormy coda to shed new light on what has history.” But then, in an extended epilogue to be gone before. played in a “majestic” manner, Mendelssohn turns A compact Scherzo contains the most from the minor to a confident, hymn-like melody “Scottish”-sounding music. Here Mendelssohn in A major to bring the work to a stately and uses dotted rhythms to evoke Scottish folk dignified close. and dance music, along with tunes of diatonic simplicity. Curiously, when his friend Schumann The Symphony No. 3 is scored for 2 flutes, 2 first heard this music, he raved about the oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, Symphony’s marvelous Italian local color: a timpani and strings. reminder, perhaps, of the subjective basis of musical perception. — Thomas May, the Nashville Symphony’s At the emotional center of the work, the program annotator, is a writer and translator who Adagio develops two distinctive ideas: a poignant, long-spanning melody in the strings and a covers classical and contemporary music. He blogs ceremonial march of dirge-like gravity. Regardless at memeteria.com. of whether Mendelssohn intended to depict a ABOUT THE SOLOIST

AUGUSTIN as well as the orchestras of Atlanta, Detroit, HADELICH Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, VIOLIN Oregon, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis and Utah. Abroad, Hadelich will play with the Seoul ugustin Hadelich has Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Aperformed with every Orchestra, Lahti Symphony in Finland, Royal major orchestra in the Scottish National Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra U.S., many on numerous in Manchester and the Orquesta Sinfónica de occasions, as well as an Castilla y León in Spain. ever-growing number of An active recitalist, Hadelich has appeared at major orchestras in the U.K., Europe and the Far , the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, East. He is consistently cited for his phenomenal The Frick Collection in New York, Kennedy technique, poetic sensitivity and gorgeous tone. Center in Washington, D.C., Kioi Hall in Tokyo, One highlight of Hadelich’s 2017/18 season the Louvre and Wigmore Hall in London. His will be a return to the Boston Symphony, chamber music partners have included Inon playing the Ligeti Concerto with Thomas Adès Barnatan, Jeremy Denk, James Ehnes, Alban on the podium. For this performance, he will Gerhardt, Richard Goode, Gary Hoffman, Kim play the U.S. premiere of Adès’ new cadenza Kashkashian, Robert Kulek, Cho-Liang Lin, for the concerto. Additional highlights include Midori, , Vadim Repin, Mitsuko performances with the , Uchida, Joyce Yang and members of the

44 NOVEMBER 2017 and Juilliard quartets. Competition of Indianapolis. Since then, he has Hadelich is the winner of a 2016 GRAMMY® garnered an impressive list of honors, including Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, for his an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2009); a Borletti- recording of Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto, L’a r b r e Buitoni Trust Fellowship in the U.K. (2011); des songes, with the under ’s Martin E. Segal Award (2012); Ludovic Morlot (Seattle Symphony MEDIA). His and the inaugural Warner Music Prize (2015). In new disc of the complete Paganini Caprices for December, he will receive an honorary doctorate Warner Classics will be released in early 2018. from the University of Exeter in the U.K. CLASSICAL Other recent discs include live recordings of the Born in , the son of German parents, violin concertos by Tchaikovsky and Lalo with the Hadelich is now an American citizen. He holds an London Philharmonic Orchestra on the LPO label Artist Diploma from The , where (2017), and an album of duo works for violin and he was a student of Joel Smirnoff. He plays the piano on AVIE in collaboration with Joyce 1723 “Ex-Kiesewetter” Stradivari violin, on loan Yang (2016). from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Hadelich’s career took off when he was named Stradivari Society of Chicago. Gold Medalist of the 2006 International Violin

Hadelich’s career took off when he was named Gold Medalist of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Since then, he has garnered an impressive list of honors, including an Avery Fisher Career Grant

INCONCERT 45