December 2012 The Inaugural Season 2 From the President
J.D. Scott Dear Friends: The holidays are upon us and we have much for which we are thankful. Yannick’s arrival in Philadelphia and the tremendously warm welcome given to him by patrons and the city have reinvigorated us all. We are thrilled that Yannick will celebrate New Year’s Eve with us, ushering in 2013 and continuing this new partnership with our amazing musicians. His wish to celebrate another beginning in his new home and with his growing circle of Philly friends speaks to how much Yannick is already part of this community. We look forward to sharing our other holiday traditions with audiences this month, from the Glorious Sound of Christmas to our 51st annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah. Spreading holiday cheer through music gives us a special kind of joy, and we hope that you will come with all your friends and family to celebrate this festive time of year. These holiday concerts are one of many ways we are discovering new audiences and reigniting Philadelphia’s love for its orchestra. At this giving time of year, many of us express our appreciation for the great work accomplished by the charitable and cultural organizations that are closest to our hearts. As you remember your past moments with The Philadelphia Orchestra from this season and beyond, we ask you to help us continue our mission of bringing world-class music onto the stage, into our community, and around the globe with a charitable gift to the Annual Fund. Our gratitude would be unbounded. I wish you and yours the most joyous of holiday seasons. All of us with The Philadelphia Orchestra look forward to sharing more great music with you and creating new memories in 2013. Yours in Music,
Allison Vulgamore President & CEO 6 Music Director
Jessica Griffin Yannick Nézet-Séguin became the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra with the start of the 2012-13 season. Named music director designate in June 2010, he made his Orchestra debut in December 2008. 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.
Highlights of Yannick’s inaugural season include his Carnegie Hall debut with the Verdi Requiem, two world and one U.S. premiere, and performances of The Rite of Spring in collaboration with New York-based Ridge Theater, complete with dancers, video projection, and theatrical lighting.
In July 2012 Yannick and Deutsche Grammophon announced a major long-term collaboration. 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. In addition, his first recording with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, is available for download.
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. 6 The Philadelphia Orchestra 2012-2013 Season
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Yumi Ninomiya Scott David Fay Music Director Dmitri Levin Duane Rosengard Walter and Leonore Annenberg Boris Balter Robert Kesselman Chair William Polk Some members of the string Wolfgang Sawallisch Violas sections voluntarily rotate Conductor Laureate Choong-Jin Chang, Principal seating on a periodic basis. Charles Dutoit Ruth and A. Morris Williams Conductor Laureate Chair Flutes Cristian Macelaru Kirsten Johnson, Associate Jeffrey Khaner, Principal Assistant Conductor Principal Paul and Barbara Henkels Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal Chair First Violins Judy Geist David Cramer, Associate David Kim, Concertmaster Renard Edwards Principal Dr. Benjamin Rush Chair Anna Marie Ahn Petersen Rachelle and Ronald Juliette Kang, First Associate Piasecki Family Chair Kaiserman Chair Concertmaster David Nicastro Loren N. Lind Joseph and Marie Field Chair Burchard Tang Kazuo Tokito, Piccolo Marc Rovetti, Acting Che-Hung Chen Associate Concertmaster Rachel Ku Oboes Amy Oshiro-Morales, Acting Marvin Moon Richard Woodhams, Principal Assistant Concertmaster Jonathan Chu Samuel S. Fels Chair Herbert Light Peter Smith, Associate Larry A. Grika Chair Cellos Principal Barbara Govatos Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Jonathan Blumenfeld Wilson H. and Barbara B. Taylor Albert and Mildred Switky Edwin Tuttle Chair Chair Chair Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, English Jonathan Beiler Yumi Kendall, Acting Associate Horn Hirono Oka Principal Joanne T. Greenspun Chair Richard Amoroso Wendy and Derek Pew Robert and Lynne Pollack Foundation Chair Clarinets Chair John Koen, Acting Assistant Ricardo Morales, Principal Yayoi Numazawa Principal Leslie Miller and Richard Jason De Pue Richard Harlow Worley Chair Lisa-Beth Lambert Gloria de Pasquale Samuel Caviezel, Associate Jennifer Haas Orton P. and Noël S. Jackson Principal Miyo Curnow Chair Sarah and Frank Coulson Elina Kalendareva Kathryn Picht Read Chair Daniel Han Winifred and Samuel Mayes Chair Raoul Querze Noah Geller* Robert Cafaro Peter M. Joseph and Susan Volunteer Committees Chair Rittenhouse Joseph Chair Second Violins Ohad Bar-David Paul R. Demers, Bass Clarinet Kimberly Fisher, Principal Catherine R. and Anthony A. Peter A. Benoliel Chair Clifton Chair Bassoons Paul Roby, Associate Derek Barnes Daniel Matsukawa, Principal Principal Mollie and Frank Slattery Richard M. Klein Chair Sandra and David Marshall Chair Mark Gigliotti, Co-Principal Chair Alex Veltman Angela Anderson Dara Morales, Assistant Holly Blake, Contrabassoon Principal Basses Anne M. Buxton Chair Harold Robinson, Principal Horns Philip Kates Carole and Emilio Gravagno Jennifer Montone, Principal Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Chair Gray Charitable Trust Chair Family Foundation Chair Michael Shahan, Associate Jeffrey Lang, Associate Principal Booker Rowe Principal Jeffry Kirschen Davyd Booth Joseph Conyers, Assistant Daniel Williams Paul Arnold Principal Denise Tryon Lorraine and David Popowich John Hood Shelley Showers Chair Henry G. Scott Roster continues on pg. 8 8 The Philadelphia Orchestra 2012-2013 Season
Trumpets Tuba Piano and Celesta David Bilger, Principal Carol Jantsch, Principal Kiyoko Takeuti Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Lyn and George M. Ross Chair Chair Harps Jeffrey Curnow, Associate Elizabeth Hainen, Principal Principal Timpani Patricia and John Imbesi Gary and Ruthanne Don S. Liuzzi, Principal Chair Schlarbaum Chair Dwight V. Dowley Chair Margarita Csonka Montanaro, Robert W. Earley Angela Zator Nelson, Associate Co-Principal Principal Trombones Patrick and Evelyn Gage Librarians Nitzan Haroz*, Principal Chair Robert M. Grossman, Neubauer Family Foundation Principal Chair Percussion Steven K. Glanzmann Matthew Vaughn, Acting Christopher Deviney, Principal Principal Mrs. Francis W. De Serio Chair Stage Personnel Eric Carlson Anthony Orlando, Associate Edward Barnes, Manager Blair Bollinger, Bass Principal James J. Sweeney, Jr. Trombone Ann R. and Harold A. Sorgenti James P. Barnes Drs. Bong and Mi Wha Lee Chair Chair Angela Zator Nelson *On leave Musicians Behind the Scenes Miyo Curnow Violin
Bob Mader Where were you born? I was born and raised in New York City. My mother taught elementary school music and my father was a freelance cellist. What piece of music could you play over and over again? The Bach Double Violin Concerto—I love the slow movement. What is your most treasured possession? I don’t really have one, but if I had to name something I guess it would have to be photos or videos of my family—my husband is a fantastic videographer! What’s your favorite Philadelphia restaurant? Jakes in Manayunk. What’s in your instrument case? Pictures of my kids, extra strings, music, pencils, cough drops, a nail clipper, finger tape (for when they split), humidifier (which I always forget to fill), band-aids, rosin, earplugs. Oh yes, and violin and bow of course! If you could ask one composer one question what would it be? I would ask both Brahms and Schumann why they only wrote four symphonies! What piece of music never fails to move you? A recording of Brahms’s Opp.118 and 119 piano pieces by Radu Lupu. When did you join the Orchestra? 2002. Do you play any other instruments? No. What’s your favorite type of food? Teuscher chocolate, all you need is one.
To read the full set of questions and to see a photo of the inside of Miyo’s violin case, please visit www.philorch.org/miyocurnow. 10 Stoki at 100 The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates Leopold Stokowski By Steven Ziegler Vandamm
Leopold Stokowski He arrived in Philadelphia 100 years ago as a 30 year old with just a few years of orchestral conducting under his belt, but with a host of big plans and novel ideas for this orchestra—his orchestra. Enigmatic, visionary, charismatic, and boundlessly curious, Leopold Stokowski marked a turning point for The Philadelphia Orchestra, transforming a nascent regional orchestra into one of America’s greatest musical institutions. So, how does an orchestra pay tribute to a man who only looked forward to what was coming next, and never dwelled too long on the past (including his own)? 12 Stoki at 100
“We want to recapture Stokowski’s spirit as an orchestra and a city,” says Philadelphia Orchestra Vice President of Artistic Planning Jeremy Rothman. “It is inspiring to find compelling and innovative ways to honor this provocative artist who occupies such an important place in the history of this orchestra.” Fortunately, the Orchestra has another young, engaging, and dynamic artist in Yannick Nézet- Séguin, beginning his tenure as music director of “Let us in Philadelphia go forward; not backward!” —Leopold Stokowski
The Philadelphia Orchestra this season, to embody and modernize many of these ideas. He was willing to dive into the Stokowski legend to pay tribute to his great forbear, while also putting his own stamp on his inaugural season. “Yannick is taking us all on a journey throughout this season. He also invited many of our guest conductors and guest artists to participate in a season-wide tribute to Stokowski, creating a fascinating array of programs,” Rothman says.
Yannick kicked off the Stokowski celebration conducting several wildly-successful concerts at the Academy of Music in June. Highlights included a near recreation of Stokowski’s first-ever program with The Philadelphia Orchestra, a Stokowski-inspired Audience Choice Concert, lighting and video effects in the concert hall, lobby displays of historical items that included his podium and concert tails, and a screening of segments from Disney’s Fantasia, with live-accompaniment. Throughout the 2012-13 season the Orchestra will engage with Stokowski in other ways, revisiting pieces the maestro premiered with the Fabulous Philadelphians, experimenting with programming in thought-provoking combinations, and approaching the symphonic concert as an all- encompassing artistic experience inclusive of lighting, choreography, and film. 14 Stoki at 100 Ryan Donnell
Yannick and the Orchestra Perhaps the centerpiece of this season’s Stokowski perform during the June celebration is an unprecedented multi-dimensional 2012 Stokowski Celebration presentation of Stravinsky’s monumental The Rite of concerts at the Academy of Music. Spring, led by Yannick (February 21-24). Stokowski was drawn to the Rite from the outset, giving the work its American premieres in concert and staged form with The Philadelphia Orchestra (the latter with Martha Graham portraying the sacrificial virgin). For the 100th anniversary of the piece in 2013, the Orchestra is reimagining Stravinsky’s masterpiece, regaling it with a musical and visual treatment that celebrates its status as one of the 20th century’s iconic musical works while placing it firmly in our own time. “We wanted to do something fresh and bold that was in keeping with the original work but also in the spirit of how Stokowski might have presented it if he had access to today’s technology,” Rothman says. To achieve this, the Orchestra called on Philadelphia Live Arts, curator of the city’s groundbreaking Live Arts and Fringe festivals, and an organization with its finger on the pulse of the avant-garde. Live Arts guided the Orchestra to Ridge Theater, a frequent player in the New York contemporary music scene, and a natural fit for the Rite project. Ridge is renowned for its inventive collaborations with ensembles such as Bang on a Can, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the American 16 Stoki at 100
An image that will be part of Composers Orchestra. The Ridge Theater/Philadelphia the video projections for the Orchestra production of The Rite of Spring promises a Orchestra’s production of The Rite of Spring in February tantalizing combination of large-scale video projections, 2013 in collaboration with a living and moving set, dancers, and an aerialist, all Ridge Theater. supported by the lush sounds of The Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick’s baton as the centerpiece.
In addition to The Rite of Spring, the list of works premiered by Stokowski with Philadelphia is jaw- droppingly diverse and astonishingly complete in surveying the 20th century’s greatest composers. This season The Philadelphia Orchestra will present several works premiered by Stokowski, including Elgar’s Cello Concerto with conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the brilliant cellist Alisa Weilerstein, on a concert with Borodin’s Overture to Prince Igor and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 3 (December 13-15). In another program, Noseda leads works of Rachmaninoff, a composer who enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Orchestra and Stokowski (December 6-8). Philadelphia favorite Simon Rattle conducts a unique Stokowskian concert pairing Sibelius’s Fifth and Sixth symphonies (premiered in the U.S., of course, by Stokowski and The Philadelphia Orchestra) uninterrupted in a sort of über-symphony (May 9-11). Stokowski is also present in Rattle’s second week, as the conductor leads an intriguing program matching Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, known to Stokowski fans and movie lovers from its starring role in Fantasia; 18 Stoki at 100
Webern’s Passacaglia, Op. 1, and excerpts from Berg’s influential opera Wozzeck, both given their U.S. premieres by Stokowski and the Philadelphians in the late 1920s-early ’30s; and excerpts from Le Grande Macabre by Ligeti, a composer championed by Rattle (May 16, 18, 19; May 17 at Carnegie Hall).
In addition to his almost fanatical commitment to the composers of his own era, Stokowski was also a devoted Wagnerite, sometimes programming entire evenings of the composer’s music. Last month renowned Wagner conductor Donald Runnicles offered a tribute to the composer (whose birth bicentennial is in 2013) and Stokowski with a program featuring orchestral highlights from The Ring. On January 24- 25 Yannick conducts Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, a love The program from the letter to his wife, Cosima, and named for his newborn Orchestra’s 1921 U.S. son. Later in the season conductor Andrey Boreyko premiere performances of presents a much different take on Wagner, pairing Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony with Stokowski. Simon music from Das Rheingold with Christopher Rouse’s Rattle leads the work, along Götterdämmerung-inspired Der gerettete Alberich with the composer’s Sixth (Alberich Saved) for solo percussion and orchestra, Symphony, in May 2013. featuring Colin Currie (March 21-23). “This is a fascinating program, and Rouse uses the final notes from Wagner’s Ring Cycle as a jumping-off point for something really unexpected and exciting. I think Stokowski would have been interested in hearing how the composers of our own time interact with Wagner,” says Rothman.
Stokowski also had a unique relationship with Bach’s music, demonstrated by his strikingly idiomatic orchestral transcriptions of the master’s works. “The transcriptions are perhaps the thing Stokowski is most known for outside Philadelphia,” says Rothman, citing Walt Disney’s use of Stokowski’s famous orchestration of Bach’s D-minor Toccata and Fugue as the prelude to Fantasia. “Stokowski saw these transcriptions as a vehicle for showing off The Philadelphia Orchestra. He wasn’t afraid to augment a work of genius with his own ideas and interpretations. The idea of using chimes and percussion in Bach is totally anachronistic, but Stokowski was courageous enough to try it. And it works,” Rothman elaborates. Several of Stokowski’s transcriptions are offered this season, including 20 Stoki at 100 BMG Classics BMG
A Stokowski recording “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” led by Rafael of his Bach transcriptions Frühbeck de Burgos (February 1-2) and the Toccata for orchestra and Fugue (heard last month), led by Emmanuel Krivine, in a program inspired directly by Stokowski concerts of Steven Ziegler has worked December 1935. in publications for The Philadelphia Orchestra In keeping with his ever-evolving conception of and the San Francisco Symphony. He currently the symphonic concert, Stokowski experimented resides in the San relentlessly with stage set-up, acoustics, lighting, and Francisco Bay Area. programming. It was not uncommon for him to program a concert’s major work in the first half, using the second half as an opportunity to take audiences somewhere else entirely. “Stokowski’s concerts created a complete and immersive environment,” says Rothman. In the final concerts of his inaugural season, Yannick experiments with Stokowski-style programming, offering a first half of several of Dvořák’s lively Slavonic Dances and Janáček’s blazing Sinfonietta and a second half pairing Brahms’s incomparable Violin Concerto and Enescu’s flavorful Romanian Rhapsody in D major (May 23–25). “It’s Yannick’s hope that this sort of programming will challenge our audiences to hear these works in a new way,” remarks Rothman. And, who knows, maybe this exuberant and passionate young conductor will continue to find revolutionary ways to showcase The Philadelphia Orchestra, his Orchestra. P 22 Beyond the Baton A Q&A with Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Chris Lee Who is your favorite composer? Brahms has always been my favorite composer, the very first. In second position, Bruckner, Mahler, Bach, Ravel …
What are you currently listening to on your iPod? On the popular music side it is Frank Ocean. He is somewhat new on the R&B and hip hop scene, and widely recognized for how special his music is. And on the classical side I’m listening to the first edit of the Tchaikovsky Sixth Symphony I just recorded for Deutsche Grammophon with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, before its commercial release.
Do you have any pets? Three cats: Mélisande, Parsifal, and Rodolfo.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Well, if I could I’d like to be taller. But you know, many of the conductors I admire most were not that tall, for instance the great Eugene Ormandy!
What do you like to do when you go on vacation? Lie on the beach!
Do you work out? What’s your favorite routine? Of course, yes. Many people think I get my cardio workout through my conducting but I actually do have to do cardio in order to have the stamina to conduct the way I do. So, I am a jogger and I balance it with weight training, and this helps me avoid injuries.
To read the questions from previous months, please visit www.philorch.org/baton. 24 In the Spotlight A Monthly Series of Donor and Patron Profiles
Jessica Griffin “Wow.” That’s how Stephanie Brandow, newly-named president of the Volunteer Committees for The Philadelphia Orchestra, describes her first time hearing the Orchestra. “It was remarkable—like going to Disneyland for the first time.”
Stephanie grew up in Idaho, attending concerts of the Idaho State University Symphony with her parents. Her mother was a volunteer for the Symphony and her father was a loyal concertgoer and supporter. The youngest of four children, Stephanie was not allowed to stay home alone with her two Stephanie and Kirk Brandow older brothers while her parents attended the concerts. “I probably would have lost my life,” she says with a laugh. She has very fond memories of attending every concert, reveling in the music. Perhaps more important for a young child, however, were the cookies at the end! Her mother was the leader of group of women that served cookies and coffee after every concert, and she passed along that spirit of volunteering to Stephanie.
The opportunity to be president of the Orchestra’s Volunteer Committees is an exciting honor for Stephanie. “Volunteering is a labor of love,” she says. “It can be a thankless job, but if I can accomplish one thing in my two-year tenure it will be to make those remarkable women aware of how much they are appreciated. There is so much unbelievable talent in that group. To see what they can do is amazing: the number of events and the professionalism and thoughtfulness with which they do everything. I feel a strong connection with these women, and being a volunteer for the Orchestra has been, and will continue to be, a big part of my life. I’m having a tremendous amount of fun!”
To read the complete story, please visit www.philorch.org/brandow. 44 From Hollywood and the Great White Way to the Academy Ben Watts Film and Broadway star Hugh Jackman has been tapped to be the special guest artist at the Academy of Music’s 156th Anniversary Concert, on Saturday, January 26, 2013. Well known for his role as Wolverine in the X-Men movies, along with such films as Kate and Leopold, Deception, and The Prestige and his Tony Award-winning portrayal of Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz, Mr. Jackman joins Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Fabulous Philadelphians in this celebratory performance full of memorable music and exciting surprises.
New this year the President’s Open House Reception will be held in the Academy prior to the Hugh Jackman concert, giving attendees the opportunity to explore the beauty of this National Historic Landmark. Then, immediately following the performance, gala Ball guests will walk down Broad Street to the Hyatt at the Bellevue for dinner and dancing.
The Academy of Music 156th Anniversary Concert and Ball benefits the Academy of Music Restoration Fund and The Philadelphia Orchestra, which called the Academy home for more than a century.
For additional information on this event, please call the Academy of Music Restoration Fund Office at 215.893.1978 or visit www.philorch.org/156Ball. For concert-only tickets located in the Amphitheatre level, please contact Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1999 or www.ticketphiladelphia.org.