Kirov Orchestra Notes.Indd
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Cal Performances Presents Monday, October , , pm Zellerbach Hall Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Th eatre Valery Gergiev, music director and conductor with Alexander Toradze, pianist PROGRAM Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (–) Piano Concerto No. in B-fl at minor, Op. (–; rev. ) Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso Andantino semplice Allegro con fuoco INTERMISSION Dmitri Shostakovich (–) Symphony No. in G minor, Op. , “Th e Year ” () Th e Palace Square (Adagio) Th e Ninth of January (Allegro—Adagio— Allegro—Adagio) In Memoriam (Adagio) Th e Tocsin (Allegro non troppo—Allegro— Adagio—Moderato—Adagio—Allegro) Program subject to change. Vneshtorgbank is the Global Partner of the Mariinsky Th eatre. Severstal North America is the Mariinsky Th eatre’s Tour Sponsor. Th e White Nights Foundation of America is the Sponsor of the Kirov Shostakovich Centennial Celebration in North America. Columbia Artists Management LLC Tour Direction: R. Douglas Sheldon Broadway, New York, New York www.cami.com Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra record for Universal. Cal Performances’ – Season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 18 CAL PERFORMANCES Orchestra Roster Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Th eatre Valery Gergiev, music director and conductor First Violin Cello Ilya Konovalov, Guest Principal Zenon Zalitsailo, Principal Kirill Terentyev, Principal Oleg Sendetsky, Principal Leonid Veksler, Principal Alexander Ponomarenko Pavel Faynberg Nikolai Vasilyev Elena Berdnikova Tamara Sakar Tatiana Frenkel Oksana Moroz Khristian Artamonov Anton Valner Anton Kozmin Ekaterina Travkina Vsevolod Vasilyev Nikolay Oginets Boris Vasilyev Alexander Peresypkin Nina Pirogova Anna Glukhova Double Bass Irina Sukhorukova Kirill Karikov, Principal Mikhail Tatarnikov Sergei Akopov, Principal Marina Serebro Vladimir Shostak, Principal Viktoria Kakicheva Igor Eliseev Evgeny Mamontov Second Violin Sergei Trafi movich Zumrad Ilyeva, Principal Maria Shilo Maria Safarova Viktoria Schukina Flute Tatiana Moroz Valentin Cherenkov Elena Khaytova Dennis Lupachev Svetlana Zhuravkova Nikolay Mokhov Marcel Bezhenaru Margarita Maystrova Sergey Letyagin Nadezda Prudnikova Oboe Alexey Krasheninnikov Sergei Bliznetsov Irina Vasilyeva Pavel Kundyanok Mikhail Zatin Victor Ukhalin Ilya Ilin Viola Yury Afonkin, Principal Clarinet Vladimir Litvinov Viktor Kulyk Oleg Larionov Dmitri Kharitonov Lina Golovina Anatoly Shoka Alexander Shelkovnikov Yuri Zuryiaev Karine Barsegian Ivan Stolbov Evgeny Barsov Alevtina Alexeva Bassoon Olga Neverova Igor Gorbunov Andrey Petushkov Rodion Tolmachev Valentin Kapustin Alexander Sharykin CAL PERFORMANCES 19 Orchestra Roster Horn Orchestra Manager Dmitri Vorontsov Vladimir Ivanov Stanislav Tses Stanislav Avik Stage Hands Vladislav Kuznetsov Victor Belyashin Yuri Akimkin Dmitry Tsugatinov Valery Papyrin Columbia Artists Management LLC Trumpet R. Douglas Sheldon, Senior Vice President Vasily Kan Karen Kloster, Tour Coordinator Konstantin Baryshev Ryan McCarthy, Managerial Assistant Gennady Nikonov Elizabeth E. Torres, Program Manager Sergei Kryuchkov Ann Woodruff , Tour Manager Vitaly Zaitsev Maria Keith, Backstage Manager Bernard Muller, Conductor Driver Trombone Renee O’Banks, Hotel Advance Andrey Smirnov Maestro! Travel & Touring, Hotels Igor Iakovlev Sintec-Tur, Air and Cargo Mikhail Seliverstov Nikolai Timofeev Alexander Ponomarev Tuba Nikolay Slepnev Percussion Andrey Khotin Yuri Alexeev Yuri Mischenko Vladislav Ivanov Evgeny Zhikalov Arseny Shuplyakov Harp Liudmila Rokhlina Piano Valeria Rumyantseva 20 CAL PERFORMANCES Program Notes Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky I had stolen from other composers; only two or three pages were worth preserving; the rest Born May , , in Votkinsk, Russia must be thrown away or completely rewritten.... Died November , , in St. Petersburg a disinterested person in the room might had thought I was a maniac, a talentless, senseless Piano Concerto No. in B-fl at minor, hack who had come to submit his rubbish to Op. an eminent musician....” Th is unexpected reac- Composed in –; revised in . tion from Rubinstein left the composer totally Premiered on October , in Boston, with devastated and sank him into a severe state of Hans von Bülow as soloist. depression. However, so sure was the composer about “In December I had written a Piano his creation that upon Rubinstein’s gentler ad- Concerto! Not being a pianist, I considered it monitions to completely revise the concerto, necessary to consult a virtuoso as to any points in Tchaikovsky yelled, “I shall not alter a single my Concerto that might be technically imprac- note. I shall publish the work exactly as it is.”— ticable, ungrateful or ineff ective. I had need of a which he did. Th e determined composer then severe critic, but at the same time one friendily sent his concerto to Hans von Bülow, who found disposed towards me.” Th us wrote Tchaikovsky it “original, noble and powerful.” On October to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, describ- , , under the direction of Benjamin ing the circumstances in which he presented Johnson Lang, Bülow took the concert world his newly written First Piano Concerto—one by storm when he presented the work in Boston of the best-loved in the repertoire today—to his with unprecedented success. Tchaikovsky con- much admired and trusted senior colleague at ducted the Russian premiere just a few weeks the Moscow Conservatory, Nikolay Rubinstein. later. After this, Rubinstein reconsidered his Tchaikovsky suff ered one of the biggest disap- position, recognizing the concerto for the mas- pointments of his career when, on Christmas terpiece it is, and added it to his repertoire, Eve, Rubinstein—who had been so supportive of playing it quite often throughout Russia. Th e the composer in the past—rejected the concerto rift that had ensued between Tchaikovsky and with a rush of scathing criticism, summarily de- Rubinstein was eventually repaired and, later claring the work ill-composed and unperform- on, the composer did make a few revisions to able. “I played the fi rst movement. Not a single the score, primarily in the solo passages.Th e fi rst word, not a single remark.... Oh for one word, movement begins with a lengthy— measure for friendly attack, but for God’s sake, one word long—introduction marked Allegro non troppo of sympathy, even if not of praise. Rubinstein e molto maestoso. At the outset, the horns pres- was amassing his storm.... Above all I did not ent a four-note descending motif, punctuated want sentence on the artistic aspect. My need by sharp chords from the rest of the orches- was for remarks about the virtuoso piano tech- tra. Th e piano then enters with a long series nique. R’s eloquent silence was of the greatest of chords, as the violins play an impassioned signifi cance.... I fortifi ed myself with patience theme based on the opening motif. Eventually, and played through to the end. Still silence. the fi rst movement proper, Allegro con spirito, I stood up and asked ‘Well?’ Th en a torrent arrives as the piano introduces the main theme poured from Nikolay Grigorievich’s mouth.... with minimal support from the orchestra. One It turned out that my concerto was worthless of Rubinstein’s criticisms was that he found this and unplayable; passages were so fragmented, so an unseemly theme to ennoble by incorporating clumsy, so badly written that they were beyond it into a piano concerto; the theme is derived rescue; the work itself was bad, vulgar; in places from a Ukrainian folksong commonly sung by CAL PERFORMANCES 21 Program Notes blind beggars. Th e somewhat more relaxed and a fl urry of virtuoso playing, the piano rushes to stately second theme begins with an ascending the work’s exhilarating conclusion. scalar motif and ends with descending leaps. © Columbia Artists Management Inc. Both themes are subjected to a brilliant double exposition, with the exchange of virtuoso and expressive elements and argumentative tension Dmitri Shostakovich (–) between soloist and orchestra. Th e soloist has Born September , , in St. Petersburg plentiful occasion to shine with its many ornate Died August , , in Moscow and rhapsodic passages and several demanding cadenzas. Symphony No. in G minor, Op. , Th e contrasting second movement, “Th e Year ” Andantino semplice, takes the form of a scher- zo, but in reverse—instead of the normal fast- Composed in . slower-fast pattern, a soulful episode surrounds Premiered on October , in Moscow, a jaunty middle section. It begins with a ten- conducted by Nathan Rakhlin. der love theme played by a solo fl ute against pizzicato strings, and then taken over by the Discussions of Shostakovich and his music have piano. After a contrasting phrase is heard, the a lways revolved a round politics. Th e Soviets used oboe once again takes the main melody. Th en to maintain that the composer was loyal to the the piano embarks on a frolicsome scherzando regime, while more recent literature suggests that episode marked Allegro vivace assai. Although he was deeply disillusioned with Communism. it does so at fi rst by itself, soon the violas and Yet if we ask whether Shostakovich was for or cellos join in with a melody of their own—the against the regime, we also must ask the op- French song Il faut s’amuser, danser et rire (“One posite question: was the regime for or against must have fun, dance and laugh”) which was Shostakovich? Surely, the Party’s treatment of a favorite of Désirée Artôt, to whom the com- the country’s greatest composer, with a seesaw poser was briefl y engaged. After an ingenious of denunciations and rehabilitations, severe crit- reference to the fi rst movement’s second theme, icism and highest honors, is no less ambiguous the soloist plays a short cadenza that leads into than Shostakovich’s own highly contradictory the main love theme once again to conclude the attitudes toward Communism. movement. Eleven years old at the time of the October Th e last movement, Allegro con fuoco, is built Revolution, Shostakovich spent his entire adult upon a rondo structure with elements of sonata life under the Soviet regime, which was the only form. After a few introductory measures from political reality he had ever experienced fi rst- the orchestra, the piano presents the main recur- hand.