Toronto Symphony Orchestra Sir Andrew Davis, Interim Artistic Director

Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 8:00pm Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 8:00pm

Dynamic Duo: Hannigan & Storgårds

John Storgårds, conductor & violin , conductor & soprano

Calixa Lavallée/arr. John Fenwick “O Canada” Overture to Egmont, Op. 84

Henri Dutilleux Sur le même accord: Nocturne for Violin and Orchestra

Franz Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 96 in D Major “Miracle” I. Adagio – Allegro II. Andante III. Menuet: Allegretto IV. Vivace Intermission

Brett Dean & Matthew Jocelyn () And once I played Ophelia for String Orchestra and Soprano (Canadian Première) I. Fast, breathless Please join TSO Chief Executive II. Hushed, distant, mysterious Officer Matthew Loden, composer III. Fast, agitated Brett Dean, and librettist Matthew IV. Extremely still Jocelyn for an intermission chat V. Slow, austere in the Roy Thomson Hall lobby.

Jean Sibelius As a courtesy to musicians, guest Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52 artists, and fellow concertgoers, I. Allegro moderato please put your phone away and on II. Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto silent during the performance. III. Moderato – Allegro, ma non tanto

Barbara Hannigan’s appearance is generously supported by Indra & Rags Davloor.

SEPTEMBER 19 & 21, 2019 9 ABOUT THE WORKS

Ludwig van Beethoven stricken, Clärchen takes her own life; but Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 the night before Egmont’s execution, she appears to him in a dream, transformed into Baptized: Bonn, Germany, Dec 17, 1770 the goddess of freedom, telling him that his Died: Vienna, Austria, Mar 26, 1827 death will free the Flemish and he will be Composed: 1809 8 remembered as a victor. The next morning, min standing on the scaffold, he urges his friends to fight and die joyfully for their country.

As Godfrey Ridout, author of these program Beethoven received several commissions for notes from 1973 to 1984, has pointed out, music to accompany theatrical presentations. Beethoven’s overture is not “program” music, On the whole, these incidental scores do not in the sense of music that tells a story, but “it represent him at his best. There are some gems does convey a progression from darkness to scattered among his theatre scores, however, light, from a gloomy uncertainty to certain and the overture to Egmont is one of them. triumph. It begins with a slow introduction Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the celebrated on the triple-metre rhythm of the stately author of Faust, had completed his play Egmont sarabande [which arrived in Western European in 1778 after 12 years of intermittent work. He music in the mid-16th century via Spain’s specified that it be accompanied by music, Central American colonies]. ... An allegro and even indicated precisely where within the follows, built on motifs of restless energy; the play the music should be. Several composers sarabande figure then appears again, in faster had taken up the challenge prior to Beethoven, tempo. Then comes a triumphant coda.” apparently with little impact. Then, in 1809, the directors of Vienna’s Burgtheater approached It makes for a stirring conclusion, forecasting Beethoven—whose catalogue of works by the “symphony of victory” that Goethe called that time included six symphonies and the for to end the play. opera Fidelio—to provide music for a revival Program note by Don Anderson of Egmont. Goethe was one of Beethoven’s favourite writers, and the composer eagerly accepted the offer; and during the first half of 1810, he composed an overture and nine Henri Dutilleux entr’actes (incidental music as specified by Goethe) for the revival. Sur le même accord: Nocturne

The title refers to Count Egmont (1522–1568), for Violin and Orchestra who sided with the Flemish in their war for Born: , , Jan 22, 1916 liberation from Spain, before being captured Died: Paris, France, May 22, 2013 and executed. Goethe used the war as a Composed: 2001–2002 10 backdrop for the idyllic romance of Egmont min and his wife, Clärchen, in Brussels. Because it will mean leaving her side, Egmont refuses to flee when the villainous Duke of Alba Henri Dutilleux’s Sur le même accord (On a single enters the city with his forces. Alba, King chord) is a one-movement piece for solo violin Philip II of Spain’s representative, has Egmont and orchestra, described by the composer in imprisoned and condemned to death. Grief a 2002 interview as “dealing with the abstract

10 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA relations within the orchestral universe.” Based A brief climax leads into a second lyrical on a six-note chord (to which the title refers), section; the violin soars high above, in the work is characterized by rhapsodic writing with the melody (which is now in for the violin and luminous orchestral colours, the winds), and over the strings, slowly shifting in which, Dutilleux explains, the pitches of on the chord’s pitches. Gradually, the violin this chord “can be heard throughout…either becomes more agitated; it muses obsessively concealed or more overtly, given to soloists over the notes of the chord, especially G (the drawn from the orchestra.” lowest pitch of the solo instrument), to which it and the orchestra return, driving the piece Sur le même accord is one of a small but to its emphatic conclusion. significant group of works completed and published by this meticulous and perfectionistic Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley French composer in his lifetime. These are works that, according to Dutilleux specialist and musicologist Janet Obi, distinguish him as Franz Joseph Haydn a unique figure of the 20th and 21st centuries, displaying “an expressive depth and mystery Symphony No. 96 in D Major that sets [his work] apart from any one “Miracle” musical movement or group of his time.” Born: Rohrau, Austria, Mar 31, 1732 Sur le même accord exhibits two hallmarks Died: Vienna, Austria, May 31, 1809 of Dutilleux’s style: his remarkable sense of Composed: 1791 21 lyricism, and his preoccupation with the concept min of memory, realized here in the use of the title chord, the pitches of which are repeated in varying contexts to serve as an aide-memoire Sometimes a work’s title can be informative; for the listener. Chords of this type, he believed, in other cases, such as this, less so. Kevin are capable of “arousing a feeling of nostalgia Bazzana explains: “It is a symphony, and it is in a listener”; in this work, the chord is, as he in D major, but it is not really Haydn’s 96th. describes it, “omnipresent, an obsession.” Haydn made two enormously successful trips to London, in 1791–2 and 1794–5, for The work begins with the solo violin which purpose he composed two sets of six announcing the six pitches of the chord (D, symphonies—his last works in a genre that B, F-sharp, G, B-flat, E-flat), first as a plucked had brought him international renown. Of melodic line, then restated as double-stops. the first set, four were composed for the 1791 This material, as Dutilleux has written, “is then season (Nos. 96, 95, 93, and 94, likely in that distributed vertically (played as a chord) by order), and two for the 1792 season (Nos. various instrumental groups.” After reaching 98 and 97). No. 96 was thus actually No. 94, the first climax, a section of more rapid music Haydn’s first symphony for London, composed follows, as the violin and instruments of the shortly after his arrival there at the beginning orchestra engage in an animated dialogue. of January 1791.” Calm returns with the strings intoning the chord; from here, the violin rhapsodizes in The symphony’s nickname, “Miracle”, is also richly melodic writing, gradually moving misplaced. Author Edward Downes describes upward to the higher registers of the Haydn taking his place at the keyboard during instrument. Another lively episode ensues, one of his London concerts, and the audience spiked with plucked textures and other crowding forward toward the orchestra to “sounds of the night”—the glints and burbles observe him at close quarters, leaving empty of woodwinds and percussion. a large number of seats in the middle of the

SEPTEMBER 19 & 21, 2019 11 ABOUT THE WORKS

auditorium. A huge chandelier plunged down Brett Dean into the open space, terrifying the whole And once I played Ophelia for audience. A cry of “Miracle! Miracle!” then went up, from those whose lives had been String Orchestra and Soprano (Canadian Première) saved by the accident of their curiosity. The trouble is, this incident took place in 1794, during Born: Brisbane, Australia, Oct 23, 1961 the première of Haydn’s Symphony No. 102. Composed: 2013–2017 No. 96 may not be miraculous, but it is 17 min virtuosic. All but one of the London symphonies have a slow introduction, and like many of these, the Adagio of No. 96 is impressive, Australian Brett Dean enjoys a busy and moving and elevating despite its brevity and multifaceted career as a composer, violist, relative simplicity. Then, Haydn, in the blink of and conductor. He studied in Brisbane before an eye, shifts impishly to a bright and cheerful moving to Germany in 1984, where he was Allegro, with wind instruments playing a a member of the Berlin Philharmonic for 14 prominent role, as they will throughout the years. It was during this time that he began piece. The second movement offers a relaxing composing. Much of Dean’s work draws stroll, based on one of those artless, folk-like from literary, political, environmental, or tunes that Haydn produced so effortlessly. visual stimuli, and is championed by leading A substantial section in the minor provides conductors and orchestras worldwide. In contrast, while a passage toward the end, 2016, as guest curator of the TSO’s New spotlighting solo winds and two violins, offers a Creations Festival, he made his TSO début taste of a form much favoured in London at the as soloist in his own Viola , and time, the sinfonia concertante. The following conducted the Canadian Première of Dramatis minuet is pure Austria, a happy conference personæ—Music for Trumpet and Orchestra, between ballroom (outer panels) and village featuring Håkan Hardenberger, and the North festival (central trio). The single-theme, American Première of Knocking at the Hellgate, perpetual-motion finale then bounds ahead with Canadian baritone Russell Braun. joyously from first bar to last. Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been the basis No. 96 became a showpiece for orchestra in its for several of his major works, including a day, repeated often (so it may well have been full-length opera, also called Hamlet, which on the program the night the chandelier fell). premièred at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera As Kevin Bazzana puts it: “It is an ingeniously in June 2017 to great acclaim. Prior to that, Dean constructed work, and wide-ranging in wrote three other works that explore the play: expression—by turns brilliant and subtle, urbane From Melodious Lay (A Hamlet Diffraction)(2016), and homely, profound and witty, intimate and an “orchestral poem” with soprano and tenor bustling. Haydn coaxes the most surprising voices; Gertrude Fragments (2016), miniatures and delectable sonorities from a conventional for mezzo-soprano and guitar; and And once I Classical orchestra, and indulges a predilection played Ophelia, a longer suite for soprano and for solo writing and concerto-grosso-like or string orchestra. For all these textures that both dates back to his earliest works, he worked with Canadian librettist and symphonies and stands the test of time.” theatre director Matthew Jocelyn, who created texts from the words of the play itself. Program note by Don Anderson

12 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Dean provides the following description: “Matthew Jocelyn’s text utilizes not only TEXT Ophelia’s own words from Shakespeare’s And once I played Ophelia for String Hamlet but also words directed towards, or Orchestra and Soprano said about her: from the confronting invective of Hamlet’s ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ or his Copyright © 2018 Boosey & Hawkes – exalted love poem, ‘Doubt thou the stars Bote & Bock, Berlin are fire’, through to the condescending life directives handed out by her father, Polonius I. Fast, breathless (‘Best safety lies in fear’; ‘Do not believe his Get thee to a nunnery, a nunnery! vows’), and Gertrude’s lyrical description of Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? her suicide (‘There is a willow…’). Very proud, revengeful, ambitious. “Through a suite of five short movements Wise men know well enough performed without a break, a concise portrait what monsters you make of them. of Shakespeare’s troubled and elusive young Get thee to a nunnery, a nunnery, character emerges. As we discussed the shape Thou shalt not escape. of the work, Matthew and I saw it increasingly You jig and amble and you lisp; your as an examination of what remains in our wantonness! memory and understanding of this secondary, Get thee to a nunnery, to a nunnery, go. yet utterly pivotal role ‘after all the Ophelias Go thy ways to a nunnery, Get thee to a have played Ophelia.’ nunnery. “Though traditionally portrayed as a meek, Get thee to a even weak character, often dressed in flowing Get thee to a white robes and unable to defend herself Get thee to a nunnery! before the pressures of Elsinore cause her to And I, And I, that sucked snap, I’ve often felt that much of what she says that sucked the honey of his musicked vows, betrays a feistier personality than the one we now see what noble reason like sweet bells often are presented (‘And I that sucked from jangled out of time, sweet bells his musicked vows…’). Sweet bells, jangled out of time and harsh. “And perhaps, just perhaps, Ophelia drowns Blasted with ecstasy. not from a romantically-fed whim or madness, II. Hushed, distant, mysterious but simply because of the pure weight of the Doubt words others say about her caught irrevocably Doubt thou the stars are fire, in her pockets. Hence I sensed [that] the Doubt that the sun doth move, drama of a string quartet [or string orchestra] Doubt truth to be a liar, complemented by a high soprano voice, at but never doubt I love. times in combat with the forces around her, at times lulled, accompanied, even defeated I did love you once. I did love you once. by them, formed a suitable musical metaphor Ay, truly I did love you once... for this ‘ministering angel’ and the strange, I loved you not... beguiling spell she casts over us.”

Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley Please turn page quietly.

SEPTEMBER 19 & 21, 2019 13 Mmm, mmm o Fear it, fear it. Woe, woe, woe, Best safety lies in fear. T’have seen, seen what I have seen. Fear it, fear it. Mmm mmm mmm o Hold it a fashion this trifling of his favour, Rose of May, of May Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting To the celestial and my soul’s idol, the perfume and suppliance of a minute, no more. Doubt thou the stars are fire, Green girl, fear it. Do not believe his vows, Doubt that the sun doth move, green ghghgh Doubt truth to be a liar, These blazes give more light than heat But never doubt, my most dear lady, and extinct in both. Thine ever more, O most best believe it. Tender yourself more dearly, Never, never, never doubt I love, or you’ll tender me a fool, green girl. never, never, never doubt I love, Green girl. Green girl. never, never, never, never, never doubt I love. Do not believe, do not believe his vows. I love thee best, believe it. do not believe, do not believe his vows. My lord I have remembrances of yours, remembrances of yours that I have I shall obey, my lord, I shall obey, Longed long to redeliver. I shall obey, I shall obey, my lord, My lord, I pray you now re– my lord, my lord.

III. Fast, agitated IV. Extremely still –ceive them. There is a willow, a willow, grows askant the brook, This is the very ecstasy of love, That shows his hoary leaves, there whose violent property with fantastic garlands, there, fordoes itself and leads the will, there on pendant boughs… and leads the will, to desperate undertakings. V. Slow, austere as oft as any, as oft as any passion Good night ladies, sweet ladies, good night as any passion under heaven. Good night. Sweet ladies, good night. This is the very ecstasy of love. Come, come my coach, come my coach. Good night.

The University of Toronto Faculty of Music Presents Master Class and Q&A with the TSO’s Visiting Artists

FRI, SEP 20, 2019 Both events are Master Class with Soprano Barbara Hannigan free admission LIGETI Mysteries of the Macabre with the Contemporary Music and open to the public. Ensemble (Director, Wallace Halladay) and Maeve Palmer, soprano 1:00–3:00pm, Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park Cres. Co-sponsored by In Conversation: Soprano Barbara Hannigan, the University of Composer Brett Dean & Librettist Matthew Jocelyn Toronto and the Q&A with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Visiting Artists Toronto Symphony 3:00–4:00pm, Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park Cres. Orchestra

14 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Jean Sibelius The first movement begins unassumingly Symphony No. 3 in C Major, with a theme in the low strings. Soon its potential energy emerges. The rapid patter Op. 52 of four notes followed by three longer ones Born: Hämeenlinna, , Dec 8, 1865 turns out to be a germinal idea, drawn out Died: Järvenpää, Finland, Sep 20, 1957 until we reach the first climax, lofted by the Composed: 1907 trumpets. Already we have a paradigm of 26 min the Third: “ordinary”—even banal—material that turns out to have a destiny, generating a thrilling sense of purpose, without sounding The Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52, predictable. Notice, for example, how Sibelius comes between the romantic intensity of builds suspense over a carefully controlled Sibelius’s first two symphonies (1899 and crescendo into that most inevitable of 1902) and the more austere complexity moments, the recapitulation. The keenest of his five later symphonies, and as such surprise arrives in the coda via a chorale-like represents a turning point in his symphonic theme that introduces a new feeling of awe. output. Its first performance was given by The second movement revolves around the Philharmonic Society, conducted a haunting, nocturnal tune first given by by the composer, on September 25, 1907, to woodwinds and then repeated by violins. Its a somewhat tepid reception, especially by folkloric flavour is set off by two contrasting contrast with the patriotic fervour that had sections, after which the initial music returns greeted his earlier two symphonies. twice, but beautifully varied in Sibelius’s His First and Second Symphonies were orchestration, with lyrical intensity going grandiose Romantic and patriotic works, hand in hand with momentum. the former buoyed by the Russian The innovative final movement is really two Emperor Nicholas II’s attempt to restrict the movements compacted into one—a quietly powers of the Grand Duchy of Finland, and suspenseful scherzo and chorale-type finale, the latter a high-calorie, rhetorical work that beginning with wisps of music from the the composer characterized as a “confession preceding movements and anticipations of of the soul” and that runs almost 45 minutes. the finale’s grand theme, which bursts forth By contrast, economy dominates in the Third, in the strings midway through. The simple which typically runs under 30 minutes, and five-note motif at its core brings the finale into shows a distinct, almost Classical desire ever-clearer focus. Sibelius’s economically to contain the largest amount of musical argued, taut score acquires an epic nobility in material in the fewest possible melodic its final pages, sealed by three pillar-like brass figures, , and durations. This chords of C Major. musical economy is most apparent in the first movement, almost reminiscent Program note by Thomas May of Beethoven in its clear and cleanly developed sections. Working with a relatively modest orchestra, the work anticipates many aspects of the assured Neoclassicism to emerge in the composer’s work over the next two decades. But the Third’s reputation for a kind of austerity shouldn’t be taken to mean that the music is stingy in its pleasures.

SEPTEMBER 19 & 21, 2019 15 THE ARTISTS

John Storgårds conductor & violin John Storgårds made his TSO début in February 2012.

Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Principal Guest Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso, and is widely recognized for his creative flair for programming. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, a title he has held for over 25 years, Storgårds earned global critical acclaim for the ensemble’s adventurous performances and award-winning recordings.

Internationally, he appears with such orchestras as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Stattskapelle, WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, Orchestre Philharmonique de , Orchestre National de France, Vienna Radio Symphony, and the London Philharmonic, as well as all of the major Scandinavian orchestras, including the Helsinki Philharmonic, where he was Chief Conductor from 2008 to 2015. Soloists with whom he collaborates include Yefim Bronfman, Sol Gabetta, Kirill Gerstein, Håkan Hardenberger, Gil Shaham, Emanuel Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Christian Tetzlaff, as well as and Soile Isokoski.

Storgårds made his North American début with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra during the 2005/06 season. Since then, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the , and the Boston, National, Atlanta, Montreal, Cincinnati, Dallas, Vancouver, and Indianapolis Symphonies. Highlights of his 2019/20 North American season include re-engagements with the Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Toronto, Baltimore, and Houston Symphonies, and conducting two programs during the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s Ideas of North festival.

His award-winning discography includes recordings of works by Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn, and also rarities by Holmboe and Vask, which feature him as violin soloist. Cycles of the complete symphonies of Sibelius (2014) and Nielsen (2015) with the BBC Philharmonic were released to critical acclaim by Chandos. His most recent recordings are works by American avant-garde composer with the BBC Philharmonic, and a highly acclaimed recording on Bis of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. Additional recordings include discs of works by Nørgård, Korngold, Aho, and Rautavaara, the latter receiving a GRAMMY® nomination and a Gramophone Award in 2012.

John Storgårds studied violin with Chaim Taub and subsequently became the concertmaster of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, before studying conducting with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas at the famed . He received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002 and the Pro Finlandia Prize 2012.

16 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Barbara Hannigan conductor & soprano Barbara Hannigan made her TSO début in November 2000.

Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, Nova Scotian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Her colleagues include Christoph Marthaler, Sir , Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, John Zorn, Andreas Kriegenburg, , Reinbert de Leeuw, David Zinman, Antonio Pappano, Katie Mitchell, Kirill Petrenko, and Krszysztof Warlikowski.

As a singer and conductor, she has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world première performances of over 85 new creations. Hannigan has collaborated extensively with composers including Boulez, Zorn, Dutilleux, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Sciarrino, Barry, Dusapin, Dean, Benjamin, and Abrahamsen.

Barbara Hannigan’s 2019/20 season marks her appointment as Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony. She also has engagements with the London Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, and Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and will be artist in residence at Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Hannigan will première the role of Gerda in Munich Staatsoper’s production of Hans Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen and will return to the role of Lulu at Hamburg Staatsoper as well as with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Operatic performances at the world’s leading opera companies include: Lulu in productions directed by Krszysztof Warlikowski at La Monnaie and by Christoph Marthaler at Hamburg Staatsoper; Pelléas et Mélisande in Katie Mitchell’s staging at the 2016 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and in Warlikowski’s 2017 production at the Ruhrtriennale; and Marie in Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten at the Bayerische Staatsoper directed by Andreas Kriegenberg and conducted by Kirill Petrenko, for which she won Germany’s Faust Award.

In 2017, Barbara Hannigan created Equilibrium Young Artists, a mentoring initiative for young professional musicians. Hannigan continues with Equilibrium in the upcoming season with partner orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmoniqe de Radio France, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Gothenburg Symphony.

Hannigan’s album Crazy Girl Crazy won the 2018 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, as well as the JUNO Award in the same year. Other recent albums include Vienna: fin de siècle with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, which won the 2019 JUNO. In 2020, she will release her next album on Alpha Classics. A graduate of the University of Toronto, where she studied with Mary Morrison, Hannigan was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2016, holds honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto and Mount Allison University, and was awarded Sweden’s Rolf Schock Prize in 2017.

SEPTEMBER 19 & 21, 2019 17