BERNSTEIN @ 100 2018-19 HAL & JEANETTE SEGERSTROM FAMILY FOUNDATION CLASSICAL SERIES Pacific Symphony Bernstein PRELUDE, FUGUE AND RIFFS Prelude for the Brass Carl St.Clair, conductor Fugue for the Saxes Pacific Chorale—Robert Istad, artistic director Riffs for Everyone Augustin Hadelich, violin Joseph Morris Angel Garcia, vocalist SERENADE (AFTER PLATO’S “SYMPOSIUM”) Celena Shafer, soprano Phaedras; Pausanias (Lento – Allegro) Aristophanes (Allegretto) Joseph Morris, clarinet Eryximachus (Presto) Agathon (Adagio) Socrates; Alcibiades (Molto tenuto - Allegro molto) Augustin Hadelich Intermission Bernstein CHICHESTER PSALMS Psalm 108:2 Psalm 100 Psalm 23 Psalm 2:1-4 Psalm 131 Psalm 133:1 Pacific Chorale, Angel Garcia SELECTIONS FROM ARIAS AND BARCAROLLES “Greeting” “Little Smary” Celena Shafer “A LITTLE BIT IN LOVE” FROM WONDERFUL TOWN Celena Shafer SELECTIONS FROM CANDIDE “Glitter and Be Gay” Celena Shafer “Make Our Garden Grow” Preview talk with Alan Chapman at 7:00 PM Pacific Chorale Thursday, October 25, 2018 @ 8:00 PM Augustin Hadelich’s performances have been generously underwritten Saturday, October 27, 2018 @ 8:00 PM by a gift from Sam and Lyndie Ersan. Segerstrom Center for the Arts Saturday’s concert will be recorded for later broadcast on 91.5 KUSC Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on February 10, 2019. Official Hotel Official Classical Music Station Official TV Station 12 OCTOBER BERNSTEIN: CROSSING BOUNDARIES CLASSICAL KUSC AT PACIFIC SYMPHONY Carl St.Clair, conductor Bernstein PRELUDE, FUGUE AND RIFFS Pacific Chorale—Robert Istad, artistic director Prelude for the Brass Angel Garcia, vocalist Fugue for the Saxes Riffs for Everyone Celena Shafer, soprano Joseph Morris Joseph Morris, clarinet Alan Chapman, host CHICHESTER PSALMS Psalm 108:2 Psalm 100 Psalm 23 Psalm 2:1-4 Psalm 131 Psalm 133:1 Pacific Chorale, Angel Garcia “A LITTLE BIT IN LOVE” FROM WONDERFUL TOWN Celena Shafer SELECTIONS FROM CANDIDE “Glitter and Be Gay” Celena Shafer “Make Our Garden Grow” Pacific Chorale Friday, October 26, 2018 @ 8:00 PM Segerstrom Center for the Arts Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Official Hotel Official Classical Music Station Official TV Station 13 PROGRAM NOTES LEONARD BERNSTEIN: understanding of the violin, with its unique PRELUDE, FUGUE AND RIFFS ability to sing and to skitter, and as always, SERENADE (AFTER PLATO’S he is sensitive to the expressive possibilities Rarely does a title tell us so much about “SYMPOSIUM”) of the accompanied solo voice. Was he shy the music to come. The of the showiness behind that loaded word words prelude and fugue, Bernstein’s Serenade is actually a violin “concerto”? Perhaps. But a concerto by any when seen together, say concerto of five movements based on other name… In this one, some listeners, “classical”; more than that, five Platonic monologues exploring the including your intrepid annotator, hear they say seriously classical, nature of love. The form of the concerto is not only a convincing evocation of the as in the preludes and cyclical, with each movement incorporating Symposium’s legendary collegiality, but also fugues of J.S. Bach. But to elements of the previous movement, a Freud-savvy appreciation of the erotic riff is the essence of jazz—repeating a short transmuting them and adding new ones. impulse as the unseen Energizer Bunny musical figure in a way that’s improvisatory, Bernstein had begun framing his musical powering all human creativity. of‑the‑moment and invested with soul. ideas for the operetta Candide around the Bernstein composed Prelude, Fugue and time he resumed work on his long‑neglected Riffs in 1949 on commission from Woody sketches for Serenade, in 1953. But while Herman, a swingin’ saxophonist and Candide was a collaboration on broad scale CHICHESTER PSALMS clarinetist who led one of the era’s best that was rife with problems that continued “big bands.” But by the time he finished for years, the concerto—a commission Located in the West Sussex town of it, Herman’s “big band” jazz ensemble was from the Koussevitzky Foundation that he Chichester, Chichester Cathedral has a no longer so big, and the score was left had never quite gotten around to—proved tradition of commissioning artworks by unheard. Bernstein recycled parts of it for a perfect respite. Very much a solo effort, leading modern artists of many faiths and dance scenes in the musical Wonderful Town it was completed in less than a year, mainly nationalities, including a dazzling stained- (mostly later cut), then revised his original during the summer of 1954, and dedicated glass window by Marc Chagall and one conception in 1952 for the hugely influential to his friend Isaac Stern, who performed of Leonard Bernstein’s most cherished television series Omnibus—still a high- the premiere in September of that year with compositions, Chichester Psalms. As is the water mark in cultural programming. The the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under case with many of its artworks, in Chichester premiere occurred on live TV, with Bernstein Bernstein’s direction. Psalms the cathedral received much more conducting saxophone soloist Al Gallodoro Bernstein, a Harvard alum, had a than was asked for. and the NBC Symphony. lifelong interest in literary subjects, and his Chichester Psalms was commissioned by The three parts of Prelude, Fugue and treatment of the Symposium happened to the dean, Walter Hussey, along with organist Riffs form an unbroken sequence, but each coincide with a vogue for ancient Greek and John Birch. Bernstein composed it two is distinct. The prelude is bright, brassy Roman subjects among artists including years after completing his dark‑hued third and dramatic, drawing us in as a Baroque Picasso, Cocteau and Stravinsky. But that symphony, Kaddish, a meditation on the prelude might. The fugue section is less doesn’t mean we hear the specifics of a Hebrew prayer for the dead. By contrast, his Baroque in its fugal construction, but richly Platonic dialog in Serenade or even a general psalm settings are lyrical and affirmative. contrapuntal, taking full advantage of the musical representation of the aspects of The suite resonates with biblical tradition: saxophone’s bluesy, throaty sound. And the Eros under discussion; instead, the music the prominence of the harps is a reminder of third movement’s riffs pay generous dividends proceeds with the structured ease of a the original psalmist, King David, who played for sax, clarinet and the entire ensemble, even conversation among students of philosophy. the harp as he sang his own verses, and the showcasing a piano in the mix. It is modern, but tender rather than spiky: vocal scoring—for boy soprano or counter- Like 20th-century violin concertos by Alban tenor soloist—echoes David’s own voice. Berg and Karol Szymanowski, Serenade replaces traditional melody with motifs that are lyrical even when conventional tonality is not present. In it Bernstein shows his deep Leonard Bernstein Serenade (After Plato’s “Symposium”) Chichester Psalms Born: 1918. Lawrence, Mass. Composed: 1954 Composed: 1965 Died: 1990. New York, NY World premiere: Sept. 11, 1954 at La Fenice in World premiere: July 15, 1965 at the Philharmonic Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Venice with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Hall in New York Composed: 1949 First Pacific Symphony performance: today Most recent Pacific Symphony performance: May 3, 2001, Carl St.Clair conducting World premiere: Oct. 16, 1955 on “The World of Instrumentation: timpani, percussion, harp, Jazz” with Benny Goodman strings, and solo violin Instrumentation: three trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, two harps, Most recent Pacific Symphony performance: Estimated duration: 31 minutes May 20, 2010, Carl St.Clair conducting strings, chorus, and solo boy soprano. Instrumentation: five trumpets, four trombones, Estimated duration: 19 minutes percussion, piano, one double bass, two alto saxophones, two tenor saxophones, one baritone saxophone, and solo clarinet. Estimated duration: 8 minutes 14 OCTOBER Martin Beck Theatre. Almost as quickly, a legend began to spring up around the show. ARIAS AND BARCAROLLES WONDERFUL TOWN Having seen Candide became a badge of status that theatergoers boasted and lied about. And Before the election of John F. Kennedy, the The experiences of author Ruth McKenney so began a succession of revisions and revivals arts often met resistance in our nation’s and her sister Eileen first captivated readers in search of a masterpiece that, if not lost, capital. At a 1946 art show sponsored by of The New Yorker as short stories in the was hidden: less than a year after its closing the State Department, President Truman 1930s, then found life on Broadway in the on Broadway, the New York Philharmonic took one look at a sensitive oil study by play My Sister Eileen. The 1953 adaption presented a concert version of Candide. For a the American artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi and as the musical Wonderful Town preceded 1973 revival at the Broadway Theatre, Stephen remarked “If that’s art, I’m a Hottentot.” Give- Bernstein’s West Side Story by four years Sondheim was brought in for additional lyrics ’em-Hell Harry’s successor, Ike Eisenhower, and was an early collaboration with the and Lillian Hellman’s book was reworked was a skilled Sunday painter, but was lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green. by Hugh Wheeler, the successful British scarcely less skeptical when he confronted Among the team’s challenges was writing screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator— Leonard Bernstein at the White House in the songs for Rosalind Russell, who created a after which Hellman renounced her association spring of 1960. The title Arias and Barcarolles sensation in the play as older sister Ruth, but with the show. was inspired by their encounter. Here’s how was no singer. She insisted that her singing In subsequent revivals, production teams the maestro described it to former New York range was limited to four notes, and asked worked to recapture Candide’s original Times writer Will Crutchfield: Bernstein, Comden and Green for songs that scope in expanded performing editions.