23 Season 2012-2013 Friday, April 12, at 2:00 Saturday, April 13, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jaap van Zweden Conductor Tchaikovsky/arr. Drew Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70, for string orchestra I. Allegro con spirito II. Adagio cantabile e con moto III. Allegretto moderato IV. Allegro vivace Intermission ProkofievSymphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 I. Andante II. Allegro marcato III. Adagio IV. Allegro giocoso This program runs approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 2 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. 25 3 Story Title The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin Renowned for its distinctive Philadelphia is home and Carnegie Hall and the sound, beloved for its the Orchestra nurtures Kennedy Center while also keen ability to capture the an important relationship enjoying a three-week hearts and imaginations not only with patrons who residency in Saratoga of audiences, and admired support the main season Springs, N.Y., and a strong for an unrivaled legacy of at the Kimmel Center but partnership with the Bravo! “firsts” in music-making, also those who enjoy the Vail festival. The Philadelphia Orchestra Orchestra’s other area The ensemble maintains is one of the preeminent performances at the Mann an important Philadelphia orchestras in the world. Center, Penn’s Landing, tradition of presenting and other venues. The The Orchestra has educational programs for Philadelphia Orchestra cultivated an extraordinary students of all ages. Today Association also continues history of artistic leaders the Orchestra executes a to own the Academy of in its 112 seasons, myriad of education and Music, a National Historic including music directors community partnership Landmark. Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, programs serving nearly Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Through concerts, 50,000 annually, including Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, tours, residencies, its Neighborhood Concert Wolfgang Sawallisch, and presentations, and Series, Sound All Around Christoph Eschenbach, and recordings, the Orchestra and Family Concerts, and Charles Dutoit, who served is a global ambassador eZseatU. as chief conductor from for Philadelphia and for In February 2013 the 2008 to 2012. With the the U.S. Having been the Orchestra announced a 2012-13 season, Yannick first American orchestra recording project with Nézet-Séguin becomes the to perform in China, in Deutsche Grammophon, eighth music director of 1973 at the request of in which Yannick and The Philadelphia Orchestra. President Nixon, today The the ensemble will record Named music director Philadelphia Orchestra Stravinsky’s The Rite of designate in 2010, Nézet- boasts a new partnership Spring. Séguin brings a vision that with the National Centre extends beyond symphonic for the Performing Arts For more information on music into the vivid world of in Beijing. The Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra, opera and choral music. annually performs at please visit www.philorch.org. 4 Music Director Jessica Griffin Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. From the Orchestra’s home in Verizon Hall to the Carnegie Hall stage, his highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.” 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. In February 2013, following the July 2012 announcement of a major long-term collaboration between Yannick and Deutsch Grammophon, the Orchestra announced a recording project with the label, in which Yannick and the Orchestra will record Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. 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. 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. 26 Conductor Bert Hulselmans Amsterdam-born Jaap van Zweden has risen rapidly in little more than a decade to become one of today’s most sought-after conductors. He has been music director of the Dallas Symphony since 2008, and in September 2012 he became music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Appointed at age 19 as the youngest concertmaster ever of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he began his conducting career in 1995. He has held the positions of chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and chief conductor and artistic director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra. He remains honorary chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and conductor emeritus of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra. Mr. van Zweden was recently named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year for 2012 in recognition of his critically-acclaimed work with the Dallas Symphony and as a guest conductor with the most prestigious U.S. orchestras, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, which he has conducted every season since making his debut in 2009. On the opera stage he has conducted Verdi’s La traviata and Beethoven’s Fidelio with the National Reisopera, and concert performances of Verdi’s Otello, Barber’s Vanessa, and Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Parsifal, and Lohengrin at the Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Highlights of the 2012-13 season and beyond include subscription debuts with the Orchestre de Paris, the San Francisco Symphony, the National Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and return visits to the Orchestre National de France, the Chicago and Saint Louis symphonies, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Rotterdam and London philharmonics. Mr. van Zweden’s numerous recordings include Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Petrushka, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 with the London Philharmonic (LPO Live), and the complete Beethoven and Brahms symphonies. He is currently recording a cycle of Bruckner symphonies with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. 27 Framing the Program The two works that we hear on the program today, Parallel Events composed by Russian masters Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, 1890 Music could hardly be more different in their purpose and effect. Tchaikovsky Strauss Souvenir de Death and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence is a loving look at a Florence Transfiguration country, and specifically at a city, he adored and where Literature he spent some of the happiest times of his life. It is his Ibsen last chamber music composition—indeed his final multi- Hedda Gabler movement instrumental work generally except for the Sixth Art Symphony. He originally wrote the piece for a string sextet Cézanne consisting of two violins, two violas, and two cellos. The The Card performance today offers an arrangement for full string Players orchestra that showcases the Philadelphians in a piece History that deftly combines Italianate charm with Russian passion. Global influenza epidemics Prokofiev composed his epic Fifth Symphony during the summer of 1944, as the military fortunes of the Soviet 1944 Music Union were finally beginning to turn in what had been Prokofiev Copland a devastating period during the Second World War. The Symphony Appalachian composer led the premiere in January of the following No. 5 Spring year, the last time he ever conducted before a serious Literature illness. His stirring Fifth Symphony registers a wide range Camus of emotions reflective of its circumstances and earned the Caligula composer international accolades. Art Rivera The Rug Weaver History D-Day landings in Normandy 28 The Music Souvenir de Florence Italy’s seductive charms held particularly powerful sway over Tchaikovsky’s psyche throughout most of his career and on many occasions found expression in his music. He spent extended periods in the country, especially in Florence,