NEWYORKPHILHARMONIC NEWYORKPHILHARMONIC “Over our five years together, the New thanks to high-quality, live recordings Alan Gilbert, Conductor York Philharmonic musicians and I have of more than 30 works. From the Ba- developed a fundamental mutual trust roque grandeur of Handel to the latest Liang Wang, Oboe that lets us take risks: this is what makes sounds by Anthony Cheung; from the The Alice Tully Chair always-fresh music-making possible. Our eloquence of Mozart to the power concerts are made even more vibrant of Richard Strauss; from seldom- Recorded live November 14–16, 19, 2013 because of the musicians’ positive and performed masterpieces by Britten to a generous musical spirit, not to mention newly created piece by Mark-Anthony Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts their unbelievably high level of play- Turnage; plus lots and lots of Beethoven ing.” That is what Alan Gilbert said in — Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic R. STRAUSS (1864–1949) the middle of the Orchestra’s 2013–14 excel in all, and are joined by a stellar ar- Don Juan, Op. 20 (1888) 18:22 season. This energy is being combined ray of soloists, including Yefim Bronfman, with the Music Director’s quintessential the Mary and James G. Wallach Artist- GLENN DICTEROW programs, which explore the widest in-Residence. range of repertoire and combine works These downloads include the pro- Christopher ROUSE (b. 1949) in illuminating ways, to create concerts of gram notes published in each perfor- Oboe Concerto (2004; New York Premiere) 25:10 excitement and beauty. mance’s Playbill, and often add to the Sereno — Molto allegro These performances are now avail- official concerts audio recordings of =50 able for download, thanks to Alan Alan Gilbert’s onstage commentaries Subito =176 — =50 Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: and encores played by the soloists (The movements are played without pause) 2013–14 season, so that listeners can — all in the highest possible audio LIANG WANG share in the close connection between quality available for download. For the musicians and their audiences in more information about the series, R. STRAUSS Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center visit nyphil.org/itunes. Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra), Tone Poem (freely after Friedrich Nietzsche) for Large Orchestra, Op. 30 (1895–96) 24:47 Part One 18:03 Part Two 16:44 GLENN DICTEROW 3 4 ALAN GILBERTONTHISPROGRAM This program really celebrates the rich ar- tistic rewards that come from the cultivation of musical partnerships. We welcome back Christopher Rouse in his second season as our Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Res- idence. I’ve long believed that Chris is one of the most important composers working today — his music is not only masterfully crafted but also intensely personal — and it has been fascinating to watch the rela- tionship between composer and orchestra grow even stronger over his first year here. I am so pleased to finally be performing his Oboe Concerto, which we’d scheduled for performance almost three years ago but had to postpone when a severe winter storm forced us to cancel rehearsals and alter the program. The soloist for these concerts, our Principal Oboe Liang Wang, is responsive and imaginative in his approach to a wide range of music, so it has been wonderful to collaborate with him as well as with Chris as we prepared for these concerts. This program also spotlights Glenn Dicterow, who has been the Philharmonic’s Con- certmaster since 1980. Glenn really is a legend. He is the epitome of what a concert- master should be: one of the world’s greatest violinists, he brings his incredible musical point of view to everything he plays, and palpably affects the morale of his colleagues in the Orchestra — he has helped make the Philharmonic the ensemble it is today. Many of my memories of hearing him since my childhood are of his performances of the great concertmaster solos, so I was delighted when he answered our question as to what he’d like to play in his last season by choosing Don Juan and Also sprach Zarathustra, two iconic works for the concertmaster. These performances are only part of our celebration of Glenn and his Philharmonic tenure, and I look forward to hearing the warmth of his sound and his impeccable virtuosity throughout his final season with the Orchestra. 5 6 New York Philharmonic 7 8 NOTESONTHEPROGRAM By James M. Keller, Program Annotator Don Juan, Op. 20 Views and Reviews Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra), Tone Austro-Hungarian poet Nikolaus Lenau Poem (freely after Friedrich Nietzsche) for Large Orchestra, had produced in 1844. Lenau’s Don Juan Eduard Hanslick, the generally conserva- is a Romantic dreamer, and his compulsion tive, high-handed, and greatly feared music Op. 30 critic of the Neue freie Presse of Vienna, to seduce and desert an endless suc- encountered Strauss’s Don Juan in 1892, cession of women derives from a deeply and launched a subtle attack on the work Richard Strauss In Short Romantic quest for the ever-elusive ideal at hand: — in this case, “to enjoy in one woman all Born: June 11, 1864, in Munich, Germany The tendency is ... to use purely instru- he concept of the symphonic poem, or women, since he cannot possess them as mental music merely as a means of Died: September 8, 1949, in Garmisch Ttone poem, may trace its ancestry to individuals.” This may seem a rationaliza- describing certain things; in short, not the dramatic or depictive overtures of the Work composed and premiered: Don Juan tion for bad behavior, but it was a popular to make music, but to write poetry and early 19th century, such as Mendelssohn’s composed May–September 30, 1888; premiered idea among the Romantics. By way of to paint. Virtuosity in orchestration has November 11, 1889, in Weimar, Germany, with become a vampire sapping the creative Fingal’s Cave Overture or Berlioz’s Waver- the composer conducting the Grand Ducal Court precedent one thinks of Liszt’s A Faust power of our composers. ley Overture. As time went by, composers Orchestra. Also sprach Zarathustra composed Symphony, with its concluding, ecstatic These outwardly brilliant composi- derived influence from paintings or other 1895–96; score dated August 24, 1896; premiered hymn to “the eternal feminine.” tions are nothing if not successful. I have artworks. The repertoire grew quickly, November 27, 1896, with the composer conducting Strauss traces a series of Don Juan’s seen Wagner disciples talking about the the Frankfurt City Orchestra. Strauss Don Juan with such enthusiasm thanks to impressive contributions by such exploits in this symphonic poem, with that it seemed as though shivers of New York Philharmonic premieres: Don Juan composers as Smetana, Dvorˇák, Musorg- several episodes of love music conveying delight were running up and down their premiered December 15, 1905, Max Fiedler, spines. Others have found the thing sky, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Franck, and conductor. Also sprach Zarathustra, complete work the disparate characters of the women he repulsive, and this sensation seems to — most impressively — Richard Strauss. premiered November 13, 1908, Wassily Safonoff, conquers. (During a 1904 rehearsal with me more likely to be the right one. This is conductor. In 1886 Strauss produced what might the Boston Symphony, Strauss stopped no “tone painting” but rather a tumult of be considered his first symphonic poem, the orchestra at one point with the ad- brilliant daubs, a faltering tonal orgy, half Aus Italien (it is more precisely a sort of works, in which the poetic idea was really the monishment, “Gentlemen, I must confess bacchanal, half witches’ Sabbath. He who desires no more from an descriptive symphony), and he continued formative element, became henceforward the that I did not intend this passage to be so orchestral piece than that it transport him with hardly a break through the series of guiding principle for my own symphonic work. beautiful; that woman was just a common to the dissolute ecstasy of a Don Juan, tone poems that many feel represent the tramp!”) Don Juan meets his inevitable panting for everything feminine, may well genre at its height: Macbeth (1886–88), Don Juan falls near the beginning of doom with a violent crash in the orchestra find pleasure in this music, for with its Don Juan (1888), Todund Verklärung (also Strauss’s procession of tone poems, pre- representing the thrust of a sword being exquisite skillfulness it achieves the de- sired objective in so far as it is musically 1888–89), Till Eulenspiegels lustige St- ceding Also sprach Zarathustra by a good run through him by a father avenging the attainable. The composer may thus be reiche (1894–95), Also sprach Zarathustra seven years, and it is the first of his com- death of one of the Don’s victims; his life compared with a routined chemist who (1895–96), Don Quixote (1896-97), Ein positions to reveal his distinct symphonic slips away via a discordant note on the well understands how to mix all the ele- Heldenleben (1897–98), and Symphonia personality. The extra-musical impetus for trumpet. Thus the piece achieves its final ments of the musical-sensual stimulation to produce a stupefying “pleasure gas.” Domestica (1902–03), with Eine Alpen- this work was Don Juan, the famous wom- tableau. For my part, I prefer, with all due homage symphonie (1911–15) arriving as a late anizer of legend, whose libertine exploits to such chemical skill, not to be its victim; pendant. He was drawn to the idea (as he were apparently born in popular literature Strauss immersed himself in the writings nor can I be, for such musical narcotics would recall in his memoirs) of the 16th century and then embroidered of Friedrich Nietzsche in the early 1890s simply leave me cold.