St. Louis Symphony Extra - Feb. 8, 2014

8/13/2019 St. Louis Symphony Extra - Feb. 8, 2014

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CONCERT PROGRAMFebruary 7-9, 2014

James Gaffigan, conductorDavid Halen, violin

Daniel Lee, cello

MENDELSSOHN Die schne Melusine (The Fair Melusina)(1809-1847) Overture, op.32 (1833)

BRAHMS Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra(1833-1897) (Double Concerto), op. 102 (1887)

Allegro Andante Vivace non troppo

David Halen, violin Daniel Lee, cello

INTERMISSION

MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56, Scottish (1842)

Andante con moto; Allegro un poco agitato Vivace non troppo Adagio Allegro vivacissimo; Allegro maestoso assai

Performed without pause


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

James Gafgan is the Felix and Eleanor Slatkin Guest Artist.

David Halen is the Essman Family Foundation Guest Artist.

Daniel Lee is the Ruth and Ed Trusheim Guest Artist.

The concert of Friday, February 7, includes coffee and doughnuts provided byKrispy Kreme.

The concert of Saturday, February 8, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Mr. and Mrs. Alyn V. Essman.

The concert of Sunday, February 9, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Mrs. Emily R. Pulitzer.

Pre-Concert Conversations are sponsored by Washington University Physicians.

These concerts are presented by the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

These concerts are part of the Wells Fargo Advisors series.

Large print program notes are available through the generosity of DelmarGardens and are located at the Customer Service table in the foyer.


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FROM THE STAGELorraine Glass-Harris, second violins, on Mendelssohns Symphony No. 3,

Scottish:The symphony evokes the Scottish highlands, the landscape andseascape, very beautifully. The slow third movement is meltingly beautiful.Its a symphony of sunshine and shadows.

The conductor Ray Leppard said there is a depiction of Mary Queen ofScots walking to the gallows with her bustle bristling behind. That may be abit melodramatic, but Mendelssohn is looking to evoke something. The themeis so contained, so sad, so funereal.

The symphony reveals Mendelssohns greatest emotional range. Its apiece of perfection for each instrument. It is most gratifying for violinists to

play. He was an excellent violinist, and he understood what the strings coulddo. He was always pushing the instrument all the time.

A view of the second violins

DILIPVISHWANAT


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TIMELINKS

1833MENDELSSOHNDie schne Melusine(The Fair Melusina)Overture, op. 32

Johannes Brahms born inHamburg

1842MENDELSSOHNSymphony No. 3 in Aminor, op. 56, ScottishCity-wide fire burnsmedieval center ofHamburg

1887BRAHMSConcerto in A minorfor Violin, Cello, andOrchestra (DoubleConcerto), op. 102Impressionist paintersGauguin, van Gogh, andMonet at work in France

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Die schne Melusine(

The Fair Melusina)

Overture, op. 32

PAINTER IN SOUND Felix Mendelssohn wroteseven freestanding concert overtures, all remark-able. HisA Midsummer Nights DreamOverture,completed when he was only 17, translatesShakespeares fairies, sprites, and lovably bum-bling humans from the bards blank verse into a

purely musical language. His Hebrides Overture,inspired by a wild Scottish seascape, is a tourde force of pictorialismpainting in soundthathelped shape the development of Romantic(and later Impressionist) music. Although FranzLiszt had not yet coined the term symphonicpoem to describe a single-movement orchestralwork based on a literary or descriptive program,Mendelssohn was working in this genre a decadebefore it had a name. The Fair Melusinaeasily tsthe denition of a symphonic poem. The epony-mous heroine derives from a medieval Frenchtale about a water nymph, or mermaid, who canpass as a human being. She falls in love with ahuman prince and agrees to marry him on thecondition that he leave her alone one day everyweek, when she secretly reverts to her half-sh

form. When her husband discovers her true iden-tity, their happiness ends and Melusina is exiledto an aquatic fairy realm.

Although Mendelssohn was inspired by theMelusina legend, he did not want to tell the storyso much as evoke its general mood. The Overturedoes not reenact the plot sequentially, but it dra-matizes the central predicament: lovers divided bydifferent realities, driven by elemental needs. The

three principal themes convey this idea in broadstrokes: the undulant clarinet arpeggios thatdepict Melusinas uid grace; her earth-boundhusbands assertive, violin-voiced motive; and alovely hybrid melody proposed by the strings anddeepened by a rippling undercurrent of winds,which represents the couples tragic love.

FANCIFUL FLIGHTSBY REN SPENCER SALLER


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FROM MELUSINA TO THE RHINEMAIDENSThe FairMelusinaOverture is not one of Mendelssohnsmore famous works, but its inuence is undeni-able. Widely revered during his lifetime, the com-poser had a strange power over even his detrac-

tors. In his vile pamphlet Judaism in Music,Richard Wagner denounced the recently deadcomposer, whose wealthy Jewish parents hadhim baptized as a Lutheran when he was seven,for his pernicious grip on 19th-century music.Although Wagner dismissed his predecessor asa rst-class landscape painter whose composi-tions were sweet and tinkling without depth,

his contempt surely stemmed from what liter-ary critic Harold Bloom called the anxiety ofinuence. Mendelssohns music was inextrica-bly tangled in Wagners creative DNA. Look nofurther than Das Rheingold: Its prelude lifts theburbling Melusina theme almost note for note todepict the Rhine river, which also happens to bepopulated by mythical water nymphs.

BornFebruary 3, 1809, Hamburg

DiedNovember 4, 1847, Leipzig

First PerformanceApril 7, 1834, in London;Mendelssohns close friend,Ignaz Moschelles, conductedthe orchestra of the LondonPhilharmonic Society

STL Symphony PremiereMarch 11, 1938, VladimirGolschmann conducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerformanceNovember 2, 2008, NicholasMcGegan conducting

Scoring2 flutes2 oboes2 clarinets2 bassoons

2 horns2 trumpetstimpanistrings

Performance Timeapproximately 10 minutes


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JOHANNES BRAHMSConcerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, andOrchestra (Double Concerto), op. 102

A STRANGE FLIGHT OF FANCY Composed in

the summer of 1887, the Double Concerto wasJohannes Brahms nal work for orchestra. Thestructure of the piece was highly unusual, evengroundbreaking. In the 19th century the cellowas generally not considered a suitable leadinstrument for a concerto, and the pairing ofsolo cello and solo violin was virtually unprec-edented. Brahms himself described it as a folly,a prank, a strange ight of fancy. In a letterto his longtime condante Clara Schumann, heconfessed, I ought to have handed on the ideato someone who knows the violin better thanI doa rather neurotic qualm in that he hadalready written a violin concerto nine years ear-lier. But Brahms had a pressing personal reasonto write the Double Concerto: to repair a rift withan old friend and musical collaborator, the violin-

ist and composer Joseph Joachim.

FROM FRIEND TO FOE Brahms owed a great dealto Joachim. When they met, Joachim was 22 andalready a famous violinist; Brahms, two years hisjunior, was still unknown. By introducing him tosuch musical heavyweights as Franz Liszt andRobert and Clara Schumann, Joachim helpedlaunch the younger mans career. In the following

decades, Joachim was an invaluable soundingboard for the composer, the inspiration for manycompositions, and the dedicatee of his only violinconcerto. But the friendship imploded whenJoachim became convinced that his wife, the con-tralto Amalie Schneeweiss, was having an affairwith Brahms publisher, Fritz Simrock. Brahmswrote Frau Joachim a sympathetic letter, in which

he dismissed his old friends suspicions as jeal-ous and unfounded, and she later presentedthis letter as evidence when her husband suedfor divorce. The divorce was denied, the coupleseparated anyway, and Joachim rejected the com-posers repeated attempts to make up, althoughhe never stopped performing Brahms music.

BornMay 7, 1833, Hamburg

Died

April 3, 1897, ViennaFirst PerformanceSeptember 23, 1887, in Baden-Baden at a private concertwith Joseph Joachim, violin,Robert Hausmann, cello, thecomposer conducting

STL Symphony PremiereFebruary 3, 1922, with MichelGusikoff, violin, H. MaxSteindel, cello, Rudolf Ganzconducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerformanceMay 22, 1994, with PamelaFrank, violin, Carter Brey,cello, Leonard Slatkinconducting

Scoringsolo violinsolo cello2 flutes2 oboes2 clarinets2 bassoons4 horns2 trumpetstimpanistrings



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about local music are downright scathing: Nonational music for me!.... Now I am in Wales and,dear me, a harper sits in the hall of every reputedinn, playing incessantly so-called national melo-dies; that is to say, the most infamous, vulgar, out-

of-tune trash, with a hurdy-gurdy going on at thesame time. Its maddening, and has given me atoothache already. Scottish bagpipes, Swiss cow-horns, Welsh harps, all playing the HuntsmensChorus with hideously improvised variations....

MOVEMENT BY MOVEMENT Scottish or not,the symphony can stand on its own as absolute

music, without any programmatic interpretation.Marked to be played attacca(without a pause), itsfour movements generate ingenious variations onthe solemn opening melody, the 16 measures thatMendelssohn scrawled in a letter after describinghis reaction to Holyrood. The introduction glowsdarkly with oboes, bassoons, clarinets, horns,and violas before the full orchestra emerges;luminous pools of near-silence are disrupted by

brash sforzandoblurts. The rst movement grad-ually gets louder and faster, propelled by a giddyenergy that it sustains to the nish. The quicksilver second movement, markedVivace non troppo,serves as a kind of scherzo,although it is in sonata form and lacks the typicalTrio. Some listeners make much of its Scottishsnap, a syncopation common in Scottish folkmusic, although by no means unique to it. TheAdagio contrasts a willowy, songlike main themewith a decidedly martial element that anticipatesthe warlike nale. Originally marked Allegroguerriero (quick and warlike) and later changedto Allegro vivacissimo, the last movement isfeverish and volatile, right up to the big surprise:The simple introductory melody, the Holyroodtheme, returns with great majesty, this time in

radiant A major, drawing the symphony to ajubilant close.

Program notes 2014 by Ren Spencer Saller

First PerformanceMarch 3, 1842, in Leipzig, thecomposer conducted theGewandhaus Orcherstra

STL Symphony PremiereDecember 6, 1912, Max Zachconducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerformanceMay 4, 2008, LeonidasKavakos conducting

Scoring2 flutes2 oboes2 clarinets2 bassoons4 horns2 trumpetstimpanistrings



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DAVID HALENESSMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION GUEST ARTIST

David Halen is living a dream that began asa youth the rst time he saw the St. Louis

Symphony perform in Warrensburg, Missouri.Halen was named St. Louis SymphonyConcertmaster in 1995, without audition, bythe orchestra, and with the endorsement ofthen Music Directors Leonard Slatkin and HansVonk. Halen has soloed with the orchestra inmany of the major concertos in the violin rep-ertoire. In addition, he has been featured withthe Houston, San Francisco, and West GermanRadio (Cologne) symphonies. During the summer he teaches and performsextensively, serving as Concertmaster at the AspenMusic Festival and School. He has also soloed,taught, and served as Concertmaster extensivelyat the Pacic Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan,the Orford Arts Centre in Quebec, the ManhattanSchool of Music, Indiana University, the National

Orchestra Institute at the University of Maryland,the Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, andthe New World Symphony in Miami Beach. In2007 he was a Distinguished Visiting Artist atYale University, and he is a Distinguished Artist atthe Robert McDufe Center for Strings at MercerUniversity in Macon, Georgia. In the fall of 2012,Halen was also appointed professor of violin atthe University of Michigan.

As cofounder and artistic director of theInnsbrook Institute, Halen coordinates a week-long festival, in June, of exciting musical per-formances and an enclave for aspiring artists.In August, he is artistic director of the MissouriRiver Festival of the Arts in Boonville, Missouri.His numerous accolades include the 2002St. Louis Arts and Entertainment Award for

Excellence, and an honorary doctorate fromCentral Missouri State University and from theUniversity of Missouri-Saint Louis.

David Halen plays on a 1753 GiovanniBattista Guadagnini violin, made in Milan, Italy.He is married to Korean-born soprano MiranCha Halen and has a teenage son.

David Halen most recentlyperformed as a soloist with

the St. Louis Symphony inOctober 2013.

DILIPVISHWANAT


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DANIEL LEERUTH AND ED TRUSHEIM GUEST ARTIST

A native of Seattle, Korean-American Daniel Leestarted playing the cello at the age of six, studying

with Richard Aaron. At age 11, he began his stud-ies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphiaand became the youngest protg of the legend-ary Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Whileat Curtis, Lee also studied with Orlando Cole,William Pleeth, and Peter Wiley. He graduatedfrom the New England Conservatory with anArtist Diploma after studying with Paul Katz ofthe Cleveland Quartet. In 1994, at the age of 14,he signed an exclusive recording contract withDecca Records. He released two recordings:Schubert Arpegionne sonata and short pieces,and the Brahms sonatas. And in 2001, at the ageof 21, he received the prestigious Avery FisherCareer Grant, just one of many awards and com-petitions that hes won during his career. Lee wasalso named one of the 2011 40 under 40 by the

St. Louis Business Journal. Lee has served as Principal Cello for the St.Louis Symphony since 2005. Solo appearanceswith the Symphony have included Strausss DonQuixote, Esa-Pekka Salonens Mania, Elgars CelloConcerto, Osvaldo GolijovsAzul, TchaikovskysVariations on a Rococo Theme, Dvoks CelloConcerto, and Haydns Concerto in D major. Thatpiece is included on an album that was recorded

with the Czech Philharmonic and released in2011 on Sony Classical in Korea. Lee returnedto Korea for a concert at the Seoul Arts Center inMay 2011 for the official release of that album.

In 2010, Lee performed his New York Cityrecital debut at Merkin Hall in a program high-lighted by the Sonata for Violoncello Solo, byZoltn Kodly. During the 2010-11 season, Lee

debuted as a soloist with the St. Paul ChamberOrchestra performing the U.S. premiere of JamesMacMillans Kiss on Wood.

Daniel Lee most recentlyperformed as a soloist with

the St. Louis Symphony inNovember 2012.

DILIPVISHWANAT


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MENDELSSOHNS CLARITY:LORRAINE GLASS-HARRIS, SECOND VIOLINS

One of the wonderful things about theThird Symphony is that Mendelssohn

asks the second violins to be violinists allthe time. We get the tune, and having thetune is always a pleasure. We get individ-ual voices. We provide Mendelssohnscolor. We become the atmosphere, thesoft grass, the turbulent sea. We play theemotional reality of the piece.

Mendelssohn really brings a differ-ent kind of texture in. His scoring is not sodense. He provides a lot of space aroundevery voice. In Mendelssohn you see alot of rests. He was interested in textureand clarity. He cared about the individualline, and everyone gets their own line.Just to look at the score is music.

DANDREYFUS

Lorraine Glass-Harris

A BRIEF EXPLANATIONYou dont need to know what andante means or what a glockenspiel is toenjoy a St. Louis Symphony concert, but its always fun to know stuff. For

example, what is sforzando?

Sforzando: program notes author Ren Spencer Saller describes how inMendelssohns Symphony No. 3, luminous pools of near-silence aredisrupted by brash sforzandoblurts; sforzandois from the Italian sforzare,meaning to force or to compel; the musicians are making stronglyaccented sounds, causing ripples in that near-silence


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YOU TAKE IT FROM HEREIf these concerts have inspired you to learn more, here are suggested sourcematerials with which to continue your explorations.

R. Larry Todd,Mendelssohn: A Life in MusicOxford University PressMendelssohn led a brief life but he is deserv-ing of this lengthy biography

Jan Swafford,Johannes Brahms: A BiographyVintageWeve probably listed this before, but what

can we say, the best Brahms biography outthere

Brahms Double Concerto: David Oistrakh andMstislav RostropovichYouTubeYouTube delivers fascinating archival foot-age of artists from the past, including these

two heavy hitters playing the Brahms Double,simply Google the heading above and youllnd it

Read the program notes online atstlsymphony.org/planyourvisit/programnotes

Keep up with the backstage life of the St. Louis Symphony, as chronicled bySymphony staffer Eddie Silva, via stlsymphony.org/blog

The St. Louis Symphony is on


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DONOR SPOTLIGHTAMEREN CORPORATION

Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life

for 2.4 million electric customers and morethan 900,000 natural gas customers across a64,000-square-mile area.

The companys 8,500 employees do this byproviding energy for lifes essentials as well as forthose vital elements that contribute to a regionsquality of life, including the power at Powell Hallto support the world-class St. Louis Symphony.

Ameren is a Fortune 500 company thattrades on the New York Stock Exchange underthe symbol AEE. It is the parent company ofAmeren Illinois, based in Collinsville, Illinois,and Ameren Missouri in St. Louis. AmerenTransmission Company, also based in St. Louis,designs and builds regional electric transmissionprojects. Amerens rates are some of the lowest inthe nation.

Ameren was created by the combination ofthree Illinois utilities (CIPSCO Incorporated, CILCO Inc. and Illinois PowerCo.) and Union Electric Company of St. Louis. The name comes from combin-ing the words American and Energy. Ameren has a rich tradition of giving back to the communities across itsservice territory.

Our goal is to partner with the Missouri and Illinois communities weserve to make them better places to live, said Thomas R. Voss, Chairman,President and CEO of Ameren Corporation.

Ameren contributed to more than 1,800 nonprot organizations through-out the region last year. Amerens employees also give back, contributing morethan 100,000 volunteer hours to support a wide range of organizations andmore than $1.8 million to the companys 2013 United Way campaign. The Ameren Corporate Charitable Trust has supported the St. LouisSymphony in a variety of ways for many yearscapital improvements,special concerts, and the endowment. In 2002, Ameren was the rst St.Louis corporation to respond with $1 million to the Symphonys campaign

to increase its endowment. The company and its trust support organizations that provide programsfor visual and performing arts, theater, dance, drama, musical presentations,museum exhibits, and cultural displays. The company does so to help enrich thelives of citizens of all ages and backgrounds by making them accessible to all.

As a leading company headquartered in St. Louis, we believe in the impor-tance of this cultural treasure to our state and region and to the thousands ofpeople whose lives are enriched by our world-class symphony, Voss said.

Thomas R. Voss, Chairman,President, and CEO of

Ameren Corporation


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AUDIENCE INFORMATION

BOX OFFICE HOURS

Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm; Weekdayand Saturday concert evenings through

intermission; Sunday concert days12:30pm through intermission.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Box Ofce: 314-534-1700Toll Free: 1-800-232-1880Online: stlsymphony.org

Fax: 314-286-4111A service charge is added to alltelephone and online orders.

SEASON TICKET EXCHANGE POLICIES

If you cant use your season tickets,simply exchange them for another

Wells Fargo Advisors subscriptionconcert up to one hour prior to yourconcert date. To exchange your tickets,please call the Box Ofce at 314-534-1700 and be sure to have your tickets

with you when calling.

GROUP AND DISCOUNT TICKETS

314-286-4155 or 1-800-232-1880 Anygroup of 20 is eligible for a discount ontickets for select Orchestral, Holiday,or Live at Powell Hall concerts. Callfor pricing.

Special discount ticket programs areavailable for students, seniors, andpolice and public-safety employees.

Visit stlsymphony.org for moreinformation.

POLICIES

You may store your personalbelongings in lockers located on the

Orchestra and Grand Tier Levels at acost of 25 cents.

Infrared listening headsets are availableat Customer Service.

Cameras and recording devices aredistracting for the performers andaudience members. Audio and videorecording and photography are strictly

prohibited during the concert. Patronsare welcome to take photos before theconcert, during intermission, and afterthe concert.

Please turn off all watch alarms, cellphones, pagers, and other electronicdevices before the start of the concert.

All those arriving after the start of the

concert will be seated at the discretionof the House Manager.

Age for admission to STL Symphonyand Live at Powell Hall concerts

varies, however, for most events therecommended age is ve or older. Allpatrons, regardless of age, must havetheir own tickets and be seated for all

concerts. All children must be seatedwith an adult. Admission to concerts isat the discretion of the House Manager.

Outside food and drink are notpermitted in Powell Hall. No food ordrink is allowed inside the auditorium,except for select concerts.

Powell Hall is not responsible for

the loss or theft of personal property.To inquire about lost items, call314-286-4166.

POWELL HALL RENTALS

Select elegant Powell Hall for your nextspecial occasion.

Visit stlsymphony.org/rentalsfor more information.


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BOUTIQUE

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(DRESS CIRCLE, DRESS CIRCLE BOXES,GRAND TIER BOXES & LOGE)

MET BAR

TAXI PICK UPDELMAR

ORCHESTRA LEVEL(PARQUET, ORCHESTRA RIGHT & LEFT)

WIGHTMAN

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HANDICAPPED-ACCESSIBLE

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Please make note of the EXIT signs in the auditorium. In the case of an emergency,proceed to the nearest EXIT near you.

Documents

St. Louis Symphony Extra - Feb. 8, 2014