St. Louis Symphony Program - Feb. 1-2, 2013

7/29/2019 St. Louis Symphony Program - Feb. 1-2, 2013

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CONCERT PROGRAMFebruary 1-2, 2013

Hannu Lintu, conductorMarkus Groh, piano

SIBELIUS Finlandia, op. 26 (1900) (1865-1957)

PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, op. 26 (1917-21)(1891-1953)

Andante; AllegroTema (Andantino) con variazioniAllegro ma non troppo

Markus Groh, piano

INTERMISSION

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-fat major, op. 82 (1915-16, rev. 1919)

Tempo molto moderato; Allegro moderatoAndante mosso, quasi allegrettoAllegro molto


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Markus Groh is the Ruth and Ed Trusheim Guest Artist.

The concert of Friday, February 1, is underwritten in part by a generous gift

from Mr. and Mrs. Norman L. Eaker.

The concert of Saturday, February 2, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Mr. and Mrs. Jan K. Ver Hagen.

Pre-Concert Conversations are presented by Washington University Physicians.

These concerts are part of the Wells Fargo Advisors Series.

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


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FROM THE STAGEFelicia Foland, bassoon, on Sibeliuss Symphony No. 5: Sibelius liberated the

orchestra from conventional service to symphonic form and function tocelebrate its own voice through this sonic soundscape. Put in motion, theFifth Symphony takes you right to the edge of the pine forest lake. Overhead,swans soar.

For a long time Sibelius was considered both the most underrated andthe most overrated composer. He is neither. He is exceptional. His voice andhis vision are maturing well as time unfolds. Discussions of Sibelius alwaysturned toward his work sounding Finnish, or that it was nationalistic. Now,with audiences having listened collectively over time, we are hearing more of

the direct impact of the music itself.The music certainly takes you to a certain place, and it does this throughtones, shapes, colors, shadings, temperatures, ideas. There is a true visionaryelement to Sibeliuss musiche makes us feel, through music, as if we arefeeling something about the natural world.

He lived in a cabin made all of wood. He didnt want the sound of rainhitting tin gutters. He wanted the softer sound of rain on wood.

He writes a warm voice for the woodwinds, very low, very grounded.Not bright colors, say as in Rite of Spring, but wooden, hollownot shrill.Its a color palette that is marvelous for the woodwinds. He really was amasterful painter.

Ainola, Sibeliuss home in the woods


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TIMELINKS

1900SIBELIUSFinlandia, op. 26Philosopher FriedrichNietzsche dies in

Weimar, Germany

1915-21SIBELIUSSymphony No. 5 in E-fatmajor, op. 82PROKOFIEVPiano Concerto No. 3 inC major, op. 26October Revolution,

Bolsheviks seize powerin Russia

JEAN SIBELIUS

Finlandia, op. 26

FINLANDS FOLK ANTHEM The importance of JeanSibeliuss Finlandia to the Finnish people cannotbe overstated. If it is not the most famous protestsong of all time, thats only because Finland is arelatively small and young nation, and few non-Finns know much about its cultural history.

Since its rst performance, in November 1899(in an earlier version), this eight-or-so-minutetone poem was a huge hit. The following decadesbrought arrangements for military bands,choruses, even marimba orchestras. Think of itas Woody Guthries This Land Is Your Land,except with many more instruments, many morenotes, and, at least in its original incarnation,no words at all. Once people started writinglyrics for its irresistibly singable hymn passage,Finland had a new folk anthem. It annoyed thenotoriously grumpy composer that this piece,which he considered relatively insignicant,had eclipsed his more substantial work and,worse, that he was hearing it sung constantly.It is not intended to be sung, he groused. It iswritten for an orchestra. But if the world wants to

sing it, it cant be helped.CULTURAL IDENTITY AND SELF-INVENTIONAlthough Finlandia represents for many listenersthe apex of Romantic Nationalism and theessence of Finnishness, its own cultural identity isunstable. Like many Finns of his social class, theeducated lite, Sibelius was ethnically Swedish,grew up speaking Swedish, and studied music

in Berlin and Vienna. Whereas most works ofRomantic Nationalism incorporate native dancesand songs, the melodies ofFinlandia are largelyinvented. Sibelius had surely heard traditionalFinnish folk tunes, but he seldom quoted themin his compositions. Instead, he was inspiredby nature and the Finnish national epic, theKalevala, to create his own deeply personal form

FREEDOM SONGSBY REN SPENCER SALLER


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of folk music. Finlandia is part of Finlands folktradition because it captured the imagination ofthe Finnish people; it was highly original, evenidiosyncratic, but it felt like their birthright.

FINLAND AWAKES TO FREEDOM Finlandia waswritten during a time of political unrest. After acentury of Russian rule, many Finns were angrythat they were being drafted into the Russianmilitary and their press was being censored.The February Manifesto of Tsar Nicholas II,in 1899, gave the Russian government completecontrol over Finland, stripping all but symbolic

power from the Finnish Senate. In November agroup of Helsinki artists and activists organizedseveral events in support of censored journalists.The earliest iteration of Finlandia, then titledFinland Awakes, was the rousing nale for a seriesof patriotic historical tableaux that Sibelius wrotefor one such pageant. The following year Sibeliusrevised Finland Awakes to create the versionwe know today, and his friend and compatriot

Robert Kajanus conducted the premiere on July2, 1900, with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society.

In its nal form Finlandia begins with anominous brass crescendo, introduces its hymn-like theme with woodwinds and strings, andconcludes with thundering percussion and ablazing fanfare.

This relatively insignicant work maynot have met the composers own exactingstandards, but it helped forge a nation. WhenFinland declared its independence from Russia,in December 1917, more than a few happy citizensmust have been singing Sibeliuss most popularmelody. It had always been theirs anyway.

BornDecember 8, 1865,

Hmeenlinna, FinlandDiedSeptember 20, 1957,Jrvenp, Finland

First perormanceJuly 2, 1900, Robert Kajanusconducted the PhilharmonicSociety in Helsinki

STL Symphony PremiereMarch 17, 1911, Max Zachconducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerormanceSeptember 19, 2012, WardStare conducting at ForestPark

Scoring2 utes

2 oboes2 clarinets2 bassoons4 horns3 trumpets3 trombonestubatimpanipercussionstrings

Perormance Timeapproximately 8 minutes


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SERGEY PROKOFIEVPiano Concerto No. 3 in C major, op. 26

THE THORNY, THRILLING THIRD Simply to watcha pianists hands playing Sergey Prokoevs

Piano Concerto No. 3 is exhausting and nerve-wracking. In this showpiece of showpieces,virtuosic fast passages bristle with chromaticruns and glissandos. Just as the soloists ngersy from one end of the keyboard to another, thecomposition is all over the place; it leaps fromParis to Pavlovsk, from the 19th century to the20th and beyond. It is too sly to be Romantic andtoo showy, too agrantly accessible to be Modern.

Prokoev completed the concerto in 1921,but parts of it date from as early as 1911, andmuch of the second movement was written in1913, the same year his Second Piano Concertocreated a minor scandal at its premiere. Accordingto one account, some departing concertgoerscried out, To hell with this futuristic music! Thecats on the roof make better music! The Third

might be understood as a belated response tothis criticism: It aims to please but stops shortof pandering. Although it coheres perfectly, itwas cobbled together from abandoned projectsand sketch-book scraps. I already had all thethematic material I needed, he wrote later inhis autobiography, except for the third themeof the nale and the subordinate theme of therst movement. It is widely considered to be

Prokoevs greatest concerto, as well as the mostenduringly popular, of the ve that he composedfor piano.

CONVENTION AND CONTRAST Consisting ofthree movements roughly equal in length, theThird Piano Concerto more or less conforms tothe conventions of classical concerto structure.

Themes are introduced, developed, andrecapitulated; the tempo goes from slow to fastand back again; various timbral and harmonicpossibilities are explored. Exquisitely balanced,it shows off not only the pianists eet ngers andgeneral stamina but also the prowess of the entireorchestra, with especially memorable turns byvarious members of the woodwind section. Therst movement begins with a languid, lyrical solo

BornApril 23, 1891, Sontsovka,

UkraineDiedMarch 5, 1953, Moscow

First PerormanceDecember 16, 1921, in Chicago;the composer played thesolo part, and Frederick Stockconducted the ChicagoSymphony Orchestra

STL Symphony PremiereJanuary 29, 1937, thecomposer was soloist,with Vladimir Golschmannconducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerormanceApril 21, 2007, Simon Trpeskiwas soloist, with Yan PascalTortelier conducting

Scoringsolo piano2 utespiccolo2 oboes2 clarinets2 bassoons4 horns2 trumpets

3 trombonestimpanipercussionstrings

Perormance Timeapproximately 27 minutes


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clarinet melody, which the strings pick up briey before they shift to Allegroand introduce the statement of the principal subject by the piano. The middlemovement comprises ve sharply contrasting variations on a mincing march-like theme initially carried by the orchestra at an Andantino tempo. The naleopens with bassoons and pizzicato strings announcing the main theme, which

is soon interrupted by a dissonant second theme on the piano; this movementcontains many of the works most challenging piano passages, includinglightning-quick double-note scales.

A CAUSTIC HUMOR In his own detailed analysis of the work, Prokoev speaksof its caustic humor and describes one of the piano variations in the secondmovement as quasi-sentimental. In emphasizing the ironic distance betweenhis composition and its stylistic sources, he seems determined to persuade the

reader (and, no doubt, future music historians) that his score is more Modern,or at least not as sappily Romantic, than it might seem at certain points. Hereveals his own slightly mocking sense of humor when he writes of the nale:The orchestra holds its own with the opening theme, however, and there is agood deal of argument, with frequent differences of opinion as regards key.


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JEAN SIBELIUSSymphony No. 5 in E-fat major, op. 82

THE FIFTH AT FIFTY Jean Sibeliuss FifthSymphony began with a deadline nightmare.

The Finnish government commissioned itin honor of the composers 50th birthday,December 8, 1915, which had been declared anational holiday, and Sibelius was expected toconduct its premiere on that date. Meanwhile,he was deeply in debt and unable to work onthe project full time. Because of World War I,he could no longer travel abroad to conduct,collect royalty checks, and do business with hisGerman publisher. As his debts increased, heresorted to writing for local publishers, who werereluctant to buy anything that seemed unlikelyto turn a prot. Sibelius was feeling particularlydismal on August 15, 1914, when he wrote inhis diary, Now I shall be 50. How miserable itis that I must compose miniatures. With hisgolden deadline looming, he was desperate to

crank out the Fifth, but he kept getting stuck. Amonth later, in a letter to his close friend AxelCarpelan, he wrote, God opens his door, andHis orchestra plays the Fifth Symphony.

Unfortunately, God kept slamming the door.

16 SWANS When he wasnt working, Sibeliuswent for long walks in the woods. He wasparticularly moved by a sighting of 16 swans inight, which he described in his diary as one ofthe greatest experiences in my life. It inspiredwhat Carpelan called the incomparable swanhymn voiced by the horns in the Fifths ecstaticnale. Somehow Sibelius managed to nishthe symphony in time for his big birthdaygala, and it was met with overwhelmingacclaimthe audience reportedly shrieked

with joybut he remained unsatised. For thenext four years, while he worked on the Sixthand Seventh symphonies and other projects,he returned obsessively to his Fifth, deletingsections, combining movements, and radicallyre-imagining the score. In 1916 there was asecond premiere for this revised version, but hestill could not leave it alone. Despite numeroushealth crises, the death of Carpelan, and chronic

First PerormanceDecember 8, 1915, frstversion, in the Finnishcapital, with Robert Kajanusconducting the HelsinkiPhilharmonic Orchestra;November 24, 1919, fnalversion, with Sibeliusconducting in Helsinki

STL Symphony PremiereJanuary 25, 1935, Vladimir

Golschmann conductingMost Recent STL SymphonyPerormanceApril 4, 2009, with DavidRobertson conducting theSymphony at Carnegie Hall

Scoring2 utes2 oboes

2 clarinets2 bassoons4 horns3 trumpets3 trombonestimpanistrings

Perormance TimeApproximately 30 minutes


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nancial trouble, he kept worrying away at the Fifth. In 1917 his belovedhomeland gained its independence and he barely mentioned it in his diary,but lengthy discussions of the Fifth abound. At long last, on November24, 1919, the denitive version premiered. Kaarlo Sthlberg, Finlands rstpresident, was among those who attended the rst of three sold-out concerts.

Almost four years after its debut, Sibelius nally thought his Fifth was goodenough.

SONG OF ITSELF Musicologists have quarreled for decades about thissymphonyits structure, whether its rst movement meets the criteria forsonata form, where various sections begin and endbut none of those detailsmatter once the Fifth has the listener in its mighty grip. From its radiantopening horn call to its weird and stunning conclusionsix silence-punctuated

staggered chordsthe Fifth showcases nearly every stylistic characteristic thatmakes Sibelius so Sibelian. The strings buzz and thrum and swarm. Thewoodwinds burble and sing. The timpani portend. The brass radiates, hovers,takes ight. The changes in meter and tempo, both wrenching and subtle; thepersistent variations and deconstructions of its central theme; the way thewhole thing keeps breaking apart and reassembling itself: The Fifth tells itsown story. It is a story of starting over and over again until somehow, despiteyourself, you nd the end.

Program notes 2013 by Ren Spencer Saller


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HANNU LINTU

Currently Artistic Director and Chief Conductorof the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, HannuLintu was appointed Chief Conductor of the

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010.His tenure begins from the start of the 2013-14 season, following a year as the orchestrasPrincipal Guest Conductor in the current season.Lintu is also Principal Guest Conductor of theRT National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin.

Highlights of Lintus 2012-13 season includeappearances with the London Philharmonic,BBC Scottish Symphony, and Royal LiverpoolPhilharmonic orchestras, Orquesta Sinfnicade Galicia, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, andthe Sydney Symphony, plus debuts with theMinnesota and Baltimore Symphony orchestras.In the U.S. he returns to the Houston Symphonyand the Oregon Symphony.

Recent engagements elsewhere haveincluded the Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis

Symphony, and City of Birmingham Symphonyorchestras; the Orquesta Sinfonica de RadioTelevisin Espaola, Orchestre de Chambre deLausanne, and the Orchestre National BordeauxAquitaine; as well as the Tokyo MetropolitanSymphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, andSeoul Philharmonic orchestras. Last seasonLintu conducted a cycle of the completeBeethoven symphonies with the Iceland

Symphony Orchestra.Recent operatic projects have included

Wagners Tannhuser with Tampere Opera inspring 2012. Regularly appearing with FinnishNational Opera, Lintu has conducted severalproductions including Wagners Parsifal,directed by Harry Kupfer, Bizets Carmen, andAulis Sallinens King Lear.

Lintu studied cello, piano, and thenconducting with Jorma Panula at the SibeliusAcademy. He participated in masterclasses withMyung-Whun Chung at the Accademia Chigianain Siena, Italy, and took rst prize at the NordicConducting Competition in Bergen in 1994.

Hannu Lintu most recently conducted the St.Louis Symphony in November 2010.

Hannu Lintu studied celloand piano beore he moved

to conducting.

Kaapo

Kamu


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MARKUS GROHRUTH AND ED TRUSHEIM GUEST ARTIST

In the upcoming season, Markus Groh willappear with the Tucson Symphony and Wichita

Symphony, as well as in recital at the KennedyCenter on June 1. He has previously appearedwith the symphony orchestras of Baltimore,Colorado, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit,Houston, Indianapolis, National (Washington,D.C.), New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco,and Seattle, among others. Worldwideengagements include the Beijing Symphony,Bournemouth Symphony, Budapest FestivalOrchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, LondonSymphony, Mozarteum Orchestra, Orchestre dela Suisse Romande, Osaka Philharmonic, RoyalScottish National Orchestra, St. PetersburgPhilharmonic, SWR Orchestra (Stuttgart), andthe Warsaw Philharmonic.

A frequent guest at international festivalssuch as Grant Park and Schubertiade (Austria),

Groh is the founder and artistic director of theBebersee Festival near Berlin. He also appearsfrequently on radio and television in Europe,the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Aprize-winning documentary, featuring Groh anda replica of Steinways rst piano (built in 1836)on a recital tour traveling by horse and carriage,was broadcast nationwide by ARD in Germanyon three separate occasions in 2011.

Groh was born on January 5, 1970 insouthern Germany. He was a student of KonradRichter in Stuttgart and Hans Leygraf in Berlinand Salzburg. He gained immediate worldattention after winning the prestigious QueenElisabeth International Competition in Brusselsin 1995, the rst German to do so. Otherawards include First Prize at the 1990 Artur

Schnabel Competition in Berlin.Markus Groh divides his time between Berlinand New York. He makes his St. Louis Symphonydebut this week.

Markus Groh played a

recital tour on a replica oSteinways frst piano.


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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. How

about andantino and pizzicato?Andantino: if andante means moderately slow, andantino, the diminutive ofandante, is a little less slow than andante

Pizzicato: Program notes author Ren Spencer Saller mentions the pizzicatostrings in Prokoevs Piano Concerto No. 3. So what are the strings doing?Pizzicato = plucked. The strings are made to vibrate with the ngers of the righthand; they are plucked rather than bowed.

ON PIZZICATO:EVA KOZMA, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL VIOLIN

Most of your time learning violin you are learning to play with the bow.When pizzicato is added, its very, very challenging.I remember preparing a virtuosic piece by Sarasate, and I really didnt

pay attention to how much the pizzicato should be practiced. When I playedbefore an audience I completely messed it up. My teacher told me afterward,Eva, youve got to work on your pizzicato.

It is still hard for me to nd the right spoton the string; you need to angle your nger in theright way. You cant do it with your ngernail; it

doesnt sound right. You need to make the stringvibrate. If you get enough of the skin area of yournger on the string it will have a warmer sound.

There is a Hungarian violinist who haswritten a whole book on pizzicato in Bartk. Inthe music of Ravel and Debussy you frequentlyalternate between pizzicato and bow. Its hard tokeep up with your hands, most of the time youre

plucking with one nger.You need to build up special callouses forpizzicato. It takes at least two to three hours ofpracticing to get the ngers ready.

Eva Kozma


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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.

Andrew Barnett, SibeliusYale University PressAn illuminating and perceptive survey of atroubled life

Alex Ross, Apparition rom the Woodstherestisnoise.com/2007/07/sibelius-chapte.html

The Sibelius chapter from Rosssmonumental The Rest Is Noise: Listening tothe Twentieth Century

Sergey Prokofev, translated and edited byAnthony Phillips, Diaries 1915-1923: Behindthe MaskFaber & Faber

Learn, among other things, about thecomposers pride in being proclaimed thebest-dressed man in Chicago

David Nice, Prokofev: A Biography, From Russia to the West, 1891-1935Yale University PressNice draws fresh insights on Prokoevs years in the West

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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TOWN HALL MEETING

FEBRUARY 7

The St. Louis Symphony unveils its 2013-14 season during a Town HallMeeting at Powell Hall on Thursday, February 7 at 6:30pm. Music Director DavidRobertson and President and CEO Fred Bronstein give their insights into thenew season and take questions from the audience. HEC-TV will broadcast theTown Hall Meeting live and in its entirety. It will also stream live at hectv.org.

This is a free event. Reservations are requested but not required. Forreservations, e-mail [email protected].

Dan

Dreyfus

Get a stage-eye view o PowellHall at the Town Hall Meeting.


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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 ticketswith 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 theconcert will be seated at the discretionof the House Manager.

Age for admission to STL Symphonyand Live at Powell Hall concerts

vary, 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

WHEELCHAIR LIFT

BALCONY LEVEL(TERRACE CIRCLE, GRAND CIRCLE)

GRAND TIER LEVEL

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

MET BAR

TAXI PICK UPDELMAR

ORCHESTRA LEVEL(PARQUET, ORCHESTRA RIGHT & LEFT)

WIGHTMAN

GRAND

FOYERTICKET LOBBY

CUSTOMER

SERVICE

LOCKERS

WOMENS RESTROOM

MENS RESTROOM

ELEVATOR

BAR SERVICES

HANDICAPPED-ACCESSIBLE

FAMILY RESTROOM

POWELL HALL

Documents

St. Louis Symphony Program - Feb. 1-2, 2013