St. Louis Symphony Extra - Feb. 1, 2014

8/13/2019 St. Louis Symphony Extra - Feb. 1, 2014

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CONCERT PROGRAMJanuary 31-February 1-2, 2014

Jaap van Zweden, conductor

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67 (1807-08) (1770-1827)Allegro con brioAndante con motoAllegro

Allegro

INTERMISSION

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47 (1937) (1906-1975)ModeratoAllegrettoLargoAllegro non troppo


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Jaap van Zweden is the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Guest Artist.

The concert of Friday, January 31, is underwritten in part by a generous gift from

Karen and Bert Condie III.

The concert of Saturday, February 1, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred R. Konneker.

The concert of Saturday, February 1, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Britton.

The concert of Sunday, February 2, is underwritten in part by a generous giftfrom Dr. William H. Danforth.

Pre-Concert Conversations are presented by Washington University Physicians.

These concerts are sponsored by Thompson Coburn LLP.

These concerts are part of the Wells Fargo Advisors Series.

Large print program notes are available through the generosity of DielmannSothebys International Realty and are located at the Customer Service table inthe foyer.


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FROM THE STAGEDiana Haskell, Associate Principal Clarinet, on Shostakovichs Symphony No. 5:

The clarinets have a lot of noodly runsa lot of fast notes up high in thescreech area. Its like screaming, in a sense. Shostakovich channeled his frus-trations and anger at Stalins government in the music. One of his commonways of getting out those frustrations was wild passages in the winds, usuallyplayed in unison. To play it all in tune and to make it sound good is difcult.

Im playing the E-at clarinet part. With the E-at you feel very alone.There are a lot of exposed solos, especially in the second movement. Themost prominent solo is quirky, a little sarcastic, a little in-your-face, but alsoa little lost.

Shostakovich


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TIMELINKS

1807-08BEETHOVENSymphony No. 5 in Cminor, op. 67Napoleon forms alliance

with Russia

1937SHOSTAKOVICHSymphony No. 5 in Dminor, op. 47Eight Soviet Armyofficers executed as partof Stalins purges

The symphonic literature encompasses a number

of traditions. We can note those of the naturesymphony (Beethovens Pastoral and MahlersThird Symphonies are notable examples) andthe travelogue symphony (MendelssohnsScottish and Italian, Schumanns Rhenish,and Vaughan Williams London Symphonies),as well as the superstition about the fatal ninthsymphony, which so many great composersfailed to either attain or surpass. But of these and

other symphonic traditions, none is so striking asthat of the triumphant Symphony No. 5. Not all composers cast their FifthSymphonies as dramas of crisis and overcoming;Schubert and Dvok are two outstandingsymphonists who wrote bright, genialcompositions of this type. But Beethoven,Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Shostakovich, Prokoev,

and others used the occasion of their FifthSymphonies to create music of strife or pathosprogressing to exultant nales. That progressionmakes for a musical drama that is both elementaland thrilling. Beethovens Symphony No. 5 in C minor isthe source of this tradition, the archetypal sym-phony of struggle and victory. Here the drama isclear and unambiguous. But such is not always

the case. With Dmitry Shostakovichs SymphonyNo. 5 in D minor, the circumstances attendingthe musics creation have called its apparently tri-umphant nale into question.

A PAIR OF FIVESBY PAUL SCHIAVO


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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVENSymphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67

MUSIC OF FATE AND TRIUMPHNo orchestral com-position has gripped the popular imagination

quite like Beethovens Fifth Symphony. Throughcountless performances, recordings, and evenparodies, the famous four-note motif that opensthis work has become familiar to millions ofpeople, including many who have little otherknowledge of symphonic music. Moreover, thepiece has acquired a heavy gloss of extra-musicalinterpretation. It has been proposed as a mirrorof one of Beethovens romantic relationships, asan allegory of Olympian strife, and more.

Such descriptions generally say more aboutthe imaginations of commentators than aboutthe work itself. Still, this symphony demands tobe heard as more than pure music, and not onlybecause of the composers tantalizing descrip-tion of its initial gure as Fate knocking at thedoor. More than any piece of music, the Fifth

Symphony, with its strife-torn rst movementand triumphant nale, gives vivid expression tothe ideal of heroism that was a central theme of19th-century Romanticism.

Of course, the concept of individual heroismwas not just an abstraction for Beethoven. Thecomposer came of age during a tumultuous andidealistic period. The aristocracy that had pre-sided over music-makingand most everything

else in Europe since the Renaissancewas beingchallenged both politically and intellectually.Revolutions in America and France had turnedthe theories of the Enlightenment into an excit-ingand to somean alarming reality, and a senseof freedom and new possibilities was taking holdthroughout the Western world. These develop-ments strongly affected Beethoven and provided

a larger context for the increasingly restive spiritof his music after the turn of the 19th century.More personally, there is the matter of

Beethovens own struggles. During the lastyears of the 18th century he began to notice thedeterioration of his hearing. By 1802, when hemade his rst sketches for the Fifth Symphony,his alarm at his growing deafness had reducedhim to anguish and despairso much so that

BornDecember 16, 1770, Bonn

DiedMarch 26, 1827, Vienna

First PerformanceDecember 22, 1808, in Vienna,the composer conducted

STL Symphony PremiereDecember 5, 1907, Max Zachconducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerformance

October 2, 2013, StevenJarvi conducted the Fifthfor Education and FamilyConcerts

Scoring2 flutespiccolo2 oboes2 clarinets2 bassoons

contrabassoon2 horns2 trumpets3 trombonestimpanistrings

Performance Timeapproximately 31 minutes


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he evidently contemplated taking his own life. Somehow he resolved to go onliving and composing, his particularly cruel afiction notwithstanding. Fromthat point, his life would be one of constant, and indeed heroic, struggle. Hisachievement as an artist would constitute an extraordinary triumph.

FATE, A GHOSTLY DANCE, BLAZING VICTORYAlthough begun in 1802, the FifthSymphony underwent a long gestation and did not reach completion until thespring of 1808. Signicantly, the celebrated four-note motif that opens the piecewas present in the earliest sketches. This motif, the gure Beethoven associatedwith fate, dominates the rst movement, its rhythmic vigor accounting in nosmall way for the sense of agitation and momentum that prevail here.

Beethoven provides a timely contrast to the turbulent spirit of the openingmovement with the Andante con moto that follows. The scherzo is another

matter. Here, the theme softly stated by the low strings in the opening mea-sures seems ghostly and ominous, and its menacing aspect is conrmedmoments later by a disturbing reappearance of the fate motif of the rstmovement. Later, Beethoven creates a moment of extraordinary drama. Theghostly melody freezes in mid-step as time and motion are suspended. Slowly,the theme is taken and transformed measure by measure until the musicbursts into the nale with a blaze of light and victory.

The drama is not yet over, however. In the middle of this fourth move-ment, we suddenly return to the fate motif and the spectral atmosphere of

the scherzo. This prepares a recapitulation not only of the movements themesbut also of the dramatic passage from darkness to light, from despair to joythat is the meaning of the nale and the goal of the entire symphony.

Jaap van Zweden

HANSVAN

DER

WOERD


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BornSeptember 25, 1906, St.Petersburg

DiedAugust 9, 1975, Moscow

First PerformanceNovember 21, 1937, inLeningrad (now, as before,St. Petersburg), EvgenyMravinsky conducted theLeningrad PhilharmonicOrchestra

STL Symphony PremiereNovember 29, 1940, VladimirGolschmann conducting

Most Recent STL SymphonyPerformanceApril 26, 2009, Vasily Petrenkoconducting

Scoring2 flutespiccolo

2 oboes2 clarinetsE-flat clarinet2 bassoonscontrabassoon4 horns3 trumpets3 trombonestubatimpani

percussion2 harpspianocelestastrings

Performance Timeapproximately 44 minutes

DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICHSymphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47

A COMPOSER UNDER FIRE Shostakovich com-posed his Fifth Symphony at a critical juncture

in his career. During the late 1920s and early1930s, he had established himself as one of theSoviet Unions most accomplished compos-ers, one who also appeared to be an exemplarysocialist musician. Evidently a sincere sup-porter of the Communist regime in its earlyyears, Shostakovich had cast several of his mostambitious scores as large-scale patriotic hymns.At the same time, he was eager to explore thenew harmonic language being developed by suchWestern modernists as Berg and Hindemith.Initially, there was no serious conict betweenthese tendencies, and the composers creativityourished in the liberal artistic atmosphere thatprevailed in the Soviet Union for a decade and ahalf following the Revolution of 1917.

But with Stalins consolidation of power

in the mid-1930s, the political and intellectualclimate changed abruptly. Shostakovich felt thechilling effect of the new Soviet conservatismearly in 1936, when his opera Lady Macbeth of theMtsensk District, a biting and rather surreal satirethat had been playing to full houses for two years,suddenly came under attack in Pravda.An articleappeared on January 28 of that year describingthe composers music as a confused stream of

sounds and musical chaos. One week later, asecond Pravdareview denounced his ballet TheLimpid Stream.

In the face of this criticism, Shostakovichretreated to the privacy of his study. Nearly twoyears passed before he again brought a majorwork before the public. When he did, it wason a note of contrition. His Fifth Symphony

was accompanied by an explanatory article byShostakovich entitled A Soviet Artists Replyto Just Criticism, and the musics triumphantrst performance in November 1937 savedShostakovichs career. The rich lyricism andrelatively cautious tonal complexion of thework were hailed by critics who had previouslyattacked the composer. The symphony is awork of extraordinary profundity by a mature


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artist who has successfully overcome the childhood disease of leftism, wroteone reviewer. This is indeed a joyous occasion.

CREATION OR COMPROMISE? Whether or not Shostakovich made seriousartistic compromises in composing this symphony has been the subject of con-

siderable debate. Commentators hostile to the composer or the Soviet regimewere quick to claim that he had abjectly submitted to censorship. This seemsless certain, however, when considered in the context of the full corpus ofShostakovichs music. The composer was a remarkably protean musician andalways had been uent over a broad stylistic range. Moreover, if Shostakovichwanted only to placate the bureaucratic arbiters of Soviet music, an expresslypatriotic symphony might have t the bill more neatly than the one he pro-duced. The Fifth Symphony seems, in many respects, a deeply personal work,

and it has long been recognized as one of the composers nest achievements.There is another possibility, one that has been proposed by several emi-grant Soviet musicians. In the Fifth Symphony, according to this point ofview, Shostakovich did not capitulate to the conservative critics but cryp-tically thumbed his nose at them. Thus the works triumphant nale isinsincere, a sarcastic mockery of the type of music Shostakovich felt he wasexpected to write.

It is extremely difcult for Western listeners to make a judgment aboutthis notion; certainly, the scores nal pages, with its trumpets, timpani, and

bright D-major harmonies, have all the trappings of a genuinely jubilantclosing passage. Perhaps time will settle this issue. Meanwhile, the symphonyremains one of the most popular by a 20th-century composer.

FROM PATHOS TO TRIUMPHA rising and falling theme presented by the stringsestablishes the brooding character of the rst movement. Soon, however, wehear a more hopeful subject, introduced by the violas over a gently rhythmicaccompaniment. This second theme seems to establish itself beyond recallduring a sweetly melodious duet for ute and horn near the end of the move-ment, but the initial material returns to close this rst portion of the symphonyon a somber D-minor tonality.

The scherzo-like Allegretto strongly resembles similar movements in thesymphonies of Gustav Mahler, which Shostakovich greatly admired. It givesway to a deeply elegiac slow movement made of sorrow and solace.

As in the Fifth Symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler, the nale reversesthe emotional direction of the work from pathos to triumph (sincere or oth-erwise, as discussed above). Thematic reference to the rst movement, which

appears midway through the piece, provides another point for comparisonbetween these Fifth Symphonies. But here the similarities end. Shostakovichsmusic, except for a quietly contemplative central episode, is at once martialand dance-like in character, while its brash energy seems more reminiscent ofTchaikovsky than of any Austrian or German composer.

Program notes 2014 by Paul Schivao


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JAAP VAN ZWEDENLUCY AND STANLEY LOPATA GUEST ARTIST

Amsterdam-born Jaap van Zweden has beenMusic Director of the Dallas Symphony

Orchestra since 2008, and in September 2012he took up the position of Music Director of theHong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Appointedat 19 as the youngest concertmaster ever of theRoyal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he began hisconducting career in 1995 and held the posi-tions of Chief Conductor of the NetherlandsSymphony Orchestra (1996-2000), ChiefConductor of the Residentie Orchestra of The

Hague (2000-05), Chief Conductor of the RoyalFlemish Philharmonic Orchestra (2008-11), andChief Conductor and Artistic Director of theNetherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra andRadio Chamber Orchestras from 2005-2011.He remains Honorary Chief Conductor of theNetherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra andConductor Emeritus of the Netherlands RadioChamber Orchestra. In November 2011 vanZweden was named as the recipient of MusicalAmericas Conductor of the Year Award in recog-nition of his critically acclaimed work as MusicDirector of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra andas a guest conductor with the most prestigiousU.S. orchestras. Recent highlights have included highlyacclaimed debuts with the Berlin and New

York Philharmonic, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich,National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Sym-phony, and his BBC Proms debut conductingthe Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in Bruck-ners Symphony No. 8. Highlights of the 2013-14season and beyond include subscription debutswith the London Symphony, San FranciscoSymphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,and Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, perfor-

mances with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe,and return visits to the Orchestre de Paris andthe Rotterdam and London PhilharmonicOrchestras. He will curate a three-week festivalwith the Chicago Symphony entitled Truth toPower, which will focus on the music of Britten,Prokoev, and Shostakovich, tour China withthe Hong Kong Philharmonic, and return to theVerbier Festival.

Jaap van Zweden mostrecently conducted the

St. Louis Symphony inFebruary 2012.

HANSVAN

DER

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PLAYING SHOSTAKOVICH:DIANA HASKELL, ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL CLARINET

Shostakovich uses the clarinet in suchbeautiful ways. There are long, plain-

tive, heart-warming solos in his musicalthough not so much in the Fifth. TheFifth is a challenge just for the sheeramount of notes. But notes are just thebeginning of learning the music. Itswhat you do with that full page of 16thnotes that is music making. How do weshape them? What colors do we bring?

Im playing the E-at clarinet,which is very loud. The piccolo and theE-at are heard over most of the orches-tra. Theres an old saying: Loud is good.Louder is better. Loudest is best. Nowof course we try to play much more deli-cately than that, but with Shostakovich,there is some truth it.

DANDREYFUS

Diana Haskell

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. Or

think about stuff, such as the nale to Shostakovichs Fifth Symphony.

A study in contrasts:Listen to the nale to Beethovens iconic Symphony No. 5.And then when you hear the nale to Shostakovichs Fifth, ask yourself, are theysimilar? If Beethoven presents a full-throated shout of triumph, is Shostakovichdoing the same? Is Shostakovich bright and optimistic (like Beethoven), orsevere and ominous? The timpani pounds relentlessly. For what?


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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.

Elliot Forbes, editor,Beethoven: Symphony No. 5W. W. NortonEssays discussing the historical background,genesis, reception, and music of this famoussymphony, along with a complete score

Michael Tilson Thomas,

Keeping Score: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5DVDAn American conductor delves inside a greatwork with insightful commentary, followedby a complete performance by the SanFrancisco Symphony

Wendy Lesser,Music for Silenced Voice: Shostakovich andHis Fifteen QuartetsYale University PressLesser argues that the soul of Shostakovichmay be found in his quartets

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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CLASSICAL CONCERT:MOZART 39

February 21-23Bernard Labadie, conductor; Philip Ross, oboe; Andrew Gott, bassoon;Kristin Ahlstrom, violin; Melissa Brooks, cello

Balancing elegance and power, Mozarts Symphony No. 39 is also full ofcharming humor. The work completes a program celebrating the 250th birth-day of St. Louis by showcasing talented STL Symphony musicians perform-ing Haydns delightful Sinfonia concertante, as well as works by Rameau andHaydn composed in the same year as the founding of St. Louis, 1764.


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CLASSICAL CONCERT:ENIGMA VARIATIONS

Benedetto Lupo plays Rachmaninoff

February 28, March 1-2Juanjo Mena, conductor; Benedetto Lupo, piano

Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena makes his STL Symphony debut leading El-

gars Enigma Variations. A musical puzzle, this work will astonish and delightwith its unforgettable melodies including the noble Nimrod movement.Rachmaninoffs Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganiniprovides pianist BenedettoLupo a showcase for his outstanding technical agility displayed against a gor-geous orchestral backdrop.


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EDUCATION & COMMUNITY:SYMPHONY IN THE CITY

ON STAGE AT POWELL

The audience is on the stage with the performers at On Stage at Powell concerts.

March 19 Bosnian Journey: Generations

St. Louis celebrates 21 years since it welcomed the rst refugees from war-tornBosnia. Come and hear the stories of your Bosnian neighbors and experiencepowerful Sevdah music as we celebrate this vibrant St. Louis population.

This On Stage at Powell concert is part of Music Without Boundaries, presentedby the MetLife Foundation, with additional support from the Daughters of CharityFoundation of St. Louis, and is in collaboration with the Bosnia Memory Project

and the International Institute of St. Louis.


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AUDIENCE INFORMATION

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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.

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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.

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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

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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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Documents

St. Louis Symphony Extra - Feb. 1, 2014