november 2013 - philadelphia orchestra · 2013-11-06 · november 24, december 8, january 12, and...

November 2013®

11.13 Cover.indd 1 9/30/13 12:59 PM

What a wonderful beginning to the season we have witnessed, full of some of the most thrilling music-making Philadelphia has seen. We are invigorated by a number of positive trends—outstanding increases in ticket sales and audience size, along with milestones in fundraising. We are also excited to announce that the Orchestra will present four Postlude Chamber Concerts following select Sunday afternoon concerts, here in Verizon Hall. The dates will be November 24, December 8, January 12, and February 23, and the Postludes will be free to ticket-holders of that afternoon’s Orchestra subscription concert. Yannick believes in the great value of chamber music and has worked closely with Orchestra members to make sure the concerts include repertoire closely connected to the programs preceding them.

As Yannick continues to spend more time in Philadelphia, he is increasing his activities out in the community. On November 6 he led his first Neighborhood Concert with the Orchestra, at Temple University. And I hope you have all read about his new post as the first-ever conductor mentor at the Curtis Institute of Music, a one-year position in which he will provide musical and professional guidance to the Institute’s conducting fellow throughout the year, also giving a firsthand look at the operations of a major orchestra. I know Yannick is thrilled to discover and experience the incredible wealth of talent that makes up our community of music.

Thank you for being at today’s concert. In addition to supporting the Orchestra through the purchase of tickets, we could not produce our inspiring work both inside and outside the concert hall without generous financial support from our loyal friends. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, take a moment to acknowledge the significant role the Orchestra plays in your life, and if you have not already done so, please consider a donation to our Annual Fund. Every gift really does make a difference.

As always, Yannick, the musicians, and everyone at The Philadelphia Orchestra Association are profoundly grateful for all you do in making The Philadelphia Orchestra the world-renowned ensemble it is.

Yours in Music,

Allison VulgamorePresident & CEO

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From the President

J.D. S

cott

6

Music DirectorYannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. 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 … has never sounded better.” In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia.

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. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s conducting fellows program in the fall of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.

Nigel P

arry/CP

i

The Philadelphia Orchestra2013–2014 Season

Yannick Nézet-SéguinMusic Director Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair

Charles DutoitConductor LaureateCristian MacelaruAssociate Conductor

First ViolinsDavid Kim, ConcertmasterDr. Benjamin Rush ChairJuliette Kang, First Associate ConcertmasterJoseph and Marie Field ChairYing Fu, Associate ConcertmasterMarc Rovetti, Assistant ConcertmasterHerbert Light Larry A. Grika ChairBarbara GovatosWilson H. and Barbara B. Taylor ChairJonathan BeilerHirono OkaRichard AmorosoRobert and Lynne Pollack ChairYayoi NumazawaJason DePueLisa-Beth LambertJennifer HaasMiyo CurnowElina KalendarovaDaniel Han

Second ViolinsKimberly Fisher, PrincipalPeter A. Benoliel ChairPaul Roby, Associate PrincipalSandra and David Marshall ChairDara Morales, Assistant PrincipalAnne M. Buxton ChairPhilip KatesMitchell and Hilarie Morgan Family Foundation ChairBooker RoweDavyd BoothPaul ArnoldLorraine and David Popowich ChairYumi Ninomiya ScottDmitri LevinBoris BalterWilliam PolkAmy Oshiro-Morales

ViolasChoong-Jin Chang, PrincipalRuth and A. Morris Williams ChairKirsten Johnson, Associate PrincipalKerri Ryan, Assistant PrincipalJudy Geist Renard EdwardsAnna Marie Ahn PetersenPiasecki Family ChairDavid NicastroBurchard TangChe-Hung Chen Rachel KuMarvin MoonJonathan Chu*

CellosHai-Ye Ni, PrincipalAlbert and Mildred Switky ChairYumi Kendall, Acting Associate PrincipalWendy and Derek Pew Foundation ChairJohn Koen, Acting Assistant PrincipalRichard HarlowGloria dePasqualeOrton P. and Noël S. Jackson ChairKathryn Picht ReadWinifred and Samuel Mayes ChairRobert Cafaro Volunteer Committees ChairOhad Bar-DavidCatherine R. and Anthony A. Clifton ChairDerek BarnesMollie and Frank Slattery ChairAlex Veltman

BassesHarold Robinson, PrincipalCarole and Emilio Gravagno ChairMichael Shahan, Associate PrincipalJoseph Conyers, Assistant PrincipalJohn HoodHenry G. ScottDavid FayDuane RosengardRobert Kesselman

Some members of the string sections voluntarily rotate seating on a periodic basis.

FlutesJeffrey Khaner, PrincipalPaul and Barbara Henkels ChairDavid Cramer, Associate PrincipalRachelle and Ronald Kaiserman ChairLoren N. LindKazuo Tokito, Piccolo

OboesRichard Woodhams, PrincipalSamuel S. Fels ChairPeter Smith, Associate PrincipalJonathan BlumenfeldEdwin Tuttle ChairElizabeth Starr Masoudnia, English HornJoanne T. Greenspun Chair

ClarinetsRicardo Morales, PrincipalLeslie Miller and Richard Worley ChairSamuel Caviezel, Associate PrincipalSarah and Frank Coulson ChairPaul R. Demers, Bass ClarinetPeter M. Joseph and Susan Rittenhouse Joseph Chair

BassoonsDaniel Matsukawa, PrincipalRichard M. Klein ChairMark Gigliotti, Co-PrincipalAngela Anderson SmithHolly Blake, Contrabassoon

HornsJennifer Montone, PrincipalGray Charitable Trust ChairJeffrey Lang, Associate PrincipalJeffry KirschenDaniel WilliamsDenise TryonShelley Showers

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RosteR continues on pg. 12

TrumpetsDavid Bilger, PrincipalMarguerite and Gerry Lenfest ChairJeffrey Curnow, Associate PrincipalGary and Ruthanne Schlarbaum ChairAnthony PriskRobert W. Earley

TrombonesMatthew Vaughn, Acting PrincipalNeubauer Family Foundation ChairEric CarlsonBlair Bollinger, Bass TromboneDrs. Bong and Mi Wha Lee Chair

TubaCarol Jantsch, PrincipalLyn and George M. Ross Chair

TimpaniDon S. Liuzzi, PrincipalDwight V. Dowley ChairAngela Zator Nelson, Associate PrincipalPatrick and Evelyn Gage Chair

PercussionChristopher Deviney, PrincipalMrs. Francis W. De Serio ChairAnthony Orlando, Associate PrincipalAnn R. and Harold A. Sorgenti ChairAngela Zator Nelson

Piano and CelestaKiyoko Takeuti

KeyboardsDavyd BoothMichael Stairs, Organ**

HarpsElizabeth Hainen, PrincipalPatricia and John Imbesi ChairMargarita Csonka Montanaro, Co-Principal

LibrariansRobert M. Grossman, PrincipalSteven K. Glanzmann

Stage PersonnelEdward Barnes, ManagerJames J. Sweeney, Jr.James P. Barnes

*On leave**Regularly engaged musician

12 The Philadelphia Orchestra 2013–2014 Season

Where were you born? Toledo, Ohio.What piece of music could you play over and over again? Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.What’s your most treasured possession? Cosmo, my Parson Russell Terrier.What’s your favorite Philadelphia restaurant? Parc Brasserie. Tell us about your instrument. My ebony and gold style #11 art nouveau harp was made by Lyon & Healy, Chicago, in 2012.What’s in your instrument case? My concert clothes. A harp trunk is the perfect thing to keep your gowns from getting wrinkled!If you could ask one composer one question what would it be? Béla Bartók: Why didn’t you write a piece of chamber music that included the harp?!What piece of music never fails to move you? Ein Heldenleben by Richard Strauss.When did you join the Orchestra? 1994.Do you play any other instruments? Not so much now, but I was an accomplished pianist and coloratura soprano.What’s your favorite type of food? Italian: any kind of pasta.Do you speak any other languages? I attempt to speak a bit of French and Hebrew.Do you have any hobbies? I’m a ski instructor PSIA certified Level II.

To read the full set of questions, please visit www.philorch.org/elizabethhainen.

Musicians Behind the ScenesElizabeth Hainen Principal Harp

Am

anda Stevenson P

hotography

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Beyond the Baton

Chris Lee

A Q&A with Yannick Nézet-SéguinWhat two words would you use to describe yourself?Can I have three words?! I would say fortunate, honest, and optimistic.

Can you remember a time in your life when you heard the word “no,” didn’t pay attention to it, and were all the better for it?When I was offered the position at 24 of being the music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain many people told me I shouldn’t take it, and that I should go to Europe and study with a well-known conductor. But my feelings were that in order to develop you need an orchestra. Time has proven them wrong.

With all this jet-setting, how do you find the time to study the score?Obviously it takes a certain discipline. I’m a good student. Every time I find myself studying on the plane. There’s not one single day when I’m not studying a score, even on holiday. A conductor must love being alone with a score. And that’s okay. So far, even on vacation it’s not being about taking a holiday from music.

What is the one food you can’t live without?Eggs. If I could I would eat breakfast all day.

How do you keep your energy level high? Do you have any routines that keep you focused and fresh?Sometimes I would love to take a nap, but I’m not good at napping and wake up feeling worse. I have a personal trainer and she sometimes travels with me. I try to keep fit, running and some weight lifting to balance my body. My first responsibility is to maintain my energy level, otherwise how can I expect the orchestra to do the same.

What do you do right before bed?When I’m on the road and I need to unwind I watch episodes of Modern Family that I download from iTunes.

This season YOU ask the maestro! Send us your questions and while we can’t promise we’ll publish them all, we’ll do our best to include as many as possible. Please submit them on our Facebook page or at [email protected]. To read the questions from last season, please visit www.philorch.org/baton.

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Strauss’s Transfigurations

This fall The Philadelphia Orchestra kicks off an extended celebration of Richard Strauss, whose 150th birthday falls on June 11, 2014, and who 100 years ago conducted the Orchestra on the first of his two trips to America. This Strauss celebration is close to the heart of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who began his second season as the Orchestra’s music director in September: “I’m passionate about his music and we want to focus many programs of this season not only on big symphonic works, like Ein Heldenleben, but we have also the smaller ones, which are not so often performed, the Serenade for Winds, for example, as well as the Burleske for piano and orchestra. This all leads to something very special: my first opera with The Philadelphia Orchestra—Salome in May.”

With a lot of music to perform and hear the salute to Strauss will be spread

over two seasons, giving

By Christopher H. Gibbs

In the 2013-14 Season The Philadelphia Orchestra Pays Tribute to Richard Strauss in Celebration of His 150th Birthday

Richard Strauss in 1904.

11.13 Strauss FeatureRev.indd 8 9/30/13 5:06 PM

Strauss’s Transfigurationsaudiences the opportunity to hear a generous sampling of pieces he composed at various stages of his long career and in different areas, including symphonic poems, concertos, and opera. Jeremy Rothman, the Orchestra’s vice president for artistic planning, welcomes that chance to explore a wide array of his works: “Strauss is a rare composer, like his beloved Mozart, who crossed genres and was a master both of instrumental music and of opera.”

Over the course of his 85 years Strauss pursued multiple musical careers and went through several distinct stylistic phases, constantly transfiguring his formidable place in music history. He was, like his friend and rival Gustav Mahler, a great conductor as well as composer. His first pieces, written in the early 1880s, were Classically Romantic, but by the turn of the century he had emerged as the preeminent Modernist of the day, writing music that caused scandals and was banned in certain concert halls and opera houses. If we fast-forward another few decades, to the 1920s and ’30s, we find Strauss concentrated on conducting and writing operas. And by the end of his life, during the final years of the Second World War, as he turned 80, he had become a figure strangely out of place, writing ethereally beautiful music in a time of terror.

Strauss’s musical origins allowed him to combine

A 1921 program from one of Strauss’s concerts conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra.


talent, tradition, and opportunity. His father played French horn in the Munich Court Orchestra and taught at the Royal School of Music. According to his father’s conservative tastes, Strauss upheld the tradition of “Classical Romantics,” masters such as Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, and Johannes Brahms. His early compositions were anchored in Classical forms, as can be heard in his charming Serenade for Winds, Op. 7 (November 7–9).

But during the late 1880s, only in his mid-20s, Strauss underwent a “conversion,” as he later called it, and began writing under the influence of the so-called New German School, most associated with Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and Richard Wagner. Leaving Classicism behind (at least for the next few decades), he focused his energies on “Tone Poems.” Don

Juan, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Death and Transfiguration, Also sprach Zarathustra, and other extended single movement pieces were based on an extra-musical source, such as a poem, play, legend, or philosophical idea.

This season the Philadelphians perform Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) (November 7–9), an autobiographical tour-de-force from 1898 in which Strauss slyly confronted forces hostile to his musical innovations and took aim at his critics. The “artist as hero” had long provided fodder for composers, most notably for Beethoven. Strauss’s irony, however, was

A 1907 cartoon from Harper’s Weekly that appeared after the Metropolitan Opera’s U.S. premiere production of Strauss’s Salome was shut after one night. The Board of Directors declared the opera “objectionable and detrimental to the best interests of the Metropolitan Opera House.” It was not seen again at the Met until 1934.

16 Strauss’s Transfigurations


lost on some listeners who at first did not appreciate such an assured and self-aware figure.

By the turn of the century Strauss was widely recognized as the preeminent Modernist composer in Europe. With Wagner dead for nearly 20 years and Arnold Schoenberg just beginning to make waves, his music was often controversial even as audiences found themselves captivated by its brilliance. No Strauss composition proved more shocking than Salome, with which The Philadelphia Orchestra closes the season (May 8 and 10). In this, his third opera, Strauss took Wagner’s challenging orchestral and harmonic innovations to yet another level in a passionate setting of Oscar Wilde’s French play Salomé. The 1905 premiere of the opera in Dresden proved a triumph with the public, but it met with resistance in some quarters. While leading companies rushed to produce the opera, others considered too decadent the twisted tale of Salome, who sheds her seven veils in a striptease before her stepfather, King Herod, so as to be granted her wish for the head of John the Baptist.

Mahler wanted to produce Salome in Vienna but ecclesiastical authorities there blocked the initiative. In any case, Mahler was not always entirely pleased with his colleague’s success, even though each promoted and conducted the music of the other. Mahler’s famous comment that “My time will come” is usually quoted out of context. The rest of the sentence reads: “when his [Strauss’s] has passed.”

It was around when Mahler died, in 1911 at age 50, that Strauss changed stylistic gears again. First he turned to writing more listener-friendly operas, like Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos, and then to grand mythic ones. After the Alpine Symphony in 1914 he abandoned purely orchestral music for decades so as to pursue his conducting career and ambitious opera projects. Strauss’s international reputation was compromised by his alliance with the new Nazi regime as president of the Reich Chamber of Music (1933-35), which seems to have been more opportunistic than ideological. Once the war started his life became increasingly complex, especially as he worried

Richard Strauss had a terrific sense of humor and was not one to take himself too seriously, as is evident by his quote: “I may not be a first-rate composer, but I’m a first-class second rate composer.”



about protecting his Jewish daughter-in-law, Alice, and two grandsons.

After composing his final opera, Capriccio, which premiered in 1942, the aged Strauss retreated into an intimate compositional world dominated by relatively small-scale and amazingly beautiful instrumental music, represented earlier this season with his Oboe Concerto and on February 20-23 with the Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings. He died in 1949, not long after completing the magnificent Four Last Songs.

Strauss’s musical ties to The Philadelphia Orchestra date back to the ensemble’s third season in 1902 with performances of an excerpt from Guntram, his first opera. The association solidified two years later when he first came to Philadelphia. Strauss visited America twice, in 1904 and 1921, and on both trips he conducted the Orchestra multiple times in a wide variety of his own compositions, including most of tone poems,


Richard Strauss later in life, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, near the Austrian border, where he lived much of his life.

Christopher H. Gibbs, James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Music at Bard College, has been program annotator of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 2000. His most recent book, co-authored with Richard Taruskin, is The Oxford History of Western Music, College Edition.


the Violin Concerto, and the “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome. He also accompanied his wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna, in some of his orchestral songs.

Legendary Philadelphia performances and celebrated recordings of Strauss’s music continued in the decades that followed under Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, and other music directors. Wolfgang Sawallisch proved a particularly fervent champion (he presented a complete cycle of Strauss’s operas in Munich in the late 1980s). In May 2012, during his final season as chief conductor, Charles Dutoit led concert performances of Elektra.

Another Philadelphia connection inspired the autumnal Oboe Concerto. In a pocket sketchbook he kept close at hand Strauss noted: “Oboe Concerto 1945/Suggested by an American soldier.” That soldier was a young Curtis Institute of Music graduate named John de Lancie, who after the war went on to join The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he served as principal from 1954 to 1977, and to be director of Curtis from 1977 to 1985.

The Philadelphia Orchestra closes its 114th season with Salome in a first-ever collaboration with Opera Philadelphia. Yannick Nézet-Séguin is particularly enthusiastic about this event: “Salome is to me one of the greatest masterpieces written in the 20th century, and bringing this great operatic score to Philadelphia Orchestra audiences is special on its own. To now work closely with Opera Philadelphia to create a theatrical environment around the music makes this project even more exceptional. This will be a unique and dramatic telling of the story of Salome that will mesmerize both Orchestra and Opera audiences. I am thrilled to begin my journey with the Orchestra into the world of opera by working together with our new partners at Opera Philadelphia.” P


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The Philadelphia Orchestra is pleased to welcome two new musicians to the ensemble: Ying Fu as associate concertmaster and Anthony Prisk as second trumpet.

Ying Fu comes to the Orchestra from the Cleveland Orchestra, where he had been a member of the first violin section since August 2011. He has served as the concertmaster of the Schleswig-Holstein Symphony in Germany and has been a prizewinner of many violin competitions, most recently winning first prize at the 31st “Rodolfo Lipizer” International Violin Competition in Italy in 2012. A native of Shanghai, China, Mr. Fu started to learn violin at the age of 3. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He has participated in many summer music festivals, including the Marlboro Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany, and the Taos Chamber Music Festival. He has also been a jury member of many young artist music competitions.

Anthony Prisk was a member of the Houston Symphony for 11 seasons prior to joining the Orchestra. He has performed internationally with several orchestras and music festivals such as the Los Angeles and Moscow philharmonics, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, and the Montreal, Boston, and New World symphonies. He has won two international trumpet competitions through the International Trumpet Guild. Mr. Prisk grew up in Lombard, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and began playing trumpet in the local school band program at age 10. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois and his master’s from McGill University, after which he was chosen for a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. He has also participated in the Fidelity Future Stage program, bringing instrumental music instruction to inner city schools.

Please visit www.philorch.org/about/musicians to read their full bios.

Meet the Musicians

Anthony Prisk

Eric A

rbiter

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Ying Fu

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Don’t ask Claudia Balderston about her first encounter with The Philadelphia Orchestra. The Philadelphians have been in her world for so long, she can’t recall life without them. “I don’t remember!” she insists. “The Orchestra has always been a part of our lives. We’ve been subscription holders forever.”

Her husband, Richard, has the better story, she says. He was a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania when, on a snowy night in the mid-70s, he and some fellow students decided to trek to the Academy of Music in blizzard-like conditions. They figured the weather would guarantee plenty of empty seats in the audience, but that the musicians would still show up. They were right on both counts. “They all went down to the Academy and just had the most grand evening,” says Claudia. “In fact he can still remember what was played. It was Mahler’s Fifth. And he’s had a love for that piece ever since as a result.”

Claudia says her husband’s love of classical music in general is one of the reasons she was attracted to him. “He was a guy with his own collection of classical records,” she says. “I had some, he had some. It was great!” They married, had children, and began going to Family Concerts. Now—two grown kids and 30-plus years of subscribing later—they’re also part of the Maestro’s Circle, helping to ensure the future of an organization that’s been part of their own history for decades. “Not having the Orchestra is really just unthinkable,” Claudia says. “As we got older and more mature we realized the importance of The Philadelphia Orchestra to Philadelphia. … Supporting the arts—especially the Orchestra—has to be a huge priority. And it has to be done with private support.”

“We know some of the musicians,” she adds. “They’re so talented and so modest and they give such joy to people that whatever we can do to support them, of course we’re happy to do it.”

For more on the Balderstons’s story visit www.philorch.org/balderston.

In the SpotlightA Monthly Series of Donor and Patron Profiles

Claudia and Richard Balderston

Bryan K

arl Lathrop

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november 2013 - philadelphia orchestra · 2013-11-06 · november 24, december 8, january 12, and...

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