Download thibaudet plays gershwin - Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

THIBAUDET PLAYS GERSHWIN
2015/16 SEASON
Fri 16 Oct 2015, 8.30 p.m.
Sat 17 Oct 2015, 8.30 p.m.
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
Ramón Tebar, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
PROGRAMME
BARBER
Overture to The School for Scandal 8 mins
GERSHWIN Concerto in F 29 mins
Interval 20 mins
COPLAND
RESPIGHI
Appalachian Spring 24 mins
Church Windows 25 mins
BIOGRAPHIES
Acclaimed for his musical versatility, compelling interpretations and orchestra building
skills, Ramón Tebar’s international reputation in both the orchestral and opera arenas
continues to expand. He became the first Spanish conductor to be appointed Music
Director for an American opera company, the Florida Grand Opera (FGO).
Tebar began his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of Spain’s Palau de Les Arts
Reina Sofia in 2015, continues his relationship with FGO as Principal Conductor, serves
as Artistic Director of Florida’s Palm Beach Symphony and Opera Naples, and as Music
Director of the Dominican Republic’s Festival Musical de Santo Domingo.
Recent highlights include in productions of Madama Butterfly, Così fan Tutte, Mourning
Becomes Electra, Nabucco, Tosca and Thaïs with FGO, and La Bohème, Tango, Maria
de Buenos Aires and Bizet/Brook’s La tragédie de Carmen with Opera Naples, and
conducting the UK’s Philharmonia Orchestra at Buckingham Palace in the presence of
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
Tebar has led operatic repertoire for such distinguished organizations as Italy's Teatro
Regio di Torino, Martina Franca Festival and Teatro Lirico di Cagliari; Germany's Kolner
Philharmonie; Russia's Kremlin Palace; the Netherlands' Het Concertgebouw and
Argentina's Teatro Colon. Acclaimed artists with whom he has worked include Roberto
Alagna, Joshua Bell, Montserrat Caballe, Joseph Calleja, Gautier Capucon, Placido
Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Maria Guleghina, Ben Heppner, Gregory Kunde and
Renata Scotto.
Born in Valencia, Tebar became Assistant Conductor with the Youth National Orchestra
of Spain at 15 and graduated in his hometown Conservatory. Since he came to the USA
in 2005, he has been the staff of Palm Beach Opera and Cincinnati Opera. He was
honoured twice with the Henry C. Clark Conductor of the Year Award by FGO. In 2014,
he was featured by the Miami Herald as ‘Top 20 under 40’, the ABC Spanish journal
among ‘Ten International Spanish Conductors’ and the Marca Espana among ‘100
espanoles’. That same year, he received his highest honour to date; the Cross of Office
of the Order of Mérito Civil by His Majesty, the King of Spain Felipe VI.
RAMÓN
TEBAR
Conductor
BIOGRAPHIES
Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed around the world for more than 30 years and
recorded more than 50 albums. He has an artistic depth and natural charisma that have
made him one of today's most sought-after pianists.
Jean-Yves Thibaudet tackles three artist-in-residencies in the 2015/16 season: at the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony and the Colburn School of
Music. At Colburn, he fosters the next generation of musicians, teaching master classes
and performing with students. With the Seattle Symphony, he plays Saint-Saëns' Piano
Concerto No.5, Ravel's Piano Concerto in G and Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F;
chairs the jury for the Seattle Symphony Piano Competition 2015; performs Dvořák's
Piano Quintet No.2 with symphony musicians and tours Asia. He opens his residency
at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with James MacMillan's Piano Concerto No.3,
which he commissioned and premiered in 2011, and tours Europe with the orchestra,
playing Beethoven's “Emperor” Concerto. The residency also involves chamber music,
a performance at RCO Club Night and a master class. Thibaudet takes Grieg's Piano
Concerto in A minor on tour in the spring with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. Also this
season, he gives a recital tour across the United States, Europe and Asia.
He was the soloist on the award-winning and critically acclaimed films Atonement, Pride
and Prejudice and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. He wears a concert wardrobe
designed by Vivienne Westwood. In 2010, the Hollywood Bowl honored Thibaudet for
his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. Previously a Chevalier
of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Thibaudet was awarded the title Officier by the
French Ministry of Culture in 2012.
Mr. Thibaudet's worldwide representation: Harrison Parrot Ltd.
Mr. Thibaudet records exclusively for Decca Records.
JEAN-YVES
THIBAUDET
Piano
PROGRAMME NOTES
Compositions by three of America’s most famous composers from the early
twentieth century are joined by one from Italy. All four works come from the
short span of barely two decades (1925-1944). The Italian Respighi might seem
to be “odd man out” here but he visited America in 1932, within the time frame
of the four compositions we hear tonight, so let’s warmly welcome him into the
company of the three Americans!
SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)
Overture to The School for Scandal (1931)
The Background
Barber was only 26 when he wrote his Adagio for Strings, his best known work,
but the Overture to The School for Scandal precedes the famous Adagio by five
years. Barber was still studying composition at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia
with Rosario Scalero when he wrote this fresh, effervescent work. It also became
his first orchestral composition to be published and performed. The premiere
was given on 30 August, 1933 by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by
Alexander Smallens.
The Music
As noted in the score, the music was “suggested by Sheridan’s comedy,”
meaning that it intends only to capture the spirit of mirth, wit and laughter of
Richard Sheridan’s Restoration play (1777) and not to portray any particular
characters or scenes. The overture conforms to the sonata-allegro design that
would have been found in most symphonic movements in Sheridan’s
(also Mozart’s) time.
fanart.tv
PROGRAMME NOTES
GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
Concerto in F (1925)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio ̶Andante con moto
III. Allegro agitato
The Background
Gershwin’s first major orchestral work was Rhapsody in Blue, premiered at
a historic concert in New York’s Aeolian Hall in 1924. At that concert, among
many other dignitaries from the worlds of both jazz and classical music, was
Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony (which merged with
the Philharmonic in 1928). Damrosch was sufficiently impressed with the young
Gershwin (just 25 at the time), both as composer and as performer, to ask the
Symphony Society of New York to commission Gershwin to write a full-length
concerto for piano and orchestra. Unlike the Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin did his
own orchestration for the Concerto in F; also unlike Rhapsody, the Concerto was
scored for full symphony orchestra right from the start (Rhapsody was originally
for a 22-piece jazz band). The first performance was given on 3 December 1925
in New York with Gershwin as soloist.
The Music
The first movement is in freely modified classical sonata form, with a restless
and energetic first theme announced first in the bassoon (immediately following
the percussion introduction), then in turn by bass clarinet, trumpet and strings.
A second theme – poignant and lyrical – is introduced by the piano in a long
solo passage. The lively Charleston dance rhythm pervades the movement,
which is infused with “the young enthusiastic spirit of American life,” in
Gershwin’s words. The slow movement has a “poetic, nocturnal atmosphere
which has come to be referred to as the American blues but in a purer form
than that in which they are usually treated” (Gershwin). The brilliant, highly
energetic finale is “an orgy of rhythms, starting violently and keeping to the
same pace throughout” (again quoting the composer) and employs the rondo
form. Themes from the earlier movements are recalled.
www.mtv.com
PROGRAMME NOTES
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
Appalachian Spring (1944)
The Background
Although Copland wrote music in many styles and in virtually all categories –
symphonies, theater works, chamber music, choral pieces, piano music, radio
and film scores and even books – the orchestral portraits of rural America
continue to be the music the public most closely associates with this composer.
These works, written mostly during the late 1930s and early 1940s, include
Billy the Kid, Our Town, Lincoln Portrait, Rodeo, The Tender Land and
the ballet score Appalachian Spring.
This was composed in 1944 for the dancer and choreographer Martha
Graham. Graham and her troupe gave the first performance at the Library of
Congress in Washington, D.C. on 30 October 1944. Later that year Copland
expanded the original instrumentation from thirteen players to full symphony
orchestra and reduced the work’s length by about a third, resulting in the
well-known suite.
The Music
The published score bears the following description of the action:
“… a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the
Pennsylvania hills in the early part of the [nineteenth] century. The bride-to-be
and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive,
that their new domestic partnership invites. An older neighbor suggests now
and then the rocky confidence of experience. A revivalist and his followers
remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human
fate. At the end the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house.”
aaronc0pland.tumblr.com
PROGRAMME NOTES
OTTORINO RESPIGHI (1879-1936)
Church Windows (1925)
I.
II.
III.
IV.
The Flight into Egypt (La Fuga in Egitto)
St. Michael Archangel(S. Michele Arcangelo)
The Matin of St. Clare (Il Mattutino di Santa Chiara)
St. Gregory the Great (S. Gregorio Magno)
The Background
Concertgoers familiar with Respighi’s famous Roman trilogy (The Pines of
Rome, The Fountains of Rome, Roman Festivals), his Botticellian Triptych and
The Birds know well this composer’s penchant for writing vividly conceived
programme music. Church Windows, by its very title, would seem to belong in
this company as well. But unlike the aforementioned works, Church Windows
was originally conceived as purely abstract music.
In 1919 Respighi married one of his former composition students, Elsa Olivieri
Sangiacomo. One of the fruits of this marriage was a love for medieval music,
especially the austere beauty of Gregorian chant, instilled in the composer by
his wife. The first of many works Respighi created based on this body of ancient
music was Three Piano Preludes on Gregorian Melodies. In 1925, the composer
decided to orchestrate the piano preludes, adding a fourth in the process to make
a suite of “Four Impressions.” Only afterwards did Respighi affix programmatic
titles to the music. For each piece, the composer attached an appropriate biblical
image such as might be depicted in an Italian church window.
The Music
The story of the opening movement is self-explanatory. The second suggests
the sounds of battle, specifically Michael and his angels fighting the dragon
and its evil forces. The third “impression” concerns St. Clare, who founded the
Franciscan Order of Nuns. As she lay dying, Jesus caused her to be borne by
angels to the Church of St. Francis so that she could attend the entire Holy
Service of Matins. The final movement is a musical tribute to the very figure
who is indelibly associated with Gregorian chant itself, Pope Gregory I (540604). Gregory was a zealous missionary who sent men out from Rome across
Europe to found churches and schools. He did not write chants himself but
he categorized the thousands of melodies and rendered this repertory the
fundamental music of the Roman Catholic Church for centuries.
MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
PRINCIPAL
CONDUCTOR
Fabio Mechetti
RESIDENT
CONDUCTOR
Ciarán McAuley
first violin
Co-Concertmaster
Peter Daniš
Principal
Ming Goh
Co-Principal
Zhenzhen Liang
Sub-Principal
Vira Nyezhentseva
Runa Baagöe
Maho Daniš
Miroslav Daniš
Evgeny Kaplan
Ergys Koni
Martijn Noomen
Sherwin Thia
Marcel Andriesii
Tan Ka Ming
*Petia Atanasova
*Ooi Khai Ern
*Roxana Tudorache
*Ikuko Takashi
*Marit Vligenthart
SECOND VIOLIN
Co-Principal
Timothy Peters
Assistant Principal
Luisa Hyams
Catalina Alvarez
Chia-Nan Hung
Anastasia Kiseleva
Stefan Kocsis
Ling Yunzhi
Ionut Mazareanu
Tan Poh Kim
Yanbo Zhao
Ai Jin
*Ahin Lee
*Liu Yi Retallick
VIOLA
Co-Principal
Gábor Mokány
Assistant Principal
Ayako Oya
Fumiko Dobrinov
Ong Lin Kern
Carol Pendlebury
Sun Yuan
Thian Aiwen
Fan Ran
Eliza Fluder
Julia Park
Mahmoud Hussein
*Ida Kovacs
*Emil Csonka
CELLO
Co-Principal
Csaba Kőrös
Assistant Principal
Steven Retallick
Sub-Principal
Attila Pasztor
Gerald Davis
Julie Dessureault
Laurentiu Gherman
Tan Poh Joo
Elizabeth Tan Suyin
Sejla Simon
Mátyás Major
DOUBLE BASS
Section Principal
Wolfgang Steike
Co-Principal
Joseph Pruessner
Raffael Bietenhader
Jun-Hee Chae
Naohisa Furusawa
John Kennedy
Foo Yin Hong
Andreas Dehner
FLUTE
Section Principal
Hristo Dobrinov
Co-Principal
Yukako Yamamoto
Sub-Principal
Rachel Jenkyns
PICCOLO
Principal
Sonia Croucher
OBOE
Section Principal
Simon Emes
Sub-Principal
Niels Dittmann
COR ANGLAIS
Principal
Denis Simonnet
CLARINET
Section Principal
*Gonzalo Esteban
Sub-Principals
Matthew Larsen
*Juan Luis Puelles
BASS CLARINET
Principal
Chris Bosco
BASSOON
Section Principal
Alexandar Lenkov
Co-Principal
*Adolfo Martinez
Sub-Principal
Orsolya Juhasz
CONTRABASSOON
Principal
Vladimir Stoyanov
HORN
Section Principals
Grzegorz Curyla
*Cem Akcora
Co-Principal
James Schumacher
Sub-Principals
Laurence Davies
Todor Popstoyanov
Assistant Principal
Sim Chee Ghee
TRUMPET
Section Principal
*Matthew Dempsey
Co-Principal
William Theis
Sub-Principal
William Day
Assistant Principal
John Bourque
TROMBONE
Section Principal
*Jamie Williams
Co-Principal
Marques Young
Sub-Principal
Anthony Wise
Bass Trombone
Principals
Zachary Bond
*Martin McCain
TUBA
Section Principal
Brett Stemple
TIMPANI
Matthew Thomas
PERCUSSION
Section Principal
Matthew Prendergast
Sub-Principals
Darryl Littman
Matthew Kantorski
*Chun Yu Tsai
HARP
Principal
Tan Keng Hong
Piano
*Akiko Danis
CELESTE
*Shuen Da Wong
ORGAN
*Margaret Chen
Note: Sectional string players are listed alphabetically and rotate within their sections. *Substitute / extra musician.
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