Download giselle - Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

featuring
BALLET STARS OF MOSCOW
GISELLE
ADAMGiselle
Fri 8 Jan 2016 at 8.30pm
Sat 9 Jan 2016 at 8.30pm
Sun 10 Jan 2016 at 3.00pm
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
Ciarán McAuley, conductor
Ballet Stars of Moscow
Giselle - Elena Vorobyeva
Count Albrecht - Ilya Borodulin
Hans, The Gamekeeper - Mikhail Mikhailov
Berthe, Giselle’s Mother - Tatiana Panteleeva
Bathilde, Albrecht’s Bride - Ekaterina Karpova
Duke, Father to Bathilde - Maksim Podshivalenko
Wilfreed, Count’s Armour Bearer - Kirill Zaretsky
Myrtha, The Queen of Wilis - Ekaterina Karpova
Two Wilis - Elena Antcupova and Alisa Voronova
Peasant Pas De Deux - Alisa Voronova, Dmitry Kozhemyakin
and Corps de Ballet of the Ballet Stars of Moscow
Choreography: J. Coralli and M. Petipa
Costumes and Sets: based on A.Vinogradov
balletthebestphotographs.files.wordpress.com
BIOGRAPHIES
Ciarán McAuley is the Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a former
assistant conductor to Kiel Opera and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and has held conducting
fellowships at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and at Tanglewood Music Festival.
He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Clark Rundell, the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste
with Johannes Schlaefli and continued his education thereafter through Deutsche Dirigentenforum.
PROKOFIEV
Romeo and Juliet
Fri 15 Jan 2016 at 8.30pm
Sat 16 Jan 2016 at 8.30pm
Sun 17 Jan 2016 at 3.00pm
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
Stanislav Kochanovsky, conductor
Ballet Stars of Moscow
Signor Capulet - Maksim Podshivalenko
Signor Montague - Vitaly Zabelin
Juliet, Capulet’s Daughter - Elena Vorobyeva
Romeo, Montague’s Son - Ilya Borodulin
Signora Capulet - Ekaterina Karpova
Tybalt, Signora Capulet’s Nephew - Mikhail Mikhailov
Mercutio, Romeo’s Friend - Dmitry Kozhemyakin
Count Paris - Kirill Zaretsky
Benvolio, Montague’s Nephew - Roman Shuparskiy
Juliet’s Nurse - Tatiana Panteleeva
and Corps de Ballet of the Ballet Stars of Moscow
Choreography: M. Lavrovsky
Costumes and Sets: based on P. Williams
He has served as Assistant Conductor to Michael Francis and Donald Runnicles and has participated in
masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and David Zinman, conducting ensembles
the likes of WDR Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the RSNO.
He has premiered works by Detlef Glanert and Marco Stroppa, and has workshopped new
commissions for BBC Scottish and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras. He is a former recipient of the
Ricordi Conducting Prize and Bryden Thomson Trust Award and was a finalist and prize winner in the
2015 German Conductor Prize.
Recent concert engagements have led him to the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Jenaer
Philharmoniker and Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin. Highlights of the current season include
performances celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sibelius and Nielsen, and the 175th
anniversary of Adam´s ballet Giselle. CIARÁN
MCAULEY
Conductor
BIOGRAPHIES
STANISLAV
KOCHANOVSKY
Conductor
Stanislav Kochanovsky was born in St. Petersburg and studied at the
Glinka Choir School. He graduated with honours from the St. Petersburg
Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where he studied choral conducting
with Tatiana Khitrova, organ with Nina Oksentyan and conducting with
Alexander Titov.
In 2010 Kochanovsky was appointed Principal Conductor of the State Safonov
Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he has conducted more than 50 symphonic
programs, 5 festivals and 7 opera productions.
As guest conductor, Kochanovsky has worked on new opera productions at the Mariinsky
Theatre and the Flemish Opera in Belgium. He has collaborated with the Moscow and
St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia,
the State Symphony Orchestra Novaya Rossiya, the State Academic Cappella, and the
Hermitage Orchestras.
In addition to his work in Russia, appearances in recent years have taken Kochanovsky to
the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hamburger Symphoniker,
Finnish Radio Symphony, Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, I Pomeriggi Musicali, Orchestra
Sinfonica Tito Schipa, Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn
Chamber Orchestra, and the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2014 Kochanovsky made his debut with the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa
Cecilia in Rome. Other recent activity includes performances with the NHK Symphony Orchestra,
Filarmonica della Scala, RAI Orchestra (Turin), Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Noord
Nederlands Orchestra, Mannheim Opera (Germany) and a tour with Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano
Giuseppe Verdi in Teatro La Fenice.
BALLET STARS
OF MOSCOW
The Ballet Stars of Moscow was originally a stellar troupe of 10 dancers
headed by Shamil Yagudin, the famous ballet master of the Bolshoi
Theatre. Today the company is composed of principal and leading
dancers from Moscow’s most renowned ballet troupes: the Bolshoi Ballet,
Moscow Classical Ballet, Stanislavsky Ballet Theatre, Kremlin Ballet,
Russian National Ballet, Moscow Festival Ballet, and others. Many of
the dancers are medalists from international ballet competitions; they all
share a respect for the great Russian ballet tradition in which the idea of
the continuity of culture predominates.
The Ballet Stars of Moscow presents classic ballets that link the
present century with the past. The troupe bridges the choreographic
traditions and aesthetic principles that come from the art of the great
ballet masters of the 19th century – Taglioni, Perro, Burnonville and
Petipa – with the creative work of the Russian ballet masters of the 20th
century – Gorsky, Fokine, Golezovsky, Grigorovich and others. The
Ballet Stars of Moscow’s mission is to preserve the enduring values of
the classic ballet while highlighting “modernity” in the “eternal”, as well
as to acquaint the audience with a new generation of young ballet artists
who are following in the footsteps of the great ballerinas and dancers
of the past century. It is this new generation who will write the history of
Russian ballet in the 21st century.
Since its formation in 1990, the Ballet Stars of Moscow has toured
the United States, France, Canada, South Africa, Greece, Malaysia,
Turkey, and other countries. Since 2005, the troupe has been headed
by Artistic Director Mikhail Bessmertnov, who has significantly enlarged
its repertory with full-size performances and various thematic programs
devoted to outstanding personalities of the world of music and
choreography, as well as a variety of gala concert programs.
BIOGRAPHIES
Mikhail Bessmertnov, Artistic Director & Production Manager
Mikhail Bessmertnov was born in 1973 in Moscow. Upon graduation from the Bolshoi Ballet
Moscow Academy in 1991, he joined the Bolshoi Ballet troupe with which he danced solo and
leading roles in many productions including The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsair,
Walpurgius Night and The Golden Age.
Bessmertnov has participated in many world tours, including tours with the Stars of the Bolshoi
Ballet to the United States, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and England,
where he danced the pas de deux from Don Quixote, Raymonda,
Coppèlia and Le Corsair.
In 1996 Bessmertnov joined the State Academic Theatre of Classical
Ballet with which he danced solo and leading roles in Don Quixote
Swan Lake, Giselle, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Romeo and
Juliet, The Firebird and Sacred Spring, among others.
Bessmertnov was a member of the Ballet Stars of Moscow
for tours to North America in 1998, 2000, and 2002. In 2001
he became a member of Russian National Ballet, with which
he danced leading roles in Cinderella, Carmen, Swan Lake,
Giselle, Don Quixote, Paquita and toured the United States,
Great Britain, Germany, Italy and South Africa.
Since 2005 Bessmertnov has been Artistic Director and
Production Manager of the Ballet Stars of Moscow.
Anna Nekhlyudova, Ballet Master
Anna Nekhlyudova was born in 1976 in Moscow, and was
accepted at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography
in 1986. She began her career at the Kremlin Palace of
Congresses in 1994. Nekhludova later joined the Russian
National Ballet in 1996, performing many solo and character
roles in various ballet productions. Nekhludova has been a
ballet teacher and private tutor since 2000.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ekaterina Karpova, Artistic Manager & Soloist
Ekaterina Karpova was born in 1984 and graduated from the
Saratov State School of Choreography choreographic school in
2002. Between 2001 and 2013, she worked as a leading soloist at
the Saratov Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet and at Moscow’s
ballet theatre La Classique. Her repertory includes solo and leading
roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Sleeping
Beauty, The Nutcracker, The Merry Widow, Coppélia, Romeo and
Juliet and others.
Elena Vorobieva, Principal Dancer
Elena Vorobieva was born in 1986 in Kirov. After graduation
from the Perm State Ballet Academy, she became a principal
dancer of the Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet
Theater, and Moscow’s Russian National Ballet Theatre. In 2013,
Vorobieva was winner of the Golden Masque prize, one of the
most prestigious awards in Russian theatre. From an early age,
Vorobieva danced leading roles in many different types of dance,
including contemporary productions.
Vorobieva’s repertory includes principal roles in Swan Lake,
The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Creation of the
World, Giselle, La Bayadère, La Sylphide, Le Corsaire, Amore
Buffo and many others.
Ilya Borodulin, Principal Dancer
lya Borodulin was born in Chelyabinsk in 1989 and graduated from
the Perm State Ballet Academy. He has been a principal dancer of
the Perm State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Ekaterinburg
State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, and Moscow’s Russian
State Ballet Company. Borodulin was recognised in international
ballet competitions in Krasnoyarsk (Russia) in 2009 and in
Boston (USA) in 2012.
Borodulin’s repertory includes principal roles in Romeo and Juliet,
Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Giselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadère,
Chopiniana, The Nutcracker, La Fille mal gardée, Amore Buffo
and many others.
BIOGRAPHIES
Dmitry Kozhemyakin, Soloist
Born in Izhevsk, Russia, Dmitry Kozhemyakin graduated from the
Bashkirian National Ballet Academy in 2003. In 2013 he graduated with
honours from the Russian University of Theatre Arts (GITIS) where during
his first year of study he was a choreographer competition prize winner.
Kozhemyakin was principal dancer with the Bashkirian National Opera
and Ballet Theatre (2003-2006) and the Kremlin Ballet (2006-2011).
From 2011 to 2013 he was principal soloist of the Moscow Ballet and
choreographer at the ballet theatre Talarium et Lux in Moscow. Since 2013
he has been soloist with the State Academic Classical Ballet Theatre/
Moscow Classical Ballet.
Kozhemyakin’s repertory includes The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping
Beauty, Giselle, La Bayadére, Romeo and Juliet, Paquita, Chopiniana,
Don Quixote, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, La Fille mal gardée and
La Sylphide.
Alisa Voronova, Soloist
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Alisa Voronova graduated from the Kiev State
School of Choreography in 2005. In 2006 and 2007 she was a soloist
of the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. From 2007 to 2015, she
worked as first soloist in the Kiev Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
In September 2015 Voronova began working for the Russian State
Ballet in Moscow.
Voronova’s repertory includes The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty,
Romeo and Juliet, Paquita, Giselle, Cinderella, Chopiniana, Les
Sylphides, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Little
Humpbacked Horse.
Mikhail Mikhailov, Soloist
Mikhail Mikhailov was born in 1980 and graduated from Ufa City
Ballet School in 1998. As a soloist, he has performed with the Kremlin
Ballet (1998-2004), Moscow City Ballet (2004-2007) and the Russian
Classical Ballet (2008-present). He was a diploma winner at the
American Ballet Competition (New York).
Mikhailov’s repertory includes Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet,
The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Coppélia.
BALLET STARS OF MOSCOW
Antsupova Elena
Arsenov Sergei
Bessmertnov Mikhail
Bessudnov Dmitry
Borodulin Ilia
Chemalina Tatiana
Cherkasova Ekaterina
Divinskaya Irina
Gridina Iuliia
Karpova Ekaterina
Khabina Mariia
Khmarskii Anton
Kozhemiakin Dmitrii
Lazarena Ekaterina
Marenin Maksim
Marikin Konstantin
Mikhailov Mikhail
Moskvichev Alexey
Murashkina Vladlena
Nekhlyudova Anna
Ovchinnikova Yulia
Panteleeva Tatiana
Podshivalenko Maxim
Sanchugova Victoria
Shalina Elina
Shuparskiy Roman
Subbotin Andrey
Sundueva Aiana
Tcelovalnikova Anastasiia
Vorobyeva Elena
Voronova Alisa
Zabelin Vitaly
Zaretckii Kirill
Zharkova Kseniia
PROGRAMME NOTES
Giselle is one of the half dozen or so most famous full-length ballet scores in the repertory. It is
historically significant as being the first ballet score of its kind to consist exclusively of new music,
as opposed to the potpourris prevalent at the time (stitching together a string of unrelated numbers
by various composers). It is also one of the first to employ Leitmotifs as a means of providing
dramatic and narrative continuity. (Leitmotifs are recurring melodic fragments that represent
characters, emotions, objects, etc.)
ADOLPHE ADAM (1803-1856)
Giselle (complete) (1841)
The Background
Alphabetically, Adolphe Adam sits at the top of the list of classical composers. Only two other names
of any consequence at all precede him (Karl Friedrich Abel and Jean Absil). At least one work
by Adam is known to millions of people, most of them without even being aware of it. That is the
Christmas song “O Holy Night.” Adam’s next best-known work is Giselle, but other than these two
works – one very short, one very long – the music of Adam is hardly played today. Yet he was highly
prolific: some forty operas (including a Falstaff nearly forty years before Verdi’s), fourteen ballets
(including Faust and Le Corsaire, the latter Adam’s second-best-known ballet) and much more.
His first big success was the opera Le Chalet (1834), which was performed one thousand times at
the Opéra-Comique alone in the space of forty years. Anyone familiar with Bizet’s opera Carmen will
recognize the title of another of Adam’s operas, Le Toréador, but this has little to do with Spain or
bullfighters. What it does have is a set of variations on the nursery tune “Twinkle, twinkle, little star,”
popular among coloratura sopranos.
www.rfpresents.com
PROGRAMME NOTES
Adam reportedly took less than a week to compose Giselle. It received its first performance at
the Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra) on 28 June 1841. After 1866,
it disappeared from the repertory in Paris but became a favoured item in Russia, with numerous
resultant changes to the choreography and the music. Only a piano score was initially published
(in 1841); the full orchestral score did not appear until well into the twentieth century (1924).
Giselle’s main thrust is what George Balanchine and Francis Mason describe as “its summing up
of what we know as Romantic ballet. To be romantic about something is to see what you are and
to wish for something entirely different. This requires magic.… Poets and novelists of the time [the
early-to-mid-nineteenth century] were all interested in stories of the romantically supernatural,
stories that told of lovely young girls whose love was never fulfilled because of intervening powers.”
The French poet and novelist Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) fit perfectly into this setting. Gautier
was particularly drawn to the world of German poetry, Heinrich Heine especially. Gautier had read
Heine’s essay Über Deutschland (De l‘Allemagne in French translation) and was struck by the idea
of adapting the story of the Wilis for a ballet. Wilis, in Heine’s account, are the ghosts of maidens
who died before their wedding day as a result of being jilted by their lovers. At midnight they rise
from their graves and dance until dawn, indulging in a passion they could not enjoy while living.
Any man who happens to encounter the Wilis is forced to dance with them until he drops dead.
Gauthier teamed up with the librettist Vernoy de Saint-Georges and created the scenario that
became Giselle. The title role was conceived for the Italian Carlotta Grisi, one of whose many
admirers was Gauthier. (Two of her cousins, Giulia and Giuditta were leading opera stars of the
time.) Most of the choreography was designed by Jean Coralli, but much of Giselle’s part was done
by the ballet master Jules Perrot, Grisi’s lover.
PROGRAMME NOTES
The Music
Giselle is notable too in that the title character is required to act as well as dance. She must also exist in two
very different worlds – the natural world of peasants in Act I, and the supernatural world of spirits in Act II.
We see her first as a shy, simple village girl in Act I. Another villager, Hilarion, attempts to woo her, but she falls
instead for the nobleman Albrecht, who pursues her disguised as another peasant. Albrecht’s servant Wilfried
attempts to dissuade him from his amorous pursuit, but to no avail. Hilarion is deeply hurt, and withdraws. A
hunting party, led by the Duke of Courland, arrives, and is entertained by dancers from the village. The Duke is
accompanied by his daughter Bathilde, to whom Albrecht is already engaged. The jealous, spurned Hilarion now
exacts revenge on his rival by exposing Albrecht for what he really is. He shows everyone Albrecht’s sword and
cloak, which Albrecht had carefully hidden earlier on. Giselle is totally distraught. Her mother tries to comfort her,
but Giselle loses her reason, dances wildly, and dies of a broken heart. Hilarion and Albrecht confront each other,
each accusing the other for the calamity.
Act II takes place in a forest. Hilarion visits Giselle’s tomb, then withdraws at midnight, the Wilis appear, led by their
queen Myrta, who embodies technical perfection in her dancing but no human warmth. They initiate Giselle into
their community. Albrecht enters, and the two lovers dance together, but then Giselle disappears, leaving Albrecht
to wonder if this had been but a dream. He leaves and Hilarion enters, only to be ensnared in the Wilis’ deadly
dancing and whirled into a pond, where he drowns. Albrecht returns to dance an extended pas de deux with
Giselle, accompanied by the solo viola. Myrta demands that the Wilis destroy Albrecht as they had Hilarion.
But the bond of love uniting Giselle and Albrecht remains strong, and the Wilis’ power cannot penetrate
this bond. Dawn breaks, and the Wilis retreat. Albrecht still lives, the power of love having overcome the
forces of evil. But all does not end happily. The price for saving Albrecht’s life is that Giselle will never
see him again, as they now inhabit different worlds – he of the natural, she of the supernatural.
When Prokofiev turned to Shakespeare’s play as the subject for a choreographic drama,
he already had six ballets to his credit, but for his interpretation of Romeo and Juliet in
music he created not only one of his very finest and most popular compositions, but
what would quickly rise to become the most successful full-length, three-act ballet
score of the twentieth century. The music contains a wealth of memorable
themes, passionate lyricism, compelling rhythmic excitement and a generous
measure of comic elements, a component not usually associated with
the story. Yet no one else, writes biographer Israel Nestyev, “has
caught and expressed so well the tragedy’s light and playful
moments, the aspect that endows it with fresh contrasts and
sharply defined chiaroscuro effects.”
quotesgram.com
PROGRAMME NOTES
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 (1935)
The Background
No playwright’s works have been more heavily mined for musical purposes than Shakespeare’s, and
none of the bard’s great tragedies has inspired more compositions than Romeo and Juliet: nearly thirty
operas (including by Bellini, Delius, Gounod and Zandonai); incidental music by Martin, Amram and
Stenhammar; orchestral works by Berlioz, Kabalevsky, Raff and Tchaikovsky; miscellaneous pieces by
Arne, Diamond, Granados, Rorem and scores of others.
The subject – love – has a lot to do with it, of course, but love is treated in other Shakespeare plays
as well. Romeo has in addition the heartbreak of the family feud, which acts as a kind of fate that
hovers over the “star-crossed lovers,” something beyond their control yet something that orders their
destiny. Berlioz was stirred by the drama’s lyrical concentration to say something along the lines of
“Shakespeare’s Romeo! Mon dieu, what a subject! Everything in it seems designed for music.”
For all the fame and popularity Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet enjoys today, its early years were rocky and
uncertain. Prokofiev wrote the music in 1934 and 1935 at the invitation of the Kirov Theater in Leningrad,
which was eager to mount a new ballet by the country’s returning celebrity (prokofiev had just returned to
his homeland after living and traveling abroad for nearly sixteen years). However, the theatre rejected the
score, presumably because of the story line (“Living people can dance, the dying cannot”, Prokofiev later
rationalized), though the composer may also have tripped in the political minefield of the Soviet theater
world. A contract was arranged with the Bolshoi in Moscow instead, but there the music was declared
“undanceable.” One wag suggested that at this point Prokofiev may well have invoked Mercutio’s line from
the play, “A plague o’ both your houses!”
At least the score was played in concert form in the Beethoven Hall of the Moscow Bolshoi in October of
1935. Since no staged performance was in sight, Prokofiev expediently arranged two orchestral suites
of seven numbers each (drawn from the total of fifty-two), as well as a set of ten numbers arranged for
piano solo (a third orchestral suite was compiled in 1946). These suites enjoyed some currency before
Romeo and Juliet was finally staged by the Kirov in 1940. But in the meantime, the honor of the premiere
stage production went to Brno, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic), where it was given, without
Prokofiev’s participation, on 30 December 1938 at the Opera House to an enthusiastic reception.
Obviously it was not “undanceable” after all! The choreography for the first Russian version was done by
Leonid Lavrovsky, with Galina Ulanova and Konstantin Sergeyev in the title roles. In 1946 Lavrovsky also
mounted the Bolshoi’s first production, which is the one that toured the west and was later filmed.
PROGRAMME NOTES
The Music
ACT I – A brief Overture presents themes associated with the lovers. The scene is the marketplace in
early morning. Romeo is out for a stroll, musing on his current lover Rosalind. Montagues (Romeo’s
family) and Capulets (Juliet’s family) meet, argue, and fight. The Duke of Verona appears and commands
that the fighting cease. In Scene 2, we meet Juliet in her bedroom, attended by her nurse. All the
mischievousness, skittishness and vivaciousness of the fourteen-year-old girl are admirably captured in
her music. Scene 3 takes place elsewhere in the Capulets’ house. Noble, pompous music accompanies
their arrival of guests, the cream of Veronese society, at the home of the Capulets for a grand ball. Romeo
and his friends Mercutio and Benvolio appear, all wearing masks. A swaggering march tune accompanies
their arrival at the ball. Romeo spies Juliet dancing with her betrothed, Paris, and is immediately
entranced. In their first encounter, tenderly yearning violins represent Romeo and a simple, unaffected
line in the flute represents Juliet. Romeo contrives to dance with her, but is recognized by Juliet’s cousin
Tybalt, who threatens Romeo. Capulet orders Tybalt to stand down. Next comes the famous Balcony
Scene. For what is perhaps the most famous love scene in all literature, Prokofiev poured forth some of
his most passionately lyrical music, perfectly conveying the ecstasy of the two lovers.
ACT II – Back in the marketplace, everyone is in a holiday mood. Various dances are performed.
Mercutio teases his friend Romeo. Juliet’s nurse hands Romeo a letter stating that Juliet wants to marry
him. An interlude takes us to the chapel, where the kindly, understanding Friar Laurence secretly marries
the lovers. Further public festivities transpire in the marketplace. Then comes trouble: Tybalt, Mercutio,
and Romeo engage in some serious swordplay. First Mercutio falls by Tybalt’s hand, then Tybalt by
Romeo’s. The orchestral writing is highly virtuosic, with violins in particular required to execute incredible
feats of showmanship. These passages, and the following grim funeral procession for Tybalt, rank among
the score’s highlights.
ACT III – As dawn breaks, Romeo and Juliet bid adieu after their first and only night together as man and
wife. For this pas de deux, Prokofiev wrote some of his most exquisite music, which rises to a passionate
climax before subsiding in gentle tones and subtle hues. After Romeo leaves, the Capulet family enters,
with demands that Juliet marry Paris. She refuses. Her father threatens to disown her. In desperation,
Juliet seeks Friar Laurence’s help. He gives her a potion that will simulate death for a specified time
period. Juliet now agrees to marry Paris, but at the ceremony collapses in apparent death. At her tomb,
Paris grieves, Romeo enters and kills him. Not having received Friar Laurence’s message about the true
nature of the potion, Romeo thinks Juliet to be really dead and takes poison. The music is searing in its
poignant intensity. Juliet revives, sees her dead lover, and stabs herself with his dagger. The curtain falls
on the inert bodies of the lovers in a final embrace.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Formerly a horn player in the Montreal Symphony, Robert Markow now writes programme notes for that orchestra and for
many other musical organizations in North America and Asia. He taught at Montreal’s McGill University for many years, has led
music tours abroad, and writes for many leading classical music journals, including American Record Guide, Fanfare, Opera,
Opera News, The Strad and Symphony. He travels regularly to Europe, Asia and Australia in search of musical stimulation.
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) gave its inaugural performance at DEWAN FILHARMONIK
PETRONAS (DFP), Kuala Lumpur, on 17 August 1998. The initial search for outstanding musicians involved
a worldwide audition tour. The result was a symphony orchestra made up of musicians from 25 nations – a
remarkable example of harmony among different cultures and nationalities.
A host of internationally-acclaimed musicians has worked with the MPO, including Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville
Marriner, Yehudi Menuhin, Joshua Bell, Harry Connick Jr. and Andrea Bocelli, many of whom have praised
the MPO for its fine musical qualities and vitality.
With each new season, the MPO continues to present a varied programme of orchestral music drawn from
over three centuries, as well as the crowd-pleasing Specials, Pops, Family Fun Day, Chamber and Happy
Hour series. It regularly presents specially commissioned new music and successfully collaborates with local
and international artists.
The MPO regularly visits the major cities of Malaysia. Internationally, it has been to Singapore, Japan and
Korea (2001), Australia (2004), China (2006), Taiwan (2007), Japan (2009) and Vietnam (2013). The MPO’s
Education and Outreach Programme, ENCOUNTER, reaches beyond the concert platform to develop
musical awareness, appreciation and skills through dedicated activities that include instrumental lessons,
workshops and school concerts. ENCOUNTER also arranges memorable events in such diverse venues as
orphanages, hospitals, rehabilitation centres and community centres.
The MPO’s commitment to furthering musical interest in the nation has been the creation of the Malaysian
Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO).The MPYO gave its inaugural concert at DFP on 25 August 2007,
followed by a highly-successful tour of several cities in Peninsular Malaysia. In 2008, the MPYO toured
Sabah and Sarawak, visited Singapore in 2009, and Brisbane, Australia, in 2012.
As it celebrates its 17th Anniversary on 17 August 2015, the Orchestra remains steadfast in its mission
to share the depth, power and beauty of great music. The MPO’s main benefactor is PETRONAS and its
patron is Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali.
Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS
MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Nor Raina Yeong Abdullah
CEO’S OFFICE
Hanis Abdul Halim
PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR
vacant
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
Martijn Noomen
Sherwin Thia
Marcel Andriesii
Tan Ka Ming
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
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
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-Principal
Matthew Larsen
BASS CLARINET
Principal
Chris Bosco
BASSOON
Section Principal
Alexandar Lenkov
Sub-Principal
Orsolya Juhasz
CONTRABASSOON
Principal
Vladimir Stoyanov
TUBA
Section Principal
Brett Stemple
HORN
Section Principal
Grzegorz Curyla
Co-Principal
James Schumacher
Sub-Principals
Laurence Davies
Todor Popstoyanov
Assistant Principal
Sim Chee Ghee
TIMPANI
Matthew Thomas
TRUMPET
Section Principal
*Kevin Lyons
Co-Principal
William Theis
Sub-Principal
William Day
Assistant Principal
John Bourque
TROMBONE
Section Principal
*Marques Young
Sub-Principal
Anthony Wise
Bass Trombone
Principal
Zachary Bond
PERCUSSION
Section Principal
Matthew Prendergast
Sub-Principals
Darryl Littman
Matthew Kantorski
HARP
Principal
Tan Keng Hong
business & marketing
management
Carl Selvarajah
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
At Ziafrizani Chek Pa
Fadzleen Fathy
Nurartikah Ilyas
Kartini Ratna Sari Ahmat Adam
Nik Sara Hanis Mohd Sani
MARKETING
Yazmin Lim Abdullah
Hisham Abdul Jalil
Nurul Hidayah Abas
Farah Diyana Ismail
Natrah Omar
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT
Asmahan Abdullah
Faizol Ramli
Music TALENT DEVELOPMENT &
MANAGEMENT
Soraya Mansor
PLANNING, FINANCE & IT
Azwin Sofia Md. Yusup
Mohd Hakimi Mohd Rosli
Norhisham Abd Rahman
Siti Nur Illyani Ahmad Fadzillah
PROCUREMENT & CONTRACT
Logiswary Raman
Norhaszilawati Zainudin
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT &
ADMINISTRATION
Sharhida Saad
Muknoazlida Mukhadzim
Wan Intan Shahfinas Abas
Zatil Ismah Azmi
Nor Afidah Nordin
Nik Nurul Nadia Nik Abdullah
TECHNICAL OPERATIONS
Firoz Khan
Mohd Zamir Mohd Isa
Yasheera Ishak
Shahrul Rizal M Ali
Dayan Erwan Maharal
Zolkarnain Sarman
Malaysian Philharmonic
Orchestra
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Nor Raina Yeong Abdullah
general manager
Timothy Tsukamoto
general manager’S OFFICE
Ahmad Faris Ahmad Khairi
ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
Shannon Ho
Amy Yu Mei Ling
Tham Ying Hui
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION
Gan Hui Wan
MUSIC LIBRARY
Khor Chin Yang
Sharon Francis Lihan
Ong Li-Huey
EDUCATION & OUTREACH
Shafrin Sabri
Shireen Jasin Mokhtar
MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC YOUTH
ORCHESTRA
Ahmad Muriz Che Rose
Fadilah Kamal Francis
DEWAN FILHARM O NIK PE T RO NA S
LEV EL2, To wer 2, PETRO NAS Twin To we rs
Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 5 0088 Ku al a L u m pu r
Email: dfp_bo xo ffice@ pe tro n as .co m .m y
Telepho ne: 6 03 - 2331 7 007
Online Tickets & In f o : m po .co m .m y
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MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (Co. No. 463127H)