All Beethoven featuring Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" | Program Notes

MASTERWORKS • 2015-2016 ALL BEETHOVEN FEATURING SYMPHONY NO. 3 “EROICA” COLORADO SYMPHONY ROSSEN MILANOV, conductor ANDREW STAUPE, piano This weekend of concerts is gratefully dedicated to Delta Dental Plan of Colorado Friday’s concert is gratefully dedicated to Choquette & Hart, LLP Saturday’s concert is gratefully dedicated to University of Denver Sunday’s concert is gratefully dedicated to Dr. and Mrs. W. Gerald Rainer

Friday, December 4, 2015 at 7:30 pm Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 7:30 pm Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 1:00 pm Boettcher Concert Hall

BEETHOVEN

Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 Allegro con brio Largo Rondo: Allegro

— INTERMISSION —

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica” Allegro con brio Marcia funèbre: Adagio assai Scherzo: Allegro vivace Finale: Allegro molto

SOUNDINGS 2015-2016 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 1

MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES ROSSEN MILANOV, conductor Respected and admired by audiences and musicians alike, Rossen Milanov is the new Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and recently completed his first season with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra to enthusiastic acclaim. He is also the Music Director of the Princeton Symphony and of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) in Spain. In 2015 he completed a 15-year tenure as Music Director of the nationally recognized training orchestra Symphony in C in New Jersey. During the 2015/16 season he is dedicating the concert season of the Princeton Symphony to women’s creativity and will showcase the compositions of some of the most respected emerging female composers, such as Anna Clyne, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snyder. In Columbus, Ohio he begins his tenure with transformative and creative ideas for new programming and expanding the orchestra’s reach to new audiences.

Milanov has collaborated with some of the world’s preeminent artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Christian Tetzlaff, and André Watts. During his 11-year tenure with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Milanov conducted more than 200 performances, as Associate Conductor and as Artistic Director of the Orchestra’s summer home at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Rossen Milanov studied conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where he received the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. A passionate chef, he often dedicates his culinary talents to various charities.

JEFF GEREW

ANDREW STAUPE, piano Hailed as an “immaculate” artist (Minneapolis Star Tribune) with “superb technique and control” (St. Paul Pioneer Press), American pianist Andrew Staupe is emerging as one of the distinctive voices of a new generation of pianists. Staupe has appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra on five subscription series since 2006, and has performed with the Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and many other orchestras throughout the United States. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors Osmo Vänskä, Bobby McFerrin, Jahja Ling, Gerard Schwarz, Andrew Litton, Lucas Richman, Cristian Macelaru, Larry Rachleff, Josep Caballé-Domenech, Daniel Hege, Robert Franz, and Mischa Santora. He has performed across the United States and extensively in Europe, appearing in Russia, Holland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Romania, France, Germany, and Bulgaria. On tour in Europe, he has appeared in distinguished concert venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow, and the Salle Cortot in Paris. Staupe has earned prizes in a number of competitions including the 2011 Pro Musicis International Award, Gold Medal at the 2010 Young Texas Artists Music Competition, first prize at the 2006 WAMSO (Minnesota Orchestra Volunteer’s Association) Young Artist Competition, and was also a Laureate of the 2013 American Pianist’s Association competition finals. A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, he studied at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker, and at the University of Minnesota with Lydia Artymiw.

PROGRAM 2 SOUNDINGS 2015-2016 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

Thank you for supporting the

Colorado Symphony on

Colorado Gives Day December 8, 2015 online at

coloradogives.org

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827): Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, and died March 26, 1827 in Vienna.

He composed the overture and sixteen additional pieces comprising the music for Prometheus early in 1801; the ballet was premiered at Vienna’s Imperial Court Theater on March 28, 1801. The score calls for woodwinds, horns and trumpets in pairs, timpani and strings. Duration is about 5 minutes.

Last performed by the orchestra on September 30, October 1 & 2, 2011 with Gilbert Varga conducting.

Salvatore Vigano was one of the great dancers of the early 19th century, whose fame during his own time has been compared to that of Nijinsky a century later and Nureyev and Baryshnikov in more recent days. Though he was constantly in demand throughout Europe as performer, producer and choreographer, Vigano showed Vienna the special favor of two extended residencies, the second beginning in 1799. Late in 1800, Vigano devised the scenario for a new ballet based on the Prometheus legend, a work he intended as a compliment to Maria Theresa, second wife of the Emperor Francis. He inquired at court as to which composer might be the most suitable to engage, and was informed that Beethoven, who had recently (and tactfully) dedicated the score of his Septet (Op. 20) to Maria Theresa, would be an appropriate choice. Beethoven was approached, and he agreed to undertake the project.

The following description of the ballet’s plot appeared in the program for the premiere: “The foundation of this allegorical ballet is the fable of Prometheus. The philosophers of Greece allude to Prometheus as a lofty soul who drove the people of his time from ignorance, refined them by means of science and the arts, and gave them manners, customs and morals. As a result of that conception, two statues that have been brought to life are introduced in this ballet; and these, through the power of harmony, are made sensitive to all the passions of human life. Prometheus leads them to Parnassus, in order that Apollo, the god of the fine arts, may enlighten them.”

Beethoven may well have seen something of himself in the character of Prometheus. “Music should strike fire in the heart of man,” he once proclaimed. More specifically relating himself with the Prometheus legend was his statement to the Archduke Rudolph in 1823: “There is no loftier mission than to approach the Divinity nearer than other men, and to disseminate the divine rays among mankind.”

The Overture to Prometheus is Beethoven’s earliest work in that form, and one of his most compact. George Bernard Shaw once observed, “When I was a boy, an overture beginning emphatically with an unprepared discord made me expect something tremendous.” So begins this Overture. The characteristic tension — the expectation of “something tremendous” — generated by so many of Beethoven’s works appears here in the very first measure. The electric opening chord initiates a lyrical introduction in slow tempo. The main body of the Overture follows without pause. The first theme is an energetic display of rushing scales propelled by a vibrant rhythmic energy. The second theme is a more delicate melody, entrusted to the piping flutes in duet.

The Creatures of Prometheus, standing on the threshold of Beethoven’s second creative period, points forward to the substance of his later works. Of this prophetic quality, Marion M. Scott wrote, “In [Prometheus], Beethoven occupied himself with the theme of the beneficent savior of mankind. It was a turning point in his career. His old style no longer contented him.

Of conventional religion, Beethoven had none, but his mind was beginning to search into the deepest mysteries of the universe at the same time that he recognized the mission within himself that he must fulfill. The musician must be the liberator of mankind from sorrow.”

PROGRAM 4 SOUNDINGS 2015-2016 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827): Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra in C major, Op. 15 Beethoven composed his C major Piano Concerto in 1795 and revised the work five years later in preparation for its publication; he was the soloist at its premiere on December 18, 1795 at the Burgtheater in Vienna at a concert directed by Joseph Haydn. The score calls for flute, pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, timpani and strings. Duration is about 36 minutes. Last performed by the orchestra on September 30, October 1 and 2, 2011, with Gilbert Varga conducting and Jeffrey Kahane as the piano soloist.

“His genius, his magnetic personality were acknowledged by all, and there was, besides, a gaiety and animation about the young Beethoven that people found immensely attractive. The troubles of boyhood were behind him: his father had died very shortly after his departure from Bonn, and by 1795, his brothers were established in Vienna, Caspar Karl as a musician, Johann as an apothecary. During his first few months in the capital, he had indeed been desperately poor, depending very largely on the small salary allowed him by the Elector of Bonn. But that was all over now. He had no responsibilities, and his music was bringing in enough to keep him in something like affluence. He had a servant, for a short time he even had a horse; he bought smart clothes, he learned to dance (though not with much success), and there is even mention of his wearing a wig! We must not allow our picture of the later Beethoven to throw its dark colors over these years of his early triumphs. He was a young giant exulting in his strength and his success, and a youthful confidence gave him a buoyancy that was both attractive and infectious. Even in 1791, before he left Bonn, Carl Junker could describe him as ‘this amiable, lighthearted man.’ And in Vienna he had much to raise his spirits and nothing (at first) to depress them.” Peter Latham painted this cheerful picture of the young Beethoven as Vienna knew him during his twenties, the years before his deafness, his recurring illnesses and his titanic struggles with his mature compositions had produced the familiar dour figure of his later years.

Beethoven came to Vienna for good in 1792, having made an unsuccessful foray in 1787, and he quickly attracted attention for his piano playing. His appeal was in the almost untamed, passionate, novel quality in both his manner of performance and his personality, characteristics that first intrigued and then captivated those who heard him. It was for his own concerts that Beethoven composed the first four of his five mature piano concertos. (Two juvenile essays in the genre are discounted in the numbering.) The opening movement of the First Piano Concerto is indebted to Mozart for its handling of the concerto-sonata form, for its technique of orchestration, and for the manner in which piano and orchestra are integrated. Beethoven added to these quintessential qualities of the Classical concerto a wider-ranging harmony, a more openly virtuosic role for the soloist and a certain emotional weight characteristic of his large works. The second movement is a richly colored song with an important part for the solo clarinet. The rondo-finale is written in an infectious manner reminiscent of Haydn, brimming with high spirits and good humor.

SOUNDINGS 2015-2016 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 5

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827): Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica” Beethoven began work on his Third Symphony in 1803 and completed it during the spring of the following year. It was first heard at a private concert in Vienna conducted by the composer in December 1804 at the palace of Prince Joseph Lobkowitz. The score calls for woodwinds and trumpets in pairs, three horns, timpani and strings. Duration is about 50 minutes. Last performed by the orchestra on March 24 and 25, 2012, with Scott O’Neil conducting The year 1804 — the time Beethoven finished his Third Symphony — was crucial in the modern political history of Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte had begun his meteoric rise to power only a decade earlier, after playing a significant part in the recapture in 1793 of Toulon, a Mediterranean port that had been surrendered to the British by French royalists. Britain, along with Austria, Prussia, Holland and Spain, was a member of the First Coalition, an alliance that had been formed by those monarchial nations in the wake of the execution of Louis XVI to thwart the French National Convention’s ambition to spread revolution (and royal overthrow) throughout Europe. In 1796, Carnot entrusted the campaign against northern Italy, then dominated by Austria, to the young General Bonaparte, who won a stunning series of victories with an army that he had transformed from a demoralized, starving band into a military juggernaut. He returned to France in 1799 as First Consul of the newly established Consulate, and put in place measures to halt inflation, instituted a new legal code, and repaired relations with the Church. It was to this man, this great leader and potential savior of the masses from centuries of tyrannical political, social and economic oppression, that Beethoven intended to pay tribute in his majestic E-flat Symphony, begun in 1803. The name “Bonaparte” appears above that of the composer on the original title page.

Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of France in 1804 and was crowned, with the new Empress Josephine, at Notre Dame Cathedral on December 2nd, an event forever frozen in time by David’s magnificent canvas in the Louvre. Beethoven, enraged and feeling betrayed by this usurpation of power, roared at his student Ferdinand Ries, who brought him the news, “Then is he, too, only an ordinary human being?” The ragged hole in the title page of the score now in the library of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna bears mute testimony to the violent manner in which Beethoven erased Napoleon from this Symphony. He later inscribed it, undoubtedly with much sorrow, “To celebrate the memory of a great man.”

The “Eroica” (“Heroic”) is a work that changed the course of music history. There was much sentiment at the turn of the 19th century that the expressive and technical possibilities of the symphonic form had been exhausted by Haydn, Mozart, C.P.E. Bach and their contemporaries.

It was Beethoven, and specifically this majestic Symphony, that threw wide the gates on the unprecedented artistic vistas that were to be explored for the rest of the century. In a single giant leap, he invested the genre with the breadth and richness of emotional and architectonic expression that established the grand sweep that the word “symphonic” now connotes. For the first time, with this music, the master composer was recognized as an individual responding to a higher calling. No longer could the creative musician be considered a mere artisan in tones, producing pieces within the confines of the court or the church for specific occasions, much as a talented chef would dispense a hearty roast or a succulent torte. After Beethoven, the composer was regarded as a visionary — a special being lifted above mundane experience —

PROGRAM 6 SOUNDINGS 2015-2016 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES who could guide benighted listeners to loftier planes of existence through his valued gifts. The modern conception of an artist — what he is, his place in society, what he can do for those who experience his work — stems from Beethoven. Romanticism began with the “Eroica.”

The vast first movement opens with a brief summons of two mighty chords. At least four thematic ideas are presented in the exposition. The development is a massive essay progressing through many moods, all united by a titanic sense of struggle. It is in this central portion of the movement and in the lengthy coda that Beethoven broke through the boundaries of the 18th-century symphony to create a work not only longer in duration but also more profound in meaning. The beginning of the second movement — “Marcia funebre” (“Funeral March”) — with its plaintive, simple themes intoned over a mock drum-roll in the basses, is the touchstone for the expression of tragedy in instrumental music. A development-like section, full of remarkable contrapuntal complexities, is followed by a return of the simple opening threnody. The third movement is a lusty scherzo; the central section is a rousing trio for horns. The finale is a large set of variations on two themes, one of which (the first one heard) forms the bass line to the other. The second theme, introduced by the oboe, is a melody that also appears in the finale of Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Contradanse No. 7 and Variations and Fugue, Op. 35. The variations accumulate energy, and, just as it seems the movement is whirling toward its final climax, the music comes to a full stop before launching into an Andante section that explores first the tender and then the majestic possibilities of the themes. A brilliant Presto led by the horns concludes this epochal work. ©2015 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

SOUNDINGS 2015-2016 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 7

< educational programs of the Colorado Symphony >

Your Colorado Symphony is excited to announce another season of educational opportunities for all ages.

From Petite Musique to Symphony 101, Colorado Symphony Education is making great strides this year to provide education and entertainment to Colorado.

Are you Youth Concerts Open Rehearsals n Inside the Score n Half Notes n Concert preludes n Petite Musique n Very Young Composers & many more! n n

Learn more about all the opportunities at coloradosymphony.org/Education

?