Joshua Bell + Shostakovich 5

Featured Program

Juraj Valčuha, conductor Joshua Bell, violin

0:10 N.MUHLY – Bright Idea*

0:31 SIBELIUS – Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47 i Allegro moderato ii Adagio di molto iii Allegro, ma non tanto

INTERMISSION

0:46 SHOSTAKOVICH – Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Opus 47 i Moderato ii Allegretto iii Largo iv Allegro non troppo

*World premiere, Houston Symphony commission

Friday, September 23 Jones Hall 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 24 Jones Hall & Livestream 8:00 p.m. Sunday, September 25 Jones Hall 2:30 p.m.

This weekend, new music director Juraj Valčuha teams up with worldrenowned violinist Joshua Bell for a program that spotlights the Houston Symphony’s enduring commitment to new music. Under music director Leopold Stokowski, the Houston Symphony gave the U.S. premiere of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 in 1957—only months after the composer completed it—and released the first-ever commercial recording of the work the following year. Every music director since has performed Shostakovich’s music, including the powerful Fifth Symphony featured on this program. This commitment to orchestral music as a living, evolving art form continues this weekend with Bright Idea, a neverbefore-heard work by Nico Muhly, one of America’s leading composers today. Years from now, we hope music lovers will look back on these performances and see the Houston Symphony leading another exciting moment in music history.

Bright Idea Bright Idea is a fast and energetic piece for one of Juraj Valčuha’s inaugural concerts as music director of the Houston Symphony. I thought it would be appropriate to start the piece with the musicians closest to him on the podium—the inside stands of strings—before letting the music spread out into the rest of the ensemble. The piece is structured as a series of physical gestures, ranging from a single high note in a single violin exploding downwards into the full orchestra, a chord suddenly frozen in time, or a perpetual-motion machine played by the woodwinds. I treat the orchestra like a single body moving through a series of bright and sonically intense spaces, sometimes taking time to look around, and other times racing through and catching glimpses of things in the distance and in the extreme foreground. I wanted to make sure the listener’s focal point is constantly shifting, so instead of zooming in on one instrument for a prolonged passage, the ear races around the orchestra with, I hope, a sense of joy and discovery. —Nico Muhly

Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47

Part of the Favorite Masters by

Margaret Alkek Williams Spotlight Series

Livestream of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by Barbara J. Burger

The Classical Season is endowed by The Wortham Foundation, Inc., in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham Jean Sibelius’s first musical instruction came in the form of piano lessons from his Aunt Julia. He was a troublesome student, however; his habit of improvising instead of practicing his etudes would often earn him “raps across the knuckles.” It was only as a teenager that he discovered the violin, writing, “When I play, I am filled with a strange feeling; it is as though the insides of the music opened up to me.” He dreamed of becoming a virtuoso violinist, but his late start and susceptibility to stage fright prevented his dream from coming true; years later, however, his love of the instrument would find an outlet in his Violin Concerto. Sibelius began work on the concerto in 1902. In a letter to a friend, his wife Aino provided a glimpse into its genesis: “He’s awake night after night, plays wonderful things, and can’t tear himself away from the marvelous music he plays—there are so many ideas that one can’t believe it is true, all of them so rich in possibilities for development, so full of life. […] I am sitting at his writing desk—he is at the piano—there’s a nice fire. It is night.” Though the audience responded warmly at the February 1904 premiere, Sibelius was dissatisfied. He revised the concerto in the summer of 1905, giving us the masterpiece we know today. The concerto captivates from its first notes: Above muted strings, the soloist spins a haunting melody that soon gives way to virtuoso flights above a stormy accompaniment. As the orchestra fades into the background, the clarinets hint at a lyrical new theme; the soloist then plays the full melody espressivo and affettuoso (expressive and loving). A viola echoes the soloist—perhaps evoking an operatic duet between a soprano and tenor. The soloist soars to a high note, only to fall back to earth as the music darkens. A powerful orchestral theme leads to a cadenza, an extended passage for the soloist alone. With only a few interjections from the orchestra, this virtuoso solo forms the center of the movement, only ending when a bassoon returns with the opening melody. A reprise of the movement’s main ideas leads to a dramatic conclusion. After a brief introduction, the soloist begins the second movement with a long melody reminiscent of Sibelius’s songs for voice and piano. A brooding central section then builds to the return of the opening theme. The last movement, a fresh, rustic polonaise (a dance with a 1-2-3, 1-2-3 beat pattern), ranks among the most challenging violin concerto finales. Sibelius remarked, “It must be played with absolute mastery.” Its resolute beginning is marked by vigorous, long-short rhythms. The soloist’s high-flying runs lead to a contrasting, foot-stomping melody for the orchestra, a theme that likely prompted Donald Tovey to dub the movement a “polonaise for polar bears.” These main ideas cycle through the movement as the soloist’s feats build to a vibrant, lifeaffirming conclusion.

Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Opus 47 Thanks to his music’s wryness and impact, Dmitri Shostakovich clinched his place as Russia’s leading young composer by the time he was 30. Then Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin attended a performance of Shostakovich’s powerful opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Soviet officialdom, which was busy purging people the regime deemed disobedient, denounced the work as “muddle instead of music.” The attack traumatized Shostakovich. The next year, he unveiled his Symphony No. 5. Intense, but building to a seemingly triumphant ending, it helped restore Shostakovich to favor. But many hear its close as menacing rather than optimistic; to them, the symphony paints a powerful picture of the stresses Shostakovich endured. See what you think. A fierce, jagged theme ricochets between the violins and the low strings. But Shostakovich quickly turns inward. Hushed violins spin out a melody that grows restless and plaintive, and after the rest of the orchestra builds on it, the violins introduce another eloquent theme. Its gently pulsing rhythm gives it an undercurrent of tension. The tension boils over when the piano and low strings begin to pound. Aggressiveness seizes the orchestra, and the trumpets lead a biting, militant march. The opening theme thunders in, taking the movement to its ferocious climax. When that dies away, a glimmer of warmth appears: The horn sings out a peaceful, major-key version of the violins’ ethereal theme from before the explosion. The solace fades, and the movement’s close is quiet but unsettled. The cellos and basses launch the second movement lustily, but mockery soon takes over. The piercing E-flat clarinet rings out over the winds, and the trumpets swagger into the spotlight. A lumbering duo for bassoon and contrabassoon lends a ghostly tinge. The strings’ richness sets the tone for the slow movement. Divided into eight parts, the strings enter gradually, spinning out layer upon layer of brooding, soulful melody. A solo oboe sounds forlorn by comparison, and its melody contributes to a wrenching surge of lyricism. After that catharsis, the movement ends quietly. But more drama remains. Booming drums and glaring brasses open the finale, and a quick-time march grows even more hard-driving and tumultuous. The trumpet proclaims an imperious new theme, and the strings cry it out wildly—until the music crashes to a halt. The French horn gives the theme a softer profile, and the music takes on a lamenting intensity. But the march theme sneaks back in, and it expands into a massive, relentless force.

Please view p.6 for his bio Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua began the violin at age 4, and at 12, began studies with his mentor, Josef Gingold. At age 14, he debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall debut at 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. At age 18, he signed with his first label, London Decca, and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the years following, Joshua has been named 2010 “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America, a 2007 “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, nominated for six Grammy awards, and received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize. He has also received the 2003 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award and a Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1991 from the Jacobs School of Music. In 2000, he was named an “Indiana Living Legend.”

Joshua has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. He participated in President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ first cultural mission to Cuba, joining Cuban and American musicians on a 2017 Live from Lincoln Center Emmynominated PBS special, Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba, celebrating renewed cultural diplomacy between Cuba and the United States. 

With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Having performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, he maintains engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Joshua’s highlights in the 2022–23 season include leading the Academy of St Martin in the Fields on tour in South America to Sao Paulo, Bogotá, and Montevideo to Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. He appears in guest performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Sofia Philharmonic, and Franz Schubert Filharmonia as well as a European tour with pianist Peter Dugan. In the United States, in addition to these concerts, he performs alongside the New York Philharmonic, as well as the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras.