Berlioz’s Harold in Italy Reimagined

Berlioz’s Harold in Italy Reimagined Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Tabea Zimmermann, viola Steven Mackey, composer New World Symphony HECTOR BERLIOZ Harold in Italy (1834/2019; world premiere of NWS commission) STEVEN MACKEY Harold in the Mountains. Scenes of Melancholy, Happiness and Joy (1806-1869 / b. 1956) March of the Pilgrims Singing the Evening Prayer

Serenade of an Abruzzi Mountain-Dweller to his Mistress

Orgy of Brigands. Memories of Scenes Past

ABOUT VIOLA VISIONS

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In October NWS hosted Viola Visions—a week-long summit that explored the past, present and potential future of the viola. The event brought today’s leading violists together with young artists at the New World Center and online participants around the world for a series of master classes, seminars and performances. The festival culminated in the world premiere of an NWS-commissioned elaboration of Hector Berlioz’ Harold in Italy by composer Steven Mackey, which was performed by Tabea Zimmermann and conducted by MTT.

VIOLA VISION SPONSORS This performance was produced in the New World Symphony’s Knight New Media Center. Knight Foundation and New World Symphony: Reimagining Classical Music in the Digital Age. The New World Symphony’s 2019 Viola Visions festival was supported in part by Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne; NWS’s Fund for New Ventures -- The Fund provides artistic risk capital to fund innovative new programs, projects, productions and experiments at their earliest stage of development. The Fund is supported in part by: The Clinton Family Fund | Bruce and Martha Clinton, Kleh Family Foundation | Mr. and Mrs. Bill Kleh, and the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at the Miami Foundation | Diane and Robert Moss; Carnival Corporation; Yamaha; Miami-Dade County with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; City of Miami Beach and the Agatston Center.

Premier Sponsor of the New World Symphony

ABOUT THE PROGRAM HECTOR BERLIOZ / STEVEN MACKEY Harold in Italy (1834/2019; world premiere of NWS commission) Approximate duration: 50 minutes As a teenager, Berlioz took flute and guitar lessons and taught himself the rudiments of composition and music theory, but at his father’s insistence he trained to become a doctor. It was only after four years of medical school, once Berlioz was thoroughly disgusted by “dirty hospital orderlies, dreadful dissecting-room attendants, hideous corpses, the screams of patients, [and] the groans and rattling breath of the dying,” that he abandoned medicine and took up music.

Berlioz eventually enrolled at the Paris Conservatory, where he became known as an outsider and iconoclast—a reputation that was confirmed by his shocking Symphonie fantastique from 1830, which led to his expulsion. That same year, he won the coveted Prix de Rome with a conventional cantata that demonstrated more restraint than his previous entries, and in 1831 he reluctantly left Paris to commence the Italian residency granted to prizewinners. He lived in Rome for more than a year, although he ventured out as often as he could. As he later wrote, “Rome is the most stupid and prosaic city I know: It is no place for anyone with head or heart.”

Although the Rome of his day held little interest for Berlioz, a romanticized notion of Italy, especially as expressed through literature, became an ongoing font of inspiration and led to his “dramatic symphony” modeled after Romeo and Juliet (set in Verona) and the opera Benvenuto Cellini, which depicted an artist of the Italian Renaissance. His first work in that vein was Harold in Italy, composed in 1834 and based loosely on the narrative poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

by Lord Byron.

The impetus to compose Harold in Italy came at the request of superstar violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who wanted to showcase his formidable technique and his Stradivarius viola. Instead of a viola concerto, Berlioz constructed Harold in Italy as a four-movement symphony featuring the viola as a musical protagonist. Paganini was less than pleased with the viola’s limited role and the long stretches of silence in the solo part, and he refused to perform it. Paganini was able to see a performance of it some years later and was even inspired enough to give Berlioz a sizable check to fund future projects.

The new version heard here, combining an expanded solo part with the original orchestral music, brings the work closer to what Paganini might have been hoping for. This hybrid score was the brainchild of Michael Tilson Thomas, and he entrusted its execution to a longtime collaborator, the composer Steven Mackey. (See their notes for more details on the inspiration and process.)

This Italian journey begins, according to Berlioz’ movement title, with “Harold in the Mountains.

Scenes of Melancholy, Happiness and Joy.” After the somber orchestral introduction, the viola (accompanied by harp) introduces the simple melody that recurs throughout the work to signify Harold.

For the second movement, “March of the Pilgrims Singing the Evening Prayer,” the viola appears as an outside observer, rehashing a version of the same unifying melody (in its own slower pace) as the pilgrims shuffle past.

This pattern repeats in the third movement, “Serenade of an Abruzzi Mountain-Dweller to his Mistress,” with Harold serving as a witness to the pastoral love scene.

A new cadenza written by Mackey sets up the finale, which begins by recapping memories from the preceding movements, until the scene moves to an “Orgy of Brigands.” Mackey’s augmentations to the score come in this section, allowing the soloist to partake in the fracas instead of observing it from afar.

— © 2019 Aaron Grad Aaron Grad is a composer, guitarist and writer based in Seattle. Besides providing program notes for the New World Symphony, he has been the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s program annotator since 2005 and also contributes notes to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Seattle Symphony.

A NOTE FROM MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS I first performed Harold in Italy with Joseph de Pasquale and The Philadelphia Orchestra some 40 years ago, and it has remained one of my favorite pieces. Since then, I’ve harbored the wish that the collaboration between Berlioz and Paganini might have really worked, and that the viola part would have been more virtuosic, allowing the soloist to become a true protagonist as well as observer of the shifting scenes. The last movement particularly suggests many opportunities for the viola to assume a larger role. Steven Mackey is the perfect person to fulfill this dream. His imaginative instrumental writing as well as the no-holds-barred exuberance of his music reminds me of the spirit of Berlioz. Steven and I worked together as if we were creating a new Broadway show; he being the composer, me being the director. It is our hope that this newly expanded version will bring new excitement to—and win many new friends for—this wonderful piece.

A NOTE FROM STEVEN MACKEY Elaborating Harold in Italy turned out to be a fascinating project. I had to plug into the piece in a deeper way than I would just by studying the score of the piece and I was fortunate to have MTT’s help.

It was fun to talk with MTT about the viola, Harold, those wild Brigands and the dramatic scenario that connects them. For a stretch, I would share my work and get his thoughts daily.

In retrospect I understand that MTT’s aim was to help me find the slot between being too restrained or too free; the place between an academic exercise to accurately fill in the blanks on the one hand and writing an independent modern piece on the other.

The feel of the process evolved dramatically over the course of my work on the project. At first it seemed like I was trying to be a good student and get an A+ in MUS206: Tonal Syntax, which is a course I frequently teach at Princeton University. By the end I felt like I was composing. I did find a space where Berlioz and I could intersect and where I could let my intuitions fly a little bit.

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

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Michael Tilson Thomas is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy; Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony; and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. In addition to these posts, he maintains an active presence guest conducting with the major orchestras of Europe and the United States. Among his many honors and awards, he is a Kennedy Center Honoree, Officer dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, 11-time Grammy Award winner and recipient of the National Medal of Arts. More information at nws.edu/mtt.

STEVEN MACKEY

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Bright in coloring, ecstatic in inventiveness, lively and profound, Steven Mackey’s music spins the tendrils of his improvisatory riffs into large-scale works of grooving, dramatic coherence.

He writes for chamber ensemble, orchestra, dance and opera—commissioned by the greatest orchestras around the world. He has served as professor of music at Princeton University for the past 35 years, and has won several awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. More information at stevenmackey.com.

TABEA ZIMMERMANN

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Tabea Zimmermann, who considers herself “a musician who plays the viola,” is one of the most popular and renowned artists of our time. As winner of the international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 2020, Artist-in-Residence of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the 2019-20 season and of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2020-21, she is widely acknowledged for her tireless enthusiasm to communicate her love of music to her audience and her uncompromisingly high quality standard. Audiences and fellow musicians value her charismatic personality and deep musical understanding. Her work with orchestras is also guided by the ideals of her experience as a chamber musician, where artistic integrity is paramount.

NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

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The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy (NWS), prepares graduates of music programs for leadership roles in professional orchestras and ensembles. In the 33 years since its co-founding by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, NWS has helped launch the careers of more than 1,150 alumni worldwide.

A laboratory for the way music is taught, presented and experienced, the New World Symphony consists of 87 young musicians who are granted fellowships lasting up to three years. The fellowship program offers in-depth exposure to traditional and modern repertoire, professional development training and personalized experiences working with leading guest conductors, soloists and visiting faculty. Relationships with these artists are extended through NWS’s pioneering experimentation with distance learning via the internet.

More information at nws.edu.

2019-20 NWS FELLOWS VIOLIN

CELLO

TRUMPET

Sophia Bernitz Sergio Carleo Harry Chang Kevin Chen Jonathan Chern Autumn Chodorowski Christina Choi Brendon Elliott Ethan Hoppe Scott Jackson Jung Eun Kang Jesse Kasinger Katherine Kobylarz Ka-Yeon Lee Yada Lee Margeaux Maloney Carson Marshall Zachary Ragent Tara Lynn Ramsey Michael Rau Christopher Robinson Yefim Romanov Chelsea Sharpe Michael Turkell Dillon Welch Teddy Wiggins

Chava Appiah Vivian Chang James Churchill Drew Comstock Benjamin Fryxell Amy Sunyoung Lee Nicholas Mariscal Alan Ohkubo Emily Yoshimoto

Gianluca Farina Aaron Ney Rebecca Oliverio

BASS

Lisa Stoneham

VIOLA

Emily Beare James Riggs Joo Bin Yi

Stephanie Block Daniel Fellows Spencer Ingersoll Gabe Napoli Jessica Pasternak Sam Pedersen Yuan Qi Kip Riecken Marlea Simpson Chien Tai Ashley Wang

Douglas Aliano Andrea Beyer Kathryn Bradley Antonio Escobedo Michael Franz Levi Jones Eric Windmeier

FLUTE Johanna Gruskin Jack Reddick Leah Stevens

OBOE

CLARINET Giovanni Bertoni Jesse McCandless Angelo Quail

BASSOON

TROMBONE Guangwei Fan Arno Tri Pramudia

BASS TROMBONE TUBA Andrew Abel

TIMPANI Matthew Kibort

PERCUSSION Michael Daley Kevin Ritenauer Charlie Rosmarin Marcelina Suchocka

HARP Chloe Tula

PIANO Wesley Ducote Thomas Steigerwald

CONDUCTING Chad Goodman

Justin Cummings Amelia del Caño Bee Ungar

LIBRARY

HORN

AUDIO ENGINEER

Dominic Brancazio Corbin Castro Roy Femenella Thea Humphries Scott Leger

Alison Verderber

Johnathan Smith