Programme Notes | Martha Argerich plays Ravel - 10 & 11 February 2022

Programme Notes

MARTHA ARGERICH PLAYS RAVEL THU 10 FEBRUARY 2022 • 19.30 FRI 11 FEBRUARY 2022 • 19.30

PROGRAMME conductor Lahav Shani piano Martha Argerich Willem Pijper 1894-1947 Symphony No. 2 [1921] • Allegro Maestoso • Lento Interval Maurice Ravel 1875-1937 Piano Concerto in G major [1929-31] • Allegramente • Adagio assai • Presto Igor Stravinsky 1882-1971 The Firebird, Suite No. 2 [1919] • Introduction • The Firebird and his Dance • The Firebird’s Variation • Round of the Princesses • King Kastchei’s Infernal Dance • Lullaby • Finale Concert ends at about 21.25 Most recent performances by our orchestra: Pijper Symphony No. 2: Sep 1986, conductor Roelof van Driesten Ravel Piano Concerto in G major: Jan 2021, piano Lucas Debargue, conductor Stéphane Denève (concert without audience) Stravinsky The Firebird, suite 1919: Apr 2013, conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Cover: Maurice Ravel, illustration by Sam Kalda from Of Cats and Men

Fury, cocktails, and a magic egg Music can be like a relay baton. With The Firebird Stravinsky followed in the footsteps of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, who was also of great influence on Maurice Ravel’s orchestration. And without Ravel, there would be no Willem Pijper.

Screaming and dancing The fierce opening motif of Willem Pijper’s Second Symphony is immediately clear: here is someone in a rage. Pijper’s scream, as fellow composer Matthijs Vermeulen called this new arrival. Since then, Pijper’s name has been uttered by many with a certain trepidation. Those not shocked by his fantastical music could have their ears assaulted by his many tirades against the lethargic musical culture in the Netherlands.

How deep did this anger go? With his previous symphony, Pijper had proven that he could write melodious music with a Mahler-esque feel for nature. However, after the First World War, few composers felt inclined to cling on to a German romantic style and Pijper shifted his focus towards the composers of the Mediterranean such as Ravel and Milhaud. To this French palette he added a strong dose of Stravinsky. The result was music with an un-Dutch dynamic and capriciousness; the eagerness with which he allowed different keys to collide sounded harshly modern to many Dutch concert goers.

Over one thing, however, Pijper’s supporters and critics were in agreement: he never consistently

maintained that malign tone. Some regarded this as a shortcoming.

However, it is precisely this unpredictability in temperament that gives his music relief and humanity.

A barking dog that bites as well is simply excessive. In this regard, the Second Symphony is a perfect example.

The initial aggression quickly relaxes into a more playful tone, hinting to sounds that could even come from a – modern – fairytale ballet.

Clandestine party The anger expressed in the Second (quickly followed by the Third) Symphony seems to have been posturing behind which Pijper camouflaged his true nature. He died too young to prove himself as a grumpy old man; the tone of the music he was composing when he died at age 52 had become gentler than ever. One could see it coming: whilst the first half of the Second Symphony is characterised by moody outbursts, the second half is more descriptive of a dance party - albeit a rather strange party – as though a clandestine kind of affair. Here Pijper flirts shamelessly with café jazz moods, such as the waltz that is heard at the beginning. Even more striking

Willem Pijper, ink drawing by Hendrik IJkelenstam (1918)

One could see it coming: whilst the first half of the Second Symphony is characterised by moody outbursts, the second half is more descriptive of a dance party are the emphatically ‘Spanish’ dances that Pijper made his hallmark: as with his heroes Ravel and Debussy he demonstrated a flair for habanera and tango rhythms without ever having set foot in Spain, let alone South America. And even when the piano suddenly presents the listener with a threatening ‘knock’, the atmosphere of doom of the first movement never returns; Pijper’s focus returns immediately to the dance floor, now combined in an original way with the sound of the organ. The orchestration was already unusual enough, including mandolins and four harps.

Apparently, even from afar, Mahler remained an inspiration.

It is understandable that this Second Symphony was both confusing and refreshing in the Netherlands of 1921: not much happened here, back then.

The audience was also a little intimidated by Pijper’s introduction in this symphony of the so-called ‘cell technique’. With its laboratory-like name, it encouraged people to expect something brand new and highly technological. However, it was in fact a very simple method of composition – the entire work is created from one single motif consisting of a pair of notes – for which composers like Liszt, Franck, and Debussy had already paved the way.

Cocktail There has often been mockery of Pijper’s stylistic incongruities (his ‘wondrous uniting of church and nightclub’ as music publicist Elmer Schönberger described it). But the great Maurice Ravel was no less roving. He absorbed wildly different

music cultures, from the Viennese waltz and gypsy music, to the sounds of Asia, and jazz. Furthermore, his orchestration skills were heavily influenced by the Russian master orchestrator Nikolai RimskyKorsakov.

The Piano Concerto in G opens with a Basque-like fiddle tune (a hint to his mother’s homeland); it then moves seamlessly into a flamenco-like motif for piano and jazz-themed horn parts. Even more astonishing is the stylistic summersault in the middle movement: Ravel modelled this on the Larghetto of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, an angelic melody soaring above a gentle rocking accompaniment.

With lesser composers, such ‘channel hopping’ style would have resulted in an incoherent mush; but with Ravel it becomes an irresistible cocktail.

There is a strict, ultra-classical form that keeps everything under control – barely noticeable thanks to all the colour and sparkle. A concerto, thought Ravel, must above all be light-footed and brilliant. He had initially wanted to name the piece Divertissement - a light-hearted musical diversion, in other words.

And light-hearted it certainly is: not only thanks to the almost acrobatic feats of the pianist, but also down to the big-band like role of the orchestra, with star turns for trumpet, clarinet, and piccolo.

Cross pollination ‘This is where it’s at,’ wrote Ravel in 1910 to a friend about Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird: ‘it goes way further than Rimsky-Korsakov.’

And that was indeed Stravinsky’s

intention: he had finished studying with Rimsky-Korsakov and with this ballet he had the chance, somewhat unexpectedly, to really prove himself.

He had been commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, international promotor of Russian art, to compose music for a planned fairytale ballet. The subject had already been decided on, but the definitive ballet was a prime example of cross-pollination between composer, dramatist, designer and choreographer.

Stravinsky’s craggy, often knifesharp music was completely at odds with the swooning romanticism of Tchaikovsky’s ballets, and the dancers were reduced to despair by the frequent changes in metre. However, the Parisian public were smitten; The Firebird signalled a spectacular launch to Stravinsky’s long career.

The tale combines various Russian folk tales. Prince Ivan, hunting for a mythical firebird, finds himself in the kingdom of Koschei, an evil wizard who kidnaps young women and whose soul is contained inside a magic egg. The Firebird, captured by the Prince, begs to be released in exchange for a favour: an offer that proves useful when the Prince falls in love with one of the young women taken prisoner

by Koschei. The Firebird appears and compels the wizard and his guards to dance until they collapse in exhaustion. Prince Ivan then destroys the egg containing Koschei’s soul and he marries the now free woman with whom he had fallen in love.

Michiel Cleij

Martha Argerich, Piano Born: Buenos Aires, Argentina Education: with Friedrich Gulda in Austria; Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Stefan Askenase Awards: Geneva International Music Competition (1957); Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition Bolzano (1957); Praemium Imperiale Award (2005), Kennedy Center Honor (2016) Breakthrough: 1965, after winning the Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition Warsaw Subsequently: soloist with all major orchestras in the world Chamber Music: with pianists Stephen Kovacevich, Nicolas Economou, the late Nelson Freire and Alexandre Rabinovich, violinist Gidon Kremer, cellist Mischa Maisky

Photo: Marco Borggreve

Lahav Shani, Conductor Born: Tel Aviv, Israel Current position: chief conductor Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; music director Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Festival: honorary president International Piano Academy Lake Como Documentary: Martha Argerich – Evening Talk 2002 Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 1969

Before: principal guest conductor Vienna Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2020 Education: piano at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Tel Aviv; conducting and piano at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin; mentor: Daniel Barenboim Breakthrough: 2013, after winning the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg Subsequently: Staatskapelle Berlin, Berlin State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2016 Foto Timo Mokkila

Photo: Marina Bourdais

AGENDA

MUSICIANS

Fri 18 February 2022 • 19.30 conductor and piano Lahav Shani Mendelssohn Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 ‘Scottish’

Chief Conductor Lahav Shani

Fri 11 March 2022 • 20.15 Sun 13 March 2022 • 14.15 conductor Krzysztof Urbański cello Sol Gabetta Lutosławski Little suite Lutosławski Cello Concerto Shostakovitch Symphony No. 5

First violin Igor Gruppman, concertmaster Marieke Blankestijn, concertmaster Quirine Scheffers Hed Yaron Meyerson Saskia Otto Arno Bons Mireille van der Wart Shelly Greenberg Cor van der Linden Rachel Browne Maria Dingjan Marie-José Schrijner Noëmi Bodden Petra Visser Sophia Torrenga Hadewijch Hofland Annerien Stuker Alexandra van Beveren Koen Stapert

Thu 17 March 2022 • 20.15 Fri 18 March 2022 • 20.15 Sun 20 March 2022 • 14.15 conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky violin Simone Lamsma Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 ‘Winter Daydreams’ Thu 14 April 2022 • 19.30 Fri 15 April 2022 • 19.30 Sat 16 April 2022 • 19.30 conductor Jan Willem de Vriend soprano Lydia Teuscher alto Ingeborg Danz tenor Jeremy Ovenden tenor James Gilchrist baritone Dietrich Henschel bass Florian Boesch choir Laurens Collegium Bach St Matthew Passion Fri 22 April 2022 • 19.30 Wotan Michael Volle Loge Gerhard Siegel Alberich Samuel Youn Mime Thomas Ebenstein Fricka Karen Cargill Wagner Das Rheingold

Honorary Conductor Valery Gergiev Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Second violin Charlotte Potgieter Cecilia Ziano Frank de Groot Laurens van Vliet Tomoko Hara Elina Staphorsius Jun Yi Dou Bob Bruyn Letizia Sciarone Eefje Habraken Maija Reinikainen Sumire Hara Wim Ruitenbeek Babette van den Berg Melanie Broers

Viola Anne Huser Roman Spitzer Maartje van Rheeden Galahad Samson Kerstin Bonk Lex Prummel Janine Baller Francis Saunders Veronika Lénártová Rosalinde Kluck León van den Berg

Clarinet/ bass clarinet Romke-Jan Wijmenga

Cello Emanuele Silvestri Joanna Pachucka Daniel Petrovitsch Mario Rio Gé van Leeuwen Eelco Beinema Carla Schrijner Pepijn Meeuws Yi-Ting Fang

Horn David Fernández Alonso Wendy Leliveld Richard Speetjens Laurens Otto Pierre Buizer

Double bass Matthew Midgley Ying Lai Green Jonathan Focquaert Robert Franenberg Harke Wiersma Arjen Leendertz Ricardo Neto Flute Juliette Hurel Joséphine Olech Désirée Woudenberg Oboe Remco de Vries Karel Schoofs Hans Cartigny Anja van der Maten Oboe/cor anglais Ron Tijhuis Clarinet Julien Hervé Bruno Bonansea Jan Jansen

Bassoon Pieter Nuytten Lola Descours Marianne Prommel Bassoon/contra bassoon Hans Wisse

Trumpet Giuliano Sommerhalder Alex Elia Simon Wierenga Jos Verspagen Trombone Pierre Volders Alexander Verbeek Remko de Jager Tuba Hendrik-Jan Renes Timpani/ percussion Randy Max Danny van de Wal Ronald Ent Martijn Boom Adriaan Feyaerts Harp Charlotte Sprenkels