RSNO Friday Night Club: R Strauss Don Juan and Berg Seven Early Songs

Friday Night Club Fri 17 Apr 2020: 7.30pm R STRAUSS Don Juan BERG Seven Early Songs Thomas Søndergård Conductor Karen Cargill Mezzo-soprano Royal Scottish National Orchestra Recorded on Sat 5 Oct 2019, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Dedicated to the RSNO Conductors’ Circle

Original audio feed courtesy of BBC Radio 3

This performance was recorded for the RSNO Archive. Supported by the Iain and Pamela Sinclair Legacy.

Tonight’s concert is dedicated to the RSNO Conductors’ Circle, in recognition of this exceptional group of supporters: Ardgowan Charitable Trust Geoff and Mary Ball Sir Ewan and Lady Brown Carol Grigor and the Trustees of Dunard Fund Gavin and Kate Gemmell Kenneth and Julia Greig Bruce and Caroline Minto Walter and Norma Nimmo David and Alix Stevenson Eric and Karen Young Thank you also to those generous donors who wish to remain anonymous.

For more information on Individual Giving and becoming part of the Conductors’ Circle please contact Jenny McNeely at jenny.mcneely@rsno.org.uk

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RSNO Friday Night Club: R Strauss & Berg

Don Juan Op20 Richard Strauss was just 24 when he wrote Don Juan. However, it unequivocally positioned him as a bright new talent in German music, notching up no fewer than 600 performances between its November 1889 premiere and June 1902.

Don Juan is, of course, the legendary Spanish libertine who takes pleasure in seducing as many women from as many walks of life as he can. Classical music’s most famous retelling of the legend is Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, in which the Don ends up being dragged down to hell. For his own version, however, Strauss chose a rather more sympathetic reading, drawing instead on verse fragments written by the Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau in 1844 in which Don Juan’s seductive exploits are prompted by a quest for female perfection, ultimately leaving him tired of life, and deliberately losing a duel to the father of one of his lovers.

Richard Strauss

(1864-1949)

FIRST PERFORMED 11 November 1889, Weimar, conducted by the composer DURATION 18 minutes

This interpretation may well have had some romantically minded personal resonance for the young composer. He made his initial sketches soon after falling in love with Pauline de Ahna, the singing pupil who would later become his wife, but while also still embroiled in a passionate love affair with an older married woman.

The work itself is a sumptuously textured, vividly descriptive tone poem, which leads us through Don Juan’s life and emotional states using such virtuosic orchestral writing that it has become a staple piece in auditions for would-be orchestral players the world over.

An exuberant upwards-leaping fanfare opens the piece, followed by such sparkling, athletically virtuosic passages that we’re in no doubt as to Don Juan’s youth, confidence and seductive powers. Eventually, a glowing chord ushers in an ardour-filled violin solo. However, as lushly

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textured, harp-filled and amorous as the subsequent music is, it also has ‘Lothario’ written all over it, and ends abruptly with a sudden switch to the minor, perhaps indicating a bad end to an affair. Soon, however, the opening upwards theme is back, and Don Juan is heading on his way once more.

When the next obviously romantic section comes, it’s an entirely different musical beast, a tender oboe solo this time indicating sincerer feelings, with Don Juan’s confident theme reduced to the background texture. The section then gives way to a heroic melody blazing out on four horns, before we travel through past material, a sense of impending doom gradually gathering. Equally, the return of the exuberant opening material is soon flecked with foreboding.

Finally, after a repeat of the heroic horn theme followed by a glittering climax, the orchestra suddenly cuts off in silence. This is the moment when, world-weary, Don Juan has bared his chest to his opponent’s sword. We hear a pained chord, a dissonant trumpet note indicating the blade going in, and violin and viola trills following in its wake as the Don’s life trickles away. The piece then swiftly ends, quiet and chilling. © Charlotte Gardner

What was happening in 1889?

15 Jan Today’s Coca-Cola Company was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia as the Pemberton Medicine Company 30 Jan Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, died in a suicide pact with his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera 31 Mar The Eiffel Tower in Paris was inaugurated, at 300 m (980 ft) setting a new record for the world’s tallest structure 8 Apr Adrian Boult, English conductor, was born Jun Vincent Van Gogh painted The Starry Night at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence 8 Jul The first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published 6 Aug London’s Savoy Hotel opened 23 Sep Wilkie Collins, English novelist, died 20 Nov Mahler’s Symphony No1 premiered in Budapest

Listen again to the RSNO Strauss Symphonic Poems Volume 1 Don Juan (with Ein Alpensinfonie, Tod und Verklärung and Ein Heldenleben) Conductor Neeme Järvi More information rsno.org.uk/recordings

RSNO Friday Night Club: R Strauss & Berg

Seven Early Songs At this point Berg’s compositions consisted solely of songs, though, as Schoenberg also later observed, they demonstrated ‘first, that music was to him a language, and that he really expressed himself in that language, and secondly an overflowing warmth of feeling’.

In 1928 Berg selected seven songs written at the time when he was Schoenberg’s pupil and published them both in their original form with piano accompaniment and also in new orchestrations. (A more substantial tranche of 40 songs finally made it into print in 1985, Berg’s centenary year.)

Alban Berg

(1885-1935)

1905-8, revised and orchestrated 1928 DURATION 15 minutes Nacht Schilflied Die Nachtigall Traumgekrönt Im Zimmer Liebesode Sommertage In 1904 the 19-year-old Alban Berg responded to a newspaper advertisement offering composition lessons. As the individual who placed the ad – Arnold Schoenberg – recalled many years later, ‘When I saw the compositions he showed me – songs in a style between Hugo Wolf and Brahms – I recognised at once that his was a real talent. Consequently I accepted him as a pupil, though at this time he was unable to pay my fee.’

The songs were mostly written during summer vacations and intended for domestic circumstances. In 1905 Berg accompanied his sister Smaragda in a performance of Die Nachtigall at a home for widows and orphans, while three more were performed in 1907 at a concert of works by Schoenberg’s pupils.

Stylistically these early songs follow on in the tradition of the Romantic German Lied, showing influences from Schumann to early Schoenberg, while also in places recalling Wagner, Mahler, Strauss and Debussy. By 1928 Berg’s own style had moved on – something evident in the complex and subtle orchestrations he supplied, wherein he deploys his (not especially large) instrumental forces with discrimination and imagination, conveying distinctive atmospheres through a highly selective approach.

The mysterious, slightly sinister Nacht makes use of the disorienting whole-tone scale – something particularly associated with Debussy and his opera Pelléas et Mélisande.

More reminiscent of early Schoenberg, and utilising solo strings throughout, the mournful atmosphere of Schilflied is conjured up in slow dance rhythms and shadowy orchestral effects.

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Berg’s extraordinary lyric gift is evident in Die Nachtigall, in which he creates a gorgeous sound-world where Schumann is, as it were, reimagined through the lenses of Wagner and Mahler: a complex texture is created despite neither woodwind nor brass being employed; half the strings are muted, the other half not.

excluded completely from Im Zimmer, which is nevertheless notable for its delicacy and intimacy. The shimmering orchestration of Liebesode is sensuous if not actually sensual, while the quasi-Wagnerian Sommertage is as emotionally ambiguous as any of its predecessors.

The strings are entirely muted in Traumgekrönt, in which Strauss meets early Schoenberg, and

© George Hall

NACHT Carl Ferdinand Max Hauptmann (1858-1921)

NIGHT

Dämmern Wolken über Nacht und Tal, Nebel schweben, Wasser rauschen sacht.

Nun entschleiert sich’s mit einemmal: O gib Acht! Gib Acht!

Weites Wunderland ist aufgetan.

Silbern ragen Berge, traumhaft groß, Stille Pfade silberlicht talen Aus verborg’nem Schoß; Und die hehre Welt so traumhaft rein.

Stummer Buchenbaum am Wege steht Schattenschwarz, ein Hauch vom fernen Hain Einsam leise weht.

Und aus tiefen Grundes Düsterheit Blinken Lichter auf in stummer Nacht.

Trinke Seele! Trinke Einsamkeit!

O gib Acht! Gib Acht!

The clouds embrown the night and valley; the mists float above, the water rushing gently.

Now all at once they unveil themselves: O listen! pay heed!

A broad land of wonder has opened up.

Silver mountains rise up, fantastically huge, silent paths lit with silver from the hidden lap of the valley; and the noble world is so dreamily pure.

A mute beech stands by the path, black with shadows; a breeze from a distant, lonely grove wafts gently by.

And from the deep darkness of the valley flash lights in the silent night.

Drink, my soul! Drink in this solitude!

O listen! pay heed!

SCHILFLIED Nikolaus Lenau (1802-50)

REED SONG

Auf geheimem Waldespfade Schleich’ ich gern im Abendschein An das öde Schilfgestade, Mädchen, und gedenke dein!

Wenn sich dann der Busch verdüstert, Rauscht das Rohr geheimnisvoll,

Along a secret forest path I like to creep in the evening light; I go to the desolate, reedy banks, and think, my maiden, of you!

As the bushes grow dark, the reeds hiss mysteriously,

RSNO Friday Night Club: R Strauss & Berg

Und es klaget und es flüstert, Daß ich weinen, weinen soll.

Und ich mein’, ich höre wehen Leise deiner Stimme Klang, Und im Weiher untergehen Deinen lieblichen Gesang.

and lament and whisper, and thus I have to weep and weep.

And I think that I hear wafting the gentle sound of your voice, and down into the pond sinks your lovely song.

DIE NACHTIGALL Theodor Storm (1817-88)

THE NIGHTINGALE

Das macht, es hat die Nachtigall Die ganze Nacht gesungen; Da sind von ihrem süßen Schall, Da sind in Hall und Widerhall Die Rosen aufgesprungen.

Sie war doch sonst ein wildes Blut, Nun geht sie tief in Sinnen, Trägt in der Hand den Sommerhut Und duldet still der Sonne Glut Und weiß nicht, was beginnen.

It happened because the nightingale sang the whole night long; from her sweet call, from the echo and re-echo, roses have sprung up.

She was but recently a wild blossom, and now she walks, deep in thought; she carries her summer hat in her hand, enduring quietly the heat of the sun, knowing not what to begin.

TRAUMGEKRÖNT Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

CROWNED IN A DREAM

Das war der Tag der weißen Chrysanthemem, Mir bangte fast vor seiner Pracht ...

Und dann, dann kamst du mir die Seele nehmen Tief in der Nacht.

Mir war so bang, und du kamst lieb und leise, Ich hatte grad im Traum an dich gedacht.

Du kamst, und leis’ wie eine Märchenweise Erklang die Nacht.

That was the day of the white chrysanthemums, I was almost intimidated by its glory ...

And then, then you came to take my soul deep in the night.

I was so worried, and you came so lovingly and quietly, I had just thought of you in a dream.

You came, and softly the night resounded like a fairy-tale song.

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IM ZIMMER Johannes Schlaf (1862-1941)

IN THE CHAMBER

Herbstsonnenschein.

Der liebe Abend blickt so still herein.

Ein Feuerlein rot Knistert im Ofenloch und loht.

So, mein Kopf auf deinen Knie’n, So ist mir gut.

Wenn mein Auge so in deinem ruht, Wie leise die Minuten zieh’n!

Autumn sunlight.

The lovely evening peers so quietly in.

A little red fire crackles in the stove and flares up.

And with my head upon your knee, I am contented.

When my eyes rest in yours, how gently do the minutes pass!

LIEBESODE Otto Erich Hartleben (1864-1905)

ODE TO LOVE

Im Arm der Liebe schliefen wir selig ein, Am offnen Fenster lauschte der Sommerwind, Und unsrer Atemzüge Frieden trug er hinaus in die helle Mondnacht.

Und aus dem Garten tastete zagend sich ein Rosenduft an unserer Liebe Bett Und gab uns wundervolle Träume, Träume des Rausches, so reich an Sehnsucht.

In the arms of love we fell blissfully asleep; at the open window the summer wind listened and carried the peacefulness of our breath out into the bright, moonlit night.

And out of the garden, feeling its way randomly, the scent of roses came to our bed of love and gave us wonderful dreams, dreams of intoxication, rich with yearning.

SOMMERTAGE Paul Hohenberg

SUMMER DAYS

Nun ziehen Tage über die Welt, Gesandt aus blauer Ewigkeit, Im Sommerwind verweht die Zeit.

Nun windet nächtens der Herr Sternenkränze mit seliger Hand Über Wander- und Wunderland.

O Herz, was kann in diesen Tagen Dein hellstes Wanderlied denn sagen Von deiner tiefen, tiefen Lust: Im Wiesensang verstummt die Brust, Nun schweigt das Wort, wo Bild um Bild Zu dir zieht und dich ganz erfüllt.

Now the days drag through the world, sent forth from blue eternity; time dissipates in the summer wind.

Now at night the Lord weaves with blessed hand wreaths of stars above the wandering wonderland.

In these days, o my heart, what can your brightest wanderer’s song then say about your deep, deep pleasure?

In meadowsong the heart falls silent; now there are no words, and image upon image visits you and fills you entirely.

All translations © by Emily Ezust (except Traumgekrönt © by Knut W Barde), lieder.net. Used with permission.

RSNO Friday Night Club: R Strauss & Berg

Karen Cargill MEZZO-SOPRANO working with conductors including Donald Runnicles, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniele Gatti, EsaPekka Salonen, Daniel Harding, Robin Ticciati, Edward Gardner, Mariss Jansons and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Opera highlights include appearances at the Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera New York, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Karen appears regularly at the BBC Proms, and in Scotland with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera and at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Karen Cargill was born in Arbroath. She studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and was the winner of the 2002 Kathleen Ferrier Award.

Forthcoming highlights include La damnation de Faust with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati, and with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Hannu Lintu; Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Søndergård; and Bach’s B minor Mass with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick NézetSéguin. In opera, Karen will appear as Judith in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle with Opera North, and as Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites at the 2020 Glyndebourne Festival.

Karen regularly sings with the Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Rotterdam and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Symphony and Philharmonic orchestras, Bavarian and Danish National radio symphony orchestras and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam,

Highlights with her regular recital partner Simon Lepper include appearances at Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kennedy Center Washington and Carnegie Hall New York, as well as regular recitals for BBC Radio 3. With Simon, Karen recently recorded Lieder by Alma and Gustav Mahler for Linn Records, for whom she has also recorded Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and La mort de Cléopâtre with Robin Ticciati and the SCO. In 2018 Karen was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is Patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland.

Karen Cargill appeared most recently with the RSNO in August at the Edinburgh International Festival, when she sang the roles of Waltraute and Second Norn in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.

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Thomas Søndergård CONDUCTOR The 2019:20 season includes his debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He also tours South Korea with the orchestra of the Royal Danish Opera.

Thomas’ operatic engagements include the Bayerische Staatsoper (Turandot), Norwegian Opera (Die Zauberflöte) and Deutsche Oper Berlin (world premiere of Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini’s Edward II ), and Tosca, Turandot and Dialogues des Carmélites with the Royal Swedish Opera. He was described as ‘a sensation’ at his debut with the Royal Danish Opera conducting Poul Ruders’ Kafka’s Trial, and subsequent productions there have included Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le nozze di Figaro, La bohème, The Cunning Little Vixen and Il viaggio a Reims.

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, making his debut in October 2018 after six seasons as Principal Guest Conductor.

He served as Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) from 2012 to 2018, and prior to this as Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra for three seasons.

He conducted the RSNO on its New Year 2019 tour to China, as well as its recent tour to the West Coast of the USA and visit to Paris.

Thomas has conducted many leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Bamberg Symphony.

Releases with BBC NOW include Sibelius’ Symphonies 1, 2, 6 and 7 and most recently a disc which shines light on Sibelius’ tone poems and theatre music (Linn Records). Other noteworthy recordings include Vilde Frang’s celebrated first recording for EMI, of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No1, and Ruders’ Piano Concerto No2 on Bridge Records, nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2011. The Lutosławski and Dutilleux cello concertos with Johannes Moser were released on Pentatone in 2018, and Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, Thomas’ debut recording with the RSNO, on Linn Records earlier this year.

In 2011 Thomas was awarded the prestigious Queen Ingrid Foundation Prize for Services to Music in Denmark.

RSNO Friday Night Club: R Strauss & Berg

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1977. The Orchestra’s artistic team is led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, who was appointed RSNO Music Director in October 2018, having previously held the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan succeeds Søndergård as Principal Guest Conductor. They are joined by Assistant Conductor Junping Qian.

The RSNO performs across Scotland, including concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness. The Orchestra appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms, and has made recent tours to the USA, Spain, France, China and Germany.

The Orchestra is joined for choral performances by the RSNO Chorus, directed by Gregory Batsleer. The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, the RSNO Chorus is one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain, with a membership of around 160. The Chorus has performed nearly every work in the standard choral repertoire, along with contemporary works by composers including John Adams, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.

Formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd, the acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus, under its new director Patrick Barrett, also performs regularly alongside the Orchestra. Boasting a membership of over 400 members aged from 7 to 18, it has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television.

The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings, receiving two Diapason d’Or awards for Symphonic Music (Denève/ Roussel 2007; Denève/Debussy 2012) and eight GRAMMY Awards nominations. Over 200 releases are available, including the complete symphonies of Sibelius (Gibson), Prokofiev (Järvi), Glazunov (Serebrier), Nielsen and Martinů (Thomson) and Roussel (Denève) and the major orchestral works of Debussy (Denève). Thomas Søndergård’s debut recording with the RSNO, of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, was released on Linn Records in 2019.

The RSNO’s pioneering learning and engagement programme, Music for Life, aims to engage the people of Scotland with music across key stages of life: Early Years, Nurseries and Schools, Teenagers and Students, Families, Accessing Lives, Working Lives and Retired and Later Life.

The team is committed to placing the Orchestra at the centre of Scottish communities via community workshops and annual residencies across the length and breadth of the country.

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On Stage FIRST VIOLIN

CELLO

HORN

LEADER

PRINCIPAL

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

Maya Iwabuchi Lena Zeliszewska ASSOCIATE LEADER

Marike Kruup Wen Wang Barbara Paterson Caroline Parry Lorna Rough Elizabeth Bamping Ursula Heidecker Allen Susannah Lowdon Jane Reid Mireia Ferrer Liam Lynch Laura Ghiro John Robinson Colin McKee SECOND VIOLIN

Xander van Vliet PRINCIPAL

Marion Wilson Paul Medd Robin Wilson Barbara Zdziarska Sophie Lang Anne Bünemann Michael Rigg Wanda Wojtasinska Nigel Mason Katie Jackson Kirstin Drew Gillian Risi Gongbo Jiang VIOLA

Tom Dunn PRINCIPAL

David Greenlees Lisa Rourke Susan Buchan David Martin Nicola McWhirter Katherine Wren Maria Trittinger Francesca Hunt Aoife Magee Claire Dunn David McCreadie

Aleksei Kiseliov

Andrew McLean

Betsy Taylor Arthur Boutillier William Paterson Rachael Lee Sarah Digger Miranda Phythian- Adams Anne Brincourt Laura Sergeant Naomi Boole-Masterson

Stephanie Jones Martin Murphy David McClenaghan

DOUBLE BASS

TROMBONE

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL

TRUMPET

Christopher Hart PRINCIPAL

Marcus Pope Jason Lewis

Margarida Castro

Dávur Juul Magnussen

Michael Rae Paul Sutherland John Clark Sally Davis Kirsty Matheson Piotr Hetman Nuno Osório

Lance Green Alastair Sinclair

FLUTE

Katherine Bryan PRINCIPAL

Helen Brew Janet Richardson PRINCIPAL PICCOLO

OBOE

Adrian Wilson PRINCIPAL

Peter Dykes Henry Clay

PRINCIPAL COR ANGLAIS

CLARINET

Matt Glendening GUEST PRINCIPAL

Rebecca Whitener Duncan Swindells

PRINCIPAL BASS CLARINET

BASSOON

David Hubbard PRINCIPAL

Luis Eisen Paolo Dutto

PRINCIPAL CONTRABASSOON

PRINCIPAL BASS TROMBONE

TUBA

John Whitener PRINCIPAL

TIMPANI

Paul Philbert PRINCIPAL

PERCUSSION

John Poulter

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

Tom Hunter Stuart Semple HARP

Pippa Tunnell CELESTE

Lynda Cochrane

We hope that you are enjoying the RSNO’s Friday Night Club performances The RSNO is a registered charity, and, with many others, will be severely impacted by this crisis, which is touching the lives of each and every one of us. The support of our audiences and supporters continues to inspire and uplift us, now more than ever. We would like to take this opportunity to send our support and best wishes to you and your families during this challenging time.

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