Berlioz and Brahms

Jahja Ling, Music Director

DECEMBER 2015

FROM THE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

PHOTO CREDIT: LAUREN RADACK

DEAR FRIENDS, It’s hard to believe that the final month of 2015 has arrived, and what a year it has been!

From Keith Lockhart’s heroic “step-in” for our John Williams tribute concerts in January to electrifying springtime appearances by Conrad Tao and Ray Chen; from sensational fall performances by Yuja Wang and Sarah Chang to last month’s truly sublime Pathétique Symphony interpretation by Music Director Jahja Ling and our San Diego Symphony Orchestra musicians, this is a year of musical memories. Our organization has never been stronger, with record Summer Pops sales; over 450 new Jacobs Masterworks subscribers; a successfully launched (and highly subscribed!) new Jazz @ The Jacobs series; and the strong support of our philanthropic community. We hope that you will consider becoming part of that community by participating this year in our Maestro Challenge.

We at the San Diego Symphony Orchestra have so much to be grateful for, and this is certainly a time of year for gratitude. Our Holiday Pops continues to be San Diego’s favorite destination for music of the Season, and this year’s performances, featuring the stylish acrobatics of Cirque Musica, will be a treat for the eye and the ear.

Martha Gilmer, Chief Executive Officer

We are very pleased and honored that so many highly regarded conductors from around the world are coming to San Diego this season to lead our Orchestra. This month, Los Angeles Philharmonic Associate Conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will conduct Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring – a demanding and rewarding piece guaranteed to demonstrate her immense talent and to show off our orchestra’s musicality and virtuosity.

Music Director Jahja Ling will conduct Hector Berlioz’s Te Deum in the first San Diego Symphony Orchestra performances. In addition to our orchestra, this choral masterpiece features the San Diego Master Chorale as well as the fully restored Fox Theatre Pipe Organ.

This will be a truly “rafter-shaking” experience not to be missed!

As we look forward to the New Year, we are thrilled to present our first month-long festival called the Upright & Grand Piano Festival. This city-wide celebration of the piano will include concerts at the Jacobs Music Center as well as presentations by our colleagues the La Jolla Music Society, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido and Poway OnStage. There will be “Pianos in Public Spaces” around the region as well as a “Hands On” day of piano-centric community activities and amateur performances on the Copley Symphony Hall stage. This festival features 12 world-famous pianists; six concertos; four venues; 16 concerts and five conductors. Nothing like this has been presented in San Diego before, and we know you will want to be part of every moment!

As 2015 comes to an end, we look forward to a New Year that celebrates the joy and beauty that music brings to us all.

Sincerely,

Martha Gilmer Chief Executive Officer

COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Jahja Ling – David Hartig SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015

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ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR

JAHJA LING

CD of Lucas Richman’s Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals with soloists Jon Kimura Parker and Orli Shaham distributed by Naxos in 2013. Under his leadership, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra has been designated a Tier One major orchestra by the League of American Orchestras, based on a new level of unprecedented artistic excellence, its continuing increase in audience attendance as well as its solid financial stability.

JA HJA L I NG ‘s distinguished career as an internationally renowned conductor has earned him an exceptional reputation for musical integrity, intensity and expressivity. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and now a citizen of the United States, he is the first and only conductor of Chinese descent who holds a music director position with a major orchestra in the United States and has conducted all of the major symphony orchestras in North America including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

The 2015-16 season marks his 12th season as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In October of 2013 Mr. Ling led the Orchestra for a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall with Lang Lang as soloist, followed by a tour to China where the Orchestra appeared in five concerts in Yantai (sister city of San Diego), Shanghai and Beijing (at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and at Tsinghua University) with soloists Joshua Bell and Augustin Hadelich. This two week tour was the first international tour and the first appearance of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (received with great acclaim) in their 104 year history. The Orchestra’s performances conducted by Mr. Ling have also received the highest praise from public and critics alike, having been broadcast both locally and nationally. Mr. Ling and the Orchestra have recently released eight new live recordings (the Orchestra’s first in a decade). Together they have undertaken commissions as well as premieres of many new works and recorded new works of Bright Sheng for Telarc Records (released in summer of 2009) and a new P4 PERFORMANCES MAGA ZINE

In recent and upcoming seasons Mr. Ling returns as guest conductor with the Adelaide Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Macao Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Philharmonia Taiwan (National Symphony of Taiwan), Royal Philharmonic of London, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, West Australia Symphony as well as Yale Philharmonia and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. In June of 2012 he conducted the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra in Berlin’s O2 World on the occasion of Lang Lang’s 30th birthday concert with Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock and 50 young pianists from around the world. The concert, attended by more than 10,000 people, was also telecast live by German and Spanish TV. Mr. Ling holds one of the longest continuous relationships with one of the world’s greatest orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra. In 2014 he celebrated his 30th anniversary with that esteemed ensemble with performances at Severance Hall, the Blossom Music Festival and Palm Beach, Florida.

He first served as Associate Conductor in the 1984-85 season, and then as Resident Conductor for 17 years from 1985-2002 and as Blossom Music Festival Director for six seasons (2000-05). During his tenure with the Orchestra, he conducted over 450 concerts and 600 works, including many world premieres. Among his distinguished services as Resident Conductor, Mr. Ling led the Orchestra’s annual concert in downtown Cleveland, heard by more than 1.5 million people. His telecast of A Concert in Tribute and Remembrance with the Orchestra for 9/11/2011 received an Emmy® Award. The United States House of Representatives presented a Congressional Record of his outstanding achievements in the United States Capitol in September 2006.

Prior to his Cleveland appointment, Mr. Ling served as Assistant and Associate Conductor

of the San Francisco Symphony. Deeply committed to education, Mr. Ling served as founding Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (1986-93) and the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (1981-84).

Mr. Ling made his European debut with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1988 to great acclaim. His other engagements abroad have taken him to the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic in Beijing, Guangzhou Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Macao Symphony, MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, NDR Radio Philharmonie in Hannover, NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse, Royal Philharmonic of London, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Shanghai Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Stockholm Philharmonic and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony.

Mr. Ling began to play the piano at age four and studied at the Jakarta School of Music. At age 17 he won the Jakarta Piano Competition and one year later was awarded a Rockefeller grant to attend The Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Mieczysław Munz and conducting with John Nelson. After completing a master’s degree at Juilliard, he studied orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music under Otto-Werner Mueller and received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1985. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Wooster College in 1993. In the summer of 1980 Mr. Ling was granted the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood, and two years later he was selected by Mr. Bernstein to be a Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute.

As a pianist Mr. Ling won a bronze medal at the 1977 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel and was awarded a certificate of honor at the following year’s Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut as a pianist in 1987 and has appeared as both soloist and conductor with a number of orchestras in the United States and internationally.

Mr. Ling makes his home in San Diego with his wife, Jessie, and their young daughters Priscilla and Stephanie. n

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

JAHJA LING, MUSIC DIRECTOR

MATTHEW GARBUTT

Principal Summer Pops Conductor

SAMEER PATEL Assistant Conductor

VIOLIN Jeff Thayer Concertmaster DEBORAH

PATE AND JOHN FORREST CHAIR

Wesley Precourt Associate Concertmaster Jisun Yang Assistant Concertmaster Alexander Palamidis Principal II Jing Yan Acting Associate Principal II Nick Grant Principal Associate Concertmaster Emeritus Randall Brinton Yumi Cho Hernan Constantino Alicia Engley Pat Francis Kathryn Hatmaker Angela Homnick Ai Nihira* Igor Pandurski Julia Pautz Susan Robboy Shigeko Sasaki Yeh Shen Anna Skálová Edmund Stein John Stubbs Pei-Chun Tsai Joan Zelickman VIOLA Chi-Yuan Chen Principal KAREN AND WARREN KESSLER CHAIR

Nancy Lochner Associate Principal Rebekah Campbell Wanda Law Qing Liang Caterina Longhi Thomas Morgan Adam Neeley* Ethan Pernela Dorothy Zeavin CELLO Yao Zhao Principal Chia-Ling Chien Associate Principal Marcia Bookstein Glen Campbell Andrew Hayhurst

Richard Levine Ronald Robboy Mary Oda Szanto Xian Zhuo

Douglas Hall

BASS

John MacFerran Wilds Ray Nowak

Jeremy Kurtz-Harris ˆ Principal OPHIE AND ARTHUR BRODY S FOUNDATION CHAIR

Susan Wulff Acting Principal Samuel Hager Acting Associate Principal W. Gregory Berton ˆ P. J. Cinque Jory Herman Margaret Johnston+ Daniel Smith* Michael Wais Sayuri Yamamoto* FLUTE Rose Lombardo Principal Sarah Tuck Erica Peel PICCOLO Erica Peel OBOE Sarah Skuster Principal

TRUMPET Micah Wilkinson Principal

TROMBONE Kyle R. Covington Principal Logan Chopyk Richard Gordon+ Michael Priddy BASS TROMBONE Michael Priddy TUBA Matthew Garbutt Principal HARP Julie Smith Phillips Principal TIMPANI Ryan J. DiLisi Principal Andrew Watkins Assistant Principal PERCUSSION Gregory Cohen Principal

Harrison Linsey Andrea Overturf

Erin Douglas Dowrey Andrew Watkins

ENGLISH HORN Andrea Overturf

PIANO/CELESTE Mary Barranger

DR. WILLIAM AND EVELYN LAMDEN ENGLISH HORN CHAIR

CLARINET Sheryl Renk Principal

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER Magdalena O’Neill ASSISTANT PERSONNEL MANAGER TBA

Theresa Tunnicliff Frank Renk

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN Courtney Secoy Cohen

BASS CLARINET Frank Renk

LIBRARIAN Rachel Fields

BASSOON Valentin Martchev Principal Ryan Simmons Leyla Zamora

* Long Term Substitute Musician + Staff Opera Musician ˆ On leave

CONTRABASSOON Leyla Zamora

All musicians are members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 325.

HORN Benjamin Jaber Principal Darby Hinshaw Assistant Principal & Utility Danielle Kuhlmann Tricia Skye

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Financial support is provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.

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DECEMBER 11, 12 & 13 CHORAL AND ORGAN SPECTACULAR: BERLIOZ TE DEUM JACOBS MASTERWORKS SERIES

FRIDAY December 11, 2015 – 8:00pm SATURDAY December 12, 2015 – 8:00pm SUNDAY December 13, 2015 – 2:00pm conductor Jahja Ling cello Alisa Weilerstein violin Jeff Thayer

San Diego Master Chorale All performances at The Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall

PROGRAM JOHANNES BRAHMS

Concerto in A minor for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 102: Double Concerto Allegro Andante Vivace non troppo

INTERMISSION HECTOR BERLIOZ

Te Deum, Op. 22 Te Deum Tibi omnes Præludium Dignare Christe, rex gloriæ Te ergo quæsumus Judex crederis Marcia

San Diego Master Chorale John Russell, tenor The approximate running time for this concert, including intermission, is two hours and five minutes.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

CHORAL AND ORGAN SPECTACULAR – DECEMBER 11, 12 & 13

ALISA WEILERSTEIN, CELLO

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young cellist whose emotionally resonant performances of both traditional and contemporary music have earned her international recognition…Weilerstein is a consummate performer, combining technical precision with impassioned musicianship.” So stated the MacArthur Foundation when awarding A L I SA WEI L ER STEIN a 2011 MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship, prompting the New York Times to respond: “Any fellowship that recognizes the vibrancy of an idealistic musician like Ms. Weilerstein… deserves a salute from everyone in classical music.” In performances marked by intensity, sensitivity and a wholehearted immersion in each of the works she interprets, the American cellist has long proven herself to be in possession of a distinctive musical voice. An exclusive recording artist for Decca Classics since 2010, she is the first cellist to be signed by the prestigious label in more than 30 years.

The 2015-16 season sees Ms. Weilerstein give world premiere performances of two major new concertos, both of them commissioned from leading composers and written especially for her. With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra she gives the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s new concerto, titled Outscape, before giving its first European performances with the Stuttgart and Paris

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Opera Orchestras. Similarly, with the composer on the podium, she premieres Matthias Pintscher’s concerto with the Danish National Orchestra, followed by a reprise at Cologne’s WDR Symphony. The cellist’s full concerto lineup also features Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante with the Czech Philharmonic; both Shostakovich concertos with orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, where her performances will be recorded for future release; Elgar with the London Symphony and others; and Schumann with ensembles including the Orchestre de Paris. Following the October release of their duo album debut on Decca with sonatas by Chopin and Rachmaninoff, Ms. Weilerstein reunites with her longtime recital partner, pianist Inon Barnatan, for tours of the United States and of seven European capitals, including a return to London’s Wigmore Hall.

For her first album on the Decca label, Ms. Weilerstein recorded the Elgar and Elliott Carter cello concertos with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin. The disc was named “Recording of the Year 2013”

by BBC Music, which featured the cellist on the cover of its May 2014 issue. Her second Decca release, on which she plays Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic, topped the U.S. classical chart last summer, while her third, a compilation of unaccompanied twentieth-century cello music titled Solo, was pronounced an “uncompromising and pertinent portrait of the cello repertoire of our time” (France’s ResMusica). Solo’s centerpiece is the Kodály sonata, a signature work that Ms. Weilerstein revisits on the soundtrack of If I Stay, a 2014 feature film starring Chloë Grace Moretz in which the cellist makes a cameo appearance as herself.

Weilerstein has appeared with all the foremost orchestras of the United States and Europe, collaborating with conductors including Marin Alsop, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Jeffrey Kahane, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Peter Oundjian, Donald Runnicles, Yuri Temirkanov, Jaap van Zweden, Osmo Vänskä and David

Zinman, among others. In 2009 she was one of four artists invited by Michelle Obama to participate in a widely celebrated and high profile classical music event at the White House. A month later, Weilerstein toured Venezuela as soloist with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra under Dudamel. She has since made numerous return visits to teach and perform with the orchestra as part of its famed El Sistema music education program. Other highlights of recent seasons include her debut at the BBC Proms in 2010, and with England’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which she joined in 2013 for a 16-city United States tour.

Ms. Weilerstein has appeared at major music festivals throughout the world, including Aspen, Bad Kissingen, Delft, Edinburgh, Jerusalem Chamber Music, La Jolla SummerFest, Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Tanglewood and Verbier.

In addition to her appearances as a soloist and recitalist, Ms. Weilerstein performs regularly as a chamber musician. She has been part of a core group of musicians at the Spoleto Festival USA for the past eight years and also performs with her parents, Donald and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, as the Weilerstein Trio, the trio-in-residence at Boston’s New England Conservatory.

Born in 1982, Alisa Weilerstein played Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations for her Cleveland Orchestra debut at age 13 in October 1995, and then in March 1997 she made her first Carnegie Hall appearance with the New York Youth Symphony. A graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Weiss, the cellist also graduated in May 2004 with a degree in history from Columbia University. In November 2008 Ms. Weilerstein, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was nine, became a Celebrity Advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. n

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

CHORAL AND ORGAN SPECTACULAR – DECEMBER 11, 12 & 13 Mr. Thayer was also formerly on the violin faculty of the Music Academy of the West where he also served as concertmaster for 14 years. He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division. His teachers include William Preucil, Donald Weilerstein, Zvi Zeitlin and Dorothy DeLay.

JEFF THAYER, VIOLIN

V

iolinist JEF F THAY ER holds the Deborah Pate and John Forrest Concertmaster Chair of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Thayer is also a founding member of the Camera Lucida chamber music ensemble, in residence at UCSD’s Conrad Prebys Music Center. Previous positions include assistant concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, associate concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony and concertmaster of the Canton (OH) Symphony Orchestra.

A native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Mr. Thayer began violin lessons with his mother at the age of three. At 14 he studied for a year at the Conservatorio Superior in Cordoba, Spain. He has appeared as soloist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Jupiter Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Canton Symphony Orchestra, the Pierre Monteux School Festival Orchestra, the Spartanburg Philharmonic, the Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, The Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, the Nittany Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Conservatory Orchestra of Cordoba, among others. He attended Keshet Eilon (Israel), Ernen Musikdorf (Switzerland), Music Academy of the West, Aspen, New York String Orchestra Seminar, the Quartet Program, and as the 1992 Pennsylvania Governor Scholar, Interlochen Arts Camp.

Other festivals include the Grand Teton Music Festival, Astoria Music Festival, Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Mainly Mozart Festival (San Diego), Festival der Zukunft and the Tibor Varga Festival (Switzerland).

Mr. Thayer’s awards include the Stephen Hahn/Lillybelle Foundation Award in Violin from the Music Academy of the West, the Starling Foundation Award, the George Eastman Scholarship and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Mr. Thayer was a laureate of the Wieniawski Violin Competition (2001) as well as winner of various competitions, including the Tuesday Musical Club Scholarship Auditions in Akron, OH (2000), the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition (1999), the Fort Collins Symphony Young Artist Competition (1999), the American String Teacher’s Association Competition in Pennsylvania and Delaware (1997), the Gladys Comstock Summer Scholarship Competition (1993), the Ithaca College Solo Competition and the Phyllis Triolo Competition (1992).

Through a generous loan from Joan and Irwin Jacobs and the Jacobs' Family Trust, Jeff Thayer performs on the 1708 "Sir Bagshawe" Stradivarius. n

ABOUT THE PROGRAM Concerto in A minor for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 102: Double Concerto J O HA NNE S BR A H MS Born May 7, 1833, Hamburg Died April 3, 1897, Vienna (Approx. 32 minutes) This unusual concerto was Brahms’ last work involving orchestra. He wrote it at Lake Thun in Switzerland during the summer of 1887, when he was 54, and then wrote nothing more for orchestra during the final decade of his life. The concerto is dedicated to violinist Joseph Joachim, and that dedication brings with it a painful story. Brahms and Joachim had been close friends since

their early twenties, and Joachim had been a great champion of Brahms’ music. But in 1880 Joachim filed for divorce from his wife Amalie. Brahms took her side during the divorce and wrote her a letter of support.

When she produced that letter in court, Joachim felt betrayed, and a lifelong friendship was instantly broken off. The two men had not spoken for some years when Brahms took a tentative step toward recovering that friendship, writing to tell Joachim that he was writing a concerto for violin and cello and asking if Joachim might be interested in performing it. The two gradually (if gingerly) resumed relations, and after hearing them

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play it through with cellist Robert Hausmann in September 1887, Clara Schumann wrote in her journal: “The concerto is a work of reconciliation – Joachim and Brahms have spoken to each other again for the first time in years.” Joachim was the violinist, Hausmann the cellist, and Brahms the conductor when the concerto was premiered in Cologne on October 18, 1887. And so this concerto became the vehicle for a reconciliation between two old friends, though they would never again be really close.

The Double Concerto is a very unusual piece of music – Brahms himself called it “a strange flight of fancy.” It resurrects a form long dead

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

CHORAL AND ORGAN SPECTACULAR – DECEMBER 11, 12 & 13 – the baroque concerto grosso – and marries it to the grand nineteenth-century virtuoso concerto. The result is a hybrid: this music sets individual soloists against the main body of the orchestra (as did the concerto grosso), but it also makes extraordinary demands on the two soloists, who play much of the time without the orchestra. Particularly striking are the smooth flow of melodic line between soloists (Brahms suggested that he wanted the music to sound like “a concerto for giant violin”) and the complex interweaving of the two solo parts. Brahms himself was unsure about his ability to write for strings, and with his usual self-deprecation he grumbled to Clara Schumann that he should “have handed on the idea to someone who knows the violin better than I do.”

The Double Concerto is the shortest of Brahms’ four concertos, and its originality is evident from its first instant. The music bursts to life with a grand six-measure flourish from the orchestra, which then vanishes. All alone, the cello plays a long cadenza, and this sounds another characteristic note: the cello has the leading role in this concerto, often announcing themes before the violin is allowed to take them up. Only after the cello has completed its cadenza is the violin allowed one of its own, and at that point the long orchestral exposition of this sonata-form movement begins. The character of this movement pitches sharply from the dramatic to the rhapsodic and on to the whimsical, and along the way Brahms makes effective use of complete silence – there are a number of grand pauses and other breaks between phrases.

The Andante opens with wind calls, and then the two soloists – in octaves – sound the long theme that forms the basis of this lyric movement. The movement is in ternary form, with a central episode introduced by a subdued woodwind chorale.

The finale evokes Brahms’ lifelong love of gypsy music, but it may also be a further gesture to Joachim, who was of Hungarian descent. (Record collectors of a certain age may remember the famous 1939 Heifetz/ Feuerman/Ormandy recording on 78s that had a painting of a young gypsy woman dancing on a phonograph record floating in

the clouds.) This finale is in modified rondo form based on its gypsy-like opening theme, announced immediately by the cello. The noble alternating episode, also introduced by cello, is developed at such length that the movement shows signs of turning into sonata form. Along the way, Brahms seems to bring back thematic material from the first movement, something almost unknown in his music, and throughout this movement the melodic line flows seamlessly between violin and cello. It is here that we most readily sense Brahms’ desire to compose music for “a giant violin.” Finally, though, it is the dancing opening theme that dominates this lively movement, and the concerto races to a conclusion full of gypsy fire. n

Te Deum, Op. 22 HECTOR BE R LI OZ Born December 11, 1803 La Côte-St. André, Grenoble Died March 8, 1869, Paris (Approx. 60 minutes) There is a wonderful story about Berlioz’s meeting the King of Prussia. That king, well aware of Berlioz’s reputation for composing music for vast forces, greeted him by saying, “They tell me that you are the composer who writes for 500 musicians.” Berlioz responded: “Your majesty has been misinformed. I sometimes write for only 450.”

Berlioz delighted in spectacle. Sometimes that sense of spectacle could be achieved by the sheer number of his performers, but Berlioz was also drawn to what he called “architectural music” – music that deploys its performers in unexpected ways so that where the sound is coming from becomes as much a part of the experience as the notes themselves. (Today we call such compositions “spatial music.”) Nowhere is Berlioz’s penchant for the spectacular – and the architectural – more evident than in his two great liturgical works: the Requiem and the Te Deum. The Requiem calls for a huge chorus and an orchestra that includes eight pair of timpani, and it also requires four separate brass bands to be positioned around the audience. Berlioz’s Te Deum may be less familiar than the Requiem, but in its own way it is just

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as spectacular. It calls for a huge orchestra with quadruple woodwinds and vast brass and percussion sections, a tenor soloist, three separate adult choruses, an optional children’s chorus (not used in these performances) and – just as important – an organ whose strength and independence rival the orchestra’s role. Berlioz hoped to spread these forces throughout his performing space, with the orchestra and organ separated and the singers between them. Such an arrangement is almost impossible to achieve, and most modern performances separate the various sections as best they can.

The Te Deum text is a hymn of praise that dates from the fourth century. It has been attributed to Saints Ambrose and Augustine, though the authorship is not certain. The prospect of setting so powerful a statement of faith and praise has appealed to composers, and the Te Deum has been set by Mozart, Dvořák, Bruckner, Verdi and many others. Berlioz initially composed his Te Deum in 1849, though there is evidence that he drew upon music he had conceived earlier as part of a plan to write a vast piece in praise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Now he was able to adapt that grand conception for a liturgical setting. As originally conceived, his Te Deum did not include a children’s choir, but during a trip to London in 1851 Berlioz heard a choir of 6500 children singing at a charity concert in St. Paul’s Cathedral and was overwhelmed. To his sister he wrote, “I’ve never seen or heard anything so moving in its immense grandeur as this mass of poor children singing, arranged in colossal tiers.” He returned to Paris and re-wrote the Te Deum to add a children’s chorus to his already vast forces.

It may come as no surprise to learn that Berlioz had a great deal of trouble getting his Te Deum performed. He had hoped that it might be premiered as part of the ceremonies surrounding the installation of Napoleon III in 1852, but nothing came of that, and finally he was able to arrange a performance in conjunction with the opening of the International Exhibition in Paris sponsored

by Napoleon III in 1855 to promote French industries to the world. The setting was the gigantic Church of Saint Eustache, which had

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

CHORAL AND ORGAN SPECTACULAR – DECEMBER 11, 12 & 13 a powerful new organ and was large enough that Berlioz was able to deploy his performers satisfactorily. The composer himself led over 900 performers in that premiere on April 30, 1855. It would be the only time in his life that Berlioz heard a performance of the Te Deum, and he was delighted by his music and by the performance. To Franz Liszt he wrote: “It was colossal, Babylonian, Ninevite. The large church was full. Not one mistake, not one hesitation…I promise you, it’s a formidable work, the Judex goes beyond any of the enormities I’ve been guilty of so far …”

Berlioz divided and slightly re-ordered the Te Deum text into six movements that he titled either “hymns” or “prayers” (the last movement combines both), and he also prepared two different versions of the Te Deum. One is the “standard” six-movement setting, the one usually performed and recorded today.

The other might be called the “military” version of the Te Deum. There was a long tradition in France of performing a musical setting of the Te Deum to commemorate military victories. Berlioz was aware of this, and so he composed two brief “military” movements that could be included in a performance of his Te Deum on such occasions. His readiness to do this may reflect his desire – stretching back over several decades – to write a piece in honor of Napoleon.

Some have suggested that Berlioz included these movements as a way of looking ahead to Napoleon III’s hoped-for military victories.

The military version of the Te Deum is seldom performed, but at these concerts the San Diego Symphony Orchestra presents the Te Deum in Berlioz’s full eight-movement military configuration.

The opening Te Deum, a hymn, gets off to a smashing beginning as orchestra and organ alternate thunderous chords. The text, presented fugally at first, mixes the grandeur of Berlioz’s massed forces with moments of reflective quiet. One of the latter makes the transition directly into the Tibi omnes, another hymn, which is introduced by a long organ prelude. Purely instrumental interludes alternate with the sung word as this movement rises to a grand climax, then fades away on a quiet passage for strings. At this point comes the first military movement, a Præludium, which Berlioz did not include at

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the 1855 premiere. Based on the main theme of the first movement, it functions here as a prelude to the Dignare.

The Dignare is the first “prayer” in the Te Deum, and another organ prelude leads to the subdued plea for mercy, sung largely by the 3rd chorus (or children’s choir). Christe, rex gloriæ is a spirited hymn of praise for orchestra and the combined choruses, and it drives to a ringing conclusion. Te ergo quæsumus features the only appearance of the tenor soloist in the Te Deum. The text – a quiet prayer for mercy – is introduced by the tenor, who is soon joined by the women. In a work so full of spectacular writing and overwhelming cascades of sound, this movement remains subdued throughout.

Longest of the movements, the Judex cruderis is one of the most overwhelming pieces Berlioz ever wrote. He himself was frank about this movement, describing it as “without doubt, my most grandiose creation.” The orchestra spits out its threatening opening statement, and the chorus enters with the gigantic fugue that will structure this movement. The opening lines of the Judex crederis affirm that the Day of Judgment will inevitably come, and Berlioz – never one to miss a dramatic opportunity – evokes the terror of that day in this long fugue, which wanders through unexpected keys and breaks all the “rules” of contrapuntal writing, but which is exciting and harrowing at the same time.

Berlioz described this movement as both “hymn and prayer,” and the prayer arrives with a quiet setting of the line “Salvum fac populum tuum” (“Save Thy people”). Berlioz sets off this quiet supplication with volcanic blasts of sound that unleash the full power of his mighty brass section and the rest of the orchestra. The Day of Judgment successfully faced, the Judex cruderis end in radiant confidence and triumph. The military version of the Te Deum then concludes with the Marcia.

This five-minute march, built on sharplydotted rhythms, is introduced by winds and percussion (perhaps to echo the sound of a military band), and these are eventually joined by the strings. Berlioz did include this movement at the 1855 premiere.

A NOTE: while Berlioz conducted a complete performance of the Te Deum only once,

he did conduct the Tibi omnes movement at the ceremonies marking the end of the International Exhibition in November 1855.

On that occasion, the gratified conductor led an ensemble of 1500 performers. n PROGRAM NOTES BY ERIC BROMBERGER

MUSSORGSKY/Ravel

PICTURES FROM AN EXHIBITION Beyond The Score®

SATURDAY January 9 – 8pm Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis Piano Marc-André Hamelin A Production Of The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Creative Director Gerard McBurney The appearance of Karina Canellakis is generously sponsored by The Dow Divas.

This presentation examines Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, originally written for solo piano.

During the first half of the concert, the history and context of the piece is explained and portrayed by narrator, actors, and musical excerpts by the orchestra. After intermission, the work will be performed in its entirety.

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SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015

WHY THIS PROGRAM? WHY THESE PIECES?

by Dr. Melvin G. Goldzband, Symphony Archivist

Jahja Ling enthused, “I always get excited when I am scheduled to conduct any piece by Berlioz.” He spoke about how revolutionary the composer was, even though he lived partially in Beethoven's time. “In fact, he began his experimentation with music and orchestration just a few years after the great composer passed away. He was still a young man when he composed such incredible works as the Symphonie fantastique and so many others in the decades immediately following Beethoven's death, paving his own way. He was a great discoverer, not just following the trends of the moment...” The conductor spoke meaningfully about the specific Berlioz piece on this program. “I have never conducted this piece before, although I have wanted to for a long time. I have led the great Berlioz Requiem here, but never the Te Deum, and I wanted to be the conductor who led this orchestra in it. The title means To the Glory of God, and it is not only musically great, it is a piece that is a part of my own feelings and my depth of faith. As music, it is a brilliant combination for vocal soloist, chorus, organ and orchestra, all at the height of their combined power. It may not be as big or as celebrated as much as his Requiem, but it is great in itself, and it must be heard!”

Our conductor commented that the playing of the Brahms Double Concerto at these concerts almost seems like an old family reunion

for him and for the soloists as well, all with important Cleveland Institute of Music backgrounds. Jahja Ling, of course, had been resident conductor of the great Cleveland Orchestra for many years, and he pointed out that Jeff Thayer was a student of that orchestra's concertmaster, William Preucil, as well as of Alisa Weilerstein’s father, Donald Weilerstein, at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Our maestro reminisced about Alisa Weilerstein, too, when he spoke about having founded the Cleveland Youth Orchestra, with a very young Alisa (then ten years old) sitting in the cello section. “I especially remember her passion sitting there, playing, when we played the Sibelius First Symphony. Bringing these two back together, uniting them to play this great music by Brahms, is almost miraculous. There is a lot of family feeling there, with a lot of similar tradition in common. For me, it's such a great pleasure...”

•••••••••••• Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto was first given at these concerts with Eudice Shapiro as violin soloist and Edgar Lustgarten as solo cellist. Earl Bernard Murray conducted those performances during the 1963-64 season. Most recently, Jahja Ling led the work during the 2010-11 season, featuring violinist William Preucil and cellist Eric Kim. That was the eighth time the piece was played at these concerts. The stupendous Te Deum

by Hector Berlioz had never been presented at these concerts before the current program. n

Thank You

to The Dow Divas! ………… …………

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra is pleased to recognize The Dow Divas for their 2015-16 Sponsorship of Guest Conductors Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Karina Canellakis.

President: Iris Strauss

Rusti Weiss Bartell

Lynda Kerr

Vice President: Karen Cohn

Barbara Bloom

Sheila Lipinsky

Treasurer: Sheryl White

Lee Clark

Mary Keough Lyman

Recording Secretary: Valerie Cooper

Dawn Gilman

Colette Carson Royston

Parliamentarian: Lee Goldberg

Jennifer Greenfield

Debra Turner

Joan Jacobs

Faye Wilson

Jeanne Jones

Lori Walton

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P20

SAN DIEGO MASTER CHORALE

2015-2016

Each Singer in the San Diego Master Chorale not only makes a significant donation of their time, but also makes a $200 annual donation to support ongoing operations of the organization. Bravo and Thank You!

SOPRANOS

Julie Ames Theodora Bellinger Sarah-Nicole Carter Aeria Chang Caroline Coggeshall Theresa Coggeshall Ellen Theresa Damore Sharon Davis Sarah Fields Jenn French Phyllis Graham Anita Hansen

Janice Hansen Patricia Hay Yoshiko HigarushiJensen Tatiana James Maria Kotsaftis Megan Latham Amy Long Ellen Meier Diana MoralesHernandez Lorraine Padden Jantina Perry

Emily Riggs Amanda Rines Darcy Shiber-Knowles Julie-Ann Sih Kara Stewart Julie Torres Libby Weber Naomi Valenzuela Molly Williams Nora Williams

ALTOS

Jane Baker Lyndsay Blurton Cali Bolyard Cindy Burnham Sarah Burns Bonnie Campbell-Davis Maureen Caton

SDMC Leadership

SDMC Donors

ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP

Vice President William Hatcher

PRODUCER’S CIRCLE $5,000+

Music Director John Russell

Treasurer Lowell Giffhorn

Associate Music Director Martin Green

Secretary Kara Stewart

Bruce and Pat Becker The Gomez Law Firm Imagenetix Intuit Payment Solutions Michael and Nancy Kaehr Dr. Gary McKercher Sibley L. and Susan Ward Jeff E. Wallin

Accompanist Bryan Verhoye Administrator Wendy Robinson Artistic Prod. and Personnel Mgr. Sara-Nicole Carter

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Stacey LeVasseur-Vasquez

Past President Loydene Keith

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Juan Acosta Theodora Bellinger Elaine Edelman Brandon Horrocks Barbara Killian Hal Meier John Russell Larry Sanders Merina Smith

BENEFACTOR’S CIRCLE $2,500 TO $4,999

Andrew Achterkirchen Elaine Balok Richard and Eileen Brown Guillermo Cabrera Wayne Cornelius

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015

Erin Decker Carla Dustin Elaine Edelman Donna Eshnaur Julia Falkowski Pris Hall Loydene Keith Mary Grace La Croix Wendy Lathrop Amanda Lautieri Stacey LeVasseur Christina Liu Sheila Macdonald Sue Marberry Carolyn Rollin Christine Rousseau Leslie Stringfellow Lynda Ramsey Christine Tripp

Pamela Wong Erin Wishek Evangelina Woo Annie Zhang

BASSES

TENORS

Tim Barnes Patrick Bowman Robert Bowman Noah Friedman Charles Graham John Hansen-Tarbox Joseph Kim Carlos Lewis Yo Oh Charles Ott Jayme Rubenstein Jim Stevenson Brett Watanabe

Trent Biggs Bill Burch Paul Chen Stephen Coggeshall Peter Cronin Tim Daly Matthew Fallseen Martin Green Bob Holst Brandon Horrocks Doug Martin Tim McClellan Gordon Shugars Robert Taylor Jeremy Toren Dirk Van Proyen

SDMC receives generous support from the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture

Robert and Janice Hansen Dr. James T. and Patricia Hay Loydene Keith

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE $1,000 TO $2,499

Lawrence and Elaine Alexander Jane and Philip Baker Cliff and Carolyn Colwell Jeannine Dahl-Fogel David and Barbara Groce William Hatcher Tom and Diane Higbee Robert K. Holst Becky Ivans Susan and John Marberry Patricia Maxwell Qualcomm

Stacey LeVasseur Vasquez Beatitude Aesthetic Medicine

PATRON’S CIRCLE $500 TO $999

John C. and Betty Joan Meyers Greg Frank Steven Moreen Jack and Judy Mowers Linda Musengo Donald Rau Laura Ravine Constance and Kent Reed Leslie Stringfellow Pat and Lea Ann Walker Helen E. Wagner

PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P21

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

PATRON INFORMATION TICKET OFFICE HOURS Jacobs Music Center Ticket Office (750 B Street) Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm Concert Tuesdays through Fridays: 10 am through intermission Concert Weekends: 12 noon through intermission

be allowed into the concert hall.

They must be held by an adult and may not occupy a seat, unless they have a ticket.

SUBSCRIPTIONS San Diego Symphony Orchestra offers an attractive array of subscription options.

Subscribers receive the best available seats and (for Traditional subscribers) free ticket exchanges (up to 48 hours in advance for another performance within your series). Other subscriber-only benefits include priority notice of special events and (for certain packages) free parking.

For more information, call the Ticket Office at 619.235.0804.

UNUSED TICKETS Please turn in unused subscription tickets for resale to the Ticket Office or by mailing them to 1245 7th Ave., San Diego, CA 92101 (Attn: Ticket Office). Tickets must be turned in anytime up to 24 hours in advance of your concert. A receipt will be mailed acknowledging your tax-deductible contribution.

TICKET EXCHANGE POLICY • Aficionado subscribers may exchange into most Winter series concerts for free! All exchanges are based on ticket availability.

• Traditional subscribers receive the best available seats and may exchange to another performance within their series for free. Build Your Own subscribers and Non-subscribers can do the same, with a $5 exchange fee per ticket.

• Exchanged tickets must be returned to the Ticket Office 24 hours prior to the concert by one of the following ways: In person, by mail (1245 Seventh Ave., San Diego, CA 92101, Attn: Ticket Office) or by fax (619.231.3848).

LOST TICKETS San Diego Symphony concert tickets can be reprinted at the Ticket Office with proper ID. GROUP SALES Discount tickets for groups are available for both subscription and non-subscription concerts (excluding outside events). For further information, please call 619.615.3941.

YOUNGER AUDIENCES POLICY Jacobs Masterworks, Classical Specials, and Chamber Music: No children under five years of age will be allowed into the concert hall.

Children five and older must have a ticket and be able to sit in an unaccompanied seat.

City Lights, Jazz @ The Jacobs, International Passport, Fox Theatre Film Series: No children under the age of two years will be allowed into the concert hall. Children two and older must have a ticket and be able to sit in a seat.

Family Festival Concerts: Children three years and older must have a ticket and be able to sit in a seat. Babies and children two years old and younger who are accompanied by a parent will

P32 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE

GIFT CERTIFICATES Gift certificates may be purchased in any amount at the Jacobs Music Center Ticket Office in person, online, by phone, or by mail.

They never expire!

Large-Print Programs: Large-print program notes are available for patrons at all Jacobs Masterworks concerts. Copies may be obtained from an usher.

PUBLIC RESTROOMS AND TELEPHONES Restrooms are located on the north and south ends of the upper lobby, and the north end of the lower lobby. An ADA compliant restroom is located on each floor. Please ask an usher for assistance at any time. Patrons may contact the nearest usher to facilitate any emergency telephone calls.

COUGH DROPS Complimentary cough suppressants are available to symphony patrons. Please ask our house staff for assistance.

QUIET ZONE Please turn all cellular and paging devices to the vibrate or off position upon entry into Symphony Hall. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated by fellow concertgoers and performers.

LOST & FOUND Report all lost and/or found items to your nearest usher. If you have discovered that you misplaced something after your departure from Jacobs Music Center, call the Facilities Department at 619.615.3909.

RECORDING DEVICES No unauthorized cameras or recording devices of any other kind are allowed inside the concert hall. Cell phone photography is not permitted.

PRE-CONCERT TALKS Patrons holding tickets to our Jacobs Masterworks Series concerts are invited to come early for “What’s The Score?” preperformance conversations beginning 45 minutes prior to all Jacobs Masterworks programs (Fridays and Saturdays, 7:15 pm; Sundays, 1:15 pm).

SMOKING POLICY Smoking is not permitted in Jacobs Music Center, its lobbies or the adjoining Symphony Towers lobby. Ashtrays can be found outside the building on both 7th Avenue and B Street.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND REFRESHMENTS Alcoholic beverages are available for sale in Jacobs Music Center lobbies before the concert and during intermission. Please have valid identification available and please drink responsibly. Refreshment bars offering snacks and beverages are located on both upper and lower lobbies for most events. Food and beverages are not allowed in performance chamber for concerts.

LATE SEATING Latecomers will be seated at an appropriate interval in the concert as determined by the house manager. We ask that you remain in your ticketed seat until the concert has concluded.

Should special circumstances exist or arise, please contact the nearest usher for assistance.

SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS Seating: ADA seating for both transfer and non-transfer wheelchairs, as well as restrooms, are available at each performance. Please notify the Ticket Office in advance at 619.235.0804, so that an usher may assist you.

Assistive Listening Devices: A limited number of hearing enhancement devices are available at no cost. Please ask an usher for assistance.

HALL TOURS Free tours of the Jacobs Music Center are given each month of the winter season. Check the “Jacobs Music Center” section of the website, or call 619.615.3955 for more details.

No reservations are necessary.

JACOBS MUSIC CENTER TICKET OFFICE 750 B Street (NE Corner of 7th and B, Downtown San Diego) San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619.235.0804 Fax: 619.231.3848 SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE 1245 7th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619.235.0800 Fax: 619.235.0005

Our Website: SanDiegoSymphony.com

Contact us to receive mailed or e-mailed updates about Orchestra events.

All artists, programs and dates are subject to change.

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WINTER SEASON DECEMBER 2015