Yale Philharmonia

THE PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA OF YALE o c t o b e r 1 6 , 2 0 15 · f rid ay, 7:30 pm · wools e y h all

Peter Oundjian, conductor

béla bartók

Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz. 113 I. Allegro non troppo II. Molto adagio III. Allegro assai

pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 I. Allegro moderato II. Canzonetta: Andante III. Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

Adelya Nartadjieva, violin Winner of the Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition Intermission

hector berlioz

Symphonie Fantastique, H. 48 I. Reveries — Passions II. A Ball III. Scene in the Country IV. March to the Scaffold V. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath

As a courtesy to others, please silence all cell phones and devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Robert Blocker, Dean

pro g ra m no tes

Béla Bartók » 1881–1945

Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz. 113 Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for String Orchestra occupies a peculiar place in the Hungarian composer’s oeuvre. Written in the midst of European turmoil and Hungarian cooperation with Nazi Germany, the music is relatively light and animated considering the dire circumstances in which it was conceived. A divertimento (from the Italian divertire) is an 18 th-century genre of amusing, generally frivolous dance or social music. Perhaps Bartók’s choice of title suggests that the lighthearted nature of the piece is intended to ‘divert’ from the political upheaval surrounding him.

Indeed, Bartók composed the work in a state of diversion, retreating from Hungary to his friend Paul Sacher’s secluded chalet in the Swiss Alps. There, he completed the approximately twenty-six minute composition in a mere two weeks.

Bartok embraced the divertimento genre by adhering to a neoclassical formal aesthetic and recalling the 18th-century concerto grosso through frequent alternation of solo and full ensemble playing. The first movement, Allegro non troppo, is a rhythmically driven sonata form.

Folk-like melodic material is supported by a dynamic pulse of accented eighth notes. The second movement, Molto adagio, is a slow, contemplative ternary form. It abandons the lighter harmonic language of the first movement for a dark, densely chromatic soundscape.

This harmonic density gives way to a benign and luscious bed of fourths and fifths that recontextualize the initial chromatic theme.

The third movement, Allegro assai, is a lively, modified rondo form based on folk-like dance melodies and playful interchange between soloists and full ensemble.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky » 1840–1893 Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major endures not only as one of the most celebrated concerti of the Western canon, but also as evidence that disastrous circumstances can sometimes yield favorable results: Tchaikovsky composed the work while escaping (literally) from his impulsive marriage to Antonia Milyukova, a former student, in the summer of 1877. After only three months of dysfunctional union, hastily instigated by Tchaikovsky in order to quell rumors about his homosexuality, he fled his residence in

Moscow for St. Petersburg, practicing the 19thcentury equivalent of couchsurfing with various friends and family around Europe.

In March, Tchaikovsky settled briefly in Clarens, Switzerland, and was visited by a violinist and former student, Iosif Kotek. Playing through Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole (a violin concerto in all but the title) with Kotek supposedly delighted and inspired Tchaikovsky so much that he completed a draft of his own violin concerto in just eleven days. The concerto is an abundant, effusive display of lyrical outpouring.

Unfortunately, the dedicatee of the piece, virtuoso violinist Leopold Auer, did not agree, famously declaring the work “unplayable.”

When the piece was finally premiered in 1881 by a young violinist named Adolf Brodsky, the performance was under-rehearsed, illreceived, and condemned by the influential critic Eduard Hanslick as “music that stinks to the ear.” Thankfully, the music, not the critic, had the final say in its livelihood.

The first movement, Allegro, is an impressive display of melodic affluence, a virtuosic feat for both performer and composer. The delicate and nostalgic Canzonetta which follows ultimately yields to a rustic, bombastic rondo, Allegro vivacissimo finale.

The folk-influenced dance finds momentary respite in an expressive duet between the woodwinds and the solo violin before racing ferociously to a close.

— Katherine Balch

Hector Berlioz » 1803–1869

Symphonie Fantastique, H. 48 Few compositions have come to epitomize the essence of a composer as Symphonie Fantastique has come to symbolize Berlioz. Subtitled “An Episode in the Life of an Artist,” the piece reflects the increasingly literary concerns of 19th-century music. Composed “furiously,” with the composer’s mind “boiling over,” the work was premiered in Paris in 1830, to a surprisingly moderate though generally positive critical reception. This work dates from only three years after the death of Beethoven.

First impressions of Berlioz’s symphony suggest a world of difference between the two composers.

Yet Berlioz’s debt to Beethoven was profound, and his most strikingly innovative music was made possible by the older master’s legacy.

But rather than falling victim to Harold Bloom’s “anxiety of influence,” Berlioz reacted optimistically, reinterpreting and capitalizing on these aesthetic developments. Among the radical qualities of the Symphonie fantastique is an entirely original approach to orchestration.

Berlioz’s shift in emphasis towards a programmatic style encouraged him to harness the orchestra’s coloristic resources extravagantly and freely. He also introduced instruments from the opera house and military band that soon became permanent members of the orchestra: the English horn, E-flat clarinet, harps, bells, and other percussion, not to mention the obnoxious and now largely defunct ophicleide, a kind of keyed bass-bugle whose part is now usually played by the tubas.

Most important is the extent to which the programmatic element defines the musical narrative. For the first performance, Berlioz provided an outline of the plot: the lovesick hero (himself) is plagued by images of his beloved and troubled by the peculiar spiritual sickness once described as “le vague des passions.” He finds himself in several unrelated settings, including nature, balls, and towns.

Yet he is constantly visited by her image, accompanied by various extreme emotional reactions. In the third movement, disillusionment sets in. He poisons himself with opium to assuage the anguish of unrequited love. Delirium sets in, and he descends into the horrific dream world of the fourth and fifth movements.

To create dramatic coherence, Berlioz employs a novel organizing device throughout the symphony called the idée fixe. It begins as a graceful melodic idea, first heard in the soaring violin and flute line immediately after the slow introduction of the first movement.

This melody is of vital structural and programmatic significance, the theme that represents Harriet Smithson, the object of Berlioz’s affection. The idée fixe recurs in each movement, transformed according to the changes of mood and character suggested by the program.

The first movement, “Rêveries—Passions,” is cast in a sonata form with an overwhelming sense of fantasy. The second movement is a waltz with the middle portion devoted to the idée fixe. This movement functions as the symphony’s scherzo. The slow movement, as in Beethoven’s sixth symphony, is a pastoral setting that includes thunder (sounded by the timpani) and shepherd pipers. Here Berlioz represents the dialogue and echo of Alpenhorns

using a Swiss cowherd’s horn call (English horn and offstage oboe). The idée fixe appears in the oboe and flute in this movement.

During the fourth movement, the man dreams that he has killed his beloved and is condemned, marched to the guillotine, and executed. At the conclusion of this “March to the Scaffold,” the clarinet reminds us of the beloved’s theme just before the slam of a guillotine, the thump of a head falling into a basket, and the cheers of a crowd.

The finale is the apotheosis of the work. During this “Witches’ Sabbath,” the hero envisions his own funeral, with a requiem in the form of a burlesque. The C and E-flat clarinets caricature the idée fixe, representing its satanic transformation in the witches dance. Bells toll solemnly; violas and oboe attempt to start a dance, only to be silenced. The ominous melody of the Dies irae, from the mass for the dead, is heard, followed by low strings announcing an ironically academic fugue.

This is the round dance of the witches. These themes ultimately combine in a portrayal of religious alienation and death. The diabolical sounds include the strings playing col legno (with the wood of the bow), a bone-rattling sound that helps evoke a macabre scene. The music rushes headlong to its conclusion as the Dies irae and idée fixe collide and collapse into each other in an orgiastic orchestral implosion.

– Liam Viney, ed. Dana Astmann

a rt i st p rofiles

Adelya Nartadjieva, violin Adelya Nartadjieva is a classical violinist who is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music under Professor Hyo Kang. She previously studied at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music with a full scholarship under Professor Qian Zhou. Upon completion of her studies, she received her degree with First Class Honours and the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal as the best student throughout the course of study.

Adelya began learning the violin at the age of six and gave her first solo concert, with the Chamber Orchestra of Uzbekistan, after only nine months of study. Ever since, Adelya has been performing with various chamber and symphony orchestras in Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Asia, and Europe.

A prizewinner of various international competitions, Adelya has worked with many internationally acclaimed artists and distinguished teachers such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Vadim Repin, Midori Goto, Renaud Capucon, and Catherine Cho. Adelya is currently playing an Andrea Cortese 1918 violin on generous loan from the Rin Collection.

Peter Oundjian, conductor A dynamic presence in the conducting world, Toronto-born conductor Peter Oundjian is renowned for his probing musicality, collaborative spirit, and engaging personality.

Oundjian’s appointment as Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) in 2004 reinvigorated the orchestra with numerous recordings, tours, and acclaimed innovative programming as well as extensive audience growth, thereby significantly strengthening the ensemble’s presence in the world.

He recently led the TSO on a tour of Europe which included a sold-out performance at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the first performance of a North American orchestra at Reykjavik’s Harpa Hall.

Oundjian was appointed Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) in 2012. Under his baton, the orchestra has enjoyed several successful tours including one to China, and has continued its relationship with Chandos Records. This season, Oundjian and the RSNO opened the Edinburgh Festival

with the innovative Harmonium Project to great critical and audience acclaim.

Few conductors bring such musicianship and engagement to the world’s great podiums— from Berlin, Amsterdam, and Tel Aviv, to New York, Chicago, and Sydney. He has also appeared at some of the great annual gatherings of musicians and music-lovers: from the BBC Proms and the Prague Spring Festival, to the Edinburgh Festival and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Mozart Festival, where he was Artistic Director from 2003 to 2005.

Oundjian was Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010 and Artistic Director of the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York between 1997 and 2007. Since 1981, he has been a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music, and in 2013 he was awarded the school’s Sanford Medal for distinguished service to music.

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ab o ut yale p h ilharmonia

The Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale is one of America’s foremost music school ensembles. The largest performing group at the Yale School of Music, the Philharmonia offers superb training in orchestral playing and repertoire.

Performances include an annual series of concerts in Woolsey Hall, as well as Yale Opera productions in the Shubert Performing Arts Center. The Yale Philharmonia has also performed on numerous occasions in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2008, the orchestra undertook its first tour of Asia with acclaimed performances in the Seoul Arts Center, the Forbidden City Concert Hall and National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing), and the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

peter oundjian Principal Conductor philharmonia staff andrew w. parker Manager roberta senatore Assistant Manager heejung park Assistant Conductor

The Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale violin i Tzu Ti Chang Julia Ghica Diomedes Saraza Jr. Ludomil Wojtowski Linda Lee Celia Zhang Sophia Mockler Jing Yang Manaka Matsumoto Inyounh Hwang Moon Joo kim Dae Hee Ahn Jiwon Sun Yurie Mitsuhashi violin ii Ruda Lee Do Hyung Kim Elliot Lee Ye Hyung Chung Kyung Min Lee Marianne Di Tomaso Suyoun Han Hynjae Bae Wynton Grant Elly Toyoda Mari Oka Yefim Romanov viola Daniel Stone Wei Peng Ryan David Joshua Newburger Hee-Sun Yang Ye in Son Julia Clancy Yang Li Ai Ching Huang Alexandra Simpson

cello Yoonha Yi Chang Pan Mingyao Zhao Eric Adamshick Jiyoung Choi Nayeon Kim James Rosamilia Pall Kalmansson Yeji Yoo Hyunjeong Kwak bass Joshua DePoint Levi Jones Will Robbins Erez Meyuhass Lee Starovich Luke Stence Kaden Henderson Samuel Suggs flute Meera Gudipati 2 Andrew Robson 3 oboe Winona van Alstyne 2 Ron Cohen Mann * Lydia Consilvio Ross Garton Michelle Nguyen 3 clarinet Sam Boutris 3 Jesse McCandless 2

bassoon Matthew Gregoire Hanul Park 2 Cornelia Sommer Yen-Chen Wu 3 horn Chuta Chulavalaivong 3 Reese Farnell Sarah Ford 2 Cody Halquist Valerie Sly Joshua Thompson trumpet Aaron Plourde 3 Jonathan Shadle Andrew Stadler 2 Daniel Venora trombone Omar Dejesus 3 Alexander Walden Johnathan Weisgerber tuba John Leibensperger 3 Adam Crowe timpani Yifei Fu Kramer Milan 3 Jeffrey Stern 2 percussion Matthew Keown Jeffrey Stern Se Um harp Noël Wan 3 Shin Young Yu

2 Principal on Tchaikovsky 3 Principal on Berlioz * Offstage solo philharmonia assistants Andrew Robson music librarians Krists Auznieks Natasha Huang Bora Kim Yefim Romanov Valerie Sly Hanna Yukho Tiange Zhou stage crew Eric Braley Maria Chlebus Lydia Consilvio Julia Ghica Reese Farnell Matthew Keown John Kossler Richard Liverano Noël Wan