yale philharmonia Peter Oundjian, Principal Conductor
Peter Oundjian principal conductor
Friday, January 18, 2019 | 7:30 p.m. Woolsey Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Program Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio II. Andante cantabile con moto III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace IV. Finale. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace
intermission
Dmitri Shostakovich 1906–1975
Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103, “The Year 1905” I. Adagio (The Palace Square) II. Allegro (The 9 th of January) III. Adagio (Eternal Memory) IV. Allegro non troppo (Tocsin)
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Artist Profiles
About the Yale Philharmonia
Peter Oundjian, principal conductor
The Yale Philharmonia 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.
Toronto-born conductor Peter Oundjian has been an instrumental figure in the rebirth of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since his appointment as Music Director in 2004. In addition to conducting the orchestra in dynamic performances that have achieved significant artistic acclaim, he has been greatly involved in a variety of new initiatives that have strengthened the ensemble’s presence in the community and attracted a young and diverse audience. In addition to his post in Toronto, from which he stepped down in 2018, Oundjian served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010 and played a major role at the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York between 1997 and 2007. In 2012 he was appointed Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Oundjian was the first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet, a position he held for fourteen years. Since 1981, he has been on the Yale School of Music faculty. He was awarded the School’s Samuel Simons Sanford Medal for distinguished service to music in 2013 and named Principal Conductor of the Yale Philharmonia in 2015. He is Professor (adjunct) of Music and Orchestral Conducting at the School of Music.
Performances include an annual series of concerts in Woolsey Hall, as well as Yale Opera productions in the Shubert Theatre. The Yale Philharmonia has also performed on numerous occasions in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Program Notes Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 Beethoven Patrick Campbell Jankowski In some respects, this symphony resembles the well-balanced, poised, and elegant qualities of any great Classical-era equivalent by Franz Joseph Haydn. In others, it is riotously weird and unmistakably the work of a young, clever, somewhat tempestuous, and decidedly rebellious composer. It has become cliché to point out how odd it was to recast the opening chord – hitherto in most symphonies a grand statement of tonic – as an unstable dominant resolving to the “wrong key,” taking us ever reluctantly to the home key of C major, but there it is. Odder still is the unpredictable assignment of instrumental voices taking up their motivic echoes. The sections and instruments are given unique independence, and their personalities as individuals shine through. Bassoon, flute, cellos, clarinet, violins... His choices keep us guessing. After a while, we give up wondering what will come and simply listen to what Beethoven invents. Here is music of instantaneous thought, carefully planned but with the spirit of improvisation. The insertion of an obsessive dotted figure in the “slow” second movement in the timpani and trumpets is surprisingly discomforting against the easygoing triplets in the solo flute and violins. The winds and lower strings tick-tock in a larger groove that disorients our sense of time. Perhaps all of this foreshadows the rhythmic experiments of later symphonies, such as the Seventh. In any case, this is unequivocally Beethoven. In the minuet’s trio section, atop
a pastorale wind chorale, the violins skitter around anxiously and disruptively. Not even this breath of musical fresh air is left undisturbed. The minuet is itself energized by a momentum that nearly breaks into the character of a scherzo. The opening of the final movement is an exercise in the absurd: a few moments of high drama that fade away in an instant. When it premiered at the turn of the nineteenth century in Vienna’s revered Burgtheater, it was joined by the works of Mozart and Haydn, including music from the latter’s oratorio on the creation of the universe. An arbitrary programming choice, surely... Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 Shostakovich Patrick Campbell Jankowski Shostakovich was no stranger to cinema. He wrote a number of film scores himself, and was a thoughtful contributor to the debate around exactly what movie music should be. Unlike a series of cues strung together, Shostakovish saw an ideal film score as exemplifying an “unbroken symphonic tone throughout,” which strengthen and heighten the emotions on screen. While his eleventh symphony has nothing to do with any real film, its cinematic qualities are clear. Its scenes are not hard to imagine: cold, lonely streets, empty city squares, figures in prayer, calamitous riots, the ominous march of an army, the clamorous tolling of bells from high atop church spires... These scenes, and even some of the folk-derived melodic material (a rare inclusion for the composer), would have resonatated particularly among Shostakovich’s audiences, although they have lost little of their impact over time.
Yale Philharmonia Spring 2019 Some believe that the Year 1905 designation is in fact a mask, and that the true impetus for the symphony was the 1956 uprising in Hungary, far more contemporaneous with the work’s composition. Such speculation is difficult to prove, but it is important to note that music is never written in a vacuum. Regardless of the true inspiration for the work, or of Shostakovich’s intentions to compose a memorial, a critique, or a warning, the symphony nevertheless embodies the horrors of totalitarianism, and the triumph of the human spirit over hardship. The austerity of its opening is made more profound by how long we are forced to endure its haunting stillness. That anxious calm makes the violent energy of the second and final movements all the more visceral. The sonority of bells is present from the outset: wide open octaves and fifths ring clear, occasionally jostled by grating half-steps. Lonely brass fanfares impart a sense of paranoia that grows throughout the entire symphony. As in a film score, Shostakovich introduces and revisits themes in later movements: the English Horn’s elegiac prayer in the final movement is foreshadowed by a chant-like theme at the very beginning. Atop an energetic bass clarinet line, the horns carry a chorale that echoes the brass from the top of the symphony, as the snare drum recalls militaristic menace, and the work ends in a brilliant wash of ringing bells. Looking back at the end of the symphony, you’ll find that Shostakovich has crafted a work of “unbroken symphonic tone:” here lies the musical accompaniment to the triumphs and horrors of real life.
feb 22
Philharmonia in Sprague he Yale Philharmonia performs T its annual concert in the intimate Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall. Kodály: Dances of Galánta; Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, with pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner; Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D major
APR 5
Carolyn Kuan, guest conductor Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man and Appalachian Spring (Suite from the Ballet); Plau: Concerto for Tuba and Strings, with tubist Jacob Fewx; Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
APR 26
Peter Oundjian, principal conductor Reinecke: Flute Concerto in D major, with flutist Jungah Yoon; Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Samplers 2018–2019 Season Samplers are still available for the 18–19 season. Save 10% off single-ticket prices when you purchase a Pick 3 package.
Yale Philharmonia Peter Oundjian, principal conductor Violin I Emily Switzer Ariel Horowitz Katherine Arndt Bora Kim Jessy Kim Max Yiming Mao Gregory Lewis Kyungah Oh Yejin Min Eva Wetzel Yejin Yoon Xiaofan Liu Cheuk Ching Tse Violin II Cameron Daly Julia Mirzoev Matthew Woodard Maura Scanlin Brandon Garbot Nuri Lim Lauren Bennett Jung Eun Kang Dongsoo Cha Anna Leunis Beatrice Hsieh Pei Wen Liao Viola Rimbo Wong Marta Lambert Rayna Chou Bethany Hargreaves Abigail Elder Rubina Lee Arjun Ganguly Minki Kim Minkyoung Lee Florrie Marshall Cello Anita Balazs Bo Bae Lee Megin Yip Harry Doernberg Sophie Yu Guilherme Nardelli Monegatto
Josephina Kim Ha Eun Song Samuel Walter Bass Kohei Yamaguchi Kelvin Ng Amy Nickler Samuel Zagnit Eric Timperman Ying-Yin Chia Flute Brendan Dooley 1 Jungah Yoon 2 Amir Farsi Piccolo Amir Farsi Oboe Lauren White 1 Shawn Hutchison 2 Elliot Lichtenberg Noah Kay Leonard Ziporyn English Horn Leonardo Ziporyn Clarinet Amy Hur 1 Richard Adger 2 Juan Martinez Bass Clarinet Juan Martinez Bassoon Ethan Lippert 1 Philip McNaughton 2 Kristy Tucker ContraBassoon Dana Brink french horn Griffin Botts 1 Steven Harmon 2
Antonia Chandler Esteban Garcia Nivanthi Karunaratne Stephen Newberry Trumpet Melissa Munoz 1 Eric Rizzo 2 Brian Garcia Rodriguez Oscar Mason Kenny Chauby tenor trombone Lyman McBride William Wortley bass trombone Jordan Crimminger tuba Aidan Zimmerman Timpani Arlo Shultis 1 YoungKyung Lee 2 Percussion Jisu Jung Kevin Zetina Russell Fisher Shiqi Zhong Arlo Shultis Harp Héloïse Carlean-Jones Anna Ellsworth
Manager Jeffrey M. Mistri Assistant Manager/ Librarian Samuel Bobinski philharmonia office assistant Kristy Tucker Music Librarians Antonia Chandler Brandon Garbot Bora Kim Marta Lambert Gregory Lewis Alex McLaughlin Leonardo Ziporyn Stage Crew Héloïse Carlean-Jones Cameron Daly Jisu Jung YoungKyoung Lee Gabriel Mairson Lucas Oliveira Arlo Shultis Andrew Sledge Russel Thompson Daniel Vaitkus Rimbo Wong Aidan Zimmerman 1 2
Celesta Christine Wu
rincipal on Beethoven P Principal on Shostakovich
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Upcoming Events jan 25 The Pat Martino Quintet Ellington Jazz Series Guitarist Pat Martino’s playing is at once intellectual and spiritual and marked by a sublime virtuosity. 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $22, students $10
feb 13 Roberto Prosseda, piano Horowitz Piano Series A performance by guest artist Roberto Prosseda, whom Gramophone has said “has a fiery and fluent technique.” 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $23, students $11
jan 29 Brentano String Quartet Oneppo Chamber Music Series The Brentano String Quartet, YSM’s outstanding ensemblein-residence, opens the second half of the season. 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $28, students $13
feb 15 Eugene Onegin feb 16 Yale Opera feb 17 Yale Opera presents a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with the Yale Philharmonia. fri & sat 8 pm | sun 2 pm Shubert Theater Tickets start at $19 • shubert.com
feb 3 Il flauto magico Collection of Musical Instruments The recorder ensemble Boreas Quartett Bremen performs works by Tallis, Byrd, Bach, and more, with guest artist Han Tol. 3 pm | Collection of Musical Inst. Tickets $30, Yale staff, seniors, museum associates $25, students $15
feb 22 Philharmonia in Sprague Yale Philharmonia The Yale Philharmonia performs its annual concert in the intimate Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall. 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $12, Yale faculty/ staff $8, students $5
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