rotterdam philharmonic orchestra

UMS PRESENTS
ROTTERDAM
PHILHARMONIC
ORCHESTRA
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Music Director
Hélène Grimaud
Piano
Thursday Evening, February 19, 2015 at 7:30
Hill Auditorium • Ann Arbor
47th Performance of the 136th Annual Season
136th Annual Choral Union Series
Photo: Yannick Nézet-Séguin; photographer: Marco Borggreve.
3
UMS
PROGRAM
Maurice Ravel
Ma Mère L’Oye (Mother Goose Suite)
Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant (Pavane of Sleeping Beauty)
Petit Poucet (Tom Thumb)
Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes (Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas)
Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête (Conversations of the Beauty and the Beast)
Le Jardin Féerique (The Enchanted Garden)
Ravel
Concerto for Piano in G Major
Allegramente
Adagio assai
Presto
Ms. Grimaud
WINTER 2015
I N T E R M I SSI O N
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in e minor, Op. 64
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Andante — Allegro con anima
Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza
Valse: Allegro moderato
Finale: Andante maestoso — Allegro vivace
4
Tonight’s performance is hosted by Randall and Nancy Faber and the Faber Piano Institute, and by
Ken and Penny Fischer.
Endowed support from the Mary R. Romig-deYoung Endowment Fund.
Media partnership is provided by WGTE 91.3 FM, WRCJ 90.9 FM, and Ann Arbor’s 107one.
Special thanks to Daniel Herwitz, Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of Comparative Literature, History of Art,
Philosophy, and Art & Design at the University of Michigan, for speaking at this evening’s Prelude Dinner.
Special thanks to Tom Thompson of Tom Thompson Flowers, Ann Arbor, for his generous contribution of
lobby floral art for this evening’s concert.
Special thanks to Kipp Cortez for coordinating the pre-concert music on the Charles Baird Carillon.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra appears by arrangement with Columbia Artist Management, LLC.
Get ready to be enchanted by a world of fairy tales, delighted by a brilliant European
re-imagination of American jazz, and, finally, agitated, soothed, caressed, and shaken
by the complex emotional journey that is a Romantic symphony. Ravel’s “coolness”
and Tchaikovsky’s heart-on-the-sleeve intensity complement each other perfectly.
Taken together, they represent some of the myriad ways in which music can reflect
human experience — whether by responding to stories and to other people’s music, or
by attempting to make sense of human strivings, human suffering, and triumph at a
level words can never reach. What’s more, great composers can accomplish all this in a
manner that seems effortless to the listener, no matter how much hard work went into
the composition. If listening to music is indeed a journey, it is not an exhausting one — it
is, rather, exciting, inspirational, and joyful.
Ma Mère l’Oye
(Mother Goose Suite) (1908–1911)
Maurice Ravel
Born March 7, 1875 in Ciboure, France
Died December 28, 1937 in Paris
S N A P S H O T S O F H I S T O R Y… I N 1 9 1 1 :
•Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is stolen from the
Louvre Museum in Paris
•The Michigan stage flag is adopted by Public Act 209
•The Lincoln Memorial Commission is established to
find an ideal site for the proposed Lincoln Memorial
•The first official air mail flight takes place in India
•Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire
Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose has
nothing to do with the famous collection
of English nursery rhymes. This Mother
Goose (or Ma Mère l’Oye) is French, and
has been known for her fairy tales since
the late 17th century. In 1697, Charles
Perrault (1628–1703) collected some
old and new tales in a book that became
known popularly as Mother Goose; his
collection contained, among others, the
stories of Sleeping Beauty and Little Red
Riding Hood.
WINTER 2015
UMS premiere: Detroit Symphony
Orchestra under the baton of Victor Kolar,
December 1923 in Hill Auditorium.
Ravel was inspired by Perrault’s
collection and other fairy tales when, in
1908, he decided to write a short suite for
piano duet, intended as a gift for Mimi and
Jean Godebski, the children of his friends
Cipa and Ida Godebski. He orchestrated
the suite in 1911, and subsequently
expanded it into a ballet score. However,
the work is more often performed in
the original suite form, consisting of the
orchestrations of the five movements for
piano duet.
“Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant”
(Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty): The
Pavane is a slow dance of Spanish origin
to which Ravel had first turned in his
early Pavane for a Dead Princess. This
new Pavane is rather brief, consisting of a
single motif, soft and delicate, repeated by
various instruments of the orchestra.
“Petit Poucet” (Tom Thumb): The
score is preceded by a short excerpt from
Perrault’s story:
BE PRESENT
N O W T H AT Y O U ’ R E I N Y O U R S E AT…
He thought he would be able to find the
path easily by means of the bread he had
strewn wherever he had walked. But he
was quite surprised when he couldn’t find
a single crumb; the birds had come and
eaten them all.
5
UMS
WINTER 2015
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
6
Tom Thumb’s wanderings are
depicted here by a steady motion in
eighth notes in the strings, over which
the woodwind play a quiet “walking”
melody. The birds referred to in the story
are indicated by a solo violin playing
harmonic glissandos against a twittering
flute and piccolo.
“Laideronnette, Impératrice des
pagodes” (Laideronnette, Empress of
the Pagodas): The story on which this
movement was based was written by
the Countess d’Aulnoy, a contemporary
of Perrault. The heroine is a beautiful
princess who was made ugly by a wicked
witch. She travels to a distant country
inhabited by tiny, munchkin-like people
called “pagodes.” (Eventually, as one might
expect, she is restored to her original
beauty and finds her Prince Charming.)
As in the previous movement, Ravel
concentrated on a single image from the
story, and he wrote it down at the head of
the score:
She undressed and got into the bath.
Immediately the pagodes and pagodesses
began to sing and to play instruments.
Some had theorbos (large lutes) made from
walnut shells; some had viols made from
almond shells; for the instruments had to
be of a size appropriate to their own.
The music is a study in turn-ofthe-century Orientalism, with a lively
pentatonic melody (playable on the black
keys of the piano), colorfully orchestrated.
In a more serious middle section, Little
Homely dances with the Green Serpent
(who will turn out to be Prince Charming,
also disguised by an evil spell). The dance
of the “pagodes” then returns.
“Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la
Bête” (Conversations of the Beauty and
the Beast): This story is very well known,
but few actually remember the name of
its author, Marie Leprince de Beaumont
(1757). Again, the words that are relevant
to the music are reprinted in the score:
“When I think of your good heart, you
don’t seem so ugly.”
“Oh, I should say so! I have a good heart, but
I am a monster.”
“There are many men who are more
monstrous than you.”
“If I were witty I would pay you a great
compliment to thank you, but I am only a
beast.”
...
“Beauty, would you like to be my wife?”
“No, Beast!”
...
“I die happy because I have the pleasure of
seeing you once again.”
“No, my dear Beast, you shall not die. You
shall live to become my husband.”
... The Beast had disappeared, and
she beheld at her feet a prince more
handsome than Amor, who was thanking
her for having lifted his spell.
The movement is in the tempo of a slow
waltz. The Beauty is represented by the
clarinet, the Beast by the contrabassoon.
The two instruments take turns at first,
and then join in a duet that becomes more
and more impassioned. After a fortissimo
climax and a measure of silence, an
expressive violin solo (with harmonics)
brings the movement back to its original
tempo as the Beast is transformed into a
handsome prince.
“Le Jardin Féerique” (The Enchanted
Garden): This movement does not seem
to be based on any particular fairy tale.
It is a celebration of the splendor of this
miraculous garden, where the sun never
goes down and everyone lives a blessed and
happy life. The music is a single crescendo
from a soft and low string sonority to a
veritable feast of sound, resplendent with
harp, celesta, and glockenspiel.
Ravel
UMS premiere: Pianist Pierre-Laurent
Aimard with the Orchestre de Paris under
the baton of Christoph Eschenbach,
January 2002 in Hill Auditorium.
S N A P S H O T S O F H I S T O R Y… I N 1 9 3 1 :
•Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gives a speech calling
for rapid industrialization, arguing that only strong
industrialized countries will win wars while “weak”
nations are “beaten”
•The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the
US national anthem
•Nevada legalizes gambling
•Construction of the Empire State Building is
completed in New York City
•John Haven Emerson of Cambridge, Massachusetts
perfects his negative pressure ventilator (“iron
lung”) just in time for the growing polio epidemic
WINTER 2015
Some of the most original piano music
in the first half of the 20th century was
written by Maurice Ravel. In the early
Jeux d’eau (1901) and the great cycles
Miroirs (1904–05) and Gaspard de la nuit
(1908), Ravel developed what he himself
called “a special type of writing for the
piano,” and he defended his priority
against critics who tried to trace his style
to that of Debussy.
Himself a highly competent pianist,
Ravel was a frequent performer of his
own music (his performances survive on
record). Thus, it is not entirely surprising
that he should want to write a concerto;
what is surprising is that it took him so
long to do so.
As a matter of fact, Ravel toyed
with the idea as early as 1906, according
to biographer Arbie Orenstein. He was
then thinking about a concerto based
on Basque themes, from Ravel’s native
region in the Pyrénées. The projected
work even had a title: Zaspiak-Bat, which
means “The Seven Are One” in the Basque
language — an allusion to the unity of the
four Spanish and three French Basque
provinces. But Zaspiak-Bat seems never
to have progressed beyond the stage of
initial sketches; World War I intervened,
and Ravel, who had enlisted for military
duty, complained in a letter to a friend:
“Impossible to continue Zaspiak-Bat, the
documents having remained in Paris.”
Instead, the composer took up other
projects, and the concerto plans remained
on the back burner until the late 1920s.
It was in 1928, after his American
tour, that he began seriously to think
about a concerto again. In the wake of this
tour — and the recent, wildly successful
première of Boléro — Ravel wanted to
make the most of his popularity, and
decided to return to the concert stage as
a pianist, as his friend Igor Stravinsky
had done a few years earlier. His work
on a piano concerto was interrupted by
Paul Wittgenstein’s commission to write
a concerto for the left hand only. Ravel
worked on both concertos more or less
at the same time. Asked by music critic
Michel D. Calvocoressi to compare the
two pieces, Ravel made the following
statement:
BE PRESENT
Concerto for Piano in G Major (1931)
Planning the two piano concertos
simultaneously was an interesting
experience. The one in which I shall
appear as the interpreter is a concerto in
the truest sense of the word: I mean that
it is written very much in the same spirit
as those of Mozart and Saint-Saëns. The
music of a concerto should, in my opinion,
be light-hearted and brilliant, and not
aim at profundity or at dramatic effects.
It has been said of certain great classics
that their concertos were written not “for”
but “against” the piano. I heartily agree.
I had intended to entitle this concerto
“Divertissement.” Then it occurred to me
that there was no need to do so, because
the very title “Concerto” should be
sufficiently clear.
7
UMS
WINTER 2015
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
8
The concerto for left hand alone is very
different. It contains many jazz effects, and
the writing is not so light. In a work of this
kind, it is essential to give the impression
of a texture no thinner than that of a
part written for both hands. For the same
reason, I resorted to a style that is much
nearer to that of the more solemn kind of
traditional concerto.
One has to understand Ravel’s way
of thinking to unravel some of the puzzles
contained in this statement. One might be
surprised by the implication that Mozart’s
concertos are without “profundity”
or “dramatic effects.” Ravel, however,
understood those terms in a very specific
way, and the real meaning of his remark
was something he left unsaid. By the “great
classics” whose concertos are “against the
piano” he probably meant Brahms (and
possibly Tchaikovsky), whose expansive
Romanticism he had been at pains to avoid.
He had boundless admiration for Mozart,
as had, among French composers before
him, Camille Saint-Saëns; by mentioning
these two names, Ravel defined an artistic
lineage for himself and, by the same token,
implicitly distanced himself from the
Beethoven-Wagner-Franck-d’Indy line
with which he was out of sympathy.
Ravel emphasized his debt to Mozart
in the Piano Concerto in G Major, but there
are also many signs of jazz influence in the
piece, particularly in the first movement.
Ravel had been interested in jazz since the
early 1920s when it first became the rage
in the Parisian clubs that he frequented.
He had included a “Blues” movement in
his Sonata for Violin and Piano, written
between 1923 and 1927. His enthusiasm
grew considerably, however, after his visit
to the US. At a party given in New York
in honor of his 53rd birthday, Ravel met
George Gershwin, of whose Rhapsody in
Blue (1924) he was very fond. Gershwin
asked Ravel to take him on as a pupil, but
Ravel declined, saying, “You would only lose
the spontaneous quality of your melodies
and end up writing bad Ravel.”
The first movement has many of
the trappings of classical sonata form: a
succession of contrasting themes, and a
clearly recognizable moment at which the
recapitulation begins. But the emphasis, as
always with Ravel, is not so much on motivic
development as on the juxtaposition of
self-contained melodies. The first one of
these melodies is introduced by the piccolo
in a very fast tempo; the piano accompanies
it with lively figurations. This theme has
been said to suggest a Basque folk melody:
it probably contains material from the
abandoned Zaspiak-Bat concerto. After this
first theme, the tempo slows down, and the
high-pitched E-flat clarinet plays the first of
several jazz-related motifs. The movement,
which remained true to Ravel’s original
“Divertissement” idea, has a magnificent
piano cadenza at the end, preceded by
two other striking solo passages: one for
the harp, and one in which one woodwind
instrument after another plays virtuoso
flourishes against the sustained melody of
the first horn.
The second movement opens with
a long, expressive piano solo. It is a single
uninterrupted phrase that goes on for more
than three minutes; after a while, the piano
is joined by the flute, oboe, and clarinet.
There is a middle section where the piano
plays in a faster motion against the slowmoving melodies in the orchestra. The
initial long phrase then returns, played by
the English horn, and accompanied by the
crystalline 32nd notes of the piano. Ravel
said that he had modeled this movement
on the “Larghetto” from Mozart’s Clarinet
Quintet (K. 581); the connection is subtle,
but can be clearly heard in the softly moving
long phrases in 3/4 time and the rich
ornamentation of the melodic lines.
The last movement is a lively romp in
perpetual motion. Like the first movement,
it is a cavalcade of themes including
(1888) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia
Died November 6, 1893 in St. Petersburg
UMS premiere: Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra under the baton of Victor Herbert,
November 1902 in University Hall.
Despite his growing international fame,
Tchaikovsky was constantly plagued
by self-doubt. Early in 1888, he went on a
three-month European tour, conducting
his own works with some of the world’s
finest orchestras, was fêted in Leipzig,
Paris, London, and Prague, and made the
acquaintance of Dvor
˘ák, Grieg, and Mahler.
Yet his private life was not free from
turmoil. One of his closest friends, Nikolai
Kondratyev, died in the summer of 1887
in Aachen, Germany — in the composer’s
arms. Tanya and Vera Davydova, two of his
favorite nieces, also died the same year. It
must have been hard to escape the thought
that life was a constant struggle against
Fate, a hostile force attempting to thwart all
human endeavors.
After his return from abroad,
Tchaikovsky decided to write a
new symphony, his first in 10 years.
Characteristically, the first sketches of
the new work, made on April 15, 1888,
include a verbal program portraying the
individual’s reactions in the face of this
immutable destiny, involving stages of
resignation, challenge, and triumph:
Introduction. Complete resignation
before Fate, or, which is the same,
before the inscrutable predestination of
Providence. Allegro. (1) Murmurs of doubt,
complaints, reproaches against XXX. (2)
Shall I throw myself in the embraces of
faith??? A wonderful program, if only it
can be carried out.
WINTER 2015
Symphony No. 5 in e minor, Op. 64
S N A P S H O T S O F H I S T O R Y… I N 1 8 8 8 :
•Handel’s Israel in Egypt is recorded onto wax
cylinder at The Crystal Palace in London, the
earliest known recording of classical music
•George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak,
and receives a patent for his camera which uses
roll film
•The Washington Monument officially opens to the
general public in Washington, DC
•During a bout of mental illness, Vincent van Gogh
infamously cuts off the lower part of his own left
ear in a brothel and is removed to the local hospital
in Arles
•The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated
BE PRESENT
allusions to marches, dances, and folk songs,
and containing some jazzy “smears” in the
trombones and demanding solos for the
woodwinds. The hijinks continue until the
timpani and the bass drum put an abrupt
end to the music.
As he said in the statement quoted
above, Ravel was planning to play the piano
part in his concerto himself. Sadly, he was
prevented from doing so by the onset of his
illness which proved fatal. He developed
a progressively incapacitating nervous
disorder that made it impossible for him
to play the piano, though in 1932, he could
still conduct. He entrusted the solo part to
Marguerite Long, a great pianist who had
been a close friend and dedicated performer
of his works for many years, and they took
the concerto on tour in some 20 European
cities. In January 1933, Ravel conducted
the premiere of his Concerto for the Left
Hand, and shortly afterwards finished the
three songs Don Quichotte à Dulcinée for
voice and orchestra. But soon he was no
longer able to read music or sign his name,
much less to compose (though his hearing,
his musical judgment, and his intelligence
in general remained unimpaired). The
Piano Concerto in G Major remained Ravel’s
penultimate composition, a fact belied by
the work’s freshness and youthful vigor.
One may understand Ravel’s distress when,
in the last year of his life and gravely ill, he
burst into tears: “I still have so much music in
my head. I have said nothing. I have so much
more to say.”
9
UMS
WINTER 2015
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
10
Tchaikovsky never made this
program public, however, and in one of his
letters even went out of his way to stress
that the symphony had no program.
Clearly, the program was an intensely
personal matter to him, in part because
he was reluctant openly to acknowledge
his homosexuality, which seemed to
him one of the hardest manifestations
of the Fate he was grappling with. Many
people believe this is what the mysterious
“XXX” in the sketch stands for. (In his
diaries, Tchaikovsky often referred to his
homosexuality as “Z” or “That.”)
What, if anything, are we to make of
all this? Should we listen to Tchaikovsky’s
Symphony No. 5 as a program symphony?
And anyway, how concerned should we
be about thoughts the composer never
wanted to divulge, especially those
regarding his sexual orientation?
It is certain that the “program”
had a deep influence on Tchaikovsky’s
thinking during the gestation period
of Symphony No. 5; without it, the
symphony would not be what it is (in
particular, the opening theme — the
“Fate theme” — wouldn’t return so
ominously in all four movements). At
the same time, the “program” in itself is
insufficient to explain the finished work
as the “meaning” of many other themes
is by no means always clear. Moreover,
Tchaikovsky had already written a “Fate”
symphony in his Symphony No. 4, for
which a more detailed program survives.
The similarities of the two programs do
little to explain the great differences
between the two works. (The program of
Symphony No. 4 is problematic in itself: no
sooner had Tchaikovsky written it down in
a letter to Mme. von Meck than he found it
hopelessly “confused and incomplete.…”)
As for the last question: while we obviously
shouldn’t be too preoccupied with a
composer’s most private thoughts and
feelings, in Tchaikovsky’s case we can’t
completely ignore them either, since there
is ample evidence to suggest that he was
both unable and unwilling to separate his
extra-musical preoccupations from his
composing.
The four movements of
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 are
linked by a common theme, usually
played by the brass instruments and
apparently symbolizing the threatening
power of Fate. English musicologist
Gerald Abraham noted that this theme
was taken almost literally from an aria
in Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar, in
which it was sung to the words “Ne
svodi na gore” (Do not turn to sorrow).
The theme is heard in the “Andante”
introduction of the first movement, soon
to be followed by a more lyrical, lilting
idea as we move into the faster “Allegro
con anima” tempo. (The accompaniment
of the “fate” motif, however, remains
present as a stern reminder.) The entire
movement swings back and forth
between lyrical and dramatic moments.
We would expect it to end with the final
fortissimo climax. Instead, the volume
gradually decreases to a whisper. The
mysterious last measures are scored for
the lowest-pitched instruments in the
orchestra: bassoons, cellos, double basses,
and timpani.
The second movement is lyrical and
dream-like, suggesting a brief respite
from the struggle. The first horn plays
a beautiful singing melody, eventually
joined by the full orchestra. A second idea,
in a slightly faster tempo, is introduced
by the clarinet. Soon, however, an intense
crescendo begins that culminates in the
fortissimo entrance the Fate theme. The
first theme returns, again interrupted
by Fate; only after this second dramatic
outburst does the music finally find its
long-desired rest.
The third movement is a graceful
waltz with a slightly more agitated middle
of the scale that serves as the opposite pole
to the tonic, i.e. the keynote). There have
been performances where some people
mistakenly thought that the piece was
over and started applauding. The final
resolution, however, is yet to come, in the
form of a majestic reappearance of the Fate
theme and a short presto where all “doubts,
complaints, and reproaches” are cast aside
and, against all odds, the symphony receives
the triumphant ending it needs.
BE PRESENT
section. Again we expect a respite from
the fate theme and the emotional drama
it represents. Yet before the movement is
over, there is a short reminder, subdued
yet impossible to ignore, scored for the
clarinets and bassoons.
In the “Finale,” Tchaikovsky seems to
have taken the bull by the horns: the Fate
theme dominates the entire movement,
despite the presence of a number of
contrasting themes. At the end of a
grandiose development, the music comes
to a halt on the dominant (the fifth degree
Program notes by Peter Laki.
ARTISTS
B
concerts in London, Paris, Vienna,
New York, Toronto, Tokyo, and Beijing.
Additionally, they have embarked upon
a series of much-lauded recordings,
including an internationally awarded
recording of works by Maurice Ravel for
EMI Classics and numerous recordings
for Deutsche Grammophon. Furthermore,
Maestro Nézet-Séguin and the Rotterdam
Philharmonic have combined their
versatility in projects ranging from operas
to family shows and from subscription
concerts to community projects.
Maestro Nézet-Séguin’s upcoming
schedule with the Rotterdam
Philharmonic is comprised of a muchanticipated tour of the US (February 2015),
Zürich, Geneva, St Gallen, Lugano, and
Vienna (April 2016), and the continuance
of the orchestra’s residency in the Paris
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
WINTER 2015
orn in Montreal in 1975,
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN
has been music director of the
Rotterdam Philharmonic since 2008.
He received his first piano lessons at the
age of five. At the Montreal conservatory
he studied piano, composition, chamber
music, and orchestral conducting. At
the same time he was trained in choral
conducting at the Westminster Choir
College in Princeton, New Jersey. After his
graduation he continued his studies with
some of the greatest conductors, among
them to be Carlo Maria Giulini.
In 2000, Maestro Nézet-Séguin was
appointed artistic leader and principal
conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain
du Grand Montréal, a position that he
still holds. The same year, he conducted
his first opera production. In 2005 he
made his debut with the Rotterdam
Philharmonic where he was appointed
as music director. He also acts as music
director of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
As a guest conductor, he has worked with
all major orchestras worldwide and has
conducted operas in the most prestigious
theatres.
Maestro Nézet-Séguin and the
Rotterdam Philharmonic have had
numerous successful tours, including
T
h e
R O T T E R D A M
PHILHARMONIC ranks among
Europe’s foremost orchestras,
being internationally known for the
intense energy of its performances, its
acclaimed recordings, and its innovative
audience approach. With performances
from the local venues to concert halls
11
H
Photo: Mat Hennek
UMS
WINTER 2015
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
12
worldwide the orchestra reaches an
annual audience of 150,000 to 200,000.
Since 2010, the Rotterdam Philharmonic
has been a resident orchestra of the
Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; this
season’s schedule also includes a tour to
the US in February 2015.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic was
founded in 1918. From 1930, under chief
conductor Eduard Flipse, it developed
into one of the foremost orchestras of
the Netherlands. In the 1970s, with Jean
Fournet and Edo de Waart, the orchestra
gained international recognition. In 1995,
Valery Gergiev’s appointment as music
director heralded a new period of bloom.
He was succeeded by Yannick NézetSéguin, with whom the orchestra has made
numerous successful tours and recordings.
In September 2013 Jir
˘í Be
˘lohlávek joined
the Rotterdam Philharmonic as its
principal guest conductor.
Home of the Rotterdam
Philharmonic is De Doelen Concert Hall,
but the orchestra can frequently be heard
in other locations from local venues to the
most prestigious halls at home and abroad.
Since 2010, the Rotterdam Philharmonic
has been a resident orchestra of the Paris
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. With all of
its concerts, educational performances,
and community projects, the Rotterdam
Philharmonic reaches an annual audience
of 150,000 to 200,000.
Since the ground-breaking Mahler
recordings with Eduard Flipse in the
1950s, the Rotterdam Philharmonic has
made a large number of critically lauded
recordings. At present the orchestra has
contracts with Deutsche Grammophon
and BIS Records; in recent years it also
recorded for EMI and Virgin Classics. For
the rereleasing of historical recordings
the orchestra formed its own label,
Rotterdam Philharmonic Vintage
Recordings.
ÉLÈNE GRIMAUD was born in
1969 in Aix-en-Provence where
she began her piano studies at
the conservatory with Jacqueline Courtin
and subsequently under Pierre Barbizet
in Marseille. She
was accepted
i nt o t h e P a r i s
Conservatoire at
age 13 and won
first prize in piano
performance a
mere three years later. She continued
to study with György Sándor and Leon
Fleisher until, in 1987, she gave her wellreceived debut recital in Tokyo. The same
year the renowned conductor Daniel
Barenboim invited her to perform with
the Orchestre de Paris.
This marked the launch of Ms.
Grimaud’s musical career, highlighted
by concerts with most of the world’s
major orchestras and many celebrated
conductors. Her recordings have
been critically acclaimed and awarded
numerous accolades, among them the
Cannes “Classical Recording of the Year,”
Choc du Monde de la musique, Diapason
d’or, Grand Prix du disque, Record
Academy Prize (Tokyo), Midem Classic
Award, and the Echo Award.
In September 2013, Deutsche
Grammophon released her album of the
two Brahms Piano Concertos; the first
concerto with Andris Nelsons conducting
the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra,
and the second recorded with the Vienna
Philharmonic. When she took the Brahms
on tour to Southeast Asia, The Straits
Times of Singapore said: “Her playing
was distinguished by superb timing
and consistency of touch, and seamless
interplay between piano and orchestra.”
Throughout this season, Ms. Grimaud
will perform her new recital program
inspired by water in the US, Switzerland,
Germany, Austria, Italy, UK, and France.
include her return to the Berlin
Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev,
Orchestre National de Lyon with
Leonard Slatkin, and the Rotterdam
Philharmonic with Yannick NézetSéguin.
BE PRESENT
In December 14, she made her debut at
the Park Avenue Armory performing
her recital program as part of a largescale installation created by the artist
Douglas Gordon: tears become…streams
become…. Her orchestral engagements
WINTER 2015
TO U R PA RT N E R S
SPONSORS
SUBSIDIZERS
UMS ARCHIVES
This evening’s performance marks the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra’s second
appearance under UMS auspices, following its UMS debut in November 1977 under the
baton of Maestro Edo de Waart at Hill Auditorium. UMS welcomes Maestro Yannick
Nézet-Séguin and pianist Hélène Grimaud, who make their UMS debuts this evening.
13
UMS
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
ROTTERDAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
WINTER 2015
Yannick Nézet-Séguin,
Music Director
Valery Gergiev,
Honorary Conductor
Jir˘í Be
˘lohlávek,
Principal Guest Conductor
Designate
14
FIRST VIOLIN
Igor Gruppman,
Concertmaster
Marieke Blankestijn,
Concertmaster
Quirine Scheffers
Edward LeCouffe
Aesil Kim
Itamar Shimon
Arno Bons
Mireille van der Wart
Shelly Greenberg
Cor van der Linden
Rachel Browne
Maria Dingjan
Marie-José Schrijner
Noëmi Bodden
Petra Visser
Sophia Torrenga
Annelieke Schaefer-van Beest
Loortje van den Brink
SECOND VIOLIN
Charlotte Potgieter
Frank de Groot
Laurens van Vliet
Agnes Tönkö
Ebred Reijnen
Tomoko Hara
Elina Hirvilammi
Staphorsius
Jun Yi Dou
Bob Bruyn
Letizia Sciarone
Eefje Habraken
Maija Reinikainen
Sumire Hara
Wim Ruitenbeek
VIOLA
Anne Huser
Maartje van Rheeden
Galahad Samson
Alison Ewer
Kerstin Bonk
Lex Prummel
Janine Baller
Francis Saunders
Veronika Lénártová
Pierre-Marc Vernaudon
CELLO
Floris Mijnders
Joanna Pachucka
Daniel Petrovitsch
Geneviève LeCouffe
Mario Rio
Gé van Leeuwen
Eelco Beinema
Carla Schrijner
Pepijn Meeuws
DOUBLE BASS
Peter Luit
Matthew Midgley
Ying Lai Green
Harke Wiersma
Robert Franenberg
Peter Leerdam
Jonathan Focquaert
Joost Maegerman
Arjen Leendertz
FLUTE
Juliëtte Hurel
Désirée Woudenberg
FLUTE/PICCOLO
Wim Steinmann
OBOE
Remco de Vries
Karel Schoofs
Hans Cartigny
Anja van der Maten
OBOE/ENGLISH
HORN
Ron Tijhuis
CLARINET
Julien Hervé
Jan Jansen
C L A R I N E T/ B A S S
CLARINET
Romke-Jan Wijmenga
BASSOON
Pieter Nuytten
Marianne Prommel
BASSOON/
CONTRABASSOON
Hans Wisse
FRENCH HORN
Martin van de Merwe
Bob Stoel
Jos Buurman Wendy Leliveld
Richard Speetjens
TRUMPET
André Heuvelman
Ad van Zon
Arto Hoornweg
Simon Wierenga
Jos Verspagen
TROMBONE
Pierre Volders
Alexander Verbeek
Remko de Jager
BASS TROMBONE/
CONTRABASS
TROMBONE
Ben van Dijk
TUBA
Hendrik-Jan Renes
T I M PA N I /
PERCUSSION
Randy Max
Danny van de Wal
Ronald Ent
Martin Baai
Koen Plaetinck
HARP
Charlotte Sprenkels
ACA D EMY OF S T. M A RT I N
IN THE F I EL DS
JEREMY D EN K , P I A N O
Wednesday, March 25, 7:30 pm
Hill Auditorium
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields — one of the finest chamber orchestras
in the world and recipient of the 2012 UMS Distinguished Artist Award —
is renowned for its polished and refined sound, rooted in outstanding
musicianship. Formed in 1958 from a group of leading London musicians, and
working without a conductor, the Academy gave its first performance in its
namesake church in November 1959. Today, the Academy performs some 100
concerts around the world each year, with as many as 15 tours each season.
Pianist Jeremy Denk joins the ensemble for two piano concertos by J.S. Bach,
bookended by works for string orchestra by Igor Stravinsky.
P ROGRAM
Stravinsky
Concerto in D Major
J.S. Bach
Piano Concerto in d minor, BWV 1052
J.S. Bach
Piano Concerto in f minor, BWV 1056
StravinskyApollo
S P O NS OR ED BY
Masco Corporation Foundation, Linda Samuelson and Joel Howell, Gary and Diane Stahle,
Marina and Bob Whitman, and Ann and Clayton Wilhite
ME D I A PART N ER S
WGTE 91.3 FM and WRCJ 90.9 FM
Tickets on Sale Now
For more information, visit
www.ums.org or call 734.764.2538.
TONIGHT’S VICTOR FOR UMS:
COMERICA BANK
SUPPORTER OF THIS EVENING’S PERFORMANCE BY
THE CAMPBELL BROTHERS.
CBC-4009-SupportAds-5.5X4.25-MM.pdf
1
4/7/14
12:34 PM
Let’s raise expectations
of what our community can be.
Join Comerica Bank in supporting our community. As a proud sponsor, together
we can raise expectations of how great our community can be.
®
MEMBER FDIC. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY LENDER.
RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS.