2011-2012 Concert Guide - Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Transcription
2011-2012 Concert Guide - Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
A 2011-2012 Concert Guide New Beginning Local Treasure ~ Global Gift wealth with worth. Welcome to life in the new economy.™ You’ve built a life rich in assets. Only some of which are financial. For the dollars and cents part, count on the First Independent Bank® Wealth Management group to help you navigate the New Economy. With everything from trust and estate planning services, to private banking and retirement planning. Contact Jeff Firstenburg at 360.619.5753. We’ll take care of the money. And leave you to the things of real value. f i r s t i ndy.com Member FDIC Welcome! never confuse From Maestro Brotons Welcome to our 33rd season of providing outstanding music for Southwest Washington. Following what can best be described as an interesting summer, the orchestra and I are proud of some truly bold selections and guest artists appearing on our Skyview stage this season. What more can be written about the remarkable career of Salvador Brotons? In his 21st season as music director and conductor of The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, musicians and classical music enthusiasts still delight in having Dr. Brotons lead them... From Katie Harman’s return to The VSO in October to the glory of The Planets in May, we’ll have trombone, violin and piano soloists and some of the most talented young artists in the Northwest on our stage. Add our new Vancouver Symphony Chamber Group performing three concerts throughout the season and the third annual Big Horn Brass Christmas Show in December, and this year will be something truly unique. Thanks to all the passionate board members, musicians, volunteers and staff for making all the music possible. Most of all, thanks to you for being part of our audience and a partner in what I know will be a “Bold New Beginning” for us all this season. (Continued on Page 21). Inside: Concert Dates, Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 October Classical Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Save the Date: Big Horn Brass Christmas Concert . . . . . . 12 New for the 2011-2012 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 November Classical Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Call for Entries: Young Artists Competition . . . . . . . . . . 20 Our Conductor and Music Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 January Classical Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 April Classical Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 May Classical Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Photo Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Friends of the VSO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Volunteer of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Orchestra members, Board & Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Donor Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Tributes to the VSO & Musicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Special Acknowledgment: Full Color Printing for this publication has been graciously donated to the VSO by two individuals who wish to remain anonymous. Thank you for your generous contribution and support of The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s mission. Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 1 LifeStyle October 1 & 2, 2011 Symphonic Overture Niblock Katie Harman, soprano Symphony No. 5 Shostakovich November 12 & 13, 2011 La Scala di Seta Overture Rossini Concertino for Trombone No. 4, Op. 4 Henry Henniger, trombone David Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 January 28 & 29, 2012 Eugen Onegin: Polonaise Tchaikovsky Violin concerto Sibelius Francisco Garcia-Fullana, violin Symphony No. 3 Tchaikovsky Local owners Gary & Christine Rood are pleased to offer two Vancouver’s premier Senior Living communities. April 14 & 15, 2012 18th Annual Young Artists Symphony No. 5 Hanson Midsummer Night’s Dream Mendelssohn May 26 & 27, 2012 Audience choice TBA Piano concerto in G Major Ravel Linda Barker, piano The Planets Holst The Quarry at Columbia Tech Center offers all of the amenities of a luxury cruise ship. Glenwood Place offers all of the amenities of a well appointed estate. Both offer freedom of choice and foster independence for all of Clark County’s seniors. Tickets for Special Events available at www.vancouversymphony.org. The VSO Mission Statement: To enhance the quality of life in Southwest Independent Liv i n g • A s s i s te d L i v i n g • En h a nced Care • Memor y Care • Parkinson’s Ca re 2 Concert Dates September 23, 2011, 7 p.m. Autumn Glory: The VSO Chamber Group September 25, 2011, 3 p.m. Autumn Glory: The VSO Chamber Group December 17, 2011, 7 p.m. Big Horn Brass Christmas Concert February 3, 2012, 7 p.m. Wintertide: The VSO Chamber Group February 5, 2012, 3 p.m. Wintertide: The VSO Chamber Group February 19, 2012, 1 p.m. 18th Annual Young Artists Concerto Competition March 23, 2012, 7 p.m. Signs of Spring: The VSO Chamber Group March 25, 2012, 3 p.m. Signs of Spring: The VSO Chamber Group TBA Friends of The VSO Tea All programming subject to change without notice. Live your healthiest, most full life the Lifestyles way. Call us today! 360-892-1100 GlenwoodPlace.net 5500 NE 82nd Avenue Special Events LIVE YOUR HEALTHIEST Classical Concerts ONE LOCAL COMPANY, TWO GREAT OPTIONS IN VANCOUVER 360-944-6000 TheQuarryLiving.net 415 SE 177th Avenue Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Washington by providing symphony music of the highest caliber in live performances and through music education in schools, concert halls and throughout the community. A = Skyview Concert Hall 1300 NW 139th Street, Vancouver, WA A = Trinity Lutheran Church 309 W 39th Street, Vancouver, WA A = Zion Lutheran Church 824 NE 4th Avenue, Camas, WA A = Life Point Church 305 NE 192nd Ave, Vancouver, WA A = TBA (To Be Added) Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 3 Saturday, Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. & Sunday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Skyview Concert Hall—Vancouver, WA Salvador Brotons, Conductor Guest Artist October Classical Concert Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Music and Communications at Portland State University. Symphonic Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Niblock Arias and Songs: O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giacomo Puccini Medley: Someone to Watch Over Me and Embraceable You . . . . George Gershwin Summertime from Porgy and Bess Smoke Gets in Your Eyes from Roberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerome Kern Song to the Moon from Rusalka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonin Dvorák Katie Harman, soprano 15 minute intermission Please listen to the bell to return to your seats Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dmitri Shostakovich Moderato Allegretto Largo Allegro non troppo We Gratefully Acknowledge Our Program Sponsors: Special Thanks to Lois Cook for sponsoring Katie Harman. 4 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Katie Harman Katie Harman’s personal conviction about life and how to live it says it best: “Serve greatly, Love deeply, Live passionately.” This conviction combined with her unique journey and deep-seated faith fuels the passion that flows from her celebrated voice and gives her the strength to pursue excellence as a professional vocalist, television personality, soughtafter speaker for cancer advocacy and women’s issues, entrepreneur, devoted wife, loving mother, and caring friend. Crowned Miss America 2002 days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Katie traveled the nation to deliver messages of comfort and hope while meeting directly with rescue workers at Ground Zero and the Pentagon, family members of those lost in the attacks, military officials, the President and First Lady, government officials and thousands of Americans. In addition, she’s aimed the Miss America spotlight at supporting breast cancer patients and championing the need for comprehensive cancer care. Katie’s drive to serve as a strong voice, in both speech and song, led her to graduate She tours nationally and internationally as a sought-after classical vocalist, and has sung not only with The Vancouver Symphony and Oregon Symphony, but also with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony, the US Army Band, the USO, and many others. In 2003, she made her professional operatic debut with the Gold Coast Opera, and has since appeared in both full-scale productions and concerts with a myriad of opera and musical theater companies, symphonies and at private events. Recently, Katie debuted her first solo album, Soul of Love, with renowned Portland pianist and composer Michael Allen Harrison. In 2009, Katie added “entrepreneur” to her list of accomplishments, developing Ma Chère Finery, a line of couture children’s clothes, women’s bags and aprons, as well as home décor in small boutiques throughout the US and online worldwide at Etsy.com. The line was inspired by her two children, her love of French vintage, and her appreciation for chic, simple living. Katie and her husband, an F-15 pilot and instructor for the Air National Guard, reside in Southern Oregon with their two children in a restored 1936 farmhouse. Rustic Ambiance C omfort F ood LOCATED INSIDE THE HEATHMAN LODGE 7801 NE GREENWOOD DRIVE VANCOUVER, WA. 360.816.6100 WWW.HUDSONSBARANDGRILL.COM Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 5 October Concert Program Notes by Michael Allsen Our season opens with a brilliant Symphonic Overture by a composer with local roots. James Niblock was born just across the river in Scappoose, OR and studied music initially in Portland. Our special guest, soprano Katie Harman is also from very close by—this former Miss Oregon and Miss America, was born in Gresham. She is featured in a set of arias and popular songs by Puccini, Gershwin, Kern, and Dvorák. We end with one of the greatest works of Shostakovich-- his powerful fifth symphony. James Niblock (b.1917) Symphonic Overture James Niblock was born in Scappoose OR, and received his early musical training in violin and music theory in Portland. He received his BA and B.Ed in Music from Washington State University, and after wartime service in the Air Force, earned Niblock composed his Symphonic Overture in 1964, for a commission by the Lansing (MI) Symphony Orchestra. Duration 6:00. a Masters degree in Music from Colorado College, studying violin with Josef Gingold, and composition with Roy Harris and Paul Hindemith. After earning a doctorate at the University of Iowa, Niblock took a position at Michigan State University, where he had a distinguished tenure of some 37 years until his retirement in 1985: teaching theory and composition, performing in the faculty string quartet, and eventually serving as director of the School of Music. He had an equally long tenure performing 6 with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Now in his mid-90s, Niblock maintains an active schedule of conducting and composition. He lives in East Lansing MI, with Helen, his wife of nearly 60 years. Niblock has composed over 150 major works, including several operas and large symphonic works. His Symphonic Overture of 1964 is one of his most frequentlyplayed pieces. It is cast in traditional form, with a slower introduction leading to an Allegro. The body of the overture is based upon three main themes, the first of which, for solo trumpet, he describes as an “Announcement.” The second and third themes are introduced in turn by winds and strings. All themes are combined in a brilliant conclusion. Favorite arias and songs Gianni Schicchi is the third of three short operas that Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) grouped together as “Il trittico.” The operas were premiered at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1918. Gianni Schicchi is the lightest of the three, a typically convoluted Italian comic opera plot that concerns the death of the wealthy Buoso Donati, and his greedy relatives’ struggle for his property. It also centers on the frustrated love of Rinuccio and Lauretta, daughter of the conniving Gianni Schicchi (a character briefly mentioned in Dante’s Inferno). There are all of the traditional, wonderfully ridiculous elements of comic opera—among the more outrageous moments is when Schicchi imitates the recentlydeceased Donati in order to dictate a new will to a notary. In the most famous aria of the opera, Lauretta drops to her knees before her father and sings the Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra most famous aria from Gianni Schicchi, the poignant O mio babbino caro. One of the fascinating things about George Gershwin (1898-1937) is the fact that he had feet firmly planted in two different musical worlds. He made his fortune as a composer of Broadway musicals and popular songs, but from very early in his career he also wrote works in what he considered a more “serious” vein. Classical music critics of the day gave decidedly mixed reviews to works like the Rhapsody and the Concerto in F, but audiences generally loved them. Ms. Harmon provides a cross-section of Gershwin’s music, opening with a pair of popular songs he wrote in collaboration with his favorite lyricist, his brother Ira. In 1926 they teamed for the musical Oh, Kay!—a light farce set amongst the British “upper-crust.” (The book was partly by English comic writer P.G. Wodehouse.) The show’s hit, Someone to Watch Over Me is a hopeful love song, with a great set of Ira Gershwin’s witty lyrics. George and Ira joined again for the song Embraceable You in 1928. Though the original show for which it was written was never staged, the song eventually found a home in the 1930 show Girl Crazy, where Ginger Rogers made it a hit. The beginnings of Porgy and Bess date to 1926, when Gershwin read DuBose Heyward’s Porgy—a novel inspired by characters and situations Heyward observed in the African-American community of his home town of Charleston, SC. Gershwin collaborated with both Heyward and Ira, and completed it in 1935. This represents the more Classical Gershwin—though he himself was a little uncomfortable in labeling this an “opera.” Porgy and Bess is one of those great American works (like Bernstein’s West Side Story some two decades later) that effectively combines the conventions of opera and Broadway. Produced with an all-black cast, it was also remarkable in the sensitivity and depth of its portrayal of its characters. With a few exceptions (like Kern’s 1927 musical Show Boat), African-American characters of the 1920s and 1930s—when they appeared on stage at all—appeared in broadly stereotyped roles or blackface caricatures. It has fully drawn characters who are treated sympathetically—and who get to sing some of Gershwin’s greatest music! Though Gershwin relied on Ira for many of the of the show’s lyrics, Heyward was responsible for the lyrics of Porgy and Bess’s most famous song, Summertime. In the show, this blues-flavored lullaby is sung by a young mother named Clara to her baby boy. Like his contemporary Gershwin, Jerome Kern (1885-1945) was a great theatrical and song composer. He wrote over 700 songs, mostly for Broadway and Hollywood, and the 1933 hit Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is one of his finest. That year Kern teamed with lyricist Otto Harbach for the musical Roberta, starring Tamara Drasin and a young Bob Hope. It was a respectable hit, running nearly 300 performances on Broadway and there were two later movie versions. Roberta is set in the glamorous world of Parisian fashion, and the bittersweet Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is sung by Stephanie, an exiled Russian countess—a reminder that love often comes with tears. Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 7 October Concert Program Notes (continued) This doctrine was originally intended to Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1976) Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 In these days, when the Soviet Union is a historical memory, rather than a world power, totalitarian control by a state over the arts is thankfully rare around the world. In Josef Stalin’s Soviet state, however, it was a powerful and controlling reality. A manifesto outlining the principles of “Socialist Realism” appeared in 1933. 8 control the content and style of Soviet literature, but it was quickly adapted to the visual arts, film, and music. As explained in an article published by the Union of Soviet Composers: “The main attention of the Soviet composer must be directed towards the victorious progressive principles of reality, towards all that is heroic, bright, and beautiful. This distinguishes the spiritual world of Soviet man, and must be embodied in musical images full of beauty and strength. Socialist Realism demands an implacable struggle against those folk-negating modernistic directions typical of contemporary bourgeois art, and against subservience and servility towards modern bourgeoisie culture.” In practice, Soviet music of this period served the propaganda needs of the state, and was aimed at proletarian consumption. Shostakovich completed this work in 1937, and it was performed for the first time in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on November 21, 1937, by the Leningrad Philharmonic, under the direction of Yevgeny Mravinsky. Duration 44:00. Composers abandoned “formalist” devices—unrestricted dissonance, twelvetone technique, etc.—in favor of strictly tonal harmonies and folk music (Soviet composers produced dozens of works for balalaika ensembles and concertos for other folk instruments during this period). Shostakovich struggled heroically within this system. There was a continuing pattern in his works of the 1930s and 1940s of perilously pushing the limits of official tolerance and then rehabilitating himself with a work that seemed to conform more closely to the Party line. In 1934, Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Smile... you’re on the air photography by mirifoto.com The opera Rusalka is one of the later works of Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904), composed in 1900. It was first produced in Prague on March 31, 1901, and remains the most popular of Dvorák’s several Czech operas. The opera is based upon a Slavic legend—similar in many ways to the fairy tale The Little Mermaid—adapted by poet Jaroslav Kvapil. The title character is a water sprite who falls in love with a prince, and strikes an unwise bargain with the witch Jezibaba that will allow her to assume mortal form (though she loses her voice) and marry him. In fairy tales, love affairs between mortals and supernatural beings nearly always end badly, and this is no exception: to save her beloved prince, Rusalka loses her mortal form to become a kind of cursed water-demon. But the prince seeks her out, accepting his own death in a vain hope to stay with her. The best-known moment from the opera is the wistful Song to the Moon, drawn from Act I, long before this final tragedy. Rusalka, smitten with love, sings to a full moon, asking it to relate her feelings to the prince. (from left) Edmund Stone, John Pitman, Christa Wessel, Brandi Parisi, John Burk, Andrea Murray, Robert McBride and Ed Goldberg 89.9 FM Portland • 88.1 FM Lincoln City/Newport • 96.3 FM Columbia River Gorge • 88.1 FM Hood River/The Dalles his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was a rousing success, and continued to run for over 100 performances. In 1936, however, Stalin himself attended a performance, and left the theater in a rage. Within a few days, a review of the opera appeared in Pravda, complaining of an “intentionally dissonant, muddled flow of sounds,” and angrily denouncing its anti-Socialist “distortion.” Shostakovich was quickly transformed from one of the young lions of Soviet music to a suspected Formalist, and articles published in Pravda and the bulletin of the Composers’ Union began to reveal “modernistic” and “decadent” elements in many of his works that had previously been blessed by the critics. The composer immediately cancelled the premiere of his fourth symphony, fearing that the dissonant nature of this score would push the authorities too far. He was so certain, in fact, that Stalin’s goons would appear at his door that he kept a small suitcase in his apartment, packed for his trip to the Gulag Archipelago. A hastily-composed ballet glorifying life on a collective farm was not enough put him back in favor with the Composers’ Union, but with the performance of his Symphony No.5 in November of 1937, Shostakovich regained a certain amount of his position in the hierarchy of Soviet musicians. On its surface, the Symphony No.5 seems to be a meek acquiescence—in fact Shostakovich humbly subtitled the work “The practical answer of a Soviet artist to justified criticism,” and it was composed in honor of the 20th anniversary of the 1917 revolution. In describing the fifth Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 9 October Concert Program Notes (continued) a positive spin on the affair and accept symphony at its premiere, Shostakovich wrote: “The theme of my symphony is the making of a man. I saw humankind, with all of its experiences at the center of this composition, which is lyrical in mood from start to finish. The Finale is the optimistic solution of the tragedy and tension of the first movement. ...I think that Soviet tragedy has every right to exist. However, the contents must be suffused with positive inspiration... ” All safely Socialist sentiments—but hearing the Symphony No.5, we are struck not so much by the triumph and optimism of the Finale, but by the deeply personal anxiety and sense of suffering that underlies the entire work. The premiere was a phenomenal success and Soviet officials were quick to investigate what all the fuss was about. The Committee on Art Affairs dispatched two of its members to Leningrad to hear a later performance, they explained that tempestuous applause at the end was because the promoters had hand-picked the audience, excluding “ordinary, normal people.” But a subsequent performance for hand-picked Party officials and guests was just as successful. Official suspicion persisted— one musical official cited the “unwholesome stir around this symphony”—but in this case, Soviet authorities seem to have decided to put the popularity of this work at face value. Glowing reviews followed in the official press. The review by composer Dmitri Kabalevsky was typical: “After hearing Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, I can boldly assert that the composer is as truly great Soviet artist has overcome his mistakes and taken a new path.” The audiences at these early performances were probably more perceptive, however. Many members of the audience wept at the premiere, and the applause following the performance lasted nearly half an hour —facts that were reported in the official press as an emotional response to the symphony’s uplifting conclusion. As Shostakovich wrote some 25 years later (well after Stalin was safely dead and repudiated): “Someone who was incapable of understanding could never feel the Fifth Symphony. Of course they understood— they understood what was happening around them and they understood what the Fifth was about.” This work is indeed a “response to criticism,” but it is a much more tragic and anguished response than the authorities chose to believe. The tragic character of this symphony is established in the very opening bars (Moderato), in an angular, off-beat melody introduced by the low strings. Much of Why be involved with the Chamber? n Business Advocacy n Business Services n Education n Networking n Marketing & Advertising www.vancouverusa.com 6x2.1975 Symphony Ad.indd 1 10 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 9/21/11 11:43 AM tre. a e . h T a umbi. l o C . ” ! n O S a e S a t a h W , 9 “WOW .575.849 Lon gview wash ingTo n 2011•2012 360 heatre.com S T E K C I T iat b m u l o c . 11 • 3pm w ww ber 18, 20 aRet Septem 1 • 3pm O CaB B a R R aG E Ce Oct. 30, 201 CLaSSICaL t n Ie R e P X e m aVIS the MILeS D cember 4, 2011 • 3pm and 7p • 3pm De 011 aLL IS CaLM RS ChRIStMaS Dec. 18, 2 RO m taRtan teR ItteR Jan. 27, 2012 • 7:30p eL pm RUnt OF th 012 • 7:30 March 1, 2 S e e K n 0pm DaMn Ya , 2012 • 7:3 March 30 e G a • 7:30pm R R Ba PERiEnCE l 21, 2012 ri p A e Es davis Ex C il n m a E D h T a L pm RaGaMa 012 • 7:30 May 18, 2 R D inOgWan! d our F s rk a a P R N s e e R e n O re L S R F R a t E A n s ieN eD toric TaRTan T CoenTvesnO ing5inThhiseatre. njo ET icyk e park 2 9 nt froere ly 1 ie w n d e e n v r n joy co ifuwllnyLoRnegsvtiew a5nTdhoeuatre! BEDenoawuntto l 192 restored all is C alm the beginning is devoted to an imitative exposition of this melody in the strings. A repeated rhythm appears in the lower strings, repeating incessantly beneath the second main theme, a lyrical melody in the first violins. This melody is built over the same large leaps as the opening theme, but here the effect is more melancholy than tragic. After flute and clarinet solos comment upon this theme, the horns introduce a more menacing march-like melody. This march increases in intensity until the climactic return of the opening theme. Near the close of the movement the second theme returns, now on a more hopeful note, in the solo flute. For the main theme of the scherzo (Allegretto), Shostakovich parodies a melody from his Symphony No.4. The irony is obvious—here was a work that was unknown to the audience, and that, the composer felt, would never be performed. So the outward humor of beautifu VS5 Discount Code this movement—bumptious bass lines, woodwind trills and tongue-in-cheek violin solos—overlays a bitterly sarcastic comment on Socialist Realism. A militarysounding waltz alternates with this main theme in the manner of a trio. At the end, he uses one of Beethoven’s favorite jokes: what seems to be yet another repeat of the trio, played hesitantly by a solo oboe, is brusquely tossed aside by the brass, and the movement ends abruptly The third movement (Largo) belongs entirely to the strings and solo woodwinds. Shostakovich divides the string section into eight parts throughout this movement, weaving complex counterpoint around a single somber melody. Flutes and harp introduce a second subject which is gradually woven together with the first. In a very beautiful central passage, solo woodwinds expand on the main themes above an effectively simple background of string tremolos. The movement builds Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 11 gradually towards its climax, a return of the first theme in the full string choir, before fading away at the end. Though it is overshadowed by the broad opening movement and the powerful finale, the Largo may have been the movement that had the deepest impact at the premiere. Much of the weeping in the audience took place during the Largo, leading biographer David Fanning to suggest that the movement was “...a channel for a mass grieving at the height of the Great Terror, impossible otherwise to express openly.” The finale (Allegro non troppo) is set as a rondo, and brings the symphony to a properly jubilant finish. The main theme is an almost violent march, which alternates with several quieter sections. Shostakovich brings back reminiscences of several moments from preceding movements, building towards a massive coda in D Major. The composer’s own program note (and the official reviewers) described the finale as triumphant and exultant. Once again, Shostakovich’s intent in this movement may well have been sarcasm, rather than exaltation. program notes ©2011 by J. Michael Allsen Coming Soon: 3rd Annual Big Horn Brass Christmas Show featuring vocalist, Karla Harris This is the third Big Horn Brass Christmas Show being performed as a benefit for The VSO, but in reality, this snappy and sassy holiday show has been entertaining Vancouver and Portland audiences for decades. This concert features fifteen shining pieces of brass and percussion playing holiday favorites and crowd pleasing standards that will thrill your whole family. Tickets available by calling the VSO office at 360-735-7278. 12 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Adding to the many Vancouver Symphony musicians playing for the Big Horn Brass is longtime area favorite vocalist, Karla Harris. You can see and hear the Big Horn Brass playing all over the area during the year, but on December 17, Christmas comes a little early—to LifePoint Church in Vancouver. All proceeds from this concert benefit The VSO. Dec. 17, 2011, 7 p.m. Life Point Church 305 NE 192nd Ave. Vancouver, WA New for the 2011-2012 Season Chamber Music Series It’s the perfect marriage of fun and music to complement the larger and more dynamic performances of The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. By popular demand, the orchestra is proud to introduce a series of three concerts by The Vancouver Symphony Chamber Group under the direction of Dr. Michael C. Liu and Dr. Igor Shakhman. These three concerts will run in September 2011 and February and March 2012 and feature musicians from The VSO. Friday night concerts are at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vancouver at 7 p.m. and Sunday concerts are at Zion Lutheran Church in Camas at 3 p.m. The first in the series, Autumn Glory will be followed by Wintertide on February 3rd and 5th and Signs of Spring on March 23rd and 25th. “While we’re proud to offer five sensational symphony concerts during the season, many of our ticket holders were asking for a variety of music in a more intimate setting. Thanks to the talent and generosity of Dr. Liu and our world class musicians, we are able to offer these three memorable concerts,” said VSO Board Chair Kathy McDonald. Individual tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets for all three concerts are $50 for adults and $25 for students and are available at vancouversymphony.org. Music Alive! For the first time ever, we are excited to launch Music Alive!, a performance collaborative for Southwest Washington. This new initiative will elevate the arts and music through key partnerships with organizations such as Vancouver Children’s Opera, the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, Columbia Dance and others, while providing an array of opportunities for involvement through outreach, education, entertainment and community. As a part of Music Alive! The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra launches a Chamber Music Series with more exciting plans in the works. More than ever before, The VSO is making music heard well beyond Skyview! The VSO means business! Become a partner in The VSO’s success by becoming a Corporate Member. By advertising your business in our Concert Guide and up on our big screen at each concert, you provide crucial financial support to bring music into the lives of 10,000 music lovers every season. Most importantly, your message will reach some of the most influential and besteducated people in Southwest Washington. Join dozens of local businesses that have discovered the advantages of supporting the VSO. Businesses who purchase a full-page ad in our Concert Guide receive exclusive discounts and promotional opportunities, including: • 10% off VSO Presents events, such The Big Horn Brass Christmas or the VSO Chamber Music Group Series. • 5% off a subscription of ten or more corporate seats. • Recognition during the five-concert season in audio and video announcements and a click-thru logo on our website. • An invitation to a Corporate Night where you’ll experience a behind-thescenes look at the making of one of our concerts from rehearsal to performance, including meeting Maestro Brotons and the orchestra. It’s never too late to support your symphony. On-screen advertising is available now! Call 360-7357278 for more information. When it comes to music, The VSO means business!. Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 13 Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. & Sunday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. Skyview Concert Hall—Vancouver, WA Salvador Brotons, Conductor Overture to La scala di seta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gioacchino Rossini Concertino in E-Flat Major for Trombone and Orchestra, Op.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferdinand David Allegro maestoso Andante: Marcia funebre Allegro maestoso Henry Henniger, trombone 15 minute intermission Please listen to the bell to return to your seats Symphony No.5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sergei Prokofiev Andante Allegro marcato Adagio Allegro giocoso Guest Artist November Classical Concert Henry Henniger, a native Oregonian, joined the University of Oregon faculty as Assistant Professor of Trombone in 2010. Previously, he held faculty teaching positions at Oregon State University and Linfield College. Henry started his musical career at Indiana University, where he received his bachelors in trombone performance. His Masters degree was received from the Manhattan School of Music were he was a member of the prestigious Orchestral Performance program. Upon graduation, Henry was also awarded the John Clark Award for excellence in brass performance. Active nationally as a soloist and orchestral musician, Henry has performed with a wide variety of ensembles, and frequently performs with the Eugene Symphony, Sun River Music Festival, Spokane Symphony, Astoria Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Oregon Symphony and the Seattle Symphony. He has also been a featured soloist with several orchestras and wind ensembles throughout the region including Central Oregon Symphony, Linfield College Wind Ensemble, Oregon State Wind Ensemble and the University of Portland. Currently, Henry is principal trombone of the Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre and is also a member of the Oregon Brass Quintet. Equally active as a music educator, Henry is in demand as a guest clinician and adjudicator throughout the state and has been fortunate to study with some of the most legendary brass virtuosi. He is also proud to have been one of The Vancouver Symphony’s Young Artist winners in 1998. We Gratefully Acknowledge Our Program Sponsors: Small Business Specialists 360-882-3978 lindastaxservice.com 14 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Personal Taxes Business Taxes Bookkeeping Payroll Business Set Up *Call today for your free ½ hour consultation Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 15 November Concert Program Notes by Michael Allsen We begin with an early gem by Rossini, written when he was barely 20 years old, the overture to the comic opera La scala di seta. Trombonist Henry Henniger is featured in the challenging solo part of David’s Concertino. And rounding off the program is a challenge for the entire orchestra, Prokofiev’s grand wartime work, the Symphony No.5. Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) Overture to La scala di seta Rossini’s first commission as an opera composer was for a short one-act farsa (farce), La cambiale di matrimonio for Venice’s Teatro San Moisè. According to one later report, a German composer who had been engaged to write the opera bailed out, and Rossini got the job at the last minute. Rossini’s farsa was enough of a hit that the Teatro San Moisè commissioned several more operas in the next few years, mostly short, lightweight pieces. L’inganno felice, premiered in January 1812 was just as successful, and he followed this a few months later with a third farsa, La scala di seta. The plot centers on a Giulia and Dorvil, a pair of lovers who are secretly married. Every night, Dorvil stealthily climbs a silk ladder to reach her bedroom. When Giulia’s guardian engineers an arranged marriage for her, there are a whole series of implausible plot twists— at one point virtually every character in the opera is hidden somewhere in her bedroom—but eventually the secret marriage is revealed and it ends happily. The opera was not particularly successful. Rossini blamed the theater’s impresario for sabotaging the production, but it was 16 revived with greater success several times afterwards. Its vivacious overture—which was probably dashed off just a day or so before the first performance—is one of Rossini’s finest early works. Rossini’s opera La scala di seta (“The silken ladder”) was premiered in Venice, at the Teatro San Moisè on May 9, 1812. Duration 6:00. After a blustery opening passage, there are a series of lovely Andantino solos by the winds that serve as an introduction. Strings enter suddenly with a swift main theme. The second theme alternates between strings and humorous replies from the woodwinds. There is a subdued, almost dark passage in the middle, but Rossini ends with a brilliant recapitulation and a bright, happy coda. Ferdinand David (1810-1873) Concertino in E-Flat Major for Trombone and Orchestra, Op.4 Ferdinand David was one of Germany’s leading violinists in the mid 19th century, and was particularly closely connected—both professionally and personally—to Felix Mendelssohn. When Mendelssohn became director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1835, he promptly invited his friend to be the orchestra’s concertmaster. Mendelssohn would later write his famous E minor violin concerto for him. David would spend the rest of his career in Leipzig, eventually taking on many of the conducting duties after Mendelssohn’s death. A skilled composer, David wrote an opera, several violin concertos and orchestral works, chamber music, and published numerous transcriptions for violin. But the Concertino heard here remains his most often-played work: it is among the finest Romantic concertos for the trombone. Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra David composed both the Concertino and a second now-lost solo work, the Concertino Militaire, for the trombonist Carl Queisser, who was the Gewandhaus’s solo trombonist from 1820-1843. Schumann, who heard him in the 1840s, called him the “god of the trombone” and a review of a performance in 1841 was typical of praise for Queisser’s playing, calling him a star “of the first magnitude, who not infrequently makes the impossible seem possible.” He toured Germany as a soloist, but Quiesser would appear over two dozen times as a soloist in the Gewandhaus, playing the David works, and pieces written for him by Leipzig composers Carl Heinrich Meyer and C. G. Müller, and Dresden violinist Friedrich August Kummer. Even Mendelssohn apparently promised Queisser a concerto, but—unfortunately for generations of trombonists—never wrote it. The first of three movements (Allegro maestoso) beings with a pastoral moment for woodwinds, and a stormy orchestra passage that leads to the trombone’s grand declamatory entrance. The woodwind chorale of the opening David composed this concerto in 1837, for the trombonist Carl Quiesser. It was first performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn. Duration 15:00. serves as a contrasting theme, before an agitated passage leads to some brilliant solo passages and a short concluding cadenza. David liked the second movement (Andante: Marcia funebre) enough that he later published a version for solo violin and piano. The opening is a dour funeral march, overlaid by a solemn trombone line. There is a more lyrical and sentimental middle section before a return of the march music and a few passionate statements from the soloist. The finale (Allegro maestoso) begins with building expectation from the orchestra and reprise of the solo theme of the opening movement. The first movement’s chorale theme returns as well, but the movement ends with a coda that introduces new material and a powerful line for the soloist. Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) Symphony No.5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100 In the Soviet Union, composers served the State, and musical style was expected to conform to the political needs of the moment and the philosophy of artistic authorities. Prokofiev’s Soviet colleague Dmitri Shostakovich chafed against these restrictions though his whole career— the story of his Symphony No.5—heard at our last program is the best-known example. Even in his big, patriotic wartime symphonies (the seventh and eighth), Shostakovich interjects hints of sarcasm and bitterness. For his part, Prokofiev seems to have wholeheartedly supported the government, and provided unabashedly nationalistic works, such as the bombastic Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937) and the cantata Hail to Stalin (1939). He made every effort to assist when the Soviet Union entered the war in 1941, providing dozens of smaller patriotic works. However, Prokofiev’s most important artistic responses to the Great Patriotic War were the two largest scores completed in these years, the opera War and Peace, and the Symphony No.5. In a postwar interview, he discussed the composition of the fifth symphony: “When the Second World War broke Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 17 November Concert Program Notes since the 1930s. Prokofiev conducted the (continued) out, I felt that everyone must do his share, and began composing songs and marches for the front. But soon events assumed such gigantic and far-reaching scope as to demand larger canvasses... Finally, I wrote my Fifth Symphony, on which I had been working for several years, gathering themes in a special notebook. I always work that way, and that is probably why I write so fast. The entire score of the Fifth was written in one month in the summer of 1944. It took another month to orchestrate it, and in between, I wrote the score for Eisenstein’s film Ivan the Terrible ... The Fifth Symphony was a very important composition to me, as it marked my return to the symphonic form after a long interval. I regard it as the culmination of a large period in my creative life.” Several of Prokofiev’s colleagues and friends from these years have commented on his businesslike approach to composition—he apparently maintained a precise “9 to 5” schedule, with composition in the morning and orchestration in the afternoon. Even periods when his life was in turmoil seem to have left this schedule intact. Beginning in 1941, the Soviet government evacuated artists and composers out of Moscow to safer locations in the southern republics. Prokofiev moved almost constantly during the next five years, his marriage broke up, and he suffered a series of heart attacks, but still he remained extremely productive throughout the years of the war. One particularly fertile period was the summer of 1944, when Prokofiev was staying in Ivanovo, an estate managed by the Union of Composers. It was during this stay that he completed the Symphony No.5, a work that had been in the planning stage 18 premiere performance at a concert of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in early 1945, and the symphony was welcomed ecstatically by both the audience and the official critics. Tragically, this was to be Prokofiev’s last performance. He suffered a concussion soon afterwards, and during his last eight years, he was prevented from performing by ill health, although he continued to compose prolifically. Prokofiev composed his fifth symphony in 1944. The work was first performed in Moscow, on January 13, 1945. Duration 43:00. The Symphony No.5 is patriotic music on a grand scale. The opening movement (Andante) is in sonata form, but it is also a succession of long, arching melodies— “slowly singing strata,” in the words of one early critic—above a constantly shifting rhythmic and harmonic background. The opening theme is an asymmetrical melody that rises an octave and a half in the space of two measures. A bridge section, characterized by a rising bass line leads to the second main theme, a dolce melody introduced by the flute and oboe. The exposition’s closing section contains two new ideas: a forceful melody in dotted rhythms and a nervous sixteenthnote figure. Prokofiev’s development is concerned largely with the first theme and material from the closing section. There is a conventional recapitulation, and the movement ends with an exultant transformation of the opening theme. The two central movements are a study Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in contrast. The second movement (Allegro marcato) is set in three-part scherzo form. The outer sections are loosely based upon two ideas: an ostinato-style bass line, and a shrill Russian-flavored dance. Prokofiev developed and varied both ideas extensively. The central trio presents a more lyrical melody that is tinged with humor. Many of the musical ideas in this sardonic movement were apparently leftovers from his work on the ballet score Romeo and Juliet in the middle 1930s. After the witty scherzo, the Adagio is pensive and somber. The long, wandering first theme is presented by the clarinets and then repeated and varied. The dirgelike second theme contains references to both the first theme of this movement, and the main theme of the opening movement. A development section, which combines material from the transition and the second theme, builds gradually into a huge orchestral climax. The opening triplet figure returns, and there is a brief recapitulation of the first theme only. The coda introduces a final melody: a consoling answer to the first theme. The final movement (Allegro giocoso) is a rondo—a main theme placed in alternations with several contrasting ideas. The quiet introduction gives no hint of what is to come. The violas abruptly break in with a rollicking eighth-note figure, and the clarinet introduces the sarcastic main theme of this movement. The next section contains a pointed staccato melody in the oboe and piccolo, and a lyrical figure played by the flute. After a return of the main theme, Prokofiev makes a startling change of pace. The central section is based upon a hymn-like melody that recalls the style of many of his patriotic vocal works. The movement continues with restatements of the main and second sections in the tonic key. The symphony closes with a massive coda, combining the hymn with elements of the main theme. Soviet victory was clearly in sight in 1944, and this symphony’s triumphant ending reflects optimism and joy after years of horrendous struggle. program notes ©2011 by J. Michael Allsen MULCAHEY PIANO AND SOUND, INC. Offering complete piano services including: • Tuning • Voicing • Regulation • Rebuilding Ted Mulcahey Piano Performance degree NYC Steinway Factory Concert Technician 97-99 360-823-6060 tedmulcahey@gmail.com http://tinyurl.com/PianoTed Call for Entries Students vie for $5,250 in scholarship money in the18th Annual Young Artists Competition Every season, one of the bestattended and most eagerly anticipated events is the February VSO Young Artists Competition and the performances of the three winners with our orchestra at our April concert. These are both truly joyous events that celebrate our area’s incredible musical talent. Students up to the age of 18 enter the competition in the categories of piano, strings and brass/woodwinds. In February, the three top candidates in each category compete in front of an audience for the top scholarship prize of $1,000 and the opportunity to perform their winning selection with Maestro Brotons and The Vancouver Symphony at our April 14 & 15 concerts at Skyview Concert Hall. Complete information and an application for your young artist is available at vancouversymphony. org. Deadline for all submissions is January 2, 2012. For more information please e-mail orchestramgr@ vancouversymphony.org. Young Artists Competition Sunday, February 19th, 2012 at 1 pm Trinity Lutheran Church 309 W. 39th Street,Vancouver, WA Young Artists Perform with The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 3 pm Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 7 pm Skyview Concert Hall,Vancouver, WA Alex Zhu, 2010-2011 Young Artists Competition award recipient. Our Conductor & Music Director Salvador Brotons What more can be written about the remarkable career of Salvador Brotons? In his 21st season as music director and conductor of The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, musicians and classical music enthusiasts still delight in having Dr. Brotons lead them. Born into a family of musicians, Brotons began studying flute at an early age with his father, and continued his studies at the Barcelona Conservatory of Music, where he excelled in flute, composition and orchestra conducting. From 1977 to 1985 he was principal flute in the Orchestra of the Liceu in Barcelona, and a member of the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona. In 1985, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and moved to the United States to earn a Doctorate in Music from Florida State University. In 2002, he received the Florida State University Alumni Award for his professional achievements. He has written more than 100 works, mainly for orchestra and chamber ensembles and has received many commissions. Several of his pieces have been published and recorded on CDs in Europe and the USA under labels such as EMI, Auvidis, Albany Records, Naxos, Claves and RNE. In addition to his 21 seasons at The VSO, he was also the conductor and music director of the Vallès Symphony Orchestra in Barcelona and is currently conductor and music director of the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra in Palma de Mallorca as well as the Orquestra Simfònica de Balears 20 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Ciutat de Palma. He is on the faculty of the Escola Superior de Música de Barcelona, where he teaches orchestra conducting and composition. Maestro Brotons has been a guest conductor with many orchestras around the world, including those in the Czech Republic, South Africa, Israel, Russia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Italy and Belgium. Dr. Brotons resides in Barcelona with his wife, Dr. Melissa Brotons, renowned music therapist and director of the Interuniversity Master Program in Music Therapy in Barcelona. Their daughter, Clara, is a college freshman in New York. A restaurant where friends meet. 360-906-1101 - www.thegranthouse.us Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 21 Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3 p.m. & Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 at 7 p.m. Skyview Concert Hall—Vancouver, WA Salvador Brotons, Conductor Guest Artist January Classical Concert A 2006 honors graduate of the Royal Superior Conservatory of Music in Madrid, Francisco received his Bachelor of Music degree in 2011 at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Masao Kawasaki. Polonaise from Eugene Onegin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Concerto in D minor Violin and Orchestra, Op.47 . . . . . . . . . . Jean Sibelius Allegro moderato Adagio di molto Allegro, ma non tanto Francisco Garcia-Fullana, violin 15 minute intermission Please listen to the bell to return to your seats Symphony No.3 in D Major, Op.29 “Polish” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Ilyich Tchaikovky Moderato assai: tempo di marcia funebre –Allegro brilliante Alla tedesca: allegro moderato e semplice Andante elegiaco Allegro vivo We Gratefully Acknowledge Our Program Sponsors: Francisco Garcia-Fullana, violin Francisco Garcia-Fullana made his recital debut at age eight and his orchestral solo debut at age nine, performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Salvador Brotons. At age fifteen he made his debut at the National Auditory of Music in Madrid performing on Pablo de Sarasate’s Stradivarius. He gave his first New York recital in May 2007 and in October 2008 played Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in Münich under Sir Colin Davis. In March 2011, he made his debut appearance at Carnegie Hall, as a First Prize Winner of the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition. He has been a soloist throughout Europe under some of the greatest conductors on the continent, including our own Maestro Brotons. Francisco has played recitals and concerts in Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Venezuela, Italy, Portugal, Canada and the U.S. He won first place prizes at the International Music Tournament, the Concerto Competition of the Royal Superior Conservatory of Music in Madrid, the Yamaha Music Foundation String Instruments of Europe Competition and the International Julio Cardona Violin Competition in Portugal. Francisco resides in New York, and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance at The Juilliard School with Masao Kawasaki and Donald Weilerstein. He plays a violin made by Francesco Goffriller in 1734, from the Rare Instruments Collection of The Juilliard School of Music. For more information about Francisco, please visit: www.franciscofullana.com. Special Thanks to Lois Cook for sponsoring Katie Harman. 22 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 23 January Concert Program Notes by Michael Allsen This programs opens and closes with two great Tchaikovsky works of the 1870s. The energetic opening Polonaise accompanies the climactic scene of his opera Eugene Onegin. The Symphony No.3 concludes this program—a work all too rarely heard today, and one which will be a pleasant discovery for our audience. Violinist Francisco Garcia-Fullana is the featured soloist in the deeply expressive Violin Concerto of Sibelius. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Polonaise from Eugene Onegin When the singer Elizaveta Lavrovskova suggested in the spring of 1877 that Tchaikovsky consider Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin as an operatic subject, he thought the idea was “wild.” By the 1870s, Eugene Onegin—written Eugene Onegin was composed between May 1877 and February, 1878. The first performance took place in Moscow on May 29, 1879. Duration 9:00. nearly fifty years earlier—was Russia’s acknowledged Great Novel, and was admired by nearly every literate Russian. Its story of the young Tatyana’s ill-fated love for the worldly Onegin, and Onegin’s terrible downfall was well-known, and any attempt to turn it into an operatic work was a risky venture. Tchaikovsky took up the challenge, though, and began with the novel’s most powerful episode: when Tatyana writes a passionate letter to Onegin, only to be heartlessly rejected. It was at this time that passionate love 24 letters and a marriage proposal from a young admirer, Antonina Milyukova, arrived, and for Tchaikovsky, real life and the operatic world he was creating suddenly collided. He confided to a friend that he felt that he had acted in the same way as Onegin—he had just as heartlessly rejected Milyukova. In the end, a combination of guilt, and a desire to deny his own homosexuality, won out and he accepted her proposal—one of the most personally disastrous decisions on his life. Most of the opera was composed during his brief engagement (just five weeks), between the time he agreed to marry Antonina and the wedding itself. In the aftermath of their honeymoon, the opera was set aside, as Tchaikovsky’s main concern became getting away. It was not finished until early the next year, when he had reached the relative security of Clarens in Switzerland. Tchaikovsky remained cautious about Eugene Onegin even after it was finished. The first production was mounted by students of the Moscow Conservatory, for a relatively small audience. He needn’t have worried: when the opera was finally given a full-scale staging a few years later in St. Petersburg, it was extremely successful, and was one of the first of his works to gain universal acceptance in Russia. The Polonaise heard here underlies one of the most important moments in the opera. The Polonaise is from Act III, which it set several years later after Onegin rejects Tatyana. He attends a ball at a fashionable house in St. Petersburg. As the guests dance the stately Polonaise, the disgraced Onegin suddenly realizes that the richly-dressed hostess is none other than Tatyana. In the end, his attempt to reconcile with Tatyana—who has married Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra well and is now at the highest level of society—are rejected, and his destruction is complete. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op.47 The years after the turn of the 20th century were frustrating for Sibelius— though his reputation in his native Finland was secure, international fame was proving to be elusive. His initial musical success had come with nationalistic works based on Finnish folk legends, like The Swan of Tuonela. By 1900, though, he was trying to break this mold and establish himself as a symphonist in the tradition of Brahms and Dvorák. This self-imposed pressure caused turmoil in his personal life, which was plagued by marital problems, alcoholism, and mounting financial difficulties. Despite all this, the period was amazingly fertile: by 1915, he had written his first five symphonies, his violin concerto, six symphonic poems (including the famous Finlandia), and several smaller works for orchestra. By the time of World War I, he had won the wider recognition he desired and deserved. Sibelius was a trained violinist, and had started his musical training with ideas of becoming a great virtuoso. A shoulder injury when he was in his 20s and an increasing interest in composition ended his hoped-for solo career, but he never lost his interest in the instrument. When he was in his late 30s, he wrote: “There’s still a part of me that desires to become a violinist, and this expresses itself in unusual ways.” Shortly after he made this remark, he began work on the violin concerto, encouraged by German violinist Willy Burmeister, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin. For financial reasons, Sibelius decided to premiere it in Helsinki, and since Burmeister was unavailable to travel to Finland, Sibelius engaged Victor Novacek, a violin teacher at the Helsinki Conservatory. Novacek apparently played the concerto poorly, and the first performance was a flop. Sibelius was also dissatisfied with the piece itself, Sibelius wrote this concerto in 1902-1903 and conducted the premiere in Helsinki, with Victor Novacek as soloist, on February 8, 1904. An extensively revised version— the version heard at this concert—was premiered in Berlin on October 19, 1905, with Carl Halír as soloist, and conducted by Richard Strauss. Duration 32:00. and set to work revising it. A year later, he got his desired Berlin premiere, with the Bohemian virtuoso Carl Halír as soloist. Though Sibelius referred to this concert as the concerto’s “trial by fire,” it was a tremendous success, prompting one critic to a rather fanciful comparison to “the Nordic winter landscape painters, who through the distinctive interplay of white on white secure rare, sometimes hypnotic, sometimes powerful effects.” Sibelius dedicated his concerto to the Hungarian child prodigy Ferenc Vecsey, who played it in Berlin a year later, when he was just 13 years old. (Sibelius had in fact made the dedication when Vecsey was only 10!) The concerto is an expansive work that calls for dramatic, forceful playing for the soloist. The opening movement (Allegro moderato) begins with a passionate melody from the soloist, supported by a Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 25 PORTLAND COLumbiA SymPhONy Huw Edwards Music Director | Conductor AutumnAl R eflections octobeR 14 & 16 R eviewing 3 eRAs m ARch 2 & 4 Nancy Ives, Principal Cello Susan DeWitt Smith, piano Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 Brahms • Shostakovich Herold Oregon Symphony Elgar: Cello Concerto Butterworth • Mahler • Sibelius Proud to Support the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Oregon’s Exclusive Steinway & Sons Representative u u beyond the bAttlefield novembeR 18 & 20 by Audience R equest m Ay 4 & 6 Brandon Garbot, violin Barber: Violin Concerto Bridge • Beethoven Angie Zhang, piano Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 Rodgers • Delius • Berlioz PCSO—30 years old and Better Than Ever u New & Pre-owned Sales Special Event and In-home Rentals Expert Service Steinway & Sons Boston by Steinway Essex by Steinway Henry F. Miller 503.234.4077 • www.columbiasymphony.org www.shermanclay-portland.com Mary ausplund Tooze TrusT * TrusT ManageMenT services * sherMan clay Moe’s pianos 131 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209 u 503-775-2480 NEED STORAGE? YOUR LOCAL SELF STORAGE SOLUTION Business, Storage & RVs 30% OFF YOUR FIRST 3 MONTHS! WITH COUPON A-1 U-Store It 360-694-3701 2900 Kauffman Ave.,Vancouver a1ustoreit@nwselfstorage.com 26 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 27 January Concert Program Notes harmonics, and breathtaking passage(continued) throbbing background of muted strings. This first section ends with a short cadenza and a transition, before cellos and bassoons introduce a new majorkey idea. The violin transforms this into a more passionate minor-key theme. Strings and woodwinds introduce a more forceful third idea. Though the movement has the general outlines of sonata form, Sibelius follows a freer course, developing these main ideas until the very end, and introducing several new themes along the way. At its midpoint, this movement features a brilliant solo cadenza. Where the first movement is stormy and tense, the second (Adagio di molto) is quiet and lyrical. The movement opens with almost mysterious lines from the woodwinds, but the violin soon enters with a long Romantic melody, supported by horns and woodwinds. A central episode is more dramatic in mood, with a new melody introduced by the orchestra. The final section returns to the calm mood of the opening, with the main theme now played by the orchestra as the soloist provides a delicate ornamental filigree. Forceful rhythms in the timpani and low strings introduce the main theme of the last movement (Allegro, ma non tanto), an energetic melody that critic Donald Tovey called “a polonaise for polar bears.” The second theme is a syncopated dance melody introduced by the orchestra and further developed by the violin. Most of the movement is concerned with developing these two themes, most often played by the orchestra as the soloist provides a kind of virtuoso commentary. The violinist throws in every virtuoso trick in the book in this dazzling finale: long lines of double-stops and octaves, 28 work throughout the range of the instrument. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No.3 in D Major, Op.29 “Polish” Tchaikovsky composed this symphony in the summer of 1875. Nicolas Rubinstein conducted the premiere in Moscow on November 19, 1875. Duration 44:00. All too often, when we speak admiringly of “Tchaikovsky’s symphonies,” what we really mean is “Tchaikovsky’s fourth, fifth, and sixth symphonies.” Masterpieces to be sure, but his earlier symphonies are works well worth our time as well. The youthful Symphony No.1 “Winter Daydreams” (1866, revised in 1874) has its flaws, but also contains some of Tchaikovksy’s typically gorgeous melodic writing. The Symphony No.2 “Little Russian”(1874, revised in 1880)—probably the least neglected of these works—is a stirring, nationalistic piece, filled with Russian and Ukrainian folk material. The rarely-heard Manfred Symphony (1885—falling between the fourth and the fifth) is a complex and powerful piece of programmatic music. But the most ambitious of the “other” Tchaikovsky symphonies is certainly the Symphony No.3. his move to Moscow a decade earlier, played through his first piano concerto and pronounced it “unplayable.” Though the concerto—now one of the best-loved works in the piano repertoire—was taken up enthusiastically by another soloist, and though Tchaikovsky made up with Rubinstein, he remained depressed. Artistic frustration was compounded by financial problems and by the deaths of his brother’s wife and a close friend from the Conservatory. To escape, he spent most of the summer at a friend’s country house. He quickly finished off the score of his opera Vakula the Smith, and by mid-June, he found himself happily at work on a new symphony, completing the score in less than two months. Rubinstein conducted the Symphony No.3 a few months later, and it was a great success. The symphony was completed just as he was about to take on one of his largest projects to date, his first full-length ballet score, Swan Lake, and Tchaikovsky clearly had dancing on his mind in composing the symphony. There are two movements based on dance forms, and the entire score has an intense rhythmic vitality. He also chose a unique form for this symphony. The well-established Classical norm was four parts: two large movements surrounding a slow movement and a faster scherzo. Here Tchaikovsky expands this to five movements, placing what are in effect two scherzos on either side of a long central slow movement. Typically for him, Tchaikovsky expressed doubts about the value of much of the symphony after hearing the premiere, but he was quite proud of this formal innovation. It begins with a funeral march (Moderato Tchaikovsky wrote this work in 1875, when he was living in Moscow, teaching— grudgingly—at the Conservatory. He had had a serious of stunning successes in Moscow, but also several failures and an increasingly complicated personal life. One of his most emotional setbacks came in December 1874, when Nicholas Rubinstein, the pianist and conductor who had been largely responsible for Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 29 January Concert Program Notes (continued) assai: tempo di marcia funebre) that contains some particularly beautiful writing for the horns. There is a long and extremely effective transition, gradually ratcheting up the tension and tempo. (There are clear echoes of this section in his famous overture to 1812, written five years later.) This leads to the main theme (Allegro brilliante), a blustery march-like melody. The most important contrasting idea is a lovely melody introduced by the solo oboe. The development is lengthy and tremendously intense. The main ideas are restated, leading to an enormous brassy peak and a rousing coda. The second movement is marked Alla tedesca: allegro moderato e semplice— “alla tedesca” meaning “in the German manner.” This is essentially a waltz, though Tchaikovsky’s melodies are thoroughly Russian, with a questing main theme, and brief lively trio. The ending has a curious pair of solos, almost recitatives, first for clarinet, and a much more extended, and wry take on the waltz theme by the bassoon. The long middle movement (Andante elegiaco) is based upon a pair of ideas: a melancholy theme laid out in a series of woodwind and horn solos, and a richly expressive melody played by the strings. There is a slightly more agitated middle section with an insistent pulsing accompaniment, but this is soon dominated by the string theme. The ending is nostalgic and almost pastoral, until the bassoon plays the solemn opening theme, echoed by the horn. This last solo ends, surprisingly with a hushed major chord. The scherzo (Allegro vivo) is much 30 lighter: with quick swirling woodwind lines. The theme that has been there in fragments all along comes together in a trombone solo. The trio begins a tremendously long pedal point: an unchanging note held by the horns as the other instruments weave a new theme around it. The opening material returns, and the ending is one of Tchaikovsky’s rare flashes of humor: the horn note returns again, but the music around it now seems mocking, and the when the horn gives up, the music quickly dissolves. It is the last moment (Allegro fuoco: tempo di polacca) that gives this symphony its rather inappropriate nickname. While the Polacca or Polonaise was a dance of Polish origins, by this time it was as universal a ballroom dance as the waltz— witness the Polonaise worked into Act III of his Eugene Onegin. But there is nothing remotely “Polish” about Tchaikovsky’s melodies. Like many symphonic sobriquets this was applied much later— in this case, in 1899, by August Manns, a German conductor working in England, who took his cue from this last movement. For his part, Tchaikovsky was certainly referring to the dance, not Poland, but the Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra name has stuck. The music of the finale returns to the furious energy of the first moment, with a strongly rhythmic passage for the brass at the beginning. The second theme, played by horn and woodwinds is hymn-like, but the string accompaniment continues the nervous energy of the opening. A lighter third idea is very much in the style of a scherzo. The development is done in fugal style, building to the triumphant reappearance of the hymn theme, now grandly transformed by the brass. The symphony closes with an exciting coda, played at full volume. program notes ©2012 by J. Michael Allsen Creating a better world through inspired design Design Kathleen Hibbs Here’s to another great year of inspiring Symphonic Music! Creative ideas & strategies design & branding collatera| n n n n Graphic Advertising & print Web sites & digital marketing Art direction & project management 3 6 0 . 8 9 6 . 2 6 6 5 | hibbsdesign@ comcast.net | www.hibbsdesign.com An Accredited Management Organization for Multi-Family Properties Congratulations to the Vancouver Symphony on providing such beautiful “Sounds of Music” Quantum Residential 601 E. 16th Street Vancouver, Washington 98663 www.qresinc.com Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 31 Saturday, April 14 at 3 p.m. & Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 7 p.m. Skyview Concert Hall—Vancouver, WA Salvador Brotons, Conductor 18th Annual Young Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To be Announced Symphony No. 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Howard Hanson Sinfonia Sacra Symphony No. 5 15 minute intermission Please listen to the bell to return to your seats 18th Annual Young Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To be Announced Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 21 and Op.61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Felix Mendelssohn Overture No.1 Scherzo (Allegro vivace) No.2 Dialogue (L’istesso tempo) and March of the Fairies (Allegro vivace) No.3 Song with Chorus “You spotted snakes” (Allegro ma non troppo) No.4 Andante – Allegro molto No.5 Intermezzo (Allegro appassionato) No.6 Dialogue (Allegro) No.7 Nocturne (Con moto tranquillo) No.8 Dialogue (Andante) No.9. Wedding March (Allegro vivace) No.10 Dialogue (Allegro comodo) and Funeral March (Andante comodo) No.11 A Dance of Clowns (Allegro di molto) No.12 Allegro vivace No.13 Finale (Allegro di molto) Guest Artists April Classical Concert 2010-2011 Young Artists Competition contestants, David Kim, Alex Zhu and Ken Fukumoto. The 18th Annual Young Artists Competition Every season, one of the best-attended and most eagerly anticipated events is the February VSO Young Artists Competition and the performances of the three winners with our orchestra at our April concert. These are both joyous events that celebrate our area’s incredible musical talent. Students 18 years of age or under as of January 1, 2012 who reside within a fiftymile radius of Vancouver, Washington and are currently studying with a private music instructor are eligible to compete in the categories of piano, strings and brass/ woodwinds. Following the initial judging of application CD’s by select area musicians, the three top candidates in each category competed February 19, in front of an audience at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vancouver for scholarship prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for third place. First place finishers perform their winning selections tonight with Maestro Brotons and The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. With a full-sized professional orchestra of over 70 core members, many of whom are teachers in our school districts and beyond, the VSO provides our region with world-renowned classical music, promoting young musicians, and opening doors to classical music for young audiences through events such as the Young Artists Competition, annual In-School concerts, and various family-oriented special events and performances. We Gratefully Acknowledge Our Program Sponsors: 32 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 33 April Concert Program Notes by Michael Allsen This program honors the winners of our 18th Annual Young Artists competition. The orchestra has its own featured moment in the concise fifth symphony of Howard Hanson. Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is, of course, known for the famous wedding march, but this concert includes a performance of his complete incidental music to the great Shakespeare comedy. Howard Hanson (1896-1981) Symphony No.5, Op.43: Sinfonia Sacra Hanson composed this symphony in 1954. Eugene Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in its premiere, on February 18, 1955. Duration 15:00. Born into a Swedish immigrant family in Wahoo, Nebraska, Howard Hanson would become one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century. After studies with the great American composition teacher Percy Goetschius at Northwestern University, Hanson spent the early 1920s in Rome, studying with Ottorino Respighi. (Hanson was the first American to win the prestigious Rome Prize for composition.) He returned to the United States in 1924, and was appointed director of the Eastman School of Music, a position he held for four decades. Under Hanson’s leadership, the Eastman School became one of America’s leading conservatories, and he helped to train a whole generation of younger American musicians and composers. Both as a leader in several arts groups 34 (including the Music Teachers National Organization) and as a leading American conductor, he championed contemporary works by American composers. Hanson’s own musical style has generally been labeled “neo-Romantic” and his works, particularly his seven symphonies, were clearly influenced by those of Sibelius and Grieg. Hanson’s fifth symphony was written at a time in the 1950s when he was exploring spiritual themes in his works. It was inspired by the resurrection story as transmitted in the Gospel of John. But according to Hanson: “The Sinfonia Sacra does not attempt programmatically to tell the story of the first Easter, but does attempt to invoke some of the atmosphere of tragedy and triumph, mysticism and affirmation of this story which is the essential symbol of the Christian faith. The Sinfonia Sacra follows three other works, all concerned with the same general theme: my fourth or ‘Requiem’ symphony, and two choral works, The Cherubic Hymn and How Excellent Thy Name.” The symphony has a compact onemovement form, though there are several distinct sections, opening with a rather dark introduction—all threatening low brass and strings in the beginning, and a declamatory theme, building to the symphony’s first emotional peak. The central section is built on two themes, a solemn chant-like line worked out in counterpoint by the strings, and a more meditative idea introduced by English horn. Development of this theme reaches a point of high intensity, and the third section begins with rather angry music and a new theme. There seems to be a moment of crisis and the texture suddenly thins to reveal a solemn low brass chorale. Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The mood of this final section is more contemplative and hymn-like, reaching one final subdued peak before the symphony closes quietly. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 21 and Op.61 No playwright was as beloved by the Romantics as Shakespeare: the intense character development and free dramatic form of Shakespeare’s works was a source of inspiration for dozens of composers. The Bard’s popularity was wildest in Germany, where his works were known through a translation published by August von Schlegel and Ludwig Tieck in 1801. (There is an old German witticism to the effect that: “Shakespeare is best read in the original German.”) The 17-year-old Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny spent the summer of 1826 in the garden of their family’s home in Berlin, Mendelssohn composed the Overture (Op.21) in 1826, and wrote the Wedding March, together with the remainder of the incidental music (Op.61) in 1842. The Overture was first performed in the Prussian city of Stettin in October 1827. The complete incidental music premiered in Potsdam in October 1843. Duration 62:00. reading Shakespeare. Mendelssohn was impressed enough by his first reading of Ein Sommernachtstraum that he decided almost immediately to write a piece that captured the play’s spirit. In early July he wrote to a friend: “I have grown accustomed to composing in our garden. Today or tomorrow I am going to dream there A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. This is, however, an enormous audacity...” Audacious or not, he wrote the overture in just a few weeks—some of his most delightful and overtly programmatic music. He dedicated the Overture to the Prince of Prussia, and seventeen years later, at the request of the Prince—by then King—Mendelssohn provided several additional pieces of incidental music for the play. The incidental music, though written by a much more mature composer perfectly matches the youthful vitality of the Overture. The grand production of Ein Sommernachtstraum in Potsdam, directed by Tieck, was something of a flop, but Mendelssohn’s brilliant incidental music was judged to be a complete success. It is still used today in some productions of the play, but the numbers are most often heard as concert pieces. In some concert performances the music, which includes singing parts for two fairies (sopranos) and a women’s chorus, is paired with narration from the text of the play, The Overture begins with a series of almost hesitant chords, as if fairies are peeking around trees. The fairies themselves appear in a light string passage before the full orchestra enters joyfully, in a passage that sounds distinctly like the much later Wedding March. There are the horns of Duke Theseus’s party, and a flowing Romantic theme for the various pairs of lovers, and finally a rustic dance. The development focuses on the opening fairy music, becoming almost melancholy at the end before the familiar chords bring in a varied recapitulation of the main themes. The overture closes with a reverent version of the wedding music and a final statement of the mysterious chords. One point of interest in the Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 35 April Concert Program Notes (continued) orchestration is that Mendelssohn wrote a prominent part for a now-obsolete bass instrument, the serpent. By the time he resurrected the overture in 1842 he substituted the ophicleide. The part is played today on the tuba. The late Donald Grout called the Scherzo “...a brilliant example of selfrenewing perpetual motion and of a heavy orchestra tamed to tiptoe like a chamber ensemble.” The movement is set in fast triple meter, and the scoring is transparent throughout. In the opening section, there is a high-spirited dialogue between the woodwinds and strings, which gives way to a somewhat more thickly scored, but equally witty second theme. There is a hint of thunder on the horizon in the brief development section, but both lighthearted themes return in full during the recapitulation. The transparent scoring of the Scherzo allows for several short solos, most notably a quick-footed flute passage near the end. A brief Dialogue based upon the Scherzo’s music follows to accompany Puck’s narration, and there is a wispy March of the Fairies to accompany the entry of Titania and Oberon, with their attendants. Shakespeare’s comedies include many songs that are incorporated into the drama, originally improvised or sung to popular tunes. In the Song and Chorus “You spotted snakes,” Mendelssohn has a pair of fairies and the whole supernatural company respond to Titania’s call to “Sing me now asleep. Then to your offices and let me rest.” This lullaby has its more serious moments, but is dominated by sweet music. The brief Andante that follows accompanies Oberon stealing in to squeeze a potion into sleeping Titania’s eyes that will lead to her falling in love with the ridiculous Bottom. into a jackass—peacefully sleeping together. It reprises the Nocturne’s horn music as Oberon lifts the enchantment on both sleeping figures. The Intermezzo connects Acts II and III, and depicts Hermia’s frantic search for Lysander. It ends with a more lighthearted music for the entry of Peter Quince, Bottom, and the other clowns, who arrive in the woods to rehearse their “most lamentable comedy” Pyramus and Thisbe. The Dialogue that follows accompanies their rehearsal. The Nocturne is intended to follow the play’s third act. The four lovers are more than a little confused by Puck’s magic flower juice and have, one by one, fallen asleep. Mendelssohn’s lullaby begins with one of the most beautiful of all Romantic horn section passages. A more impassioned passage by the woodwinds follows, but before anyone wakes up, we hear the soothing tones of the horn melody. A brief coda (intended to accompany the raising of the curtain for the fourth act) quietly recalls the horn melody. The following Dialogue accompanies Oberon’s discovery of Titania and Bottom—now transformed 36 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Wedding March is so familiar as to be in danger of being a cliché. But no organ processional to a church wedding can match the majesty of Mendelssohn’s orchestral original, with a wonderful opening trumpet fanfare and the processional theme. This theme is presented in alternation with two contrasting sections before a final fanfare and a grand coda. It accompanies the triple wedding of Act IV. The Funeral March accompanies the (unintentionally hilarious) tragedy at the end of Pyramus and Thisbe, performed by the wedding couples. When given the choice of extending the play further with an epilogue or a “Bergomask dance,” Duke Theseus wisely chooses the dance, the bumptious Dance of the Clowns. Following an Allegro vivace transition—a reprise of music from the Wedding March—Mendelssohn closes the incidental music with a sung Finale. This is based upon material from the Overture, and sets Oberon and Titania’s benedictions on the happy couples, before ending in quietly magical music. program notes ©2012 by J. Michael Allsen Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 37 Saturday, May 26 at 3 p.m. & Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. Skyview Concert Hall—Vancouver, WA Salvador Brotons, Conductor Audience choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To be Announced Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maurice Ravel Allegramente Adagio assai Presto Linda Barker, piano 15 minute intermission Please listen to the bell to return to your seats The Planets, Suite for Large Orchestra, Op. 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gustav Holst Mars, the Bringer of War Venus, the Bringer of Peace Mercury, the Winged Messenger Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age Uranus, the Magician Neptune, the Mystic We Gratefully Acknowledge Our Program Sponsors: Guest Artist May Classical Concert received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a master’s degree from Indiana University where she studied with Menahem Pressler of the world-renowned Beaux Arts Trio. Linda Lorati Barker, piano Linda Lorati Barker has appeared as concerto soloist with the Oregon Symphony on numerous occasions. Other feature solo concerto engagements have included the West Coast Chamber Orchestra, Columbia Symphony, Yaquina Chamber Orchestra and Portland Youth Philharmonic. Ms. Barker was also the featured soloist in a performance of the Shostokovitch Piano Concerto #2 with the Oregon Ballet Theater with choreography by James Canfield. A native of Portland, Ms. Barker made her concerto debut at the age of 16 with the Portland Youth Philharmonic. She BIG AL’S SPECIALTY MOVERS INC While residing in St. Louis, Ms. Barker was Instructor of Piano at Webster College and on staff at the St. Louis Conservatory. She played numerous recitals with faculty and guest artists of the Conservatory and members of the St. Louis Symphony. She was first runner-up in the prestigious St. Louis Symphony Young Artist Competition. In the northwest, Ms. Barker has been a faculty member at the University of Portland. She is a past president of the Oregon Music Teacher’s Association, Portland District. She appears frequently as soloist and chamber musician throughout the region, and is in demand as a master teacher and adjudicator of piano competitions. n Local & Long Distance Storage & Relocation Services n Full Service Pack & Unpack Available n Free Online Estimates n Licensed/Bonded & Insured www.BigAlsMovers.com USDOT 1057263 38 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 360.576.1988 Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 39 May Concert Program Notes by Michael Allsen Our opening work was selected by you, through our annual “audience choice” poll. Pianist Miriam Picker then joins The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for the jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G Major by Ravel. The concert—and this season— ends with the grandest work of Holst, his richly-varied orchestral suite The Planets. Program notes on the “Audience Choice” selection appear on an insert to your program. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major Though Ravel had apparently made sketches for a G Major piano concerto as early as 1911, the direct inspiration for completing the concerto can be traced to a highly successful American tour in 1927-1929. Though he eventually returned to Paris, This concerto was composed between 1929 and 1931. The premiere was given in Paris, on January 13, 1932, with Ravel’s student Marguerite Long as soloist. Duration 23:00. Ravel was seriously considering a longterm stay in the United States as a pianist and conductor. The G Major concerto was probably intended to serve as a solo vehicle for Ravel himself, but when he completed the work he found that he had apparently created something that was beyond his talents as a pianist! (The task of premiering the work fell to his protégé Marguerite Long.) He was actually working on two piano concertos at the same time—from 1930-32, and was 40 also working on the D Major concerto for left hand alone, a commission for pianist Paul Wittgenstein (a virtuoso who lost his right arm during the first world war). Despite the fact that they were produced simultaneously, the two pieces are strikingly different in character. The D Major concerto is a densely-textured work of almost heavy-handed virtuosity, while the G Major is a light and happy piece that attempts to create an equal balance between soloist and orchestra. (Ravel originally considered titling the work Divertissement—a reflection of its light style.) Both concertos show strong jazz influence—Ravel was fascinated by this American idiom—but these effects are used in a much more facile and humorous way in the G Major concerto. Ravel’s views on the concerto are best summed up in a contemporary interview, where he described it as “...a concerto in the most exact sense of the term, one that is written in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns. I believe that the music of a concerto can be cheerful and brilliant, and that it need not pretend to depths nor aim at dramatic effects.” The work is laid out in the mold of a Mozart concerto: in three movements. The opening movement (Allegramente) is set in sonata form. The main theme is a quirky, offbeat melody carried first by the piccolo and then by the trumpet, as the piano provides a showy accompaniment of arpeggios and glissandi. The second theme, presented by the piano, is a sleepy Spanish-flavored melody, accompanied by “blue notes” from the woodwinds. True to Classical form, he presents a brief development and slightly reworked recapitulation of the main themes. The piano has a flashy cadenza just before the close of the movement. Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The second movement (Adagio assai) has suggested lots to me, and I have begins with an interesting effect in the been studying astrology fairly closely.” piano: the right hand melody is in 3/4, As Holst suggested, the movements of while the left-hand The Planets are based “There is nothing in the planets accompaniment is in upon the personalities (my planets, I mean) that can be 6/8. This figure attributed to the seven expressed in words.” continues throughout, astrological planets: adding a note of Mars being “headstrong — Holst, to conductor uneasiness to what is and forceful,” Adrian Boult otherwise a quiet and Neptune “subtle and atmospheric movement. mysterious,” and so This tension is not relieved until the last forth. [Note: Earth plays no direct role in two measures, when the pianist’s left hand astrological calculations. Pluto, recently finally gives in, and joins the melody in demoted to “dwarf planet,” was not 3/4. In keeping with the “Mozartian” discovered until 1930.] character of the concerto, the last The music of The Planets is more movement (Presto) is a rollicking rondo in massive and somewhat more radical than 6/8. This is the most clearly “Jazzy” of the anything Holst had written up until this three movements, but it also provides a point (or afterwards). The work uses a showcase for the soloist, as everything vastly expanded orchestra in which every flashes by at blazing speed. woodwind section has been increased Gustav Holst (1874-1934) by one or two players, and augmented The Planets, Suite for Large occasionally by such exotic timbres as Orchestra, Op. 32 bass oboe and bass flute. Holst, who When Holst began composing the music of Holst completed The Planets in The Planets in 1914, he 1917. The first performance, on September 29, 1918, was a private was nearly 40 years old. concert by the New Queen’s Hall He had been an eclectic Orchestra in London, directed sampler of philosophies by Adrian Boult. The first public and mysticism since he performance took place two years was a young man, and this later in London, on November 15, work came out of a brief 1920. Duration 50:00. flirtation with astrology. His interest in the subject began the previous year, when he and fellow composer Clifford spent much of his youth as a trombonist Bax made a trip to Spain together, and in several bands, lavished a great deal passed the time talking about astrology. of forceful and difficult music on a large Holst never followed this “science” in a brass section that includes six horns, serious way—he seems to have used it four trumpets, three trombones, tuba only as source of musical inspiration. In and that most beloved of all British band 1913, he wrote to a friend that “...I only instruments, the euphonium. His score study things that suggest music to me. also calls for a large percussion battery Recently the character of each planet (at least seven players), two harps, Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 41 Memories from the 2011 VSO Gala Join us again to celebrate The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s 33rd Season! May Concert Program Notes (continued) celeste, and in the final movement, organ and an offstage women’s chorus. Holst’s acquaintances must have been surprised at the formidable and occasionally violent nature of this piece—the 5/4 rhythm and crashing dissonances of Mars must have seemed particularly shocking coming from this mild-mannered and unfailingly gentle man. Despite its massive nature, The Planets also shows elements of his earlier style, which blended elements of Oriental and north African music, and Eastern mysticism, with the foursquare and solid harmony of English church music. Holst completed the work in 1917, and his friend Balfour Gardiner arranged for a private performance in September 1918. Though this was apparently a rather slipshod reading of the piece (the schedule allowed for just over an hour of rehearsal time for this 50-minute work!), Holst was encouraged, and made a few minor revisions to the score. Within a couple of years after the end of World War I, there had been several performances in England and the United States. The Planets was a tremendous success, and remains Holst’s most popular work. Holst himself was more than a bit bewildered by the work’s popularity, and his daughter Imogen wrote of several occasions where the composer stood tongue-tied and uncomfortable, surrounded by reporters and gushing admirers. Watch for details on www.vancouversymphony.org 42 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Early audiences assumed that the first movement, Mars, the Bringer of War, was written in response to the just-ended war. In fact, Holst completed this movement before the outbreak of hostilities, and probably had Mars’s astrological significance in mind rather than current events. However, this movement still manages to convey a sense of Europe’s inexorable slide towards a senseless conflict. Holst sets up a savage 5/4 rhythm in the opening bars that underlies the whole movement. An ominously rising theme is passed from bassoons and horns to the trombones, and eventually to the entire brass section. As the volume builds, Holst introduces a sliding dottednote countermelody. The euphonium and trumpets introduce a contrasting idea and an accompanying fanfare. The movement continues as a development of these paired themes, building towards a crashing conclusion. Nothing could be more of a contrast to Mars than the calmly flowing Venus, the Bringer of Peace. Holst sets aside the trumpets, trombones, and drums of the opening movement to focus on the more delicate colors of harps, woodwinds, and strings. The solo horn plays an upwardflowing melody, which is answered by descending woodwinds. A contrasting, but equally placid melody is introduced by solo violin. This is no sharply-textured Botticelli Venus, but an Impressionist portrait in soft, watercolor textures on a constantly shifting rhythmic and harmonic background. Mercury, the Winged Messenger opens with a feeling of perpetual motion, passing brief bits of melody from instrument to instrument. The orchestration is extremely light, focusing of the woodwinds and giving prominent passages to the celesta. A central episode uses an exotic melody first heard in the solo violin, and then repeated several times throughout the orchestra. Holst’s daughter notes that the inspiration for this passage came from folk musicians that he had heard on a trip to Algeria. In its final Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 43 May Concert Program Notes (continued) section, Mercury returns to the nimble character of its beginning. For Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, Holst returns to full orchestra, but this movement contains none of the threatening darkness of Mars—Holst described Jupiter as “...one of those jolly fat people who enjoy life.” The main theme is a rollicking syncopated melody first heard in the horns. The first contrasting section turns to a slightly slower triple meter melody, again introduced by the horns. After a brief return to the opening texture, there is a second triple meter theme; a hymnlike melody marked Andante maestoso. (A few years later, Holst did, in fact, use this melody to set a patriotic hymn.) To close off the rondo form, Holst includes a final statement of the main theme Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age begins with a feeling of timelessness: a static ostinato played by harps and flutes supports a slow and languid melody first played by the basses. The central section becomes more agitated, although never faster, moving in a long crescendo. After reaching maximum intensity, the mood subsides into a transformation of the opening music. Uranus, the Magician begins with a fortissimo statement by unison brass. According to Adrian Boult, Holst was not acquainted with Paul Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice (l897) at the time he composed Uranus. However, Holst’s main themes are amazingly similar to those used by Dukas in his portrayal of magic gone astray: a humorous and somewhat eerie 6/4 melody that gives way to a spooky march. Both Dukas and Holst may have been inspired—whether consciously or not— by the “Witches’ Sabbath” movement of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Holst’s magician is good-natured to the end, though. After a tremendous orchestral climax, the music quiets to a final statement of the march. We play a different set of strings... The closing movement, Neptune, the Mystic, returns to the 5/4 of Mars. However Neptune is hushed and serene, characterized by sliding chromatic melodies played above a background of sustained chords and glissandos in the celesta and harps. At the end, Holst calls for two offstage choruses of female voices. There is no text—the women sing an unearthly hymn that fades gradually into space. program notes ©2012 by J. Michael Allsen Let’s Grow Your Business Together. For information on utility programs, easy payment options, and ways to save energy and money, visit www.clarkpublicutilities.com or find us on Facebook RichIdeas Creative Marketing & Media Strategies Rich Brase 44 • 503-201-6158 • rich@richideas.net Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra VSO 6x9.375.indd 1 9/6/11 8:33:46 AM Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 45 What Does it Mean to be a Friend? One of the things members of The Friends of The Vancouver Symphony share is generosity. While the musicians and staff work hard to provide an exceptional concert experience, the Friends are dedicated men and women who support The VSO through participation, fund-raising, outreach programs and community education throughout the year. Only through your membership can we continue to be viable and successful. We hope you’ll join us for the fun and satisfaction that comes from supporting Maestro Brotons and our truly exceptional orchestra. 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Harris Anna Helm Jeannie and Steve Hix Kathryn Hobbie SandraHoyt Linda and Dale C Johnson Jr. Norman Krasne and Sarah Duvall Nancy and Robert Laws Kathryn Lowrie Mary Lou Mansfield C. Todd and Linda Martin Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Mary and Richard D. Martin Cathleen and Rodney Mazour Dee Memering Scott and Suzanne Milam Sandra Miller Betty Sue Morris Jean Nordstrom Barbara Nunn Linda Odenborg Valeria and Daniel Ogden Paula and James Palmer Jane Perkins Hildegard and Walter Pistor Rebbecca Potter Sondra and Lee Powell SharonQuade Donna and Jack Roberge Nozel Barbara Roberts Kibbey and Thom Rock MarionRogers Hope Rolland Karen Sahlstrom Barbara Saur Ute Schafer-Brown Ara Serjoie and Darrell Williamson Dr. John Soelling and Harriet Wilson Iverne Tizekker Joe Varga Florence Wager Verdella Whareham Joan Winton Patricia and Jack Wojnowski Gene and Joanne K Yarnell Margaret Zuke Volunteer of the Year Linda Odenborg Linda Odenborg has been a concert subscriber to The VSO for over twenty years. The Vancouver Symphony is just one of many organizations that have benefited from her many artistic passions. Always, in the course of raising her family, she found the time to become an accomplished creative writer and pursue her interests in art, music and theater. In her early retirement years, she used her considerable work experience in leadership and organization to develop her own business as an audio book publisher, all this while volunteering at The VSO and giving of her time as an education affiliate and docent for the Portland Art Museum. She joined the Friends of The VSO several years ago and subsequently served as its Secretary and Vice-Chair and just completed two years as Chair. She touts the Friends service, fundraising activities and music education outreach programs. In 2007 Linda became a VSO Board member where she was involved in several of its committees that include marketing and the symphony’s Young Artists Competitions. Linda wishes to share her Volunteer of the Year award with the many Friends and Board members who work so unselfishly in supporting Maestro Brotons, the symphony musicians and our Vancouver Symphony organization. Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 47 Musicians & Staff VIOLIN 1 Eva Richey, Concertmaster Tatiana Kolchanova, Asst. Concertmaster Stephen Shepherd Don Power Kirsten Norvell Laurita Jauregui Lindsay Durant Elizabeth O’Mara Matt Mandrones Ricki Hisaw Ellen Fackler Megan Moran Suzanne Rague Adrienne Welch BASSES Garrett Jellesma, Principal Dave Anderson Mike Murphy Adam Trachsel Ed Sale FLUTES Rachel Anderson, Principal Corrie Cook Darren Cook PICCOLO Darren Cook VIOLIN 2 Tracie Andrusko, Principal Sara Pyne, Asst. Principal Diana Taylor-Williams Maria Powell Lisa Hanson Joan Hamilton Denise Uhde Carolyn Shefler Lanette Shepherd Elizabeth Doty OBOE Kris Klavik VIOLAS Angelika Furtwangler, Principal Jim Garrett Brenda Liu Kelly Christ Annette Meng Sandra Edwards Emalie Berdahl HORNS Allan Stromquist, Principal Wendy Peebles Nathan Laws James Cameron CELLOS Dieter Ratzlaf, Principal Erin Winemiller, Asst. Principal Ashley Peck Laura Barker Annie Harker-Power Jonathan Cheskin TROMBONES Greg Scholl, Principal John Northe 48 CLARINET Igor Shakhman, Principal BASS CLARINET Barbara Heilmair-Tanret BASSOON Margaret McShea, Principal CONTRA BASSOON Harvey Freer TRUMPETS Bruce Dunn, Principal Scott Winks Jeff Snyder BASS TROMBONE Douglas Peebles, Principal TUBA Mark Vehrencamp, Principal Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra PERCUSSION Brian Gardiner, Principal Florian Consetti, Tympani Principal Ben Moll PIANO/CELESTA Michael C. Liu HARP Ellen Lindquist Music Director/ Conductor Dr. Salvador Brotons Orchestra Manager/ Librarian Igor Shakhman Stage Manager Ron Christopher Volunteer Coordinator Londa Edwards-Rau Orchestra Board Liaison Dieter Ratzlaf Board of Directors Kathy McDonald (Chair) Joel Littauer (Vice Chair) LeAnn Gilmore (Secretary) Mathew Lee (Treasurer) Dr. Salvador Brotons Paul Christiansen Bobby Forbes Pat Galt LeAnn Gilmore Sharon Hinckley Dr. Michael C. Liu MD C. Todd Martin Mary Martin Tom McDonald Betty Sue Morris Jonathan Sauerwein Dr. David Smith Thank You! 2011-2012 VSO Who’s Who In Grateful Acknowledgement Gifts and Support Spring, 2011 - September 13, 2011 In Memory of... Sasha Gokhman (violin); Jon Jordens (viola), Romana Smith (viola) and Pete Weis (cello), from the VSO Orchestra Allegro $20,000 and above M.J.Murdock Charitable Trust Steve and Jan Oliva Albina Fuel Joyce and Neal Arntson Anonymous Anonymous Tatsuo Ito and Friends First Independent Bank Maestro $10,000 -19,999 Community Foundation of Southwest Washington Georges and Eleanor St. Laurent Steve and Jeannie Hix Impresario $5,000-$9,999 Luis Esteban Harris Dusenbery Dr. Larry and Edna Jean Easter Dan and Saxon Douda Euliss John and Betty Ann Fike Mission Heritage Foundation Friends of The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Bill Barron and Janet Gallimore Mike and Nancy Gaston Suzanne Baumann and John Gragg Ed and Julie Graham Virtuoso $1,000-$4,999 Dene Grigar and John Barber Diana Acuesta William and Marlene Anderson Dick and Marilyn Hannah Dr. Mary Harrison JoAnn Bennett Gloria John Holly Black The Jones-Smith Foundation Nancy Bonner JH Kelly, LLC Kathryn Hobbie and Reinhard InSpec Group, LLC Bohme Joanne Kendall Ann Borowiak Kintetsu World Express Salvador Brotons (USA) Inc. Don and Sue Cannard Gene Kuechmann Paul and Loti Christensen Nira Lang Christians Equipped For Vaughn and Barbara Lein Ministry Joel and Elizabeth Ann Littauer Irene Cunningham Robert and Marilyn Grover Thomas and Ramona McDonald Dr. David Smith Betsy (Faith) Strong Mary Martin Steve and JoMarie Hansen David and Patricia Nirenberg Ward and Lois Cook U.S. Bank Dr. Michael Liu and Nien-Wei Hsiao Jane Malmquist Mary and Richard Martin Martha Fletcher McCourt Kathy and Mike McDonald James McIntyre Michael and Laura Lee McMurray Scott and Suzanne Milam Betty Sue and William Morris Renee and Roger Newman Northwest Cancer Specialists Dan and Val Ogden, Jr. George and Sarah Oh Okamoto Corporation Boyd and Dorothy Osgood James and Paula Palmer John and Dorothy Parkin Walter and Hildegard Pistor Portfolios Northwest Premier Investment Corporation Carolyn Propstra R J G Corp Laurence and Lilly A. Resseguie Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 49 Lawrence Rockwood Myron and Marva Sandberg S.D. Deacon Corp. of Oregon Di Lu and Lihua Sun Dr. John Soelling James Thompkins Trust Dr. Richard Wollert Benefactor $500-$999 Valerie Alexander and Kelly Lindgren Bethany Vineyard Joyce Tobias and Jim Chiappetta Alan and Debbie Cleland Confluence Winery Darryl G. Conser Lyall and Phyllis Crary D. Wesley and Winona D. Davis, Jr. George and Barbara Dechet James and Gayle Dever David and Diane Difford Michael and Ann Donnelly Peter and Margaret Eberle James Freeman, Jr. Greg and Susan Gilbert Sharon Hinckley Tom and Gretchen Holce Kathleen McLagan and John Holden Bonnie and Bernard Hubbard Janeen Johnson and William Young Lee and Connie Kearney John Kendall Norman Krasne and Sarah Duvall Duane and Peggy Lansverk James and Margaret Lee Betsy Liu Lucky Limousine and Town Car Service Management Engineering Assoc. C. Todd and Linda Martin Chris and Cecelia McDaniel Carly McDowell and Lisa Howell Mary Jean and Don Millar Glen and Judy Miller Paul Montague David and Doris Moore Sierk Braam and Jennifer O’Connor Realvest Corporation 50 Amy Light and Michael Robins Dr. Edward and Susie Sale Dr. Paul Tucker and Blake Walter H. Jack and Bev Ullman Nancy and George Vartanian Carolin D. Vansittard Florence Wager Verdella Whareham $100-$499 Tony Adams and Julie Bruning AJ Jewelry Artists Repertory Theatre Elise and Joseph Astleford Bill and Janis Aull Gerald and Lori Bader, MD Bader Beer & Wine Supply Norman and Jane Buchanan Banks John and Irene Barton, Sr. Daniel and Maxine Bash Randi Bass Belva Baz Cheryl Becker and Pamela Gunn Heather Beecher Dr. Bruce Bell, MD Dave and Jeanne Bennett Gordon and Maria Bigelow Steve and Mayno Blanding Marlia Jenkins and Mitch Bower Art and Diane Brandenburg Gordon and Alicia Brazington Julie Bruning Carol and Charles Brunner Lise Buell Ann C. Bump Dr. Otis Burris William and Catharine Byrd Richard Carr Charles and Joyce Carter Lucille and John Carter Dennis Carver and Debra White-Carver Rosaline Chang Gilda Ciraulo Robert and Terri Clark Dr. Jon Clemens Elna and Gilbert Cobb Roger Cole Don M and Grace Cook David C and Caryl-Ann Copenhaver Maureen De Armond Dr. G. Dean and Laura Jo Barth Arlene and Richard Decker Dr. Richard Dobrow Margaret Dodds Matt and Therese Doran Charles and Nancy Dresher Kathleen Kennedy Drew Russell Dunn Patricia Eby Ralph and Annalee Edwards Edward Jones Investments Edward Jones Camas Nancy J. Ellifrit Robert Ellingwood Anne and Paul Esch Farrar’s Bistro Harvey Fink John and Victoria Fitzsimmons Greg and Carol Flakus Earl and Hazel Fleck Karin E Ford John and Christina Forney Helen Foster Friends of Chamber Music Fudge Fix Allan and Dixie Lynn Geddes Leo and Patricia Gentrey, II Larry and Sally Gentry J P Gibbons John and Barbara Gibson Gift Tree Julie Heide and David J. Goggin Robert and Maryalice Gordon Stacey Graham Calvin and Joann Graham Kathy and Don Grambsch Bill and Richela Grantz David and Edna Green Peter Greenfield and Laura Stephens Elsie H. Grooms Shirley and Gary Gross Maruth Gruver Pamela Gunn and Cheryl Becker Bruce Hagenson William Warren Hale and Judith Mathies Gloria and Glenn Haley Joan Hamilton Judge and Mrs. Robert Harris Helen Harris Stephen Hartley Betty Hawke Jane Heidsiek Helen and Richard Hewitt Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Jodell Hinojosa Kenji and Alice Hisatomi Ron and Marlene Horch Walt and Beth Houser Sandra Hoyt John and Judy Hubbard J.D. Fulwiler & Co. Ins. Christy Jallesma Garrett Jellesma Lee and Gladys Jennings Brad and Mary Jensen Linda and Dale Johnson Marion Kanthak Jeff and Sharon Kassel Brandon and Antoinette Keenan Ken Wright Cellars Mary Ellen Kenreich Paul J. King Pamela Kirkaldie Ken Kirn Marla & Dave Koch Diana Koskinen Margaret Kretschmar Jim and Daphne Kuhn Homer and Helen Lackey Ruth Langstraat Joy Lasseter Daryl Lawhern Gary and Chris Lawhead Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Lee Mary Legry Eugene and Lavon Lehman Lance Lisle Ed and Dollie Lynch James H. Malinowski Dr. Edward McAninch Pat McDonald Jackie and James McGreevey Howard and Karen Meharg Glenda and Chuck Michael Margaret Milem Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Miller Judy Mills Betty Montgomery Benjamin Moore Gordon D. and Lynne E, Morrison Ted and Edana Mulcahey Carolyn Coyman and Olaf Myklebust Verne Naito Beth and Kay D Nichols Gary and Colleen Nikkari Barbara and Robert Nunn Herb and Marie Nunn Dr. John Nusser Harold and Christina Nystrom Linda Odenborg John and Sandra O’Rourke Shiela and Michael Osheroff Cheryl and Brian Partridge The Cultured Pearl Nina Pettyjohn Royce and Margaret Pollard Portland Opera Lee and Sondra Powell Paula Preller Prive Vineyard Grace and Chuck Prochnow Sharon Quade Jay and Barbara Ramaker Mary Rasmussen Jon Rau and Londa Edwards Rau Red Ridge Farms Jennifer and Don Rhoads Catherine Rich Don Riggs and Colleen McClain Barbara and Donald Roberts Beryl Robison Donna and Gordon Rodewald Joan Rosel Charlotte and Richard Rubin David and Midge Ruiz Robert Russel, PC Dr. and Mrs. Gary Sahlstrom Ethos Salon Donald and Susan Sargeant Asa and Julia Sarver Barbara Saur Lisa and Al Schauer Kathleen and Frank Scopacasa Glenn Scott James and Betty Selby Ara Serjoie and Darrell Williamson Nancy and Richard Seton Norris, Beggs and Simpson Barbara Klabin-Smith and Rick Smith Dorothy J Smith Carole Palmer and Larry Sneed Clyt’e Speidel and Paul Keown Donald C. Springer St Mary’s Services Drs. Robert Stepsis Steve and Heather Stewart Patricia Stewart Elson and Jan Strahan Steve and Heather Stuart John and Lura Sundell Diana Taylor-Williams Thomas and Beth Taylor Leigh and Marlene Taylor The Heathman Lodge The Reflector Dottie Thiel Sharon Thompson Bob and Mary Tomisser Charles Kent Topliff and FASCO Christine Adkins Toscano Cathryn Treawell-Nelson D. Joanne and Duane Vahsholtz Marge van Nus Joe Varga Barbara and Ralph Veals Christofer Vinther Joanne Warner Lucretia L. Wasser H. Kenneth and Carol Westby Marilyn Whitman Den Mark Wichar Don Wilson Colleen M. Winrich Joan Winton Marjorie Wolford Susan Wolff and Judge John Wulle Sharon Wylie Gene and Joanne Yarnell Orville and Alberta Yearout Gordan and Caroline Young George Young Nancy Zacha Richard and Ferrel Zeimer Jay & Diane Zidell Charitable Foundation Margaret Zuke $25-$99 360 Pizzeria A Secret Garden Accent On Antiques Craig Allen Applewood Restaurant & Bar Linell and Bruce Arbuckle Argyle Winery Steven and Sarah Bang Beaches Marilyn and Richard Berry Lois Bosland Albert E. Bouffard Robin and Lyle Bradford Willa Brooks Judy Brown Ute Brown Kathleen and Alan Browne Julius Buehler Hanna Bureker Susan Caddell Audrey and Steve Cameron Elaine Carlson Glen and Mary Carr Robert and Carol Carson Diana and Paul Chernofsky Clark College Ellen Clark Jon and Joann Crabtree Ellen Spencer Credle Chris Crowley and Martha Howe Crumbled Rock Winery Dr. Marilyn Darr Douglas P and P.J. Davis Della Terra George J. and Florence M. Delvo Laura Demory Dobbs Family Estate Lavona Dokken John and Jean Doty Judy Dresser Madeleine S. Dulemba Elva Eliason Ken and Marjorie Ellertson Shirley Erikson Lynda Ferguson John and Nancy Fite, Jr Alicia Forkner Michael Fox-Lambert Robert and Nelda Galatz Garside Florist Louis Getsinger Jeff and LeAnn Gilmore Elizabeth Gold Rosalba Goode Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Shelley Gregory Linda Gwinn JoAnn Haines William Hammersley and Linda Hamersley Antonia Hansen Mark Havens Sue Heise Bobbi and Keven Heitschmidt Dean and Donna Hinkley Robert Hitchcock Steven and Karen Hollingsworth Jorene and Brad Holton Nien-Wei Hsioas Aziz and Belgin Inan Jayne Sanders Interior Design George and Beverly Johnson Mick and Carol Johnson Sylvia Karabay Robert and Cathy Kamer Jane Keating-Jones Erica Kelley Eric Kelly Homer and Geraldine Keltto Jan Kennedy Jean C. Kent Robert and Paula Knight Frank and Carolyn De La Rosa Zandra and Frederic Lake Dr. Robert and Nancy Laws Brian Leahy Lorilee J. Lien Bonita Linkous Edward and Kathryn Lipp Ed Lipski Louis Loosbrock Gail Ludowise Donna Mac Richard and Joyce Malin MAMA MIA TRATTORIA Maresh Red Hills Vineyard Chuck and Dixie Marsh Shirley and John Martin Carrie and Matthew Mason Andrew McIvor and Maura Conlon-McIvor Mark and Kathy McLean Emily Meek Carl and Lois Melina Gayle Meltesen Joanne Metcalfe Aaron Meyer David Meyers Darleen Michaud Sheldon Mostovoy and Barbara Holmberg-Mostovoy John and Malitta Murphy Nicola Nadig Wendy Nelson Jean Nordstrom Donald and Doris Norton On the Fridge Hair Studio Patrick Ortiz Nancy Overpeck Marcus and Cathie Padgett David and Patty Page Bette Piette Beatrice Proano Robert and Cathy Ramer Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 51 Gifts and Support (continued) Sheryl L. Rastorfer Michael and Cinda Redman Mary and Jay Renaud Roy and Marie Rich Gail Richardson Constance Ronayne Scott Ross Vesta Ruchek R. Michael Sanchez Janice Sanderson Jim and Karen Sandberg Lila Scheer Barbara Scholl Nancy Seyfrit Shanti Yoga Center Nora and Rex Siegfried Irma Slocum Dan and Christina Smith Harold C Smith Karen K. Smith Simone L. Smith Henry and Ann Smits Shirley Sonnenberg Donald and Judy Sproul Sara Stamey Gretchen Starke Stollers Sally Sellers and Michael Subocz Theresa Jan Sumoge Michael Tausch Roberta Taussig Betty J Taylor Grace Teigen Paul and Julia Terry Thai Orchards Restaurant Trader Joe’s Treat Evelyn Turner Ron and Jane Upton Marilyn Van Wagner Joseph and Lori Vance Vancouver School of Beauty Mary Ellen Vaughan Martha Vilander Village Pearl Patricia Voigt Aaron Wanstall Wayne Magnoni & Co. Kathleen Wegener Philip and Diana Weintraub Alan Weis Alma Westfall Benjamin and Linda Wiener Lawrence and Virginia Williams Joan Wilson Patricia and Jack Wojnowski Elizabeth and Algird Zalpys Directory of Advertisments First Independent Wealth Management .......................................ii The Quarry/Glenwood Place..............................................................2 Hudson’s at the Heathman Lodge....................................................5 All Classical 89.9 KQAC..........................................................................9 Greater Clark County Chamber of Commerce....................10 Columbia Theatre....................................................................................11 David Kerr Violin Shop..........................................................................15 Linda’s Tax Service..................................................................................15 Pianos by Ted Mulcahey........................................................................19 Vancouver Eye Care...............................................................................20 Grant House Restaurant.....................................................................21 Portland Baroque ...................................................................................23 Paul Quackenbush...................................................................................26 Portland Columbia Symphony.........................................................26 Sherman Clay-Moe’s Pianos..............................................................27 Homewood Suites (Hilton)...............................................................27 A-1 U-Store It............................................................................................27 Kathleen Hibbs Design..........................................................................31 Quantum Residential Ad.....................................................................31 Charlie’s Bistro/La Bottega..................................................................33 Big Al’s Specialty Movers......................................................................39 RichIdeas.......................................................................................................44 Clark Public Utilities................................................................................45 Touchmark...................................................................................................53 Tributes to The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and our marvelous musicians Classic Pianos of Portland applauds Vancouver’s superb orchestra. Bravo! www.classicportland.com I like the way that sounds! PMS 7536 c = 0, m = 4, y = 22, k = 32 r = 185, g = 176, b = 152 pewter logo main color 404 Homes andPMS services: c = 0, m = 8, y = 22, k = 56 We’re still providing the same symphony of services as we have for 13 years. Just the name is new! Call today for your personalized tour. r = 136, g = 126, b =and 111 • Single-family homes shadow color apartments • Independent Living • Assisted Living • Early Memory Care • Memory Care • Home Health and Home Care • Rehabilitation and Aquatic Therapy • Health & Fitness Club with pool The Vancouver String Quartet salutes the VSO. Performance elegance at weddings/receptions. 360-261-2611 The Cultured Pearl Antiques, Harvey and Steves Gallery, Steve Maker, Dale and George Champlin and Suzy Gates send their support to Contra-Bassoon/ Harvey Freer touchmark at fairway village 2911 SE Village Loop, Vancouver, WA 98683 360-254-2866 • Touchmark.com 116168 © 2011 Touchmark Living Centers, Inc., all rights reserved 52 Thank you for supporting The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Visit us online | www.vancouversymphony.org 53 The VSO gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our business community BIG AL’S SPECIALTY MOVERS INC MULCAHEY PIANO AND SOUND, INC. .Theatre. .Columbia . Longview La Bottega Café deli catering washingTon Charlies Bistro Great Food Fabulous Cocktails Live Music Design Kathleen Hibbs The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization | Mailing Address: Po Box 525, Vancouver, Wa 98666-0525 | Phone (360) 735-7278 | Fax: (360) 906-0355