Details
Audience favourites Lara St. John and Jacques Lacombe join forces with the ESO in Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, a dramatic and lyrical tour de force. Jacques Hétu’s tone poem evokes a mighty river in Quebec, and Chausson’s Symphony is colourful, melodious, and romantic.
This performance is dedicated to the memory of Jacques Hétu.
Learn more about the performance at Symphony Prelude: 7:15 pm in the Upper Circle (Third Level) Lobby.
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Chausson: Symphony
Hétu: Sur les rives de St-Maurice
$69 Dress Circle (A)
$59 Terrace (B)
$51 Orchestra (C)
$38 Upper Circle (D)
$28 Gallery (E)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
(click map for interactive version)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges.
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The next Classic Landmarks Masters performance is May 15, 2010.
Program Information
Hétu: Sur les rives de St-Maurice (15')*
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47 (31')*
Lara St. John, violin
Intermission
Chausson: Symphony in B-flat major, Opus 20 (35')*
*Indicates approximate performance duration
Program Notes
Sur les rives de Saint-Maurice (On the Shores of the Saint-Maurice)
Jacques Hétu (b. Trois-Rivières, Québec, 1938 / d. Saint-Hippolyte, Québec, 2010)
First performance: September 2008 in Trois-Rivières
This is the ESO premiere of the piece
Program note by the composer:
This work was commissioned by the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières to commemorate the 375th anniversary of the founding of the city. It is dedicated to Jacques Lacombe.
Prologue: Festive fanfare. Magnificent landscape and swirling waters: the river splits into three to create the City. Night falls. Former Times: At dawn, at the edge of the woods by the river, a hymn announces the arrival of the explorers and missionaries. Then come bird songs presaging those of the Amerindians. All assemble for a procession that quickly dissolves into the mists. Modern Times: Daybreak. A stroll upstream along the river banks. Gentle flow of water, then the roar of waterfalls. Initial sounds of the Forges in the distance. The din grows slowly, then blazes forth. The fires and brilliant flashes from the blast furnace project terrifying shadows, producing the “devil’s fountain.” Epilogue: Calm is restored. Remembrance of the ancestors. Return to the tumult of the Festive City.
The musical elements of this symphonic poem are juxtaposed in four sections further divided into two parts played without pause: A – 1) (Allegro) – Festival Fanfare (brass and percussion) – Transition: nocturnal mood. 2) (Allegretto) – March-like character for the Hymn of the Ancestors (bassoons and clarinets) - The sound of birds (woodwinds) - String figuration symbolizes movement of the waters. Song of the Amerindians (English horn). Short development in a crescendo to the return of the two superimposed themes constituting the tutti for the procession; decrescendo during the coda. B – 3) (Allegro) - Luminous colours in the orchestra present the Forge motif in the woodwinds. Canonic episodes interspersed with horn calls. Transition: the approaching clamour culminates in an outburst from the trumpets. Development of the Forge motif, joyfully proclaimed by the horns. 4) (Moderato): Nostalgic reminiscence of the Hymn of the Ancestors (strings). Gradual return of the brass. Varied repeat of the opening fanfare (Più allegro) - A final energetic statement of the Hymn, followed by the coda (Vivace).
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47
Jean Sibelius (b. Hämeenlinna, 1865 / d. Järvenpää, 1957)
First performance: February 8, 1904 in Helsinki
Revised version first performed October 19, 1905 in Vienna
Last ESO performance: November 2002
“When I was about 9 years old, I thought the Sibelius concerto was the most fabulous thing ever written - and of course I was not allowed to learn it then. By the time I could have learned it, I chose not to (by this time, in my early teens at Curtis I was too busy being the pseudo-intellectual nerd. So I didn't even put finger to string on it till quite a good bit later in life - in my 20s, which gives one a rather interesting and fresh perspective. I am glad it worked out that way for me. It goes much deeper than what one hears on a cursory listen or two. When I set foot in Finland for the first time, I looked around and thought, ‘Gee, this really looks like the opening of the Violin Concerto. Either that or Saskatchewan’.”
Lara St. John
Jean Sibelius only managed to write one concerto. But it was for the instrument he knew best. At one time in his formative years, Sibelius had thoughts about becoming a concert violinist, and in fact auditioned for the Vienna Philharmonic – unsuccessfully. Vienna’s loss was posterity’s gain, surely. But it was not Sibelius’ own aspirations that directly prompted him to write a concerto; rather, it was the encouragement of another violinist, Willy Burmester, around 1902, shortly after Sibelius had written his Second Symphony. Ironically, Burmester performed neither the concerto’s first performance, nor the premiere of the revised version.
The initial 1904 Helsinki performances proved unsatisfactory to pretty much everyone, including Sibelius. He revised the work extensively before the work as it is known today was presented for the first time in Vienna the following year, with no less than Richard Strauss conducting, and Karel Halíř as soloist. Over a mist of strings, the solo violin sings a lyrical, resigned song that increases in passion and agitation. There is a brief cadenza featuring rapid bow work, then for one of the few times in the work, the violin pauses as the orchestra brings in the first movement’s second subject. A wisp of a theme heard in the opening moments has more of a presence as the solo violin returns to rhapsodize, leading to an orchestral ritornello (“return”), and here the main, romantic theme has even more force. Instead of a development section, Sibelius gives the violin another long, detailed cadenza, until a bassoon quietly ushers in the coda, again dominated by the soloist. The long movement (almost half the length of the entire concerto) ends with the violin soaring above an orchestral background of rich colour and a strong romantic feel.
The second movement is in ternary (three-part) form, A-B-A. Woodwinds usher in the movement with an air of uncertainty. The violin’s entry is with a theme of nobility and sadness, with echoes of the first movement’s main motif. The central section is marked by an ominous orchestral texture, over which the violin enters, frequently employing double stops (playing two strings simultaneously) and chromatic harmonies. As well, there are cross-rhythms between the orchestra and soloist. The vigorous, yet still dark-hued finale is dominated by two main subjects. The first, heard in the solo violin, is an agitated, urgently propulsive theme with a slightly off-kilter metre. Sir Donald Tovey’s oft-quoted description of it being “a polonaise for polar bears” is cute, if somewhat short-changing. Sibelius’ own description is more apt; he thought of it as, “a danse macabre across the Finnish wastelands.” The second subject is a dance-like theme which alternates a 6/8 rhythm with a ¾. The work concludes with brilliant solo flashes marked by octave passage leaps.
Symphony in B-flat Major, Op.20
Ernest Chausson (b. Paris, 1855 / d. Limay, 1899)
First performance: April 18, 1891 in Paris
This is the ESO premiere of the piece
“At present it is not yet finished, but perhaps it will come. I should be used to retouching things, since I do it so often. But always, I find the same difficulties. Actually, I think the thing is very difficult.”
Letter from Chausson to Henry Lerolle, dedicatee of the Symphony in B-flat
Composers in 19th-century France did not have the same drive to compose orchestral works, such as symphonies, as did the Germans. So a number of prominent French masters, it seemed, only ever got around to writing one. There is the Franck (Symphony in D minor), the Dukas (his 1896 Symphony in C), and the d’Indy (Symphony on a French Mountain Air). Only Saint-Saëns, it would seem, managed to produce a series of symphonies. Based on his lone entry in the canon, Ernest Chausson might well have given us other, equally strong representatives, but his untimely death at 44 years old in a bicycle accident prohibited that.
That compositional window is made even smaller by the fact that Chausson was indecisive about choosing music for a career, only entering the Paris Conservatoire in 1879, studying with Massenet and Franck, the latter of whom he admired greatly – though Debussy felt that Franck’s scholarly regimen worked to the detriment of Chausson’s naturally independent spirit. The symphony’s origins begin in 1889, during time away from Paris, in Arras in the north of France. Chausson took 15 months to complete the work, and in the audience at its premiere were many of his colleagues and supporters, including Lalo, Chabrier, and Massenet.
The three-movement symphony begins with gravity – a deep-toned, slow introduction that builds to a dramatic climax, yielding to violins and woodwinds ushering in the Allegro vivo. Bassoon and horn present the first of several themes in the Allegro, which will be combined in an ingenious counterpoint in the development section.
The second movement, Très lent (“very slow”), is dominated by two themes, the first of which is presented in fragmentary form – a sombre, rising figure answered by a lyrical, sad melody. The second subject is marked Un peu plus vite (“a little more quickly”) has an air of mystery to it, and it is only after this theme is heard that the first subject returns in full-fledged form.
The final movement begins with almost sounds like movie suspense or chase music, leading to a number of references to themes heard earlier in the work. What sets this particular movement apart is the extraordinary chorale theme for brass alone – 22 bars of it – that leads to the bright and resounding coda, now in D Major.
Program Notes © 2010 by D.T. Baker except as noted, with many thanks to Jeanne Desaulniers-Hétu
Artist Bios
Jacques Lacombe, conductor
In October 2009, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Jacques Lacombe as its Music Director Designate. He assumes the position of Music Director in September 2010. From the beginning of his career, he has been highly praised as a remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature. Maestro Lacombe began the 2009/10 season with his debut at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden leading an all-star cast of Tosca. He debuts also at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and returns to the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. He reprises Der fliegende Holländer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he also conducts Eugene Onegin. Maestro Lacombe is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of his hometown orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières in Québec.Career highlights include his 2002-06 tenure with the Montréal Symphony, where he led the orchestra as its Principal Guest Conductor in over 75 performances, including several world premieres. At the Metropolitan Opera, Lacombe has conducted Werther and Die Fledermaus; Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; and performances with the opera companies of Philadelphia, Vancouver, Montréal, and Minnesota. He has led the major symphony orchestras in Canada, and held a three-year appointment in France as the Music Director for opera and orchestra with the Philharmonie de Lorraine in Metz. Mr. Lacombe has also led the Slovakia Philharmonic, the Budapest Symphony, and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, as well as numerous productions of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. He has recorded for the Analekta label and has led broadcasts on the CBC network, PBS, on Arte TV in France, and on Hungarian Radio-Television. Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Jacques Lacombe received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Musique in Montréal and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna.
Mr. Lacombe last conducted the ESO in May 2009.
Lara St. John, violin
Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been described as "something of a phenomenon" by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by the New York Times. The Los Angeles Times has written, “St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion.” She has performed with orchestras on five continents and in recital around the world. She formed her own record label, Ancalagon Records in 1999, and has recorded with orchestras including the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. Her release Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo in 2007 was the best selling double album of the year on iTunes and her recording of two world premiere 21st century concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra had Gramophone saying “it’s the sort of work that should get audiences running, not walking, back to concert halls…”Ms. St. John has been featured in People and US News and World Report, on CNN's Showbiz Today, and NPR's All Things Considered, Fox News, CBC, BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and on a Bravo! Special: Live At the Rehearsal Hall. Lara St. John began playing the violin when she was two years old. She made her first appearance as soloist with orchestra at age four, and her European when she was 10. She toured Spain, France, Portugal and Hungary at ages 12 and 13, entered the Curtis Institute at 13, and spent her first summer at Marlboro three years later. Her teachers have included Felix Galimir and Joey Corpus. Lara performs on the 1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini thanks to an anonymous donor and Heinl & Co. of Toronto.
Ms. St. John last appeared with the ESO in October 2005.
Multimedia
Conductor Jacques Lacombe speaks about the pieces on this performance:
My Winspear COMMUNITY
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