program Robert Spano, Music Director Donald Runnicles, Principal Guest Conductor

Delta Classical Series Concerts Thursday and Friday, November 18 and 19, 2010, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 21, 2010, at 3 p.m.

Jun Märkl, Conductor Ingrid Fliter, Piano Claude Debussy (1862-1918) No. 2, Ibéria, from Images (1910)



I. Par les rues et par les chemins (On the Roads and on the Byways) II. Les parfums de la nuit (The Fragrances of the Night) III. Le matin d’un jour de fête (The Morning of a Festival Day)

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1909-15)

I. En el Generalife (At the Generalife) II. Danza lejana (Distant Dance) III. En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba (In Gardens of the Mountains of Cordoba) Ingrid Fliter, Piano INTERMISSION Richard Strauss (1864-1849) Don Juan, Tone Poem after Nicolaus Lenau, Opus 20 (1888-9) Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Boléro (1928)

“Inside the Music” preview of the concert, Thursday at 7 p.m., presented by Ken Meltzer, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Insider and Program Annotator. The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited.

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sponsors

is proud to sponsor the Delta Classical Series of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Delta’s commitment to the communities we serve began the day our first flight took off. For more than 80 years, Delta’s community spirit worldwide continues to be a cornerstone of our organization. As a force for global good, our mission is to continuously create value through an inclusive culture by leveraging partnerships and serving communities where we live and work. It includes not only valuing individual differences of race, religion, gender, nationality and lifestyle, but also managing and valuing the diversity of work teams, intracompany teams and business partnerships. Delta is an active, giving corporate citizen in the communities it serves. Delta’s community engagement efforts are driven by our desire to build long-term partnerships in a way that enables nonprofits to utilize many aspects of Delta’s currency – our employees time and talent, our free and discounted air travel, as well as our surplus donations. Together, we believe we can take our worldwide communities to new heights!

Major funding for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council. Solo pianos used by the ASO are gifts of the Atlanta Steinway Society and in memory of David Goldwasser. The Hamburg Steinway piano is a gift received by the ASO in honor of Rosi Fiedotin. The Yamaha custom six-quarter tuba is a gift received by the ASO in honor of Principal Tuba player Michael Moore from The Antinori Foundation. This performance is being recorded for broadcast at a later time. ASO concert broadcasts are heard each week on Atlanta’s WABE FM-90.1 and Georgia Public Broadcasting’s statewide network. The ASO records for Telarc. Other ASO recordings are available on the Argo, Deutsche Grammophon, New World, Nonesuch, Philips and Sony Classical labels. Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta is the preferred hotel of the ASO. Trucks provided by Ryder Truck Rental Inc. Media sponsors: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB 750 AM.

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program Notes on the Program By Ken Meltzer No. 2, Ibéria, from Images (1910) Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, France, on August 22, 1862, and died in Paris, France, on March 25, 1918. The first performance of Ibéria took place in Paris, France on February 20, 1910, with Gabriel Pierné conducting the Concerts Colonne. Ibéria is scored for two piccolos, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, castanets, xylophone, tambourine, snare drum, cymbal, chimes, two harps, celeste and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performances: April 16, 17 and 19, 1970, Robert Shaw, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: December 1, 2 and 3, 2005, Stéphane Denève, Conductor.

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laude Debussy’s Ibéria is one of the French composer’s three Images pour Orchestre. Debussy first conceived of the Images as a series of works for piano duet, titled Gigues tristes, Ibéria, and Valses. Debussy worked on the Images from 1906-1912. Over time, the original piano pieces developed into three works for symphony orchestra — Gigues, Ibéria and Rondes de Printemps. Debussy completed Ibéria in February of 1910 (the month of its premiere), and Rondes de printemps that March. In 1912, Debussy’s friend André Caplet orchestrated Gigues, thereby completing the triptych. In a letter describing the Images, Debussy told his publisher, Durand: What I am trying to do, is something “different” — an effect of reality, but what some fools call Impressionism, a term that is utterly misapplied especially by the critics who don’t hesitate to apply it to (Joseph) Turner, the greatest creator of mysterious effects in the whole world of art. Ibéria is by far the most performed of the three Images; indeed, it is one of Debussy’s most popular orchestral works. It appears that Debussy stepped foot on Spanish soil only once in his life — a visit for a few hours to see a bullfight in the Basque city of San Sebastián. Nevertheless, Debussy wrote music that made a profound impression on one of the greatest of all Spanish composers, Manuel de Falla (see, Nights in the Gardens of Spain, below). According to Falla, in Ibéria, Debussy may well have trumped native composers in terms of incorporating certain Spanish folk music effects: The Andalusians obtain these sounds from their guitars; needless to say, in a rudimentary form and quite unconsciously; and curiously enough, Spanish composers have neglected and even despised these effects, Atlanta’s Performing Arts Publication 25

which they looked upon as something barbaric, or they might have sought to reduce them to old musical forms, until the day on which Claude Debussy showed them how they could be used.

Musical Analysis Ibéria is in three movements, listed below. Manuel de Falla offered the following appreciation: The first two movements testify to Debussy’s preference for the entrancing Andalusia that his thoughts used to linger over. In the first movement, we hear echoes from the villages, and are aware of a kind of sevillana — the generic theme of the work — which seems to float in a clear atmosphere and scintillating light; in the second movement we fall under the spell of Andalusian nights…The festive gaiety of people dancing to the joyous strains of a banda of guitars and bandurrias — all this whirls in the air, approaches and recedes, and our imagination is continually kept awake and dazzled by the power of an intensely expressive and richly varied music. I. Par les rues et par les chemins (On the Roads and on the Byways), Assez animé (dans un rythme alerte mais précis) (Animated enough, in a brisk but precise tempo) II. Les parfums de la nuit (The Fragrances of the Night), Lent et rêveur (Slow and dreamy) III. Le matin d’un jour de fête (The Morning of a Festival Day), Dans un rythme de Marche lointaine, alerte et joyeuse (In the tempo of a distant march, brisk and joyous)

Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1909-15) Manuel de Falla was born in Cádiz, Spain, on November 23, 1876, and died in Alta Gracia, Argentina, on November 14, 1946. The first performance of Nights in the Gardens of Spain took place at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain, on April 9, 1916, with José Cubiles as the piano soloist, and Enrique Fernández Arbós conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid. Nights in the Gardens of Spain is scored for solo piano, piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, suspended cymbal, celeste and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty-three minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performances: February 28, March 1 and 3, 1974, Alicia de Larrocha, Piano, Robert Shaw, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: March 7, 8 and 9, 2002, Alicia de Larrocha, Piano, Robert Spano, Conductor.

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anuel de Falla began composition of the work that would become known as Noches en los jardines de España (Nights in the Garden of Spain) in 1909. Falla originally conceived the music as a series of nocturnes for solo piano.

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program Over the next several years, Falla worked on the piece, all the while considering various forms in which it might take shape. Falla shared the music with his fellow Spanish composer, Isaac Albéniz. It was Albéniz who suggested that Falla’s composition be scored solo piano and orchestra. In 1915, Falla completed Nights in the Gardens of Spain. The work received its premiere at the Teatro Real in Madrid on April 9, 1916, with José Cubiles as piano soloist, and Enrique Fernández Arbós conducting the Orquestra Sinfónica de Madrid. Since that time, Nights in the Gardens of Spain has been celebrated as one of Falla’s masterpieces. Along with such works as his opera La vida breve (The Brief Life) (1913), and the ballets El amor brujo (Love, the Magician) (1915) and El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) (1919), Falla’s Noches en los jardines de España radiate a masterful, captivating synthesis of classical music and Spanish folk culture.

Musical Analysis Manuel de Falla provided the following explanation of Nights in the Gardens of Spain: If these “symphonic impressions” have achieved their object, the mere enumeration of their titles should be a sufficient guide to the hearer. Although in this work — as in all which have a legitimate claim to be considered as music — the composer has followed a definite design, regarding tonal, rhythmical and thematic material…the end for which it was written is not other than to evoke places, sensations, and sentiments. The themes employed are based (as in much of the composer’s earlier works) on the rhythms, modes, cadences, and ornamental figures which distinguish the popular music of Andalucía, though they are rarely used in their original forms; and the orchestration frequently employs, and employs in a conventional manner, certain effects peculiar to the popular instruments used in those parts of Spain. The music has no pretensions to being descriptive; it is merely expressive. But something more than the sound of festivals and dances has inspired these “evocations in sound,” for melancholy and mystery have their part also. I. En el Generalife (At the Generalife), Allegretto tranquillo e misterioso — The Generalife is a 13th-century villa, located on the outskirts of the Alhambra — the residences of the Moorish kings in Granada. The kings used the Generalfe as a leisure retreat. There are several interpretations of the meaning of the villa’s name — “Governor’s Garden,” “Architect’s Garden,” and “Vegetable Garden” are a few. The movement opens with an agitated, repeated figure in the violas. This motif serves as the basis for music that builds to a passionate, fff climax, resolving to the tranquil, pianissimo final bars. II. Danza lejana (Distant Dance), Allegretto giusto — In the brief and vibrant second movement, the piano evokes the sounds of a strumming guitar. A hushed episode yields to the soloist’s grand upward flourish and the finale, which follows without pause Atlanta’s Performing Arts Publication 27

III. En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba (In Gardens of the Mountains of Cordoba), Vivo — The final movement opens with a stirring descending and ascending motif that returns in various forms throughout. The finale’s irrepressible (and sometimes violent) energy resolves to a delicate, pianissimo close.

Don Juan, Tone Poem after Nicolaus Lenau, Opus 20 (1888-9) Richard Strauss was born in Munich, Germany, on June 11, 1864, and died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on September 8, 1949. The first performance of Don Juan took place in Weimar, Germany, on November 11, 1889, with the composer conducting the Court Orchestra in the Grand Ducal Theater of Weimar. Don Juan is scored for piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, orchestra bells, triangle, cymbals, suspended cymbals, harp and strings. Approximate performance time is seventeen minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: March 16, 1954, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: September 30, October 1 and 2, 2004, Alexander Mickelthwate, Conductor.

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he origin of the legend of Don Juan apparently dates to the 16th Century. The first literary depiction of the Don may be the ca. 1630 drama attributed to Tirso de Molina — El burlador de Sevilla (“The Seducer of Seville”). Since that time, the story of the libertine nobleman who is ultimately damned for his numerous seductions and unwillingness to repent has found expression in such diverse pieces as Molière’s Le Festin de pierre (The Stone Feast) (1665), Mozart’s Don Giovanni (1787), and George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman (1903).

The Austrian poet and philosopher Nicolaus Lenau (1802-50) offered his own, slightly different perspective of the legendary seducer in his 1844 poem Don Juan: My Don Juan is no hot-blooded man eternally pursuing women. It is the longing in him to find a woman who is to him incarnate womanhood, and to enjoy, in the one, all the women on earth whom he cannot possess as individuals. Because he does not find her, although he reels from one to another, at last Disgust seizes hold of him, and this Disgust is the Devil that fetches him. When Lenau’s Don Juan is unable to find his womanly ideal, he allows himself to be killed in a duel, exclaiming: “My deadly foe is in my power, and this, too, bores me, as does life itself.” Richard Strauss was 24 when, in 1888, he first read Lenau’s Don Juan. Strauss quickly began to compose an orchestral tone poem based upon the Lenau work, completing his score in 1889. In that same year, Strauss was appointed assistant conductor in Weimar. On November 11, 1889, the 25-year-old Strauss conducted Don Juan’s premiere.

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program Strauss realized that in Don Juan, he had fashioned a work that would create a sensation with audiences, all the while taxing the limits of the orchestra’s capabilities. In a letter written just before the premiere, Strauss proudly reported to his father, Franz (one of the finest horn players of his generation): Yesterday I held the first partial rehearsal of Don Juan. It comes off beautifully and to my great satisfaction I can see that I have made further progress in orchestration. Everything sounds magnificently, although it is awfully difficult. I really pitied the poor horn players and trumpeters. They were all blue in the face from the strain. Fortunately the piece is short. The sound was marvelous, of a gigantic glow and richness. The piece will make an enormous impression. Strauss was correct — the Weimar audience roared its approval at the conclusion of Don Juan’s premiere. The audience called Strauss to the stage five times, and clamored for an encore. None was forthcoming, probably out of deference to the exhausted members of the orchestra. After all, during rehearsals, one horn player asked Strauss what transgressions the Weimar Orchestra had committed against the Almighty to receive such a punishment as Don Juan! The triumphant premiere catapulted the young Richard Strauss to national and international prominence. Don Juan’s irresistible combination of youthful exuberance and technical élan continues to offer powers of seduction worthy of the infamous libertine. To this day, Don Juan remains one of Strauss’s most beloved works among audiences, conductors, and (yes!) orchestras alike.

Musical Analysis Don Juan opens in bracing fashion with an upward orchestral flourish and the strings’ introduction of the vaulting theme associated throughout the work with the hero. A series of episodes follows, depicting the Don’s numerous conquests and ultimate demise. The first major episode spotlights a shimmering violin solo that leads to a grand romantic statement by the strings. Echoes of the opening flourish herald the return of the Don’s theme. A hushed episode featuring a plaintive oboe refrain is followed by the horns’ stunning proclamation of another (and quite grand) theme. The main themes become intertwined as the work moves to a stark climax. In a sustained melancholy passage, the earlier love sequences take on a far more somber character. But soon, Don Juan’s main themes return in all their glory. Just when it appears that Don Juan will conclude in triumph, Strauss reminds us of the hero’s fate, particularly as related in Lenau’s poem. The flurry of activity slams to a halt. The orchestra’s troubled repose is pierced by the trumpets’ dissonant interjection. Three pianissimo chords seal Don Juan’s fate.

Boléro (1928) Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, France, on March 7, 1875, and died in Paris, France, on December 28, 1937. The first performance of Boléro took place at the Paris Opéra on November 22, 1928, with Walther Straram conducting. Atlanta’s Performing Arts Publication 29

Boléro is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, oboe d’amore, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, cymbals, tam-tam, bass drum, celeste and strings. Approximate performance time is thirteen minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: November 24, 1954, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: February 3, 4 and 5, 2005, Roberto Abbado, Conductor.

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omposers often seem bemused, if not downright frustrated, when one of their works achieves a popularity they view as disproportionate to other creations of equal or greater merit. Sergei Rachmaninov grew to detest his Prelude in C-sharp minor, demanded by audiences at each of his piano recitals. Igor Stravinsky once referred to his ballet The Firebird as “that great audience lollipop.” Likewise, Maurice Ravel was far from complementary about his Boléro, one of the most hypnotic and popular works in all of concert music. In an interview that appeared in the July 11, 1931 edition of London’s The Daily Telegraph, M. D. Calvocoressi “asked Ravel whether he had any particular remarks to offer on his Boléro, which had been made the subject of heated discussions in England as elsewhere.” The composer responded: Indeed I have. I am particularly desirous that there should be no misunderstanding about this work. It constitutes an experiment in a very special and limited direction, and should not be suspected of aiming at anything achieving anything different from, or anything more than, it actually does achieve. Before its first performance, I issued a warning to the effect that what I had written was a piece lasting seventeen minutes and consisting wholly of “orchestral tissue without music” — of one long, very gradual crescendo. There are no contrasts, and there is practically no invention except the plan and the manner of its execution. Ravel also once commented to fellow composer Arthur Honegger: “I have written only one masterpiece. That is the Boléro. Unfortunately, it contains no music.” Despite these comments, it is clear that Ravel was not entirely dismissive of his achievements in Boléro. The composer told more than one interviewer that it was only in Boléro that “I completely succeeded in realizing my ideas.” Ravel also exhibited a strong proprietary concern for the manner in which other conductors interpreted the piece. Ravel criticized the great Italian maestro Arturo Toscanini for taking what the composer viewed as an overly fast tempo during a 1930 Paris concert. Likewise, Ravel insisted on being present when conductor Piero Coppola recorded Boléro that same year. Coppola recalled that Ravel, “was afraid that my Mediterranean temperament would overtake me, and that I would rush the tempo.” In fact when, toward the conclusion of the piece, Coppola “increased the tempo by a fraction,” “Ravel jumped up, came over and pulled at my jacket: ‘not so fast,’ he exclaimed, and we had to begin again.”

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program Ravel composed Boléro at the request of his friend, the dancer Ida Rubinstein. Originally, Ravel intended to transcribe six pieces from Isaac Albéniz’s Iberia. While at work on the project, Ravel learned that conductor Enrique Fernandez Arbós had already orchestrated Iberia and that further, copyright laws prohibited any other transcriptions. Arbós graciously agreed to relinquish his exclusive rights to Iberia, but Ravel instead decided to compose an original work. He initially called his new ballet Fandango, subsequently changing the title to Boléro. Ravel completed the ballet in five months’ time. The premiere of Boléro took place at the Paris Opéra on November 22, 1928, with Rubenstein dancing the lead role. Ravel conducted the Lamoureux Orchestra in the first concert performance, which occurred on January 11, 1930.

Musical Analysis The ballet scenario for Boléro takes place in a Spanish Inn. A woman surrounded by male admirers dances seductively on a table. As the dance continues, the passions of the woman and her entourage increase. The men accompany the woman’s fiery dance with the clapping of hands and stamping of feet. Toward the conclusion, a violent quarrel breaks out among the men. Boléro opens with the snare drums’ presentation of the work’s two-measure rhythmic foundation. The unforgettable melody consists of two extended components, each repeated to form an AABB structure. The solo flute and clarinet introduce the “AA” portion of the melody, while a solo bassoon and E-flat clarinet present the concluding “BB” section. Three repetitions of the AABB pattern follow, all with remarkable and innovative orchestral sonorities (note, for example, the use of saxophones, or the combination of piccolos, horns and celeste) and ever-increasing volume. A final AB statement of the melody leads to a stunning modulation from C to E Major, followed by a shattering orchestral explosion.

Jun Märkl, Conductor

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un Märkl is principal conductor and artistic director of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, and 2010-11 marks his sixth and final season as music director of the Orchestre National de Lyon. Highlights of his tenure in Lyon include an acclaimed Debussy cycle for Naxos and touring to major European halls and festivals, such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, BBC Jun Märkl Proms, Bad Kissingen, Rheingau and Luzern, and to the Salle Pleyel every season. Märkl and the ONL also have toured Japan, where they return in June 2011 for a farewell tour. Märkl and his Leipzig orchestra toured to Spain and the Baltics last season in addition to their regular appearances in the Berlin Konzerthaus and Cologne Philharmonie. Programming focused on the music of Robert Schumann (a native of Saxony, and a composer close to Märkl’s heart) — culminating in performances with the MDR Chorus of Schumann’s rarely-heard opera Genoveva at the Rotterdam Opera Festival and in Leipzig. Märkl has conducted many leading German orchestras, most recently the Munich Philharmonic, Gurzenich Orchester Cologne and the Radio Sinfonie Orchester Berlin. Before assuming the Atlanta’s Performing Arts Publication 31

musical directorship in Lyon, he was a regular guest with the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He also has conducted orchestras in Scandinavia (Helsinki Philharmonic, Danish Radio), the U.K. (City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic) and the Netherlands (Rotterdam and Netherlands Philharmonic and the Dutch Radio Philharmonic). Last season, he conducted the Zurich Tonhalle Orchester for the first time and made his Grafenegg Festival debut; in 2010-11 he conducts the Czech Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic and Vienna Symphony, all for the first time. Born in Munich, his (German) father was a distinguished concertmaster and his (Japanese) mother was a solo pianist. In 1986, he won the conducting competition of the Deutsche Musikrat and a year later won a scholarship from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to study at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.

ingrid fliter, Piano

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n January 2006, Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter was named the recipient of the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, only the fifth pianist to have been so honored. The Gilmore Artist Award is made to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma, and who desires and can sustain a career as a major international concert artist.

Ingrid Fliter Ingrid Fliter made her American orchestra debut with the Atlanta Symphony in January 2006, just days after the announcement of her Gilmore Award. Since then, she has appeared with the Cleveland and Minnesota orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco, St. Louis, Toronto, Detroit, National, Cincinnati, Houston and Seattle symphonies, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, among others, as well as at the Mostly Mozart, Grant Park, Aspen, Ravinia and Blossom festivals. Equally busy as a recitalist, Ms. Fliter recently has performed in New York at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum; at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall; in Boston, San Francisco, Detroit and Baltimore; and for the Van Cliburn Foundation in Fort Worth. Ms. Fliter has performed with orchestra and in recital in Amsterdam, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Salzburg, Cologne, St. Petersburg and Berlin. Recent engagements include appearances with the Rotterdam, Israel and Royal Liverpool Philharmonics; the BBC Symphony, Royal Scottish National and the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra; recitals in Paris, Barcelona and Milan; and three recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall. Highlights of her 2010-11 season include debuts with the Baltimore, Utah and Kansas City symphonies and with the Stockholm Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and London’s Philharmonia in Europe; re-engagements with the Dallas, Atlanta and Indianapolis symphonies and the Rotterdam Philharmonic; and recitals in London at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Tokyo, Sydney, Vancouver and at New York’s 92nd Street Y. Ms. Fliter’s first CD, an all-Chopin disc, was released in April 2008. Her second EMI recording of the complete Chopin Waltzes was released in the fall of 2009, and a third all-Beethoven CD will be recorded in January 2011.

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