27
Season 2013-2014
Tuesday, December 31, at
7:30
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Bramwell Tovey Conductor
Tracy Dahl Soprano
Travis and Jaimee Tuft Dancers
Joanna Meller and Slawek Roszak Dancers
Malachi Osai and Annabella Waszkiewicz
Dancers
J. Strauss, Jr. Overture to Die Fledermaus
J. Strauss, Jr. “Mein Herr Marquis,” from Die Fledermaus
Waldteufel “The Skaters’ Waltz,” Op. 183
J. Strauss, Jr. “”Egyptian” March, Op. 335
J. Strauss, Jr. “Voices of Spring” Waltz, Op. 410
J. Strauss, Jr. “Thunder and Lightning” Waltz, Op. 324
Intermission
Lehár “Gold and Silver” Waltz
J. Strauss, Jr. Perpetuum mobile, Op. 257
J. Strauss, Jr., & Josef Strauss “Pizzicato” Polka
J. Strauss, Jr. “Champagne” Polka, Op. 211
Lehár “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss,” from Giuditta
J. Strauss, Jr. “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” Waltz, Op. 314
This program runs approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes.
The dancers on tonight’s program appear under the auspices of
Dance Affiliates, Randy Swarz, artistic director.
Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on
WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM.
Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.
PO Book 16.indd 1
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2 Story Title
28
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Jessica Griffin
The Philadelphia Orchestra
is one of the preeminent
orchestras in the world,
renowned for its distinctive
sound, desired for its
keen ability to capture the
hearts and imaginations of
audiences, and admired for
a legacy of innovation in
music-making. The Orchestra
is inspiring the future and
transforming its rich tradition
of achievement, sustaining
the highest level of artistic
quality, but also challenging
and exceeding that level, by
creating powerful musical
experiences for audiences at
home and around the world.
Music Director Yannick
Nézet-Séguin triumphantly
opened his inaugural
season as the eighth artistic
leader of the Orchestra
in fall 2012. His highly
collaborative style, deeplyrooted musical curiosity,
and boundless enthusiasm,
paired with a fresh approach
to orchestral programming,
have been heralded by
critics and audiences alike.
Yannick has been embraced
by the musicians of the
Orchestra, audiences, and the
PO Book 16.indd 2
community itself. His concerts
of diverse repertoire attract
sold-out houses, and he has
established a regular forum
for connecting with concertgoers through Post-Concert
Conversations.
Under Yannick’s leadership
the Orchestra returns to
recording with a newlyreleased CD on the Deutsche
Grammophon label of
Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring
and Leopold Stokowski
transcriptions. In Yannick’s
inaugural season the
Orchestra has also returned
to the radio airwaves, with
weekly Sunday afternoon
broadcasts on WRTI-FM.
Philadelphia is home and
the Orchestra nurtures an
important relationship not
only with patrons who support
the main season at the
Kimmel Center but also those
who enjoy the Orchestra’s
other area performances
at the Mann Center, Penn’s
Landing, and other venues.
The Orchestra is also a global
ambassador for Philadelphia
and for the U.S. Having been
the first American orchestra
to perform in China, in 1973
at the request of President
Nixon, today The Philadelphia
Orchestra boasts a new
partnership with the National
Centre for the Performing
Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra
annually performs at
Carnegie Hall while also
enjoying annual residencies in
Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at
the Bravo! Vail festival.
Musician-led initiatives,
including highly-successful
Cello and Violin Play-Ins,
shine a spotlight on the
Orchestra’s musicians, as
they spread out from the
stage into the community.
The Orchestra’s commitment
to its education and
community partnership
initiatives manifests itself
in numerous other ways,
including concerts for families
and students, and eZseatU,
a program that allows fulltime college students to
attend an unlimited number
of Orchestra concerts for
a $25 annual membership
fee. For more information on
The Philadelphia Orchestra,
please visit www.philorch.org.
12/19/13 4:05 PM
8
Music Director
Nigel Parry/CPi
Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural
season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia
Orchestra in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style,
deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm,
paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have
been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York
Times has called Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under
his baton “the ensemble … has never sounded better.” In his
first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His
second builds on that momentum with highlights that include
a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three
leading composers have been commissioned to write solo
works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next
installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s
Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of
Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production
with Opera Philadelphia.
Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the
highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his
generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the
Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the
London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and
principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In
addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the
Curtis Institute of Music’s conducting fellows program in the fall
of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the
world’s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically
acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the
Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on
that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski
transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship
with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin;
the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre
Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.
A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s
Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned
conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at
Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an
appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the
country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society
Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix DenisePelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded
by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the
University of Quebec in Montreal.
To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.
29
Conductor
Tyler Boye
Pianist, composer, and Grammy Award-winning conductor
Bramwell Tovey is in his 14th season as music director
of the Vancouver Symphony (VSO). As a guest conductor
he works with some of the world’s most prestigious
orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, the
London Symphony, and the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra.
In North America he has made guest appearances with
the orchestras of Baltimore, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit,
Montreal, and Toronto. Mr. Tovey made his Philadelphia
Orchestra debut in 2008 and most recently performed
with the ensemble at Saratoga in 2013 and for the
Glorious Sound of Christmas concerts in 2012. He
also continues his association with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and as founding
host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s
Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall. In 2008
both orchestras co-commissioned him to write a new
work, Urban Runway, subsequently programmed by a
number of orchestras in the U.S. and Canada, including
The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Mr. Tovey is an award-winning composer. His Requiem
for a Charred Skull won the 2003 JUNO award for Best
Classical Composition. His opera The Inventor, written with
playwright John Murrell, was commissioned by Calgary
Opera and recorded with the original cast, the Vancouver
Symphony, and the University of British Columbia Opera.
Mr. Tovey wrote the score, conducted the VSO, and
performed as solo pianist in Richard Bell’s 2005 movie
Eighteen starring Ian McKellen. In 2008, with violinist
James Ehnes, Mr. Tovey and the VSO won Grammy and
JUNO awards for their recording of the Barber, Korngold,
and Walton concertos.
Touring is an important aspect of Mr. Tovey’s artistic
leadership with the VSO and in 2013 they embarked
on a west coast U.S. tour. Other recent engagements
included visits to the Nashville Symphony and the Montreal
Symphony, as well as a return to Australia where he has
already worked with the symphonies in Perth, Sydney,
and Melbourne. Also in 2013 he received an honorary
appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his
outstanding achievements as a conductor and composer,
and for his commitment to promoting new Canadian music.
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30
Soloist
Canadian coloratura soprano Tracy Dahl last performed
with The Philadelphia Orchestra for the New Year’s Eve
gala in 1995, which was also her debut. During the 201314 season she returns to the Canadian Opera Company as
Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Calgary Opera as Mabel
in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, and
the Vancouver Symphony for Orff’s Carmina burana. She
debuted at La Scala in 2006 as Zerbinetta in Strauss’s
Ariadne auf Naxos and has also performed with the
Metropolitan, San Francisco, Houston Grand, and Santa Fe
operas, as well as at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
Ms. Dahl’s recent operatic engagements include Gilda
in Verdi’s Rigoletto with the Edmonton and Manitoba
operas; her title role debut in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda
with Pacific Opera Victoria; the world premieres of Unsuk
Chin’s Alice in Wonderland and Peter Ash’s The Golden
Ticket with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; and Madame
Mao in John Adams’s Nixon in China with Opera Colorado,
Portland Opera, and Vancouver Opera. At the Metropolitan
Opera she has sung Adele in Johann Strauss’s Die
Fledermaus, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Florestine
in the world premiere of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of
Versailles, and Valencienne in Lehár’s The Merry Widow.
She sang Olympia in the San Francisco Opera production
of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann opposite Plácido
Domingo, and returned as Oscar in Verdi’s A Masked Ball
and the title role in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.
On the concert stage Ms. Dahl has performed Gershwin
songs with the Cleveland Orchestra and the New
York Philharmonic; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the
Monterey Symphony; Britten’s Les Illuminations with
the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra; a concert with the
Melbourne Symphony; and Handel’s Messiah with the
San Francisco and Saint Louis symphonies, and with
the Vancouver Symphony Proms with Bramwell Tovey.
Her discography includes A Disney Spectacular with
the Cincinnati Pops (Telarc); Glitter and Be Gay with the
Calgary Philharmonic (CBC); A Gilbert and Sullivan Gala
with the Winnipeg Symphony (CBC); and Love Walked
In, a Gershwin collection with Mr. Tovey on piano (Red
Phone Box Company).
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Dancers
Travis and Jaimee Tuft have gained international
success in ballroom dance as the U.S. Rising Start
Professional American Smooth Champions, U.S. Theatrical
Arts Champions, U.S. Cabaret Vice-Champions, and
World Professional American Smooth Finalists. They were
also the undefeated two-time U.S. Amateur American
Smooth Champions. Mr. Tuft has trained and competed
in International style Ballroom and Latin, and American
style Rhythm and Smooth. He attended Brigham Young
University, where he was a member of its award-winning
ballroom formation team. With the Latin team he placed
first at the British Open Championships and is a four time
U.S. Latin Formation team champion. Ms. Tuft trained
with former principal dancers from NYC Ballet and Ballet
West. She graduated from Brigham Young University,
where she was a member of its acclaimed formation
ballroom dance team and placed first at the British Open
Championships. The Tufts also performed with the touring
show Champions of Dance.
Joanna Meller and Slawek Roszak perform in the
Professional American Rhythm Division. They placed first
at the Manhattan Dance Championship and were finalists
in the Rising Star American Rhythm category. Ms. Meller,
originally from Poland, is a Latin ballroom dancer trained
in all International and American styles. She has competed
at the Manhattan Dance Championship, the Empire Dance
Championship, the Embassy Ball, the United States Dance
Championship, and the Ohio Star Ball, among others. She
previously taught with Arthur Murray, where she became
a top instructor during the New York Dance Festival. Mr.
Roszak, originally from Poznan, Poland, was the Polish
National Salsa Champion and competed throughout
Europe in the International Latin and Ballroom styles. He
was featured on So You Think You Can Dance in Poland.
He was a finalist in the 2011 Professional Rising Star
Rhythm Championship at the San Francisco Open and
performed on the Univision TV show Sabado Gigante.
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Dancers
Malachi Osai, 20, and Annabella Waszkiewicz, 16,
began their dance partnership in May 2013 with a shared
passion for ballroom dancing. Mr. Osai has studied dance
for seven years, and placed in national competitive events
in ballroom dancing. He went on tour during his senior
year in high school to participate in a cultural exchange
in China. Ms. Waszkiewicz has been dancing since she
was three years old. She received the title of USA Dance
National Standard champion, among others, and also
represented the U.S. on the USA Dance World Team at
the World Championships in Blackpool, England.
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33
Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-99): Overture and “Mein
Herr Marquis,” from Die Fledermaus
As the fashion for the waltz swept across Europe in the early decades of the 19th
century, it soon became clear that the best waltzes were coming from Vienna, from the
pens of Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss. Upon Lanner’s death in 1843, Strauss
inherited sole possession of the title of “Waltz King,” directing his own orchestra in
concerts that were unfailingly popular. But his reign was to be short-lived. Strauss’s oldest
son, Johann Strauss Jr., had ignored his father’s advice to pursue a career in banking,
and on October 15, 1844, gathered together a small orchestra of 15 players to present a
concert of works by his father along with new dances he had composed himself.
Many in Vienna thought Johann Jr. was simply trying to cash in on his father’s popularity,
but his motivations were more pure than that. Strauss Sr. had abandoned his family
in 1842, and his oldest son was obliged to present the concert to help supplement
the dwindling allowance his father had left the family. Still, anticipation created by the
announcement of a concert by the younger Strauss spread like wildfire through Viennese
society. Strauss Sr. even hired a group of detractors to disrupt his son’s concert, afraid,
perhaps, of having to share success. But by the first encore, those partisans were also
standing and cheering along with the rest of the crowd. Johann Strauss Jr.’s Op. 1, the
“Sinngedichte” (Epigrams) Waltz, was encored 19 times that night, and a new Waltz King
was crowned. The press was unanimous in its praise. One enthusiastic reviewer wrote,
“Goodnight, Lanner! Good evening, Father Strauss! Good morning to you, Strauss junior.”
Though Johann Strauss Jr. composed 18 operettas and music theater pieces, only two
have remained firmly in the performing repertoire, Die Fledermaus (The Bat), and Der
Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron). The earlier of these works, Die Fledermaus, was
written in the space of just six weeks during the early spring of 1874. Strauss’s libretto
was by Carl Haffner and Richard Genée, based on a French play called Le Réveillon by
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
Act II of Die Fledermaus takes place at a grand Viennese ball. Adele, a maid to Herr
Eisenstein and his wife, Rosalinde, poses as an actress named Olga and sneaks into the
ball, where her master and mistress also happen to be in attendance. Adele has secretly
borrowed one of Rosalinda’s gowns, and when Eisenstein recognizes her (and the
gown) and comments that she looks very much like his maid, she laughingly dismisses
his suggestion in the aria “Mein Herr Marquis” (often referred to as “Adele’s Laughing
Song”). After all, he is also attending the ball in disguise and so cannot reveal his true
identity either.
—Luke Howard
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34
“Mein Herr Marquis”
“My Dear Marquis”
Mein Herr Marquis, ein Mann wie Sie
sollt’ besser das verstehn,
darum rate ich, ja genauer sich
die Leute anzusehn!
Die Hand ist doch wohl gar so fein, hahaha,
dies Füsschen so zierlich und klein, hahaha,
die Sprache, die ich führe,
die Taille, die Tournüre,
dergleichen finden Sie
bei einer Zofe nie!
Gestehen müssen sie fürwahr,
sehr komisch dieser Irrtum war!
Ja, sehr komisch, hahaha,
ist die Sache, hahaha,
drum verzeihn Sie, hahaha,
wenn ich lache, hahahah!
My dear marquis, a man like you
should know better,
so I advise you to take a closer
look at people!
Surely my hand is so very graceful, ha ha ha,
this foot is so small and dainty, ha ha ha,
the way I speak,
my waist, my bustle,
you won’t find these
on a maidservant!
You really must admit,
it was a very funny mistake!
Yes, how funny, ha ha ha,
this thing is, ha ha ha,
so forgive me, ha ha ha,
if I laugh, ha ha ha!
Sehr komisch, Herr Marquis, sind Sie!
How funny you are, marquis!
Mit dem Profil im griech’schen Stil
beschenkte mich Natur;
wenn nicht dies Gesicht schon genügend
spricht,
so sehn Sie die Figur!
Schaun durch die Lorgnette
Sie dann, ah,
sich diese Toilette nur an, ah.
Mir scheinet wohl, die Liebe
macht Ihre augen trübe,
der schönen Zofe Bild
hat ganz Ihr Herz erfüllt!
Nun sehen Sie sie überall,
sehr komisch ist fürwahr der Fall!
Ja, sehr komisch, hahaha,
ist die Sache, hahaha,
drum verzeihn Sie, hahaha,
wenn ich lache, hahaha!
My Grecian profile
was a gift of nature;
if this face is not proof
enough,
see my figure!
Then just have a look through your
lorgnette, aha,
at this outfit, aha.
I really think love
has clouded your vision,
the image of your beautiful maidservant
has quite filled your heart!
Now you see her everywhere,
truly it is a very funny business!
Yes, how funny, ha ha ha,
this thing is, ha ha ha,
so forgive me, ha ha ha,
if I laugh, ha ha ha!
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
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35
Émile Waldteufel (1837-1915): “The Skaters’ Waltz”
Émile Waldteufel was as famous in his day as Johann Strauss Jr., and in fact came to
be known as the Parisian Strauss. He was born in Strasbourg and grew up in a musical
family—his father and brother were violinists and dance composers and his mother was a
pianist. The family moved to Paris in 1842 where his father’s dance orchestra gained some
renown. Waldteufel studied piano with his mother and Joseph Heyberger, and in 1853 he
was admitted to the Paris Conservatory. He was appointed court pianist to Napoleon III
in 1865 but it was a meeting with the future King Edward VII in 1874 that launched his
compositional career beyond France with his waltz “Manolo.” Waldteufel’s “Skaters’ Waltz”
was composed in 1882, inspired by the rink at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
—Darrin T. Britting
Johann Strauss, Jr.: “Egyptian” March
After the waltz and the polka, the march was the form most frequently employed by
members of the Strauss composing dynasty. The elder Johann Strauss’s most enduring
piece is, in fact, not a waltz at all, but his “Radetzky” March. Johann Jr., whose career in
music was initially forbidden by Papa, wrote fewer marches than the old man, most likely
because he found the form less open to expansion than that of the waltz. This march by
Johann the younger dates from 1870, and is a typical caricature of Oriental style, clothed
in Western harmonies. It was his next-to-last march, and is full of the pomp and color
befitting a composer on the verge of writing his first operetta.
—Kenneth LaFave
Johann Strauss, Jr.: “Voices of Spring” Waltz
“Voices of Spring” was composed as a renewal of sorts for Johann Strauss Jr. In 1883
he suffered a number of failures in the theater, and a return to his original love, the waltz,
served as a tonic to bring him back to artistic sanity. Two years later, he composed one of
his greatest theatrical triumphs, The Gypsy Baron.
It’s tempting to think of waltzes all sounding the same, given their family resemblance of
3/4 meter. But consider “Voices of Spring” in contrast to Strauss’s most famous waltz,
“On the Beautiful Blue Danube.” Where the “Danube” flows in stately D major, its melody
outlining chords in that key, “Voices of Spring” commences with two and one-third bars
of crookedly ascending eighth notes spanning virtually the entire 12 notes possible
in Western music. In fact the opening phrase contains 11 of those 12, set nearly in
defiance of the insistent B-flat major of the harmony. Later strains of the waltz will settle
down somewhat, but at the coda, the sweeping chromatic feeling will return.
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The sharp differences in the two owe to their origins. Where “The Blue Danube” was
composed for amateur men’s choir, “Voices of Spring” was intended as a virtuoso
soprano showcase, and was performed as such long before the popular piece was
arranged for instruments alone. It is in the original that it is heard tonight.
—Kenneth LaFave
“Frühlingsstimmen”
“Voices of Spring”
Die Lerche in blaue Höh’ entschwebt,
der Tauwind weht so lau;
sein wonniger milder Hauch belebt
und küsst das Feld, die Au.
The skylark soars in the blue sky,
the dewy wind blows so mild;
its delightful, soft breeze enlivens
and kisses the field and the pasture.
Der Frühling in holder Pracht erwacht,
ah, alle Pein zu End’ mag sein,
alles Leid, entfloh’n ist es weit!
The spring awakens in lovely splendor,
ah, all suffering ends,
all grief runs far away!
Schmerz wird milder, frohe Bilder,
Glaub’ an Glück kehrt zurück;
Sonnenschein, ah dringt nun ein,
ah alles lacht, ach erwacht!
Sorrow becomes milder, joyful pictures,
we believe in happiness again;
sunshine, ah enter now at once,
ah, everything smiles, oh awaken!
Die Lerche etc.
The skylark etc.
Da strömt auch der Liederquell,
der zu lang schon schien zu schweigen;
klingen hört dort wider rein und hell
süsse Stimmen aus den Zweigen!
The source of songs also flows there,
it was silent for so long;
hear again the clear and bright sounds,
the sweet voices from the trees!
Leis’ lässt die Nachtigall
schon die ersten Tönen hören,
um die Kön’gin nicht zu stören,
schweigt, ihr Sänger all!
Softly the nightingale
sings his first notes,
so as not to disturb the queen,
be silent all you singers!
Voller schon klingt bald ihr süsser Ton.
Ach, ja bald, ah ja bald!
O Sang der Nachtigall,
holder Klang, ah ja!
Soon their sweet song will ring out.
Oh, yes soon, ah, yes soon!
O song of the nightingale,
beloved sound, ah, yes!
Liebe durchglüht, ah, tönet das Lied, ah,
und der Laut, süss und traut,
scheint auch Klagen zu tragen, ah,
wiegt das Herz in süsse Träumerein, leise ein!
Love shines through, the song rings out,
and the tone, sweet and dear,
has a touch of melancholy,
it cradles the heart gently in sweet dreams!
Kaum will entschwinden die Nacht,
Lerchensang frisch erwacht, ah.
The night has hardly passed,
when the lark’s song is first heard.
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Die Lerche etc.
The skylark etc.
Der Frühling in holder Pracht erwacht,
ah, alle Pein zu End’ mag sein,
alles Leid, entfloh’n ist es weit,
entfloh’n ist’s heut gar weit;
The spring awakens in lovely splendor,
all pain ends,
all suffering is banished,
today it runs very far away;
ah, des Frühlings Stimmen klingen traut,
ah ja, o süsser Laut, ah ach ja!
oh, the beloved voices of spring ring out,
oh yes, o sweet tones, oh yes!
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
Johann Strauss, Jr.: “Thunder and Lightning” Polka
When 19th-century Vienna wasn’t waltzing, it was doing the polka. In either case,
the composer was likely to be a Strauss. The Strauss family was in the dance-music
business almost from the start.
Johann Jr. had already made a name for himself composing and conducting his own
orchestra at the Donnemayer Casino when he took over his father’s two orchestras on
Johann Sr.’s death and combined them into one, touring the Western world and Russia
as the Strauss Orchestra. Falling in behind him were younger brothers Josef and Eduard,
both violinist/composers.
From 1868 comes the audacious polka “Thunder and Lightning,” which seeks to shake
the heavens themselves. It was originally titled the “Shooting Stars” Polka, and in some
ways that is a more apt title than “Thunder and Lightning,” since the recurring stream
of 16th notes that punctuate every phrase in the opening strain could be taken as the
sound equivalent of a bright light streaming across the heavens.
The sheer volume of this piece, however, led to the composer renaming it after
something more consistent with its almost constant forte dynamic. Even when things get
relatively mellow in the tuneful trio, the dynamic never settles into piano for terribly long.
Crescendos abound. Orchestral tuttis pound out sudden fortissimos. The polka, the most
aerobic of the great 19th-century ballroom dances to begin with, is here transmuted into
a pure adrenalin rush.
—Kenneth LaFave
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Franz Lehár (1870-1948): “Gold and Silver” Waltz
The title is a coincidence. Written in 1902, this most popular of Lehár’s concert waltzes
would seem to commemorate the passing, with the death of Johann Strauss Jr., of
Viennese operetta’s Golden Age, and the arrival, with Lehár’s emergence, of its Silver
Age. But those terms were applied only later.
Lehár’s focus as a composer reversed that of Strauss, who was a dance composer first, and
an operetta composer only later. “Gold and Silver” is one of only a handful of concert works
by the onetime military bandleader, while his operettas number 38. Here, as in the score for
The Merry Widow, Lehár evinces a sense of nostalgia mixed with celebration.
—Kenneth LaFave
Johann Strauss, Jr.: Perpetuum mobile
The concise edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English defines “perpetuum mobile” as “a
hypothetical mechanism running forever, unless subject to external forces or wear.” The
“external force” that brings Strauss’s musical take on this concept is no less than the
conductor. For this piece doesn’t “end” in the ordinary sense, but merely ceases on cue.
It is common for Austrian conductors to announce to the audience as the composition is
halted, “Und so weiter. ...” (“And so on. ...”)
—Kenneth LaFave
Johann Strauss, Jr., and Josef Strauss (1827-70):
“Pizzicato” Polka
The polka is younger than the waltz. While the waltz has roots in the very late 18th
century, the polka appeared in Prague in the 1830s, and was given cultural imprimatur
by Paris society in the 1840s. Its fast, duple-meter frame is a necessary contrast to the
triple-meter waltz. The unswerving polka is a perfect partner to the waltz, with its sense
of seductive hesitation.
The “Pizzicato” Polka, a collaboration between brothers Johann and Josef, was
composed in 1870 for one of the Strauss Orchestra’s many Russian tours. Big brother
Johann said of Josef: “He is the more gifted of us two. I am merely the more popular.”
Josef began adult life as an engineer, but switched at length to the family trade of music,
where he excelled at composing rhythmic pieces. The grazioso feeling of the “Pizzicato”
Polka exploits the rich sound of strings plucked (pizzicato) instead of bowed.
—Kenneth LaFave
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Johann Strauss, Jr.: “Champagne” Polka
It is said that Emperor Franz Joseph reigned over Austria only until Johann Strauss
Jr. died. So completely was Strauss’s music associated with the latter years of the
Hapsburg Empire that it is now difficult to conceive of this era without also thinking of
the music of the Waltz King. In fact, many music-lovers today know little of this period
but Strauss’s music. Even during his lifetime Strauss was recognized as the master of
the waltz—as the composer whose utmost mastery of this distinctly Viennese dance
transformed it into something more resembling a concept than a dance.
In addition to being the Waltz King, Johann Strauss also distinguished himself with
“regal” contributions to the development of the 19th-century genres of polka and
quadrille, publishing almost as many works in these genres as in the waltz—some 125
polkas in all, and some 50 quadrilles, spanning the course of his entire 50-year career.
The former type is represented this evening by the “Champagne” Polka.
—Kenneth LaFave
Franz Lehár: “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss,”
from Giuditta
Lehár transformed operetta to a point where, in his final stage work, Giuditta, written
in 1934 for the Vienna State Opera, it vanished into the realm of light opera, until no
real difference could be ascertained. A lifelong friendship with Puccini showed in the
influence of Lehár-style operetta on the Italian’s own opera La rondine. This aria attests
to the operatic nature of history’s final operetta.
—Kenneth LaFave
“Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss”
“My Lips Have a Kiss like Fire”
Ich weiss es selber nicht,
warum man gleich von Liebe spricht,
wenn man in meiner Nähe ist,
in meine Augen schaut
und meine Hände küsst.
I myself don’t even know
why men at once speak of love,
when they are in my presence,
when they look in my eyes
and kiss my hands.
Ich weiss es selber nicht,
warum man von dem Zauber spricht,
dem keiner widersteht,
wenn er mich sieht,
wenn er an mir vorübergeht!
I myself don’t even know
why men speak of the magic,
that no one can resist,
when he sees me,
when he passes me by!
Please turn the page quietly.
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40
Doch wenn das rote Licht erglüht,
zur mitternächt’gen Stund’,
und alle lauschen meinem Lied,
dann wird mir klar der Grund:
But when the soft lights glow,
at the midnight hour,
and everyone listens to my song,
then the reason becomes clear to me.
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss,
meine Glieder sind schmiegsam und weiss,
in den Sternen, da steht es geschrieben,
du sollst küssen, du sollst lieben!
My lips have a kiss like fire,
my arms are supple and white,
it is written in the stars
that you must kiss me, you must love me!
Meine Füsse, sie schweben dahin,
meine Augen, sie lokken und glüh’n.
Und ich tanz’ wie im Rausch,
denn ich weiss,
meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss!
My feet, they dance on air,
my bright eyes pierce right through.
And I dance in ecstasy,
because I know
my lips have a kiss like fire.
In meinen Adern drinn’
da rollt das Blut der Tänzerin,
denn meine schöne Mutter war
des Tanzes Königen im gold’nen Alcazar!
Within my veins,
there courses the blood of a dancer,
for my beautiful mother was
a queen of dance in the golden Alcazar!
Sie war so wunderschön,
ich hab’ sie oft im Traum geseh’n.
Schlug sie das Tambourin zu wildem
Tanz,
da sah man alle Augen glüh’n!
She was so lovely,
I have often seen her in dreams.
She beat the tambourine during her wild
dance,
everyone’s eyes were fixated on her!
Sie ist in mir auf’s neu erwacht,
ich hab das gleiche Los.
Ich tanz’ wie sie um Mitternacht,
und fühl’ das eine bloss:
She is awakened in me anew,
I have the same fate.
Like her I dance at midnight
and only know one thing.
Meine Lippen, etc.
My lips, etc.
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
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Johann Strauss, Jr.: “On the Beautiful Blue Danube”
Waltz
The world’s most famous waltz began as a commission from a Viennese men’s choral
organization. The text was a simple verse in praise of the Danube River. Johann Strauss
Jr. composed it in 1867, while living at 54 Praterstrasse with his first wife, Jetty. The
house is now the site of a Strauss museum.
The premiere, in the version with men’s chorus, was greeted indifferently. But when
Strauss introduced an all-orchestral version in concert later that year at the Vienna
Volksgarten in the inner city, the lilting strains of this irresistible waltz shot to immediate
popularity. The “Blue Danube” is now the unofficial second national anthem of Austria,
and is inescapable when talking of, or thinking about, Vienna.
After a slow, dramatic introduction in A major, the piece settles down into the customary
tempo di valse in gracious D major. The now-familiar melody swells from the chords of
the key as naturally as waves might from the river Danube itself. The famous opening
notes are nothing more than a D-major chord arpeggiated, and this gesture continues
throughout the waltz’s first strain.
The rest of the waltz grows naturally out of the opening. Even the reflective slow section
in F major starts by outlining an ascending F-major chord, while the brilliant coda piles
arpeggiated triad upon arpeggiated triad until the end comes in an irresistible frenzy.
Almost universally praised as the greatest waltz ever composed, the “Blue Danube” is
a little tone poem in waltz form, a picture of the river and of the life along the river. The
distinguished music critic Eduard Hanslick called it “the definition of all that is Vienna:
beautiful, pleasant, and merry.” Strauss’s friend, the great composer Johannes Brahms,
when asked to sign the fan of Strauss’s stepdaughter, wrote out the first few bars of the
“Blue Danube” and the words, “Alas, not by Johannes Brahms.”
—Kenneth LaFave
Program notes © 2013. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written
permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, Luke Howard, and/or Kenneth LaFave.
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42
January
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Jessica Griffin
Enjoy the ultimate in flexibility with a Create-Your-Own 4-Concert Series today!
Choose 4 or more concerts that fit your schedule and your tastes. Hurry, before
tickets disappear for this exciting season.
There’s still time to subscribe and receive exclusive subscriber benefits! Choose
from over 40 performances including:
Tchaikovsky Week 1: Symphony No. 4
January 10 & 11 8 PM
January 12 2 PM
Robin Ticciati Conductor
Stephen Hough Piano
Liadov The Enchanted Lake
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
Tchaikovsky Week 2: The Serenade
January 16 & 18 8 PM
January 17 2 PM
Cristian Măcelaru Conductor
Hai-Ye Ni Cello
Borodin Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor
Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, for cello and orchestra
Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings
Balakirev Islamey
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