PROGRAM
Performed on May 12, 2018 at Crouse Hinds Concert Theater
Jon Nakamatsu,piano; Lawrence Loh conductor
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Concerto, Piano, No.5, op.73, E-flat major (Emperor)
Performed on May 12, 2018 at Crouse Hinds Concert Theater
Lawrence Loh conductor
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No.10, op.93, E minor
PROGRAM NOTES
Tonight’s concert pairs monumental works that mark major historical shifts. The Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) is arguably the first of the great romantic piano concertos; and while important symphonies continue to be written, the Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) is arguably the last in the line of great symphonies in the standard repertoire. Both were written by composers at the height of their powers; both were written in difficult political circumstances. Despite these parallels, however, they are more notable for their contrasts than for their similarities.
The Fifth Concerto was composed ...
Tonight’s concert pairs monumental works that mark major historical shifts. The Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) is arguably the first of the great romantic piano concertos; and while important symphonies continue to be written, the Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) is arguably the last in the line of great symphonies in the standard repertoire. Both were written by composers at the height of their powers; both were written in difficult political circumstances. Despite these parallels, however, they are more notable for their contrasts than for their similarities.
The Fifth Concerto was composed in 1809 in a war-torn Vienna that had just been captured by Napoleon—the man whom Beethoven angrily removed as the dedicatee of the Eroica Symphony when he declared himself emperor. (The con- certo’s nickname does not originate with Beethoven himself!) This political trauma was combined with physical trauma. Beethoven’s deafness, hardly helped by the bombardment of his city, had proceeded so far that he couldn’t perform the work at the premiere. Nonetheless, according to tonight’s soloist Jon Nakamatsu, it’s “probably the most positive and life-affirming music that he penned”—a sign that Beethoven could “write outside of himself.”
It is also, in Jon’s words, “a soloist’s piano concerto,” a work where the pianist comes “to the forefront” to a degree greater than in any previous piano concerto. “That’s obvious in the beginning, where there’s a cadenza after the first two mea- sures.” Jon points in particular to the contrast to the Fourth, composed four years earlier, which is “really a chamber work.” The mood in the Fifth “couldn’t be more different”—and the work could hardly have had a more profound effect on musical history. Chopin, Liszt, Brahms: in fact, “everyone who wrote a concerto after this” was influenced by it.
For all the thunder and virtuosity, though, the Fifth has its share of intimacy. In fact, says Jon, “my favorite moment is the most quiet moment in the piece”—surprisingly, a moment in which the piano doesn’t even play. “The opening of the second movement is absolutely the most sublime thing, even in instrumentation—muted strings just laying out the theme and the bass in pizzicatos. That is an unbelievable effect, it’s so poignant. My next favorite moment is when I get the theme, 30 or 50 bars later, and underneath the basses are pizzing the harmony, laying out the chordal structure of what I do. That is a pioneering moment in orchestration, showing how the most simple things can be absolutely the most thrilling.” Shostakovich greatly admired Beethoven. A talented pianist himself, he learned the Beethoven Third Concerto before he hit his teens, and he told his friend Krzysztof Meyer, “In Beethoven we have everything.” So it’s not particularly striking that, in a letter to composer/pianist Elmira Nazirova later made public by her pupil Aida Huseinova, he wrote, “I feel so pleased that you are playing Beethoven’s Fifth Concerto.” Or it be striking were it not for three resonant facts. First, Shostakovich had a life transforming crush on Elmira. Second, he wrote that letter on August 25, 1953, when he was nearing completion of the Tenth Symphony. Third, and most significant, he wrote that letter only a few days after announcing to Elmira that he had encoded her name into the Tenth’s third movement.
Encoded her name? Shostakovich, like many earlier composers (including Bach), enjoyed using the notes of the scale to spell out names. In particular, he used the motif DSCH (D-Eflat-C-B, using traditional German nomenclature) to refer to himself (using the German spelling of his name, D. Schostakowitsch). The DSCH motif comes up often in the Tenth: it appears clearly on piccolo, flute, and oboe about a minute into the third movement, for instance, and is even more evident when piccolo and flute whisper it three times to mark the movement’s poignant close.
Equally central, though, is a motif based on Elmira—EAEDA, or E-La-Mi- Re-A in the composer’s tortuous coding, which combines letter notation and solfege syllables (do, re, mi…). As Shostakovich pointed out to Elmira, it echoes the opening of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde—and it is shouted out by the horns over and over in the third movement. Despite this web of connections—the similarity of the circumstances of composition, the historical importance of the works, and the Elmira/Beethoven link—it’s hard to imagine two pieces less alike. The Beethoven is positive, life-affirming, forward- thinking, transparent in its orchestration, and direct in expression; as Jon puts it, the concerto boasts “really clear architecture.” The Shostakovich is angst-ridde (until the giddy DSCH-capped ending), conservative in idiom (closer to Mahler than to Schoenberg or even Stravinsky), frequently dense, and ambiguous in both form and meaning.
The Tenth begins with a long and often bleak Moderato, its emotions, in the words of conductor Larry Loh, “brewing underneath, from deep within his subconscious.” In 3/4 meter, unusual for an opening movement, it seems at times like a macabre waltz; and its huge outbursts are not really climaxes because they don’t seem to resolve anything. There are many symphonic first movements—the Tchaikovsky Fourth offers a prime example—that could stand on their own; this one, in contrast, is unstable, ending irresolutely. So when the extraordinary violence of what Larry calls the “compact and intense” second movement erupts, we may feel jolted but not realy surprised. There’s little relief in the Elmira-soaked third movement, where, Larry says, “the climax is just as terrifying.” Indeed, things only brighten three or four minutes into the finale, where a mournful introduction suddenly breaks into what Larry calls a “peppy, upbeat theme. ”The darkness reappears briefly, and just as we are left wondering where we will end up, we get “the most incredibly light and upbeat ending, like a carnival.”
So what does it all mean?? In the score’s preface, Shostakovich insists that the first movement avoids the tragic; in the notes to the New York premiere, he’s quoted as claiming the work as a tribute to the creativity of the human spirit. Should we hear the Tenth as an optimistic vision? Perhaps. At the same time, we should remember that it was mainly written in the wake of a denunciation by the Soviet cultural apparatus in 1948. Should we hear it as a bitter attack on Stalin? Perhaps. But we know that it was written during his infatuation with Elmira. Should we hear it as a frustrated love-letter or more generally as a confession of his own frailties? It’s hard to know. Still, whatever you take from this symphony, it leaves you transformed. The Tenth is not as popular as the Fifth (although it comes close), not as monumental as the Seventh, not as radical as the Second, Third, and Fourth. It is, however, the most profound of his orchestral works and the one that invites the widest range of responses from both performers and listeners.
Peter J. Rabinowitz
Have comments or questions? Contact me at prabinowitz@ExperienceSymphoria.org
FEATURED ARTISTS
Now in his third decade of touring worldwide, American pianist Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw critical and public acclaim for his intensity, elegance and electrifying solo, concerto and chamber music performances. Catapulted to international attention in 1997 as the Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano ...
Now in his third decade of touring worldwide, American pianist Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw critical and public acclaim for his intensity, elegance and electrifying solo, concerto and chamber music performances. Catapulted to international attention in 1997 as the Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—the only American to achieve this distinction since 1981—Mr. Nakamatsu subsequently developed a multi-faceted career that encompasses recording, education, arts administration and public speaking in addition to his vast concert schedule.
In 2021, Mr. Nakamatsu returned to live performances throughout the United States and in Europe. Between 2020 and the spring of 2021, he was engaged in a myriad of online events including recording, masterclasses and virtual interviews and lectures for organizations such as Chautauqua Institution Piano Festival, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Van Cliburn Foundation and Chopin Foundation of the United States. In collaboration with clarinetist Jon Manasse, Mr. Nakamatsu also produced and curated an online series of interviews and historical performances taken from the archives of Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, where he and Mr. Manasse have served as Artistic Directors since 2007.
Mr. Nakamatsu has been guest soloist with over 150 orchestras worldwide, including those of Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Florence, Los Angeles, Milan, San Francisco, Seattle, Tokyo and Vancouver. He has worked with such esteemed conductors as Marin Alsop, Sergiu Comissiona, James Conlon, Philippe Entremont, Hans Graf, Marek Janowski, Raymond Leppard, Gerard Schwarz, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Michael Tilson Thomas and Osmo Vänskä.
As a recitalist, Mr. Nakamatsu has appeared in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Musée d’Orsay and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and in major centers such as Boston, Chicago, Houston, London, Milan, Munich, Prague, Singapore, Warsaw and Zurich. In Beijing he has been heard at the Theater of the Forbidden City, the Great Hall of the People, China Conservatory, and National Centre for the Performing Arts. His numerous summer engagements included appearances at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, Vail, Wolftrap, Colorado, Brevard, Britt, Colorado College, Evian, Interlochen, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Santa Fe and Sun Valley festivals. In 2024 he will participate in an extended residency at Bowdoin Festival in Maine and return to Chautauqua Institution in New York where he has served as Artist-in-Residence since the summer of 2018.
With clarinetist Jon Manasse, Mr. Nakamatsu tours as a member of the Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo. Following its Boston debut in 2004, the Duo released its first CD for harmonia mundi usa (Brahms Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano) which received the highest praise from The New York Times Classical Music Editor, James Oestreich, who named it among the “Best of the Year” for 2008. A frequent chamber musician, Mr. Nakamatsu has collaborated repeatedly with ensembles such as the Emerson, Escher, Jupiter, Miró, Modigliani, Prazak, St. Lawrence, Tokyo and Ying string quartets, Imani Winds and Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet with whom he made multiple tours beginning in 2000. Mr. Nakamatsu’s 13 CDs recorded for harmonia mundi usa have garnered extraordinary critical praise. An all-Gershwin recording with Jeff Tyzik and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F remained in the top echelons of Billboard’s classical charts for over six months. Other acclaimed discs include the recording premiere of Lukas Foss’ first Piano Concerto with Carl St. Clair and Pacific Symphony, Brahms Piano Quintet with Tokyo String Quartet in the quartet’s final recording as an ensemble, and a solo recording including Robert Schumann’s Second Piano Sonata whose YouTube posting has garnered over 600K hits.
Mr. Nakamatsu has been profiled extensively in print, radio, television and online. He has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, in Readers Digest magazine and recently on Live from Here! with Chris Thile. In 1999, Mr. Nakamatsu performed at The White House at the special invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton. He has also performed for the United States Mayor’s Convention in San Francisco and in 2001 was the featured guest artist during the opening and dedication of the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II in Washington DC.
A former high school teacher of German with no formal conservatory training, Mr. Nakamatsu studied privately with Marina Derryberry for over 20 years beginning at the age of six; worked with Karl Ulrich Schnabel since the age of 9; and trained for 10 years in composition, theory and orchestration with Dr. Leonard Stein of University of Southern California’s Schoenberg Institute. Mr. Nakamatsu holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University in German Studies and secondary education. In 2015, he joined the piano faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music and in 2023 the Department of Music at Stanford University. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife Kathy and young son Gavin.
Described as bringing an “artisan storyteller’s sensitivity… shaping passages with clarity and power via beautifully sculpted dynamics… revealing orchestral character not seen or heard before” (Arts Knoxville) Lawrence Loh enjoys a dynamic career as a conductor of orchestras all over the world.
After an extensive two ...
Described as bringing an “artisan storyteller’s sensitivity… shaping passages with clarity and power via beautifully sculpted dynamics… revealing orchestral character not seen or heard before” (Arts Knoxville) Lawrence Loh enjoys a dynamic career as a conductor of orchestras all over the world.
After an extensive two year search, Lawrence Loh was recently named Music Director of the Waco Symphony Orchestra beginning in the Spring of 2024. Since 2015, he has served as Music Director of The Syracuse Orchestra (formerly called Symphoria), the successor to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. “The connection between the organization and its audience is one of the qualities that’s come to define Syracuse’s symphony as it wraps up its 10th season, a milestone that might have seemed impossible at the beginning,” (Syracuse.com) The Syracuse Orchestra and Lawrence Loh show that it is possible to create a “new, more sustainable artistic institution from the ground up.”
Appointed Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2005, Mr Loh was quickly promoted to Associate and Resident Conductor within the first three years of working with the PSO. Always a favorite among Pittsburgh audiences, Loh returns frequently to his adopted city to conduct the PSO in a variety of concerts. Mr. Loh previously served as Music Director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Syracuse Opera, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.
Mr. Loh’s recent guest conducting engagements include the San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony (D.C.), Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Symphony and the Cathedral Choral Society at the Washington National Cathedral. His summer appearances include the festivals of Grant Park, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Tanglewood with the Boston Pops, Chautauqua, Sun Valley, Shippensburg, Bravo Vail Valley, the Kinhaven Music School and the Performing Arts Institute (PA).
As a self-described “Star Wars geek” and film music enthusiast, Loh has conducted numerous sold-out John Williams and film music tribute concerts. Part of his appeal is his ability to serve as both host and conductor. “It is his enthusiasm for Williams’ music and the films for which it was written that is Loh’s great strength in this program. A fan’s enthusiasm drives his performances in broad strokes and details and fills his speaking to the audience with irresistible appeal. He used no cue cards. One felt he could speak at filibuster length on Williams’ music.” (Pittsburgh Tribune)
Mr Loh has assisted John Williams on multiple occasions and has worked with a wide range of pops artists from Chris Botti and Ann Hampton Callaway to Jason Alexander and Idina Menzel. As one of the most requested conductors for conducting Films in Concert, Loh has led Black Panther, Star Wars (Episodes 4-6), Jaws, Nightmare Before Christmas, Jurassic Park, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain, among other film productions.
Lawrence Loh received his Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from Yale, his Masters in Choral Conducting from Indiana University and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester. Lawrence Loh was born in southern California of Korean parentage and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennifer have a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Hilary. Follow him on instagram @conductorlarryloh or Facebook at @lawrencelohconductor or visit his website, www.lawrenceloh.com