PROGRAM
Performed on April 22, 2017 at Crouse Hinds Concert Theater
Lawrence Loh conducting
Hector Berlioz
Béatrice et Bénédict: Overture
PROGRAM NOTES
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is best known for his hyper-romantic extravagance, both in terms of the size of the orchestras he demands (the Requiem calls for 50 brass players as well as 19 percussionists) and in terms of the brilliant and often startling colors he ripped out of them. But he was more wide-ranging than that, and tonight’s concert shows him at his most classically poised. Poised, but hardly restrained: for all the leanness of its orchestration, for all the clarity of its musical argument, the Overture to his 1862 opera Beatrice and Benedict, based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, ...
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is best known for his hyper-romantic extravagance, both in terms of the size of the orchestras he demands (the Requiem calls for 50 brass players as well as 19 percussionists) and in terms of the brilliant and often startling colors he ripped out of them. But he was more wide-ranging than that, and tonight’s concert shows him at his most classically poised. Poised, but hardly restrained: for all the leanness of its orchestration, for all the clarity of its musical argument, the Overture to his 1862 opera Beatrice and Benedict, based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, is a brilliant representation of a tart, sophisticated, and fast-moving battle of wits. From the opening—a whimsical three measure gesture followed by a surprising bar of silence that throws you off balance—the music is full of rhythmic invention, dotted with brilliant fanfares and attractive tunes that, once things get going, don’t get much chance to linger. If you’re looking for 19th-century musical equivalent of champagne, this is it.
Despite its apparently youthful spirit, Beatrice and Benedict is actually an imitation of youthfulness. Written toward the end of Berlioz’s life, it was his last completed composition, followed by years of silence, illness, and depression. The 1869 Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) is, in contrast, a truly youthful work. It was polished and re-polished often over Grieg’s lifetime; but in its basic outline and spirit, it remains the work of the twenty-something composer whom Liszt praised, in a letter he wrote to Grieg at the time, for his “vigorous, reflective, and creative talent.”
It’s a commonplace that while this substantial and virtuosic Concerto has long been Grieg’s most popular work, it’s actually an anomaly in his output, since Grieg generally preferred to write more intimate pieces in shorter forms (the delicately scored second movement of the Concerto hints at that tendency). But perhaps the scale of its outer movements should not be surprising. It was written at the height of happiness during a summer at Søllerød, Denmark, with his wife Nina and their new child; and like the Schumann Piano Concerto that was such a strong influence, it can be read as an effusive, even overflowing declaration of love—a very public one, intended for the whole world to hear. The Concerto is full of opportunities for technical display (the first movement cadenza is a knockout), but it’s also filled with lyrical outpourings, the most striking of which comes in the finale. The movement begins as a heavily accented, almost coarse, dance; it’s interrupted, however, by a gentle theme on the flute that seems to come from a different world. The dance returns, but at the end of the piece that contrasting melody comes back in a new and more self-assured guise, building to a heart-wrenching climax.
The Grieg Concerto is very much a product of its time. So is the Symphony No. 5 (1944) by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), although the difference in the times results in radically different kinds of art. Grieg, on a summer vacation with his new family, could indulge himself by writing very personal music. Prokofiev, living in Moscow during the Second World War, did not have that luxury.
Prokofiev chose to return to the Soviet Union at the height of Stalinism in 1936. In so doing, he willingly backed off from his earlier edgy style, instead committing himself to writing accessible music that could be understood by a broad public. He found the circumstances in Russia less congenial than he had hoped (in fact, he was to be excoriated by the powers-that-be in 1948 for excessive modernism). Nonetheless, many of his most popular compositions (including Peter and the Wolf, Alexander Nevsky, and Romeo and Juliet—all performed within the last few years by Symphoria) were written under those harsh circumstances.
Two years before Prokofiev’s Fifth, Shostakovich—Prokofiev’s rival as the Great Soviet Composer—had composed his massive Seventh Symphony during the German siege of Leningrad. As with all of Shostakovich’s music, there’s some doubt about its inner meanings, but it certainly served as a musical symbol of resistance and resilience, both in the Soviet Union and in the West, where it was taken up immediately by conductors like Stokowski and Toscanini. By the time Prokofiev got around to his Fifth—his first attempt at a symphony in 16 years—the tide of the war had changed. Indeed, by a happy coincidence, the premiere, the last time the composer conducted, took place at almost the exact moment that the Red Army pushed across the Vistula into Germany. No surprise that the work overwhelmed its first audience, who saw in it a kind of transcendence. The great pianist Sviatoslav Richter described Prokofiev waiting on the podium for distant artillery salvoes to die down, bathed in a mysterious “light [that] poured down on him from on high.”
Lots of works that are connected to specific occasions, of course, are quickly forgotten once the occasion has passed—but Prokofiev’s Fifth has continued to inspire audiences for nearly 75 years, standing with Beethoven’s Fifth as one of the great victory symphonies. It has survived, I think, because it does more than simply celebrate victory—in a sense, it enacts it. Structurally, the symphony relies on traditional forms that are fairly well marked; and each of the four movements begins fairly simply. Each, however, finds its path obstructed. The two main themes of the opening Andante, for instance, are flavored with the honey that characterizes Prokofiev’s most lyrical music—but almost before we’ve gotten accustomed to them, each theme is attacked by acid, leading to an especially tense development. And while the tension eventually resolves in what conductor Larry Loh calls “an incredible extended coda” (with crushing percussion), for much of the movement we are on the edge of our seats wondering whether the music will end in a whimper or in triumph.
There’s a similar disruption in the second movement. It begins in a jaunty way, with an almost jazzy feel, and the opening section leads to a contrasting section that makes clear we are in a standard ABA form. But there’s plenty of disorientation in that B section, and when the A section returns, it’s almost nightmarish in its mechanistic advance. So it goes. As a result, by the time we reach the closing pages of the finale—a movement marked by what Larry calls “incredible, propulsive excitement,” where the conductor has to encourage the players to “unleash” during their “gigantic feats of virtuosity”—we feel the thrill of a truly hard-won victory.
Peter J. Rabinowitz
Have any comments or questions? Please write to me at prabinowitz@ExperienceSymphoria.org
FEATURED ARTISTS
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker is known for his charisma, infectious enthusiasm, and dynamic performances. A veteran of the international concert stage, he has performed regularly in the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, London’s South Bank, the Sydney Opera House, and the Beijing Concert Hall. He was recently named Creative ...
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker is known for his charisma, infectious enthusiasm, and dynamic performances. A veteran of the international concert stage, he has performed regularly in the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, London’s South Bank, the Sydney Opera House, and the Beijing Concert Hall. He was recently named Creative Partner for the Minnesota Orchestra’s Summer at Orchestra Hall, serves as the Artistic Director for the Honens International Piano Competition and Artistic Advisor for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, and is on the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Highlights of his 2019-20 season includes performances of the Barber, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and complete Beethoven concertos with the Toronto Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, and others. He also appears in programs for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Ravinia Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and Toronto Summer Music. In addition, he performs widely throughout North America and Europe with the Montrose Trio (together with violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith), and will be undertaking an extensive tour of Australia together with violinist Cho-Liang Lin.
A collaborator in a wide variety of styles, Jon Kimura Parker has performed with Doc Severinsen, Audra McDonald, Bobby McFerrin, Pablo Ziegler, and Sanjaya Malakar. As a founding member of Off the Score, he also performed with Stewart Copeland – the legendary drummer of The Police – for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival’s 20th Anniversary Season, featuring his own arrangements of music by Prokofiev, Ravel and Stravinsky.
Parker’s discography of a dozen albums features music ranging from Mozart and Chopin to Barber and Stravinsky. His most recent recording “Fantasy,” built around Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy, was described by Musical Toronto as giving “a big, clear picture window of a rich soul and great artistic depth.” His YouTube channel features a series of Concerto Chat videos, which explore the piano concerto repertoire.
Jon Kimura Parker studied with Edward Parker and Keiko Parker, Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, Marek Jablonski at the Banff Centre, and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School. After winning the Gold Medal at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition, Parker has gone on to become an Officer of The Order of Canada and to receive Honorary Doctorates from the University of British Columbia and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto.
Known to friends – new and old – as “Jackie,” Parker is married to violinist/violist Aloysia Friedmann, and their daughter Sophie is a junior at Rice University. For further information, please visit www.jonkimuraparker.com, www.montrosetrio.com, www.offthescore.com, www.oicmf.org, and www.honens.com.
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