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The outstanding musicians of the ESO step into the spotlight to share their favorite music and demonstrate their virtuosity in a fascinating mix of familiar favourites and spectacular showpieces.
Program to include:
Saint-Saëns: Introduction & Rondo capriccioso for Violin
Danzi: Fantasie for Clarinet on Mozart’s “Là ci darem la mano”
M Haydn: Concerto for Two Horns
Chabrier: Danse slav, Habanera, Fête polonaise
Ticket Information
$71 Dress Circle (A)
$61 Terrace (B)
$52 Orchestra (C)
$38 Upper Circle (D)
$28 Gallery (E)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges.
The next Robbins Lighter Classics performance is Glad Tidings - A Lightly Classical Christmas on December 16, 2010.
Thank you to the generous supporters of this series: Bill & Mary Jo Robbins
Thank you to our series television media sponsor: 
Program Info
SAINT-SAËNSDanse macabre, Opus 40 (7’)*
BRUCH
Kol Nidrei (Adagio on Hebrew Melodies), Opus 47 (10’)*
Ronda Metszies, cello
FAURÉ
Pavane, Opus 50 (8’)*
SAINT-SAËNS
Introduction and Rondo capriccioso for Violin, Opus 28 (10’)*
Virginie Gagné, violin
INTERMISSION
CHABRIER
Le roi malgré lui: Fête Polonaise (10’)*
HAYDN
Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat major, Mvts 2 & 3 (9’)*
Allene Hackleman, horn
Megan Evans, horn
CHABRIER
Habañera (5’)*
DANZI
Fantasie on Mozart’s “Là ci darem la mano” (9’)*
Julianne Scott, clarinet
CHABRIER
Le roi malgré lui: Danse slav (5’)**Indicates approximate performance duration
Program Notes
Danse macabre, Op.40
Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, Op.28
Camille Saint-Saëns (b. Paris, 1835 / d. Algiers, 1921)
Suppose Death decided to have a bit of a party. Where better than a graveyard to host the event? That’s the scenario proposed by Camille Saint-Saëns for one of his most popular works. As the Danse macabre begins, Death takes up his violin, yanks it into tune (the violin is tuned a semitone lower than normal, adding an eerie “off-ness” to the sound), and proceeds to present a surprisingly sprightly tune for the graveyard’s denizens to dance to. The dance becomes ever more energetic – the clatter of the xylophone stands in for the rattling bones of the skeletal dancers. At length, however, dawn nears – the church bell chimes, an oboe imitates the cock-crow, and Death relinquishes control to the coming day. Saint-Saëns based his brief tone poem on a story by Henri Cazalis, writing the work originally for violin and piano, orchestrating it in 1875.
Saint-Saëns’ popular Introduction and Rondo capriccioso was written for one of the finest violinists who ever lived, Pablo de Sarasate. The greatest composers of the day wrote works for him, and he also wrote many for himself. Many of them, both his creations and those written by others, follow a pattern; they begin with a slow section designed to illustrate his supreme mastery of lyricism and expression, followed by a whirlwind cavalcade of breathtaking and breakneck virtuoso music in which a full bag of violin tricks is used. Such is the case here. Camille Saint-Saëns had originally intended to write his first violin concerto for Sarasate, and began sketching one as far back as 1859, when Sarasate would have only been 15. But the French composer, unsatisfied with what he had created, abandoned the plan. Four years later, he composed the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso. It has established itself as a favourite vehicle for prodigious violinists since its 1863 premiere.
Kol Nidrei, Op.47 (Adagio on Hebrew Themes)
Max Bruch (b. Cologne, 1838 / d. Berlin, 1920)
In the same way that Bruch’s famous “Scottish” Fantasy was not a work of Scottish patriotism, so his beautiful Kol Nidrei is not a work of Jewish spirituality. Bruch found two melodies he liked, and they just happened to be from ancient Hebrew songs. "The first is an age-old Hebrew song of atonement,” Bruch wrote, “the second is the middle section of a moving and truly magnificent song 'O Weep for Those That Wept on Babel's Stream,' equally very old. I got to know both melodies in Berlin, where I had much to do with the children of Israel in the Choral Society."
Bruch composed the work during a very happy time in his life, while he was conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic. It was written for cellist Robert Hausmann in 1881. Kol Nidrei translates as “All Vows,” and in its original guise is sung during the high holy day of Yom Kippur – the day of atonement. The music he wrote for the cello soloist spans the instrument’s entire compass, and is expressive and lyrical. The orchestral support is often a drone-like accompaniment, with richly resonant chords, and shimmers of sound. The winds are given a brief, chorale-like moment halfway through, introducing the second section of the work, which is more romantic in feel than the first, the cello often reaching into its upper register – its final notes, in fact, are quite violinistic.
Pavane, Op.50
Gabriel Fauré (b. Pamiers, Ariège, 1845 / d. Paris, 1924)
After writing the orchestral version of Pavane, Gabriel Fauré was obliged to write later versions for orchestra and choir, woodwinds with solo flute, and for piano alone. Its popularity is understandable; Fauré takes an old, graceful dance form (a pavane is a processional dance in duple time, with steps taken forward, then back in the same manner), and adds to it his ethereal textures and harmonic colours. The original orchestral version dates from 1887, and was dedicated to the Vicomtesse Elisabeth Greffuhle.
A solo flute dominates the opening minutes of the dance, accompanied by pizzicato strings. More winds join in, with lower strings presenting a quiet counter-melody. The music broadens out, with strings intoning the main theme, leading to a dramatic pause. A section of surprising passion and moment interrupts the measured dance, though the pavane proper gently creeps back in, taking over once more, though its stately procession is mixed with more reflective moments now and then. It ends gently with woodwinds once again over pizzicato strings.
Le roi malgré lui: Fête polonaise & Danse slav
Habañera
Emmanuel Chabrier (b. Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, 1841 / d. Paris, 1894)
Emmanuel Chabrier’s opera Le roi malgré lui (“The Reluctant King”) premiered on May 18, 1887 and, virtually from that first performance, has struggled under the weight of a plot that the Viking Opera Guide said, “must be among the most complicated ever undertaken by an opera composer.” Chabrier himself was one of three librettists who tried to get the story by François Ancelot to the stage.
The tale concerns the king of Poland, who doesn’t particularly want to be the king, and the extremely convoluted machinations he and others go through, wrestling with power and responsibility. The Polish connection gave the imaginative Chabrier ample opportunity to provide colourful music and rich orchestration – aspects that are readily demonstrated in the two orchestral excerpts to be heard tonight. The Danse slav (“Slavic dance”) is a charming and cheerful rouser, while the the Fête polonaise cleverly combines a Polish dance (the mazurka) with a waltz, and takes place at a glittering ball that opens the opera’s second act – an opening the Guide goes on to say which, “in its full form, with voices, is the ballroom scene to end all ballroom scenes.”
Chabrier wrote one of the most famous Spanish-influenced works in music – his celebrated España of 1883. Yet it was not his only such work. He also wrote a Habañera – a dance form in 2/4 time which, while very much identified with Spain, came to that country from its roots in Africa. The most famous Habañera is the one in Bizet’s Carmen, in which the title character sings her famous song about love as a rebellious bird. Chabrier’s Habañera began as a work for solo piano in 1885, though he thought enough of it to orchestrate it later that same year.
Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat Major (ed. Leloir)
Franz Josef Haydn (attr.) (b. Rohrau, Lower Austria, 1732 / d. Vienna, 1809)
It’s unlikely that Haydn actually wrote the Concerto for Two Horns originally attributed to him (we use the abbreviation “attr.” when we think that a composer has been given credit without definitive proof). The concerto’s manuscript, which is housed in the Library of Harburg, Germany, bears the name of the great Haydn’s brother Michael (1737-1806), but is written in a different hand than Michael Haydn’s. Horn player Kerry Turner, who has recorded the work, suspects that Antonio Rosetti (1750-1792) – who wrote another concerto for two horns – might have been behind it. “Indeed, it would not at all have been unusual for Rosetti to use the great Haydn name in order to sell what may have been his finest piece of music,” she wrote.
Tonight, we will hear the last two movements of the work, in an edition prepared for performance by Edmond Leloir. The Romance is an Adagio, with the paired horns working in close harmony against a gentle backdrop in the orchestra, which occasionally gets brief moments of its own. The Rondo is jaunty canter in 6/8 time, harkening back to the horn’s roots as an outdoor instrument, and of its use in the hunt. The harmonies here are more playful between the horns, and the sections between statements of the rondo theme alternate between major and minor tonalities.
Fantasie on Mozart’s “Là ci darem la mano”
Franz Danzi (b. Schwetzingen, 1763 / d. Karlsruhe, 1826)
As a composer, Franz Danzi was more highly regarded during his lifetime than he seems to be these days – his modern reputation rests on the friendship and guidance he provided to young Carl Maria von Weber, and a handful of shorter works.
An opera composer himself, Danzi was quite used to the fashion of his day of taking popular songs from other people’s operas, and writing virtuoso display vehicles out of variations of those tunes. So it was with the bravura set of variations based on Là ci darem la mano, a popular duet form Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. Danzi had a special affinity for Mozart; he admired Mozart’s music, and used it as source material more than once, but also because his father, a cellist, had met the Salzburg genius during Mozart’s visit to Mannheim when Danzi himself was a boy of 14.
Artist Info
William Eddins, conductor
William Eddins is in his sixth season as Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure, he has made it a priority that he conduct performances in nearly every subscription series the orchestra has presented, as well as a wide variety of special concerts and galas.
Bill Eddins began playing the piano at age five, but was bitten by the conducting bug while in his sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music. In 1989, he decided to begin conducting studies with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. Assistant Conductorships with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony (the latter under the leadership of Daniel Barenboim) honed his skills even further.
Mr. Eddins has many interests outside music. He is fond of biking, tennis, reading, pinball, and cooking. He recently completed building his own recording studio at his home in Minneapolis, where he lives with his wife Jen (a clarinetist), and their sons Raef and Riley. While conducting has been his principal pursuit, he continues to perform on piano in Edmonton and elsewhere. He accepts a limited number of guest appearances each year. In 2008, he conducted a rare full staging of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for Opéra de Lyon, which won him great acclaim, leading to a repeat engagement in Lyon in July and September 2010, as well as Edinburgh in August 2010, and in London in September 2010. During August 2009, Bill toured South Africa, conducting three gala concerts with soprano Renée Fleming and the kwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Virginie Gagné
Born in Montréal, Virginie Gagné started to play the violin at age three and entered the Montréal Conservatory of Music at eight, where she later received the Bachelor degree with honours both in violin and chamber music. She pursued her Master of music studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas with violin teacher Sergiu Luca.
Virginie has received several prizes in violin at the Montréal Symphony Orchestra Competition, the Canadian Music Competition and the Canada New Music Competition, among others. Beside violin, she won the first Prize in Canada at the Desjardins International Development Competition, in the writing category.
Her orchestral experience includes concerts with Les Violons du Roy, I Musici de Montréal, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and a one-year position, section first violin, with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. She was named to the First Violins of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra following auditions in April, 2006.
Allene Hackleman
Allene Hackleman has been principal horn of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since 2004. A native of Vancouver, Allene began studying the horn under the tutelage of her father, Martin Hackleman. She earned a bachelor of music degree from the University of Cincinnati. Ms. Hackleman served as an apprentice in the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), and the Montréal Symphony. Allene Hackleman has performed concerti with the Edmonton Symphony, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, and the Victoria Symphony. She is currently a member of the Summit Brass ensemble and as such is on faculty at the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver and performed with Summit Brass on their most recent CD release. Allene pursues a keen interest in chamber music and in 2008 was a performer at the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, ON. She also teaches at the University of Alberta.
Megan Evans
Megan Evans is currently Assistant Principal Horn with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a position she began in September 2008. Ms. Evans is a graduate of Kwantlen College in Langley, British Columbia where she studied with Dr. Wayne Jeffreys. She then went on to complete both a bachelor’s and master’s of music at McGill University in Montréal. Her primary instructors were Denys Derome and John Zirbel of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and she also had the pleasure of taking lessons and masterclasses with many fantastic horn players from across North America.
In 2007, Ms. Evans was appointed Fourth Horn with the Niagara Symphony in Ontario. In 2008, she was offered a position with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and was very pleased to accept. In addition to making music in an orchestra, Megan Evans also enjoys performing as a soloist and chamber musician. She has spent her last four summers at the Aspen Music Festival and hopes to return every summer for the rest of her life!
Julianne Scott
A native of Calgary, Julianne Scott is the new Principal Clarinet of the Edmonton Symphony. This follows her tenure (2007-2009) as Principal Clarinet with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Ms. Scott graduated from the University of Southern California with her Masters, where she studied with Yehuda Gilad. She attained her Bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 2006 under Joaquin Valdenpenas. Julianne Scott as spent summers participating in festivals including the Sunflower Music Festival, the Aspen Festival, the Spoleto Festival, touring with the Canadian Youth Orchestra, and the Music Academy of the West. She has appeared as a soloist with Colorado Springs Philharmonic.
Ronda Metszies
Ronda Metszies was born and raised in Edmonton, where she studied cello with Sheila Laughton. After receiving her Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Victoria, she continued her studies in Edmonton with Tanya Prochazka and then in Germany and Austria, where she worked with Julius Berger, Friedrich Sellheim and Heinrich Schiff.
Ms. Metszies has released two CDs of music for cello and piano on the Arktos label, both of which are frequently played on CKUA and CBC radio, as well as a music video for Bravo! Television. Before moving back to Edmonton, Ronda was living in Los Angeles, where she performed regularly at the University of Southern California and in several local chamber music recital series. In addition to playing with the ESO, Ronda has a special interest in early music, and is a member of the Alberta Baroque Ensemble. She is also a member of Kent Sangster’s Obsessions Octet, whose debut jazz CD was nominated for a Juno Award in 2007.
Multimedia
Bruch's Kol Nidrei for Cello and Orchestra:My ESO COMMUNITY
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