Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto

November 13, 2010, 8:00 pm

Enmax Hall, Winspear Centre

Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto

2010-11 Landmark Classic Masters

  • William Eddins, conductor
    Elmar Oliveira, violin
    Lidia Khaner, oboe
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A feast of music spanning four centuries, from Handel’s regal suite celebrating the end of war, to Malcolm Forsyth’s moving musical response to 9/11, and John Estacio’s evocative and colorful musical depiction of Alberta’s northern lights. Violin virtuoso Elmar Oliveira, winner of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1978, performs two masterworks – one baroque and one romantic – in this, his long-overdue ESO debut.

Learn more about the performance at Symphony Prelude: 7:15 pm in the Upper Circle (Third Level) Lobby with D.T. Baker and composers John Estacio & Malcolm Forsyth.

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
J.S. Bach: Concerto for Violin and Oboe
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks
Forsyth: Requiem for the victims in a wartorn world
Estacio: Borealis

click for detailed seating mapTicket 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.

This program will also be performed on Friday, November 12, 2010.

The next Landmark Classic Masters performance is Rolston and Fewer play Brahms on November 27, 2010.

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra salutes the Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region on its 30th anniversary.
canadian music centre    socan    canadian heritage

Thank you to our series sponsor: landmark classic homes
Thank you to our series media sponsor: ckua

Program Information

Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV351 (19')*

Forsyth: Requiem for the victims in a wartorn world(10')*

Estacio: Borealis (16')*

Intermission

J.S. Bach: Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV1060 (14')*
Elmar Oliveira, violin
Lidia Khaner, oboe

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 (29')*
Elmar Oliveira, violin

*Indicates approximate performance duration

Program Notes

Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351
George Frideric Handel (b. Halle, 1685 / d. London, 1759)
 
First performed: May 2, 1749 in Vauxhall Gardens
Last ESO performance: November 2006
 
Handel was the favoured composer of the British royal court. He was charged with writing the Music for the Royal Fireworks for a celebration marking the 1748 signing of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The actual event – particularly the success of the fireworks themselves – fell short of the hoped-for spectacle, but Handel’s music was a rollicking triumph. The overture which begins the suite is in rich formal dress: a ceremonial, slow beginning, followed by an energetic and appropriately rousing second half. Following the overture are four shorter movements, two based on French dance forms (bourrée and minuet), the others also given French names suited to the occasion of the work: La paix (“the peace”), and La réjouissance (“the rejoicing”).
 
 
Requiem for the victims in a wartorn world (2002 ESO commission)
Malcolm Forsyth (b. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 1936)
 
First performed: March 22, 2002 in Edmonton
This is the ESO’s second performance of the work
 
Program note by the composer:
The Canada Council commissioned this piece for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. It was written between December 2001 and February 2002 and commemorates in a small way the appalling events in New York on September 11, 2001 and many other equally devastating attacks on human life in the world at the millennium.
 
The piece is unique in its instrumentation of four trombones, strings, piano, celeste, and bass drum. The imagery is clearly of the opposites: foreboding, discord on the one hand – peace and hope on the other.
 
 
Borealis (1997 ESO commission)
John Estacio (b. Newmarket, Ontario, 1966)
 
First performance of Borealis (single movement): January 25, 1997 in Edmonton
First performance of Scherzo (single movement): April 17, 1997 in Edmonton
Scherzo (renamed Wondrous Light) performed at Enbridge Symphony Under the Sky 1999
This is the premiere performance of both movements together
 
Program note by the composer:
The first time ever I experienced the glorious spectacle of the Aurora Borealis was a few short years ago when I arrived in Edmonton. Up until that moment I had to settle for textbook explanations and a geography teacher's descriptions. I had no idea what I was seeing when I first noticed the majestic curtains of swirling green light in the sky one crisp October evening until a friend confirmed that it was indeed the Northern Lights. I was completely captivated and awestruck by the magical sight; how could I not be inspired to compose a piece of music?! Having recently completed two serious compositions, it was the right time to revisit a style for unabashed lyrical melodies and joyous bright orchestral colours that Borealis would require.
 
The first movement is meant to be awe-invoking; the ephemeral nature of these celestial happenings is represented by the sudden colourful outbursts followed by movements of near silence. The movement begins with the strings playing a major chord and then gradually glissing (bending the pitch) until they all arrive at a different chord; for me, this musical gesture captures the essence of bending curtains of light and serves as a recurring motive throughout this movement. A solo flute introduces fragments of a melody; this melody is not heard in its entirety until later in the piece when it is performed by a solo bassoon and then an English horn. The strings perform the melody and the composition swells to its climax featuring the brass and the sound splashes provided by the percussion. The movement concludes with a unique auditory effect in the percussion section that again attempts to convey the enchanting and magical quality of the borealis.
 
For the second movement, I wanted something that would be a formidable contrast to the subtle nature of the first movement, a celebrated dance of celestial light. The music for Scherzo (meaning "playful") has more of a fervent and animated energy to it being inspired by the notion of dancing celestial lights (title changed to Wondrous Light, 2004). A nimble melody introduced by the oboe is developed intervallically and rhythmically throughout the composition. Sudden swells in volume accompanied by quick glissandos were inspired by the swirling curtains of green light which twist and turn and vanish suddenly in the night sky. Towards the conclusion of this movement the nimble theme is transformed into a noble melody performed as a traditional chorale by the trombones, and then repeated by the full orchestra.

Click here to view a video of John Estacio speaking about Borealis.
 
 
Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor, BWV 1060
Johann Sebastian Bach (b. Eisenach, Saxony, 1685 / d. Leipzig, 1750)
 
Composed c. 1736
Last ESO performance: November 1998
 
The majority of Bach’s concertos were written during his time as Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen. Bach was expected to quickly provide concertos for any number of concerts, ready-made for whatever instrumentalists were on hand. These were “occasional” pieces, written for a specific event, likely never to be heard again. Under such circumstances, Bach did what many composers did – he reused and borrowed material, both from his own works and the works of others. The Concerto for Oboe and Violin is thought to have existed prior to his Concerto for Two Harpsichords, BWV 1060, and, in fact, the existence of the latter provided the basis for reconstructing the former.
 
None of this cut and paste approach to constructing the concerto has any bearing on the effusive, enjoyable, and amiable nature of the work, which belies its minor-key scoring with music that, while mellowed darkly by its home key, is never a sad or brooding work. Its outer movements are full of gentle interplay between its solo instruments, while its central Adagio is a tender dialog.
 
 
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
Felix Mendelssohn (b. Hamburg, 1809 / d. Leipzig, 1847)
 
First performed: March 13, 1845 in Leipzig
Last ESO performance: October 2006
 
Felix Mendelssohn arrived in the world at a house in Hamburg where, only a year later, in that very same house, a boy named Ferdinand David was born. Mendelssohn became one of the greatest composers and conductors of his day, while David became one of its most gifted violinists. The two also developed a close friendship although they did not meet until Mendelssohn was 16 and David 15.
 
In 1835, the 26-year-old Mendelssohn, as the new conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, appointed David to the position of concertmaster. In 1838, Mendelssohn wrote to his friend, “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter.” Work on the concerto was slow, however, and it was not completed until 1844. David, naturally enough, assisted greatly with the violin passages, and in all likelihood shaped the lion’s share of the cadenzas. The work finally premiered on March 13, 1845, but while David was indeed the soloist, illness kept Mendelssohn from conducting.
 
All three movements are played without a pause. After only a single bar from the orchestra, the violin makes its entrance, stating the elegant and passionate first subject. Violin and orchestra develop this, as well as a countersubject. The second principal theme of the movement is first presented on flutes and clarinets, over the violin’s sustained low G. The development of this material is lavish, including some transcendent passages for the soloist.
 
The second movement also begins with only the briefest of orchestral introductions, ushering in a solo violin passage that ranks as one of Mendelssohn’s most poignant melodies. The second subject contrasts with an agitated feel, but the violin restores the serenity of the movement by the end. A brief Allegretto non troppo leads to the vivacious and spirited Rondo finale, with a principal theme that is quintessential Mendelssohn: sprightly and effervescent, a vibrant conclusion to a work that stands as a cornerstone of the violin repertoire.
 
Program Notes © 2010 by D.T. Baker, except as noted

Artist Information

William Eddins, conductor

william eddins

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.

Elmar Oliveira, violin

elmar oliveira
Elmar Oliveira is one of the most distinguished violinists in the world today. He has become a familiar and much-admired figure at the world's foremost concert venues. His itinerary includes appearances with many of the world's great orchestras, and has also made extensive recital tours of North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. Mr. Oliveira's discography covers a wide range of works. His best-selling recording of the Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic (Ondine) won a Cannes Classical Award, and he was also a Grammy nominee for his CD of the Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin. He has premiered works by Morton Gould, Krysztof Penderecki, Joan Tower, and Charles Wuorinen.
 
Elmar Oliveira remains the only American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition. He was also the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. The son of Portuguese immigrants, Mr. Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother John. He later continued his studies with Ariana Bronne and Raphael Bronstein at the Hartt College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, where Mr. Oliveira also received an honorary doctorate. Other honours include an honorary doctorate from Binghamton University and the Order of Santiago, Portugal's highest civilian honour. Elmar Oliveira is a Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Lynn University Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida. He performs on a 1729/30 Guarneri del Gesu called the “Stretton,” and on several outstanding contemporary violins.
 
This is Mr. Oliveira’s debut with the ESO.

Lidia Khaner, oboe

Lidia Khaner

Lidia Khaner has performed as Principal Oboe with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since 1996. She studied oboe in her native Poland at the Warsaw Academy of Music and graduated With Distinction in 1987. As a member of the Sinfonia Varsovia and the Polish Chamber Orchestra, she toured around the world playing both orchestral parts and solo concerts. During a sabbatical, she studied in Germany at the Stuttgart Hochshule für Musik with Ingo Goritzki and played with the Deutsche Kammerakademie.

Lidia played Principal Oboe with the Sinfonia Helvetica from 1992 to 1997. She has recorded works for the KOS label, the Polish radio and television network, CBC and Arktos Recordings. Lidia has performed and recorded solo concerti with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble and soloed with the Edmonton Symphony and the Edmonton Chamber Orchestras.

In 2003 she released two CDs, of oboe and piano music with Janet Scott Hoyt and Mozart chamber music for oboe and strings. Her latest release Inspiration, on Edmonton's Arktos Recordings label, unites her once again with Janet Scott Hoyt in music by Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Britten and Lai. Ms. Khaner has earned her First Dan black belt in Tae Kwan Do.

Multimedia

Composer John Estacio speaks about his piece Borealis:
Sarah Chang performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic:

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