Details

Three of classical music’s most treasured works are showcased by the ESO and two of our most popular artists. Bill Eddins steps into the role of guest piano soloist, taking on Gershwin’s vivacious, jazz-influenced Concerto in F. Bob Bernhardt conducts Mussorgsky’s rousing A Night on Bare Mountain and Mendelssohn’s shimmering “Italian” Symphony.

Adult Reserved $27 / Grass $18
Child Reserved $13 / Grass free

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Program Information

Program

LAVALLÉE
O Canada (Arr Gilliland) (1')*

MUSSORGSKY
A Night on Bare Mountain (Orch Rimsky-Korsakov) (12')*

MENDELSSOHN
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Opus 90 “Italian” (27')*

INTERMISSION

GERSHWIN
Concerto in F (31')*

*indicates approximate performance duration

Program Notes

A Night on the Bare Mountain (orch. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Modest Mussorgsky
(b. Karevo, Pskov district, 1839 / d. St. Petersburg, 1881)

If Modest Mussorgsky’s internal demons had not proved to be at least as great as his musical gifts, he might have left the world a vast and impressive array of completed works. Instead, pursued by doubts, depression and alcoholism, he left many of his works incomplete by his death at 42. The work which began with the name St. John’s Night on Bare Mountain is a case in point. Mussorgsky actually finished the work in 1867, but the harsh assessment of it by his colleague Balakirev caused him to withdraw it. It was brought back in 1872, intended to be part of a collective stage work for the Imperial Theatre, combined with works by other composers. That project fell through. Still not giving up, Mussorgsky then intended to include it as part of an opera. For that version, he appended a tender, gentle ending – a strong contrast to the violence and power of the rest of the work. That ending was intended to illustrate the dawn, and the tolling chime of a church bell to drive the evil spirits away.

A Night on the Bare Mountain (often called A Night on Bald Mountain – either one a translation of the name of a real mountain near Kyiv, Ukraine) was, alas, never performed in Mussorgsky’s lifetime. His friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov took the version which included the beautiful, quiet ending, and orchestrated it, and it is this version which has made the work a standard part of the concert repertoire.


Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op.90 “Italian”
Felix Mendelssohn
(b. Hamburg, 1809 / d. Leipzig, 1847)

Not only was the young Mendelssohn supremely gifted musically, he was also blessed with the good fortune to come from a well-to-do family. At the age of 20, he spent nearly five years travelling extensively, drawing inspiration for several major compositions during his excursions.

He visited Italy for the first time in 1830, and felt the inhabitants he met, “took a supreme delight in life.” Enraptured by the country and its people, Mendelssohn dashed off the original version of his “Italian” Symphony in what was, for him, great haste. Ever one to question his own work (“It is very much these doubts that disturb me with any new piece,” he wrote to a friend of the first version of the symphony), Mendelssohn greatly revised the last three movements of the symphony following its London premiere in 1833.

The overall impression of the work matches the vivacity with which Mendelssohn described the Italians he met. The opening movement bursts out in an extroverted 6/8 main theme. The energy is sustained throughout this movement, though Mendelssohn deftly manipulates the orchestration, creating almost the sense of a dialog. A fugal theme is brought in as the development section, and the main material returns for the recapitulation.

The slow movement is in D minor; a stately theme presented over a regular pulse – compared by some to a religious procession, to others a barcarolle (gondoliler’s song). Both this slow movement, and the lyrical third movement which follows, are in ternary form, and yield to a joyful Italian dance, a saltarello, in the final movement. Intriguingly, Mendelssohn casts this upbeat movement in A minor as opposed to A Major, drawing wonderful and unexpected colours as a result.


Concerto in F
George Gershwin
(b. Brooklyn, 1898 / d. Hollywood, 1937)

By 1919, George Gershwin had the first million selling song – Swanee. In 1924, Rhapsody in Blue had made him the talk of the music world. He also had several hits on Broadway and in London, including Lady Be Good and Sweet Little Devil. Oh Kay!, Funny Face, Strike Up The Band, and the concert work An American In Paris would all flow from his pen over the next four years. Frankly, the world was his oyster.

The classical music world was paying attention as well. Those in attendance for the premiere of Rhapsody included Rachmaninoff, Sousa, Kreisler, Stokowski, Heifetz, and Zimbalist. Walter Damrosch, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, was so taken by the experience that in 1925 he commissioned a piano concerto from Gershwin. The Concerto in F was premiered on 3 December, 1925, to enthusiastic acclaim.

The Tin-Pan Alley influence on this piece is immediately evident. A dramatic flare from the timpani and percussion followed by the rest of the orchestra leads into a piano cadenza that is at once more developed and confident than the writing found in Rhapsody in Blue. Yet it is this movement that is the most “rhapsodic,” flitting between styles as if Gershwin had too many ideas to keep track of. It is the beautiful lyrical second movement that Damrosch called his favourite – it reminded him of “lazy summer nights.” The third movement is based on a fragment of a piano prelude, a form with which Gershwin continued to dabble throughout the ‘20s. All in all, the Concerto in F is probably Gershwin’s most successful “concert” work, though American in Paris continues to be the most popular.

Program Notes for Mendelssohn & Mussorgsky © 2009 D.T. Baker; Program Notes for Gershwin © 2007 William Eddins

Program notes © 2009 by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and its respective annotators. All Rights Reserved. Program notes may not be printed in their entirety without the written consent of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; excerpts may be quoted if due acknowledgment is given to the author and to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. For reprint permission, contact D.T. Baker, Music Resource, by email, dave.baker@winspearcentre.com.

These notes appear in galley files prepared for Signature magazine, official publication of the ESO, and may contain typographical or other errors, or may differ from the final print version. Programs and artists subject to change without notice.

Artist Information

Robert Bernhardt, conductor

 

Robert Bernhardt is the second Music Director in the history of the combined Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, and is currently in his 16th season with the company. Concurrent with his CSO tenure, Bernhardt holds the additional title of Principal Pops Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra where he is currently in his 28th season. He began his professional career there in 1981 as Assistant Conductor, and has worked with the Orchestra every year since. He was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic (1995-98), Music Director and Conductor of the Tucson Symphony (1987-95), Principal Guest Conductor of Kentucky Opera (1991-96), and Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra (1985-1987). His vast symphonic repertoire covers most of the standard canon and his commitment to the music of our time is significant.

 

This season, Robert Bernhardt will make his guest conducting debut with the Houston Symphony, and returns to the podiums of the Pacific Symphony, Tucson Symphony, and the Chattanooga Ballet. He has guest conducted the Detroit, St. Louis, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, Colorado, Pacific and Iceland Symphony Orchestras among others, and has been a frequent guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, and the Boston Pops. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1978. In addition to his work with the CSO, he has conducted the Opera Companies of Nashville and Birmingham. He has also conducted the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet and the Lonestar Ballet. Born in Rochester, NY, Robert Bernhardt holds a Master's Degree with Honors from the University of Southern California School of Music where he studied with Daniel Lewis. He was a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Union (NY) College, where he was an Academic All-American Baseball Player.

Since making his ESO debut in May 2006, Robert Bernhardt has become a favourite guest conductor of both the orchestra and its audience. The 2009 Sobeys Symphony Under the Sky is the fourth consecutive edition of the festival led by Mr. Bernhardt. He will conduct several more performances in the 09/10 season, including Oktoberfest! on October 6, 2009, Our Favourite Mozart on October 8, 2009, and Classics of the Silver Screen on May 20, 2010.

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William Eddins, piano

 

William Eddins is in his fifth season as Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. A native of Buffalo, New York, he currently resides in Minneapolis with his lovely wife Jen, a clarinetist, and their two boys Raef (AKA Raefster; Munchers) and Riley (AKA Squeaky; The Imp; Dr. No).

Bill has been playing piano since he was five when his parents bought a Wurlitzer Grand piano at a garage sale. He started conducting during his sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music, and most of the '80s were spent trying to decide whether to pursue a career in conducting or piano. The quandary was answered for him when he realized that the life of a poor, starving pianist was for the birds. In 1989 Bill decided to study conducting with Dan Lewis at the University of Southern California, from whence he managed to land assistant conductor posts with the Chicago Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra in 1992.

Bill has many non-musical hobbies including: cooking, eating, discussing food, and planning dinner parties. He is also quite fond of biking, tennis, reading, and pinball. Unfortunately, due to pianistic paranoia his days in the martial arts are long over.

Bill is committed to bringing classical music to the greater public. He has started a podcast – Classical Connections – which is dedicated to exploring the history of classical music and highlights live chamber music performances in which Bill has taken part (check it out for yourself at Bill Eddins' website). He has also produced a solo piano CD – Bad Boys, Volume I – which features Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata and Albright's Nightmare Fantasy Rag. His latest recording, on the Naxos label, features American music for cello and orchestra.

Multimedia

Festival conductor Bob Bernhardt talks about Sobeys Symphony Under the Sky: