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HARRY RILLING Norwalk Mayor

Congratulations to the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra on their 80th consecutive year! For eight decades, the Symphony has delighted audiences of all ages with the joyous wonder of live orchestral music.

During this milestone 2019-2020 season, the Symphony has another fantastic lineup of concerts planned. These shows feature some of the top musicians in the area that will undoubtedly entertain and inspire. We are thrilled the

Norwalk Symphony will once again perform in the magnificent Norwalk Concert Hall as they celebrate 80 years of beautiful music.

The Symphony is more than just beautiful music—they are also an integral community partner with a long-standing commitment to providing educational opportunities for people of all ages. Members of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra share their gifts and talents through various community programming. The free and expanded (Not) Just for Kids program is an interactive and educational program that engages young people with the joys of listening to and creating music. A new pilot program this year aimed at middle and high school students will further expand the love of orchestral music into the lives of young people.

We are so grateful for the beautiful music, brilliant performances, and enlightening discussions the Symphony brings the City of Norwalk and southwestern Connecticut every year. The Symphony is indeed an incredible asset to our community. Their strong relationship with the region is apparent through their programming and partnerships with a wide variety of other arts organizations. I urge the community to come out and enjoy the Symphony’s milestone 2019-2020 season. On their behalf, I thank the Board of Directors, Music Director and Conductor Jonathan Yates, the Norwalk Symphony musicians and the staff for their ongoing commitment to musical excellence.

Sincerely,

Harry W. Rilling Mayor


WELCOME FROM THE MAYOR

25 Van Zant Street, Suite 14-3, Norwalk, CT 06855Telephone: 203.956.6771 Fax: 203.956.6774

www.norwalksymphony.orgEmail: [email protected]

2019-2020Board of Governors

Christopher Bell, PresidentLouis Broudy, Esq., Vice President

Christopher McCormack, Vice PresidentEric Freeman, TreasurerLibby Mucci, Secretary

Douglas AdamsRichard Beyman

Robert BourguignonLawrence Cavanagh

Lee GreenbergDavid HollanderCharles Johnson

Dr. Carole Ann MaxwellDr. Vanessa Smith Morest

Mary Petro NoonanTed NussbaumWarren Shapiro

Eva ToftGeorgia von Schmidt

Schuyler Winter

StaffJonathan Yates, Music Director & Conductor

Sandra Miklave, Executive DirectorKatherine T. Altman, Business ManagerEmanouil Manolov, Personnel Manager

Scott Switzer, Librarian


THE NORWALK SYMPHONY SOCIETY, INC.

The mission of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra is to bring the joy of orchestral music to appreciative audiences of all ages. Since 1939, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra has enhanced the quality of life in Southwestern Connecticut. The symphony is a significant cultural organization that showcases talented musicians from the community as it enriches its audiences’ cultural experience through live performances, pre-concert discussions and educational activities for all ages.

In addition to six major concerts this season, the Norwalk Symphony is committed to education and community outreach. (Not) Just for Kids is presented in after-school and library settings prior to each concert. The program features ensembles of our symphony musicians and gives children and adults alike a chance to experience music-making first hand. A new pilot program with middle and high school students is underway this season. In December, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra will accompany the New England Dance Theatre in their production of The Nutcracker—the only regional, live-music production outside of New York City. The 8th Annual Young Artists Festival and Concerto Competition in February provides an opportunity for students to be adjudicated on multiple levels, and the winner of the Concerto Competition will play their solo with the orchestra in our March concert. The symphony continues to strengthen and build lasting ties in our community, and we look forward to an exciting 2019-2020 season!

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR LIVE MUSIC?Nothing compares to the impact and impression of live music when it comes to enhancing a special occasion! The next time you host a celebration, whether large or small, consider hiring Norwalk Symphony Orchestra musicians to make your event extra-special. We’ll bring the best in entertainment to your family, corporate or private functions at reasonable rates.

Choose from a variety of instrumental ensembles to suit your event needs, including duos, trios, quartets and more. Add that finishing touch to your special occasion and make it truly memorable with live music. Contact the symphony office at 203.956.6771 or by email at [email protected].


ABOUT THE NORWALK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

NORWALK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACELEBRATES ITS 80th Season!

SEASON OPENER – Symphonic JourneysSeptember 28, 2019 – 7:30pm

Glière: Russian Sailor’s Dance; Bartok: Hungarian Pictures;Brahms: Symphony No. 1;

Ravel: Tzigane – Introducing our new Concertmaster!

AMERICAN CONNECTIONSNovember 16, 2019 – 7:30pm

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue-Andy Armstrong, Piano soloist;Wagner: Seigfried Idyll with New England Academy of Dance;

Songs of Ives and Ravel

JOYS OF THE SEASON: BAROQUE TO POPSDecember 14, 2019 – 5:00pm

Handel: Messiah, Part 1 & Hallelujah Chorus; Holiday Favorites;Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker selections with New England Academy of Dance

BROADWAY – SOUTH PACIFIC!February 8, 2020 – 7:30pm

MUSIC FOR ALL AGES: MELODY AND MAGICMarch 22, 2020 – 3:00pm

Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; Beethoven: Symphony No. 12020 Young Artists Festival Concerto Competition winner

SEASON FINALE – The Magic FluteMay 16, 2020 – 7:30pm

Mozart: The Magic Flute


2019–20 SEASON

Please Join Us at Local Libraries for

Fridays at Norwalk City Hall – 4:45pm;Saturdays at: Norwalk Public Library – 11am

New Canaan Public Library – 1pmWilton Library – 3pm

September 20 & 21, 2019 * November 1 & 2, 2019December 6 & 7, 2019 * January 31 & February 1, 2020

March 13 & 14, 2020 * May 8 & 9, 2020


Jonathan Yates is the seventh Music Director of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra since its inception in 1939. He he has been a driving force in reinvigorating the relationship between the symphony and its community, having inaugurated the NSO Free Chamber Concert Series, revived the orchestra’s popular (Not) Just for Kids Educational Outreach programs, and started collaborations with numerous local cultural, religious and civic organizations. He made his professional

orchestral conducting debut at 23, leading the National Symphony Orchestra in a Millennium Stages Concert. The following year he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a pianist in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop. As Music Director of the Norwalk Youth Symphony, he has led that ensemble on successful tours to Spain, Germany, Carnegie Hall, and Tanglewood.

Jonathan recently completed his first season as Musical Director of Music Mountain, a preeminent chamber music festival in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. The New Yorker praised his first year, saying, “The longtime festival’s programming has been given a welcome jolt with the arrival of a new director, the pianist and conductor Jonathan Yates.” He has collaborated as a pianist and conductor with many of the country’s most respected musicians, including Midori, Kim Kashkashian, David Finckel, Charles Neidich, Ida Kavafian, Colin Carr, Gilbert Kalish, Paul Neubauer, Joseph Lin, and William Purvis; and the Avalon, Daedalus and Pacifica Quartets. He has been heard as a chamber musician at the 92nd Street Y, Miller Theater, Bargemusic and Merkin Hall, as well as at the Caramoor Festival and on the Ravinia Festival Rising Stars Series. As an ardent devotee of the music of our time, he has conducted new music concerts with the Argento Chamber Ensemble and the Knights, was the recipient of an ASCAP award for adventurous programming, and has given local and regional premieres of pre-eminent composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Huang Ruo, Zhou Long, Chester Biscardi, and Chen Yi.

Jonathan received his Graduate Diploma in conducting from the Juilliard School, where he studied with James DePreist and Otto-Werner Mueller, and was the holder of the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. He received his Master of Music from State University of New York, where he worked with Gilbert Kalish, and his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, where he studied with Robert Levin. He serves as Music Director Emeritus of Camerata Notturna, a chamber orchestra in New York City, and has also served on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College. He descends from a family that has been on the forefront of the battles for the cultural and humanistic life of our country. His grandfather, U.S. Representative Sidney R. Yates, was the principal defender of the National Endowment for the Arts in his 48 years in Congress, and his father, the Honorable Stephen R. Yates, was the first judge in Illinois to approve same-sex adoption.

JONATHAN YATES Music Director/Conductor


MEET OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR

The Norwalk Symphony Orchestra recognizes and thanks all who are so generous to help keep music vibrant and accessible in our community.

Maestro Sponsor - $25,000+WEB Realty Company

$20,000+Baum Family FoundationThe Scripps Family Fund for Education and the ArtsChris & Terri Bell

Season Sponsor - $10,000+Inisfad Foundation – Lawrence Cavanagh &

Dr. Eleanor RiemerLouis & Sylvia Broudy – In honor of Anita BehnkenLucinda KnuthJohn C Meditz

Concert Sponsor - $5,000+DECD/Connecticut-Office of the Arts

– Supporting Arts in PlaceDaphne Seybolt Culpeper

Memorial Foundation, Inc.Maurice Goodman FoundationDavid & Eunice BigelowBarry & Akiko Silver

Sponsor - $3,000+Bucks Creek FoundationFairfield County BankNew Canaan Community FoundationPullman & ComleyWebster Private BankEstate of Anita BehnkenRobert BourguignonJames & Susan CarterChristopher & Sarah McCormackJames & Mary Noonan

Benefactor - $1,000+Elizabeth Raymond Ambler TrustDampits International-David & Tair HollanderDECD/Connecticut-Office of the Arts

– Access GrantDECD/Connecticut-Office of the Arts

– Arts EndowmentDooney & BourkeFairfield County’s Community Foundation –

NSO EndowmentMorgan Stanley Donor Advised FundNetwork for GoodNorwalk Community Benefit FundPeople’s BankRuth Krauss Foundation, Inc.Sayles and Maddocks Family FoundationSchwab Charitable FundDouglas AdamsCarlotta & Charles Bell – In Honor of Chris BellRichard & Michelle BeymanRuss Cooper & Phyllis SchnepfCarl & Eunice Feinberg – In Memory of Anita Behnken

John & Doon FosterLee GreenbergDana KligermanCharles Johnson & Jennifer MirskySarah Kelly & Lorcan O’ConnorMillicent MasonMatt & Sandra MiklaveLibby & Wayne MucciAdolph & Gloria NeaderlandColleen & Steve ProstorGeorgia von SchmidtDebra Yates – In Honor of Jonathan Yates

Patron - $500+AnonymousThomas & Carol AikenheadJeffrey BassockAlexandra BaudoinJan BerlageGary ConstanceSuzanne FandelPeter & Nancy FlournoyJeffrey HymanDr. Carole Ann MaxwellDominick & Michele ModugnoJohn & Lingru SeelNed TiptonDale & Noriko TodaroRobert UlyNicole Von DolenDrs. Susan & Norman WeinbergerSchuyler & Patty Winter

Supporter - $250+General Electric FoundationAnonymousViktoria Bombardi WilsonDouglas BoothroydJacob & Etty BoussoMaura Callahan & Peter JohnsonJames & Susan Carter –

In Honor of Chris & Terri BellYoshie Akimoto EldredgeAlison Gruseke Syma Gruss & Henry Diamond –

In Honor of Anita BehnkenRobert HoffmanRhonda KiestLauren LynfieldMichael MushakGregory & Maribeth PayneNovelette PeterkinTJ & Earl RaginsSteve & Elaine RustVicki SecrestGeorge & Madeline ShepherdElliot & Marguerite SissonWojtek & Magdalena Zajak


THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

Good Friend - $100+AnonymousBenevity Community Impact Fund –

Matching Gift from United Health GroupVincent & Elizabeth AitoroMillette AlexanderJames & Lisa AllisonMartin & Monica ArnoldRichard & Antoinette BainJennifer BangserJerome BartonWendy BaskinBrad & Nancy BenjaminDouglas & Lorene BoraLeon BreaultChris BrubeckLawrence CaferoHenry & Mary Ellen CavannaAnna ChaseRebecca ChristophersonBill Collins & Elizabeth GibbsCharlotte CooperMary-Patricia CottrellMartha D’AdamoJosephine DeupreeAnne Downey – In Honor of Lawrence CavanaghTherese EganEloise EpsteinNancy EversonWilliam & Joyce FilipDr. John FitzpatrickDianne FlagelloHarriet FlehingerDr. Ed FleischliJoe Hsu – In Memory of Anita BehnkenBruce IpeCarol JohnsonMargaret KelleyDr. David & Evan LevinsonDavid & Suzanne McCollumRobert & Elizabeth McGrathSalvatore & Mary Beth MolllicaRyan MurawskiDr. Rhoda NairJuan NegroniKenneth NgDaniel V & Elsa Peterson ObuchowskiChauncey & Carla OlingerKristi PattersonJane PlantFrederick Post & Sabra GalloJudith RafaelDiane RatcliffeHarry & Lucia RillingNancy RombergSara Ross – In Honor of David & Linda RossJohn & Kate Russo

Gunnar Sahlin & Suzanne Corey-Sahlin – In Memory of Anne Rorick & Arlette Werner

Sandra SamuelsLeda SantosAlfred ScullKathie SumrowArthur TauderEva ToftPriscilla Woyke

Friend - Up to $99A2Z LLCAmazon Smile FoundationPayPal Giving FundSara T. Wahls Charity Fund –

In Memory of Anita BehnkenKatherine AltmanTodd BoeChanda Brodnax-NinoAndrea J. BrownEileen BuckleyLuis & Diane CanoDaniel & Tucker ChaseJames & Susan CooperFrederick CortNina CrothersEdward & Diane DonovanMichael DorfsmanAlan & Gertrude DubrowArchie ElamDr. Richard EpsteinArthur & Ellen GangAnna HersomLinda K. JohnsonConstance KeavneyBruce Kimmel & Kay AndersonLouise LaChanceMildred LaskerBenita LauriIrwin LebishSondra LimeburnerMelissa MayernikDavid & Katherine McConnaugheyJames McKeonAngela PecoraMarlene PowersJohn PrittingDr. David RomeoPolly SartoriEleanor SearlersPaul SerenbetzTara TanzerCorinne TollesMitchell VerziWilliam WalbertRobert WelshHolly Wheeler


THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

The Norwalk Symphony OrchestraIs pleased to support the Norwalk Community College

Food PantryTo end student food

insecurity.Thank you for your

donations!

A2Z LLC A Technology Company

Angelo Zullo

10 St. Charles Street Thornwood, NY 10594

914.602.4157 [email protected]


AMERICAN CONNECTIONSSaturday, November 16, 2019 – 7:30 pm

3 Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

SoupirPlacet futile

Surgi de la croupe et du bond

Rebecca Ringle Kamarei, mezzo soprano

Siegfried Idyll Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

With members of New England Dance Theater

intermission

3 Songs Charles Ives (1874-1954)

The RainbowCharlie Rutlage

Mists

Rebecca Ringle Kamarei, mezzo soprano

Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin (1898-1937)

Andrew Armstrong, pianist

Join us in the Community Room after the performance to meet the musicians of the Norwalk Symphony, our guest artists and Jonathan Yates.


Christopher James Hisey, Music Director

Concerts at 7:30 pm at First Presbyterian Church*

2475 Easton Turnpike, Fairfield, CT

Tickets & Information atwww.americanchamberorchestra.org

*Unless noted differently

2019-2020 – Our 17th Season

Saturday, October 26, 2019* Norwalk Concert Hall!

Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain Rachmaninoff – Piano Cto #2 with Will Duchon Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 5-Reformation

11th Concerto CompetitionFebruary 22 & 23, 2020

Saturday, March 7, 2020Beethoven – Leonore Overture #3

Elgar – Cello Concerto with Gjorj Kroqi Cadwallader – Symphony No. 5

Saturday, June 6, 2020Rossini – Barber of Seville

Winners of the Concerto Competition Watch for details!


Jonathan YatesMusic Director & Conductor

Violin 1Krzysztof Kuznik, ConcertmasterYuan Ma, Ass’t. ConcertmasterClaudia Tondi –

Dr. Emanuel Knishkowy ChairMarina KitaychikLeo Ficks – Lewis Wilker ChairStephanie Liu

Violin 2Nina Crothers, Principal Corinne Metter, Ass’t. Principal

ViolaSuzanne Corey-Sahlin, Principal –

Dr. Louis G. Simon ChairAmy Selig, Ass’t. Principal

CelloGunnar Sahlin, PrincipalSara Bennett Wolfe, Ass’t. Principal

BassAlexander Svensen, Principal

FluteKathie Sumrow, PrincipalCaitrin Ann Massoud

OboeJanet Rosen, Principal

ClarinetKathleen Rimlinger, PrincipalJanet Atherton

BassoonMichael Green, Principal

SaxophoneDrew Vandewinckel, PrincipalAlex HamlinSteve Moran

French HornSusan LaFever, PrincipalCody Halquist

TrumpetCharles Johnson, PrincipalRobert Patrick

TromboneMatthew Russo, PrincipalNicholas Martin

TubaKatie Bonner Russo, Principal

TimpaniRussell Cooper, Principal

PercussionPeter Hohmeister, Principal

BanjoScott Kuney, Principal

PianoJonathan Klibonoff, Principal

Stage ManagerScott Mesh

DANCERSOlivia CaronFiona DeMottMichelle LaBadieOlivia LicataCaroline MeyerCecelia PeterEmily TwitchellRyan H. Rankine


ORCHESTRA ROSTER

3 poèmes de Mallarmé (Three Poems of Mallarmé), M. 64 – Maurice RavelBorn March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, France Died December 28, 1937, in Paris, France

This work was premiered on January 14, 1914, by an instrumental ensemble with soprano Rose Féart conducted by Désire-Émile Inghelbrecht. It is scored for soprano solo, two flutes, two clarinets, piano, and string quartet.

Maurice Ravel’s highly original musical style is influenced heavily by the standard classical dance forms – waltzes, minuets, bourees, and many others. His lovely melodies and lush harmonies are conveyed through some of the most detailed and evocative orchestration ever written. He kept himself well-informed of the newest musical styles in both popular and concert music and, being especially enamored of pieces with strong rhythmic qualities, became interested in American jazz. Ravel always held a special affinity for Spanish dance rhythms, which are found throughout his music.

After more than three decades as one of the world’s leading composers, Ravel found his life falling apart in the late 1920s. In what would later be diagnosed as the onset of Pick’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition akin to Alzheimer’s disease, Ravel began to have problems with concentration and memory. By 1929 he noticed problems with muscle control and aphasia (difficulty with language affecting reading, writing, and speaking). In 1932 Ravel was slated to premiere his Piano Concerto in G major, but he had to abandon his plans. Before long, he could not even sign his name. By the mid-1930s Ravel was unable to communicate at all. He died in 1937 shortly after an unsuccessful attempt to correct his disease through surgery.

Ravel’s Three Poems of Mallarmé reflects his deep admiration of the symbolist poet. In 1913 a complete edition of Mallarmé’s poetry was published and Ravel very quickly selected three poems. Composition took place between April and August.

Ravel’s choice to include an instrumental ensemble was undoubtedly because of Schoenberg’s manic Pierrot lunaire, which was a brand-new work at the time and was drawing many notices in the press. Stravinsky, a friend of Ravel who was currently writing his Trois poésies de la lyrique japonaise, decided upon the same instrumentation as his friend – soprano solo, pairs of flutes and clarinets, piano, and string quartet. Schoenberg also called for nine instruments, but only five players.

The premiere of the work in January of 1914 included the premieres of Le Petit Elfe Ferme-l’œil by Florent Schmitt for four-handed piano, the Quatre poèmes hindous by Maurice Delage, and the Trois poésies de la lyrique japonaise by Igor Stravinsky. Ravel dedicated the individual movements of his piece to Igor Stravinsky, Florent Schmitt, and Erik Satie, in that order.

Ravel’s Mallarmé Songs are not the usual French melodies but are different in many ways. Melodically, they are more declamatory than might be expected but, although the audience will not walk away singing a memorable tune, they reflect the subtleties of the poetry. This is further illustrated by the instrumental ensemble and is bolstered by Ravel’s ever-perfect orchestration.

“Soupir” (Sigh) opens with the shimmering sounds of a fountain as droplets of water create ripples in the pool. The voice appears as if rising from the water. A flute is heard high above, climbing “towards the Azure.” Suddenly, the ripples stop, and the strings reflect the “infinite languor in the pools” and the song comes to quiet repose with a few final ripples.

“Placet futile” (Futile Petition) is a quiet reverie of bottled passion and longing voiced mostly by strings and piano. “Surgi de la croupe et du bond” (Rising up from its bulge and stem) is a song that compares unrequited love to a delicate glass that has never been used by both lovers. It opens with a rising figure in the flute and then passes to other instruments before the voice enters. The song ends quietly with a sense of wonder.

©2019 Orpheus Music Prose & Craig Doolin www.orpheusnotes.com


PROGRAM NOTES

SoupirMon âme vers ton front où rêve, ô calme sœur,Un automne jonché de taches de rousseur,Et vers le ciel errant de ton œil angéliqueMonte, comme dans un jardin mélancolique,Fidèle, un blanc jet d’eau soupire vers l’Azur !Vers l’azur attendri d’octobre pâle et purQui mire aux grands bassins sa langueur infinieEt laisse, sur l’eau morte où la fauve agonieDes feuilles erre au vent et creuse un froid sillon,Se trainer le soleil jaune d’un long rayon.

Placet futilePrincesse! à jalouser le destin d’une HébéQui poind sur cette tasse au baiser de vos lèvres,J’use mes feux mais n’ai rang discret que d’abbéEt ne figurerai même nu sur le Sèvres.

Comme je ne suis pas ton bichon embarbé,Ni la pastille ni du rouge, ni Jeux mièvresEt que sur moi je sais ton regard clos tombé,Blonde dont les coiffeurs divins sont des orfèvres!

Nommez-nous... toi de qui tant de ris framboisésSe joignent en troupeau d’agneaux apprivoisésChez tous broutant les vœux et bêlant aux délires,

Nommez-nous... pour qu’Amour ailé d’un éventailM’y peigne flûte aux doigts endormant ce bercail,Princesse, nommez-nous berger de vos sourires.

Surgi de la croupe et du bondSurgi de la croupe et du bondD’une verrerie éphémèreSans fleurir la veillée amèreLe col ignoré s’interrompt.

Je crois bien que deux bouches n’ontBu, ni son amant ni ma mère,Jamais à la même chimère,Moi, sylphe de ce froid plafond!

Le pur vase d’aucun breuvageQue l’inexhaustible veuvageAgonise mais ne consent,

Naïf baiser des plus funèbres!À rien expirer annonçantUne rose dans les ténèbres.

SighO calm sister, my soul, towards your brow wherean autumn strewn with freckles dreams,and towards the wandering heaven of your angelic eye,is climbing, as a fountain in a melancholic garden,faithfully, sighs towards the Azure!Towards the softened Azure of October, pale and pure,which reflects its infinite languor in the poolsand lets, upon the dead water where the fawn agonyof the leaves roams in the wind and furrows a cold wake,the yellow sun of a long ray trail.

Futile PetitionPrincess! In jealousy of the destiny of an Hebewho springs up on this cup at the kiss of your lips, I burn up my passion yet only have the discreet rank of abbotand could not even appear naked on the Sèvres porcelain!

As I am not your bearded lap-dog,nor the lozenge, nor rouge, nor sickly gamesand that on me I know your hidden gaze to have fallen,Blonde whose divine hair-dressers are gold-smiths,

appoint us... you of whom so many raspberry smilesgather together in a flock of tamed lambsgrazing on the desires of one and all and bleating deliriously,

appoint us... so that Love winged with a fanshould paint me, flute in hand, lulling this fold to sleep,Princess, appoint us shepherd of your smiles.

Rising up from its bulge and stemRising up from its bulge and stemof fragile glasswarewith no flowers to crown its bitter vigilthe vase’s neglected neck stops short.

I do believe the mouthsof my mother and her lovernever drank from the same love-cup(I, sylph of this cold ceiling).

The vase untouched by any drinkexcept eternal widowhoodis dying yet never consents

oh naïve funereal kiss!to breathe out anything that might heralda rose in the darkness.


PROGRAM NOTES

Siegfried Idyll – Richard WagnerBorn May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany Died February 13, 1883, in Venice, Italy

This work was first performed privately on December 25, 1870, at Wagner’s home on Lake Lucerne. It is scored for flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, and strings.

Composer, poet, political revolutionary, ideologue – any of these words could describe Richard Wagner, but no one would expect him to be behind one of the most tender and meaningful musical gifts in history. On the morning of December 25, 1870, Cosima Wagner, Richard’s wife and Franz Liszt’s daughter, awoke in Tribschen, the Wagner’s beautiful home on the banks of Lake Lucerne, to the glorious strains of the Siegfried Idyll. As a gift for her (her birthday fell on Christmas day), Wagner had composed the work to be played as she awoke. The thirteen musicians who lined the grand spiral staircase were friends of the composer, including conductor Hans Richter, who led the small ensemble.

Originally entitled Tribschen Idyll, with Fidi’s Bird-Song and Orange Sunrise, requires explanation. Tribschen, as previous noted, was the name of the Wagner estate, where Cosima’s room was decorated with radiant orange wallpaper. Fidi was the nickname of the Wagners’ son, Siegfried, whose name comes from the hero of the composer’s Ring of the Nibelungs. Fidi had a pet bird, whose song Wagner included in this portrait of domestic bliss. The Idyll is, incidentally, named for the son, not the hero.

Cosima described the touching scene of the private premiere in her diary:

“I can tell you nothing of this day, my children, nothing of my feelings, nothing of my mood, nothing, nothing. I only want to tell you plainly and dryly what happened: how I awoke, my ear perceived a sound, it swelled, ever more full. I could no longer believe myself in a dream. Music was sounding, and what music! As it died away, R. came in to see me with the

five children, and handed me the score of the ‘Symphonic Birthday Greeting.’ I was in tears, but so was the entire household.”


“Mists,” “Charlie Rutlage,” and “The Rainbow” from 114 Songs – Charles Edward IvesBorn October 20, 1874, in Danbury, Connecticut Died May 19, 1954, in New York, New York

These songs were published in 1922.

Possibly the most overlooked American composer, iconoclast Charles Ives was the son of a New England cornetist who had served as a bandmaster in the Civil War. Ives’s reputation as a renegade came largely from his experimentations with harmony; he composed a few pieces with tone rows a decade before Arnold Schoenberg began to move away from tonality. Likewise, Ives composed a few works for a microtonal piano, tuned to intervals smaller than a half-step. It was Ives’s father who introduced him to this type of musical freedom with numerous exercises in musical independence. One such drill consisted of young Charlie singing a familiar song in one key, while his father changed keys in the accompaniment. The youngster was expected to maintain his key regardless of what his father played.

Ives attended college at Yale University from 1894 to 1898, where he studied with the illustrious composer Horatio Parker. Parker, a student of Brahms, was very conservative in his musical views and never fully understood Ives’s interest in the more arcane areas of the discipline. However, Ives complied, to a degree, composing a decidedly Brahmsian First Symphony in 1898, the year of his graduation. His music would take drastic dissonant turns in the next eighteen years until 1916, after which he would compose little else.

Anyone familiar with Ives is aware of his extensive borrowing of musical materials from


PROGRAM NOTES

other sources – most often patriotic songs, folk tunes, and popular melodies of the 1890s. This should not be viewed as plagiarism, but as a technique of pastiche – akin to the use of fabric scraps to make a quilt. As with a comfortable old-time quilt, the various fabrics of his sources are often apparent, but they fit so well that it is unimaginable that they could be assembled in any other way. It is also important to remember that Ives’s world was one of Civil War veterans’ brass bands performing in park gazebos, ragtime, barn dances, and patriotic Americana. Assimilating all of this into his music, Ives wrote four symphonies, numerous works for chamber ensembles, piano, voice, chorus, and independent orchestral works.

Always a pragmatist, Ives did not pursue composition as a profession. He chose the field of insurance as a money-making endeavor and teamed with Julian Myrick in 1907 to form Ives and Company at 51 Liberty Street in New York – one of the most important companies of its type on the

Eastern Seaboard. Despite his profession, Ives composed on evenings, holidays, and weekends, producing a large number of brilliant and influential works. When asked why he did not choose music as his profession, he replied, “If a composer has a nice wife and some nice children, how can he let the children starve on his dissonances?” In 1910, he married the appropriately named Harmony Twichell, who was his partner and helpmate. In 1947, Ives received the Pulitzer Prize for his Third Symphony, written four decades earlier. He died of a stroke in 1954.

Ives art songs are an astounding body of work, most of which are published in the volume entitled 114 Songs that Ives had privately printed in 1922. This volume was given primarily to friends, but it survived its initial small printing and has become beloved by (and sometimes puzzling to) singers and listeners over the past century. This concert presents three of the 114, all from the first half of the volume.

“Mists” is a poem by Ives’ wife, Harmony, written in memory of her mother. While the lovely melody is completely tonal, the accompaniment reflects the unreliable mist of memory that fails over time. Complex harmonies and whole-tone scales are abundant.

Mists Text by Harmony Twichell Ives

Low lie the mists; they hide each hill and dell;The grey skies weep with us who bid farewell.

But happier days through memory weaves a spell,And brings new hope to hearts who bid farewell.

“Charlie Rutlage” is an authentic cowboy song that was collected by musicologist and folklorist John A. Lomax. It tells the story of the third cowboy to die during the spring roundup. This song is quite traditional in many ways, but there is a different type of text delivery that becomes apparent in the middle of the song.

Charlie RutlageFolksong collected by John A. Lomax

Another good cowpuncher has gone to meet his fate,I hope he’ll find a resting place, within the golden gate.

Another place is vacant on the ranch of the X I T,‘Twill be hard to find another that’s liked as well as he.

The first that died was Kid White, a man both tough and brave,While Charlie Rutlage makes the third to be sent to his grave,

Caused by a cowhorse falling, while running after stock;


PROGRAM NOTES

Rhapsody in Blue – George GershwinBorn (Jacob Gershovitz) on September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York Died on July 11, 1937, in Hollywood, California

This work received its premiere on February 12, 1924, by the Palais Royal Orchestra under the baton of Paul Whiteman. Gershwin was the soloist. The convoluted 1924 Ferde Grofé orchestration calls for flute, oboe, four types of clarinets, heckelphone [tenor oboe], five types of saxophones, pairs of horns, trumpets, flugelhorns, and trombones, with added euphonium, bass trombone, and tuba, two pianos, celesta, banjo, timpani, percussion, drum set, violins, basses, and accordion. The more streamlined 1942 revision on this program is scored for solo piano, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two

alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, two bassoons, three horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, banjo, and strings.

George Gershwin was a first generation American of Russian-Jewish parents. By his late teens, he had learned the piano and became a “song-plugger” in New York’s Tin Pan Alley – the area where the popular music publishing trade was centered. Gershwin would sit at the piano in the Remick showroom playing the latest sheet music for customers. From this experience, he became keenly aware of popular musical styles and began to compose his own songs, often with his younger brother, Ira, as lyricist. Over the course of only eight years, the Gershwins became established as the leading creative team on Broadway.

‘Twas on the spring round up, a place where death men mock,He went forward one morning on a circle through the hills,

He was gay and full of glee, and free from earthly ills;But when it came to finish up the work on which he went,

Nothing came back from him; his time on earth was spent.‘Twas as he rode the round up, a XIT turned back to the herd;

Poor Charlie shoved him in again, his cutting horse he spurred;Another turned; at that moment his horse the creature spied

And turned and fell with him, beneath poor Charlie died,His relations in Texas his face never more will see,

But I hope he’ll meet his loved ones beyond in eternity,I hope he’ll meet his parents, will meet them face to face,

And that they’ll grasp him by the right hand at the shining throne of grace.

“The Rainbow” is an 1802 text by William Wordsworth. It reflects the importance of nature throughout his life.

The Rainbow Text by William Wordsworth

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man;And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.



PROGRAM NOTES

It was this background that George Gershwin brought with him when he decided to write works for the concert hall, beginning with a grand experiment in 1924 that brought the world the Rhapsody in Blue as a work in the jazz idiom that changed the course of American music. Scholars often equate its impact to that of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring eleven years earlier. Gershwin showed that many popular musicians are talented in many ways – in response to the accusation that has been hurled by an elitist musical establishment since vernacular music was first marketed in this country in the eighteenth century. The Rhapsody is refined and structured, and pays allegiance more to the piano showpieces of Liszt and Tchaikovsky than to more popular forms, such as Joplin’s ragtime and W. C. Handy’s blues.

The popular story behind the composition of the Rhapsody is that the famous bandleader Paul Whiteman approached Gershwin in 1924 about composing a jazz-flavored work for the composer to play with Whiteman’s band. The bandleader believed that jazz music had made great progress since its beginnings and wanted to show that its influence was a positive addition to America’s multi-hued musical palette. Gershwin agreed, but became too busy to act on the idea and eventually forgot the conversation. When Whiteman discovered that a rival bandleader was planning a concert featuring symphonic works in the jazz idiom, he booked his band in New York’s Aeolian Hall and planned a similar concert of his own – at an earlier date. Most versions of the story have Gershwin hearing of the upcoming premiere from a newspaper advertisement before he had written a single note of the work. In a letter to a friend a few years later, Gershwin details a much more plausible version.

“I was summoned to Boston [on December 23, 1923] for the promotion of Sweet Little Devil. I had already done some work on the rhapsody. It was on that train, with its steely rhythms, its rattlety bang that is so often stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise – I suddenly heard – and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the rhapsody, from beginning to end. No

new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind, and tried to conceive of the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston, I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance.”

The composer most likely wrote the work in the 110th Street apartment in Manhattan that he shared with his parents and siblings. He left for the final rehearsals of Sweet Little Devil in Boston on January 25, 1924, so it is likely that the work was completed by that time.

Ferde Grofé, Whiteman’s arranger, had been a regular fixture at the apartment, stopping by daily to collect finished pages so he could create the arrangement for the premiere. It was not until Gershwin’s Concerto in F in late 1925 that the composer would feel comfortable with his own orchestrations.

The premiere on February 12, 1924, was one of the most anticipated events of the New York concert season. Attendees included dignitaries from a cross-section of the music industry – from Broadway, Fred and Adele Astaire; from the classical field, violinists Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz, conductor Leopold Stokowski, composers Leopold Godowsky, Igor Stravinsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff; and bandmaster John Philip Sousa. Billed as “An Experiment in Modern Music,” the concert featured nearly two dozen works and lasted about three hours. Rhapsody in Blue was the next-to-last work on the program, representing a culmination of influences and serving as the musical focus.

Rhapsody in Blue opens with one of the most familiar moments in music – a sultry slide of over two octaves played by a lone clarinet. Although Gershwin wrote this as a seventeen-note scale, the clarinetist of the Whiteman band, Ross Gorman, played it as the now-famous slide. Gershwin liked Gorman’s interpretation and changed his score. The remainder of the work is segmented into many sections constructed from five major themes, most of which


PROGRAM NOTES

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Samples are available at the website and in this program.

feature the piano in a tour-de-force of popular and romantic techniques. A difficult cadenza, improvised by Gershwin at the premiere from a blank page in his piano part, lies at the heart of the work.

For a work so new in such a variety of ways, it has always seemed appropriate that the title is also novel. After all, what does Rhapsody in Blue mean? The solution is simple. George Gershwin’s brother and lyricist, Ira, suggested

the name after attending an exhibition of paintings by James McNeill Whistler. Ira found that the titles of the paintings – Nocturne in Black and Gold, Symphony in White, etc. – were overtly musical. Rhapsody in Blue seems completely appropriate.



PROGRAM NOTES

ANDREW ARMSTRONGPiano

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic.

Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have seen him perform a sprawling repertoire of more than 50 concertos with orchestra. He has performed with such conductors as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Günther Herbig, Stefan Sanderling, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and has appeared in chamber music concerts with the Elias, Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, and also as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi, Boston Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. The 2019-2020 Season takes Andrew across the globe with concerts in London and Norwich, Amsterdam, Prague, Ostrava, and across the U.S. and Canada. Also this season, Andrew and violinist James Ehnes

team up to release recordings the complete cycle of 10 Beethoven Violin Sonatas to celebrate the master’s 250th birthday in 2020. The duo will perform the cycle in cities around the world over the next season. On top of his performance activities, Andrew embarks on his second season as Artistic Director of Columbia Museum of Art’s “Chamber Music on Main” series in South Carolina, and enters his third year as Director of the Chamber Music Camp at Wisconsin’s Green Lake Festival of Music.

Andrew’s debut solo CD featuring was released to great critical acclaim: “I have heard few pianists play [Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata], recorded or in concert, with such dazzling clarity and confidence” (American Record Guide). He followed that success with a disc on Cordelia Records of works by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, and the world premiere recording of Bielawa’s Wait for piano & drone.

He has released several award-winning recordings with his longtime recital partner James Ehnes – most recently Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 6 & 9, to stellar reviews, Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice, and Sunday Times’ Disc of the Week.

Andrew is devoted to outreach programs and playing for children. In addition to his many concerts, his performances are heard regularly on National Public Radio and WQXR, New York City’s premier classical music station.

Mr. Armstrong lives happily in Massachusetts, with his wife Esty, their three children including two-year-old Gabriel and big siblings Jack & Elise, and their two dogs Comet & Dooker.

For more information, please visit: www.andrewarmstrong.com


GUEST ARTISTS

REBECCA RINGLE KAMAREIMezzo-Soprano

Praised by Opera News for her “richly focused voice”, mezzo-soprano Rebecca Ringle Kamarei’s performances have brought her acclaim on operatic and concert stages. Her New York City Opera debut as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana was hailed as “sultry” and “sweetly sung” by The Wall Street Journal and London’s Financial Times. She returned to NYCO as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Dorothée in Cendrillon and to cover Rosmira in Partenope. The 2017-2018 season included Catherine in Shining Brow with UrbanArias, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Rogue Valley Symphony, her return to the Metropolitan Opera as the Dritte Madg in Elektra, Les noces with New York City Ballet, and Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Cincinnati Opera. Upcoming engagements include Marnie’s shadow in Marnie and the cover of Rossweisse in Die Walküre with the Metropolitan Opera.

Most recently, Rebecca appeared as Maddalena in Rigoletto with Baltimore Concert Opera, sang Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Phoenix Symphony and Brevard Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cheyenne Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem with the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with Augustana College, the Omaha and Jacksonville

Symphonies, and Rhode Island Philharmonic, Elijah with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the New West Symphony, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for productions of Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac, The Death of Klinghoffer, Manon, and Elektra.

Other operatic highlights include Rossweise in Die Walküre with Washington National Opera directed by Francesca Zambello, her international debut as Dido in Dido and Aeneas with the Macau International Music Festival, Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo with Opera Vivente, Leda in Die Liebe der Danae with the Bard SummerScape, the title role in Handel’s Ariodante and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Princeton Festival, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Piedmont Opera, Suzuki with Cedar Rapids Opera, and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos with Utah Opera. The 2010-2011 season saw Ms. Ringle Kamarei join the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Nixon in China and Die Walküre.

A frequent performer of new music, Rebecca appeared with concert harpist Grace Cloutier and soprano Jennifer Black at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall with Stanzas in Meditation, a work written for this trio by composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. She has performed Schoenberg’s Das buch der hängenden Gärten, Frazelle’s Appalachian Folksongs (I), Argento’s Casa Guidi, and Bolcom’s I will breathe a Mountain in recital. Rebecca performed the role of SHE in the new opera Decoration by Mikael Karlsson with the American Opera Projects and has been a frequent artist in the VOX Composers Showcase at New York City Opera. She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and The Yale School of Music and has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Spazio Musica Orvieto Concorso per Cantanti Lirici and the Heida Hermanns International Opera Competition. She competed in Vienna at the international level of the 2007 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.


GUEST ARTISTS

NEW ENGLAND ACADEMY OF DANCEFounded In 1984 by former Broadway dancer and esteemed ballerina Doris Driver, NEDT Is a nonprofit organization formed to bring high-quality dance productions to Fairfield County. In 2003, ownership was transferred to three directors with professional dance and choreography experience: Frances Ortiz, Ginna Ortiz, and Ted Thomas. Together, the new directors focused their energy on defining a curriculum for each distinct age group, and transforming the Nutcracker and Spring performances Into highly theatrical, community events. With 300 dancers each semester during the past decade, NEDT has grown to become one of the foremost dance institutions In Fairfield County.

NEDT features dancers who train at New England Academy of Dance, where the classical Russian Vaganova technique and Italian Chichetti methods are incorporated into class work. With its mission to create greater awareness, access and appreciation of the performing arts through dance, NEDT engages the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra at many of their performances, and brings classical ballet excerpts directly to local senior centers, hospitals and schools. NEDT supports a free annual Nutcracker Benefit Show, attended by up to 1,000 guests each year, and a summer dance intensive for students at Norwalk’s Carver Center. Most recently, NEDT launched an adaptive dance program with STAR, Inc., Lighting the Way. NEDT is proud to be the 2018 Nonprofit Organization recipient of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County’s Arts and Culture Empowerment Award for Excellence.

TED THOMASDirector

Mr. Thomas attended La Guardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City where his early interest in dance evolved into a professional passion. He went on to earn his BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase and his MA in Dance Education from NYU. During his time dancing professionally, Ted spent seven years as a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and performed with Ballet Hispanico, the Elisa Monte Dance Company, and Nikolais/Louis Dance. He was also afforded the opportunity to teach dance at Barnard College. In 2002, Mr. Thomas co-founded Thomas/Ortiz Dance with Frances Ortiz, and one year later became a director of the New England Academy of Dance and an Artistic Director of New England Dance Theater. In 2015, Ted became certified to teach the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE® National Training Curriculum levels primary through five (5). Mr. Thomas was granted the Connecticut Office of the Arts’ Artistic Fellowship Award for Excellence in Choreography in 2018.


GUEST ARTISTS

The Norwalk Symphony’s Young Artists Festival & Concerto Competition

will take place on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at the

Norwalk Concert Hall, 125 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT

For details and an application to each event, please visit: http://www.norwalksymphony.org/young-artist-festival-1


DONATION FORM


SEASON SUBSCRIBER FORM


The Norwalk Orchestra Plays A Symphony of Thanks to our Volunteers!

Mary Petro Noonan—Volunteer Committee Chairperson

We appreciate all the help we receivethrough-out the Season

Thomas EbersoldMarilyn & Ted Fecenko

Marge HickeyGloria Lau

Barbara MillarBarry Olmezer

Arlene RosenthalRuth WaldmanJoan Weinstein

Beverly WhiddonFred & Vivian Wu

Austin Xie

Come Join Us!Interested in becoming a volunteer with the

Norwalk Symphony?Call us at 203.956.6771 or email: [email protected]


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