Lang Lang
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Lang Lang, piano
- I. Prologue
- II. "Somewhere"
- III. Scherzo
- IV. Mambo
- V. Cha Cha
- VI. Meeting Scene
- VII."Cool" Fugue
- VIII. Rumble
- IX. Finale
Intermission
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF- I. Moderato
- II. Adagio sostenuto
- III. Allegro scherzando
- Lang Lang, piano
Concert Sound Bites
The Chairman Dances at a glance:
• Originally conceived as part of Adams’ first opera, Nixon in China, based on Nixon’s historic trip to China in 1972, The Chairman Dances exists as an independent orchestral work.
• Adams notes, “Neither an ‘excerpt’ nor a ‘fantasy on themes from,’ [The Chairman Dances] was in fact a kind of warm-up for embarking on the creation of the full opera.”
• Adams evokes the sound of Shanghai in the 1930s, when the young Mao Tse-tung and Madame Mao, a former movie actress, danced to gramophone recordings of jazz while courting.
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story at a glance:
• The Symphonic Dances present the music from West Side Story symphonically, rather than as simply excerpts from the musical.
• Bernstein ran over budget when he recorded the Symphonic Dances; the record ended up costing $50,000. Bernstein offered to forego his royalties until the costs were recouped, which they were a year later.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 at a glance:
• Rachmaninoff’s most popular and well known piano concerto.
• Rachmaninoff was so shattered by the poor reception of his first symphony that he underwent hypnosis to regain his self-confidence; its instant success restored Rachmaninoff’s belief in himself.
• Rachmaninoff won the Glinka Award and a prize of 1,000 rubles for his Piano Concerto No. 2.
JOHN ADAMS
The Chairman Dances
Vital Stats
Composer born
Feb. 15, 1947, Worcester, MA
Work composed
The Chairman Dances is, as Adams explains, an “out-take” from his opera Nixon in China. It was written in 1985 to satisfy a commission from the Milwaukee Symphony.
World premiere
Jan. 31, 1986, by the Milwaukee Symphony, led by Lukas Foss
Oregon Symphony premiere
Jan. 19, 1992, with James DePreist conducting; composer John Adams conducted an Oregon Symphony performance in October 1998
Most recent Oregon Symphony performance
Jan. 12, 2001, with Murray Sidling conducting
Instrumentation
Pairs of flutes (both doubling piccolo), oboes and clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, crotales, blocks, cymbals, claves, bells, triangle, tambourine, castanets, snare drum, bass drum, timpani, piano, harp, strings.
Estimated duration
12 minutes
In 1987, the opera Nixon in China established John Adams as a major new voice in American music. Two years earlier, he completed a commission for the Milwaukee Symphony, which he described as an “out-take” of the opera. The pulsing rhythms and static harmonies of The Chairman Dances are hallmarks of Adams’ Minimalist style, but even in this early work we can hear the evocative use of orchestral colors, dynamic contrasts and atmospheric shifts that characterize his later music.
Adams describes the scenario:
“The Chairman Dances began as a ‘foxtrot’ for Chairman Mao and his bride, Chiang Ch’ing, the fabled "Madame Mao," firebrand, revolutionary executioner, architect of China’s calamitous Cultural Revolution, and (a fact not universally realized) a former Shanghai movie actress. In the surreal final scene of the opera, she interrupts the tired formalities of a state banquet, disrupts the slow moving protocol and invites the chairman, who is present only as a gigantic 40-foot portrait on the wall, to ‘come down, old man, and dance.’
“The music takes full cognizance of her past as a movie actress. Themes, sometimes slinky and sentimental, at other times bravura and bounding, ride above in bustling fabric of energized motives. Some of these themes make a dreamy reappearance in Act III of the actual opera, en revenant, as both the Nixons and Maos reminisce over their distant pasts.”
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Vital Stats
Composer born
Aug. 25, 1918, Lawrence, MA
Died
Oct. 14, 1990, New York
Work composed
The musical West Side Story was written in 1957. Bernstein, along with orchestrators and colleagues Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, made a suite of some of central themes of the music in 1961. The Symphonic Dances are dedicated “To Sid Ramin, in friendship.”
World premiere
Feb. 13, 1961, by the New York Philharmonic, with Lukas Foss conducting
Oregon Symphony premiere
Oct. 21, 1975, with James DePreist conducting
Most recent Oregon Symphony performances
Feb. 2-4, 2002, with Carlos Kalmar conducting
Instrumentation
Piccolo, pairs of flutes and oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, tuba, timpani, bongos, tom-toms, three snare drums, concert bass drum, drum kit, conga, cymbals, suspended cymbals, finger cymbals, tambourine, gourds, maracas, three cowbells, woodblock, triangle, tam-tam, police whistle, xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, chime, harp, piano, celesta and strings.
Estimated duration
18 minutes
The story of Romeo and Juliet is so timeless that it can be easily adapted to any era and still retain its intensity and believability. Bernstein’s West Side Story transformed Shakespeare’s Verona into the gang-infested streets of New York City and its lovers into Tony and Maria, members of warring Italian and Puerto Rican street gangs. His groundbreaking musical, conceived with choreographer Jerome Robbins, fundamentally changed the nature of musical theater.
Since its premiere in 1957, West Side Story has become synonymous with Bernstein’s sound and continues to maintain the power and vibrancy of both its story and music. The nine movements of the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story were put together in 1961 and present the basic outline of the story.
The Prologue presents the Jets and Sharks and their constant gang war, which is finally broken up by a piercing blast from a policeman’s whistle. This segues into a tender dream sequence, set to the music of Somewhere, in which the two gangs cease their warfare and become friends. In the third movement Scherzo this dream world continues as the gang members escape the stifling atmosphere of the city to enjoy fresh air and sunshine. This dream is abruptly snuffed out in the exhilaratingly ominous Mambo, in which the Jets and Sharks continue their rivalry through an exciting and violent dance of one-upmanship. The heat and energy of the Mambo dissolve into an intimate Cha-Cha, in which Tony and Maria first speak to one another. Tony’s gang, the Jets, then take the stage to demonstrate their unshakeable Cool. The Sharks confront the Jets in a climactic Rumble, in which the leaders of both gangs are killed. Tony’s death and funeral procession, set to the music of Somewhere, concludes the Symphonic Dances.
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Vital Stats
Composer born
Apr. 1, 1873, Semyonovo, Starorusky District, Russia
Died
Mar. 28, 1943, Beverly Hills, CA
Worked composed
1900-01, dedicated to “Monsieur N. Dahl.”
World premiere
Oct. 14, 1901, by the Moscow Philharmonic Society, led by Rachmaninoff’s cousin, Alexander Siloti, with Rachmaninoff at the piano
Oregon Symphony premiere
Nov. 30, 1931, with Willem van Hoogstaten conducting; Rudolph Ganz, piano
Most recent Oregon Symphony performance
Oct. 1, 2007, with Carlos Kalmar conducting; Valentina Lisitsa, piano
Instrumentation
Solo piano, pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals and strings.
Estimated duration
33 minutes
In 1900 Rachmaninoff was at low ebb, professionally and emotionally. His Symphony No. 1 had premiered to dismal reviews three years earlier, triggering a paralyzing depression that continued to plague Rachmaninoff throughout his life.
As he recounted in his Memoirs: “I did nothing and found no pleasure in anything. Half my days were spent lying on a couch and sighing over my ruined life.” In desperation, Rachmaninoff sought help from a hypnotist, Dr. Nicolai Dahl, who was also an amateur string player. Dahl, using hypnotic techniques, would plant encouraging thoughts about writing the concerto in Rachmaninoff’s head during their sessions.
In Rachmaninoff’s Recollections, the composer recounts, “I heard the same hypnotic formula repeated day after day while I lay half asleep in my armchair in Dr. Dahl’s study, ‘You will begin to write your concerto. ... You will work with great facility. ... The concerto will be of excellent quality ...’ It was always the same, without interruption. Although it may sound incredible, this cure really helped me.”
With Dahl’s help, Rachmaninoff was able to complete the concerto. It became an instant success, and, a year later, when the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor was published, Rachmaninoff dedicated it to “Monsieur N. Dahl.”
The concerto opens with a series of chords by the soloist that grow in volume and intensity. Interestingly for a piano concerto, the soloist’s role in this movement is largely one of accompaniment, until the second theme, one of Rachmaninoff’s most familiar and beloved, appears. The movement continues with a rousing march in the piano, which dissolves into a solo horn intoning the second theme. The opening intensity returns for a brief, fiery conclusion.
The sensual beauty of the Adagio sostenuto creates an atmosphere of enchanted otherworldliness. The primary melody is heard first in the clarinet and flute, with the piano accompanying. The soloist then takes up the melody, one of serene, unabashed romanticism, and develops it, with accompanying woodwinds and strings.
For the final Allegro scherzando, the lower instruments murmur a brief introduction to the soloist’s opening showy cadenza, which segues into the staccato pulsing rhythm of the first theme. The lyrical second theme, for violas and solo oboe, is a marked contrast. The two themes vie for prominence as the mood of this movement shifts abruptly from jittery agitation to ecstatic rhapsody. Rachmaninoff concludes with a pull-out-all-the-stops ending featuring the rhapsodic theme.© Elizabeth Schwartz 2008
Program Notes by Elizabeth Schwartz
Elizabeth Schwartz is a Portland-based writer and musician. In addition to serving as the Oregon Symphony’s program annotator, she has contributed to the nationally broadcast radio program Performance Today. Schwartz holds music degrees from the University of California and Boston University. E-mail: schwartzelizabeth@yahoo.com.
Recommended Recordings by Michael Parsons
Adams-The Chairman Dances; Foxtrot for Orchestra
Simon Rattle-City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
EMI Classics 206627
Bernstein-Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Leonard Bernstein-New York Philharmonic
Sony Classical 92728
Rachmaninoff-Piano Concerto # 2
Lang Lang-Piano
Valery Gergiev-Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre
Deutsche Grammophon 477523