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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2018, 8PMSegerstrom Center for the Arts | Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

Pre-concert lecture by Brian Lauritzen, 7pm

MARIINSKY ORCHESTRAValery Gergiev, Music Director and Conductor

Kristóf Baráti, Violin

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DEBUSSY: PRÉLUDE À L’APRÈS-MIDID’UN FAUNE [1894]

The earliest compositions of Claude Debussyreflected his training at the Paris Conservatoireand his fascination with Richard Wagner.Debussy soured on Wagnerism in 1889, and justthen he encountered a new set of influences thatchanged the course of his music. At the UniversalExposition held in Paris, Debussy soaked upAsian inspiration, especially Javanese gamelanmusic. Around the same time, he began circulating

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Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune Claude DEBUSSY(1862–1918)

Violin Concerto in D Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)

ToccataAria IAria IICapriccio

Kristóf Baráti, Violin

- I N T E R M I S S I O N -

The Firebird Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)

IntroductionFirst Scene

Second Scene

Enchanted Garden of Kastchei; The Arrival of the Firebird, Pursued by Prince Ivan; TheFirebird’s Dance; Capture of the Firebird by Prince Ivan; The Firebird’sSupplications; Appearance of the Thirteen Enchanted Princesses; The Princesses’ Gamewith the Golden Apples; Sudden Appearance of Prince Ivan; Khorovod (Round Dance)of the Princesses; Daybreak; Prince Ivan Penetrates Kastchei’s Palace; Magic Carillon,Appearance of Kastchei’s Monster Guardians, and Capture of Prince Ivan; Arrival ofKastchei the Immortal; Dialogue of Kastchei and Prince Ivan; Intercession of thePrincesses; Appearance of the Firebird; Dance of Kastchei’s Retinue, Enchanted by theFirebird; Infernal Dance of All Kastchei’s Subjects; Lullaby; Kastchei’s Awakening;Kastchei’s Death; Profound Darkness.

Disappearance of Kastchei's Palace and Magical Creations, Return to Life of thePetrified Knights, General Rejoicing

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with the Symbolist poets, including StéphaneMallarmé and Paul Verlaine.

In 1890, Mallarmé outlined a theatrical projectbased on his poem L’après-midi d’un faune (The Afternoon of a Faun), and he invitedDebussy to compose the music. The project fell through, but Debussy returned to his preliminary work on the piece to complete anorchestral prelude in 1894. He described thecomposition as “a very free illustration ofMallarmé’s beautiful poem. By no means does itclaim to be a synthesis of it. Rather there is a succession of scenes through which pass thedesires and dreams of the faun in the heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of pursuing the timorous flight of nymphs and naiads, he succumbs to intoxicating sleep, in which he can finally realize his dreams of possession inuniversal Nature.”

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun had a quietdebut in 1894, but its defining moment came in1912, when Vaslav Nijinsky choreographed aballet to Debussy’s music for the Ballets Russes.Nijinsky danced the role of the faun himself, aperformance condemned by a Paris critic for its“vile movements of erotic bestiality and gesturesof heavy shamelessness.” (The riots that brokeout a year later at the premiere of Stravinsky’sThe Rite of Spring have likewise been blamed onNijinsky’s choreography even more than themusic.)

The flute solo at the beginning of Debussy’sscore introduces the faun with a motive thattraverses the unsettling interval of a tritone (or augmented fourth), shimmying up and downin smooth, chromatic slurs. Whole-tone scalesand unresolved harmonies, all bathed in a suppleand warm orchestration, reinforce the air ofmystery. Like the poetry of Mallarmé in whichthe sounds of words are as important as theirmeanings, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun luxuriates in its musical gestures,

disregarding the old rules of tonal progress andresolution.

STRAVINSKY: VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D [1931]

Hoping to convince Stravinsky to write a violinconcerto, a German publisher arranged a meeting in 1930 between the composer andSamuel Dushkin. Stravinsky overcame his initialreluctance when he met the Polish-Americanviolinist, whom he lauded as “unusual exceptionwithin his profession,” in that, “besides hisremarkable gifts as a born violinist, he possessedmusical culture, a delicate understandingand…an abnegation that is very rare.” Their fruitful collaboration continued beyondthe concerto, and together they developed a repertoire of music for violin and piano(including arrangements from Stravinsky’s earlier ballets) that they performed on numeroustours together.

With a trustworthy soloist in place, and with additional encouragement from PaulHindemith, Stravinsky began work on hisViolin Concerto. He consulted frequently withDushkin, including meetings in Paris during thewinter of 1930-31. At lunch one day, Stravinskywrote out a three-note chord and asked Dushkinif it was playable. As Dushkin recounted, “I hadnever seen a chord with such an enormousstretch, from the E to the top A, and I said ‘No.’ Stravinsky said sadly, ‘Quel dommage’(What a pity). After I got home, I tried it, and,to my astonishment, I found that in that register,the stretch of the eleventh was relatively easy toplay, and the sound fascinated me. I telephonedStravinsky at once to tell him it could be done.”

The solo violin begins all four movements withthat chord, which Stravinsky (according toDushkin) called the “passport” to the concerto.That distinctive chord is one of the few elements

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Stravinsky dove into the project in the spring of1910, writing most of the music in SaintPetersburg before he traveled to Paris for the June25 premiere, the first performance of his musicoutside of Russia. The Firebird was a huge success, paving the way for Stravinsky’s even moreradical follow-ups with the Ballets Russes:Petrushka and The Rite of Spring.

The ballet begins with a mysterious and broodingintroduction, emerging from a murky theme inthe lower strings. A bassoon figure connects theintroduction to the first scene, set at night in theEnchanted Garden of Kastchei, the realm of an evilsorcerer. The music is halting and tremulous,until flecks of celesta and harps and a violin trillherald The Arrival of the Firebird, Pursued byPrince Ivan. Piccolo and E-flat clarinet contributeto the sparkling tone of The Firebird’s Dance, andthen a short, frantic number depicts the Capture ofthe Firebird by Prince Ivan, ending with a dolefulviola solo. In The Firebird’s Supplications, the creature begs to be released and agrees to help the Prince in exchange for her freedom.

The Appearance of the Thirteen EnchantedPrincesses, set to languid, enchanting music(including a coy flute cadenza) attracts PrinceIvan’s attention. From a hidden spot, he watchesThe Princesses’ Game with the Golden Apples—alively section that Stravinsky labeled a scherzo—until an apple rolls into the bush where the princeis hiding. In a short section featuring a solo horn,he returns the apple to the Princess of UnearthlyBeauty, with whom he becomes smitten. In theelegant Khorovod (Round Dance) of the Princesses,the consonant melodies contrast the sinuous chromatic strains associated with the ballet’ssupernatural elements.

Dissonant bursts of trumpets spur the Daybreakand a return to the swooping, mystical tone ofKastchei’s realm. The scene becomes even moreagitated as Prince Ivan Penetrates Kastchei’s Palace,

to push the boundaries of violin technique in a work that otherwise bucks the nineteenth-century conventions of heroic concerto style. Coming from the heart of Stravinsky’s neoclassical phase, this concerto emphasizes the eighteenth-century ideals of transparentinterplay and counterpoint.

The Baroque sensibility extends to the movement titles, with a Toccata, two Arias and a Capriccio. The term toccata suggests speedymusic requiring a deft touch, and the movementobliges with a persistent yet fragmented rhythmic drive. Bach applied the title Aria toinstrumental music of a lyrical, singing character,and Stravinsky followed suit in his twin slowmovements. Aria I reverts back momentarily tothe surging momentum of the Toccata andassumes a mischievous posture, while Aria IIlingers in cantabile melodies, punctuated by dramatic returns of the “passport” chord. Trueto the Capriccio heading, the finale is full ofwhimsical and capricious shifts in mood and texture.

STRAVINSKY: THE FIREBIRD [1910]

For the 1910 Paris season of Les Ballets Russes,the impresario Serge Diaghilev wanted to present something spectacular and distinctlyRussian. He already had a vivid concept drawnfrom Russian folklore, a brilliant choreographer(Michael Fokine), and a dream team of Russiandancers and other contributors—but no composer, after his first choice fell through onshort notice. So Diaghilev took a chance on anunknown 27-year-old, Igor Stravinsky, whoseonly credentials to that point were a few years oflessons with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a couple of short orchestral pieces, and someorchestrations contributed to an earlierDiaghilev ballet.

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Ivan the secret of the sorcerer’s immortality: anegg that contains his soul. The prince squeezesand tosses the egg until he finally destroys it,spelling Kastchei’s Death and bringing the calmof Profound Darkness.

A short second scene serves as an epilogue to the ballet, in which Kastchei’s evil kingdom disappears and Prince Ivan marries the Princessof Unearthly Beauty. This finale builds a simplefolk-theme into a thunderous affirmation, capping the first masterpiece of Stravinsky’s longand illustrious career.

—By Aaron Grad

and tangled layers of brittle gestures represent theMagic Carillon, Appearance of Kastchei’s MonsterGuardians, and Capture of Prince Ivan. Heavy, sustained chords mark the Arrival of Kastchei theImmortal, and then a brutal exchange conveys theDialogue of Kastchei and Prince Ivan. Sweet solovoices, including violin and woodwinds, representthe Intercession of the Princesses. A flurry buildsuntil the Appearance of the Firebird in swooping,chromatic figures. There is an edgy Dance ofKastchei’s Retinue, Enchanted by the Firebird,and then the Infernal Dance of All Kastchei’sSubjects, featuring the score’s most violent (and memorable) passages. Having exhaustedKastchei and his demons, the firebird lulls themto sleep in a mesmerizing Lullaby.

The scene becomes tense again with Kastchei’sAwakening, but the firebird has revealed to Prince

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VALERY GERGIEVMUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

Valery Gergiev is a vivid representative of the St.Petersburg conducting school. His debut at theMariinsky (then Kirov) Theatre came in 1978with Prokofiev's War and Peace. In 1988 ValeryGergiev was appointed Music Director of theMariinsky Theatre, and in 1996 he became itsArtistic and General Director.

With his arrival at the helm, it became a tradi-tion to hold major festivals, marking variousanniversaries of composers. Through Gergiev'sefforts, the Mariinsky Theatre has revivedWagner's operas. The Mariinsky Orchestraunder Valery Gergiev has scaled new heights,assimilating not just opera and ballet scores, butalso an expansive symphony music repertoire.

Under Gergiev's direction the MariinskyTheatre has become a major theatre and concertcomplex, without par anywhere in the world. In 2006 the Concert Hall was opened, followedin 2013 by the theatre's second stage (the Mariinsky-II). Since January 2016 theMariinsky Theatre has had a branch inVladivostok—the Primorsky Stage. TheMariinsky label has released more than thirtydiscs that have received great acclaim from thecritics and the public throughout the world.

Valery Gergiev's international activities are noless intensive. He successfully collaborates withthe world's great opera houses and has led worldrenowned orchestras, such as World Orchestrafor Peace (which he has directed since 1997), thePhilharmonic Orchestras of Berlin, Paris,Vienna, New York and Los Angeles, theSymphony Orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland,

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Boston and San Francisco, the RoyalConcertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam) andmany other ensembles. From 1995 to 2008Valery Gergiev was Principal Conductor of theRotterdam Philharmonic (of which he remainsan honorary conductor to this day), and from2007 to 2015 of the London SymphonyOrchestra. Since autumn 2015 the maestro hasheaded the Munich Philharmonic.

Valery Gergiev is the founder and director ofprestigious international festivals including theStars of the White Nights (since 1993) and theMoscow Easter Festival (since 2002), amongmany others. Since 2011 he has directed theorganizational committee of the InternationalTchaikovsky Competition.

Valery Gergiev's musical and public activitieshave brought him acclaimed awards such as theHero of Labour (2013), the Order of AlexanderNevsky (2016), the Russian FederationMinistry of Defence Arts and Culture Award(2017) and prestigious State awards of Armenia,Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands,Poland, France and Japan.

THE MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA

The Mariinsky Orchestra enjoys a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest musical institutions in Russia. Its history datesback to the first orchestra of the St. PetersburgImperial Opera Orchestra, covering a period of more than two hundred years. Housed in St. Petersburg's famed Mariinsky Theatre(1860), the Orchestra now performs also in itssuperb 21st century Concert Hall (2006) and itssecond opera house Mariinsky II (2013) builtfor modern stage technologies.

Following the orchestra’s "golden age" in the second half of the 19th century under the

musical direction of Eduard Napravnik, numerous internationally famed musicians haveconducted the Orchestra, among them Hansvon Bülow, Felix Mottl, Felix Weingartner,Alexander von Zemlinsky, Otto Nikisch,Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner, GustavMahler, Arnold Schoenberg, WillemMengelberg, Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter,and Erich Kleiber.

Renamed the "Kirov" during the Soviet era, the Orchestra continued to maintain its highartistic standards under the leadership ofYevgeny Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov. The leadership of Valery Gergiev and the success of the Orchestra's frequent tours hassledto the reputation of what one journalist referredto as "the world's first global orchestra" and has enabled the Theatre to forge important relationships for the Ballet and Opera to appearin the world's greatest opera houses and theatres,among them the Metropolitan Opera, theKennedy Center, the Royal Opera House inCovent Garden, the San Francisco Opera, theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the SalzburgFestival and La Scala in Milan.

Since its U.S. debut in 1992 the orchestra hasmade 22 tours of North America, including a2006 celebration of the complete Shostakovichsymphonies, a cycle of stage works of Prokofiev in 2008 and marathon of all pianoconcertos with Daniil Trifonov, George Li,Alexander Toradze, Sergei Redkin, and SergeiBabayan in February 2016, major works ofHector Berlioz in February/March 2010, aCentennial Mahler Cycle in Carnegie Hall in October 2010, and in October 2011, the Mariinsky Orchestra opened Carnegie Hall's120th season with a cycle of TchaikovskySymphonies which was also performed throughout the U.S. and in Canada.


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Maestro Gergiev established the MariinskyLabel in 2009 and has since released more than30 recordings to date receiving critical acclaim inEurope, Asia, and the United States.

KRISTÓF BARÁTI, VIOLIN

Hungarian violinist Kristóf Baráti is recognisedincreasingly across the globe as a musician ofextraordinary quality with a vast expressive rangeand impeccable technique. In 2014, at the age of 35, Baráti was awarded Hungary’s highestcultural award, the Kossuth Prize, following inthe footsteps of revered Hungarian artists suchas András Schiff, György Ligeti and IvánFischer. In recent seasons he has made severalsignificant debuts across the globe with orchestras such as the Los AngelesPhilharmonic, London Philharmonic andZurich Tonhalle, after which Bachtrackdescribed him as “a true tonal aesthete of thehighest order.”

Highlights of Baráti’s 2018-19 season includedebuts with the Orchestre National de France,Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National,Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bern Symphony,Warsaw Philharmonic amongst others and returns to the Hungarian NationalPhilharmonic, BBC Philharmonic on tour toBucharest and the Mariinsky Orchestra inRussia, Munich and on tour in the U.S. In recital, highlights include performances acrossRussia, Italy, in Germany and the U.S., he willperform a recital of solo Bach at Budapest’sPalace of the Arts and will make his debut atLondon’s Wigmore Hall with Istvan Vardai andJean-Efflam Bavouzet.

In past seasons, Baráti has performed at theHollywood Bowl with the Los AngelesPhilharmonic, at London’s Royal Festival Hall

with the London Philharmonic Orchestra withVladimir Jurowski and with orchestras such asORF Vienna Radio Symphony both at homeand on tour, the Orchestre Philharmonique deLuxembourg, BBC Scottish Symphony andHague Philharmonic orchestras. He performsregularly throughout Hungary in recital, chamber music and with orchestra, and is now aregular at the Verbier Festival following his sensational debut in 2016 when he performedthe complete solo Sonatas and Partitas of Bach.

Baráti has played with conductors includingMasur, Janowski, Dutoit, Saraste, Manze,Orozco-Estrada, Pletnev, Hrůša, Temirkanov,Varga and he performs regularly with Gergiev.A regular recital and chamber music player,Baráti has performed with partners such asMischa Maisky, Bashmet, Perényi, Kocsis andKashkashian amongst others. Recent highlightshave included recitals in Paris, Chicago, NewYork and in 2017 he returned to the White

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Nights Festival in a televised recital with Nikolai Lugansky.

Baráti has an extensive discography whichincludes the five Mozart concerti, the completeBeethoven and Brahms sonatas with KláraWurtz, and Ysaÿe solo sonatas for BrilliantClassics, and Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Soloviolin on the Berlin Classics label. Of a recent discof encores, Gramophone magazine said “for thosewho like to hear the violin played at its sweet andacrobatic best, then Baráti is out of the top drawer.”

Having spent much of his childhood inVenezuela, where he played as soloist with manyof the country’s leading orchestras, Barátireturned to Budapest to study at the Franz LisztAcademy of Music and was later mentored byEduard Wulfson, himself a student of Milsteinand Menuhin. Still resident in Budapest, Baratiperforms in Hungary regularly and together withIstván Vardái, Baráti is Artistic Director of theKaposvár International Chamber Music Festival.Baráti plays the 1703 "Lady Harmsworth" madeby Antonio Stradivarius, kindly offered by theStradivarius Society of Chicago.

Intermusica represents Kristóf Baráti worldwide, excluding Hungaryhttps://intermusica.co.uk/artist/Kristof-Barati


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FIRST VIOLINLorenz Nasturica –

HerschcowiciAlexei LukirskiyStanislav IzmailovOlga VolkovaLeonid VekslerAnton KozminKristina MinosianDanara UrgadulovaAndrei ProkazinKalamkas JumabaevaAnna GlukhovaEkaterina GribanovaKirill MurashkoDmytro DemydovMikhail Schaffarczyk

SECOND VIOLINZumrad IlievaMaria SafarovaElena LuferovaViktoria ShchukinaAnastasia LukirskayaNatalia PolevayaInna DemchenkoAndrey NovodranOlesya KryzhovaOlga TimofeevaSvetlana PetrovaTamara Lazarova

VIOLAYuri AfonkinDinara MuratovaLina GolovinaYevgeny BarsovRoman IvanovMikhail AnikeyevYury BaranovAndrei LyzoLiudmila KetovaIlya VasilyevAndrei PetushkovAlevtina Alexeyeva

CELLOOleg SendetskyAnton GakkelDmitry GanenkoOmar BairamovViktor KustovEkaterina LarinaVladimir YunovichKirill EvtushenkoOxana MorozAnton ValnerEkaterina LebedevaSarkis Ginosyan

DOUBLE BASSKirill KarikovVladimir ShostakAleksandr AlekseyevSergey AkopovDmitry PopovDenis KashinAngela Contreras ReyesYevgeny Ryzhkov

FLUTENikolai MokhovSofia VilandAlexander MarineskuMikhail Pobedinskiy

OBOEAlexander LevinAlexei FyodorovViktor UkhalinIlya Ilyin

CLARINETNikita VaganovIvan StolbovVitaly PapyrinVitaly Komissarov

BASSOONRodion TolmachevYuri RadzevichRuslan MamedovAlexander Sharykin

HORNStanislav TsesDmitry VorontsovAlexander AfanasievAlexei PozinVladislav KuznetsovYuri AkimkinPyotr RodinZakhar Katsman

TRUMPETTimur MartynovVitaly ZaitsevNikita IstominStanislav IlchenkoAlexei Popov

TROMBONEAlexei LobikovAlexander GorbunovMikhail SeliverstovAlexander DzhurriVladimir Polevin

TUBANikolai Slepnev

PERCUSSIONAndrei KhotinYury AlexeyevYevgeny ZhikalovDmitry FedorovGleb LogvinovFedor Khandrikov

HARPSofia KiprskayaLiudmila Rokhlina

KEYBOARDOlga Okhromenko

COMPANY MANAGERSAleksei IakovlevAnna Iakovleva

TOUR MANAGERMaria NikonorovaNadya BitskayaElina Bakhteeva

STAGE HANDSDmitry PopovAlexander Pushkin

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