FEBRUARY 10/11/12 | EIN HELDENLEBEN BY RICHARD STRAUSS

A Hero’s Life

1011 Five Program Book Covers.indd 3 9/14/10 7:29 PM

The 2010-2011 season is Neal G i t t l e m a n ’ s sixteenth year as Music Director of the Dayton P h i l h a r m o n i c O r c h e s t r a . Gittleman has led the orchestra to new levels of artistic achievement and increasing acclaim throughout the country. American Record

Guide magazine has praised the orchestra’s performance as has the Cincinnati Enquirer, which called the DPO “a precise, glowing machine.” When the Orchestra christened the Mead Theatre in the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in March of 2003, the Enquirer reported that “Gittleman has brought the DPO to a new level.” During his tenure, the orchestra has received eight ASCAP awards from the American Symphony Orchestra League for adventurous programming.

Prior to his arrival in Dayton, Gittleman served as Music Director of the Marion (IN) Philharmonic, Associate Conductor of the Syracuse Symphony, and Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, a post he held under the Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductors Program. He also served ten seasons as Associate Conductor and Resident Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Neal Gittleman has appeared as guest conductor with many of the country’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago, San Francisco, Minnesota, Phoenix, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Omaha, San Jose and Jacksonville symphony orchestras and the Buffalo Philharmonic. He has also conducted orchestras in Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Mexico.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Neal graduated from Yale University in 1975. He studied with Nadia Boulanger and Annette Dieudonné in Paris, with Hugh Ross at the

Manhattan School of Music and with Charles Bruck at both the Pierre Monteux School and the Hartt School of Music, where he was a Karl Böhm Fellow. It was at the Hartt School that he earned his Arts Diploma in Orchestral Conducting. He won the Second Prize at the 1984 Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition in Geneva and Third Prize in the 1986 Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York.

At home in the pit as well as on stage, Neal has led productions for Dayton Opera, the Human Race Theatre Company, Syracuse Opera Company, Hartt Opera Theater, and for Milwaukee’s renowned Skylight Opera Theatre. He has also conducted for the Milwaukee Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Chicago City Ballet, Ballet Arizona, and Theater Ballet of Canada.

Neal is nationally known for his Classical Connections programs, which provide a “behind the scenes” look at the great works of the orchestral repertoire. These innovative programs, which began in Milwaukee 23 years ago, have become a vital part of the Dayton Philharmonic’s concert season.

His discography includes the recording of the Dayton Philharmonic in performances of Tomas Svoboda’s two piano concertos with Norman Krieger and the composer as featured soloists. Gittleman has also recorded a CD of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F with Krieger and the Czech National Symphony. Both recordings are available on the Artisie 4 label. The DPO’s second CD, A Celebration of Flight was released in 2003 as part of the celebration of the centennial of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight. The DPO’s 75th anniversary CD released in 2008 included four live archival performances from four eras. The orchestra’s most recent CD, a live recording of William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1 and the Shostakovich Symphony No. 6 , was released in 2010.

When not on the podium, Neal is an avid player of golf, squash and t’ai chi ch’uan and has added yoga to his regimen. He and his wife, Lisa Fry, have been Dayton residents since 1997.

Photograph: Andy Snow

Neal GittlemanMusic Director & Conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

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Message from the Board Chair Wendy B. Campbell, Chair of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Association Board of Trustees

1sT ViOlinsJessica Hung, Concertmaster J. Ralph Corbett ChairAurelian Oprea, Associate Concertmaster Huffy Foundation Chair William Manley, Assistant Concertmaster Sherman Standard Register Foundation ChairElizabeth HofeldtKarlton TaylorMikhail BaranovskyLouis ProskeNancy MullinsBarry BerndtPhilip EnzweilerDona Nouné- Wiedmann Janet GeorgeRachel FrankenfeldJohn Lardinois

2nD ViOlinsKirstin Greenlaw, Principal Jesse Philips ChairChristine Hauptly Annin, Assistant PrincipalAnn LinGloria FioreKara LardinoisTom FetherstonLynn RohrYoshiko KunimitsuWilliam SlusserAllyson MichalYen-Ting Wu

ViOlAsSheridan Currie, Principal Mrs. F. Dean Schnacke Chair in Memory of Emma Louise OdumColleen Braid, Assistant PrincipalKaren Johnson Grace Counts Finch ChairChien-Ju LiaoBelinda BurgeLori LaMattinaMark ReisScott SchillingKimberly TroutLeslie Dragan

CEllOsAndra Lunde Padrichelli, Principal Edward L. Kohnle ChairChristina Coletta, Assistant Principal Jane KatsuyamaNan WatsonMark HofeldtNadine MonchecourtMary Davis FetherstonEllen NettletonLinda Katz, Principal Emeritus

BAssEsDeborah Taylor, Principal Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Assn. C. David Horine Memorial ChairJon Pascolini, Assistant Principal

Donald ComptonStephen UlleryChristopher RobertsJames FaulknerBleda ElibalNick Greenberg

FluTEsRebecca Tryon Andres, Principal Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Assn. ChairJennifer NorthcutJanet van Graas

PiCCOlOJanet van Graas

OBOEsEileen Whalen, Principal Catharine French Bieser ChairRoger MillerRobyn Dixon Costa

EnglisH HOrnRobyn Dixon Costa J. Colby and Nancy Hastings King Chair

ClArinETsJohn Kurokawa, Principal Rhea Beerman Peal ChairRobert GrayAnthony Costa*

BAss ClArinETAnthony Costa*

BAssOOnsJennifer Kelley Speck, Principal Robert and Elaine Stein Chair

Kristen CanovaBonnie Sherman

COnTrABAssOOnBonnie Sherman

FrEnCH HOrnsRobert Johnson*, Principal Frank M. Tait Memorial Chair Aaron Brant, Acting Principal Elisa BelckTodd FitterAmy LassiterSean Vore

TrumPETsCharles Pagnard, Principal John W. Berry Family ChairAlan SiebertAshley Hall

TrOmBOnEsTimothy Anderson, Principal John Reger Memorial ChairRichard Begel

BAss TrOmBOnEChad Arnow

TuBATimothy Northcut, Principal Zachary, Rachel and Natalie Denka Chair

TimPAniDonald Donnett, Principal Rosenthal Family Chair in Memory of Miriam Rosenthal

PErCussiOnMichael LaMattina, Principal Miriam Rosenthal ChairJeffrey Luft Richard A. and Mary T. Whitney ChairGerald Noble

KEyBOArDJoshua Nemith, Principal Demirjian Family Chair

HArPLeslie Stratton Norris, Principal Daisy Talbott Greene Chair

*Leave of Absence

Neal Gittleman, Music Director

Patrick Reynolds, Assistant Conductor and Conductor, DPYO

Hank Dahlman, Chorus Director

Jane Varella, Personnel Manager

William Slusser, Orchestra Librarian

Elizabeth Hofeldt, Junior String Orchestra Director

We’re throwing a party, and you’re invited! This is our first SAVE THE DATE notification to you, our valued patrons, for an exciting event being planned for October 1, 2011…the Philharmonic Gala: Dance to the Music. The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra has never thrown a major gala before, and we think it’s high time we did. With this beautiful facility at our disposal and a fabulous orchestra, why not host a festive evening to spotlight our finest asset – our great musicians! Imagine dancing to the music of a live orchestra right on the Schuster Center stage. Picture a glittering backdrop with beautiful waltzes and energetic swing music, fabulous food and drink, a silent auction full of temptations and trips…we’re pulling out all the stops.

We, the DPO Board of Trustees and our longtime partner the Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association are so committed to this orchestra. We want to maintain stellar musical programming and a nationally recognized education program that reaches more than 50,000 children and youth annually. To do that, we cannot simply continue to cut concert offerings and educational programming in order to bring our budget more in line with today’s economic reality. We must also secure new financial support. We owe that to our musicians who bring so much joy to this community.

Allow me to share a short lesson on orchestra economics. In this country every orchestra operates on a subsidy–based model. That means ticket sales generate only 40% or so of needed funds. The remaining 60% must come from corporate sponsors, government and foundation grants and – mostly – from generous individual supporters like you.

In order to maintain a high level of quality performances, we must offer enough work

to our musicians to retain them and attract new talent. You may be surprised to learn that nearly all our musicians are part-time. The average DPO musician earns less than $20,000 a year playing for us, yet their talent and years of education puts them on par with professionals who command much higher salaries. Yet they come to Dayton because Neal Gittleman has built our orchestra into an ensemble with a national reputation for excellence. They come because the DPO has received nine national ASCAP awards in recognition of its commitment to adventurous programming. They come because our guest artists who perform around the world rave about the fabulous acoustics of this hall. We have a “gem” of an asset here and we know it! In good conscience, we cannot continue to cut in ways that jeopardize all we have built without first doing all we can to attract additional financial support.

Lois Sutherland, a DPO Trustee and volunteer extraordinaire, has agreed to serve as Chair of the first annual Philharmonic Gala. She and her husband Roger have a rich history of giving to the arts, and Lois has plenty of experience throwing fabulous parties! Dawn Ross, DPVA Trustee, will serve as Co-Chair. Together, the DPO and DPVA will wow you next fall with a one-of-a-kind evening. Don’t worry: the DPVA will still present their wonderful and highly anticipated Show House in the spring.

Please plan on joining us next October. It will be an evening to remember, I guarantee it! You’ll hear much more about this landmark event in the coming months. In the meantime, please help us to spread the word and start the buzz that next fall, the hottest ticket in town will be to the Philharmonic Gala.

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Personnel

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Executive staff Paul Helfrich ........................................... President Laurie Cothran ...................... Executive Assistant/ Office Manager Mya Cooper ..........Community Liaison Coordinator

Development staff Melanie Boyd ................... Director of Development Connie McKamey .........................Grants Manager Cherie Adams ................ Development Coordinator

Education staff Gloria Pugh ........................... Director of Education Ellen Bagley ........................ Education Coordinator

Finance staff Peter Klosterman ..................... Director of Finance Debbie Phillips .......................Accounting Manager

Operations staff Matthew Borger ..................Director of Operations Erika Niemi ............................ Production Manager Jane Varella ............ Orchestra Personnel Manager Bill Slusser ..............................Orchestra Librarian marketing staff David Bukvic ..............................Director of Marketing and Public Relations Steve Myers .............................Outreach Manager Brian Gates...... Interactive Communications Intern

Administrative Staff

Nevin Essex .................................Piano TechnicianLloyd Bryant .. Recording Engineer/Broadcast Host

iATsE local #66 schuster Center stage CrewKim Keough .................................. Head CarpenterClarence Rice ......................... Assistant CarpenterSteve Williams ...........................Master ElectricianKeith Thomas ................................ Audio Engineer

The Staff of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra expresses its grateful appreciation to the

following volunteers who generously donate their time and talents in support of our efforts.

Thank you!

Administrative VolunteersCarol AlexanderM. Patricia BerryJanet GrieshopTheodore HuterManfred OrlowDixie SchefflerFred SchefflerShirley Williams

Education VolunteersMary Jane KeelerLois McGuire

Events VolunteerJan Clarke

When people ask me to describe the music we play at the Dayton Philharmonic, I often use the words “a wide-ranging repertoire.” Flip through this edition of the program book and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

You’ll find old favorites: Brahms’ epic Fourth Symphony, Mozart’s sparkling Symphony No. 39, the intensely romantic Prelude and Love-Death from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, Richard Strauss’ enjoyably egotistical tone-poem Ein Heldenleben, and an evening of toe-tapping, much-loved tunes from movies of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals.

You’ll find newer, lesser-known works: Lowell Liebermann’s romantically virtuosic Trumpet Concerto and Libby Larsen’s vivid and witty fantasy piece Parachute Dancing.

You’ll find music for small, intimate ensembles: Bach’s Musical Offering. And you’ll find music for a jam-packed Mead Theatre stage: Ein Heldenleben.

You’ll find traditional overture-concerto-symphony concert formats and you’ll find less traditional offerings such as the discussion-and-performance format of Classical Connections and a live orchestra accompanying Julie Andrews, Shirley Jones, Gordon MacRae, Yul Brynner, and Deborah Kerr in celluloid up on the big screen.

Now that’s what I call a wide-ranging repertoire!

And that’s only a six-week snapshot of a nine- month season of DPO concerts.

And that doesn’t include concerts within those six weeks that aren’t listed in this program book: four concerts for K-3 students at schools participating in our SPARK program, a chamber music performance at the Dayton Art Institute, a concert-version of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio.

Over Thanksgiving I visited my mom in Boston and we took in a concert of the venerable Boston Symphony Orchestra. I guess they think they have a wide-ranging repertoire, too. But their concert offerings are actually much narrower than ours: nothing at all like Classical Connections, nothing small like the Musical Offering in their musical offerings, no musicians-in-the-classroom activities like SPARK, no Rockin’ Orchestra series, no free concerts in area churches, and no Rodgers and Hammerstein movies. (Though to be fair, the BSO does play pops music under the banner of the Boston Pops, which most people – including many in Boston – don’t realize is the Boston Symphony in different outfits!)

Why such a difference in repertoire between the two orchestras?

Population has a lot to do with it. Boston has a city population of just under 600,000 and a metro area population of 4.4 million versus Dayton’s roughly 160,000 and 850,000. Boston’s population is large enough to have a subset of classical music lovers sufficient to support a classical-music-only ensemble. Orchestras like the DPO, which serve smaller cities, must appeal to a broader audience with broader musical tastes.

Another factor is philosophical. From the very beginning, the two orchestras had different goals. Henry Lee Higginson, founder of the Boston Symphony, said he wanted an ensemble to give “serious concerts of classical music…such as may be found in all the great cities of Europe.” Paul Katz, founder of the DPO, wanted to serve the musical needs of Dayton, so music-lovers didn’t have to schlepp to Cincinnati to hear concerts and so hometown musicians, struggling during the Great Depression, could make a better living playing close to home. Higginson was there to serve the music. Paul was here to serve the community through music.

Community service – and education in particular – has been part of the Philharmonic’s “institutional DNA” from Day One. Every DPO Music Director – from Paul Katz to CW-W to Isaiah Jackson, to me – has seen the Dayton Philharmonic, first and foremost, as a vehicle to make our community a better place to live and to broaden the horizons of our listeners.

So why, for instance, a Classical Connections program with a chamber ensemble performing and explaining the music of Bach’s Musical Offering? Because it’s one of the most fascinating pieces in all of music, with a most fascinating back-story. Because getting to know the Musical Offering sheds light not just on J.S. Bach, but on the time in which he lived, on changes in musical taste, and on how music reflects its time and place. Because a better understanding of Bach gives us a better understanding of Mozart which gives us a better understanding of Beethoven which gives us a better understanding of Wagner which gives us a better understanding of Mahler which gives us a better understanding of Bernstein (and even of Rodgers and Hammerstein!)

Our mission statement says it all: To enliven the spirit, inspire the imagination, cultivate the musical appreciation, and serve the education and entertainment needs of greater Dayton and surrounding communities.

Greater Dayton and surrounding communities – that’s YOU!

So I hope the wide-ranging concerts represented by this program book serve you well…

Neal’s Notes “From soup to nuts”

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Miami Valley and Good Samaritan Hospitals

CLASSICAL SERIESDayton Philharmonic Orchestraneal gittleman, music Director

Titanic Brahms, Vibrant LiebermannRyan Anthony, trumpet soloist Erma R. and Hampden W. Catterton Endowed Guest ArtistEducation Underwriters Teachers and Libraries Recognition Weekend

Richard Wagner Tristan und Isolde: (1813-1883) Prelude and Liebestod

Lowell Liebermann Concerto for Trumpet (born 1961) and Orchestra, Op. 64* I. Comodo II. Molto adagio III. Tempo di marcia

Mr. Anthony

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

Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1833-1897) I. Allegro non troppo II. Andante moderato III. Allegro giocoso IV. Allegro energico e passionate

* Please note that tonight’s performances of the Lowell Liebermann Trumpet Concerto are being recorded for release on compact disc.

Friday

Jan. 7,20118:00 PmSchuster Center

Saturday

Jan. 8,20118:00 PmSchuster Center

Official Hotel of theDayton Philharmonic Orchestra

Season Media Partners:

Official Automobile Dealershipof the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

Series Sponsor:

Concert Broadcast on Saturday, February 26, 2011, at 10 a.m.

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Virtuoso trumpeter Ryan Anthony steps into the spotlight this season with solo engagements and guest appearances throughout the country. Long known as a member of the internationally renowned Canadian Brass, Mr. Anthony is rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after trumpeters in America, prompting the legendary Doc Severinsen to note: “He will be missed with Canadian Brass, but I feel certain he will have a great and distinguished career as a soloist.”

From being selected as a 1987 Presidential Scholar and winning both the John P. Paynter and Bank of America National Achievement Awards to his inclusion in Who’s Who in America, Ryan Anthony’s career has evolved from that of “teen phenom” to an artist at the forefront of today’s classical crossover market. Only 16 years old when he won the highly publicized Seventeen Magazine/General Motors Concerto Competition - the second ever to win the Grand Prize after violinist Joshua Bell, Mr. Anthony continues to win over audiences and critics alike with his charismatic performances and artistic finesse.

Ryan Anthony’s artistry has been heard in many of the world’s leading venues, among them Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, United States Department of State and the Pan-Pacific International Music Festival in Sydney, Australia.

Currently serving the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trumpet, Ryan Anthony frequently filled the vacant Principal Trumpet chair with that orchestra during the 2004-2005, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. As an orchestral performer, he has also appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and México City’s Orquesta Filarmónica de la U.N.A.M. As a guest soloist or featured

artist with Canadian Brass, he has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Piccolo Spoleto Festival and Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Memphis, Milwaukee, Montréal, Phoenix, Seattle and St. Louis, among many others.

Ryan Anthony’s versatility is evident in his numerous recording projects for television, radio and motion pictures. In 1998, his solo in “Farewell” was heard nightly as NBC’s “Must See TV” theme. His studio recordings have been aired on ABC, CBS, FOX, TBS, WGN, TNT and HBO television, while his commercial recordings include those for Disney, Hollywood, Paramount, Touchstone and Columbia Motion Pictures. With various brass ensembles, Mr. Anthony’s recordings on the Chandos, Dorian, d’Note and New World labels enjoy continuous airplay. He has also premiered two compositions written for him by leading 21st Century composer Donald Erb. Currently, he is developing a new trumpet concerto with renowned composer and fellow-Memphian, Stanley Friedman.

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ryan Anthony received the school’s 2001 Alumni Achievement Award. Prior to joining Canadian Brass in 2000, he served as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Mr. Anthony is a devoted educator, who has held residency positions at the University of Memphis, University of Toronto and Music Academy of the West. During the 2005-2006 season, he was a Visiting Artist at The North Carolina School of the Arts. His masterclasses have spanned the globe to include leading conservatories in Europe, Asia and North America, and he continues his association as an artist-clinician with Yamaha instruments. Mr. Anthony has edited and recorded published works for Hal Leonard.

ryan Anthony, trumpeter Biography

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is generally considered one of the most important composers of the nineteenth century, and his musical influence has continued to the present day. He was born in Leipzig and went to school there; he was an indifferent scholar, except in matters relating to music or the theater. He was particularly fascinated by Beethoven’s symphonies: he arranged that composer’s Ninth Symphony for piano, and, under Beethoven’s inf luence wrote a symphony himself.

After studies at the university, he began a stage in his career fraught with both professional and personal upheavals. He always managed to find work, initially as a choir director and then as music director in various cities, but such steady employment granted him little security since he spent money hand over fist. And Wagner compounded his f inancial instability with emotional precariousness. His relationship with his actress wife, Minna, was stormy; at one point she left him to live with another man. They eventually reconciled when Wagner took a post in Riga. But this détente brought no peace: Wagner and Minna were forced to flee Riga to escape the crushing debts they had accrued.

They made their way to Paris where Wagner spent a disastrous two years doing what has been described as hack work, and inveighing in print against the flaws he perceived in the French capital’s musical scene. The only bright spot in his Parisian sojourn was the support lent him by Giacomo Meyerbeer, a composer of Jewish extraction. In a typically Wagnerian move, Meyerbeer’s support was later repaid with the outrageously anti-Semitic screed, The Jew in Music.

Wagner experienced his first big success when Meyerbeer helped get his opera Rienzi performed in Dresden. This premier was followed by that of The Flying Dutchman. Both works were successful enough that Wagner gained employment

as Kapellmeister to the King of Saxony in Dresden.

This was a relatively stable time in Wagner’s life. His relationship with Minna was on a more or less even keel and he began to study both Greek and German mythology, with an eye to adapting those myths to his operatic work. Now he was beginning to see the possibilities that would eventually lead to his monumental Ring Cycle of operas. But he was also caught up in the revolutionary ferment of the late 1840s, and he was eventually forced to flee the country when a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He spent this period of exile in the early 1850s writing a number of essays outlining his program for what he called the “Music of the Future.” He would take the mythology of the German heritage as his subject matter, and write operas that would unite the arts. In his vision, musical dramas would reunite music, dance, and the theater, just as they had been united in the ancient Greek tragedies. Further he wanted to do away with the “number opera,” where recitative, aria, duets and other ensembles made up the development of the opera. Instead the music and the drama would be synthesized into a dramatic whole.

He gradually was allowed back into Germany, after his cause was taken up by King Ludwig of Bavaria. And, though the path was not smooth, he eventually developed a theater in Bayreuth that would realize his ambitions. By the end of the nineteenth century his reputation was secured throughout Europe.

Yet Wagner’s legacy will always remain clouded by his own anti-Semitism and his posthumous exaltation by the Nazis. No one can deny the beauty of his music, but what we make of it depends on what we think of that music’s composer.

– Dennis Loranger, Instructor in music and English at Wright State University

richard wagner Biography

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Lowell Liebermann is one of America’s most frequently performed and commissioned composers. Noted by The New York Times “as much of a traditionalist as an innovator,” Mr. Liebermann’s music is known both for its technical command and audience appeal. Having written over one hundred works in all genres, he has seen several of them go on to become standard repertoire for their instruments, including the Sonata for Flute and Piano which has been recorded more than twenty times to date, and Gargoyles for piano, which has been recorded fifteen times.

A highlight of Lowell Liebermann’s current season is the world premiere of his Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra, Op. 110, with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Neal Gittleman. Commissioned for Jon Manasse, subsequent performances include those with the symphony orchestras of Evansville, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (CA), Roanoke and the University of Massachusetts.

Lowell Liebermann has written two full-length operas, both of which enjoyed enthusiastic receptions at their premieres. His first, The Picture of Dorian Gray was the only American opera to be commissioned and premiered by L’Opéra de Monte-Carlo. His second opera, Miss Lonelyhearts, to a libretto by J.D. McClatchy after the novel by Nathanael West, was commissioned by The Juilliard School to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Among his orchestral works, Lowell Liebermann has composed two Symphonies – the second, with chorus, written for the centennial of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; a Concerto for Orchestra; three Piano Concertos; and Concertos for many other instruments. Piano Concerto No. 3, commissioned for pianist Jeffrey Biegel by a consortium of eighteen different orchestras, both

here and abroad. Pianist Stephen Hough and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra presented Liebermann’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini which the orchestra commissioned to commemorate Raymond Leppard’s farewell concert as music director. His Violin Concerto was commissioned and premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra, under the baton of Charles Dutoit, with soloist Chantal Juillet. The New York Philharmonic and principal trumpet Philip Smith presented the premiere of Mr. Liebermann’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra which The Wall Street Journal described as “balancing bravura and a wealth of attractive musical ideas to create a score that invites repeated listening. [Liebermann] is a masterful orchestrator, and just from this standpoint the opening of the new concerto is immediately arresting,” also noting that the “rousing conclusion brought down the house.”

In the realm of chamber music, Lowell Liebermann has composed four string quartets – the two most recent for the Ying and Orion quartets, respectively; four cello sonatas; two piano trios; sonatas for flute, violin, viola, flute and harp, and works for many other combinations.

Lowell Liebermann is also a noted performing pianist and has written a wealth of music for the solo instrument, much of which frequently appears on concert and competition programs. He was awarded the first American Composers’ Invitational Award by the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition after the majority of finalists chose to perform his Three Impromptus which were selected from works submitted by forty-two contemporary composers. In an interview with newscaster Sam Donaldson, Van Cliburn described Mr. Liebermann as “a wonderful pianist and a fabulous composer.”

Lowell Liebermann composer/conductor/pianist Biography

Lowell Liebermann’s Symphony No. 2 was premiered in February 2000 by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of Andrew Litton. Time magazine wrote, “Now brazen and glittering, now radiantly visionary, the Liebermann Second, a resplendent choral symphony, is the work of a composer unafraid of grand gestures and openhearted lyricism.” Mr. Litton and the DSO recorded the symphony and the Liebermann Concerto for Flute and Orchestra for Delos, with soloist Eugenia Zukerman. In February 2001, the Dallas Symphony gave the New York City premiere of Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at Carnegie Hall, with Stephen Hough as soloist. Stephen Wigler of The Baltimore Sun found the concerto to be “perhaps the best piece in the genre since Samuel Barber’s concerto.” John Ardoin, of The Dallas Morning News, described the work as “more than a knockout; it is among the best works of its kind in this century.” Stephen Hough’s recording of the concerto – conducted by the composer – received a 1998 Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Sir James Galway has commissioned three works from Lowell Liebermann: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra and Trio No. 1 for Flute, Cello and Piano. Mr. Galway premiered the flute concerto in 1992 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the double concerto with The Minnesota Orchestra in 1995. That same year, Mr. Galway performed the flute concerto with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Galway recorded both works, along with Mr. Liebermann’s Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra, for BMG, conducted by the composer.

Lowell Liebermann served as Composer-in-Residence for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for four years. He filled the same role for Sapporo’s Pacific Music Festival, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and many other organizations.

Lowell Liebermann’s music is widely represented on CD, with over sixty

releases to date. Koch International Classics has released two discs in an ongoing series of his complete piano music, performed by David Korevaar, and a recording of his flute chamber music with flautist Alexa Still. Upcoming releases on that label include another chamber album, featuring his Piano Quintet and Clarinet Quintet, the latter with clarinetist Jon Manasse, a song disc and the complete cello music, performed by Andrés Díaz with Mr. Liebermann at the piano. Additional recordings of his music are available on the labels of Hyperion, Virgin Classics, Albany, New World Records, Arabesque, Centaur, Cambria, Musical Heritage Society, Intim Musik, Opus One and others.

Orchestras worldwide have performed Lowell Liebermann’s works, including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre National de France, and the symphonies of Dallas, Baltimore, Seattle, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Minnesota. Among the artists who have performed Mr. Liebermann’s works are Sir James Galway, Charles Dutoit, Garrick Ohlsson, Andreas Delfs, the Beaux Arts Trio, Raymond Leppard,, Stephen Hough, Kurt Masur, Joshua Bell, the Orion String Quartet, Hans Vonk, Steven Isserlis, Andrew Litton, Susan Graham, David Zinman, Jesús López-Cobos, Paula Robison, Wolfgang Sawallisch, the Ying Quartet, Steuart Bedford and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Lowell Liebermann maintains an active performing schedule as pianist and conductor. He has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including flautists Sir James Galway and Jeffrey Khaner, violinists Chantal Juillet, Mark Peskanov, singers Robert White and Carole Farley and cellist Andrés Díaz. He performed the world premiere of Ned Rorem’s Pas de Trois for Oboe, Violin and Piano at the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival. He made his Berlin Philharmonie debut, performing his Piano Quintet with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2006, on Mr. Liebermann’s 45th birthday, the Van Cliburn Foundation presented an

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Johannes Brahms (1833-97) grew up in the slums of Hamburg. His father was a freelance musician who played in bars, brothels, and theaters, later earning a spot in the bass section of the Hamburg Philharmonic. His mother, who was considerably older than his father, did odd jobs and ran the household on a slender budget. Both parents recognized Johannes’ musical talent at an early age, and he began piano lessons at age seven. When he was just ten, a shady American impresario heard him play and offered to take him on a tour of the American “West.” Thankfully, his piano teacher insisted he stay in Hamburg and continue his musical studies, otherwise Brahms may have disappeared on the cheap theater circuit of Ohio, Illinois, and beyond.

In his teenage years, Brahms contributed to the household budget by playing piano in bars and brothels. Later in life, he suggested that these experiences ruined his chances of having “normal” relationships with women. He was a creative and prolific improviser, so he was quite popular with both the patrons and the ladies of the establishments where he served as entertainment.

When he was twenty, Brahms met three musicians who changed his life. The first was Joseph Joachim, the famous Hungarian violinist. He invited Brahms to tour Europe, and soon they were playing to capacity crowds in every major musical city. Thanks to this experience, Brahms no longer needed to work in seedy bars to earn a living. He was in great demand as a pianist. Despite some squabbles, they remained friends and musical associates for life. The other important figures were Robert and Clara Schumann. They recognized his composing skills and mentored him in every way possible. Robert, Clara, and Johannes developed an attachment that has puzzled biographers

for over a century. Brahms probably harbored romantic desire for the older, attractive and gifted Clara, but there is little evidence that he acted on it. They remained close, and even after Brahms was firmly established as one of the leading composers of the period he still sent scores of new works to Clara for inspection and advice. Much has been made of their relationship, often inflating things into a complex oedipal web of confused feelings and sexuality, but this tends to overlook the fact that Brahms developed serious but unfulfilled romantic interest in several women in his lifetime.

By the time he was in his late twenties, Brahms was in great demand as a composer, conductor, and pianist. He earned top musical appointments, but the one position he truly longed for eluded him – music director in Hamburg. The city’s leaders apparently harbored some contempt for his humble roots in the slums and bars. When they finally offered him the position, Brahms turned it down with a caustic and bitter reply. His penchant for sarcastic, cruel remarks is legendary, and we tend to see Brahms late in life as a curmudgeonly, disheveled man who lashed out at nearly everyone. This popular image overlooks the fact that he was quietly generous with the fortune he earned, often giving away large sums to friends, family, and young composers in need, even when they did not ask. Despite his international success, he preferred to live in a simple apartment in Vienna where he could walk the streets and hand out gifts of candy to needy children, greet the ladies of the night, and pass the time in a quiet working class pub. His complex music is immortal, but his life was ultimately quite humble.

– Christopher Chaffee, Associate Professor of Music, Wright State University

Johannes Brahms Biography

acclaimed all-Liebermann concert as part of its “Modern at the Modern” series, with the composer at the piano and featuring the premiere of Liebermann’s 3rd Cello Sonata. Mr. Liebermann is an official Steinway artist.

Lowell Liebermann was born in New York City in 1961. He began piano studies at the age of eight, and composition studies at fourteen. He made his performing debut two years later at Carnegie Recital Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, Op. 1, composed when he was fifteen. He holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard

School. Among his many awards is a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters as well as awards from ASCAP and BMI. Theodore Presser Company is the exclusive publisher of Mr. Liebermann’s music.

Lowell Liebermann currently resides in Weehawken, New Jersey, with his partner, pianist and conductor Williams Hobbs, their Australian Shepherd named Daphne and an American Eskimo named Phoebus.

www.lowellliebermann.com

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Lowell Liebermann: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, Op. 64*

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The DPO last performed thispiece in April 2001 with Neal Gittleman conducting

Instrumentation: 3 f lutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, strings.

Wagner spent over three years (c. 1856-59) composing his opera Tristan und Isolde. It is likely that he had been thinking about this massive work and sketching out themes for even longer. His interest in the Celtic legend of Tristan dates from even earlier in the same decade. This was a time of turbulence in his personal life. He was moving frequently to avoid creditors and possible arrest for his political activities, and he was carrying out a complicated set of extramarital affairs. When you throw in his burgeoning obsession with the philosophy of Schopenhauer, you get a powerful mélange of emotional and intellectual ideas that Wagner poured into this piece. It is widely considered a revolutionary work, especially noteworthy for the use of heightened chromaticism and dissonance to enhance what Wagner called the “interior drama” of the characters.

Several years of search went by before finding an opera company suitable for the premier of the opera. Several tried, and failed, earning the opera a

reputation as unplayable. Hans Von Bulow finally premiered Tristan in Munich on June 10, 1865. In 1863, Wagner extracted the Prelude and Finale for orchestral performance. His original title for this was, in English, “Prelude-Love Death and Finale – Transfiguration.” Pianist Franz Liszt later made a piano transcription of this titled “Prelude-Liebestod,” and this incorrect label has stuck. The “Liebestod” or “love death” is paired with the prelude, not the finale as implied by Liszt’s title.

Wagner supplied the following notes for the 1863 performance: “Prelude – Tristan as bridal envoy conducts Isolde to his uncle, the King. They love each other. From the first stifled moan of quenchless longing, from the faintest tremor to the free avowal of a hopeless love, the heart goes through each phase of futile battling with its inner fever, till swooning back upon itself, it seems extinguished as in death. Finale – Yet, what Fate divided in this life, in death revives transfigured; the gate of union opens. Above the body of Tristan, dying Isolde sees transcendent consummation of their passionate desire, eternal union in unmeasured realms, without bond nor barrier, indivisible!”

– Christopher Chaffee,Associate Professor of Music,Wright State University

richard wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

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Brahms’ reputation during the first part of the twentieth century was somewhat less secure than in our own time, chiefly because he had sought to continue the symphonic tradition of Beethoven, and he was living in an era that valued originality above all else. His adherence to tradition is evident in pieces like his First Piano Concerto which, as music historian Walter Frisch points out, has thematic and tonal similarities to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Frisch also argues that the final movement of this concerto follows the form of the finale of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto almost “slavishly.” And, any one familiar with the last movement of Brahms’ First Symphony will recognize its debt to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from the Ninth Symphony.

Brahms’ obvious debt to Beethoven, however, goes beyond simply taking the older master’s work for a model. Brahms appears also to have felt a kind of responsibility for the symphonic tradition, and to have had an almost ethical concern about what skills and experience a composer would need to do that form justice. So, he did not begin working on his first symphony until he was in his forties.

Nevertheless, once he had begun working in the form he quickly showed himself a masterful craftsman, and his Fourth Symphony is widely regarded

as one of his best works for orchestra, if not the best. The first movement follows the standard sonata allegro form with clear first and second themes and skillful development. The second movement has a beautiful tune, but the last two movements are perhaps the most striking. The third movement features a distinctive, rhythmically powerful theme. So catchy was this tune that in Brahms’ day, when they were allowed such license, audiences often demanded that the movement be repeated before the orchestra continued. The fourth movement is a passacaglia (pronounced like “paws a CALL ya”), a work in which a short theme, an ostinato, is repeated again and again, and serves as a basis for variations. Listeners might be familiar with Bach’s Passacaglia for Organ which uses the same formal principle. But, while he uses this older idiom, Brahms nevertheless puts his own stamp on it.

And, in fact, we could say that about the symphony as a whole. Brahms looked to the past for inspiration, but he also sought to lead into the future. That we still find something significant in his work shows how well he succeeded at his task.

– Dennis Loranger, Instructor in music and English at Wright State University

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4

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