All details are correct at time of printing. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS reserves the right to vary without notice the artists and/or repertoire as necessary. Copyright © 2019 by Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (Co. No. 462692-X). All rights reserved. No part of this programme may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owners.

Sat 20 April 2019 at 8.30 pmSun 21 April 2019 at 3.00 pm

Malaysian Philharmonic OrchestraRoberto Abbado, conductor

Ryu Goto, violin

PROGRAMME

PROKOFIEVSymphony No. 1 in D major, Op.25 – Classical 13 mins

KORNGOLDViolin Concerto in D major, Op.35 22 mins

INTERVAL 20 mins

KABALEVSKYSuite from The Comedians, Op.27 14 mins

SHOSTAKOVICHSymphony No. 1 in F minor, Op.10 28 mins

ROBERTO ABBADOconductor

Roberto Abbado, awarded the prestigious ‘Premio Abbiati’ by the Italian Music Critics Association, is Music Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia and, since 2018, of Parma’s Festival Verdi. He studied orchestral conducting under Franco Ferrara at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Music Director of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester from 1991 to 1998, Abbado has worked with many ensembles and conducted numerous world premieres and new opera productions including Fedora and Ernani at the MET; I vespri siciliani at the Wiener Staatsoper; La Gioconda, La donna del lago and Teneke at La Scala; L’amour des trois oranges, Aida and La traviata at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Le Comte Ory, Attila, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Henze’s Phaedra and Anna Bolena at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Don Giovanni at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Ermione, Zelmira and Mosè in Egitto at the Rossini Opera Festival.

In recent seasons, Abbado has conducted Tancredi, La damnation de Faust and I masnadieri in Valencia; Andrea Chénier and I masnadieri in Rome; Norma in Madrid; La traviata in Shanghai; Le siège de Corinthe in Pesaro; Le Trouvère in Parma; Lucia di Lammermoor in Paris; Don Pasquale in Bilbao; Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor in New York.

Among his most popular recordings are I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Tancredi, Don Pasquale, Turandot, Verismo Arias, L’amour and Arias for Rubini (Decca); Bel Canto, Revive, the DVDs of Fedora, Ermione, Zelmira, Mosè in Egitto and the New Year Concert at La Fenice in Venice.

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RYu GOTOviolin

Ryu Goto has established himself as a significant voice in classical music with a large and growing public in Asia, North America and Europe. He made a debut at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan at 7. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with the world’s leading orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra (DC), The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York and London Philharmonics, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Münchner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Hamburger Symphoniker, and the Sydney, Shanghai and NHK Symphony Orchestras.

A graduate from Harvard University, Goto has performed at prestigious venues including the Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Sydney Opera House, Shanghai Grand Theater, Taipei National Concert Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Munich’s Herkulessaal and the Philharmonic Hall Gasteig, with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Tan Dun, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Fabio Luisi, Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Myung-Whun Chung, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Jonathan Nott.

Goto’s philanthropic work with young musicians includes the Ryu Goto Excellence in Music scholarship with the NYC Department of Education. He also conducts masterclasses and musical outreach in Latin America, South East Asia and Africa.

In Japan, he was featured on the documentary Ryu Goto’s Odyssey, a chronicle of his career and personal life, and on TV Asahi’s show, Untitled Concert.

Goto records for Deutsche Grammophon in collaboration with Universal Classics Japan. He performs on the Stradivarius 1722 violin ‘Jupiter’ on loan from Nippon Music Foundation.

PROGRAMME NOTES

Purely by chance, all four composers represented on this programme were born in chronological order, ranging from 1891(Prokofiev) to 1906 (Shostakovich) – a mere 15 year span. Three of the four are Russians (Korngold is the exception), and three of them rank among the most phenomenally precocious composers in the history of music. In all four cases, we hear an example of their best known works, all composed within a period of less than 30 years and all music of jollity, fun, high spirits and good humour. Nothing really serious, but nothing less than masterful either. The entire programme is framed by two outstanding First Symphonies.

SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op.25,– Classical (1917)

I. Allegro II. Larghetto III. Gavotte: Non troppo allegro IV. Finale: Molto vivace

“A momentary dalliance with the 18th century formula” is musicologist John Burk’s concise description of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, a work that in so many ways richly merits its subtitle appended by the composer himself. The symphony, written in 1917, has become one of Prokofiev’s two or three most popular works and one of the most frequently played symphonies of the 20th century. It was first performed on 21 April 1918 in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) under the composer’s direction.

We recognise from the very opening that this is going to be a work of youthful vitality, spontaneity, sparkling humour and transparent textures. Prokofiev liked unexpected twists and turns of harmony as much as Haydn did, but although the Classical Symphony is an affectionate homage to the world of Haydn, it is no mere imitation. Already in the 11th bar, for example, the key changes to C major, a step down from the home key of D ̶ a simple enough move in itself but hardly one an 18th century composer would have done. The second theme is pure rococo ̶ a mincing, dainty little affair played softly by first violins.

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Prokofiev continues to poke fun at the 18th century in the Larghetto movement. The theme played by the violins, elegant and supple though it is, is too high in range for a Haydn work. The extremely brief (two minutes) third movement is a witty Gavotte, an early eighteenth-century dance form replacing the more customary Minuet in a symphony. The finale rushes along with scintillating brilliance and Haydnesque exuberance.

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD (1897-1957)Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35 (1937-1945)

I. Moderato nobile II. Romance III. Finale

The decade from the mid thirties to the mid forties saw Viennese-born Erich Wolfgang Korngold (he took his middle name in honour of Mozart) in Hollywood, turning out film scores to such classics as The Adventures of Robin Hood, Kings Row, Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, among others. Millions of moviegoers have thrilled to his brash, swashbuckling themes, to sumptuously scored love music and to grandly heroic evocations of historical pageantry. The film connection is entirely relevant to Korngold’s Violin

Concerto, as most of its principal themes are drawn from film scores. Jascha Heifetz was the soloist for the world premiere on 15 February 1947, with Vladimir Golschmann conducting the St. Louis Symphony.

The concerto is pure romanticism all the way, and the soloist is seldom out of the spotlight. The long opening theme, which spans two octaves in the first five notes alone, comes from the film score for Another Dawn (1937). An equally expansive second theme derives from Juárez (1939). Anthony Adverse (1936) is the source of the principal theme of the second movement, while the contrasting middle section, marked misterioso, is newly minted. The jaunty, propulsive finale, based on the principal theme from The Prince and the Pauper (1937), takes the soloist through the kind of daredevil displays that stir audiences – both in movie houses and in concert halls – to spontaneous eruptions of cheers and hurrahs.

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DMITRI KABALEVSKY (1904-1987)Suite from The Comedians, Op.27 (1940)

I. Prologue II. Galop III. March IV. Waltz V. Pantomime VI. Intermezzo VII. Little Lyrical Scene VIII. Gavotte IX. Scherzo X. Epilogue

Aside from a small handful of compositions, Kabalevsky’s music is little known outside of Russia. Concertgoers elsewhere may be familiar with his overture to the opera Colas Breugnon, the incidental music to The Comedians and one or two concertos. But within the borders of the former Soviet Union, Kabalevsky was a source of great cultural pride throughout his long life. Three times he won the Stalin Prize, the highest accolade a Soviet composer could receive during the 1940s and 1950s. He had no trouble accommodating his musical style to the dictates of Party officials and many of his works are blatantly patriotic. Through music, he furthered the political and social causes of the Communist Party, which he joined in 1940 and in later years, he devoted much of his time to musical education of the young. One of these projects was the music he wrote in 1940 to accompany a children’s play by Mark Daniel called The Inventor and the Comedians. The story revolves around the amusing adventures of Johannes Gutenberg (inventor of the printing press) and an itinerant group of actors as they travel from town to town to perform in public squares, at fairs and in festivals. Kabalevsky later arranged ten brief numbers (one-to-two minutes each) from the complete score into a suite, from which the vivacious, 90-second “Galop” turned into the most famous piece he ever wrote.

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op.10 (1925-1926)

I. Allegretto ̶ Allegro non troppo II. Allegro III. Lento IV. Allegro molto ̶ Lento ̶ Allegro molto ̶ Presto

Few composers excel in their first attempt to write a symphony. Exceptions include Beethoven, Berlioz, Schumann, Brahms, Mahler and Sibelius, but these men were already nearing thirty or were even older when they first essayed the genre. Dmitri cdni.rbth.com

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Shostakovich was just 19 and still a student at the Leningrad Conservatory when he wrote his First Symphony, but this was no immature, bungling student work. Its premiere on 12 May 1926, under the direction of the distinguished conductor Nicolai Malko, heralded the arrival of a major figure already bursting with a unique musical personality and marked for greatness.

What accounts for the success of this remarkable First Symphony? Boldness of ideas unencumbered by academic and recondite procedures, a touch of “shock of the modern” tempered by memorable (if not exactly hummable) tunes, a sense of mischievousness, a flair for instrumental colour, harmonic irregularities that seem like “wrong turns” in a silent film comedy, dramatic events, virtuoso writing for the orchestra and an overall infectious enthusiasm are just some of the reasons.

A short introduction presents a quirky dialogue between trumpet and bassoon. The first movement’s main theme is set to a grim marching rhythm and is described by Edward Downes as “a cross between a quick march tune and a bit of old fashioned ragtime”. In contrast, the solo flute offers a gently lyrical, lilting theme, which is echoed by the clarinet.

The second movement alternates a zippy scherzo subject with a slower, chant-like idea. At one point, Shostakovich superimposes both the scherzo and the chant ideas, which initially were set to different metres, different rhythms, different tempos and different moods!

Romantic expressiveness is found in the third movement, whose melancholic opening theme is actually a clever variation of the principal theme of the first movement (the marching tune). The movement leads without pause into the finale, which begins with the solo clarinet presenting a breathless, virtuosic subject that covers the range of the instrument. Ideas from previous movements are worked in, including a highly dramatic timpani solo derived from the rhythmic motto of the third movement. A long coda follows, growing steadily in intensity to the final frenzied outburst.

Note: Sectional string players are rotated within their sections. *Extra musician.

MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

PARTNER HOTELS

CORPORATE SUITEPREMIUM MEMBERS

RESIDENT CONDUCTORSNaohisa FurusawaGerard Salonga

FIRST VIOLINCo-ConcertmasterPeter DanišPrincipalMing GohCo-PrincipalZhenzhen Liang

Maho DanišMartijn NoomenSherwin ThiaRuna BaagöeMiroslav DanišEvgeny KaplanMarcel AndriesiiTan Ka MingPetia Atanasova*Marco Roosink*Alexandru Radu

SECOND VIOLINSection PrincipalTimothy PetersCo-Principal*Barbora KolarovaAssistant PrincipalLuisa Hyams

Stefan KocsisAnastasia KiselevaCatalina AlvarezIonuț MazareanuChia-Nan HungYanbo ZhaoLing YunzhiRobert Kopelman*Tan Poh Kim

VIOLACo-PrincipalGábor Mokány

Ong Lin KernSun YuanFan RanThian Ai Wen*Samantha Lee*Ida Margit Kovacs*Nemesi Judit*Paloma Mejias

CELLOCo-PrincipalCsaba KörösAssistant PrincipalSteven RetallickSub-PrincipalMátyás Major

Gerald DavisLaurențiu GhermanJulie DessureaultElizabeth Tan SuyinSejla Simon

DOUBLE BASSSection PrincipalWolfgang Steike

John KennedyJun-Hee ChaeNaohisa FurusawaRaffael BietenhaderAndreas Dehner*Douglas Rutherford

FLUTESection Principal*Dora SeresCo-PrincipalYukako YamamotoSub-PrincipalRachel Jenkyns

PICCOLOPrincipalSonia Croucher

OBOESection PrincipalSimon EmesCo-Principals*Bernice Lee Wen Ting*Svetlin Doytchinov

COR ANGLAISPrincipalNiels Dittmann

CLARINETSection PrincipalGonzalo EstebanCo-PrincipalDavid Dias da SilvaSub-PrincipalMatthew Larsen

BASS CLARINETPrincipalChris Bosco

BASSOONSection PrincipalAlexandar LenkovCo-Principal*Orsolya JuhaszSub-PrincipalDenis Plangger

CONTRABASSOONPrincipalVladimir Stoyanov

HORNSection PrincipalsGrzegorz Curyla*Benjamin JacksCo-PrincipalJames SchumacherSub-PrincipalsLaurence DaviesBarkin SönmezerAssistant PrincipalSim Chee Ghee

TRUMPETSection Principal* Sergio PachecoCo-PrincipalWilliam TheisSub-PrincipalJeffrey MissalAssistant PrincipalMatthew Dempsey

TROMBONECo-PrincipalsFernando Borja*Marques Young

BASS TROMBONEPrincipal* Prapat Prateepphleepon

TUBASection Principal* Jose Manuel Redondo Contreras

TIMPANISection PrincipalMatthew Thomas

PERCUSSIONSection PrincipalMatthew PrendergastSub-PrincipalsJoshua VonderheideTan Su Yin*Michael Israelievitch

HARPPrincipalTan Keng Hong

CELESTE*Akiko Daniš

CORPORATE SUITECLUB MEMBER

Dewan Filharmonik PeTronaS

ChieF eXeCUTiVe oFFiCerSareen Risham

BUSineSS & markeTinGmanaGemenTSoraya Mansor

BUSineSS DeVeloPmenTWan Yuzaini Wan Yahya At Ziafrizani Chek PaNurartikah IlyasKartini Ratna Sari Ahmat AdamAishah Sarah Ismail Affendee

markeTinG Munshi Ariff Abu HassanHisham Abdul JalilFarah Diyana IsmailNoor Sarul Intan SalimMuhammad Shahrir AizatAhmad Kusolehin Adha Kamaruddin

CUSTomer relaTionShiPmanaGemenTNorhaznita HusinYayuk Yulianawati RilaJalwati Mohd Noor

mUSiC TalenT DeVeloPmenT &manaGemenTAhmad Muriz Che Rose

PlanninG, FinanCe & iTMohd Hakimi Mohd RosliNorhisham Abd RahmanSiti Nur Ilyani Ahmad FadzillahNurfharah Farhana Hashimi

ProCUremenT & ConTraCTLogiswary RamanNorhaszilawati Zainudin

hUman reSoUrCe manaGemenT & aDminiSTraTionSharhida SaadMas Arinah HamzahMuknoazlida MukhadzimNik Nurul Nadia Nik AbdullahNor Afidah Nordin

TeChniCal oPeraTionSFiroz Khan Mohd YunusMohd Zamir Mohd IsaShahrul Rizal Mohd AliDayan Erwan MaharalZolkarnain Sarman

malaySian PhilharmoniCorCheSTra

ChieF eXeCUTiVe oFFiCerSareen Risham

General manaGerKhor Chin YangSoraya Mansor

General manaGer'S oFFiCeTimmy Ong

arTiSTiC aDminiSTraTion Khor Chin YangSharon Francis Lihan

orCheSTra manaGemenTAhmad Muriz Che RoseSharhida SaadFadilah Kamal FrancisShireen Jasin Mokhtar

malaySian PhilharmoniC yoUThorCheSTraAhmad Muriz Che RoseYazmin Lim AbdullahFadilah Kamal Francis

mUSiC liBraryOng Li-HueyWong Seong SeongMuhammad Zaid Azzim Mohd Diah

eDUCaTion & oUTreaChShireen Jasin MokhtarShafrin SabriKatherine Tan Jia Yiing

MALAYSIANPHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRAThe Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) gave its inaugural performance at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) on 17 August 1998. With the initial search for outstanding musicians involving a worldwide audition tour, the result was a symphony orchestra made up of musicians from 25 nations, including Malaysians, a remarkable example of harmony among different cultures and nationalities.

A host of internationally-acclaimed musicians have performed with the MPO including Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Yehudi Menuhin, Joshua Bell, Harry Connick Jr., José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chris Botti and Branford Marsalis, many of whom have praised the MPO for its fine musical qualities and vitality.

With each new season, the MPO continues to present an exciting programme of orchestral music drawn from over three centuries, as well as the crowd-pleasing concert series. Its versatility transcends genres, from classical masterpieces to film music, pop, jazz, traditional, contemporary and commissioned works.

The MPO regularly performs in major cities of Malaysia.Internationally, it has toured Singapore (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2018), Japan (2001, 2009 and 2017), Korea (2001), Australia (2004), China (2006), Taiwan (2007) and Vietnam (2013). The MPO has also released 21 commercial CDs.

Its Education and Outreach Programme (ENCOUNTER) reaches beyond the concert platform to develop musical awareness and appreciation through dedicated activities at such diverse venues as schools, colleges, hospitals and community centres.

The MPO’s commitment to furthering musical interest in the nation has been the creation of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO); its debut concert at DFP in 2007 was followed by a Peninsula Malaysia tour. The MPYO has also performed in Sabah and Sarawak, Singapore, Brisbane and Hong Kong.

The MPO remains steadfast in its mission to share the depth, power and beauty of great music. Its main benefactor is PETRONAS and its patron is YABhg. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Haji Mohd Ali.

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