Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

than one writer has interpreted his encrypted statements as allusions to his homosexuality. Remarkably, Tchaikovsky fleshed out his Fifth Symphony within one month’s time at Frolovskoye. In mid-June, he wrote to Mod- est, “At last it looks like summer! It has been absolutely awful up to now and I did not feel at all well. But in spite of this the work kept moving on. Nearly all the sketches for the symphony are ready, and at the beginning of next week I will start orchestrating it.” Tchaikovsky added final touches to the score on August 26, 1888—more than 10 years after completing the Fourth Symphony—and con- ducted the world premiere in Saint Peters- burg on November 17. This eloquence of the music did not lessen the composer’s utter disappointment in the score: “After two performances of my new sympho- ny in Petersburg and Prague, I have come to the conclusion that it is a failure. There is something repellent, something superfluous, patchy and insincere, which the public in- stinctively recognizes. It was obvious to me that the ovations I received were prompted more by my earlier work, and that the sym- phony did not really please the audience. The consciousness of this brings me a sharp twinge of self-dissatisfaction. Am I really played out, as they say? Can I merely repeat and ring the changes on my earlier idiom? Last night I looked through our Symphony [No. 4]. What a difference! How immeasur- ably superior it is! It is very sad!” However, with audiences’ persistent enthusiastic affir- mations, and Tchaikovsky grew in his affec- tion for the Fifth. As in his Fourth, Tchaikovsky employed a “motto” for thematic unity in the Symphony No. 5 in E minor. Heard first as a melancholy clarinet melody, the motto contains easily recognizable rhythmic and melodic traits. The opening two measures, presenting the hallmark dotted rhythm, are repeated a third higher. A two-measure descending line is also repeated. The theme comes from Mikhail Nadezhda von Meck Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar , with an ap- propriate text roughly translated as “Turn not into sorrow.” Tchaikovsky’s music grows live- lier with a Slavic-sounding Allegro con anima woodwind theme in 6/8. Several contrasting ideas—mixing rustic and Romantic traits— emerge in the secondary theme area. Vast de- velopment and recapitulation sections follow. The strings intone a solemn chorale introduc- tion to the Andante cantabile, con alcuna li- cenza . Tchaikovsky’s wondrously lyrical main theme blossoms forth from the French horn. The composer reportedly inscribed on his score at this point, “ O, que je t’aime! O, mon amie! Oh, how I love … If you love me … With desire and passion!” An oboe soon joins in duet with the horn. The clarinet introduces another melody, then the music unexpectedly crescendos for a brass statement of the mot- to. Luxurious string writing reintroduces the first theme, whose growing rush of passion the motto again interrupts. Tchaikovsky’s elegant Valse harkens back to his youth, to a melody he heard on the streets of Florence and later incorporated into his song Pimpinella , op. 38, no. 6. Strings rattle off long spiccato lines in the trio, then the waltz melody resumes. The clarinet and bas- soon quietly interject a subtle variation of the motto in the coda. This motto dominates the immense intro- duction to the final movement. The tempo changes for an agitated Allegro vivace string theme. High woodwinds quell the storm with a more tranquil melody. In typical course, Tchaikovsky expands his themes in the de- velopment and recapitulation. Brash restate- ments of the motto completely surround these important structural divisions. The coda accelerates from a march-like version of the motto to presto cadential figuration and a concluding reminiscence of the first move- ment’s 6/8 Slavic melody. 1812 Festival Overture, op. 49 Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, two tenor and one bass trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, cannons, chimes (bells), and strings “The overture will be very loud, noisy, but I wrote it without any warm feelings of love, so it will probably be of no artistic worth.” Unquestionably, Tchaikovsky produced an overture with “very loud, noisy” portions, but the rest of his assessment missed wide of the mark. The 1812 Festival Overture ranks as perhaps Tchaikovsky’s most popular compo- sition for its sentimental, as well as artistic, worth. Nikolai Rubinstein requested a new work from Tchaikovsky for an upcoming Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in Moscow. This 1882 exhibition coincided with the scheduled dedication of the new Cathedral of the Re- deemer and a 70th-anniversary commemora- tion of the Russian resistance to Napoleon’s assault. Tchaikovsky’s “festival overture” was given a grand, open-air first performance (such as this evening’s). A massive assem- blage of instruments filled the cathedral square with sound—a military band, an enor- mous orchestra, a company of artillery, and pealing bells from the church towers. Tchaikovsky composed the 1812 Overture between October 12 and November 19, 1880, with the Napoleonic defeat in mind. An old Russian anthem—a patriotic prayer—serves as the slow introductory theme: “Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine heritage; grant victory to our land, our sovereign and his warriors over the invaders, and by the power of Thy cross preserve Thy commonwealth.” The tempo increases as the conflict builds. Among the main themes is a Russian chil- dren’s folk song. French troops advance to the strains of “La Marseillaise,” but the Russian anthem spurs the people to victory. –Program notes © 2021 Todd E. Sullivan The 1882 Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in Moscow GEORGE STELLUTO, conductor A decade into his tenure as music director of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, George Stel- luto also maintains an extensive schedule as a guest conductor. Having earned a bachelor’s degree in violin from West Virginia Univer- sity, dual master’s degrees in violin and con- ducting from Yale, and one of Juilliard’s first Artist Diplomas in conducting, he is a versa- tile musician on the podium. Over his 12-year association with Juilliard, as a Bruno Walter Fellow and its resident conductor, Stelluto worked with the school’s orchestral, dance, vocal, drama, and jazz divisions as well as the pre-college orchestras, and he prepared the Juilliard Orchestra to work with numerous guest conductors, including Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. His own guest conducting credits have recently included debuting with the San Francisco Symphony in 2019 as well as dates with the Atlanta, Milwaukee, Pasadena, and San Di- ego Symphonies, Chamber Orchestra of Phil- adelphia, Nordwestduetsche Philharmonie, and Ukrainian National Orchestra. Stelluto’s concert collaborators have included instru- mentalists Hilary Hahn, Charles Yang, Ram- sey Lewis, Conrad Tao, and Jorge Federico Osorio; vocalists Michelle DeYoung, Naomi O’Connell, and Ryan Speedo Green; versatile artists Kevin Cole, Edgar Meyer, Béla Fleck; and the New York City Ballet. Recently he worked with Jamie Bernstein at Ravinia on “Bernstein 100 Years Young: A New Young People’s Concert,” which brought the Peoria Symphony to the festival for the first time. He has led several other family concerts at Ra- vinia, including Classical Kids LIVE! produc- tions as well as the presentation of the film La La Land with live orchestra. His interest in teaching young musicians took him beyond Juilliard to China, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, and throughout the United States. His ar- rangements, orchestral reductions, and com- positions have been performed by the Chi- cago, Atlanta, and Philadelphia Orchestras, Los Angeles and Lyon Operas, and in Peoria. Tonight George Stelluto makes his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut, having previous- ly assisted in many of Ravinia’s opera produc- tions with the orchestra and other large-scale performances. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 69