Ravinia 2022, Issue 5

ultimately, Paris, causing the composer to miss the first performance of his opera in Saint Petersburg. Outside Russia, Tchaikovsky could relax and attend theatrical productions, including a performance of Massenet’s Manon Lescaut , whose music he disliked (“Very ele- gant, very individual, but not for one moment capable of touching, captivating, or arrest- ing”) but whose production he envied. Corre- spondence fromhis publisher, Peter Ivanovich Jurgenson, soon revealed that Mazeppa had not been as well received as originally report- ed and that Tsar Alexander III might have been insulted by his absence. Jurgenson’s letter propelled Tchaikovsky into an extreme state of agitation. “It acted upon me like a crushing blow,” he lamented to his brother Modest, “and all day I suffered ter- ribly as though some colossal, irreparable misfortune had occurred.” A return trip to Saint Petersburg, even one that might result in imperial disapproval, could not be avoided. Tchaikovsky departed Paris on March 12. To his amazement, the tsar had arranged a sur- prise, bestowing the Order of Saint Vladimir on the composer on March 19. Tchaikovsky enjoyed separate audiences with the tsarina and tsar, whose sincerity and attention boost- ed his morale. “[The tsar] talked with me for a very long time,” read a letter to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, “repeating several times that he loved my music very much, and alto- gether showed me an abundance of kindness.” Tchaikovsky returned to Moscow for three weeks in order to revise the Mazeppa score, then he journeyed to Kamenka, near Kyiv, where his sister Alexandra and her husband Lev Davidov managed his family’s estate. This country property frequently offered a quiet retreat where Tchaikovsky could compose in peace. One of the composer’s few surviv- ing diaries recorded his daily activities from April 24 until June 21, which ranged from the mundane (he played the card game Vint, or Whist, nearly every day) to progress reports on his most recent composition—the Suite No. 3 in G major, op. 55. Tsar Alexander III Initially, Tchaikovsky set out to create another symphony but redirected his efforts toward writing an orchestral suite, “because of the freedom it affords the composer not to be in- hibited by any traditions, by conventional methods and established rules,” he explained to Meck on April 28, 1884. The “Kamenka Di- ary” offers rare insight into this music’s evolu- tion. Tchaikovsky first mentioned the suite on April 28, although the project did not gain momentum until May 8: “During the morn- ing, worked with the maximum effort (the scherzo).” He completed this movement three days later. The composer sketched the waltz between May 12 and 15. On May 17, Tchaikovsky reported: “Until 7 o’clock, strug- gled with one spot in the Andante .” This com- positional conundrum resolved, he finished the Andante (“with which I’m very satisfied”) on May 21. The original first movement, called Contrasts , disappointed Tchaikovsky so greatly that he excised it from the suite and incorporated its two themes into the Fantasy for Piano and Or- chestra, op. 56. All that remained was the final set of variations, which he composed out of sequential order, beginning with the final vari- ation (the “polonaise finale”) on May 27. Now writing feverishly, Tchaikovsky worried the next day that the “straining is unhealthy, and it will probably show in the poor suite.” The oth- er variations flowed quickly from his pen be- tweenMay 30 and June 4, when he victoriously recorded in the diary: “ Finished the suite! ” Tchaikovsky completed the orchestration lat- er that summer, on July 31, while visiting the country estate at Grankino belonging to Her- man and Alina Konradi, whose son Nikolay studied with Modest. The Russian Musical Society under Hans von Bülow gave the first performance in Saint Petersburg on Janu- ary 24, 1885. Nadezhda von Meck 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 trombones and bass trombone, 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 per- haps Tchaikovsky’s most popular composition for its sentimental, as well as artistic, worth. Nikolai Rubinstein requested a new work from Tchaikovsky for an upcoming Exhibi- tion of Arts and Crafts in Moscow. This 1882 exhibition coincided with the scheduled ded- ication of the new Cathedral of the Redeemer and a 70th-anniversary commemoration 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 assemblage of in- struments filled the cathedral square with sound—a military band, an enormous or- chestra, 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 © 2022 Todd E. Sullivan The 1882 Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in Moscow EMIL DE COU, conductor A native of Los Angeles, Emil de Cou studied at the University of Southern California un- der Daniel Lewis, during which time he also worked with Leonard Bernstein in master classes at the Hollywood Bowl. He has been the music director and principal conductor of the Pacific Northwest Ballet since 2011, having worked on the music staffs of dance companies from early in his career. Mikhail Baryshnikov appointed de Cou conductor of the American Ballet Theatre in 1985, and eight years later he took the same role at San Francisco Ballet until 2001, also serving as its acting music director beginning in 1998. He has also conducted for such companies as the New York City Ballet and National Ballet of Canada. De Cou has been closely associated with the National Symphony Orchestra since his debut with the ensemble at Wolf Trap in 2000—he became its associate conductor between 2002 and 2010, leading the NSO’s annual Labor Day weekend concerts at the US Capitol, as well as the orchestra’s resident conductor at Wolf Trap in 2005. He has also remained a regular figure at the Kennedy Center since his first performances there in 1988, and has made numerous appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia and Orchestra Hall for pops, movie, and holiday concerts. As musical consultant for NASA, de Cou has conducted several col- laborations with the space agency, including Human Spaceflight: The Kennedy Legacy for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo missions, a program commemorating the Apollo 11 landing with Voyage by Michael Giacchino and guests will.i.am and John Cho, and Vital Signs of the Planet , a co-production for the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference. For this ongoing work, he was recently award- ed NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal. Formerly principal pops conductor for the San Francisco Symphony, de Cou has also led the major orchestras of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Mil- waukee, Minnesota, and Saint Louis, and in 2006 he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops. This is Emil de Cou’s fifth concert at Ravinia, where he first appeared in 2005 leading a premiere performance of The Wizard of Oz with live orchestra. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 35