AN EVOLUTION WITH THE BSO
RECOVERED VOICES WITH THE BSO
“ THE THIRD REICH SILENCED AN ENTIRE MUSICAL HERITAGE: AN UNINTERRUPTED LINE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY GENIUSES...”
“ This is less to do with finding the music that has been lost and much more to do with performing music that has been there all along,” said Conlon.“ And I mean committed performances that come out of the heart and the passion of the music maker. This is not tokenism; this is not tipping of a hat. The type of performances that are necessary to bring this music back into the repertory are the same type of performances that maintain the music of Bach, Brahms, and Mozart.”
Conlon has evolved this mission at the LA Opera, where he has served as Music Director since 2006, and founded the program Recovered Voices, performing full-scale productions of operas by composers whose works were branded as“ Entartete Musik.” In 2013, he established the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School in downtown LA, with adult-learning and conservatory-level courses, competitions, symposia, performances, recordings, and social events dedicated to a vast array of instrumental and vocal music.
AN EVOLUTION WITH THE BSO
In his three-year appointment as Artistic Advisor, Conlon brings many innovative projects and ideas— including Recovered Voices— to the BSO. Just the start of the BSO’ s journey in this mission, the BSO’ s 2021-22 Season of Discovery features three works by composers whose lives and productivity were cut short or radically altered by the Nazi regime: Walter Braunfels, Franz Shreker, and the composer who sparked Conlon’ s interest nearly 30 years ago, Alexander Zemlinsky.
In a poignant expansion, and in keeping with the BSO’ s own institutional commitments to sharing a more diverse range of voices, Conlon is also looking to his time in Baltimore to disseminate the names and perform the music of American composers neglected in our country’ s history for their race.
“ Great art has the power to overcome the most unjust and cruel moments in our history,” said Conlon.“ Whether neglected due to political suppression or because of their race, we have an opportunity and a moral obligation to undo this injustice. Of course, the composers cannot be given back either their lives or their world. But we who are here today can do what I think would mean the most to them, and that is to make their music heard.”
“ GREAT ART HAS THE POWER TO OVERCOME THE MOST UNJUST AND CRUEL MOMENTS IN OUR HISTORY... WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY AND A MORAL OBLIGATION TO UNDO THIS INJUSTICE.”
SUGGESTED LISTENING BY JAMES CONLON:
VIKTOR ULLMANN String Quartet No. 3, op. 46 Bennewitz Quartet
ERWIN SCHULHOFF 5 Études de jazz Eldar Nebolsin
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY Die Seejungfrau Riccardo Chailly and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
KURT WEILL Suite for Wind Orchestra From The Threepenny Opera David Atherton and London Sinfonietta
ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD String Sextet in D Major, op. 10 Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG A Survivor from Warsaw, op. 46 Robert Craft and Philharmonia Orchestra
RECOVERED VOICES WITH THE BSO
Recovered Voices James Conlon, conductor DAWSON Negro Folk Symphony ZEMLINSKY Die Seejungfrau( The Mermaid)
October 1, 2021 at 8 pm – Meyerhoff October 2, 2021 at 8 pm – Strathmore Conducted by Conlon for his BSO debut is Alexander Zemlinsky’ s Die Seejungfrau( The Mermaid), a lyrical symphonic poem based on the tale by Hans Christian Anderson. Born in 1871, with 2021 marking 150 years since the composer’ s birth, Zemlinksy’ s music was beloved throughout Europe, finding a great admirer in Brahms. But, in 1938, Zemlinsky became part of the group of composers who emigrated to the U. S.— though he never saw the same success in the States as contemporaries such as Schoenberg.
Paired with Zemlinsky’ s Die Seejungfrau is William Dawson’ s Negro Folk Symphony, a piece that was performed to great acclaim with its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1934. For a success this scale, a composer could have become a household name, but instead, Dawson’ s symphony was largely forgotten. Full program notes can be found on page 21.
Ray Chen Performs Sibelius Violin Concerto Kevin John Edusei, conductor Ray Chen, violin BRAUNFELS Symphonic Variations on an Old French Children ' s Song SIBELIUS Violin Concerto SCHREKER Chamber Symphony RAVEL La valse
March 3, 2022 at 8 pm – Meyerhoff March 5, 2022 at 8 pm – Strathmore March 6, 2022 at 3 pm – Meyerhoff The German composer Walter Braunfels prospered early in his career with his opera Die Vögel. He became the first director of the Cologne Academy of Music, but, with the rise of the Nazi regime, was dismissed in 1933. His Symphonic Variations on an Old French Children’ s Song, which the BSO performs with Kevin John Edusei, was written in 1909 and banned in 1933.
Also under the baton of Edusei is Franz Schreker’ s Chamber Symphony. The piece was composed in 1916 to celebrate the centenary of the Vienna Music Academy, where Schreker began to teach shortly after his breakthrough to fame: Der ferne Klang. In 1932, he was forced to leave his teaching positions and was soon forgotten
Kevin John Edusei.
Marco Borggreve
SEP-OCT 2021 / OVERTURE 11