Yo-Yo Ma
{ program notes
syllables“ Ser-gei Dia-ghi-lev” over and over! The premiere on June 8, 1912, with Nijinsky and the great Tamara Karsavina dancing the title roles and Pierre Monteux conducting, was a rocky affair, but nearly everyone loved Ravel’ s music.
Ravel extracted two concert suites from the score, and the Second Suite— which comprises the ballet’ s third and final tableau— is by far the more often performed. It consists of three interlocking movements—“ Dawn,”“ Pantomine,” and“ Final Dance.” Earlier in the story, Daphnis and Chloé’ s love has been tested by rivals, and Chloé has been abducted by pirates, but she is rescued by the miraculous intervention of the god Pan.
The third act opens with“ probably the most famous dawn in all music”( Robin Holloway). Master orchestrator that he was, Ravel paints the sunrise with all the Technicolor sounds he can conceive: the ripple of brooks, the chatter of birds, and from deep in the orchestral strings a magnificent song portraying the rising sun, finally gleaming aloft in the violins. Daphnis awakes, searches frantically for Chloé, and at the crest of the second crescendo sees her returning with a party of shepherdesses and joyfully embraces her. Seeing the crown on her head, he realizes that Pan has saved her in memory of his love for the nymph Syrinx. Daphnis and Chloé then mime the courtship of Pan and Syrinx and Pan’ s invention of the flute, celebrated in a glorious extended flute solo. Returning to their own identities, Daphnis and Chloé swear their eternal fidelity to solemn, brass-dominated music. Nymphs and shepherds surround them for a joyously pagan dance in that notorious 5 / 4 meter. Here Ravel’ s 18 th-century ideal seems at last to yield to the full-blooded style of his Russian colleagues.
Instrumentation: Four flutes,( including piccolos and alto flute), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps, celesta, and strings.
Notes by Janet E. Bedell, Copyright © 2016
Michael O ' Neill
Marin Alsop
For Marin Alsop’ s bio., please see pg. 7.
Yo-Yo Ma
Ranked among the finest cellists of the 20 th century, Yo-Yo Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination— by performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, joining colleagues for chamber music and exploring cultures and musical forms outside the Western
Yo-Yo Ma
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall Wednesday, June 15, 2016— 8 p. m.
Marin Alsop, Conductor Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, opus 95,
“ From the New World” adagio- Allegro molto largo molto vivace allegro con fuoco
INTERMISSION
Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto in B Minor, opus 104 allegro adagio ma non troppo Finale: Allegro moderato yo-YO MA
The concert will end at approximately 9:50 p. m.
Supporting Sponsor:
classical tradition. In 1998, Mr. Ma established the nonprofit Silkroad, made up of musicians from more than 20 countries, to co-create art and performance.
Among Mr. Ma’ s discography of over 90 albums( including more than 18 Grammy winners) are several recordings that defy categorization, among them Hush with Bobby McFerrin, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey with Mark O’ Connor and Edgar Meyer, and two Grammy-winning tributes to the music of Brazil, Obrigado Brazil and Obrigado Brazil – Live in Concert. Mr. Ma’ s recent
36 Overture | www. bsomusic. org