RACHMANINOFF’ S TRANSCENDENT FANTASY
Zhai“ played with mesmerizing grace,” and The Globe and Mail has stated that he“ delivered the most beautiful lyrical playing of the evening.”
A native of Tai Yuan, China, Zhai began playing the violin at age three and later switched to the clarinet. He studied at the China Central Conservatory in Beijing, the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California and the Curtis Institute of Music. In 2009, he represented Curtis on tour in the U. S. as the solo and chamber clarinetist; his solo performance was awarded the Curtis Institute CD of the Year. He has won the Hellam Competition, Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, the Blount- Slawson Young Artists Competition, the Spotlight Award and the Pacific Symphony Concerto Competition. After graduation, he held the position of principal clarinet with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for two seasons.
Along with his solo appearances with the BSO and the TSO, Zhai has performed with the Shanghai, Pacific, Montgomery, Victoria and Springfield symphony orchestras; the Toronto Summer Music Festival Orchestra; and the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra( Aspen). He has participated in music festivals such as the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire Festival, Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival( Japan), Beijing International Clarinet Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and ChongQing International Clarinet Festival in China.
Zhai was one of the clarinetists chosen to record the Royal Conservatory of Music’ s exam-level commercial CD, which has been sold across North America. He played principal clarinet during the live recording of Messiah with the TSO and Sir Andrew Davis, released by Chandos Records.
Zhai is a member of the clarinet faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of China, the Curtis Institute of Music Summer Festival and the Master Players Music Festival. He is a Buffet Crampon Performing Artist.
YaoGuang Zhai makes his BSO solo debut.
About the Concert
THE ISLE OF THE DEAD
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Born in Oneg, Russia, April 1, 1873; died in Beverly Hills, CA, March 28, 1943
Many composers are reticent about admitting that any non-musical ideas lie behind their compositions, but Sergei Rachmaninoff was not among them.“ When composing, I find it of great help to have in mind a book just recently read, a beautiful picture or a poem,” he said. And in the case of his 1909 tone poem The Isle of the Dead— which is arguably the greatest purely orchestral work he ever wrote— he found his inspiration in an art gallery.
In 1880, the Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin created a contemplative painting for a young widow that he called Insel der Toten( The Isle of the Dead). Inspired by Ponza, a volcanic island west of the Bay of Naples, this painting depicts a scene of mysterious, mesmerizing psychological power. Michael Steinberg describes it eloquently:“ Ominous clouds, gray and purple touched with gold, darken the sky. Tall cypresses are framed between jutting, vertical rocks in whose sides [ burial ] chambers have been hollowed out. A boat, two figures in it both with their backs to us, approaches the portal set into the rude sea-wall.… The one who rows is dark, only slightly defined against boat and water. The figure in white standing at the bow is bent over a coffin draped in white and garlanded in red.… No human voice is heard here and no bird sings. There is no sound save the muted splash of oars.”
Interestingly, Rachmaninoff did not initially see the painting itself, but only a black-and-white reproduction of it.“ The massive architecture and the mystic message made a marked impression on me,” he wrote.“ If I had seen the original first, I might not have composed the work.” The image’ s implied message of man’ s mortality appealed strongly to a dark streak in Rachmaninoff’ s personality. From his youth, he had been haunted by the transience of human life and the ever-hovering prospect of death. A happy marriage and a brilliantly successful career as a pianist, conductor and composer did little to alter this morbid outlook. Throughout his music, Rachmaninoff sprinkled a haunting, downward-sinking motive drawn from the famous“ Dies Irae”(“ Day of Judgment”) chant used for the Roman Catholic office of burial. Naturally, it plays a very prominent role in this tone poem, which goes beyond a musical description of the painting to become a powerful meditation on the battle between death and the life force.
During the opening moments of the piece, Rachmaninoff creates an uncanny atmosphere of stillness and foreboding. We gradually become aware of a rocking motion emerging deep in the lower strings; set to an irregular 5 / 8 beat, it represents the sound of the boat’ s oars moving through the water. The orchestra’ s dark sound— even the brass’ brilliance is suppressed— expresses a brooding melancholy. Eventually, a lovely, poignant melody soars upward in the violins and spreads to the high woodwinds. Under it, we hear in the cellos a version of the downward-rocking“ Dies Irae” motive. The two ideas battle each other to a powerful climax over the now violently surging sound of the oars beating the water, perhaps representing the boat’ s arrival on shore.
Now the music subsides into a steadier 3 / 4 beat and a new mood as Rachmaninoff moves beyond the painting itself to his broader theme. Brass somberly intone the“ Dies Irae” motive again, but this does not deter the strings and woodwinds from vaulting upward with a tender, yearning melody that the composer called his“ life theme.” The life force is very strong and fights tenaciously, but is ultimately struck down savagely by the power of death( represented by the brass). Death’ s victory is confirmed by the“ Dies Irae” theme tolling at different speeds throughout the orchestra. The opening rocking motion of the oars returns, but now the mood is gentler, less bitter as the violins sing a consoling melody above.
22 OVERTURE / BSOmusic. org