CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 8:00 PM

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, Music Director and Conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Violin

BRAHMS Violin Concerto

MAHLER Symphony No. 1

Program is approximately 2 hours, including one intermission

Sponsored by Deloitte LLP

Program Notes:

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77

Brahms was not a violinist. Like many composers before and since, he had an abstract idea of what he wanted the violin to do in his concerto, but felt compelled to ask a virtuoso performer for advice. For Brahms, that virtuoso was Joseph Joachim.

Brahms and Joachim had been friends since they were in their early 20s. At the time, Joachim was already a famous master of the violin, as well as an accomplished composer and conductor. Brahms, on the other hand, was merely a budding young composer with little confidence in his own abilities. He soon began to show Joachim his scores-in-progress, and he took the violinist's comments very seriously. Joachim eventually became a great champion of Brahms's music and a loyal partisan in the Brahms-Wagner wars, which were a conflict between the Brahms approach of music for music's sake and Wagner's strong belief in programmatic music. So it was natural, some 25 years into their friendship, that Brahms would ask Joachim for advice about his Violin Concerto.

"After having written it out, I really do not know what you will make of the solo part alone," Brahms wrote. "It was my intention, of course, that you should correct it, not sparing the quality of the composition, and that if you thought it not worth scoring that you should say so. I shall be satisfied if you mark those parts which are difficult, awkward, or impossible to play." Joachim replied: "It gives me great pleasure to know that you are composing a violin concerto! I have had a good look at what you sent me and have made a few notes and alterations, but without the full score I cannot say much. I can make out most of it, however, and there is a lot of really good violin music in it."

This give-and-take continued even past the first performance and up to the point of publication. Brahms ignored some of Joachim's suggestions for simplifying the violin part, but he took his friend's comments about the music itself to heart, and there are more than a few of Joachim's ideas in this concerto.

As usual for Brahms, the reactions to the first performances were mixed. Conductor Hans von Bülow famously remarked that while Bruch had written a great concerto for the violin, Brahms had written his against it. Referring to the second movement, the great violinist Pablo de Sarasate declared, "I don't deny that it is very good music, but do you think I could fall so low as to stand, violin in hand, and listen to the oboe play the only proper tune in the work?" Yet it is clear that Brahms's Violin Concerto has become a monument, at equal station with Beethoven's. Its first movement is hugely majestic, its second both subtle and ravishing, and the finale's gypsy-like music shows Brahms giving the soloist an invitation to dance.



GUSTAV MAHLER (1860–1911)
Symphony No. 1 in D Major

No musician after Beethoven did more to expand and invigorate the symphonic repertoire than did Gustav Mahler—both as composer and as an internationally acclaimed conductor. With seeming impudence, Mahler famously predicted that "my time will come," intimating that one day his symphonies would approach the status of Beethoven's. And slightly more than a century after his birth, the "Mahler renaissance" of the 1960s proved him right. As we approach the double anniversary years 2010 and 2011—Mahler's 150th birthday and the centennial of his death—the powerful resonance between his music and our time only grows stronger.

"My music is lived," he said repeatedly to those whom he trusted. Mahler revealed this through various metaphorical descriptions that composition and personal experience were inseparably intertwined for him. There is no clearer instance of this than the First Symphony. Mahler was passionately but hopelessly in love as he composed the work at white-hot speed in about six weeks. His muse was Marion von Weber, wife of the famous composer's grandson: Her "musical, luminous being of highest aspiration," Mahler later recalled, inspired him to resume his creative work, which he had all but abandoned during the hectic, frustrating years he spent in provincial theaters to establish himself as a conductor. Thus, the First reflects the passions, ecstasy, and bitter frustration of its youthful musical persona—"the hero," as Mahler referred to him. Beginning in 1900, Mahler withheld all "programmatic" commentaries on his works from the public, both to avoid possible misunderstandings and to dodge the ridicule of the critics. But today, if they are not taken too literally, Mahler's remarks can offer "a star map with which to comprehend the night sky," as he once put it.

Four such star maps survive for the First Symphony, which are condensed and incorporated into what follows. As noted, the 1889 Budapest premiere had been a flop. ("My friends avoided me, and I went about as though diseased or an outlaw," the composer later admitted.) Accordingly, for the second and third performances in 1893 and 1894, Mahler decided to offer his listeners more clues. The title became "‘Titan,' a Tone Poem in Symphony Form," in two parts. Mahler evidently had in mind a powerful, somewhat naive young hero; his life and suffering; and his struggle and defeat by fate. Part One, From the Days of Youth, begins with the first movement, Spring Without End. The slow introduction, according to Mahler, represents the awakening of nature after a long winter's sleep; the long-held harmonics suggest the sunlight of a summer day shimmering and glimmering through the branches. In the course of the movement, Nature, as though revealing herself making music, grasps us with her radiance, and also with her uncanny mysticism. Both we and the hero are swept forward by Dionysian jubilation (the roaring energy of Dionysus, god of wine), which is as yet completely unbroken and untroubled. Overall, the movement is an expanded variant upon traditional sonata form. The main theme that follows the slow introduction comes directly from the second of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, "This Morning I Went Out Over the Field." But as the development progresses, a powerful conflict unfolds. Just when a tragic outcome seems all but inevitable, a bold and brilliant fanfare for brass and winds suddenly and decisively changes the course of the drama from impending darkness to yet greater jubilation: This is the first instance of the Mahlerian "breakthrough," a tactic he would use frequently in the future. At the close of the movement, in which the timpani restates the theme, Mahler imagined that the hero—or, in one account, Beethoven!—bursts out laughing and runs away.

The original second movement was an Andante entitled Blumine ("flora"), which was rediscovered in 1967—a sentimental, rapturous love episode. It was actually a birthday gift for Marion von Weber in 1888, inscribed "from M to M." Following the symphony's third performance in 1894, Mahler deleted Blumine (and all of his descriptive movement titles for the symphony). Claiming that the discarded Andante was not sufficiently symphonic, he jocularly derided it as the hero's "youthful asininity." Nevertheless, Blumine is still occasionally performed and recorded today, both separately and in the context of the First Symphony.

In the ensuing scherzo (now the second movement), which Mahler entitled In Full Sail, Mahler suggested that the young man comports himself in a more powerfully masculine, robust, fit-for-life manner. He also likened the movement to a bridal procession expressing boundless joy and delight.

Part Two, Commedia humana ("The Human Comedy"), begins "Aground," when the hero has "found a hair in his soup." Extrinsically, one could picture the proceedings as follows: A funeral procession passes by the hero, and he is seized by the complete misery and abject sorrow of the world, with all its lacerating contrasts and ghastly irony. The external inspiration came from a children's fairy tale illustration, "The Hunter's Funeral Procession," in which animals of the forest in farcical postures accompany the coffin of the deceased hunter to the grave. The opening children's tune, "Bruder Martin" (known to us as "Frère Jacques"), is transformed into a minor-mode funeral march introduced by a solo string bass—an unheard-of audacity at the time. According to Mahler, this music should be imagined as though played torpidly by a miserable provincial band. In the midst of it, we hear the coarseness and banality of the world in the sounds of an intermingling Bohemian amateur ensemble. The movement's placid "trio" interlude is, once again, directly derived from Mahler's Wayfarer cycle—in this case from the final song, at the point where the poetry, which is Mahler's own, welcomes death as release from turmoil:

On the street stands a linden tree,
There for the first time I rested in sleep!
Under the linden tree!
It scattered its blossoms over me.
Then I knew not how life goes on,
Everything was good again!
Everything! Love and sorrow!
And world and dream!

The irony becomes especially sharp after the interlude, when the funeral band returns from the burial and strikes up the customary "merry tune," which here cuts through to the marrow. This bizarre music either completely baffled or totally outraged early audiences. Yet the more savvy of Mahler's contemporaries—as well audiences of the later 20th century—came to recognize it as one of Mahler's boldest steps in the expansion of musical expressivity.

Dall' Inferno ("Out of Hell") immediately follows, like the sudden, terrifying scream of a heart wounded to the quick: The hero, according to Mahler, is abandoned to the most fearful struggle with all the sorrow of the world. Again and again, when he seems to have raised himself above destiny and to have become master of it, he is hit on the head by Fate, as also is the motive of victory with him. Only first in death does he achieve the victory, having conquered himself and his lost illusions (which are evoked by the return of themes from previous movements, as though the sun suddenly emerged after a stormy night). He rises anew and triumphs because he has succeeded in creating his own inner world, which neither life nor death can take away from him. Then follows the magnificent victory chorale!

The meaning of this "victory in death" may initially seem obscure. Mahler himself later admitted that "the true, loftier solution" to the struggle of the First comes about only in his Second Symphony, which "grows directly out of the First."

© 2010 Stephen E. Hefling

More Information:

It is surprising to think that these pieces were written just a few years apart. Brahms, composing in 1878 for his great friend, violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, is clearly rooted in 19th-century traditions. Only six years later, Mahler opens his symphony with an astonishingly long sustained chord, which belies the drama and urgency to come. His music has an air of discovery that looks toward an unknown future.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, Music Director and Conductor
Manfred Honeck, Music Director and Conductor

In January 2007, after several highly successful guest appearances leading the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck was appointed its ninth Music Director, and began this position at the start of the 2008–2009 season. In addition to his appointment in Pittsburgh, Mr. Honeck was music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2006 and, in 2007, assumed the Music Director post of the Staatsoper Stuttgart. Beginning in September 2008, Mr. Honeck became Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.

In 1996, Mr. Honeck began a three-year stint as one of three main conductors of the MDR Sinfonieorchester in Leipzig, and in 1997, he served as music director of the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. A highly successful tour of Europe with the Oslo-Filharmonien marked the beginning of a close collaboration with this orchestra, which consequently appointed him principal guest conductor, a post he held from 1998 to 2004.

Manfred Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, an experience that heavily influenced his conducting and gave it a distinctive stamp. Mr. Honeck commenced his conducting career as assistant to Claudio Abbado at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in Vienna. Subsequently, he was engaged from 1991 to 1996 by the Opernhaus Zürich, where he won the prestigious European Conductor’s Award in 1993.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Honeck has worked with such major international orchestras as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Mr. Honeck has conducted at such major venues as the Semperoper in Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and Royal Opera of Copenhagen, as well as at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and the Salzburg Festival. He appears regularly at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, where he led a concert performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with an international cast in 2009. Mr. Honeck has also been Artistic Director of the International Concerts Wolfegg summer music series in Germany for more than 15 years.



Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been an essential part of Pittsburgh’s cultural landscape for more than 100 years. Known for its artistic excellence, the PSO has a rich history of featuring the world’s finest conductors and musicians, as well as a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. This tradition was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck assumed the position of Music Director.

Heading the list of internationally recognized conductors to have led the PSO is Victor Herbert, music director between 1898 and 1904, who influenced the orchestra’s early development. Preceding Herbert was Frederic Archer (1896 to 1899), the ensemble’s first conductor. The orchestra’s solidification as an American institution took place in the late 1930s under the direction of Otto Klemperer. Conductors prior to Klemperer were Emil Paur (1904 to 1910), Elias Breeskin (1926 to 1930), and Antonio Modarelli (1930 to 1937). From 1938 to 1948, under the dynamic directorship of Fritz Reiner, the orchestra embarked on a new phase of its history, making its first international tour and its first commercial recording.

The PSO’s standard of excellence was maintained and enhanced through the inspired leadership of William Steinberg during his quarter-century as music director between 1952 and 1976. André Previn (1976 to 1984) led the orchestra to new heights through tours, recordings, and television, including the PBS series Previn and the Pittsburgh. Lorin Maazel began his relationship with the PSO in 1984 as music consultant, but later served as a highly regarded music director from 1988 to 1996. As music director from 1997 to 2004, Mariss Jansons furthered the artistic growth of the orchestra; upon his departure, the PSO created an innovative leadership model with artistic advisor Sir Andrew Davis, principal guest conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier, and endowed guest conductor chair Marek Janowski. These three conductors formed the primary artistic leadership for the orchestra until January 2007, when the PSO selected Honeck to take the reins at the start of the 2008–2009 season.

With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900, the PSO continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest orchestras. With more than 34 international tours, including 18 European tours, eight trips to the Far East, and two to South America, the PSO was the first American orchestra to perform at the Vatican in January 2004 for the late Pope John Paul II. For their most recent tour in September 2009, the orchestra toured Europe with stops in Essen and Bonn, Germany, before closing the prestigious Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.

The orchestra also enjoys an equally distinguished record of domestic tours, which over the years have included concerts in all of America’s major cities and music centers, including frequent performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Starting with the release of its first commercial recording in 1941, the PSO has made hundreds of critically acclaimed recordings available on the PentaTone, EMI, Angel, CBS, Philips, MCA, New World, Nonesuch, Sony Classical, and Telarc labels.

Anne-Sophie Mutter, Violin
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Violin

For three decades, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been one of the most acclaimed violin virtuosos of our time. Born in Rheinfelden in the state of Baden, Ms. Mutter launched her international career at the Lucerne Festival in 1976, and has since performed concerts in all the major music centers of Europe, North and South America, and Asia. In addition to performing major traditional works, she has continually treated her audiences to new and innovative repertoire, both in chamber music and concerted works. She also uses her popularity and renown for the benefit of numerous charity projects, and supports the development of young, exceptionally talented musicians.

On sabbatical in the fall of 2009, Ms. Mutter returned to the stage in January 2010 with recitals featuring the Brahms sonatas in Abu Dhabi and Paris; she will also perform these works on a spring tour in China, Taiwan, and Japan. Other engagements this season include concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck in Paris, Luxembourg, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna; a 12-concert European recital tour featuring sonatas by Debussy, Brahms, and Mendelssohn; a residency at the Rheingau Festival; and performances of Sofia Gubaidulina's concerto In tempus praesens in Baden-Baden, St. Petersburg, and Moscow with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev.

Ms. Mutter's recordings have won many awards, including the German Record Prize, the Record Academy Prize, the Grand Prix du Disque, the International Record Prize, and several Grammy Awards. On the occasion of Mozart's 250th birthday, Ms. Mutter recorded all of the composer's major compositions for violin on the Deutsche Grammophon label on both CD and DVD, for which she won Monde de la Musique and Record Geijutsu awards.

In 2008, Ms. Mutter established the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation to increase worldwide support for promising young musicians. She recently received the International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and the Leipzig Mendelssohn Prize. She is a bearer of the Order of Merit of the German Federal Republic First Class, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Great Austrian Order of Merit for Service to the Republic of Austria, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.