CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Staatskapelle Berlin

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 8:00 PM

“[Röschmann’s] silvery soprano, clear and ethereally pretty on top, has a startling quality of voluptuousness.”—New York Times

Following the cosmic vastness of Mahler’s Third Symphony, the Fourth Symphony occupies a very different world—one filled with songful, intimate music. Here Mahler’s spiritual journey takes the listener from everyday life to heavenly bliss, as told by an angel with a decidedly childlike perspective. The program opens with selections from Mahler’s song cycle, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn), some of whose melodies and ideas provided inspiration for his early symphonies.

Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 PM in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean, The Juilliard School.

Staatskapelle Berlin
Pierre Boulez, Conductor
Dorothea Röschmann, Soprano

MAHLER Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
·· Rheinlegendchen
·· Das irdische Leben
·· Verlor’ne Müh
·· Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen
·· Wer hat das Liedlein erdacht?
·· Lob des hohen Verstandes
MAHLER Symphony No. 4

Perspectives: Daniel Barenboim

Program Notes:

Mahler wrote the first three movements of his Fourth Symphony in the summers of 1899 and 1900. His original intention was not to create a full-fledged, four-movement symphony, but rather a “symphonic humoresque.” But by 1900 the conception had changed and grown considerably. A song Mahler had written in 1892 for soprano and piano was orchestrated and became the Symphony’s finale, the subject of which (a child’s view of heaven) is the goal to which the previous movements all aspire.

Only a split second is needed to identify the composition that opens with flutes playing even, repeated notes a fifth apart accompanied by jangling sleigh bells; nothing else sounds remotely like it. The good-natured, gemütlich first theme slides in with sunny radiance in the fourth bar, bringing to mind the composer’s comparison of the Symphony’s basic mood to “a sky of unbroken blue ... only occasionally does it grow dark with ghostly menace.&rdwuo; The basic tonality of the Symphony is G major, a key often associated with genial moods and folk song.

This movement proves to be one of Mahler’s most fertile in terms of thematic content. The first theme alone contains three separate elements (the smiling violin tune, a rising bass line, a few chuckles from the horn). A brief, jaunty, martial tune in the clarinets leads immediately into the yearning melody sung by cellos. A new mood is established by the woodwinds playing a perky, amusing, almost dance-like idea. Mahler then proceeds to incorporate this multitude of melodic strands into what Michael Steinberg calls a “game of interruptions, resumptions, extensions, reconsiderations, and unexpected combinations.”

The second movement (scherzo) portrays a dance of death of Freund Hein, a popular character in German fairy tales. His instrument is a country fiddle tuned a tone higher than normal in order to produce an unearthly, harsh sound. Mahler maintained a lifelong preoccupation with death, but this death dance is not really as harrowing an affair as other composers-or as Mahler himself-have elsewhere portrayed it. It is sinister, to be sure, but at the same time it also retains a sense of humor. Mahler described the effect as “a grisly, sudden feeling that comes over us, just as one is often panic-stricken in broad daylight in a sunlit forest. The scherzo is so mysterious, confused, and supernatural that your hair will stand on end when you hear it. But in the Adagio [Ruhevoll] to follow, where all this passes off, you will immediately see that it was not meant so seriously.” Two bucolic trios interrupt the dance, tempering its evil connotations and looking forward to the joys of a life in heaven.

The otherworldly serenity and ineffable beauty of the third movement bring us to the threshold of the heavenly life that awaits us in the finale. Mahler told his disciple, the conductor Bruno Walter, that his vision in this movement was that of a church sepulcher “showing a recumbent stone image of the deceased with his arms crossed in eternal sleep.” Mahler used the double variation form (developing two different melodic ideas in alternation), much as Beethoven had done in the Adagio of his Ninth Symphony. In a sudden outburst near the end of the movement, the full orchestra proclaims in brilliant colors a grandiose vision of heaven.

The fourth movement is relatively short, but it perfectly and exquisitely fulfills its mission of depicting a child’s view of heaven as a place of serene delight, simple joys, and quiet mystery. The child’s voice speaks to us in the words of a poem from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“Youth's Magic Horn”), a famous 19th-century collection of German folk poetry. Interspersed between the verses are brief reminders of earthly life (the Symphony’s opening flutes-and-bells motif is now transformed into a harshly aggressive figure), but each time the text returns us to comforting celestial visions. The final moments bring us to the realization that this music does not really end, but rather fades into the quietude of heavenly peace.

—Robert Markow
© The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Staatskapelle Berlin
Pierre Boulez, Conductor
With almost 450 years of tradition, Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Originally founded in 1570 as a court orchestra by Prince-Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg, and at first solely dedicated to carrying out musical services for the court, the ensemble expanded its activities with the founding of the Royal Court Opera in 1742 by Frederick the Great. Ever since, the orchestra has been closely tied to Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Many important musicians have conducted the orchestra: Gaspare Spontini, Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Felix von Weingartner, Richard Strauss, Erich Kleiber, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Franz Konwitschny, and Otmar Suitner are just a few of the conductors who have decidedly influenced the instrumental and interpretive culture of Staatskapelle Berlin. The works of Richard Wagner—who himself conducted the Königlich Preußische Hofkapelle in 1844 at the premiere of his Flying Dutchman and in 1876 during the preparations for the Berlin premiere of Tristan und Isolde—has represented a pillar of the repertoire of the Staatsoper and its orchestra for some time.

Since 1992, Daniel Barenboim has served as the orchestra’s general music director; in 2000 the orchestra named him “Conductor for Life.” He has led the orchestra throughout Europe, Israel, Japan, and China, as well as North and South America. Performances of Beethoven’s complete symphonies and piano concertos in Vienna, Paris, London, New York, and Tokyo; the symphony cycles of Schumann and Brahms, respectively; and the three-part performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle in Japan are some of the most outstanding events of recent years. As part of the Staatsoper’s Festtage 2007, the symphonies and orchestral songs of Gustav Mahler were performed under the batons of Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez at Berlin’s Philharmonie.

Staatskapelle Berlin was named Orchestra of the Year in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008 by the journal Opernwelt; in 2003 the orchestra was awarded the Furtwängler Prize. A constantly growing number of recordings in both the operatic and symphonic repertoires document the work of the orchestra: The 2002 recording of Beethoven symphonies was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque, the 2003 recording of Wagner’s Tannhäuser was awarded a Grammy, and the 2007 live recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony was awarded an Echo Prize.

In the Orchesterakademie, founded in 1997, young musicians gather professional experience in both opera and concert performance, mentored by members of the Staatskapelle. Furthermore, many Staatskapelle musicians volunteer at Musikkindergarten Berlin, an initiative founded by Daniel Barenboim. Staatskapelle members also dedicate themselves to working in chamber music formations, as well as in the ensemble Preußens Hofmusik, focusing on the Berlin music tradition from the 18th century. This rich musical activity can be experienced in several concert series held at the Staatsoper’s Apollo-Saal.

Pierre Boulez is one of the most important musical and intellectual figures of our time, currently serving as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus. He was named principal guest conductor of the CSO in March 1995, and served in that position until 2006 when he became Conductor Emeritus.

A native of Montbrison, France, Mr. Boulez pursued studies in piano, composition, and choral conducting at the Paris Conservatory. In 1953–1954, he founded the Concerts du Petit Marigny, a series dedicated to modern music, which later became the Domaine Musical. He subsequently was involved with musical analysis, and taught in Darmstadt, Germany, and at Basel University in Switzerland. In 1962–1963 he was a visiting professor at Harvard University, and in 1976 he became a professor at the Collège de France.

Mr. Boulez began his conducting career in 1958 with the Southwest Radio Orchestra in Baden-Baden, Germany. From 1969 to 1972 he was principal guest conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. In 1971 he became both chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and music director of the New York Philharmonic, a position he held until 1977.

Mr. Boulez’s difference of opinion about state intervention in the arts as espoused by André Malraux led him into voluntary exile for several years. He returned to France in 1974, when the government invited him to create and direct a music research center at the Centre Pompidou Centre. From the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique / Musique (IRCAM) sprang the Ensemble Intercontemporain, one of the world’s finest contemporary music ensembles. In 1991, Mr. Boulez resigned as conductor of the ensemble while continuing as its president.

The compositions of Pierre Boulez are widely performed, including Le Marteau sans maître, Pli selon pli, three piano sonatas, Eclat/Multiples, Le Visage nuptial, Répons, Notations, and … explosante-fixe … . He has also published five books about music. His awards include honorary doctorates from Leeds, Cambridge, Basel, and Oxford universities, among others; Commander of the British Empire; and Knight of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Mr. Boulez’s discography includes prize-winning recordings of Parsifal and Berg’s Lulu. He has 26 Grammy Awards to his credit.

Dorothea Röschmann, Soprano
Born in Flensburg, Germany, Dorothea Röschmann made a critically acclaimed debut at the 1995 Salzburg Festival as Susanna with Harnoncourt. She has since returned to the festival to sing Countess Almaviva, Ilia, Donna Elvira, Servilia, Nannetta, Pamina, and Vitellia, with such conductors as Abbado, Harding, Mackerras, and von Dohnányi.

At the Metropolitan Opera she has sung Susanna, Pamina, and Ilia with Levine. At the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, her roles have included Pamina and Fiordiligi with Sir Colin Davis and Countess Almaviva with Pappano. At the Vienna Staatsoper she has appeared as Susanna with Ozawa. With the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, she has sung Zerlina, Susanna, Ännchen, Drusilla, Almirena, Marzelline, Anne Trulove, and Rodelinda. She is also closely associated with the Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin, where her roles include Ännchen with Mehta; Nanetta with Abbado; Eva, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Susanna, Zerlina, Micäela, and Donna Elvira with Barenboim; and Elmira in Kaiser’s Croesus and the title role in Scarlatti’s Griselda, both with Jacobs. She has also appeared at Théâtre de la Monnaie (Brussels) as Norina and at the L’Opéra de Paris–Bastille
as Pamina.

Engagements this season include a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Donna Elvira, her role debut as Elsa (Lohengrin) at the Deutsche Staatsoper, and a return to the Salzburg Festival as Countess Almaviva. Her future engagements include returns to the L’Opéra de Paris and to the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera).

Ms. Röschmann’s recent concert appearances include the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; the Bayerischer Rundfunk and Concentus Musicus with Harnoncourt; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Sawallisch; the London Symphony Orchestra with Pappano; the Berlin Philharmonic with Rattle, Haitink, Harnoncourt, Jordan, and Barenboim; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Barenboim; the Munich Philharmonic with Levine; and the Cleveland Orchestra with Welser-Möst.

Her recital appearances include Antwerp, Lisbon, Madrid, Cologne, Brussels, New York, London, Vienna, and the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), as well as the Edinburgh, Munich, and Schwarzenberg festivals.