ProgrammeTuesday 2 February 2010 at 19.30 Oslo
Wednesday 3 February 2010 at 19.30 Copenhagen
Thursday 4 February 2010 at 20.00 Hamburg
Saturday 6 February 2010 at 19.30 Stockholm
Staatskapelle Dresden
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Soloist: Frank Peter Zimmermann
Concert Master: Kai Vogler
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op.77
Duration 38’
I Allegro non troppo
II Adagio
III Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace
Intermission
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Also sprach Zarathustra (Tone Poem, Op.30)
Duration 33’
Fabio Luisi regrets his cancel-
lation of the tour due to illness.
Nordic Concerts is grateful to
Neeme Järvi who has stepped in
on short notice.
The concert in Copenhagen
will be broadcast live on DR P2
(Danish radio).
The concert will be offered to
the EBU (European Broadcasting
Corporation).
Neeme Järvi
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The head of a musical dynasty, Maestro Neeme Järvi is
one of today’s most respected conductors. He conducts
many of the world’s most prominent orchestras and
works alongside soloists of the highest calibre. A pro-
lific recording artist, he has amassed a discography
of over 440 recordings. Recent and future seasons in-
clude engagements with the Berliner Philharmoniker,
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra de Paris,
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre de la Suisse
Romande, and the major orchestras of Scandinavia. In
the US he is regularly invited to conduct the Chicago
and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, the Philadelphia
Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra, Wa-
shington.
Over his long and highly successful career he has held
positions with orchestras across the world. He is cur-
rently Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest (The
Hague, Netherlands) and Conductor Laureate and Ar-
tistic Advisor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
He also holds the titles of Music Director Emeritus of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor
Emeritus of the National Orchestra of Sweden – Göte-
borgs Symfoniker, First Principal Guest Conductor
of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and Conductor
Laureate of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
From the 2010/11 season he will become Principal
Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orche-
stra.
Highlights of an impressive discography include cri-
tically acclaimed complete symphony cycles of Pro-
kofiev, Siblieus, Nielsen and Brahms. Neeme Järvi
has also championed less widely known composers
such as Wilhelm Stenhammar, Hugo Alfvén and Niels
Gade; and composers from his native Estonia inclu-
ding Rudolf Tobias, Eduard Tubin and Arvo Pärt. His
recent Chandos disc, Wagner: The Ring - An Orche-
stral Adventure (arranged by Henk de Vlieger), recei-
ved rave reviews; Edward Greenfield described it as
“an excellent disc” in Gramophone Magazine.
Many international accolades and awards have been
bestowed upon Neeme Järvi. In Estonia these inclu-
de an honorary doctorate from the Music Academy
of Estonia in Tallinn, and the Order of the National
Coat of Arms from the President of the Republic of
Estonia, Mr. Lennart Meri. The mayor of Tallinn pre-
sented Maestro Järvi with the city’s first-ever ceremo-
nial sash and coat of arms insignia, and he has been
named one of the ‘Estonians of the Century’. He has
also received the Commander of the North Star Order
from King Karl Gustav XVI of Sweden.
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F I R S T H O T E L SSCANDINAVIA’S ON BEAT HOTELS
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Frank Peter Zimmermann
the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Manfred Hon-
eck and the Staatskapelle Dresden / Fabio Luisi.
Frank Peter Zimmermann has given world premieres
of 3 violin concertos: in 2009 the violin concerto no. 3
“Juggler in Paradise” by Augusta Read Thomas with
the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and
Andrey Boreyko; in 2007 the violin concerto “The Lost
Art of Letter Writing” by Brett Dean, who received the
2009 Grawemeyer Award for this composition, with
the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by
the composer; and in 2003 the violin concerto ‘en
sourdine’ by Matthias Pintscher with the Berlin Phil-
harmonic Orchestra and Peter Eötvös.
Frank Peter Zimmermann was awarded the ‘Premio
del Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena 1990’. In
April 1994 he received the important Rheinischer Kul-
turpreis 1994 and in October 2002 the Musikpreis of
the city of Duisburg. On 21 January 2008 he received
the “Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse der Bundesre-
publik Deutschland”.
Frank Peter Zimmermann plays a Stradivarius from
1711, which once belonged to Fritz Kreisler, and which
is kindly sponsored by the WestLB AG.
Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, Frank Peter Zim-
mermann started playing the violin when he was 5
years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at
the age of 10. After finishing his studies with Valery
Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers in
1983, Frank Peter Zimmermann has been performing
with all major orchestras in the world, collaborating
on these occasions with the world’s most renowned
conductors. His many concert engagements take him
to all major concert venues and international music
festivals in Europe, the United States, Japan, South
America and Australia.
Highlights during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons
include(d) engagements with a.o. the Berlin Philhar-
monic Orchestra / Bernard Haitink, the Vienna Phil-
harmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle, the Royal Con-
certgebouw Orchestra / Bernard Haitink, the Boston
Symphony Orchestra / Christoph von Dohnányi, the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez (includ-
ing a concert at Carnegie Hall, New York), the New
York Philharmonic Orchestra / Alan Gilbert (includ-
ing a Far East tour), the London Symphony Orchestra
/ Daniel Harding, the Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel
Barenboim, the orchestra of the NDR Hamburg / Chris-
toph von Dohnanyi (including a tour to China), the
Philharmonia Orchestra / Christoph von Dohnanyi,
as a «Strauss orchestra». Many other famous compo-
sers have written works either dedicated to the orche-
stra or first performed in Dresden, including Vivaldi,
Bach, Schumann, Wagner, Liszt, Hindemith, Weill,
or more recently, Matthus, Zimmermann and Rihm.
In 2007 Fabio Luisi reaffirmed this tradition by intro-
ducing an annually-appointed «Capell-Compositeur».
Following on from Isabel Mundry and Bernhard Lang,
the composer-in-residence for 2009|2010 will be the
British composer Rebecca Saunders. Today the Staats-
kapelle performs around 260 operas and ballets each
season in the Semper Opera House, in addition to
50 symphonic and chamber concerts. The orchestra
also holds its own concert series in Dresden’s Frauen-
kirche. A busy touring schedule regularly brings the
ensemble to the great music centres of Europe, Asia
and the USA, while long-term residencies at Vienna’s
Musikverein and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in
Paris mean that audiences there can enjoy the Sta-
atskapelle several times each year. From the early
1920s the Staatskapelle’s outstanding reputation as an
opera and concert orchestra has been documented by
numerous recordings, including now legendary per-
formances with famous conductors and soloists.
On 22 September 2008 the Staatskapelle Dresden ce-
lebrated its 460th jubilee. Founded by Prince Elector
Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, it is one of the oldest or-
chestras in the world and steeped in tradition. A lea-
ding ensemble throughout various musical eras, the
Kapelle is in fact unique in having been in continuous
existence for over four and a half centuries.
Distinguished conductors have helped shape the de-
velopment of this one-time court orchestra, including
Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von
Weber and Richard Wagner, for whom the ensemble
was his «miraculous harp». The list of prominent
conductors of the last 100 years includes Ernst von
Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph
Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt San-
derling, Herbert Blomstedt, Giuseppe Sinopoli and
Bernard Haitink. Fabio Luisi, music director from
2007, is now in charge of both Saxon State Opera and
the Staatskapelle Dresden. Sir Colin Davis has been
the orchestra’s conductor laureate since 1990. Richard
Strauss and the Staatskapelle were closely linked for
almost 70 years. Nine of the composer’s operas were
premiered in Dresden (including «Salome», «Elektra»
and «Der Rosenkavalier») while Strauss’s «Alpine
Symphony» was dedicated to the Staatskapelle. In fact,
the ensemble has retained until today its reputation
AboutStaatskapelle Dresden
Staatskapelle Dresden / www.semperoper.de/de/staatskapelle/
Together with Fabio Luisi, the orchestra is currently
recording a complete cycle of Richard Strauss’s orche-
stral works for Sony Music. The initial releases from
this project have been warmly received by classical
reviewers.
At a ceremony in Brussels in 2007 the Staatskapelle
became the first – and so far only – orchestra to be
awarded the «European Prize for the Preservation of
the World’s Musical Heritage». In December 2008 the
British classical music magazine «Gramophone» once
again voted the Staatskapelle one of the world’s top
ten orchestras.
Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory has been a Partner
of the Staatskapelle Dresden since 2008.
Matthias Creutziger Matthias Creutziger
Musicians
Music Director
Fabio Luisi
Conductor Laureate
Sir Colin Davis
Violin I
Kai Vogler Concert master
Michael Eckoldt
Jörg Faßmann
Michael Frenzel
Jörg Kettmann
Susanne Branny
Birgit Jahn
Martina Groth
Wieland Heinze
Henrik Woll
Anja Krauß
Roland Knauth
Anselm Telle
Franz Schubert
Renate Hecker
Andrea Karpinski
Cello
Isang Enders Concert master
Friedwart C. Dittmann Solo cello
Tom Höhnerbach
Martin Jungnickel
Uwe Kroggel
Andreas Priebst
Bernward Gruner
Jörg Hassenrück
Matthias Schreiber
Jakob Andert
Double bass
Christoph Anaker Solo Bass
Petr Popelka
Torsten Hoppe
Christoph Bechstein
Fred Weiche
Reimond Püschel
Thomas Grosche
Johannes Nalepa
Flute
Rozalia Szabo Solo Flute
Bernhard Kury
Jens-Jörg Becker
Tina Vorhofer
Violin II
Reinhard Krauß Concert master
Matthias Meißner
Annette Thiem
Jens Metzner
Ulrike Scobel
Olaf-Torsten Spies
Beate Prasse
Mechthild von Ryssel
Alexander Ernst
Emanuel Held
Martin Fraustadt
Stanko Madić
Johanna Fuchs
Steffen Gaitzsch
Viola
Michael Neuhaus Solo viola
Andreas Schreiber
Michael Horwath
Michael Schöne
Uwe Jahn
Ulrich Milatz
Ralf Dietze
Susanne Neuhaus
Juliane Böcking
Irena Krause
Eva Maria Knauer
Reinald Ross
Oboe
Céline Moinet Solo Oboe
Andreas Lorenz
Volker Hanemann
Albrecht Krauß
Clarinet
Johannes Gmeinder Solo Clarinet
Egbert Esterl
Jan Seifert
Christian Dollfuß
Bassoon
Thomas Eberhardt Solo Bassoon
Hannes Schirlitz
Joachim Huschke
Andreas Börtitz
Horn
Jochen Ubbelohde Solo Horn
Robert Langbein Solo Horn
Harald Heim
Julius Rönnebeck
Miklós Takács
Klaus Gayer
Trumpet
Mathias Schmutzler Solo Trumpet
Siegfried Schneider
Volker Stegmann
Gerd Graner
Trombone
Tobias Schiessler Solo Trombone
Jürgen Umbreit
Frank van Nooy
Tuba
Hans-Werner Liemen
Jens-Peter Erbe
Timpani
Bernhard Schmidt
Percussion
Christian Langer
Frank Behsing
Stefan Seidl
Harp
Vicky Müller Solo Harp
Astrid von Brück Solo Harp
Organ
Jobst Schneiderat
It was at Pörtschach on the Wörthersee, on one of
those summer trips that lesser men might have tre-
ated as a holiday, that Brahms completed his Violin
Concerto. At 45 years of age and thoroughly experi-
enced in handling large instrumental forces, he had
evolved an orchestral sound so individual that any
Brahms score declared its authorship to the ear in a
matter of seconds – a sound that emphasises warmth
and richness far more than brilliance. In attempting a
violin concerto he was doubtless seeking to solve the
problems of inter-relationship between solo instru-
ment and orchestra not only from the personal stand-
point of his own method of composition but perhaps
in a manner that had not been satisfactorily achieved
before.
Fortunately for himself, us, and the music, Brahms
embarked upon this concerto before the personal
breach that temporarily blighted his friendship with
Joseph Joachim in the 1880s. (The Hungarian musi-
cian was having marital problems and Brahms undi-
plomatically took Mrs Joachim’s side in the dispute).
Joachim, two years older than Brahms, was the out-
standing violinist of his time and a not inconsiderable
composer himself. Thus the habit of exchanging works
for mutual discussion and criticism that the two men
had kept up since their first meeting in 1853 was more
than ever valuable to Brahms when he tackled the pro-
blems of solo writing and balance inherent in the vio-
lin concerto medium. He was a gifted pianist but no
violinist. In addition to suggesting a number of chan-
ges in the solo part and giving the first performance
on New Year’s Day, 1879 (in the Leipzig Gewandhaus
with the composer conducting) Joachim, as the work’s
dedicatee, set his seal on the work by contributing a
cadenza that is still played more often than the later
efforts of Kreisler, Auer, Busoni and Tovey.
Every now and then some well-intentioned commenta-
tor tells us that the Brahms concertos are ‘really sym-
phonies for solo instrument and orchestra’. Tone and
context usually suggest that the observation is meant
as a compliment: but the compliment is a left-handed
one. To appreciate Brahms’s Violin Concerto for what
it is – with Beethoven’s and Elgar’s, one of just three
supreme examples of the medium in its true classi-
cal shape – we should rid ourselves of the notion that
concertos are concerned primarily with technical dis-
play. The opening of Brahms’s concerto sets the scene
with an orderly presentation of the thematic material
through the orchestra; then when its turn comes, the
solo instrument is able to establish its primacy by
means of varying and extending the orchestra’s ideas,
introducing new ones of its own, and extending the
the oboe accompanied by octave figures for the violin
is exquisitely accomplished, and the contrast to the
woodwind sound is beautifully pointed when later
the violin picks up the melody over pizzicato strings;
at the end the solo soars quietly to the heights to con-
clude the movement.
The finale is notable for its extrovert Hungarian
flavour. At the outset the violin exults in a bold tune
tailor-made for the instrument, the orchestra proving
just as enthusiastic and seizing upon it whenever it
gets the chance. The secondary theme, even more
energetic, is first heard in rising octaves from the solo
instrument. After a recall of the main theme Brahms
interpolates a contrasting lyrical central episode, in ¾
time, again led off by the violin but with airy wood-
wind in attendance. Both the first and second main
themes come in for extensive development, and there
is at one point a fascinating passage for the violin alo-
ne beginning with a hint of polyphony: the orchestral
violins soon enter gently, however, as if to remind the
violin that this is a romantic concerto. Ultimately the
music arrives at a dramatic pause suggestive of a ca-
denza; but it is only the briefest flourish, and the solo
violin straightaway sets off into an excitingly rhyth-
mic coda, now faster than before, but again supported
to the hilt by the orchestra.
music’s tonal range. A prime example comes when the
soloist, having already held the attention through the
stratospheric flights that follow its first forceful ap-
pearance on the scene, offers a master-stoke halfway
through the solo exposition: earlier on a little rising fi-
gure heard on woodwind and strings was abruptly cut
off; now, when this figure reappears, the violin seizes
on it and launches on a glorious new stream of melody
like an ethereal waltz. Also striking are the bold vio-
lin chords over the octave passage derived from the
first subject. As might be expected, development and
recapitulation follow in orderly pattern, and when all
the material has been thoroughly explored a forceful
tutti prepares us for the cadenza. This resolves into
an ethereal version of the first theme, which furnishes
the material for a short coda.
The principal theme of the Adagio - music that is very
the essence of this composer in romantic mood - is
scored initially for woodwind and horns alone (no
strings), with the first oboe carrying the long and me-
morable principal melody. When the violin at last en-
ters it is with a thoughtful and highly ornate version
of this theme. The ornamentation continues in the
contrasting middle section, where the feeling is brie-
fly more dramatic though the music never becomes
louder than forte. The return of the main theme on
Johannes Brahms(1833-1897)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op.77
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus spake Zarathustra)
was the fifth of the seven symphonic tone-poems that
Strauss completed between 1886-1898; it was compo-
sed between February and August 1896, and received
its first performance in Frankfurt-am-Main on 27
November that year with the composer conducting.
The work is based on the book by the German poet
and philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-
1900) in which he expounds his philosophy of the
Superman, and in which Zarathustra (the Zoroaster
of the ancient Greeks) delivers his pronouncements
on a wide variety of subjects during his periodic re-
turns to his fellow men from his solitary abode among
wild beasts. In a programme-note for the first Berlin
performance in December 1898 Strauss (who added
under the title at the head of the score the qualifica-
tion ‘Freely after Friedr.Nietzsche’) wrote: ‘I did not
intend to write philosophical music or to portray Ni-
etzsche’s great work in music. I meant to convey by
means of music an idea of the evolution of the human
race from its origin, through the various phases of
its development, religious as well as scientific, up to
Nietzsche’s idea of Superman. The whole symphonic
poem is intended as my homage to Nietzsche’s genius,
which found its greatest exemplification in his book
Also Sprach Zarathustra’. The form of the work is ne-
cessarily free, and corresponds to none of the sonata,
rondo or variation designs of its companion works; it
can most simply be described as a series of eight epi-
sodes (each marked in the score by a chapter heading
from Nietzsche’s book) framed by a prologue and an
epilogue.
On the title-page of his score Strauss quotes Zarat-
hustra’s invocation to the sun and the prologue is, fit-
tingly, a musical portrayal of sunrise, beginning with
a low pedal C which has much the same primeval
significance as the E flat that opens Das Rheingold at
the commencement of Wagner’s Ring cycle. Trumpets
intone the basic ‘Nature’ theme (the notes C, G, C), the
orchestra responds dramatically with thundering tim-
pani and the section ends in an imposing climax for
full orchestra and organ on the chord of C major. The
first episode, which is reached after a short bridge-
passage, is entitled Von den Hinterweltern (literally
‘Of the Backworldsman’ but perhaps better rendered
as ‘Of the Dwellers in the Outer World’ ): its beginning
with the plainchant melody of the ‘Credo in unum
deum’ on the horns is suggestive of the restrictive
dogma of the church, which limits the imagination
of the simple-minded beings named in the title; it is
followed by a theme for divided strings and organ (the
easy comfort of a benevolent, man-devised religion).
The second episode, Von der grossen Sehnsucht (‘Of
the Great Longing’), depicts the yearning for emanci-
on the lowest instruments with a subject that incor-
porates the ‘Nature’ theme with the motif of human
aspiration, as well as including all twelve notes of
the chromatic scale within its four bars. In the sixth
episode, Der Genesende (‘The Convalescent’), Zarat-
hustra emerges as though cleansed and reborn after
his hitherto futile searches after truth; at last he per-
ceives his true mission in the world. After a great C
major chord on the full orchestra the ‘aspiring’ mo-
tif gradually gathers energy and impetus, and a long
and highly virtuosic preparatory passage leads into
the seventh episode, Das Tanzlied (‘The Dance-song’)
where Zarathustra’s dance to the cheerful strains of
a Viennese-style waltz is led by a solo violin whose
music grows out of the ‘Nature’ theme. The ‘satiety’
motif becomes increasingly insistent towards the end
of this long section, whose gaiety is finally dispelled
by the tolling of the midnight bell. Now comes the
Nachtwanderlied (‘The Song of the Night Wanderer’),
the eighth and last episode and the climax of the tone
poem. But Strauss is not done: in a mellow epilogue
of considerable beauty the theme of aspiration emer-
ges once again in lush B minor harmonies and other
themes are recalled, though in the final chords im-
mutable Nature once more asserts herself dimly but
unmistakably in the music’s fundamental key of C
major.
pation from superstition and religious blindness and
an aspiration towards spiritual freedom. A sugary
theme grows out of the ‘aspiring’ motif in upward-lea-
ping arpeggios already suggested by pizzicato lower
strings at the beginning of the previous episode. The
great ‘Nature’ theme is subsequently combined with
this (the conflict between Man’s desire for self-expres-
sion and the force of Nature) and provides the first in-
stance of the polytonal element that is an underlying
feature of the whole work; the church is represented
by the opening notes of the plainchant ‘Magnificat’ on
the organ. The ‘aspiring’ motif finally triumphs, rea-
ches a peak in a climax of tremendous orchestral po-
wer, and is continued in the surging third episode Von
den Freuden und Leidenschaften (‘Of Joys and Passi-
ons’), a new and independent section giving free rein
to the sentiments of the title – albeit in music admit-
tedly on a more sensual plane than that of Nietzsche’s
writing. At its climax the trombones thunder out an
important new theme, the motif of satiety. The next
section, Grablied (‘Dirge’) provides a sombre contrast,
with its tender oboe melody and the ’yearning’ motif
together conjuring a nostalgic atmosphere that echoes
Zarathustra’s expression of regret at ‘the fleeting visi-
ons and apparitions of my youth’ .
The fifth episode, Von der Wissenschaft (‘Of lea-
rning’) is a deliberately academic fugue beginning
Richard Strauss(1864-1949)
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Tone Poem, Op.30)