OLIVER KNUSSEN (born in 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland)
Violin Concerto, Op. 30 (2002)
Third in a line of musicians in his family, Oliver Knussen began composing at around age six and came to international attention at age 15. Not only was his First Symphony scheduled for its premiere in 1968, but when conductor István Kertész fell ill, young Knussen stepped onto the podium of Royal Albert Hall to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra (where coincidentally his father had been principal double bass). His career as both conductor and composer have placed him in the forefront of today’s music makers and his wide and varied creations—from chamber music, to symphonies, concertos, and even two children’s operas composed in collaboration with and using the texts of Maurice Sendak—have received both critical and audience acclaim. This Violin Concerto was written for Pinchas Zukerman as a joint commission of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with the latter giving its world premiere, Pinchas Zukerman as soloist and the composer conducting. It has enjoyed many performances worldwide, always to great acclaim. As The Rough Guide to Classical Music stated, Knussen “is one of British music’s great originals, and a rare example of a contemporary composer who has succeeded in writing music that is at once thoroughly modern but also shamelessly enjoyable. Knussen’s combination of artfulness and accessibility informs every aspect of his music. It is technically complex and often fiendishly challenging for performers, but also vivid and direct in its appeal. It is painstakingly crafted (Knussen is a notorious perfectionist, and a famously slow composer) but in performance sounds captivatingly effortless and spontaneous.” The Concerto is cast in three interconnected movements (Recitative, Aria, Gigue) and is placed in the highest register of the violin. The composer comments: “At times the violinist resembles a tightrope walker, progressing along a (decidedly unstable) high wire strung across the span that separates the opening and closing sounds of the piece.” The concerto begins and ends on the violin’s high E—its voice emerging from the sound of the tubular bells. Knussen creates exquisitely rich music that is immediate, approachable, and thoroughly enjoyable—all the while challenging the soloist to stay on that tightrope.

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 (1901-1904; rev. till 1911)
For sheer drama, lyricism, and exquisite melody, nothing surpasses Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, a tour de force for orchestra. Its genesis was a difficult one, however, inspired and moved forward by a brush with death (in February 1901 the composer suffered a near-fatal hemorrhage) and finding the love of his life, Alma Schindler. She was a celebrated beauty... flirtatious, intelligent, self-confident. Her subsequent serial affairs with and marriages to a veritable Who’s Who of artists and writers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is well known (including Alexander Zemlinsky, Gustav Klimt, and Walter Gropius). Mahler and Alma met in November 1901, married in March 1902, and had their first child later that same year. The Fifth Symphony was composed mainly in 1902 at Maiernigg, the couple’s summer villa on Lake Wörth, but was not really finished till 1911. He worked in his “hut” in the woods and brought Alma his sketches; she copied orchestral parts and made suggestions—being a budding composer herself (though Mahler would not allow her to pursue this career after their wedding, saying that there could be but one composer in the family). The Fifth demonstrated a new direction in his creative expression—the first of his symphonies to be abstract music without obvious connections to songs. In the epic Trauermarsch (Funeral March), listen for trumpet fanfares reminiscent of the military bands of Mahler’s childhood. The second movement, marked “Tempestuously. With great vehemence,” includes raw, intense, demonic music, calmed down with a hymn-like chorale. The Scherzo with its 819 bars is the center point of the work—massive, complex, polyphonic—the longest single movement Mahler ever composed. The achingly beautiful fourth movement Adagietto, radiantly scored for strings and harp, is the most well-known and is often played on its own. It feels like a resting place between the Scherzo and the manic Rondo-Finale.

Gustavo Dudamel is music director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and will become music director of Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 2009–10 season, as well as entering his tenth year as music director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. Mr. Dudamel’s 2008–09 season opened in October with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra tour of Europe. In November 2008 he toured the U.S. with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, bringing the ensemble to Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and Disney Hall in Los Angeles, followed by two weeks of subscription concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In December 2008 he takes the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra on a debut tour to Japan, China, and Korea. He will make additional appearances this season with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic, among others.

Born in 1981 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Mr. Dudamel studied violin at the Jacinto Lara Conservatory with José Luis Jiménez and, later, with José Francisco del Castillo at the Latin American Academy of Violin. In 1996 Mr. Dudamel began his conducting studies with Rodolfo Saglimbeni and that same year he was named music director of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. In 1999, in addition to assuming the music director position of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, he began conducting studies with José Antonio Abreu, that orchestra’s founder. In May 2007 Mr. Dudamel was awarded the Premio de la Latindad by the Union Latina, an honor given for outstanding contributions to Latin cultural life, which is presented by the 37 Latin American and African member states of the Union Latina organization. In 2008 the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra was granted Spain’s prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, given annually by the Principle Foundation of Asturias in Spain. Most recently, Mr. Dudamel was awarded the 2007 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Young Artists.

Gustavo Dudamel has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2005. His debut recording, of Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, was released worldwide in September 2006, and he received the 2007 Echo Award (Germany) for New Artist of the Year. His second recording with the orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, was released in May 2007, and was chosen as the only classical album on iTunes’s Next Big Thing. His third album, Fiesta, was released in May 2008 and is a collection of Latin American works. Mr. Dudamel made his New York Philharmonic debut in November 2007.

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN, violin, born in 1948 in Tel Aviv, Israel
Pinchas Zukerman has been a classical music phenomenon for some forty years. Growing up in Israel, he played recorder, then clarinet; but by the time he was eight, he was following in his father’s footsteps, taking up the violin. As a teen Pinchas Zukerman came to the United States to pursue his musical studies under the guidance and encouragement of Isaac Stern and Pablo Casals. “My brain became a sponge, soaking up everything I could. I’d sneak out of school and go to rehearsals or concerts, often several in one night.” He made his debut at Lincoln Center in 1969, and the rest is history. Since 1976 the much-admired and respected violinist, violist, conductor, and educator has been affiliated with the National Arts Centre of Canada in Ottawa—and, since 1998, as music director of its resident orchestra. He is deeply committed to enriching the Orchestra’s cultural involvement within the region, and, since his appointment, has taken an interest in virtually every aspect of Ottawa’s artistic community. He has introduced a new Acoustic Control System to the NAC’s Southam Hall, has been involved in national radio and television broadcasts, and has initiated the NAC Young Artists Program. The Conductors’ Program, launched in 2001, provides an opportunity for conductors to develop under the guidance of accomplished orchestra leaders, and the Zukerman Musical Instrument Fund works to acquire donated and new instruments for orchestral musicians. In the 2009-2010 he also marked his first season as principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic in London. His well over 100 recordings have garnered him 21 Grammy nominations and two awards.

“An aristocrat of the violin” New York Sun

“Youth sticks with some people… Zukerman seems the forever-young virtuoso: expressively resourceful, infectiously musical, technically impeccable, effortless. As usual, it was a joy to be in his musical company.” The Los Angeles Times

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