ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904)
Carnival Overture (1891)
Bristling with spirit and energy, Carnival is the second of Dvorák’s three concert overtures, collectively called “Nature, Life, and Love” (the other two are In Nature’s Realm and Othello). The running thread is a theme representing the life force, which the composer called “nature,” and which has the power “to create and sustain life, but also, in its negative phase, could destroy it,” according to John Clapham’s study of the composer. Dvorák premiered his triptych in April 1892 at a sort of farewell concert in Prague, prior to leaving for America to become director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. In October of that year he led another performance of these overtures at Carnegie Hall—his inaugural appearance in the United States. Dvorák’s program for Carnival reads: “The lonely, contemplative wanderer reaches the city at nightfall, where a carnival is in full swing. On every side is heard the clangor of instruments, mingled with shouts of joy and the unrestrained hilarity of people giving vent to their feelings in their songs and dance tunes.” Dvorák’s vibrant music depicts this joyful scene with exhilarating orchestral sonorities.

ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904)
Cello Concerto (1895)
This grand romantic concerto was composed during Dvorák’s American sojourn, between 1892 and 1895. In much of the music of this period, the composer’s homesickness for Bohemia manifests itself in references to his native land. But there are other fascinating things to listen for. After the orchestral introduction, when the cello finally enters, it creates a powerful presence. Dvorák had not considered the cello as a viable solo instrument, fearing that certain registers might get lost against the fabric of a full symphony orchestra. But he solved the problem of balance by scaling back the orchestral accompaniment at times, or having the cello play triple stops (i.e., three notes at the same time), or having the cello sing in a higher, more penetrating register. In the Adagio second movement he memorializes Josefina Kaunitzová (née Cermaková), the 16-year old student with whom he had been in love but who had turned down his marriage proposal (Dvorák later married her sister Anna.). When he learned that Josefina had become very ill, he paid tribute to her by quoting one of his own songs that was a favorite of hers: “Let me wander alone with my dreams” marked molto espressivo. Josefina died shortly after he returned to Bohemia, and Dvorák reworked the Finale to reprise her song in the cello’s most ethereal high range. The composer described the magnificent last movement to his publisher: “The Finale closes gradually diminuendo, like a sigh—with reminiscences of the first and second movements—the solo dies down to pianissimo—then swells up again and the last bars are taken up by the orchestra and the whole concludes in a stormy mood.” When Brahms, who had long championed Dvorák, saw the score of the concerto, he enthused: “Why on earth didn’t I know one could write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one long ago!” Dvorák’s fruitful American period saw the creation of some of his most beloved and beautiful works: the “New World” Symphony, his ravishing “American” String Quartet, and this Cello Concerto. At the urging of his friend Hanuš Wihan in Bohemia he had begun but abandoned such a concerto twenty years prior; but in 1894, when he heard the renowned American cellist and composer Victor Herbert premiere his own Cello Concerto No. 2 with the New York Philharmonic, he felt inspired and began composing his own concerto later that year. Intense, passionate, charged with emotion, and of symphonic proportions, this concerto is considered by many the greatest ever composed for the instrument.

ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 7 (1885)
When the London Philharmonic Society invited Dvorák to conduct his Symphony No. 6, his success was such that the organization also commissioned him to write a new symphony. He wrote to a friend: “My new symphony must be such as to make a stir in the world”—a goal that the Seventh fulfilled magnificently. Dvorák had been undergoing a difficult time due to pressure from his publisher Simrock, the critic Eduard Hanslick, and others, to abandon his musical allegiance to his native Bohemia—even to use the German form of his name Anton, instead of Antonín—in order to be viewed more favorably in Vienna. But Dvorák would have none of it. Defending the nationalism in his music, Dvorák wrote to Simrock “…an artist also has a fatherland in which he must have firm faith and for which he must have a warm heart.” It was perhaps his response to, in effect, being asked to forsake his musical roots that infused the Seventh Symphony with both a melancholy and decidedly Czech spirit. While he did not quote any folk songs verbatim, their rhythms and cadences are certainly there. And in the third movement, listen for the exciting sounds of the “furiant,” an aptly named Czech dance. Many consider this symphony to be Dvorák’s most perfect—a work of stunning beauty, drama, and melodic riches. And when, at the end, D major triumphs over D minor, it’s like being embraced by sunlight.

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere–NewYork Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; and he conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series — a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in February 2008 — the first performance there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world. Other recent tours have included Asia 2008 — to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in the fall of 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world’s operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993–2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972–82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965–71). He is an honorary member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. On February 17, 2009, he will be named a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the government of France.

A second-generation American, born in Paris, Mr. Maazel was raised and educated in the United States. He took his first violin lesson at age five, and first conducting lesson at seven. Between ages 9 and 15 he conducted most of the major American orchestras. In 1953 he made his European conducting debut in Catania, Italy.

Mr. Maazel is also an accomplished composer. His opera, 1984, received its world premiere on May 3, 2005, at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was revived in the 2007–08 season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and has been released on DVD by Decca.

YO-YO MA
Cello, born in 1955 in Paris, France
Is there anyone whose love of music is more infectious than Yo-Yo Ma’s? This charismatic cellist has been a cultural beacon for decades. Young and old flock to his sold-out concerts, coming away moved, delighted, and inspired. Just a sampling of his activities is dizzying: performing a Vivaldi concerto, playing music from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the Academy Awards, appearing on the soundtrack of the film Memoirs of a Geisha (for which he, Itzhak Perlman, and John Williams won Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score), collaborating with colleagues and kids, and exploring music as a way of communicating among the most diverse people around the globe. And there’s his high-profile “Silk Road Project” of outreach programs, about which he enthuses: “In my musical journey I have had the opportunity to learn from a wealth of different musical voices—from the compassion and grace of Bach’s cello suites, to the ancient Celtic fiddle traditions alive in Appalachia, to the soulful strains of the bandoneón of Argentina’s tango cafés.” And oh yes—People Magazine chose him as one of the 50 sexiest men in 2001. To Yo-Yo Ma, it’s all in a life’s work. He was born in Paris of Chinese parents—his father Hiao-Tsiun Ma, had been a violinist and a professor in China, who left his native country for Paris in 1936. His mother, Marina, a singer from Hong Kong and former student of Ma’s father, came to Paris in 1949, where they married. Yo-Yo Ma took up the cello when just a little boy. He had started out, he says, “playing the violin, but I wasn’t any good at it. Then, one day I saw a double bass, and it was so big, and I was four, and that was incredibly exciting to me. I wanted to play the bass, so my parents and I compromised.” The great cellist told Harvard Magazine that his father taught him and his sister French, Chinese history, and calligraphy, and required his son to memorize two measures of Bach per day—with the result that Yo-Yo could play a Bach suite when he was just a toddler. When Yo-Yo Ma was seven, the family moved to New York. At age nine, he began his studies with the legendary cellist Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, and graduated from Harvard in 1976 with a degree in the humanities.

“The most popular artist in classical music today.” Boston Globe

“Yo-Yo Ma is the greatest...cellist today. Everything he touches...he turns to gold...gorgeous, almost voluptuous playing.” Boston Herald