ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904)
The Golden Spinning Wheel (1896)
The Golden Spinning Wheel is the final of Dvorák’s four tone poems (or orchestral ballads, as he termed them) based on versified folk tales by Karel Jaromír Erben (1811-1870) in all their gruesomeness ( The Water Goblin, The Wild Dove, and The Noonday Witch were the others.) The story tells of a young king who falls in love on first sight with Dornicka, a peasant girl at her spinning wheel in a sheltering cottage. Learning this, Dornicka’s evil stepmother plots to substitute her own daughter. They take the unsuspecting girl into the forest, murder and dismember her, and send the false girl—apparently the spitting image of Dornicka. (Suspension of disbelief is required.) The stepmother tells her daughter to hide Dornicka’s feet, hands, and eyes at the castle. An old man wandering about in the forest finds the victim’s remains in a grotto, and hopes to retrieve all of Dornicka’s parts and restore her to life. So he convinces the false bride to exchange a golden spinning wheel for her feet, a golden distaff for her hands, and a golden spindle for her eyes. The king returns from the war and asks his false bride to spin on the golden spinning wheel; when she does, the wheel sings about the treachery of the two murderers and then falls silent forever. The king rushes to the forest, and, finding Dornicka alive, claims her as his true bride. The evil-doers are thrown to the wolves. Dvorák’s music follows both the narrative as well as the speech patterns of the Czech language. Listen for the characters’ identifying musical themes weaving their way through the drama: the young king is portrayed by galloping brass fanfares, Dornicka by the luminous sound of the flute, the evil stepmother by the bassoon. And at the end, when violins soar, there is no question that the young couple will live happily ever after.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Violin Concerto No. 3 (1880)
Saint-Saëns’s Third Violin Concerto was composed for, dedicated to, and premiered by one of the 19th century’s great violin virtuosos, Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908). The two men had met when the prodigy was just a teen and Saint-Saëns was in his mid-20s. They developed a friendship, and Saint-Saëns would write several pieces for him—something that pleased the composer to do: “In circulating my compositions throughout the world on his magic bow, Pablo de Sarasate rendered me the highest of services.” Sarasate wanted pieces that also had substance beyond their qualities of showmanship and virtuosity. Because Saint-Saëns did not play the violin himself he looked to his friend for assistance and technical tips in composing the First and Third violin concertos for him. From the first movement’s passionate opening, dazzling double and triple stops, and flights into the stratosphere of the violin’s register to the ethereal melodies of the andantino quasi allegretto and to the finale’s gypsy flourishes, Saint-Saëns showed he had become a true master of violin composition.

BOHUSLAV MARTINU (1890-1959)
Symphony No. 4 (1945)
How many composers could say they were born in a church tower of a small town? Bohuslav Martinu was such a one. His father was a shoemaker who earned a little extra money as a fire-watchman in the tower of St. Jacob’s Church in Policka, Bohemia—a source of inspiration throughout the composer’s life. But his modest beginnings didn’t keep Martinu (along with Leoš Janácek) from being one of the two giants of 20th century Czech music. He had his first violin lessons from a local tailor when he was a boy of seven, started composing at ten, and gave his first recital when he was 15. His career at the Prague Conservatory (underwritten by his hometown) was short-lived, as he was expelled in 1910 for not being sufficiently devoted to his studies. Nevertheless he became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for ten years. The winds of World War II exiled him to Paris, from where he and his wife fled the Nazis, and then brought him to the United States in 1941. Though he became an American citizen, he lived his final years in Switzerland, sadly never able to return to his homeland. His body was eventually reburied in the family grave in Policka, within view of his church tower. Martinu was a student of Albert Roussel and fell under the influence of a wildly diverse set of sources, including Stravinsky, Debussy, Czech folk music, the baroque concerto grosso, and jazz. Martinu’s orchestral style is characterized by an energetic mix of exciting driving rhythms and a dynamism often punctuated by inclusion of a piano, but always lyrical and approachable. Charles Munch was an ardent admirer who frequently programmed Martinu’s works on the Boston Symphony’s concerts. Composed in 1945, the Fourth Symphony was premiered by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra that same year. The Detroit Free Press describes it as “a beaming work, full of vivacious and swirling rhythm, deliciously sweet and sour harmony, twittering birdsong figures and cafeteria modernism: Stravinsky’s coiled energy, Bartók’s folk-inflected snap and night-music mystery and a Yankee syncopated backbeat flow through Martinu’s idiosyncratic yet alluring rhetoric.” The composer explained that the symphony flowed out of “one small motif” in the opening movement, which undulates like a shimmering tapestry of sound, accented by percussion and piano. Also listen for the darkly lyrical slow movement, one of the most beautiful in the modern repertoire. The final poco allegro, according to Martinu, features “two dynamically graduated variations, a kind of consolidation and condensation of the form of the whole symphony.” This too-infrequently-heard masterpiece is luminous, alive with joy, and a revelation for audiences.

In September 2009 Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the first native New Yorker to hold the post.

For his inaugural season he introduced a number of new initiatives: the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, held by Magnus Lindberg, and Artist-in-Residence, first held by Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's new-music series. In the 2009–10 season he led the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi. He also took the Philharmonic to nine cities on the EUROPE / WINTER 2010 tour in January–February 2010, and is conducting world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009–10 season, Mr. Gilbert became the first person to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that includes coaching, conducting, and hosting performance master classes.

Highlights of Mr. Gilbert's 2008–09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson's The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the Philharmonic's Concerts in the Parks and Free Indoor Concerts, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and performances at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In June 2008 Mr. Gilbert was named conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, following his final concert as its chief conductor and artistic advisor. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra since 2004, and he has conducted other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; and the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich's Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of the Santa Fe Opera.

Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School. From 1995 to 1997 he was the assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams's Doctor Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award, and his recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 received top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. On May 15, 2010, The Curtis Institute of Music awarded Mr. Gilbert an Honorary Doctor of Music degree.

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JOSHUA BELL, violin, born in 1967 in Bloomington, Indiana
In concerts and on recordings Joshua Bell’s bold, charismatic artistry continues to bring a fresh voice to the most venerable masterpieces and new works, as with the 2007 premiere of The Red Violin Concerto. “Joshua plays like a god,” exclaimed an exuberant John Corigliano when he won the 2000 Oscar for Best Original Score for The Red Violin. Bell is also featured on the soundtracks for Ladies in Lavender and new films, Angels & Demons and Defiance. His jaw-dropping technique and poetic musicality have been captivating audiences for more than two decades and have brought him many honors and distinctions. Having appeared in the most amazingly different places, from Sesame Street to People Magazine (which profiled him in its Most Beautiful People in the World issue), he is known and admired around the globe. His multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting new directions, exemplified recently by his first duets CD, Joshua Bell At Home With Friends, featuring Chris Botti, Sting, Kristin Chenoweth, Anoushka Shankar, Marvin Hamlisch, and Tiempo Libre, among others. Growing up on a farm in Indiana, Joshua Bell indulged in many passions outside of music as a child, becoming an avid computer game player and a competitive athlete. He received his first violin at age four and by age 12 was serious about the instrument, thanks to the inspiration of renowned pedagogue Josef Gingold. He gained national attention at age 14 when he debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra. A subsequent Carnegie Hall debut, the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a recording contract further secured his stature in the music world. He plays the 1713 “Gibson ex-Huberman” Stradivarius, which has a past filled with mystery: twice it was stolen from its prior owner, the Polish virtuoso Bronislaw Huberman. It was not until 1985 that the thief—a minor New York violinist—made a deathbed confession to his wife and produced the instrument.

“Bell is simply dazzling.” Gramophone

“No one stands in Mr. Bell’s shadow.” The New York Times

“Pure bliss!” Associated Press

“Joshua Bell is the greatest American violinist active today.” The Boston Herald

Find additional upcoming performances with Joshua Bell