MATTHIAS PINTSCHER (born in 1971)
towards Osiris (2005)
When Sir Simon Rattle wanted to conduct and record Gustav Holst’s The Planets with the Berlin Philharmonic, he commissioned four “asteroid” pieces as companions to the iconic orchestral favorite. German composer Matthias Pintscher, one of today’s most distinctive musical voices, contributed towards Osiris. The other commissions were Asteroid 4179, Toutatis by Kaija Saariaho, Ceres by Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Komarov’s Fall by Brett Dean. Pintscher’s title refers to the Egyptian god who is hacked to death by his jealous brother Seth; but his sister/consort Isis searches for and gathers up the pieces of his body and restores him to life. Osiris remains in the underworld, while his sister bears their son Horus, god of light and the living. Commentators on towards Osiris hear a reflection of the mythological tale in Pintscher’s compositional technique: fragmentation and disintegration on the one hand, but also metamorphosis and unity through repeated themes that change as various parts of the orchestra take them up. In fact, Pintscher says he was inspired by a collage of scattered pieces of cardboard on canvas by the German painter Joseph Beuys (1921-86). The Chicago Tribune described towards Osiris as “extraordinarily well-made music that reveals real harmonic integrity beneath its glistening, whispering surfaces. Pintscher savors delicate restraint, exults in coloristic subtlety.”

ALBAN BERG (1885-1935)
Violin Concerto (1935)
Alban Berg inscribed his only concerto and last composition “To the memory of an angel”—that angel being Manon Gropius, the daughter of architect Walter Gropius and Gustav Mahler’s widow Alma. Manon’s beauty was such that she was to portray an angel in a Salzburg play. But that all changed when the vivacious young woman was struck by infantile paralysis at age 18 and died a year later, at Easter 1935. Berg who had been extremely close to Manon throughout her life was devastated. Earlier that year he had begun a commission for a violin concerto, but work proceeded slowly. Her illness seemed to drive him to complete it. The music begins meditatively, but there are also dance rhythms and folk melodies. Part 1 comes to a sudden conclusion. The second half of the work is agitated and features a shattering climax. The final adagio of the concerto incorporates a melody from a Bach chorale whose text reads: “It is enough./Lord, if it pleases you/Unshackle me./ My Jesus comes;/Good night, o world;/I go to heaven’s house;/I go there in peace./My misery I leave behind./It is enough.” The words are wrenching in the context of a life taken far too soon. The work ends on an ethereal, serene high G. The Violin Concerto became Berg’s own requiem as well. On Christmas Eve, only a few months after completing it, Berg succumbed to blood poisoning, the result of an insect bite.

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)/ ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (1874-1951)
Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25, orchestrated by Schoenberg (1937)
You’ll hear a different and refreshing take on Brahms, when his 19th century piano quartet is artfully recast on a larger, richer canvas by a 20th century composer, 78 years after the original. Schoenberg had a great love and affinity for Brahms’s music, and when asked why he would undertake this orchestration, he said: “1. I like the piece. 2. It is seldom played. 3. It is always very badly played…” He also went on to explain that in his orchestration he wanted “to remain strictly in the style of Brahms and not go any farther than he himself would have gone had he lived today.” The idea for this project first appeared in Schoenberg’s plans for a book on orchestration, and he makes a note of Brahms’s piece. He never did write that book, but the idea of orchestrating the quartet remained. Schoenberg spoke of the myriad challenges of the task: “Brahms likes very low basses, of which the orchestra possesses only a small number of instruments. He likes the full accompaniment with broken chord figures, often in different rhythms. And most of these figures cannot easily be changed, because generally they have a structural meaning in his style. I think I have resolved these problems…” Though it has been teasingly referred to as Brahms’s “Fifth Symphony,” the result sounds neither like Brahms nor like typical Schoenberg; rather it is a stunning creation in its own right. Note for dance fans: in 1966 George Balanchine choreographed his ballet Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet to this score.

Christoph Eschenbach is currently in his ninth season as music director of the Orchestre de Paris and in great demand as a guest conductor with the world’s finest orchestras and opera houses. Recently named the sixth music director of the National Symphony Orchestra as well as music director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mr. Eschenbach will play a key role in planning future seasons, international festivals, and special projects for these two institutions, beginning in the fall of 2010. He is also principal conductor of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival International Orchestral Academy, a position he has held since 2004.

In the 2008–09 season, Mr. Eschenbach conducts the Orchestre de Paris at the Berlin Festival and the BBC Proms in London, and leads The Philadelphia Orchestra on a three-week tour of Europe. He will also appear with the Vienna Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Philharmonic, and NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, where he served as music director from 1998 to 2004. In addition, he makes his conducting debut with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, where he was music director from 1994 to 2003. As a pianist, he continues his fruitful collaboration with baritone Matthias Goerne, with whom he will record and perform Schubert’s three song cycles — Die Schöne Müllerin, Die Winterreise, and Schwanengesang — over the next two years.

During the 2007–08 season, the 40th anniversary of the Orchestre de Paris, Mr. Eschenbach collaborated with soloists including pianists Lang Lang and Daniel Barenboim, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and led world premieres of music by Kaija Saariaho and Augusta Read Thomas. He also led The Philadelphia Orchestra on an extensive tour of Asia, and appeared several times with that orchestra at Carnegie Hall. As a guest conductor, he returned to the London Philharmonic Orchestra and NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg. He also conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich and led three concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, where he served as artistic director from 1999 to 2002.

Mentored by George Szell and Herbert von Karajan, Mr. Eschenbach went on to hold the post of chief conductor and artistic director of the Tonhalle Orchestra (1982–86). His many honors include the Légion d’Honneur; Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; and the Officer’s Cross with Star and Ribbon of the German Order of Merit. He last appeared with the New York Philharmonic in May 2002.

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

Find additional upcoming performances with Pinchas Zukerman