MAGNUS LINDBERG (b. 1958)
EXPO (World Premiere: New York Philharmonic Commission) (2009)
"I knew that I wanted to write a piece that would be Alan Gilbert's 'expo' or introduction—a tribute to him and the Orchestra at a historic moment," says our Composer-in-Residence, Magnus Lindberg. The idea of "opening" and the "sense of occasion" were prominent in the composer's approach to his task—something he wanted even the title to signal. Certain allusions naturally suggested themselves, like the concept of "exhibition" (as in Pictures at an Exhibition ) or the term "exposition," used to describe the presentation of musical ideas. "But given the brevity of the piece, I thought a pithy word like 'EXPO' would make a fitting title; besides, I like the sound of the word." Magnus Lindberg also observed another of his composing rituals: he likes having the scores of other composers around him—like the already mentioned Mussorgsky showpiece, La mer, and Rite of Spring. "It doesn't matter to what page those magnificent compositions are open, they always inspire me." The other pieces on this program also were a consideration: "Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique...so modern, so dramatic, so 'insane,' yet beautiful; and Messiaen's romantic Poèmes pour Mì. Although I didn't quote Messiaen," he explains, "I tried to evoke the 'flavor' and harmonic patterns of his music." And finally, "a work of any length," he says, "must have a trajectory—a sense of direction and logic." The most immediate attribute of EXPO is the big contrast between fast and slow tempos, which are the basic vocabulary of the new work. "As short as EXPO is," he says, "there are more than 10 tempo markings, resulting in a feeling of great tension and energy in the orchestra." And to Magnus Lindberg, nothing can compare to the modern orchestra. "It is amazing how 100 players, focused by their conductor, can convey such excitement to the audience. It’s fantastic!"

OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908-92)
Poèmes pour Mi (1936; orch. 1937)
Olivier Messiaen married his first wife, violinist/composer Claire Delbos, in 1932, and gave her the affectionate name of “Mi,” the name of the musical note “E” in French, and the pitch of the top open string of the violin. Like Mahler and his “Häuschen” (composing hut) Messiaen created most of his works over the next five decades in a rural retreat by a lake south of Grenoble. His first, the song cycle and beautiful love letter to Claire, Poèmes pour Mi , for voice and piano, sets nine original texts; a year later he would create the orchestral version we hear at this Opening Night concert. Divided into two books of four and five songs, respectively, Poèmes pour Mi is a ravishing paean to marriage and love. The composer’s Roman Catholic mysticism permeates all his works, and in these songs the love of husband and wife is a reflection of the Church as the Bride of Christ and marriage as a gift from God. While each song is a jewel in its own right, a few deserve special mention for richness of invention and beauty of expression: “Thanksgiving,” in which the man thanks God for his beloved, ends in an ecstatic Allelujah; “Your Voice” compares the beloved’s voice to a bird in springtime—a special tribute, because to Messiaen birds were the voices of angels. In “The Necklace” the composer draws a sensuous comparison to the arms of the lover encircling her beloved’s neck. You’re sure to fall in love with these songs (which Alan Gilbert calls “the French Tristan ”) in their first Philharmonic performance.

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
Symphonie fantastique (1830)
It was love at first sight when the 23-year-old Hector Berlioz saw Irish actress Harriet Smithson perform the roles of Ophelia and Juliet. “The impression made on my heart and mind by her extraordinary talent, nay her dramatic genius, was equaled only by the havoc wrought in me by the poet she so nobly interpreted…It was too much. By the third act, hardly able to breathe—as though an iron hand gripped me by the heart—I knew that I was lost.” The result: a work of unprecedented orchestral colors and effects used to tell his “fantastic” story: “A young musician of unhealthily sensitive nature and endowed with a vivid imagination has poisoned himself with opium in an attack of lovesick despair. The narcotic dose he has taken was too weak to cause death, but it has thrown him into a long sleep accompanied by the most extraordinary visions. In this condition his sensations, his feelings and his memories find utterance in his sick brain in the form of a melody in his mind, like a fixed idea which is ever returning and which he hears everywhere.”

Alan Gilbert will begin his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in the 2009–10 season, the first native New Yorker to hold the post. For his inaugural season he has introduced a number of new initiatives: Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg; The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT, the New York Philharmonic’s new-music series. He will also lead the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi; a European tour in January 2010; and performances of world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009–10 season Mr. Gilbert becomes the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that will include coaching, conducting, and performance master classes.

Highlights of Mr. Gilbert’s 2008–09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the November 14, 2008, Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic, featuring Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, Kaddish. 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 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and two concerts 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 (NDRSO) since 2004. Mr. Gilbert regularly conducts other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; The Cleveland Orchestra; Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw; and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of Santa Fe Opera, where he served for three seasons.

Born and raised in New York City, Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School; he was a substitute violinist with The Philadelphia Orchestra for two seasons, and assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra from 1995 to 1997. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams’s Dr. Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

Learn More about Alan Gilbert

Soprano Renée Fleming performs on the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other mediums. Over the past few seasons, she has begun hosting a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series for movie theaters and television, and Live From Lincoln Center on PBS.

Renée Fleming has been sought after for numerous distinguished occasions, from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to performances in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. In 2008 a precedent was broken when she became the first woman in the 125-year history of The Metropolitan Opera to headline an opening night gala. On January 18, 2009, she performed on the televised concert, We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, for President Obama. She has performed for the United States Supreme Court, HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace, and will celebrate the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic at the invitation of Vaclav Havel.

Renée Fleming’s 2009–10 operatic season at The Metropolitan Opera includes performances of R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and a new production of Rossini’s Armida. She also appears at the Vienna Staatsoper in performances of R. Strauss’s Capriccio, and at the Zurich Opera in Verdi’s La traviata and Der Rosenkavalier. In concert, she appears on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Night Gala, a European tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and in recitals in Baden-Baden, Vienna, Vancouver, Seattle, Baltimore, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. She has just released a recording for Decca entitled Verismo.