DANIEL BÖRTZ (born 1943)
Parodos (1987)
The Swedish composer Daniel Börtz has long been fascinated with all things Greek, especially with Greek drama. He ponders what it might have been like for the people of Ancient Greece to come face to face with “the enigma of theater. It is remarkable that the great issues of life that the ancients speak of in their drama remain to this day. Nothing is new. It is now and forever.” In 1987-89 he composed his opera The Bacchantes (the wild female followers of Dionysus), staged by the acclaimed film director Ingmar Bergman. Two years later he wrote Kithairon (a Greek mountain range associated with the Bacchantes) based on a dance theme from the opera. In 1992 The Choir of the Bacchantes followed. And 2004 saw the world premiere of the oratorio His Name Was Orestes, based on Aeschylus’ Oresteia and coincidentally conducted by Alan Gilbert who leads these performances. Börtz envisions Parodos as a concert overture. The title takes its name from the second part of a Greek tragedy (i.e., following the Prologue). In the Parodos a musician playing a reed pipe called an “aulos” leads the chorus in a march to the stage. The composer describes Parodos as “powerful and energetic. A pulse of one long and two short beats pervades and drives the piece. The middle section is filled with beauty, calm and stillness.” Parodos is introduced by a motto from “Mozart Variations,” a poem by Daniel Börtz’s friend Göran Sonnevi:
You, music, who touch
My innermost being,
And whom I cannot explain.
Like Greek drama, the power of music to touch humankind is an enigma that cannot be explained.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major (1795, rev. 1800)
When Beethoven gave the first public performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 (actually the second to be composed, but published first) in Prague in 1798, a fellow composer, Johann Tomášek, was deeply affected by the hearing of it, saying: “Beethoven’s grand style of playing, and especially his bold improvisation, stirred me strangely to the depths of my soul; indeed I found myself so profoundly shaken that I did not touch my piano for several days.” Beethoven was already lionized as a superstar of the piano in the best salons of Vienna—not easy, considering that there were some 300 other professional pianists in the city, all vying for fame and fortune. Beethoven’s advantage enabled him to perform his own music, which might have been thought of as too daring or fanciful. He was inspired by Mozart (the first of the great pianist/composers, with 27 concertos to his name), whom he met once in Vienna and with whom he had wanted to study. After “auditioning” the 17-year-old Beethoven, Mozart predicted: “Watch out for him; he will have something to say.” Beethoven left us no fewer than three cadenzas for the first movement alone—a reminder that he was aware of his prodigious abilities as a pianist and of how these would translate into income-producing performances. Additional things to note include the very long orchestral introduction to the first movement, an introspective and deeply felt, poetic slow movement, and a delightful concluding rondo.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Images for Orchestra (1905-1908)
Debussy’s mastery of musical color is nowhere more in evidence than in his Images for Orchestra. The three orchestral pieces can be thought of as musical evocations of the British Isles, “Gigues” (Jigs); France, “Rondes de printemps” (Spring Round Dances); and Spain, “Ibéria.” Debussy said that he was trying to do “something ‘different’—something that might be called ‘reality’—though some imbeciles would call it ‘impressionism, a term that is misapplied, especially by critics.’” Debussy’s wishes to the contrary, that term has stuck. “Gigues” quotes an English/Scottish folksong and features an oboe d’amore. The subtle use of two French folk tunes celebrates a May Day festival in “Rondes de printemps”; and the magnificent final section “Ibéria” is an evocation of Spain’s atmosphere and character. “Ibéria” is subdivided into three sections: “In the Streets and Byways” (vivacious bursts of color, punctuated by castanets); “The Fragrances of the Night,” (the Spanish night with its exotic perfumes conveyed though luminous sonorities and the languid beat of a habanera tapped out by a distant tambourine); and in a marvelous transition to “The Morning of a Festival Day” night becomes day, and we soon hear a merry jumble of images bathed in bright light.

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.

Learn More about Alan Gilbert

Pianist Lars Vogt, born in the German town of Düren, first came to international attention by winning second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Competition. Since then he has been active in concerto and recital performances throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. His 2003–04 season includes a recital at Zankel Hall, and a collaboration with violinist Christian Tetzlaff in a series of Bartók/Janáček programs at Lincoln Center and Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center.

Also renowned as a chamber musician, Mr.Vogt founded his own festival in Heimbach, Germany, in 1998. Known as Spannungen, its huge success has been marked by four EMI recordings of live concerts. He enjoys regular partnerships with colleagues such as Christian Tetzlaff, and cellists Boris Pergamenschikov, Heinrich Schiff, and Truls Mørk, and in the spring of 2003 undertook tours of the U.S. and Europe with violinist Sarah Chang. He also collaborates with actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher.

An exclusive EMI recording artist, Mr. Vogt has made 15 discs for the label. These include the Schumann and Grieg concertos, and the first two Beethoven concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Sir Simon Rattle, who has described him as “one of the most extraordinary musicians of any age group that I have had the fortune to be associated with.” Mr. Vogt has also made solo recordings of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Musorgsky, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. His most recent concerto release is Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado.