CURRENT SYMPHONY

*indicates a Monterey Symphony Subscription Concert Premiere

Concert Four
February 16, 2008 (3 pm & 8 pm) - Sherwood Hall, Salinas
February 17 (3 pm) & February 18, 2008(8 pm) - Sunset Theater, Carmel
Marko Letonja, guest conductor
Tracy Dahl, soprano
Panufnik: Sinfonia Sacra
Bellini: Overture from I Capuleti e i Montecchi*
Bellini: Oh! Quant volte from I Capuleti e i Montecchi*  
Puccini: Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
Puccini: Quando me'n vo from La boheme
Verdi: Prelude to Act I from La traviata
Verdi: Ah fors lui . . . sempre libere from La traviata

Symphony No.3, Sinfonia sacra
          Andrzej Panufnik (1914-1991)
          Composed 1963

 The Sinfonia sacra written by Andrzej Panufnik in 1963 is, as the composer himself asserted, “an expression of my religious and patriotic feelings.” Even upon an initial hearing of this dramatic work, it will be self-evident that the composer’s feelings were deep and his ability to express them superb. The work was devised as a means to commemorate Poland’s 1,000 years of statehood and Christianity, which was widely celebrated in 1966. Even the United States Postal Service issued a stamp to honor the event. The reason for all this attention had much to do with embarrassing the repressive Communist regime then in power. A popular celebration of Polish culture by an individual of Panufnik’s stature only heaped more international scorn on one of the Iron Curtain’s most repressive dictatorships.

 Andrzej Panufnik, the son of a well-known violin maker, began composing at the age of nine. He studied music at the Warsaw Conservatory (1932-1936), conducting at the Vienna Academy of Music with Felix Weingartner (1937-38), and traveled to Paris and London in 1938 and 1939. With his fellow composer Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), Panufnik formed a piano duo, arranging many works in the common literature for piano four-hands. The duo performed during the war years at charity concerts, sanctioned and otherwise, throughout Warsaw. These skillful arrangements were also burned in the fire storm.

 After the war, Panufnik served first as the conductor of the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra and then director of the Warsaw Philharmonic. He was widely regarded as the most important Polish conductor-composer of his time and as such received invitations to leave Communist-run Poland and travel abroad. He conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and many other professional ensembles. In 1950 he was appointed vice-president of the UNESCO International Music Council.

 The Stalinist-imposed constraints on creative artists in Poland and Panufnik’s international prestige abroad contributed to his decision to remain in London, where he had traveled on official business in 1953. He was soon named the head of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and helped to build that ensemble into one of England’s finest. In 1959, he resigned from this position to commit himself entirely to composing.

 As a result of his defection, his works were not performed in Poland from 1953 to 1976. His name did not appear in dictionaries, press reviews, books or any other publications. In 1987, Panufnik published “Composing Myself”â€"his autobiography, which chronicles not only his artistic triumphs but his emotional distress at losing his Polish identity.

 In 1991, however, he was granted a prize from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his contributions to Polish culture and after a 36-year absence, returned to Poland at the invitation of the Warsaw Autumn Festival. The program he presented included 11 of his pieces, three of them performed under his baton (Symphony No.10, Harmony, and Violin Concerto). In 1991, Queen Elizabeth honored him with knighthood.

 The Sinfonia sacra (Sacred Symphony) is constructed in two parts. The first, Three Visions, is subdivided into an antiphonal fanfare for four trumpets; a religious quote from the Bogurodzicaâ€"a 10th century chant, the oldest in the Polish language performed by the strings; and a battery of percussion instruments signalling Poland’s military role in protecting itself and the rest of Western Europe from invaders. The second part, Hymn, slowly builds its intensity and then climaxes into a fully stated Bogurodzica. The heraldic trumpets and percussion return to bring the work to its dramatic conclusion.

Oh! Quant volte from I Capuleti e i Montecchi*
           Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
               notes to be published in January 2008

Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
          Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924)

Manon Lescaut was Giacomo Puccini’s first great success and there is much in it to assure its continued popularity. The story is derived from the famous romance novel by Abbé Prévost. The fact that Puccini selected it at all is an example of the boldness of his character. The popular French composer Jules Massenet had composed a successful version of his own, Manon, only a few years before.

Act I is set in a public square in Amiens in the 18th century. Des Grieux arrives at a busy tavern full of his friends and takes a seat. A carriage pulls up and Manon, her brother Lescaut, and an acquaintance, Géronte, step out. Des Grieux and Manon meet and chat. She tells him that she is being sent to a convent, rather against her will. Her brother calls her into the tavern, but she says she will return. Des Grieux sings of the beautiful woman he has just met, “Dona non vidi mai” (Maiden so fair). A friend of des Grieux learns that the lecherous Géronte has plans to abduct Manon. Des Grieux and Manon meet, profess their mutual love, and elope.

A sumptuous apartment in Paris is the setting for Act II. Manon, having tired of her humble life with des Grieux has set herself up with Géronte. She asks her brother Lescaut about des Grieux and is told that he is drinking and gambling heavily, trying to win enough money to woo her back. She’s now bored with Géronte who enters with his cronies and some musicians. They sing a madrigal and perform a minuet. Manon retires to her rooms. Des Grieux enters and reproaches her for being so faithless. Being together again in such close proximity causes them to abandon all cares and profess eternal love in “Tu, tu, amore, tu.” Géronte discovers them together and expresses his disgust. Manon laughs at him and he departs. Des Grieux urges her to come away with him immediately. Lescaut, her brother, arrives and pleads with des Grieux to go away quickly. He informs Manon that Géronte has turned her in to the police who are on their way to arrest her. Her brother urges her to leave at once, but she stops at her vanity uncertain as to whether she can live without all her pretty things. She scoops up some of her favorite jewelry. Géronte and the police enter. She hides behind a curtain. They find her. Géronte laughs at her as she drops the beautiful items she was clutching and is led off to prison.

Prior to Act III, the orchestra plays a quieting and exquisite Intermezzo. It serves to change the character of drama from the passionate love and selfishness displayed in Acts I and II to the punishment and remorse of Act III and IV. It takes place on the wharf at Le Havre. Manon is in  line with other women being deported as ‘undesirables.’ She has been condemned to a life of servitude in the French province of Louisiana. Des Grieux and Lescaut attempt to bribe a guard but are foiled. Finally, in an impassioned aria, Des Grieux convinces the captain to take him on board as well.

Act IV is a twenty-minute Leibestod set on a barren plain outside New Orleans. Des Grieux and Manon have run away from their guards. They search desperately for a shelter, but find none. Des Grieux leaves Manon to look for food. She sings her great aria, “Sola, perduta, abbanndonata” (Alone, Forgotten, Abandoned). Des Grieux returns, cradles her, but it is too late and she dies in his arms.

Quando me'n vo from La bohème
          Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924)

Puccini’s La bohème is a remarkable opera in many ways. First, it features ordinary people living ordinary livesâ€"struggling artists housed in cheap rooms in Paris in the 1830's. Second, it doesn’t have much plot and holds together mostly from the strength of the characters and the impression each scene creates. Third, its melodies are among the most memorable ever composed for the stage. And finally, its attractive qualities continue to capture new audiences. It has never left the stages of the world’s opera houses since its introduction at the Teatro Reggio in Turin on February 1, 1896 under the baton of a 29-year-old Italian conductor named Arturo Toscanini!

Act I takes place in an attic apartment lived in by Rodolfo, a poet; Marcello, a painter; Colline, a philosopher; and Schaunard, a musician. There’s no heat and little food. The landlord arrives and demands the overdue rent. They toast him with a round of drinks, encourage him to join them at the café, and depart (sans rent). Rodolfo stays behind to work on an article he’s writing. He answers a knock at the door. Mimi enters asking for a light for her candle which he gives her. She has a coughing fit and both of their candles go out. She drops the key to her apartment and loses it in the darkened room. Rodolfo finds the key but continues searching the floor with her. Finally, his hand touches hers and he sings Che gelida manina (Your tiny hand is frozen) and describes himself to her. She responds immediately with her aria, Mi chiamano Mimi (My name is Mimi) and tells him that she makes artificial flowers for a living. Rodolfo is hailed from the street by his roommates and when he opens the curtains to call to them, he sees what a beauty Mimi is. They sing O soave fanciulla (O lovely maiden), profess their love for each other, and go off to meet his friends in the Café Momus.

The second act takes place in the Café in the Latin Quarter of Paris. Musetta, Marcello’s former lover, arrives on the arm of Alcindoro. She sings her famous waltz, Quando me'n vo, heard at these concerts, which describes her in the most flattering terms. Rodolfo and Mimi join in the casual gathering and add their voices to the general merriment. Alcindoro is sent on an errand for Musetta. While he is away, Marcello and Musetta make up. All depart, leaving Alcindoro with the shoes she sent him to buy and the bill for everyone’s drinks at the Café.

A gate to the city of Paris is the setting for the third act. It’s a bleak, wintry day. Mimi enters shivering with cold. She finds Marcello who has given up art for sign painting. Mimi tells him she is tired of Rodolfo’s insane jealousy and his constant bickering. Musetta comes out of the tavern with Rodolfo. Mimi hides. Musetta starts arguing with Marcello. Rodolfo complains about Mimi. Mimi coughs. Rodolfo discovers her and is again smitten with love.

Act Four takes place back in the attic. Rodolfo and Marcello are back living together having broken off with their mistresses. Colline and Schaunard arrive with some food. The four start clowning around. Musetta arrives with sad news. Mimi, who is with her outside, is desperately ill. They rush out and bring Mimi in. With great care, they make her lie down on the sofa. Again the lovers are in each other’s arms and past quarrels are forgotten. The friends all want to help Mimi and each one agrees to sell a personal belonging to get money to help her. The lovers are together again. Rodolfo goes to close the curtains, thinking Mimi is asleep. The friends return to see that she has died. Heartbroken, Rodolfo cries out her name and the opera ends.

Joseph Truskot

           Prelude to Act I from La traviata
           Ah fors lui . . . sempre libere from La traviata
           Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

            notes to be published in January 2008