GVO e-Newsletter - September, 2006
Alex Mastrando
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Celebrating Our 20 th Anniversary Season
Classical music, in that sense, is an honest art. Any genre of music be it rock & roll, blues, rap or pop, that stays alive in the culture because people love it has something special going for it. Music reaches people, moves people, and makes people feel more alive and more connected to their inner life. And the pieces that do that best are always on the Top Ten list. That is where you will find much of Tchaikovsky's music and that includes the Symphony No. 4, which the GVO will be performing on the season opener, Sunday, October 1st at 3:00. Tchaikovsky's music is so omnipresent that it is sometimes discounted. It is heard in the afternoon programming on the classical stations and as background music in waiting rooms. But when one delves inside the music of Tchaikovsky, there are profound musical rewards. His work is constructed in as tightly disciplined a form as any Beethoven or Brahms symphony but its content is so emotionally charged that it is seems improvised. As much as he loved his Russian heritage, Tchaikovsky was traditionally western in his symphonic technique, something that would sometimes draw criticism from fellow composers. But Tchaikovsky's life was always controversial and remains so to this day. He was considered a "sensitive child." His nanny described him as being "made of glass." His father insisted he work as a law clerk but the young Tchaikovsky did manage to assert himself as a musician and became a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. This is not an unusual story as composers' biographies go. The controversy is focused on Tchaikovsky's personal life and the question of the whether or not he was a homosexual. Those were different times and this issue was something that caused him great pain and suffering. He entered into a doomed marriage while he was sketching the first three movements of the fourth symphony. Although there were no hard feelings after the breakup, Tchaikovsky was in a state of "nervous collapse" requiring several months of recovery at Lake Geneva. His doctor recommended that he never see his wife again and during his recuperation, he completed the symphony. After this traumatic time, Tchaikovsky began a relationship with a woman that was much better suited to his needs. He acquired a patroness, Madame von Meck, to whom the Fourth Symphony is dedicated. Although they almost never met in person, they corresponded fervently and she supported him for twelve years while he wrote much of repertory played so often by present day symphony orchestras, ballets and opera companies. Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony is often given a programmatic, biographical interpretation. The emotional drama begins with the "fate" motive proclaimed in its opening bars followed by a theme of yearning and quiet torment. It progresses with music of suffering, elegance and loneliness finishing with a finale of great triumph. Without any knowledge of his life, it stands on its own. The symphony is full of passion, sensitivity and ecstasy. This is music that aches as much as it celebrates. We call this first program "Impassioned" and
it begins with Beethoven's Prometheus Overture. Just as
Prometheus dared to steal fire from the Gods, the great composers dared to
put their deepest passions into musical form creating an art that endures,
against all odds.
An active chamber musician, Ms. Staples has participated in the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Brightstar, Martha's Vineyard, and Seattle Chamber Music festivals, and she has been a faculty artist at the Aspen, Bowdoin, and Sarasota music festivals. She appears on three Stereophile compact discs with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In the New York area, she performs with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles and the Lyric Chamber Music Society. At the age of 26, Ms. Staples was appointed associate concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra, a position she held for three years. In addition, she taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Encore School for Strings, and Kent/Blossom Music Festival, and she was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio. Previously, in Southern California, she was concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and held faculty positions at the University of Southern California and the Colburn School of Performing Arts. Currently on leave from the Manhattan School of Music, Ms. Staples has recently joined the faculty of The Juilliard School, teaching orchestral excerpts. A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Staples was a scholarship student at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, a Young Musicians Foundation Scholar, and a W.M. Keck Scholar at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, spending summers at the Encore School for Strings. She earned an Artist Diploma from the University of Southern California. Her principal teacher was Robert Lipsett and her ensemble mentor was Heiichiro Ohyama. Ms. Staples performs on the "Kartman" Guarnerius del Gesu, c.1728. Ms. Staples is married to percussionist Barry Centanni.
They have two children, Michael and Laura.
A
Special "Thank You" |
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Next Concert –
"Celebrate"
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