STRIKING CONTRASTS HIGHLIGHT PACIFIC SYMPHONY CONCERT FEATURING MUSIC BY “MOZART AND BEETHOVEN” ALONGSIDE THE WORLD PREMIERE OF WILLIAM BOLCOM’S EPIC “PROMETHEUS”
Led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, the performance features
acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Biegel and the glorious Pacific Chorale
The many shades of hope and harmony fill Pacific Symphony’s stage for a concert that dramatically juxtaposes music by “Mozart and Beethoven” with the world premiere of William Bolcom’s dark and highly evocative “Prometheus” for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra.
Wrapped between the fanfares and flourishes of Mozart’s No. 34, hinting of Italian opera, and the genius of his 35th, the “Haffner,” in which he turned a serenade into a symphony, is the epic new work by Bolcom, one of today’s most exciting composers. Led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, the orchestra is joined by innovative pianist Jeffrey Biegel, who becomes the first to represent Zeus’ lighting bolts and Prometheus’ chains with his striking piano interpretation.
Taking place Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 18-20, at 8 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the program also includes Beethoven’s charming, joyous “Choral Fantasy,” featuring Biegel and the Pacific Chorale, which also tackles the chorale representation of Lord Byron’s poem for “Prometheus.”
A preview talk with Alan Chapman begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25-$105; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org
“The ancient legend of Prometheus is a perfect metaphor for our time,” says Bolcom. “In it the god is chained to a rock with a huge bird gnawing at his vitals, which
are eternally renewed and eternally destroyed each day. To much of the rest of the world, the West is Prometheus, whose fire has fueled the technological expansion of the last 500 years—electricity, steam, oil, the atom and the computer. It is undeniable that our century and millennium have not gotten off to an auspicious start—with Sept. 11, 2001, our worldwide economic crisis, and all the ills the 20th century has foisted on the 21st.
“My Prometheus is perhaps the antithesis of the joyous mood of the Beethoven work on the program, but it is not devoid of hope, particularly if it points us to begin to understand our situation,” says Bolcom. “This piece is dedicated to that hope.”
The highly acclaimed Bolcom was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America and honored with four Grammy Awards for his ground-breaking setting of Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and of Experience” in 2005. On Sept. 15, 2006, Pacific Symphony inaugurated the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall with St.Clair conducting a performance that featured Bolcom’s world premiere song cycle, “Canciones de Lorca,” written for legendary tenor Plácido Domingo. Bolcom also received the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his “Twelve New Etudes” for piano.
Bolcom says that when he was asked to write a new work for the same forces as Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy,” he felt the piano would be ideal in portraying Prometheus’ eternal agony; Jeffrey Biegel won the honor of playing the part. Biegel, who performed with Pacific Symphony last season for the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s “Mirrors” for Piano and Orchestra, has played premieres of new works and arrangements numerous other symphony orchestras across the nation.
“The piano part offers a great deal of harmonic and rhythmic tension, violent outbursts, as a person striving to be free of punishment, or free of eternal struggle,” says
Biegel. “However, later in this work, the pianist has the opportunity to evoke ethereal sound effects depicting fateful destiny.
“The exciting challenge to learning a new work that no one has heard before is unheralded,” continues Biegel. “The challenges are most apparent in creating a first impression, a first interpretation that may serve as a model for future performances. When it’s not possible to have a synthesized demo of a new work, [which was common prior to technological advances], I try to ‘hear’ the new work in my head, and play as much of it at the piano to understand the harmonic and melodic construction. It all makes perfect sense when the first rehearsals come to life.”
Biegel, who also performs “Choral Fantasy,” adds that the trademark qualities of Beethoven’s music are evidenced in Bolcom’s work, beginning with a solo piano segment of extended material in a free fantasy. The orchestra joins in the mix, followed by the chorus in succession.
“As a composer of choral music,” says Biegel, “I have always enjoyed Beethoven’s ‘Choral Fantasy,’ which was indeed the initial impetus for asking William Bolcom to compose a work for piano, orchestra and chorus in 2006. Mr. Bolcom’s work is structured differently, in that the pianist begins the work as soloist, joined by the chorus, and then the orchestra has a solo section joined by the pianist.
The work develops juxtaposing the three musical entities, which provides an amazing variety of tonal palettes, emotion and direction.”
Biegel is among today’s top artists, having created a multi-faceted career as a pianist, recording artist, composer and arranger. His performances set the standard in traditional repertoire. His career as a pianist has been marked by bold, creative achievements and highlighted by a series of firsts. In the late 1990s, he initiated the first live internet recitals in New York and Amsterdam, and assembled a consortium of more than 25 orchestras to celebrate the millennium with the premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra.
It’s interesting to note that until the age of 3, Biegel could neither hear nor speak until his condition was corrected by surgery. The ‘reverse Beethoven’ phenomenon can explain his life in music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years.
Pacific Symphony’s Classical series performances are made possible by the Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation, with additional support from the Symphony’s official airline, American Airlines; official hotel, The Westin South Coast Plaza, official classical music station, KUSC; and official television station, KOCE-TV. This concert is sponsored by the Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation.
To purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org
