59 Years Ago... - Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Today marks the 59th anniversary of our very first concert. (Back then, we were the Orange County Philharmonic Orchestra.) On May 22, 1954, our first concert took place in Santa Ana High School’s auditorium. Dutch-born female conductor Frieda Belinfante led the 50-musician Orange County Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Rossini, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven.
It was a full house. Orange County was hungry for classical music. And here we are, nearly 60 years later and through your support, proud to continue bringing classical music's finest artists to our county.
From the archives, here we have a picture of Frieda Belinfante (on the right) with some of the original members of the OC Philharmonic. From the left we have Edward Elliott, Douglas Lamont, Linda Williams, Bernard Senescu, and G.J. Nardutli.
Music Monday: Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony - Monday, May 20, 2013
In celebration of the Philharmonic Society's 60th anniversary season, the
Vienna Philharmonic returns to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall with Schubert’s Eighth Symphony (the “Unfinished,” or as I would call it, “The Not Performed Enough Anymore”). It is a beautiful program by a native of Vienna and an early 20th century upstart—great music from the home office. Soprano Juliane Banse joins for the Mahler Fourth Symphony.
Schubert's Eighth Symphony was started in 1822 but was never completed. Though Schubert lived for another six years, he left his Eighth Symphony with only two complete movements. The mystery remains: why didn't Schubert ever finish the piece? It's speculated that perhaps he was distracted by an inspiration for other pieces, or that he had come up with ideas for a finale for the symphony but ended up using those ideas for another work he was composing. We'll probably never know.
What
is known, however, is that the piece was never performed until 1865, 37 years after Schuber's death. Schubert had given the score for the Symphony to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, a leading member of the Graz Music Society (which had bestowed upon Schubert an honorary diploma). The score contained the two movements and at least the first two pages of the start of a scherzo. The rest of the scherzo was part of a separate manuscript that was never sent to Hüttenbrenner, as it was found amongst Schubert's manuscripts after his death. It took another three decades before Hüttenbrenner made it known that he had this work by Schubert, and the piece finally had its premiere in Vienna on December 17, 1865, under the baton of Johann von Herbeck. Though "Unfinished," the symphony was well received by the audience. And in spring 2014, you'll be able to hear it performed by one of the world's preeminent orchestras.
We have been both fortunate and proud to have presented the Vienna Philharmonic four times in our long history. Its televised New Year’s concert is seen by millions in more than 80 countries. As one of the world’s finest orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic is a must-see/hear.
Mark your calendars for
Monday, March 3, 2014, and make sure you are with us to enjoy some exquisite Schubert and Mahler. You will thank yourself for a very long time.
Flashback Friday: 1954 - Friday, May 17, 2013
Did you know? The Philharmonic Society started out in 1954 as the Orange County Philharmonic Orchestra. Eventually we became strictly a presenting organization, and during our nearly 60 years of existence we're proud to have brought to Orange County some of classical music's best artists.
Our upcoming 2013-14 season will be our 60th anniversary season, and what better excuse to go through our archives and dig up some history?
Here we have a photo of our founding board of directors from 1954. Seated, from left, we have Mrs. Earl Stanley, Mrs. Henry Salinger, Karen Margreta Bruning, O.W. Richards, and Mrs. Mildred Alley. Standing, from left, are Maurice Harris, George Burt, Dwight Gibbs, Dr. Basil Peterson, and H.W. Steiner.
The most important part of our existence is YOU. Thank YOU for your continued support of the Philharmonic Society. Your support and participation makes it possible for us to continue bringing world-class artists to Orange County. We wouldn't be here with you!
Spotlight On: Yuja Wang - Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Pianist
Yuja Wang will return to Orange County this fall for her debut recital in the Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. She is a stunning young musician with a charismatic stage presence. Since her debut in 2005 with the National Arts Center Orchestra under Pinchas Zukerman, Yuja’s career has skyrocketed. Time after time, she demonstrates an awesome controlled technique and authority over the most complex technical demands of performance repertoire, and audiences love her for it.
Yuja was most recently with us in November 2009, performing along with the Shanghai Symphony as part of our China Festival "Ancient Paths, Modern Voices." But we knew from the first time we presented her that she was a musician beyond her years. We first had Yuja in Orange County with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner in 2008. She wowed us. Bowled us over. Her encores that night were Horowitz' Variations on a Theme from Carmen and Volodos's arrangement of Mozart's Rondo alla Turca. These pieces, Tim Mangan of the
Orange County Register wrote, were "whiz-bang whammies that she dispatched with sizzling ease to the ecstatic delight of the audience."
This October (Sunday, the 13th, to be exact) will mark Yuja Wang's much-anticipated return to our concert hall. She's prepared a beautifully virtuosic program of Prokofiev, Chopin, and Stravinsky. Her performance is not to be missed.
Here she is performing Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, at the 2009 Verbier Festival under the baton of Kurt Masur. Please.. enjoy!
Music Monday: Handel's Theodora - Monday, May 13, 2013
Theodora was Handel's favorite of his oratorios, surpassing even his famed
Messiah. While similar to operas in terms of musical composition and use of characters, oratorios are performed without staging or sets, which made them suitable for performance in the church.
Handel's
Theodora is a dramatic masterpiece centered around the story of the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover Didymus. It is a tragic tale of love, faith and virtue.
For our performance of
Theodora on
Monday, January 27, 2014, we have the spectacular countertenor
David Daniels joining us with a wonderful cast: conductor
Harry Bicket and
The English Concert. David Daniels could be the best countertenor alive and, believe me, there is some fierce competition. We can thank our good fortune for the fact that there are so many wonderful countertenors, making it possible for George Frideric Handel's operas and oratorios to be performed more now, in our lifetime, than ever before.
In 1996, the Glyndebourne Festival presented a very successful staged production of
Theodora, which featured Dawn Upshaw as Theodora and David Daniels as Didymus. Here's the video. Enjoy!
PBS Premiere of Jake Shimabukuro: Life On Four Strings - Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Mark your calendars! The very talented ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, whom we presented in concert back in March 2011 as part of our JapanOC festival, will be coming to a TV near you.
Jake Shimabukuro: Life On Four Strings will have its National PBS Broadcast Premiere this
Friday, May 10th, at 9pm! Check your local listings. The documentary, directed by Tadashi Nakamura, provides an insightful portrait of Jake Shimabukuro as a first-class musician, backstage, at home, on the road, and into his early days, and features footage from our very own Jake Shimabukuro concert.
We're honored to have been able to be a part of this film. Jake's virtuosity on the ukulele was amazing to see in person, and his charisma and aloha extended far beyond the stage.
Watch the trailer for
Jake Shimabukuro: Life On Four Strings below!
Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony was not one of the composer's favorite self-written works. In fact, though it was only the second symphony he ever wrote, he remained dissatisfied with the work and refused to publish it. The Reformation, composed in 1830, was finally published in 1868, 21 years after Mendelssohn's death.
Written in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, the Reformation Symphony never made it to the Augsburg celebrations. Though Mendelssohn had started composing the symphony a year earlier and even planned to finish the piece well before the festivities, which were scheduled to take place June 30th, 1830, the symphony's composition took longer than expected and after a bout of measles and a four month tour in early 1830, Mendelssohn finally completed the Reformation Symphony in May 1830. By then, it was too late for the Augsburg celebrations. It took two more years before the symphony was finally performed. By 1868, Mendelssohn called the work "juvenile" and never performed it again.
In the video below, we have Ton Koopman conducting the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony.
Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil bring it to Orange County on Friday, May 24th.
Sir Colin Davis' Last Opera - Friday, May 03, 2013
The BBC Proms has announced it will dedicate one of its upcoming concerts to the memory of Sir Colin Davis, who passed away a few weeks ago on April 14th at the age of 85. Sir Colin, whose last performance at the Proms was two years ago conducting an interpretation of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, conducted more than 140 Proms in a period spanning more than 50 years.
On Tuesday, August 20th, Sir Colin was to have led the London Symphony Orchestra for its Proms performance. Instead, the orchestra will be led by Daniel Harding.
The London Symphony has recently posted online a film in tribute to its longest-serving principal conductor (Sir Colin made his debut with the orchestra in 1959). Made by Tommy Pearson, footage is taken from concert performances of Weber’s Freischütz in the Barbican. It was the last opera that Sir Colin ever conducted and one of his last appearances with the London Symphony. Enjoy!
Spotlight On "The Man with the Golden Flute" - Wednesday, May 01, 2013
"The Man with the Golden Flute" is finally returning to Orange County to perform for the Philharmonic Society's 60th anniversary season. "The Man" being Sir James Galway.
His previous visits in the late twentieth century included appearances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Tokyo String Quartet. For our 60th anniversary season, he is coming to Segerstrom Concert Hall this fall, soloing with the
Irish Chamber Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta. The concert will take place Monday, November 11, 2013.
Sir James Galway's appeal over the years has been exceptionally high for two reasons: first, his consummate artistry on the most popular woodwind instrument, and second, and most importantly, his gift of connecting to audiences with the charming spell that the Irish flute casts over people, both Irish and non-Irish alike.
Just as we are all Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, we are always vulnerable to performing artists who can speak directly to our hearts without uttering a word. There are just a few artists like this alive on the planet at any one time. Sir James is one of them and he is coming for a visit. Let’s welcome him together.
The video below showcases Galway's exceptional artistry and skill on the flute. Here he is performing Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Flight of the Bumble Bee."
Happy birthday, Zubin Mehta! - Monday, April 29, 2013
Zubin Mehta turns 77 today. Happy birthday, Maestro! The esteemed conductor made his conducting debut in Vienna in 1958. He held the position of Music Director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1962 to 1978. Following that appointment, he became Music Director and Principal Conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1978 and remained there until his resignation in 1991, becoming the longest holder of the post. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
We've been fortunate to have Maestro Mehta here in Orange County on a number of occasions, the first time in 1963 with the LA Phil and most recently in 2003 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
For today's Music Monday, we present a performance of
Mozart's Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 297b. With Zubin Mehta conducting the Israel Philharmonic, the performance also features Itzhak Perlman on the violin and
Pinchas Zukerman on the viola.