RHAPSODY IN BLUE

Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
Peace Concert Hall

Edvard Tchivzhel, conductor
Asiya Korepanova, piano

 
This General Operating Support Grant program is funded in part
by the Metropolitan Arts Council with grants received from the City of Greenville, the South Carolina Arts Commission whichreceives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and private donations.

 
This organization is funded in part by the
South Carolina Arts Commissionwhich receives support
from the National Endowment for the Arts.

VIOLIN

Mary Lee Taylor Kinosian,

Concertmaster
  Leila Cunningham Roe Endowed Chair

Xiaoli Saliny,

Assistant Concertmaster
  Uwe Diestel Endowed Chair

James R. Johnston 

Carol Roosevelt

Robin Hague Els

Inez Hullinger Redman

Catherine Hazan 

VIOLIN

Joanna Mulfinger,

Principal

Shr-Han Wu,

Assistant Principal

Catherine H. Crowe

Elizabeth Fee   

Brandon Ironside

Sarah Land

Kathleen S. Robinson

VIOLA

Arthur Ross III,
Principal
  Erika and Chuck Riddiford Endowed Chair

John Young Shik Concklin,
Assistant Principal

Alvoy Bryan, Jr.  

Kara Poorbaugh

CELLO

Ryan Knott,
Principal
  Guild of the Greenville Symphony Endowed Chair

Dusan Vukailovic,
Assistant Principal

David Saliny   

Miro Gomez 

DOUBLE BASS

Tim Easter,
Principal
  Anonymous Endowed Chair

Ian Bracchitta,
Assistant Principal

Maurice Bell   

FLUTE

Caroline Ulrich,
Principal
  Alice and Jerry Lenz Endowed Chair

Esther Waite

Carla Copeland-Burns

OBOE

Virginia Zeblisky Metzger,
Principal
  Guild of the Greenville Symphony Endowed Chair

Kelly Mozeik   

CLARINET

Anthony Marotta,
Principal
  Harriet and Jerry Dempsey Endowed Chair

Taylor Massey

Kyra Krenitsky Zhang

BASSOON

Lauren Piccirillo Waid,
Principal
  Anonymous Endowed Chair

Patrick Herring

SAXOPHONE

Clifford Leaman,
Principal

Matt Olson

Jack Murray

HORN

Anneka Zuehlke-King,
Principal
  Charles W. Wofford and Nancy B. Thomas Endowed Chair

Elizabeth Regas

Bill L. Tyler

Christina Cornell  

TRUMPET

Kevin Lyons,
Co-Principal
  Beverley and Jim Whitten Endowed Chair

Gary J. Malvern,
Assistant Principal

Craig King

TROMBONE

Stephen Wilson,
Co-Principal

Michael Hosford,
Co-Principal

Richard deBondt

TUBA

Don Strand,
Principal

TIMPANI

Daniel Kirkpatrick,
Principal
  Nancy B. Stanton Endowed Chair

PERCUSSION

Edward C. Nagel,

Principal

Gary Robinson

John Beckford

BANJO

Matthew Dingledine,

Principal

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Laura Auvil

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN

John Wickey

Gershwin & Liszt

Piano Concerto No. 1

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Clara Schumann, the pianist and composer, was awestruck at an 1838 recital by Franz Liszt: “I sobbed aloud, it overcame me so. Beside Liszt, other virtuosos appear so small.”

That sentiment was shared by many in the 19^th century. Liszt possessed an outsized romantic personality, and that characteristic was evident in both his performances and in his own compositions.

Liszt’s First Piano Concerto is a virtuoso’s showpiece, written for the composer himself to perform. It is a work of extravagant gestures and impassioned bravura episodes. 

The concerto is performed without pause, although it features four distinct sections that correspond to the movements of a symphony.

The concerto’s main theme is an assertive figure played by strings in octaves. The solo pianist enters almost immediately with a series of bravura passages. (Both Liszt and Gershwin, though strikingly different in style, had a predilection for musical phrasings with the spontaneity of improvisation.) The following slow section is a yearning, dream-like nocturne. A scherzo, light and charming (with considerable use of the triangle, an innovation) spotlights the solo pianist in fleet-fingered magnificence. For the final episode, the nocturne melody is transformed into a gallant march. The march is developed with increasingly brilliance until the opening theme of the concerto returns to conclude the work in triumphant style.  

‘Rhapsody in Blue’

George Gershwin (1898-1937)

In his “Rhapsody in Blue,” George Gershwin captured the urban spirit of Jazz Age America: restless, confident, sentimental, and more than a little sassy.  

You get the sass right at the beginning with that famous slurping clarinet solo, sliding right into the first theme, syncopated and gently mocking. “This ain’t your great grandfather’s piano concerto,” Gershwin seems to have been saying at the work’s premiere in 1924.

The piano soloist and orchestra will reflect on that first figure for several measures before Gershwin embarks upon a series of other themes, upbeat and jubilant. This is a concerto that moves.

At the midpoint, however, the music slows down to catch its breath. What follows is another famous melody, a meltingly lyrical phrase introduced by strings. It’s a bluesy nocturne, glowing with nostalgia.

That episode comes to a gentle conclusion, and the pianist introduces an anxious staccato figure. Soon, the music is off to the races again. The scene is set for a triumphant ending. In the last few bars, the full orchestra once again grandly proclaims the clarinet melody that began the piece, bringing everything full circle — and to a rousing conclusion.

Symphony No. 9

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Everyone expected Shostakovich to deliver a heroic and festive symphony to celebrate the end of World War II in 1945. Instead, the Soviet composer surprised everyone with this scaled-down and lighthearted Symphony No. 9.

Shostakovich’s two previous symphonies, both closely associated with wartime, were serious dramatic works lasting more than an hour and requiring gigantic orchestral forces. The Ninth Symphony, though it was supposed to be part of a trio with those earlier works, lasts only about 30 minutes and is scored for an orchestra not much larger than the ones Haydn and Mozart knew.

The work is composed in five short movements:

• The symphony opens with a skittering theme tossed back and forth between strings and woodwinds. A blast on the trombone paves the way for a second impish theme played by piccolo. Some tension enters the scene but mostly this is a merry little movement.

• The haunting slow movement develops from a lonely melody sung by the solo clarinet. The solo develops into a duet, then a woodwind ensemble. Muted strings offer a contrasting theme. The opening theme returns, now intoned by solo flute.

• The mercurial scherzo opens with a phrase for woodwinds, immediately succeeded by breathless whisperings for the strings alone. The full orchestra then joins in the rollicking fun. 

• The very slow fourth movement — a portentous dialogue between heavy brass and bassoon — really acts as an introduction to the vigorous fifth movement. 

• A solo bassoon softly opens the finale with a puckish theme. Violins offer a lilting contrasting subject. A swift development leads to the return of the opening theme, thunderously proclaimed by the full orchestra. A brisk coda provides an exuberant conclusion. 

Paul Hyde, a longtime Upstate journalist, is the public information coordinator for the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities at Clemson University. Follow him on Facebook (Upstate Onstage) and Twitter: @PaulHyde7.

The Greenville Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel have announced details of the 2021-22 concert season.  Renewal packets for current subscribers are in the mail.  Patrons who did not subscribe to the 2020-21 season, but would like to join us next year may call the Peace Center Box office at (864) 467-3000 open 9:30am - 5:30pm weekdays.

Highlights include music of Mozart, Beethoven's mighty "Eroica" Symphony, the thundering "Organ" Symphony of Saint-Saens, plus appearances by local favorites Laura Colgate, David Gross, Zachary Hughes, and International Ballet.  A complete list of programs is available here:

GSO 21-22 Season