Nathalie Stutzmann in her OM Debut | Orchestre Metropolitain

Symphonic personalities

Program

Prokofiev

Violin Concerto No. 2

I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante assai
III. Allegro, ben marcato

Duration: approx. 30 minutes
Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 6 in B minor “Pathétique”

I. Adagio - Allegro non troppo
II. Allegro con grazia
III. Allegro molto vivace
IV. Adagio lamentoso

Duration: approx. 45 minutes

One of the leading conductors of the day, Nathalie Stutzmann steps onto the OM’s podium. For this, her Montreal debut in the role, the great French artist conducts a program with Slavic roots. Give into the many charms of one of the most prized violin concertos in the repertoire – whose muscular melodies transport you – then plumb the depth of emotion in Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique.”

A low bassoon melody colours the opening measures of the Symphony No. 6. Inspired, it stirs the soul and sets the tone for this French-titled symphony. With great panache, violinist Daniel Lozakovich, one of the youngest musicians ever signed by the prestigious Deutsche Gammophon label, takes flight in Prokofiev’s sombre yet elegant Violin Concerto No. 2.

Works

Prokofiev

1891 – 1953

Violin Concerto No. 2

Premiered in Madrid on December 1, 1935, by Robert Soetens, conducted by Enrique Fernández Arbós

Sontsivka is a village of a few hundred inhabitants located about 130 kilometres north of Mariupol and 70 kilometres west of Donetsk in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Until very recently, one could visit the Sergei Prokofiev Museum there, for Sontsivka is where the eponymous composer was born on April 23, 1891. His father, Sergei Alexeyevich Prokofiev, had moved to the village from Moscow to work as an agronomist. His mother, pianist Maria Zhitkova, came from a local family very active in the performing arts, It was she who began young Sergei’s musical education.

In 1904, at 12 years of age, the precocious Prokofiev enrolled at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His talent was prodigious: by age 14, he had composed four operas, a symphony and sonatas. Over time, he developed a robust style, both acerbic and generously lyrical. His seven symphonies, 10 concertos (including concertante works), 13 operas, numerous songs and nine ballets make him something of a modern continuator of Tchaikovsky.

Fleeing the Russian Revolution, Prokofiev settled in the West in 1918, where he remained until 1936, first in the United States and then in Paris. His many globe-spanning tours brought him great success as a composer and a pianist. Among the more notable triumphs were his four first symphonies, his five piano concertos and his two concertos for violin. Confident in his standing, he moved back to the USSR in 1936, hopeful that his international reputation would guarantee his safety and peace of mind. How mistaken he was! Enlisted against his wishes as the regime’s official composer, he would be closely watched by Stalin’s fearsome authorities. In 1938, he was banned from leaving the country. He would stay there until his death on March 5, 1953, about 50 minutes before Stalin’s.

Prokofiev wrote his Violin Concerto No. 2 in 1935. During the same period, he was working on his ballet Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64. That explains the great similarity of expression in these two masterworks where bravura passages alternate with flights of heartfelt lyricism. The concerto is dedicated to the French violinist Robert Soetens (1897-1997), who Prokofiev had held in high esteem since hearing him premiere the Sonata for Two Violins, Op. 56.

Tchaikovsky

1840-1893

Symphony No. 6 in B minor “Pathétique”

Premiered in Saint Petersburg on October 16, 1893, conducted by Tchaikovsky

Among the great composers, Tchaikovsky was certainly one of the most gifted at writing unforgettable melodies that immediately tug at listeners’ heart strings. In any case, he is the most beloved of Russian composers. One could say he is to Russia what Dvořák is to Bohemia: both composed abundantly in the main music genres developed in Germany and Austria – symphonies, concertos, operas, chamber music, etc. – while also conveying the deep soul of their respective countries.

Dvořák was particularly affected by the music of Brahms, while the very young Tchaikovsky was impressed by Mozart. “The music of Don Giovanni was the first that turned my world upside down,” wrote Tchaikovsky. “It awoke in me a rapture, and we know where that has led… It is to Mozart who I am obliged for convincing me to dedicate my life to music.”

While that may be true, the content of Tchaikovsky’s musical discourse, in particular the fatum theme, makes him a true Romantic. The composer defined fatum as “that fateful force which prevents the impulse to happiness from achieving its aim, which jealously guards against well-being and happiness being complete and unclouded, which hangs overhead like the sword of Damocles and unwaveringly and constantly poisons the soul. This force is invincible, and you will never overpower it. All that remains is to resign yourself to never-ending sorrow.”

The idea of fatum finds anguished expression in several of Tchaikovsky’s works, including the Romeo and Juliet fantasy-overture (1870), the symphonic poems Fatum (1869), Francesca da Rimini (1877) and Hamlet (1888) and the programmatic Manfred Symphony (1886). Tchaikovsky thoroughly explored this idea of a futile struggle against fate in his last three symphonies, which are sometimes referred to as the “Fate trilogy” and whose discourse has an exceptional expressive force.

Tchaikovsky’s interest in the theme of fate arose in part from the Russian Romantic temperament. Similar preoccupations can be found in Tolstoy and even more in Dostoyevsky. However, Tchaikovsky’s exploration of fatum is more intimately related to his states of mind. Extremely discreet in his daily life, the composer channelled the intensity of his suffering into a flood of music, a suffering mostly related to his struggle with what he himself termed an “illness,” this being a time and place when homosexuality was considered a shameful sin.

The nickname “Pathétique” was suggested to Tchaikovsky by his brother Modeste after the work was completed. The symphony innovates with an arch-like structure in which the somber introductory Adagio finds echo in the Adagio lamentoso of the last movement, the symphony’s climax that expresses an almost unbearable pain. The idea of making the finale an Adagio instead of an Allegro would be borrowed by others, notably Mahler.

The premiere of the “Pathétique” in Saint Petersburg on October 16, 1893, was a triumph. Nine days later, according to a plausible theory, Tchaikovsky was condemned to suicide by a “court of honour” comprised of colleagues in order to avoid a scandal that would otherwise have tarnished the reputation of Saint Petersburg’s entire musical community.

“ … I absolutely consider [the sixth symphony] to be the best and, especially, the most sincere of all the works I have written. I love it as I have never loved any of my other scores.” So wrote Tchaikovsky about his “Pathétique.”

Conductor & Soloists

Nathalie Stutzmann

Conductor

Nathalie Stutzmann is considered one of the most outstanding musical personalities of our time. Charismatic musicianship, combined with unique rigour, energy and fantasy, characterise her style.

A rich variety of strands form the core of her repertoire: Central European and Russian romanticism is a strong focus — ranging from Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak through to the larger symphonic forces of Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss — as well as French 19th century repertoire and impressionism.

Nathalie Stutzmann has just been announced as Atlanta Symphony’s Music Director from the start of the 2022/23 season, becoming the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra after Marin Alsop. In addition, this season she begins her position as the Philadelphia Orchestra’s new Principal Guest Conductor. The three-year tenure will involve a regular presence in the orchestra’s subscription series in Philadelphia and at its Summer festivals in Vail and Saratoga. Finally, Nathalie is also entering the fourth season of a tenure as Chief Conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, a tenure which has just been extended by a further two seasons, to the end of 22/23.

Nathalie was also Principal Guest Conductor of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland 2017-2020. Her performances with the RTE NSO in Dublin attracted outstanding accolades from the press. As a guest conductor, Nathalie will begin the season 21/ 22 with Orchestre de Paris, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other guest conducting include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Hamburg NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Radio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony…

Having also established a strong reputation as an opera conductor, she was scheduled to make her Metropolitan Opera debut this fall, but it was cancelled due to Covid-19 and will debut in 2023 in two new productions. She has led celebrated productions of Wagner’s Tannhäuser in Monte Carlo and Boito’s Mefistofele in Provence. In 2022, she will conduct Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades at La Monnaie, Brussels.

Nathalie started her studies at a very young age in singing – she is today’s most esteemed contraltos –, piano, bassoon, cello and studied conducting with the legendary Finnish teacher Jorma Panula. She was mentored by Seiji Ozawa and Sir Simon Rattle who says that “Nathalie is the real thing. So much love, intensity and sheer technique. We need more conductors like her”.

Nathalie was named “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur”, France’s highest honor, and “Commandeur dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French government.

Daniel Lozakovich

Violin

Violinist Daniel Lozakovich’s majestic music-making has left critics and audiences spellbound. “Perfect mastery. An exceptional talent,” observed Le Figaro, while the Boston Globe praised the “poise, tonal purity, and technique to spare”.

“Lozakovich is a serious artist and demands to be taken seriously; he already plays like one of the greats. His tone … resonates with the Romantic warmth of such forebears as Christian Ferras or Jascha Heifetz.” Hamburger Abendblatt, August 2019.

Daniel Lozakovich was born in Stockholm in 2001 and began playing the violin when he was almost seven. He made his solo debut two years later with the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and Vladimir Spivakov. Lozakovich studies at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Professor Josef Rissin since 2012, and from 2015 has been mentored by Eduard Wulfson in Geneva. Daniel had also studied with Mikhail Kazinik and Gerhard Schulz. Awarded many prizes including 1st prize at the 2016 Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition and “The Young Artist of the Year 2017” award at the Festival of the Nations, “Premio Batuta” in Mexico, and the “Excelentia Award” in Spain.

Daniel Lozakovich collaborates with some of the world’s eminent conductors, including Ádám Fischer, Semyon Bychkov, Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Andris Nelsons, Vasily Petrenko, Tugan Sokhiev, Christoph Eschenbach, and Leonard Slatkin. Lozakovich performs with such orchestras as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and many more. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Sergei Babayan, Alexander Romanovsky, and Denis Matsuev.

A highly-regarded recitalist, he has made appearances at Les Grandes Voix – Les Grands Solistes in Salle Gaveau, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Gaveau, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. A regular at international music festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Baltic Sea Festival, White Nights Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Colmar Festival, Festival de Saint-Denis and many more.

He signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in June 2016, soon after his 15th birthday. The deal made him the youngest member of DG’s family of artists. Lozakovich’s first recording for Deutsche Grammophon was released in June 2018 and featured Bach’s two concerti for violin and orchestra, and the Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin. The outstanding success of this debut album was marked in the music charts, the album reaching number 1 on the French Amazon overall charts and number 1 in the classical album charts in Germany. “None but the Lonely Heart”, Lozakovich’s second album for the Yellow Label, was released in October 2019. Dedicated to the music of Tchaikovsky, it includes the Violin Concerto and the song from which the album takes its name: the Romance, Op.6 No.6, “None but the lonely heart”.

Daniel Lozakovich plays the “ex-Baron Rothschild” Stradivari on generous loan on behalf of the owner by Reuning & Son, Boston, and Eduard Wulfson, and plays the Stradivarius “Le Reynier” (1727), generously loaned by LVMH.

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