TMSO Special Concert in Osaka

This concert is over. Date: Sun. 20. April 2025 14:00 (13:00)

Venue: Festival Hall Venue Info

[50th Anniversary of Shostakovich’s death]
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Artists

Kazushi ONO, Conductor
Alena BAEVA, Violin

Profile

Kazushi ONO (Music Director)

Kazushi Ono is the definitive musical citizen of the world, having been born in Tokyo, studied in Munich and forged his early career in Zagreb, Karlsruhe and Tokyo. This variety of influences has shaped an inquiring and profound musical intellect and an ability to communicate meaning across languages and cultures, leading to longstanding relationships around the world.
Ono trained in Europe under Wolfgang Sawallisch and came to public attention winning first prize in the 1987 Toscanini Competition. Since his first appointment at Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992 he has held continuous positions, including at Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Karlsruhe Opera, La Monnaie, Opéra National de Lyon, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and currently, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New National Theatre Tokyo and Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra.
A favourite of orchestral players, he has lasting friendships with orchestras around the world and regularly guest conducts groups such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
His passion and curiosity for repertoire takes him in different directions – to the standard classics but also to new music. He often commissions works and has collaborated several times with Mark-Anthony Turnage, including on Silent Cities, Hibiki (which won a Royal Philharmonic Society award) and Time Flies, which was originally commissioned for the 2020 Tokyo Olympiad. Recent commissions at NNTT include Asters by Akira Nishimura and Dai Fujikura’s A Dream of Armageddon. His programming there also includes Baroque, 20th-century and bel canto masterpieces.
In Europe he conducted the world premieres of Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjyo in Aix-en-Provence, Arnulf Hermann’s Der Mieter at Oper Frankfurt and Kaija Saariaho’s Emilie at Opéra de Lyon, as well as new productions of Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’Enfant et les sortilèges at Glyndebourne and Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher at Opéra de Lyon. He has worked closely with boundary-breaking directors such as Dmitri Tcherniakov, Romeo Castellucci, Pierre Audi, William Kentridge and Mariusz Treliński
Ono is a vocal advocate for the role of culture in all our lives. During his time in Lyon he took part in a programme bringing opera to prisons and at TMSO he leads the inclusive SaLaD Music Festival, as well as working with community organisations for people with disabilities. In his new role in Brussels he will be part of an integration scheme for refugees. During the initial stages of the pandemic, he led ground-breaking research into the transmission of particles and the use of ventilation that meant that orchestras could get back to playing for audiences safely.
In 2017 he was awarded ‘Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by French cultural minister Françoise Nyssen, adding to the prestigious Asahi Prize in January 2015, for his contribution to the development and progress of Japanese society.
https://www.kazushiono.com/

Alena BAEVA (Violin)

Described as “a magnetic presence” and “a constantly fascinating sound technician” (New York Classical Review), violinist Alena Baeva is considered one of the most exciting, versatile, and captivating soloists active on the world stage today, working with leading conductors including Gustavo Gimeno, Paavo Järvi, Marek Janowski, Vladimir Jurowski, Tomáš Netopil and Riccardo Minasi.

Possessing a passionate musical curiosity, Baeva holds an already vast and rapidly expanding active repertoire, including over fifty violin concerti. She is a champion of lesser-known works alongside the more mainstream violin literature, with recent performances promoting such composers as Bacewicz, Karaev, Karłowicz, and Silvestrov.

Baeva’s career as an international soloist of the highest renown has grown at an extraordinary pace over recent seasons, performing with orchestras including New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and Göteborgs Symfoniker. She enjoys a long-standing and rewarding relationship with the Orchestra of the XVIII Century, performing and recording a variety of repertoire on period instruments.

Chamber music holds a particularly special place in her musical life, where she enjoys collaborations with such esteemed artists as Yuri Bashmet, Daishin Kashimoto, Misha Maisky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and the Belcea Quartet. Her regular sonata partner is the celebrated Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko, with whom she has a dedicated musical partnership of more than a decade.

Baeva records exclusively for leading label Alpha Classics, and the first project of her multi-disc deal with the label, Fantasy with Vaydm Kholodenko, was released in February 2024.
Baeva’s wider discography is extensive and reflects the impressive breadth of her repertoire. Recordings include Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 (with Orchestra of the XVIII Century, 2021); the Karłowicz Violin Concerto (with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 2018); and the Schumann Violin Concerto and original (1844) version of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (for Melodiya Records, 2020).

Born in Kyrgyzstan with Slavic-Tatar ancestry, Baeva took her first violin lessons at the age of five under renowned pedagogue Olga Danilova in Kazakhstan before studying with Professor Eduard Grach in Russia, and also took lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Garlitsky, and Shlomo Mintz. Naturalised Luxembourgisch, Alena Baeva resides in Luxemburg with her husband and three children.

At only 16 years of age, Baeva won the Grand Prix at the 12th International Henryk Wieniawski Competition (2001), as well as the Prize for Best Performance of a Contemporary Work. Following this, she went on to take the Grand Prix at the Moscow International Niccolò Paganini Competition (2004), including a Special Prize allowing her to perform on the 1723 Wieniawski Stradivari for one year, and was awarded both the Gold Medal and the Audience Prize at the Sendai International Violin Competition (2007).

Alena Baeva plays on the “ex-William Kroll” Guarneri del Gesù of 1738 – on generous loan from an anonymous patron, with the kind assistance of J&A Beares.
photo ©Andrej Grilc

Program

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, op.77

Program Notes
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5 in E minor, op.64

Program Notes

｜Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, op.77

Ⅰ Nocturne: Moderato
Ⅱ Scherzo: Allegro
Ⅲ Passacaglia: Andante
Ⅳ Burlesque: Allegro con brio

Dmitri Shostakovich: Born in St. Petersburg, September 25, 1906; died in Moscow, August 9, 1975

　Throughout most of his long career as one of the Soviet Unionʼs foremost composers, Dmitri Shostakovich was forced to be ever vigilant against the vicissitudes of official Party doctrine regarding artistic expression. “Socialist Realism” was in; “Formalism” was out. The terms are largely meaningless in themselves, but they signified that the only acceptable music was that which was understandable by the masses, music promoting optimism, music imbued with heroic sentiment and richly laden with simple, tuneful themes. Proscribed were such subversive elements as strong dissonance, atonality, introspection and unsingable melodies. These qualities were regarded as synonymous with the contemptible, bourgeois, decadent culture of certain Western countries, and to be shunned by any respectable Soviet citizen.
　The Violin Concerto No. 1, completed in 1948, is a deeply personal statement that emanates from the composerʼs innermost artistic soul, designed to satisfy first and foremost the dictates of his own creative sensibilities, not those of government bureaucrats. Much of the concerto is darkly introspective, reflective and somber in mood − hardly material to inspire Soviet workers to greater productivity or to further some political cause. Shostakovich prudently waited until after Stalinʼs death (1953) to present this concerto to the public. To have done otherwise would have incurred almost certain condemnation. David Oistrakh, for whom the concerto was written (as were the Concerto No. 2 of 1967 and the Violin Sonata of 1968), was soloist in the highly successful world premiere, given on October 29, 1955 with the Leningrad Philharmonic conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky. The score was published the following year as Op. 99, and for years it retained this opus number. However, Shostakovich had had the foresight to leave lacunae in his opus numberings during the most troublesome years, particularly from 1948-1953. Op. 77 signifies the concertoʼs proper chronology. (A film score now bears Op. 99.) Oistrakh was also the soloist at the American premiere (December, 1955) when Dmitri Mitropoulos conducted the New York Philharmonic. Oistrakh recorded the concerto not only with Mravinsky and Mitropoulos, but also with the composerʼs son Maxim.
　The concerto is unorthodox in form, symphonic in scope and largely avoids the virtuosic display found in many Russian concertos. Oistrakh called the solo role “very profound, Shakespearian, demanding from the artist the greatest emotional and intellectual dedication.”
　The opening movement is an extended nocturne − grave, contemplative and eloquent − that rises inexorably to an impassioned climax. Then follows a brusque scherzo, full of rhythmic zest and Shostakovichʼs typically sardonic humor. Listeners familiar with other works of Shostakovichʼs later years (the Tenth Symphony, Eighth Quartet and First Cello Concerto, for examples), may note the presence here of his recurring DSCH motif (Dmitri SCHostakowitsch in the German spelling, which corresponds to the notes D-E flat-C-B, also in German orthography). The Passacaglia is another slow movement. In a passacaglia, a melody, most often in the bass line, is repeated over and over while other musical events are played out in the upper parts. An elaborate cadenza − almost a movement in itself and the emotional core of the entire concerto − leads gradually from the seriousness of the Passacaglia to the highly energetic finale full of dance rhythms and folk tunes.

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

｜Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5 in E minor, op.64

Ⅰ Andante - Allegro con anima
Ⅱ Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza
Ⅲ Valse: Allegro moderato
Ⅳ Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Born in Votkinsk, May 7, 1840; died in St. Petersburg, November 6, 1893

　The late 1870s were traumatic years for Tchaikovsky. It was then that he became involved with a neurotic young music student named Antonina Milyukova, made the disastrous mistake of marrying her, attempted suicide, entered into that extraordinary epistolary relationship with his benefactress Nadezhda von Meck, struggled with highly-charged fears over his homosexuality, and created his fate-laden Fourth Symphony. The years following were a period of recovery from this stressed existence, and the period between the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies constituted a longer interval between symphonies than any other in his canon of such works − over a decade.
　It was only in May of 1888 that Tchaikovsky again set out on a symphonic journey, albeit tentatively. But thereafter, work progressed with amazing rapidity. In just six weeks, he had written the short score, by late August it was completely orchestrated, and the first performance took place on November 17 in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer.
　The motto invariably described as the “Fate” motif is heard in the symphonyʼs opening bars in the somber tones of low clarinets. To an even greater extent than in the Fourth Symphony, this “Fate” motto pervades the work. Twice it abrasively intrudes in the slow movement; it makes a shadowy, menacing appearance near the end of the Waltz; and it serves as the material that introduces and closes the Finale in a mood of exultant joy.
　The first movement is laid out in traditional sonata form, though with an untraditional wealth of melodic ideas. Notable orchestral details abound, including the lilting first theme of the Allegro section for clarinet and bassoon in octaves; the horn quartet fanfares, which are at one time or another echoed by every wind instrument of the orchestra, including the tuba; and the murky growls that bring the movement to a close.
　The second movement represents Tchaikovsky at the peak of his lyrical and romantic fervor. It also contains one of the great glories of the solo horn repertory – that long, long first theme of infinite yearning and nostalgia. The theme is marked dolce con molto espressione (sweetly, with great expression). Even more than in the first movement, Tchaikovsky the melodist comes to the fore in both the number and richness of his themes, which take on a wide range of moods from tender consolation to the heights of passion. Felicitous contrapuntal treatment also provides much interest in this movement, as in the intertwining of solo oboe and violins following the first return of the Fate motif.
　The emotional peaks scaled in the first two movements are absent in the third, an elegant waltz. Its tune is based on a song Tchaikovsky heard sung by a boy in the streets of Florence. The central trio section enters the world of Mendelssohnian deftness and elfin enchantment, a reminder of just how much respect Tchaikovsky accorded his predecessor.
　There can be little doubt that the finale portrays triumph over adversity. The Fate motif is stated immediately in grand, ceremonial tones, now in the major tonality. Analysts have criticized the “victory” as one too quickly and too easily won to be convincing from the standpoint of musical argument. Perhaps they are right, but that has not prevented countless listeners from responding enthusiastically to the pomp of this now-familiar theme in new colors, and to the thrilling Allegro vivace that follows. Hammering (martellato) strings initiate the main body of the movement, which seldom pauses for breath in its relentless drive to what is surely the most deceptive pause in all music: audiences the world over have erupted into spontaneous applause at the famous silence (poised on the dominant chord − B major) that precedes the re-entry of the home key and the final, expansive proclamation of the symphonyʼs motto, now blazing triumphantly in E major.

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

【Soloist Encore】（4/22up）
Grażyna Bacewicz：Polish Caprice
（Alena BAEVA, Violin）

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