Gil Shaham with the NSO and the American Opera Initiative

A Hellish Journey to a Heavenly Length

All 3 composers on this week’s NSO concerts, Dame Ethyl Smyth, Antonin Dvořák and Franz Schubert had a long and winding road to get their works performed. (with apologies to the Beatles)

Sir Thomas Beecham, who conducted the first English production of Dame Ethyl Smyth’s third opera, “The Wreckers” said of her: “She was a stubborn, indomitable, unconquerable creature, nothing could daunt her.” The first performance in Leipzig didn't go well: Smyth didn't approve of the cuts the conductor demanded, so she stormed into the orchestra pit, tearing away all the parts and the full score. In fact, for five years she tromped across Europe, smoking her cigar, trying to sell her opera to reluctant impresarios. Perhaps they were put off by the opera’s grim story: it concerns a band of fanatically religious Cornish inland pirates who lured ships to their destruction, murdering the crews and plundering the goods. Close your eyes while listening to the Overture, and you'll feel the raging power of the sea, and the even more destructive nature of human emotions.

Dvořák’s Violin Concerto is now an extremely popular showpiece, but its gestation was also long and frustrating. The concerto was commissioned by Brahms’ publisher, Simrock with the idea that Brahms’ buddy, the great violinist Joseph Joachim would give the premiere. Unfortunately, Joachim objected to details in the composition, and poor Dvořák worked and reworked the piece several times. “The issue of revision lay at Joachim’s door for a full two years!” he complained. Despite all this, Joachim dragged his feet some more, and never agreed to perform the concerto. (Brahms also apparently had an issue getting Joachim to perform his own violin concerto even though they were lifelong friends!) The publisher also asked for some changes, but at this point a frustrated Dvořák refused. The premiere finally took place in Prague with the internationally acclaimed violinist František Ondříček who promoted it enthusiastically wherever he performed. It is always a special thrill to hear violinist Gil Shaham play. Here's a review from Violinist.com that perfectly describes a unique quality of Shaham’s: “Even when not playing, he seemed almost ready to explode with the orchestra’s energy...He also clearly delights in collaboration, playing to and with the musical colleagues surrounding him. His attention always encompassed the whole orchestra.” He also communicates his joy of music-making to the whole audience. To me, combined with his breathtaking virtuosity, this makes for an immersive musical experience for everyone in the hall.

Well, Smyth and Dvořák at least got to hear their works performed in their lifetimes, but not poor Franz Schubert. He wrote his 9th Symphony, nicknamed the “Great” in 1826, about 2 years before his death. Unable to pay for a performance, Schubert approached the Viennese Music Association. They offered him a small stipend, copied the parts, and gave a quick run-through. Ten years after his death, Robert Schumann visited Franz’s brother Ferdinand and was given a copy of the manuscript to take back with him to Leipzig. Can’t you just imagine the excitement when Schumann showed Mendelssohn the score? What a discovery! Mendelssohn conducted the premiere at the Gewandhaus in 1839, and Schumann wrote his famous review of the performance, praising the symphony’s “heavenly length.” That wasn't the end of the symphony’s travails, though—Parisian and London orchestras refused to play it, and in one anecdote, London orchestra violinists apparently burst into uncontrollable laughter while rehearsing the finale. Of course, nearly 200 years later, the obstacles mid-19th century orchestras encountered have been overcome, giving us a marvelously rich, colorful, and melodic work. Gianandrea Noseda and the NSO are taking the “Great” on tour and it will be exciting to have a preview this week at the Kennedy Center.

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin

Ethel Smyth: Overture to The Wreckers
Antonín Dvořák: Violin Concerto
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 9, “The Great”

Thursday 1/18, 7 pm; Saturday, 1/20, 8 pm; Sunday 1/21, 3 pm

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A Mezze Platter of Opera

Last week at the Kennedy Center, Gianandrea Noseda led the NSO in a condensed version of Wagner’s Ring Cycle—the unabridged 4-opera masterpiece lasts something like 15 hours and is performed over four days. This week, you can enjoy opera at the other end of the scale: three world premiere operas clocking in at around 20 minutes each! WNO’s American Opera Initiative, the acclaimed commissioning program for contemporary American opera, presents these one-act operas staged in a concert performance, accompanied by a small chamber orchestra, and starring members of the Cafritz Young Artists.

These fascinating operas will transport you from Mexico to post-apocalyptic Earth, to the studio of a wigmaker! Let me explain: the first opera is A Way Forward, composed by Laura Jobin-Acosta with the libretto by José Alba Rodríguez, and follows a Mexican family of 3 generations faced with the threat of foreclosure.  Will they find the way forward?

Next is Forever, a tragicomic opera about figuring out one’s place on a toxic planet. It is composed by Elizabeth Gartman with a libretto by Melisa Tien.

The third opera, Hairpiece, explores the dying art of wig making. The composer is Joy Redmond, with a libretto by Sam Norman.

According to the Kennedy Center website, The American Opera Initiative was founded in January 2012 by Washington National Opera to stimulate, enrich and ensure the future of contemporary American opera by providing talented emerging composers and librettists with mentorship and opportunities to write for the stage. Commissioned works use a chamber ensemble drawn from the WNO orchestra and singers from the Cafritz Young Artists, WNO’s resident-training program cultivates promising young singers and accompanists on the verge of international careers. Throughout their training, the Cafritz Young Artists are featured prominently in WNO performances.

There are 2 shows: Friday, January 19 at 7 pm and 9pm at the Terrace Theater