Bernstein — A centennial celebration of the American icon
Beethoven — With award-winning pianist and audience favorite Charlie Albright
Movie Magic — Animated classic The Snowman with score performed live with the Pacific Boychoir, plus a program that showcases the genius of American composer JohnWilliams
Piazzolla — Concertmaster Jennifer Cho leads the orchestra in a seductive Argentine tango
Bruckner, Mozart, Ravel, and more, including the world premiere of a new violin concerto by Young American Composer-in-Residence Katherine Balch
Season tickets are now available. In addition to the best prices we offer all year, subscribers enjoy 20% off extra single tickets all season long, early purchasing privileges, and free ticket exchanges. Explore the new season, and find out more about subscribing here.
Want to know more about this year’s programming choices and the California Symphony’s commitment to diversity? Read more in the press release:
What additional treasures might exist had Mozart survived beyond 35? And what iconic works *wouldn’t* we have, if other great composers had died young like him?
“When I am… completely myself, entirely alone… or during the night when I cannot sleep, it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how these ideas come I know not nor can I force them.” —Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
If Mozart is to be taken at his word, he must have lived much of his short life in sleepless but productive solitude. He composed over 600 musical works—including 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, and over 50 symphonies—and he did all this in just half a lifetime.
As much wonderful music as Mozart left us, it is tantalizing to wonder what else he might have gone on to write, had he had a few more years. When Mozart died in 1791 at the age of 35 while writing his Requiem Mass, he was at the peak of his powers: He had finished two operas (including the much-loved Magic Flute), a clarinet concerto, a cantata and had about two-thirds of the Requiem completed.
What if he’d had another 30 years ahead of him? How many more operas, concerti and great symphonic works would he have delivered? How much further would he have advanced the forms?
Of course, we’ll never know the answer, but this started us thinking—possibly a little morbidly—about all the other great works that would not exist, had their composers also been struck down in their 30s. Consider, for example, that Bruckner did not even complete his first symphony until he was 43; Beethoven wrote symphonies five through nine all after the age of 35; and Brahms delivered his virtuosic second piano concerto at the comparatively ripe old age of 48.
Here is a short list of monumental works that would never have been written had their composers perished like Mozart at the age of 35.
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
There would be no Ode to Joy since Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony at the age of 54.
2. The Nutcracker Suite
There would be no sugar plum fairies dancing to music composed by Tchaikovsky at age 52.
3. The Messiah
The holidays just wouldn’t be the same without gems like For Unto Us a Child is Born and the Hallelujah Chorus, composed by Handel at age 56.
4. New World Symphony
Dvorak composed his Ninth Symphony, the New World, at the age of 52.
5. Wagner’s Ring Cycle
Not one single note of the stirring Ride of the Valkyries, composed as part of Wagner’s opera saga at the age of 61.
We’ll never really know what the world lost when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at just 35, working on the Requiem that was to become his own unfinished swan song, but it is astonishing to consider his achievements in the context of other composers’ bodies of work which were delivered in up to twice the time.
Mozart’s genius and his singular place among the greats is undeniable. Rather than dwell on the loss, perhaps a better course of action is to reflect on and appreciate the many glorious treasures he left behind?
The California Symphony performs MOZART REQUIEM with the San Francisco Conservatory Chorus on March 17 at 8 PM and March 18 at 4 PM at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
An agricultural engineer, a budding neuroscientist, and ripped pants during a performance: We learned some of the inner secrets of the talented stars of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music who will be featured in our MOZART REQUIEM concerts this month.
Esther Tonea, soprano
Esther Tonea, soprano
1. Where are you from?
I usually say Buford, Georgia, but I was born in Hayward! Before starting my Masters at SFCM, I lived with my family in Georgia for 12 years.
2. Something people might be surprised to learn about you?
In the transition from high school to college, I was planning to study neuroscience and have music as my “side gig.” In high school I did a two year internship at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta studying the effects of the hippocampus on relational memory, and I was so fascinated by all of this research that I was certain I wanted to pursue a career in neuroscience. Well… things change, Jo. The moment I realized I needed to choose music was my freshman year when I was playing in the pit orchestra for Bizet’s Carmen. I was fighting tears just at the thought of a life without music, and that’s how I knew what I needed to do.
3. What is your Plan B?
What is this “Plan B” you speak of? Asking for a friend…
4. Do you play any instruments?
I grew up in a very musical family. My dad studied music (upright bass and piano) in Romania while growing up, and my mom took my sisters and I to zillions of private lessons and performances throughout the years. I tried bass, flute, and french horn until I fell in love with the cello. Now I have two Bachelors degrees in performance: one for cello and one for voice!
5. How has music changed your life?
Music has changed my life in more ways than I can count. When I first started playing in orchestra in middle school I began to learn how to work in groups, listening to each person’s musical contributions and ideas. Music taught me discipline, showed me inspiration, helped me explore passion… The list is endless and each individual component continues its refinement daily. I don’t know who I would be without music (and I’m not sure I even want to think about it)!
Kaitlin Bertschi, mezzo-soprano
Kaitlin Bertschi, mezzo-soprano
1. Where are you from?
I’m originally from Long Island, New York but spent time living in New Orleans as well.
2. Favorite performance outfit?
Either my senior recital dress which I picked specifically because I was performing the Habanera from Carmen (lots of ruffles and flair!) or the beautiful Geisha costume I wore when I performed in Madama Butterfly with New Orleans Opera.
3. How has music changed your life?
Music, primarily singing, may be the most influential element of my life. It’s become all-consuming in the best way. Learning a role, or singing a text has served me as an avenue for processing my feelings. It’s been my vehicle for connecting and sharing with the people in my life. It’s taught me discipline, patience, and humility in a profound way like no other forces in my life. The text to Schubert’s An die Musik comes to mind when trying to sum up how music has changed and shaped me.
4. Nothing ever goes as planned — What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened during a performance?
This is so true. The first thing that comes to mind is a performance of the Verdi Requiem I sang in when I was pursuing my undergraduate degree. It was a collaboration with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and I just remember that music being so, so very powerful. During the performance, in the middle of the Dies Irae, the chorus, soloists, orchestra, and maestro were all shocked when the head of the bass drum exploded on stage after those major drum hits Verdi composed for the part. They had to replace the instrument with another, but I think the percussionist was able to flip it over and keep playing to finish the movement. The performance, of course, went on and I’m not sure the audience even noticed.
5. What is your Plan B?
I always thought it would be really nice to be a florist. Flowers are so pretty. People are always sending them to show a little love. Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to be a part of? But I think I’ll stick to Plan A.
Jimmy Kansau, tenor
Jimmy Kansau, tenor
1. Where are you from?
I’m from the Andes of Venezuela. But I should consider myself a San Franciscan since I’ve been here for 23 years. To some that’s a lifetime.
2. What is your Plan B?
I’m realizing it as we speak. A while back I was studying to be an agricultural engineer. Two classes left to graduate I said: I’m done.
3. How has music changed your life?
Music has allowed me to visit other countries and meet people. Music has opened a way to inspire others through mentoring. Music has allowed me to fulfill my dreams of working in some of the best venues in the world. But most importantly the friendships that have developed from it all.
4. Do you play any instruments?
I play the guitar to accompany myself or my siblings. I also play the Cuatro which is the big sister of the Ukulele brought by the Portuguese to South America.
5. Something people might be surprised to learn about you?
I am the Studio Director and partner of an interior design firm JKA Design of San Francisco. I also used to paint landscapes and do architectural renderings back in the 80’s and 90’s. I love the mid-century sensitivity in architecture, design and music.
Brandon Bell, baritone
Brandon Bell, baritone
1. Where are you from?
I am from Suffolk, Virginia — the proud “Peanut Capital of the World!”
2. What is your Plan B?
When I was a junior in high school, I remember pressing one of the Young Artists at a local opera company for advice, particularly about going to college and studying voice. He left me with an incredible message that has stuck with me ever since. To paraphrase, he said, “If you want to succeed in this business, you have to give it everything you’ve got; all of you, with little-to-no doubt. You just go for it!” For me, that meant working 100% at my craft without carrying the uncertainties and potential instabilities of the career with me. So to answer your question, there is no Plan B, just complete dedication for now.
3. When did you start singing and when did you realize you wanted to do this for a living?
I’ve honestly been singing my entire life, and I barely remember a time when I wasn’t holding a microphone and forcing my family to endure one-man, living room, talent shows. In one of my second-grade projects, I stated that when I grew up, I wanted to be “either a singer or an astronaut.” Astronaut was essentially the go-to choice for boys back then, and my second choice career continued to evolve as I grew older. But throughout adolescence, high school, and the beginning of my young adult years, my number one want has always been to be a singer. I started taking voice lessons and singing opera in ninth grade, and for the first time in my life, my voice really felt at home. I pretty much made a commitment to it then.
4. Any musically talented relatives?
My dad is an INCREDIBLE singer and probably is the source of most of my musical gifts and love for performing. He spent part of his time as a soldier in the US Army touring and singing in a group that covered almost every genre of music imaginable. (Also: You didn’t hear this from me, but he does a killer Louis Armstrong).
5. What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened during a performance?
As a high schooler, I had the unique opportunity to be in the chorus of a couple of productions with Virginia Opera. I was lucky enough to be in the chorus of their 2009 production of Daughter of the Regiment. In our opening scene, was staged to drop down on one knee directly downstage center. So, we’re in performance, and I do my thing — I get down and I hear a loud *riiiiiiip*. I look down and find that I have completely ripped the inseam of my pants. Unfortunately for me, right after that moment we had a large group dance number, complete with kicks, which I had to meticulously navigate without exposing my ripped pants to the packed audience. Since then, ripped pants have kinda become my thing!
The California Symphony performs MOZART REQUIEM with the San Francisco Conservatory Chorus on March 17 at 8 PM and March 18 at 4 PM at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
Mozart’s true life story needs no Hollywood-style embellishments, says Music Director Donato Cabrera.
Tom Hulce as Wolgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1984 hit movie “Amadeus”.
By California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera.
A murderously jealous rival. A mysterious commission from a “gray messenger.” Rumors of poisoning… If the circumstances of Mozart’s death at 35 while composing the Requiem Mass read like a Hollywood script, that’s because the version of his history that most people know is largely just that.
Amadeus’ screenplay writer Peter Schaeffer never pretended for the movie to be anything more than good theater, describing it as “a fantasia based on fact… It is not a screen biography of Mozart, and was never intended to be.” Nevertheless, with its intrigue-filled plot, gorgeous sets and period costumes, and an unbeatable soundtrack, the 1984 box office hit and winner of 8 Academy Awards has cemented in the public imagination a number of myths that deserve closer examination.
Myth 1. Salieri: The Murderously Jealous Rival
“Mozart, Mozart! Forgive your assassin, Mozart!” Salieri cries out in the opening sequence of the movie, immediately sealing his reputational fate in history as the villain of the piece. Rumors of Salieri’s involvement in Mozart’s demise began circulating within weeks of Mozart’s death and contemporary sources indicate that Salieri even confessed to the killing in less lucid moments in the asylum towards the end of his life. However, up until then and for almost all his life, he dismissed the accusation.
As dramatically appealing as the idea may be — the bitter older rival, tormented by the emergence of the young gun rock star — Salieri almost certainly did not kill Mozart. For a start, Salieri was only 6 years older than Mozart, and an established composer, conductor and teacher in his own right when Mozart arrived on the scene. The two composers were contemporaries and may have competed for some commissions, however it seems they mostly viewed each other as peers. In 1786, the two even collaborated on a piece recently rediscovered by musicologists. Late in 1791, Mozart describes riding with Salieri in his coach to attend Mozart’s new opera, the Magic Flute. Afterwards, Mozart excitedly told his wife that Salieri “heard and saw with all his attention, and from the overture to the last choir there was not a piece that didn’t elicit a ‘Bravo!’ or ‘Bello!’ out of him…” Nothing here to suggest Salieri’s intentions toward Mozart might turn murderous.
F. Murray Abraham (as Antonio Salieri) won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1985, beating out Tom Hulce, his Amadeus co-star.
Myth 2. The Mysterious Commission
We now know that it was local nobleman and wealthy landowner Count von Walsegg — not Salieri — who was behind the Requiem’s commission, and the mysterious “gray messenger” who acted as conduit between Mozart and his anonymous paymaster was likely a clerk employed by Walsegg.
The reason for the secrecy? Walsegg intended to pass the piece off as his own. For Mozart, whose tastes and expenditure regularly exceeded his income, the commission was a simple business transaction and whatever misgivings he had would have been eased by the promise of a generous pay off.
Myth 3. Murder by Poisoning
The notion that Mozart was poisoned is one that he himself related in letters to his wife as early as 1789, telling her, “Constanze, I am only too conscious, my end will not be long in coming: for sure, someone has poisoned me! I cannot rid my mind of this thought.”
Scholars have pored over Mozart’s letters and contemporary reports, trying to decode his symptoms for clues as to cause of death. Mozart’s burial in an unmarked grave precludes any modern-day exhumation and “cold case” analysis. Poisoning is certainly one of the most dramatic and screen-worthy explanations, but it’s just one of at least 118 documented theories on the subject, with others including obscure blood diseases, kidney failure, and even an under-heated pork chop. Most believe he succumbed to acute rheumatic fever.
To the Coda
Mozart’s illness came at the end of an intensely productive year that saw him deliver two operas, a clarinet concerto, and a cantata while also working on the Requiem. He took to his bed on Nov. 20, 1791, lethargic with fever, vomiting, and with swollen hands and feet. Yet still he continued to work on the Requiem.
On December 4, he appeared to rally, hosting friends at his bedside to sing through parts of the Requiem, however his condition deteriorated rapidly and soon after midnight on December 5th, 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at just 35 years old. He was buried two days later in St Marx Cemetery in Vienna.
Original fragment of the Lacrimosa portion of Mozart’s Requiem.
On his death, wife Constanze contracted Mozart’s former pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr to finish the Requiem based on Mozart’s notes. Quite how much he had to work with is unknown, but it’s thought that less than two thirds of the Requiem had been completed, including only 8 bars of the famous Lacrimosa. While other composers have also attempted to fill in the gaps, it is Süssmayr’s version that is most commonly performed.
Epilogue
In life as in death, Mozart’s story requires no Hollywood-style embellishment. He achieved more in his 35 years than any other composer before or since. “Prolific” doesn’t begin to describe it, with more than 600 pieces to his name, spanning a diverse range of musical forms including concerti, symphonies, chamber music, choral compositions, and opera. With each genre he tackled, he mastered, perfected, and advanced the form. And he did all this in half a lifetime.
In a poetically fitting end to his story, the Requiem he wrote for a stranger became his own. But just imagine what could have been, had Mozart been afforded a few more years. What treasures would we have now?
The California Symphony performs MOZART REQUIEM with the San Francisco Conservatory Chorus on March 17 at 8 PM and March 18 at 4 PM at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
Violin virtuoso Alexi Kenney, comes home to the Bay Area to debut with the California Symphony, January 20 & 21, 2018, at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
Alexi Kenney on Bruch’s Violin Concerto №1:
“It’s is one of my personal favorites and also really a staple of our repertoire. It has everything that you’d want for in a violin concerto. It has these incredible, sweeping melodies and gorgeous singing lines that go from the top of the instrument to the bottom. And on top of that, it’s just a thrilling virtuosic ride for everyone.”
Alexi Kenney performs Bruch Violin Concerto №1 with Donato Cabrera and the California Symphony in PASTORAL BEETHOVEN,Saturday, January 20 at 8pm & Sunday, January 21 at 4pm at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.
Maestro Donato Cabrera’s trip down memory lane reveals a bold choice for a young conductor.
Now and Then: Music Director Donato Cabrera at the podium at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek (left) and at the University of Nevada, Reno in the 1990s (right).
Our upcoming PASTORAL BEETHOVEN concerts include a nostalgic selection for California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera. It’s a piece by Bedřich Smetana, who composed six symphonic poems titled Má vlast (“my homeland” in Czech), the most famous of which is Vltava (Die Moldau), which was written about a river that flows through Prague.
For Cabrera, Vltava also happens to be the first piece of music he ever conducted for an audience, as a 19-year-old student at the University of Nevada at Reno.
“It was a piece that I had fallen in love with when I was in high school,” says Cabrera. “As a sophomore at college, I was given the opportunity to conduct the university orchestra and I chose to conduct this piece. Looking back, it is far too difficult for a young conductor’s debut effort, but ignorance can be bliss!”
When asked what he recalls from the evening, he says that he doesn’t remember much, but he does remember that he wasn’t at all nervous.
We dug through the archives and found these early pictures of a very assured-looking maestro-in-the-making from his UNR days in the early 1990s.
Music Director Donato Cabrera explains that he paired Smetana and Beethoven’s Symphony №6 (aka the Pastoral) together for the upcoming PASTORAL BEETHOVEN concerts because they both describe outdoor scenes, but from entirely unique perspectives.
“The symphony is like a day in the country, from the exuberance of the early morning sunrise, to the final lullaby at the very end. In Smetana’s piece, it’s almost like it’s from the perspective of the river, starting from the sounds of its source, to reaching its full force at the St. John’s Rapids, finally ending as it joins with the Elbe River in Germany.”
Donato Cabrera conductsPASTORAL BEETHOVENSaturday, January 20 at 8pm & Sunday, January 21 at 4pm at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.
We take a closer look at the wildly ambitious 1808 concert which debuted no less than two symphonies, a piano concerto, and a new choral piece (plus a selection of other favorites) in a frigid, four-hour long musical marathon.
Inside the plush, fancy and ultimately freezing cold Theater-An-Der-Wien (left). Beethoven at the podium (right).
On a freezing cold winter’s night in Vienna, December 22, 1808, one of the most legendary concerts in the history of music took place. In it, Beethoven premiered not just the famous Fifth Symphony (“Dah dah dah daaaaah”) but the Sixth (aka the Pastoral Symphony) plus the Choral Fantasy and a largely improvised piano concerto, performed by the composer himself.
In terms of the variety, quality, and quantity (4+ hours!) of music showcased, it was an epic event, however the concert also achieved a level of infamy due to some significant snags leading up to and during the performance itself.
Beethoven: Composer, Producer & Entrepreneur
Putting on a concert like this was itself a huge undertaking for Beethoven. There was no concert hall in Vienna during Beethoven’s time, so composers would seek out locations like restaurants, ballrooms and theaters to get their music out and heard in public. The December 1808 concert was self-produced by Beethoven and he secured the Theater-an-der-Wien, one of the largest and grandest theaters in Vienna, for the occasion.
Then there was the question of securing musicians to perform. There was no Vienna Philharmonic at this time, and many of the members of the theater’s professional orchestra had a scheduling conflict that prevented them from playing the concert. This meant amateurs were hired in to fill the gaps. Music historian Christopher Gibbs says of the final ensemble, “I think we would view it as one of the worst community orchestras that we might encounter today.”
Banned from Rehearsal
To make matters worse, relations between Beethoven and the orchestra were tense. Under-rehearsed and with the ink barely dry on the Choral Fantasy, things got so bad that the composer was allegedly banned from rehearsal in the days leading up to the concert and only allowed back in the room for the pieces on which he was performing. And then the soloist in the Choral Fantasy quit…
On the night of the concert, the replacement singer who was hired in at the last minute suffered acute stage fright and bungled the aria. In fact, things got so out of whack during the Choral Fantasy that the orchestra broke down and had to stop and restart the piece.
Critical Reception
The local music press at the time hardly knew what to make of the mammoth concert, declaring that “To judge all these pieces after one and only hearing, … so many were performed one after the other, and most of them are so grand and long, is downright impossible.”
The freezing temperatures in the theater cooled the enthusiasm even of Beethoven’s most ardent of supporters, including composer Johann Friedrich Reichardt, sitting with Beethoven’s patron Prince von Lobkowitz, who related: “There we sat, in the most bitter cold, from half past six until half past ten, and confirmed for ourselves the maxim that one may easily have too much of a good thing, still more of a powerful one.”
From a modern vantage point, Beethoven biographer Barry Cooper refers to the concert as the “most remarkable” of Beethoven’s career in terms of its content. California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera agrees: “The premiere of Beethoven’s 5th, 6th, and Choral Fantasy on that cold December night wasn’t in any way a disaster. It was an incredible achievement to self-produce an entire concert such as this one.”
The evening was also remarkable in that by 1808 Beethoven, aged 38, was in the grip of deafness. His fiery performance at the piano in that concert would be the last time he would perform as a concerto soloist in public, with subsequent works for piano being composed for others to play. Some seven years later, his hearing was fully gone and he retreated from public life, however he would continue to compose until his death in 1827.
The California Symphony performs PASTORAL BEETHOVEN on January 20 at 8 PM and January 21 at 4 PM in the (fully air-conditioned and heated) Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
And *this* program is scheduled to last 1 hour and 46 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission.
“How he dealt with this deafness is one of the great stories of humanity, not just of music.” — Music Director Donato Cabrera
The Arcadian of Pastoral State by Thomas Cole (on left). Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler (on right).
By California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera.
Imagine directing an orchestra you can’t hear. Or playing a soundless piano for a staring audience.
Most know classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven struggled with deafness — but many don’t realize how much of a struggle it was. Beyond composing without hearing a note, Beethoven grappled with living in the 1800s when few understood deafness, hindering his ability to communicate, work as a musician and even find a place to live. How he dealt with this deafness is one of the great stories of humanity, not just of music.
Losing Sound
Beethoven began losing his hearing in his mid-20s, after already building a reputation as a musician and composer. The cause of his deafness remains a mystery, though modern analysis of his DNA revealed health issues including large amounts of lead in his system. At the time, people ate off of lead plates — they just didn’t know back then.
Continuing to compose and conduct, he changed lodgings constantly in Vienna, which could be due to Beethoven’s landlords’ frustration with him pounding on his piano at all hours.
Beethoven even continued performing publicly as a musician, which was necessary for many composers of the age: That’s how they got their pieces out, not just composing but performing. For the longest time he didn’t want to reveal his deafness because he believed, justifiably, that it would ruin his career.
His condition didn’t go unnoticed, however. Composer Louis Sporh reacted to watching Beethoven rehearse on piano in 1814: “…the music was unintelligible unless one could look into the pianoforte part. I was deeply saddened at so hard a fate.”
Removed from Public Life
Once his hearing was fully gone by age 45, Beethoven lost his public life with it. Giving up performing and public appearances, he allowed only select friends to visit him, communicating through written conversations in notebooks. His deafness forced him to become a very private, insular person over the course of time.
Composing in Silence
A common question is how Beethoven continued composing without his hearing, but this likely wasn’t too difficult. Music is a language, with rules. Knowing the rules of how music is made, he could sit at his desk and compose a piece of music without hearing it.
Beethoven’s style changed, however, as he retreated from public life. His once-vivacious piano sonatas began to take on a darker tone.
His famous Sixth Symphony also reflects his different life in deafness. Also known as the Pastoral Symphony, the musical work conveys the peace of the countryside, where Beethoven escaped city life after losing his hearing. In terms of his deafness, this was a very important symphony, reflecting the importance as an individual to keep his sanity by being in the country.
“How delighted I shall be to ramble for a while through bushes, woods, under trees, through grass, and around rocks” — Beethoven in a letter written in May of 1810
This and other pieces from his soundless years reflect his incredible grasp of composition. Beethoven was a master of the language of music, which is about the creation of sound, not about listening.
This article originally appeared on the Las Vegas Smith Center’s blog.
The California Symphony and Music Director Donato Cabrera’s first program of the New Year kicks off with two performances of PASTORAL BEETHOVEN at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek on Saturday January 20th at 8pm and Sunday January 21st at 4pm.
The California Symphony recently caught up with Bay Area composer Nathaniel Stookey, who composed the music for The Composer is Dead, with text by Lemony Snicket, which tops the bill in our A LEMONY SNICKET HOLIDAY program this month.
Originally commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony in 2009, The Composer is Dead is a narrated orchestral whodunit that critics have compared to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, as it introduces the sounds of the orchestra to audiences of all ages in a way that is witty, memorable and fun. Two performances by the California Symphony featuring Broadway star and Tony nominee Manoel Felciano as the Inspector and narrator, are scheduled at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, on December 23, at 4PM and 8PM.
We asked Nathaniel about the piece, and about how he celebrates the holidays…
CSO: How did The Composer is Dead come about?
Stookey: Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) and I went to high school together in San Francisco and both moved home about the same time. We reconnected by chance at a neighborhood café and thought it would be fun to write a new guide to the orchestra that, thanks to him, would be a lot funnier than what was on offer at the time!
CSO:The Composer is Dead is intended as an introduction piece for people learning about the orchestra. What pieces of music do you remember first piqued your interest in classical music and orchestras?
Stookey: According to my mom, I heard a violin on the radio and wanted to play it — but I have no idea what the piece was. I went on to play in lots of orchestras, which was what made me want to write music. I played both Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, so I got to know the competition from the inside.
CSO: Beyond the OOVE (the new electro-acoustic instrument you played in YTTE: Yield To Total Elation in our season opener), do you play any musical instruments? Which instruments do you wish you could play?
Stookey: When I’m not playing the OOVE, I’m a violinist. I also play the viola and, when called upon (for a piece of mine called Junkestra), the saw. I wish I were a better pianist and love the cello, but who doesn’t?
CSO: Do you have any special holiday traditions? Do these traditions include music?
Stookey: I’ve always associated the holidays with murder and mayhem, which is why this all seems like such a fantastic idea!
CSO: What is on your holiday wishlist?
Stookey: Well, given the title of this piece, I mostly just wish for health, safety, and a low PSA. I could also really use a warm jacket!
Hear extracts from the piece and watch a short interview with Stookey and Handler (a.k.a. famed children’s author Lemony Snicket) talking about The Composer is Dead, and how Handler considers piece “a gateway drug” that he hopes will “lead to a lifelong addition to classical music.”
CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday, December 23 at 4:00PM and 8:00PM at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
Tchaikovsky — Selections from The Nutcracker: Overture Miniature, March, Russian Dance, Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance, Dance of the Reed Flutes, Waltz of the Flowers, Waltz of the Snowflakes
Strauss, Sr. — Radetzky March, Opus 228
Stookey — The Composer is Dead, text by Lemony Snicket; Manoel Felciano, narrator
Various — Audience Sing-Along: Deck the Hall, Silent Night, Jingle Bells
Anderson — Sleigh Ride
TICKETS
Tickets start at $42 and $20 for students, subject to change. Tickets are available at www.californiasymphony.org or by calling the Lesher Center at 925–943–7469.
** UPDATE: The matinee program is almost sold out. For better availability and better prices, choose the evening performance.**
This program is also part of our new Saturday Night Series, with tickets from $33 when you choose all three concerts in the series, including:
The California Symphony, now in its fifth season under the leadership of Music Director Donato Cabrera, is a world-class, professional orchestra based in Walnut Creek, in the heart of the San Francisco East Bay since 1990. Our vibrant concert series is renowned for featuring classics alongside American repertoire and works by living composers. The Orchestra is comprised of musicians who have performed with the orchestras of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and others, and many of its musicians have been performing with the California Symphony for nearly all its existence.
Outside of the concert hall, the symphony actively supports music education for social change through its El Sistema-inspired, “Sound Minds” program at Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, CA, which brings intensive music instruction and academic enrichment to Contra Costa County schoolchildren for free, in an area where 94% of students qualify for the federal free or reduced price lunch program.
We also host the highly competitive Young American Composer-in-Residence program, which this year welcomes its first female composer, Katherine Balch.
Temporary Site 