Three-Concert Series Expands to Two Performances of Each Program
Newest Beyond the Score Video Download of Dvořák’s New World Symphony Available at beyondthescore.org
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra kicks off the 2009-2010 Beyond the Score series with two performances exploring Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, on Friday, Dec. 4, at 1:30pm and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3pm.
This unique program—entitled “Heaven or Earth?”—provides a fascinating investigation into the world of Mahler’s symphony, as told by Gerard McBurney, creative director of the series, who is joined by actors William Brown and Laura T. Fisher and pianist Elizabeth Buccheri.
Markus Stenz conducts the Orchestra with soprano soloist Nicole Cabell in musical excerpts, followed by a complete performance of the work after intermission.
Mahler’s Fourth Symphony is one of his most appealing and accessible works. Completed in 1901, it beautifully intertwines folk tunes, klezmer music, waltzes, marches and children’s songs in a passionate, dreamlike composition.
This Beyond the Score program explores the art and culture of late 19th-century Vienna, at the close of the decadent Habsburg Empire.
McBurney delves into the symphony’s final movement, which takes as its foundation Mahler’s song “Das himmlische Leben” (Heavenly life) from the earlier cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a childlike vision of the life in heaven that greets those who have suffered on this earth.
To complement these December programs, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has released a new free Beyond the Score video download at www.beyondthescore.org: Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (From the New World), recorded live during the CSO’s Dvořák Festival in June 2009 under conductor Sir Mark Elder and led by Gerard McBurney.
The video spotlights Dvořák’s excited discovery of the expansiveness of North America and its cultures during his historic stay in the 1890s; it examines his absorption of African-American spirituals and Native American music into his own Czech-inspired musical language.
Three previous Beyond the Score presentations also are available online: Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin, conducted by CSO Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez; Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27, with Jeffrey Kahane conducting from the keyboard; and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, conducted by Alexander Polianichko.
In addition, the CSO’s Grammy Award-winning recording of Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony with Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink, on the CSO Resound label, includes a bonus DVD video of the gripping Beyond the Score production examining Shostakovich’s controversial and powerful work.
The downloads feature the first half of the probing Beyond the Score programs with Gerard McBurney, recorded live in concert at Symphony Center.
The Beyond the Score Sunday matinees have proven so popular in the series’ first four seasons that this year Friday matinee performances of the three programs have been added as well.
Beyond the Score continues when Creative Director Gerard McBurney uncovers the mysteries of Rachmaninov’s The Isle of the Dead on March 26 and 28, 2010; the final concert of the series examines Debussy’s brilliant masterpiece La mer on May 7 and 9.
Designed not only for classical music aficionados, but also for newcomers looking to delve deeper into the world of classical music, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Beyond the Score concerts offer a live multimedia documentary of one selected score to illuminate the stories found “inside” the music—its context in history, how it fits into the composer’s output of works and the details of a composer’s life that influenced its creation.
In the first half of the program, Gerard McBurney brings the work to life, employing narration, imagery, video, actors and soloists, while live musical examples by the Orchestra are called upon to illustrate the structure of each composition.
After an intermission, concertgoers return to the hall with newly discovered knowledge to hear a performance of the score played in its entirety.
Owing to the tremendous success of Beyond the Score in Chicago, the CSO has licensed Beyond the Score presentations to orchestras around the world as part of their own audience-development efforts, including the New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, Cleveland Orchestra, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Symphony Silicon Valley, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and Toronto Symphony.
For more information on Beyond the Score and to find video downloads, visit beyondthescore.org.
Complete program information follows.
Beyond the Score Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, 1:30 p.m.
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sunday, December 6, 2009, 3 p.m.
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Markus Stenz, conductor
- Nicole Cabell, soprano
- Gerard McBurney, creative director and narrator
- William Brown, actor
- Laura T. Fisher, actor
- Elizabeth Buccheri, piano
- “Heaven or Earth?”
- MAHLER Symphony No. 4 in G Major
- Tickets: $22-$92
Major support for Beyond the Score is provided by a grant from The Davee Foundation.
