Expert-led trips to the musical capitals of Europe

Manfred is a dramatic poem written by Lord Byron in 1816-17. It tells the story of the supernatural Manfred who was tortured by guilt, defies redemption, and later commits suicide. Tchaikovsky knew the story and set it to music in 1885. Although it is considered a “programmatic symphony” and was written between his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, the Manfred Symphony in B minor, op. 58 is the composer’s only symphony that remained unnumbered.

Manfred on the Jungfrau (1837) by John Martin

Most of Tchaikovsky’s programmatic works for orchestra were in single movements, such as the Fantasy-Overture Romeo and Juliet or the 1812 Overture. With Manfred, the composer used a story as he did with these single-movement works, but set it in the traditional four movements of a symphony. Tchaikovsky divided Byron’s story into four sections which then became the four movements of the symphony. Here is Tchaikovsky’s program for each of the movements.

1. Manfred wanders in the Alps. Weary of the fatal question of existence, tormented by hopeless longings and the memory of past crimes, he suffers cruel spiritual pangs. He has plunged into occult sciences and commands the mighty powers of darkness, but neither they nor anything in this world can give him the forgetfulness to which alone he vainly aspires. The memory of the lost Astarte, once passionately loved, gnaws his heart and there is neither limit nor end to Manfred’s despair.
2. The Alpine fairy appears before Manfred in the rainbow from the spray of a waterfall.
3. A picture of the bare, simple, free life of the mountain folk.
4. The subterranean palace of Arimanes. Infernal orgy. Appearance of Manfred in the middle of the bacchanal. Evocation and appearance of the shade of Astarte. He is pardoned. Death of Manfred.

This program note was first published in the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra’s 2010-2011 program.

Violins by Stradivari are known as some of the finest instruments in the world. Seeing and hearing one played in person is a rare event, often associated with major museums and big cities like New York, Paris, and London. But rather than travel to one of these locations, all one has to do is drive across town later this month to hear Dmitry Sitkovetsky play one of these priceless instruments. And Dima is not just playing “a” Stradivarius, he will be playing “his” Stradivarius.

Sitkovetsky is a world-class violinist who needs a fine instrument to take advantage of his musical skill. For years, he played a Guarneri but then decided to look for a Strad. To acquire one of these rare instruments, one has to “put the word out” and wait patiently until one becomes available. Dima’s desires were answered in 1983 when he became the proud owner of a Stradivarius. Of course, such instruments are not inexpensive. Dima paid $300,000 for it 26 years ago, and estimates that it is worth approximately $4 million now. (If Wall Street would only do that well!)

The History of Sitkovetsky’s Strad

Only about 650 instruments made by Stradivari still exist, and many are named. The instrument Sitkovetsky purchased is the “Ex-Reiffenberg” Strad, referring to the previous owner. Dima believes his violin will be known at the “Ex-Sitkovetsky” as it is passed on to its next owner. But Reiffenberg was not the only musician who owned this instrument. Salvatore Accardo, Jaime Laredo, and Nathan Milstein have owned and played it as well, which gives this specific violin quite a remarkable pedigree.

To protect his instrument, Dima keeps it in a special safe with temperature and humidity controls in his home in London. And when he travels, he has certain hiding places for it. I did not ask where these were, and doubt that he would have told me anyway!

A Stradivari violin from 1725

What Makes Strads Unique?

Antonio Stradivari lived in Cremona, Italy from 1644 to 1737. Many theories of what makes his instruments so special exist. Some believe it is the wood around Cremona at that time. Others feel that the certain shellac creates the distinctive Stradivari sound. Some recent research even suggests that the pesticide used to keep worms out of the trees was part of the unique formula. Most experts agree that the violin maker made his finest instruments between 1698 and 1725. Dima’s instrument was made in 1717 making it an exceptional instrument even among Strads.

The relationship between Dima and his Strad has been a long and intimate one. When a virtuoso violinist acquires a great instrument, there is a period when the player learns the unique aspects of the instruments. But the violin also takes time to respond to the touch and bowing of the new owner. Sitkovetsky says, “It took two years for the instrument and me to understand one another. Now I’ve spent more time with it in the last 26 years than with any other human being, including my wife and daughter!”

50 Strads in Germany and 10 Painted Violins in Greensboro

The violin connoisseur wishing to see these miraculous instruments may wish to travel to Cologne, Germany in March. There, the Wallfraf Museum will present a special exhibition entitled “Stradivari – Myth and Music” where more than 50 Strads will be exhibited from March 5 through 21, 2010. Never have so many violins, violas, and cellos by the legendary master been displayed in a single exhibition. Of course, Dima’s violin will be one of those on exhibition, and he’ll have to play on a borrowed instrument for about three weeks.

Another collection of unique violins will be around Greensboro this fall. As a fund raiser for its tour of Austria and Germany in March and April 2010, the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra will be raffling off ten violins (and one trombone!) that have been painted by local artists. They can be seen at the Greensboro Symphony’s concert on October 29^th and First Friday at the Indie Market in November.  The drawing will be at the GSYO’s concert at Greensboro Day School at 4 p.m. on December 6. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 7 for $25. You can’t get a Strad for that!

This article originally appeared in Greensboro, North Carolina’s News and Record on October 10, 2009.

One of the best-known works in the string repertoire is Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. This piece has received thousands of performances worldwide since its first performance in 1881 and has been recorded hundreds of times. But what few people know is that the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra’s Musical Director, Dima Sitkovetsky, played a vitally important role in shaping the work as it is heard today.  It is a remarkable story.

The Early Years

In the late 1870’s, the great Russian master, Tchaikovsky left his home country for a resort in Switzerland to recover from a failed marriage. The location inspired him to compose the Violin Concerto, and the more he composed, the better he felt. He loved his new work, and upon its completion in 1878, he gave it to violinist Leopold Auer for the first performance.

Although Auer was a gifted musician and teacher, he was unable to handle some of the technical difficulties in this new music.  One of the problems was the actual physical makeup of his hands. He later wrote, “My hands are so weak and their conformation is so poor that when I have not played the violin for several successive days … I feel as if I had altogether lost the facility of playing.” And, because of this, Auer actually refused to play the premiere. This is not what the still grieving Tchaikovsky needed!

After the concerto received its first performance by Alexander Brodsky in Vienna three years later, Auer realized he was missing out on a wonderful new piece for the violin. So what did he do? He edited the violin part to fit his abilities so he could play it. This simplified version is what he taught to his students, and this version is what many violinists played for many years.

Tchaikovsky's Grave

Musical Restoration by Sitkovetsky

The story now shifts to the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, Dmitri Sitkovetsky. The young Dima grew up under the Communist regime and began an intense study of music starting at age three. His skill on the violin developed to surpass Auer’s, and when he was a student at the Moscow Conservatory, Dima decided to play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto as the composer originally wrote it. What did he find? He liked Tchaikovsky’s version much better. Sitkovetsky comments “Auer’s edits are not very smart because they do not do that much. They go against the nature of Tchaikovsky’s writing. If you make these changes, you disturb the fabric of the piece. So I wanted to play Tchaikovsky’s music, not Auer’s.”

As Sitkovetsky was building a career as a violin virtuoso, he found that most violinists played the edited version of the concerto. Rather than play Auer’s version, “I was absolutely determined to play the original version. And when I started playing it in the West, it was rare that someone played Tchaikovsky’s uncut concerto. Today, many performances are of the original work, but this is only a phenomenon that has been around for a couple of decades.” Without Sitkovetsky, many audiences around the world would not know the music as Tchaikovsky wrote it.

Personal Touches to the Concerto

Beyond rejecting Auer’s edits, Sitkovetsky has a unique way of approaching the concerto. “I have a particular way of doing it – some personal touches, one could say. I believe that this is the way to do it, and I always make the conductor rehearse with me so that he knows how to accompany me. It’s not a piece I tire of. Whenever I play it, it’s a big occasion because I love the piece.”

And concert goers will have an additional treat beyond hearing Dima play this wonderful music. For sale at the concert will be copies of the recording he made with conductor Sir Neville Marriner in 1999. Sitkovetsky will sign copies after the performance. Of course, the CD is of Tchaikovsky’s original version. Dima would never play it any other way.

This program note first appeared in Greensboro, North Carolina’s News and Record on October 11, 2009.

Sometimes pieces of music are meant to entertain an audience. Sometimes they are meant to celebrate an occasion or welcome dignitaries to an event. Sometimes music is written just to get people’s attention. And sometimes a piece of music is designed to send a message in subtle – or not so subtle – ways. That is the case with Haydn’s Symphony No. 45, known as the “Farewell”.

Franz Josef Haydn was the composer and “Kapellmeister” for the wealthy Esterházy family near Vienna. This was one of the great musical jobs in Europe because his primary responsibility was to compose music for Prince Nicholas Esterházy for a variety of events or even just for the Prince’s pleasure. And Haydn had an orchestra and opera company at his disposal just for these purposes. Composers today should be so fortunate.

Two Palaces for One Family

The Esterhazy’s primary residence was a sumptuous palace in Eisenstadt which has a beautiful concert hall that is still used today. This picturesque Austrian town was where the musicians – employees of the Prince – lived with their families. Prince Nicholas was an avid hunter, and apparently the hunting was not good enough near Eisenstadt for his liking. So, in 1772, he had another palace built hear his hunting lodge in the little town of Fertöd, Hungary. He named it Esterháza.

Esterháza Palace in Fertod, Hungary

In the warm summer months, everyone who worked in Esterházy Palace packed up and moved to Esterháza. This included the musicians. But only a few of them, Haydn included, were allowed to take their wives and families with them. This was usually fine with the members of the orchestra because the Prince only stayed at Esterháza for a short time. However, in 1772, the Prince decided to stay longer in Hungary than usual. Of course, this was not a popular decision to the orchestra members, but they were powerless to do anything about it themselves. If something like this happened today, the musician’s union would certainly raise a fuss.

Wanting to Go Home

The married men, wanting to return to their wives, asked Haydn if he could help. The great composer, being a true diplomat, did not want to confront the Prince, but he came up with another idea that (he hoped) would get Nicholas’s attention. Haydn would use his music to strongly hint that the musicians wanted to return home.

When it came time to perform his new symphony, the fast first movement went along without a hitch. Then the slow second movement and dance-like third movement, a minuet, followed. The finale started as did most final movements of the day, fast and lively. But a few minutes into the last movement, just when the audience was expecting the work to wind to a close, a slower section began. Prince Nicholas was quite knowledgeable about music, so this must have attracted his attention. What was this about? Why is there slow music here?

The room in Esterháza Palace where the "Farewell" Symphony was first performed.

Vacating the Premises

What the Prince then saw was remarkable. As the fourth movement progressed, a few musicians stopped playing, blew out the candles on their music stands, took their music, and left the stage. Then more stopped and exited the room. This continued until only two violinists were left, and when they stopped, they too blew out their candles and left. Whereas most symphonies end with lots of energy and sound, Haydn had written this work so that it gradually tapered out into thin air.

The Prince understood Haydn’s message. The next day, he gave the order for the musicians to return to Eisenstadt.

It was not until a hundred years later that the name “Farewell” was associated with this symphony, and it is hard to imagine a more fitting title for the work.

This program note first appeared in Greensboro, North Carolina’s News and Record on February 14, 2010.