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Iván Fischer and Daniil Trifonov

Daniil Trifonov, who won two Grammy awards a few weeks ago and is a Rubinstein Competition winner, returns to the IPO stage this month along with renowned conductor Iván Fischer.

The first program, with performances in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem, opens with Haim Permont‘s Farewell Fanfare, followed by Schumann‘s Piano Concerto, which was intended to be the composer‘s wedding gift for his wife Clara, but Schumann only completed the work five years after their marriage.

Mahler‘s Symphony No. 1 closes the program; it is a breakthrough work of the beloved composer, and one with which the orchestra is most identified.

 

The second program will be performed only once, in Tel Aviv, and includes various dances in different styles, alongside Schumann‘s Piano Concerto.

Haim Permont’s Farewell Fanfare was written as a tribute to a music director who finished his term. The placement of the piece at the beginning of the concert makes for an unusual start for both the orchestra and the audience. The work presents a mirror image of the last movement of Haydn‘s “Farewell” Symphony. In the Haydn, the orchestra members leave the stage one by one as the end of the work approaches. In the Permont, the piece opens with an empty stage that fills up slowly: first one hears the sound of the trumpets, followed by the trombones, horns, drums, and ultimately, the rest of the orchestra. The music slows and ends with a single sound.

Schumann wrote in 1839: ”We must wait for a composer to show us a new and brilliant way of combining the piano sound with the orchestral sound, and for the pianist to display his art on the keyboard in a way that blends with the orchestra, which no longer looks on from outside but fits into the scene.” He achieved this in his Piano Concerto in A Minor. Schumann, who had planned a concerto as a gift in honor of his marriage to Clara in 1840, lingered with his writing, and the work took five years to complete. Given the circumstances surrounding its composition, the perfection of this work is surprising. The concerto is so complete, in a way, that musicologists have labeled the work as both a ”concerto without piano” (Liszt) and a ”concerto for piano solo with accompanying orchestra.” In any case, the brilliance of Daniil Trifonov, a favorite of Israeli audiences, will shine through.

Mahler‘s Symphony No. 1 is the composer’s first orchestral expression of his many questions about the meaning of life, about which he also articulated. The point of departure is: “I am a native of Bohemia who lives in Austria, an Austrian among Germans, and a Jew in the world. I am an unwelcome guest wherever I am, not desired anywhere.” And he wondered: ”Where did we come from? Where does the road lead us? Did I want this life before I was created? How am I free if my character and image is in prison? How can I understand that the wickedness and cruelty of humans are the fruits of a good and gracious God? Will death eventually give life meaning?” These ideas are assembled and expressed musically with the thought that the symphony is an all-encompassing world. One can hear sounds from nature and echoes of Austrian, French and Jewish folk music—but with a wink. A multi-lingual piece of music, if you will. And importantly, Mahler‘s first symphony is one of the works most closely identified with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Last year at the Verbier Festival, the conductor Iván Fischer offered a new and improved version of the song “Happy Birthday to You.” He commented on the shallowness in the original song, the difficult leaps that cause many to sing out of tune, and the emphasis on the word ”to” rather than on the phrase ”to you.” Fischer’s “Happy Birthday” is in a more romantic and personal style. (For those who are curious, a video is available online.)

So, who could be better suited to take the podium for one of the most impressive dance showcases this season? One might suggest that the symphony hall’s management quietly remove all the seats in the auditorium so the audience has room to dance—in the 3/4 rhythm of Josef Strauss‘s Waltz, the double rhythm of Johann Strauss’s Polka, the complex 5/4 rhythms in the Romanian Folk Dances of Bartók, the Hungarian Dances of Galánta by Kodály, and Dvořák‘s Slavonic Dances. Not to mention Maestro Fischer’s own orchestrations of two of Brahms‘ Hungarian Dances.

”When will we rest?” asks the reader, exhausted from all the dancing. Well, Iván Fischer gives the audience a break with three interludes: Dvořák‘s ”Legend,” which opens the concert; ”Valse Triste” by Sibelius, which is more a reflection on dance than a dance itself; and of course Schumann’s Piano Concerto, in which the only dancing will be that of Daniil Trifonov’s fingers on the keyboard.

program no.1

Iván Fischer, conductor

Daniil Trifonov, pianist

Haim Permont: Farewell Fanfare

Schumann: Piano Concerto

Mahler: Symphony no. 1

program no.2

Iván Fischer, conductor

Daniil Trifonov, pianist

Dvořák: Legend, op. 59 no. 10

Dvořák: Slavonic Dance, op. 72 no. 1

Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances

Schumann: Piano Concerto

Sibelius: Valse triste, op. 44 no. 1

Brahms: Hungarian Dances nos. 11, 6 (orchestration: Iván Fischer)

Josef Strauss: Sphärenklänge, Waltz op. 235

Johann Strauss: Vergnügungszug, Polka op. 281

Kodály: Dances of Galánta