Richard Strauss’ tone poem Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”) stands as a triumphant example of programmatic writing. Its music suggests the struggles and eventual triumph of a nameless hero — nameless, but clearly Strauss himself. In 1898, when Strauss composed the piece, he was considered one of the greatest living composers in the world, an accolade the composer was never shy to admit. Placing himself at the center of the music’s plot, Strauss challenges his real-life enemies, his music’s critics, with a rousing score evoking a battlefield, the Hero’s work for peace and, eventually, the Hero’s retirement.
The first of Dmitri Shostakovich’s two cello concertos embodies many of the traits that made this composer one of the most distinctive musical voices of the 20th century. Its tonal language is modern but by no means abstract, and its music moves between sardonic humor and deep lyricism. As one of the main staples of the cello repertoire, the work is as demanding, both in technique and virtuosity for the soloist, as it is for the Orchestra.
In the summer of 1987, Stephen Albert had just begun composing a new work for Seattle Symphony, with whom he then served as Composer in Residence. He had intended to write a symphony, but one day, as he described, “this march theme said hello.” Having introduced itself, the march melody proceeded to dominate the composer’s imagination, and eventually evolved into Anthems and Processionals, an enlivening two-part work that will open this program.
On April 7, 1994, Lynn Harrell appeared at the Vatican’s first official commemoration of the Holocaust with the Royal Philharmonic, before Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbi of Rome. That year, Harrell also performed live at the Grammy Awards with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.
His distinguished career has included appearances with the world’s best orchestras, including those of Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, London, Munich, Berlin, Tonhalle, Israel and the National Symphony; and with conductors James Levine, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Sir Andre Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas and David Zinman. Harrell has toured extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
From 1985¬–93, Harrell held the International Chair for Cello Studies at the Royal Academy in London, where from 1993–95 he was head of the Academy. From 1988–92, he was Artistic Director of the orchestra, chamber music and conductor training program at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. Since 2002, he has taught cello at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas. Among his numerous awards, he has received two Grammy Awards and, in 1975, he was the first person to ever receive an Avery Fisher Prize. -- www.seattlesymphony.org
