{ program notes
Rui Du
Ch r is tian Co lb erg
Ch r istian Co lb erg
Rui Du joined
the BSO in 2012
as fourth chair first
violin, and was soon
after appointed acting assistant concertmaster. He was formerly concertmaster of
the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and
also served as associate concertmaster of
the Aspen Festival Orchestra for two years
at the Aspen International Music Festival
and School. He has performed as a soloist
with orchestras in concert halls throughout the world, including those in Turkey,
Singapore and Shanghai. He has also been
featured as an artist with the Qingdao
Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Opera
Symphony Orchestra and the Fuzhou
Symphony Orchestra, and was also soloist
at the Baroque Evening Concert Series in
the 2011 Aspen Music Festival under the
direction of Nicholas McGegan.
Dariusz
Skoraczewski
Principal Cello Dariusz Skoraczewski has
delighted audiences
of many concert halls in America and Europe with his great artistic and technical
command. As a soloist he performed with
numerous orchestras in the U.S. including
the Montgomery Symphony, Alexandria
Symphony, Arlington Philharmonic,
Lancaster Symphony and the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra. In November 2005,
he gave his Carnegie Hall debut, which
was sponsored by the La Gesse Foundation. Skoraczewski is also a member of the
critically acclaimed Monument Piano Trio.
Dariusz is a laureate of various international
competitions such as the Tchaikovsky
Competition in Moscow, the Leonard Rose
Competition in Washington, D.C. and the
Rostropovich Competition in Paris.
Emily Skala
Emily Skala’s passion
for the flute has led her
all over the country
and beyond. Her range
of experiences encompasses engagements
36 O v ertur e |
www. bsomusic .org
long and short with nine professional orchestras on three continents. Her critically
acclaimed CD of music by Brahms and
Schubert (Summit Records, 2001) is frequently aired on radio stations nationwide.
Ms. Skala has appeared as soloist with
such internationally renowned maestri as
Marin Alsop, Juanjo Mena, David Zinman
and Mario Venzago in some of the most
demanding repertoire from Corigliano to
Rouse, Bach to Takemitsu. She has also
performed on numerous recordings under
the direction of David Zinman and Marin
Alsop since her appointment in 1988.
Michael Lisicky
Michael Lisicky has
been performing with
the BSO since 2003,
and has been praised
by critics for his “magical nuances” (Baltimore Sun), “tonal purity” (Richmond
Times-Dispatch) and “quite wonderful
musicianship” (The Boston Globe). Before
coming to Baltimore, he was a member
of the Richmond Symphony. While in
Richmond, Mr. Lisicky served on the
faculty of the University of Richmond
and performed as a soloist with the RSO
on six occasions. He is also an English
hornist and founding member of Trio
La Milpa, an oboe trio comprised of
himself, BSO Principal Oboe Katherine
Needleman and his wife Sandra Gerster.
In August 2007, the trio became the first
American ensemble to tour Greenland.
About the concert:
Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D Major,
BWV 1069
Concerto for Two Violins in D
minor, BWV 1043
Johann Sebastian Bach
Born in Eisenach, Thuringia, now Germany,
March 21, 1685; died in Leipzig, Saxony,
July 28, 1750
In the intellectual rigor of his fugues and
the spiritual depth of his passions and
cantatas, J. S. Bach seems to represent the
loftiest state to which music can aspire.
But this formidable German had his
lighter side as well, and his four orchestral
suites show him as a master entertainer,
wielding the courtly dance forms of his
day with wit and panache.
Scholars are still not sure when and
where the Suites were written. Their secular nature and courtly style would seem to
place them in the period of 1717 to 1723
when Bach served as Kapellmeister at the
princely court of Cöthen and primarily
created secular instrumental works, notably the six Brandenburg Concertos. But
Prince Leopold’s orchestra was of modest
size and presumably unable to provide
the exceptionally sumptuous complement
of three trumpets required by Suites 3
and 4. Therefore, though Bach may have
composed earlier versions of these works at
Cöthen, most likely the Suite we hear tonight was created in the late 1720s or early
1730s during his long service in Leipzig.
In addition to his primary duties
providing music for St. Thomas Church
in Leipzig, from 1729 to 1737 Bach
directed that city’s Collegium Musicum,
a voluntary association of professional
musicians and university students. The
Collegium gave weekly concerts — in
summer in an outdoor square and in
winter at Zimmermann’s coffee house.
Here Bach could put aside sacred texts
and exercise his secular genius.
The festive quality of the suite comes
from the opening Overture’s connection with Christmas: this music was
also used for the first movement of
Bach’s Cantata No. 110, “Unser Mund
sei voll Lachens” (“Our mouths shall be
filled with laughter”), composed for the
Christmas Day service.
Like all the Orchestral Suites, No. 4
opens with the traditional Overture, by
far the longest movement. In the French
style, this is proud and stately music built
on elegant dotted rhythms. The lighter
middle section is a bouncing triple-beat
dance similar to a gigue in character. Especially striking in this Overture is how Bach
plays off the contrasting colors of his large
ensemble against each other.
Instead of the traditional formal dances
that usually comprised the Baroque suite,
here Bach opts for lighter alternative