Le Quattro Staggioni

Our first international stop is Italy, where we feature that region's most famous composer, Antonio Vivaldi and his Le quattro staggioni--The Four Seasons.

Vivaldi - Le quattro staggioni (The Four Seasons)
Smith - Bloom
Hannan - Not a Single Stone

Tickets $10-$25

Saturday, November 21, 2009 at & 7:30 p.m.
Leamington United Mennonite Church

 

Marc Destrubé, Leader, Violin
Sarina Scalia-Neal, Narrator

Antonio Vivaldi
B. March 4, 1678, Venice
D. July 27 or 28,1741, Vienna, Austria

By Dr. Ed Kovarik
Antonio Vivaldi was famous in his own time as a virtuoso violinist as well as a composer of operas and concertos. He was also the director of music for a girls’ orphanage in Venice, and the performances he put on there (mostly of his own music) drew listeners from far and wide. After about 1710, the new style of instrumental concerto that he developed—a vigorous opening tutti that returned periodically with contrasting, virtuosic solo selections—took Europe by storm. J.S. Bach himself, then in his mid-twenties, copied and arranged a number of Vivaldi’s concertos.

The four concertos known as the “Four Seasons” are relatively late works: they were published in 1725 at the head of a collection that Vivaldi titles Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (the Contest Between Harmony and Intervention); that is, of pure music and fantasy. Each of the four is a standard three-movement concerto (fast-slow-fast), but each is also a piece of program music, illustrating typical events of the season, and each is preceded by a poem describing those events:

• Spring (La primavera): (I) Birds sing, a brook murmurs gently; a sudden thunderstorm, then the birds resume their song. (II) A goatherd sleeps; his dog stirs and barks. (III) Rustic peasant dance.
• Summer (L’estate): (I) All beings languish under the torrid heat; cuckoo, dove and goldfinch are heard. (II) A gentle breeze arises, followed by (III) a violent summer storm.
• Autumn (L’autunno): (I) Harvest festival; drunken merrymaking. (II) They all sleep it off. (III) The nobility go on a hunt.
• Winter (L’inverno): (I) Shivering with cold, one hurries through the storm, teeth chattering. (II) While the rain pelts down outside, by the fireside it is cozy and warm. (III) One walks carefully on ice, but slips and falls; then slips again, breaking the ice. Howling at the gates, all the winds contend; but Winter, too, brings pleasure. ❧

Sonnet & Haiku Texts:

Spring
Sonetto Dimostrativo – Sopra il concerto intitolato La primavera
del Sig.re D. Antonio Vivaldi

A Giunt’è la primavera, e festosetti
B la salutan gl’augei con lieto canto,
C e i fonti allo spirar de’ Zeffiretti con dolce mormorio scorrono intanto.

D Vengon coprendo l’aer di nero ammanto
e lampi e tuoni ad annunziarla eletti;
E indi tacendo questi gl’augelletti
tornan di nuovo al lor canoro incanto:

F e quindi sul fiorito ameno prato
al caro mormorio di fronde e piante
dorme ‘l caprar col fido can a lato.
G Di pastoral zampogna al suon festante
danzan ninfe e pastor nel tetto amato
di primavera all’apparir brillante

Explanatory Sonnet on the Concerto Entitled Spring
By Don Antonio Vivaldi

Spring has arrived, and joyfully
the birds greet her with glad song,
while at Zephyr’s breath the streams
flow forth with a sweet murmur.

Her chosen heralds, thunder and lightning,
come to envelop the air in a black cloak;
once they have fallen silent, the little birds
return anew to their melodious incantation:

then on the pleasant, flower-bedecked meadow,
to the happy murmur of fronds and plants,
the goatherd sleeps next to his trusty dog.

To the festive sound of rustic bagpipes
nymphs and shepherds dance beneath the beloved sky
at the glorious appearance of spring.

Summer
Sonetto Dimostrativo – Sopra il concerto intitolato L’estate
del Sig.re D. Antonio Vivaldi

A Sotto dura stagion dal sole accesa langue l’uom, langue ‘l gregge ed arde il pino;
B scioglie il cucco la voce, e tosto intesa
C canta la tortorella e ‘l gardellino

D Zeffiro dolce spira, ma contestamuove borea improvviso al suo vicino;
E e piange il pastoral perché sospesa
teme fiera borasca e ‘l suo destino.

F Toglie alle membra lasse il suo riposo
il timore de’ lampi e tuoni fieri
e de’ mosche e mossoni il stuol furioso.

G Ah che pur troppo i suoi timor son veri:
tuona e fulmina il ciel, e grandinoso
tronca il capo alle spiche e a’ grani alteri.

Explanatory Sonnet on the Concerto Entitled Spring
By Don Antonio Vivaldi

In a harsh season burned by the sun,
man and flock languish, and the pine tree is scorched;
the cuckoo unleashes its voice, and soon
we hear the songs of the turtle-dove and the goldfinch.

Sweet Zephyr blows, but Boreas suddenly
opens a dispute with his neighbour;
and the shepherd laments his fate
for he fears a fierce squall is coming.

His weary limbs are robbed of rest
By his fear of fierce thunder and lightning
And by the furious swarm of flies and blowflies.

Alas, his fears are only too real:
The sky fills with thunder and lightning,
And hailstones hew off the heads of proud cornstalks.

Autumn
Sonetto Dimostrativo Sopra il concerto intitolato L’autunno
del Sig.re D. Antonio Vivaldi

A Celebra il villanel con balli e canti
del felice raccolto il bel piacere,
B e del liquor di bacco accesi, tanti
C finiscono col sonno il lor godere.

D Fa ch’ogn’uno tralasci e balli e canti
l’aria, che temperate dà piacere,
e la stagion ch’invita tanti e tanti
d’un dolcissimo sonno al bel godere.

E I cacciator alla nov’alba a caccia
con corni, schioppi e cani escono fuore;
F fugge la belva e seguono la traccia;

G già sbigottita e lassa al gran rumore
de’ schioppi e cani, ferita minaccia
H languida di fuggir, ma oppressa muore.

Explanatory Sonnet on the Concerto Entitled Autumn
By Don Antonio Vivaldi

The countryman celebrates with dance and song
the sweet pleasure of a good harvest,
and many, fired by the liquor of bacchus,
end their enjoyment by falling asleep.

Everyone is made to abandon singing and dancing
by the temperate air, which gives pleasure,
and by the season, which invites so many
to enjoy the sweetness of sleep.

The huntsmen come out at the crack of dawn
with their horns, guns and hounds;
the quarry flees and they track it;

Already terrified and tired out by the great noise
of the guns and hounds, the
wounded beast
makes a feeble effort to flee but dies in agony.

Not a Single Stone
Peter Hannan – commissioned by the Pacific Baroque Orchestra

1
Autumn moon
tide foams to the very gate
-Basho

2
Autumn wind
mountain’s shadow wavers
-Issa

3
In the dawn, whales roaring
a frosty sea
-Gyodai

4
In the withering blast
a single moon rolls through the sky
-Meisetsu

5
Not a single stone to throw at the dog
the wintry moon
-Taigi

Winter
Sonetto Dimostrativo – Sopra il concerto intitolatoL’inverno
del Sig.re D. Antonio Vivaldi

A Aggiacciato tremar tra nevi algenti
B al severo spirar d’orrido vento;
C correr battendo I piedi ogni momento;
D e pel soverchio gel batter i denti;

E passer al foco I dì quieti e contenti
mentre la pioggia fuor bagna ben cento;
F camminar sopra ‘l giaggio e a passo lento
G per timor di cader girsene intenti;

H gir forte, sdrucciolar, cader a terra;
I di nuovo ir sopra ‘l giaccio e corer forte
L sin ch’il giaccio si rompe e si disserra;

M sentir uscir dale ferrate porte
N Sirocco, Borea e tutti I venti in Guerra:
Quest’è’l verno, ma tal che gioia apporte.

Explanatory Sonnet on the Concerto Entitled Winter
By Don Antonio Vivaldi

To shiver, frozen, amid icy snow
in the bitter blast of a horrible wind
to run, constantly stamping one’s feet;
and to feel one’s teeth chatter on account of the excessive cold;

to spend restful, happy days at the fireside
while the rain outside drenches a good hundred;
to walk on the ice, and with slow steps
to move about cautiously for fear of falling;

to go fast, to slip and fall down;
to go on the ice again and run fast
until the ice cracks and opens up;

to hear coming out of the iron gates
Sirocco, Boreas and all the winds at war:
That’s winter, but of a kind to gladden one’s heart. ❧

Marc Destrubé

A native of Victoria, Marc Destrubé is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster
or director / conductor of orchestras and divides his time between performances of the standard repertoire, particularly music of the 20th century, on modern instruments, and performing baroque and classical music on period instruments.

He has appeared as soloist and guest director with symphony orchestras in Victoria, Windsor and Halifax as well as with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Portland Baroque Orchestra, and he led the Belgian ensemble Anima Eterna in acclaimed recordings of the complete Mozart Piano Concerti with Jos van Immerseel. A founding member of the Tafelmusik Orchestra, he has appeared with many of the leading period-instrument orchestras in North America and Europe including as guest concertmaster of the Academy of Ancient Music and of the Hanover Band.

He is first violinist with the Axelrod String Quartet, quartet-inresidence at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., where the quartet plays on the museum’s exceptional collection of Stradivari and Amati instruments. He has also performed and recorded with L’Archibudelli (Vera Beths, Jurgen Küssmaul, Anner Bijlsma) and is a member of the Turning Point Ensemble in Vancouver.

As a concertmaster he has played under Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Helmuth Rilling, Christopher Hogwood, Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt and Frans Brüggen. He is co-concertmaster of Brüggen’s Orchestra of the 18th Century with whom he has toured the major concert halls and festivals of Europe, North America, Japan and Australia. He was concertmaster of the CBC Radio Orchestra from 1996 to 2002, and is concertmaster of the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra.

He has been director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra since its founding in 1991 and has been responsible for commissioning works for the orchestra from a number of Vancouver-based composers, as well as instigating other innovative projects such as a program of French baroque and First Nations dance and music. He has also directed several Modern Baroque Opera productions, including the premiere of Peter Hannan’s 120 Songs for the Marquis de Sade.

A highly-respected teacher, he gives annual classes at international academies in Mateus (Portugal)
and Vancouver. He has also been an invited teacher at the Paris, Moscow and Utrecht Conservatoires
and has presented children’s concerts at the Cité de la Musique (Paris).

His recording of Haydn’s Violin Concertos on the ATMA label has been praised by the Strad Magazine (London) for the “stylish solo playing..., individual yet unselfconcious” and by Whole Note Magazine
(Toronto) for its “bold and daring solo playing”. He has also recorded for Sony, EMI, Teldec, Channel Classics, Hänssler, Globe and CBC Records as well as being broadcast regularly on the CBC.

He lives in West Vancouver with his wife and two children. ❧

Sarina Scalia-Neal

Sarina Scalia-Neal is a Secondary School Teacher at Walkerville Collegiate Institute in Windsor. Sarina has been teaching since 1993. She first started her teaching career in Elora teaching French at the elementary panel. In 1999, Sarina returned home to teach French, Spanish and Italian at Walkerville Collegiate where she is currently.

During the past ten years at Walkerville, Sarina has organized and chaperoned six different school exchanges with various countries in Europe such as Spain, France and Italy. Sarina was motivated in organizing such excursions so that her students would be open to cultural diversity and gain worldly knowledge.

Sarina has a passion for learning languages and for travel. She has journeyed to Alaska, Italy, France, Spain and Northern Africa. She graduated from the University of Windsor with an Honours Degree in Italian and French. Sarina resides in Belle River with her husband John and her two-year old son, Ethan. ❧