St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Concert Rebroadcasts
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Concert Rebroadcasts
Rachmaninoff's Third
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Gabriella Smith Tumblebird Contrails
Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3
Intermission interviews with:
Samuel Hollister, conductor
Marie-Hélène Bernard, SLSO President and CEO
Gabriela Montero, piano
Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3
Live from Powell Hall at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, this is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Tonight, assistant conductor Samuel Hollister will lead the orchestra in a program that opens with Gabriella Smith's Tumbleberg Contrails. The concert continues with Sergei Prokofiaff's piano concerto number three in C major Opus 26, featuring pianist Gabriela Montero. After intermission, the concert will conclude with Sergei Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 3 in A minor Opus 44. Good evening. I'm Rod Milam and welcome to another live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's 2025-26 season on St. Louis Public Radio and Simulcast on Classic 1073. You can listen to us online, see a copy of tonight's program notes and much more at stlpr.org slash symphony. Now during our intermission, we'll have a chance to speak with Samuel Hollister, SLSO president and CEO Marielle Bernard, and Gabriella Montero. Now we'll get a chance to speak with our commentator, Lauren Eldritch Stewart. Good evening, Lauren. How are you?
SPEAKER_04I'm well. Good evening, Rod.
SPEAKER_00Well, our first work on tonight's program is Gabriella Smith's Tumblebird Contrails. Lauren, I have a question. What is a Tumblebird contrail?
SPEAKER_04Gabriella Smith answered this question in two ways. It's both a pair of ravens playing in the wind, rolling, swooping, diving, soaring, imagining the ecstasy of wind in the wings, jet trails painting never-ending streaks across the sky. And it is a Kerouac-inspired nonsense phrase that I invented to evoke the sound and feeling of the piece. That sound and feeling are inspired by nature, specifically the Northern California coast from which she hails. As you listen, you might think that you're sitting at the coast with her, but the instrumentation of this piece is pretty standard. Three flutes, three oboes, three clarinets, one doubling bass clarinet, two bassoons, contra bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, two batempani percussion and strings. The composer has described her style in this way, saying, a lot of what makes my music sound like my music is extended techniques and less usual ways of playing the instruments. Very gradual changes in dynamics in timbre. These techniques include cellist drumming on the sides of their instruments and percussionists using bows for stringed instruments on cymbals. When asked about her methods for composing using unusual sounds from the usual instruments, Smith said, Normally I try to make notation the very last stage of the process. I have a structure in mind first, always, because I want to know where I'm starting and where I'm going, at least very generally. But then within that, I'll be doing a lot of improvising and then recording myself. For orchestral works, I'll record myself doing a lot of the string parts on violin, which I started doing because there aren't sample libraries for these kinds of extended techniques available. In school, the way you're taught how to hear what a score is going to sound like is by listening to so much repertoire and going to concerts until it becomes a part of you. But when you're dealing with extended techniques, there often isn't enough repertoire to do that. There's some, but in my case, those techniques were really coming from playing on the instrument, so I realized I can just record myself doing them. Tumbleberry Contrails is Gabriela Smith's first professional orchestral commission. She wrote it for the Pacific Harmony Foundation, an organization founded by the composer John Adams, who was Smith's mentor, and the photographer Deborah O'Grady. Marin Alsip conducted its premiere at the 2014 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and the work received several notable performances since then, including the 2023 Nobel Prize concert by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Essape Osalin. Smith, who is an avid conservationist, has since premiered a cello concerto, Lost Coast, and an organ concerto, Breathing Forest.
SPEAKER_00You can see a copy of tonight's program notes at stlpr.org slash symphony. Right now you're listening to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra live from Powell Hall on St. Louis Public Radio and online at stlpr.org.
SPEAKER_04Now a few words about tonight's conductor. Samuel Hollister is a dynamic conductor, pianist, harpsichordist, and composer who believes in the power of music to build community and tell meaningful stories. He serves as the assistant conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Fred M. Sai Youth Orchestra Music Director. He completed his residency in orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music in 2024, has previously led the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, and also taught at the University of Rhode Island as director of orchestral activities. These concerts mark his classical SLSO debut.
SPEAKER_00This is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra here on St. Louis Public Radio.
SPEAKER_02Good evening. Bonsoir indeed. I may have conducted this orchestra dozens of times in the last two years as assistant conductor, but this week, Mark is the first time that I have the honor of working with this orchestra in this setting. And what better way than with Rachmanonoff, whose music I listened to and played over and over again as a kid. I remember taking road tours with my parents, and we would have these couple CDs of his piano concertos and his symphonies that we just played on repeat. And I really think that Rachmanonoff taught me something about what it means to be a human. And of course, with Merkovia, whose sensitivity and humor and wit and virtuosity seem to be tailor-made for our soloist this evening, Gabriella Montana. But first we'll play for you a piece called Humblebird Condrils by another Gabriella, Gabriella Smith. Now this Gabriella is an avid hiker. And one day she was hiking in Point Reyes just north of San Francisco when she stopped for a moment to perceive all of the sounds that were surrounding her from the natural world. There was the crack of a branch, the whistling of wind through the reeds that dotted the shore, the washing of waves against the cliff, the tumbling of birds overhead, maybe the imagination of a dissident whale song in the Pacific. Even the harmony of foghorns. But what I find so incredible about this piece is that you will hear bits of melody in all of this. But there the melody is in this piece, a little bit. And it convinces me, as I hope it will convince you, that there is melody to be found and cherished in the beauty of the natural world around us. Thank you for being here this evening, and we hope you enjoyed the Tumblebird Contra.
Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrails
SPEAKER_00The single symphony orchestra was led by Samuel Hollister.
SPEAKER_04And conductor Samuel Hollister has invited the orchestra to rouse. He has taken some vows and is now exiting the stage.
SPEAKER_00Applause continuing for this piece with a very interesting seaside sort of feel to the whole thing. Well, coming up next is Sergei Prokofia's piano concerto number three in C major, Opus 26, featuring pianist Gabriela Montero. Now, Lauren, we just heard a work by a young composer. Does it have anything in common with the next piece on tonight's program?
SPEAKER_04Well, Prokofia was pretty young when he completed the third of his five piano concertos, so they do have that in common. Prokofia finished this concerto in 1921 at age 30, but the ideas that went into it began earlier. He said as much, stating that when I began working on the concerto, I already had all the thematic material I needed, except for the third theme of the finale and the subordinate theme of the first movement. The three movements are on Dante Allegro, Temo Andantino con Variazione, and Allegro Monontropol. In Dante Allegro, Prokofiev is relentless in offering ideas for the audience to follow. Temo con variazione, or a theme with variations, is in the slow movement position of the moderate slow fast concerto order, but I would describe it as not actually slow, just less insistent with more pensive moments. Allegro Monontrapo speeds up, and just when you think the composer has exhausted his repertoire of hoops for the soloist to jump through, he invents more impressively virtuosity. Paul Scalvo notes that few composers of the 20th century or any other period had such a keen ability to create and sustain musical momentum by establishing a driving pole start and steely rhythmic figures within it. The composer premiered this concerto as the soloist, with Frederick Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Preparations were intense, and even though he wrote it with himself in mind, he still worked hard to get ready for the performance. He wrote to Serge Kosowitsky, My third concerto has turned out to be devilishly difficult. I'm nervous and I'm practicing hard three hours a day. His efforts did pay off, though, and the concerto was celebrated in Chicago.
SPEAKER_00Well, you can see a copy of tonight's program notes and much more at stlpr.org or slash symphony. Right now you're listening to the Saint Less Symphony Orchestra, live from Powell Hall on Saintless Public Radio and online at stlpr.org.
SPEAKER_04A few words about tonight's featured soloist. Gabriella Montero's visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. The 2025-26 season sees Montero as artist in residence at London's acclaimed Barbican Center. Other 25-26 highlights include her debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a new solo recital program, Iberia, showcasing Spain's rich influence on the piano repertoire. She is also currently a faculty member and the Jonathan and Lynn Epstein Artist in Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Other recent and forthcoming highlights include debuts with Amsterdam's Concertgovale Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre Nationale de France, and Deutsche Symphony Orchestra Berlin, extensive tours with the city of Birmingham and Prague Symphony, performances with the Martha Argoritch at Munich's Isaac Philharmonie and Lisbon's Calistical Thinking of Museum, and performances of her own Latin concerto with leading American and European orchestra.
SPEAKER_00Sergei Prokofyov was born in 1891 in Russia and died in Moscow in 1953. The first performance of this piece was on December 16th, 1921. And the first SLSO performance was on January 29th, 1937. The most recent performance by the SLSO was on February 2nd, 2013. Right now we have the entrance of our co-host Gabriela Montero, along with Samuel Hollister. We're ready for our next work.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3
SPEAKER_00We just heard today for Copeland's piano concerto number three in the teenager open twenty sixth. Pianist Gabriella Montero the statement orchestra was led by Daniel Hollister.
SPEAKER_04Hello? Gabriella Montero has arisen from the piano has embraced both conducted from Hollister and Alpha David Hill. And is now taking vows at the very front of the stage. Hollister has invited the orchestra to RAW. And members of the audience are on their feet and left standing over the case. Now Hollister and Montero have battle hands, and they have taken vows at the front of the stage. Montero is applauding up to the orchestra. And now both Montero and Hollister are exploring. The applause continues as members of the audience can continue to express their appreciation or appreciation that there was open applause really after that first movement, which is just the beginning of this total expression of virtuosity. And I think there's been put out so I think that we might get an offer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I believe that's what we're happening for. And yes, we are using the detail version of the feet to have some fallout by Temer Hollister. It looks like an Rupert.
SPEAKER_04And also the horse and now the entire orchestra is on their feet off. And Monterey and Hollister once again explained.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I do believe we're going to hear from her again with an icon, and we're really glad that we get a chance to speak of her during our intermission. She has a microphone right now, so we get a chance to hear from her on stage before she plays her on code. Let's see if she has to play.
Encore: Improvisation on “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
SPEAKER_03Um what I'd like to do now for you is to do an improvisation for you. For me, it's a it's a language that was always with me. And I've been doing this since I was a very little girl in Venezuela, where I'm from. I don't think I don't plan there's nothing. Absolutely nothing before I do it. I can't remember. Maybe something from here from Saint Louis. Yeah. Definitely not Saint Louis. Okay. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04That was a treat. We just heard Gabriella Matter of our stalls of our variations on Twinkle Twitter little thoughts.
SPEAKER_00There were many variables.
SPEAKER_04There were many variables. To take a few more bows.
SPEAKER_00You're going to get a chance to speak to her in a few minutes, too.
SPEAKER_04And I'm very excited about that.
SPEAKER_00We'll see if your Spanish is up to scratch.
SPEAKER_04I assure you it's not. And she's once again exiting the stage.
SPEAKER_00Well, just a reminder for our audience: you can follow along at home with your own program notes. Go to our website, stlpr.org slash symphony. Once again, during our intermission, we'll have a chance to speak with Samuel Hollister, Maria Lenne Bernard, and Gabriela Montero. My name's Rod Milam. Also, along with Lauren Eldritch Stewart, you're listening to a live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on St. Louis Public Radio.
Interview with Samuel Hollister, conductor
SPEAKER_00Live from Powell Hall at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, this is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. My name is Rod Milam. Along with us is Lauren Eldritch Stewart.
SPEAKER_04And joining us now is SLSO assistant conductor Samuel Hollister. Good evening, Sam.
SPEAKER_02Hi Lauren, it's great to be here.
SPEAKER_04Oh, we're so glad to have you here. And bravo on the first half of the concert.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_04I bet. So you've conducted the SLSO many, many times, but this is your first classical series concert. How did you feel when you got the call to conduct?
SPEAKER_02I felt surprised. Of course, I wasn't expecting it, but I felt so comfortable because I have the privilege of knowing these people very well. It's a different story if I'm debuting with an orchestra I haven't worked with before, but here the musicians of this orchestra have been family to me for the last two years.
SPEAKER_04Aaron Ross Powell What did it feel like to step out on the podium yesterday morning?
SPEAKER_02Well, there were some nerves, of course, but at the end of the day, whenever we get on stage to perform, our principal job is to tell a story. So I was doing everything I could to hold the stories of these pieces in my head as vividly as I could.
SPEAKER_04And I really appreciate the narrative arc that you said at the beginning of the performance that it made my job easier here in the broadcast move. But it it really did make a lot of sense and a lot of connection. Pian is Gabriella Montero. We just heard her amazing encore.
SPEAKER_02Unbelievable. Yeah. And she does this after all of her performances, and it's different every time. There are different themes that audience members shout out. You can just go online and look up her videos. It's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_04Just unreal. What has it been like working with her?
SPEAKER_02She has to be the kindest person I have ever met. Just full stop. She is so sweet and very collaborative. She's made it very easy. I mean, incredibly expressive, very flexible with her interpretation and her tempe and taking the music very organically, but in a way that is very easy to understand and easy to accompany.
SPEAKER_04Now I want to read some very nice things that she wrote about you on social media this morning.
SPEAKER_02Oh, really? This is news to me.
SPEAKER_04Gabrielle said in a social media post this morning, I must say the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is one of the greatest orchestras I've played with. Sam Hollister is also doing a wonderful job. It's not easy to keep up with me in high octane rep, but they are right there with me through the wildness and volcanic temperatures of Procoffia 3. So that's quite a compliment.
SPEAKER_02That is, and I am so grateful to her for her collaboration this week. She's right that this piece does have volcanic temperatures. It is quite a firecracker of a piece.
SPEAKER_04How difficult is it?
SPEAKER_02You know, the difficult things are doing three things at once. You have to hold everything together in terms of ensemble. You have to think about how you want to shape the music and tell the story through the poetry of how a phrase is structured, and you have to think about balance between the soloist and the orchestra in the hall. And the hardest challenge is doing all of that at the same time. This piece is particularly tricky in that regard, but the orchestra loves this piece, and they had such a great time working with her.
SPEAKER_04We had a great time listening. I understand that you never conducted these first two works on tonight's concert program. And in your role as cover conductor, you learn new scores all the time. Was your prep process any different this time around?
SPEAKER_02I spent as many minutes as I could on these three pieces. From the time I found out I something like three weeks ago, to now. I hadn't conducted the Rach Mononoff either. I mean I had studied it very extensively, but I hadn't conducted it, so putting all of the pieces together in a short period of time is very difficult. But I did study the markings in the parts that the orchestra is playing from, which is a step that isn't always possible when I'm covering repertoire on a weekly basis with the orchestra. You know, when when I'm covering something that someone else is conducting and there are, you know, pieces flying at me at 90 miles per hour every week. I'm not spending every moment studying the markings, but I had the time for this, so I did.
SPEAKER_04Speaking of the Rachmanonoff, what should we be listening for?
SPEAKER_02It's a deeply emotional piece, and at this point in Rachmanonoff's life, he was missing his home very dearly. So I think you'll hear some nostalgia, some reminiscing, some heartache maybe for missing his homeland. But there's also an optimism and an excitement for his new chapter in the United States. He was splitting his time between the US and Switzerland, and I think you hear a fingerprint of the energy of the United States and the potential of a new chapter in this piece.
SPEAKER_04Well, we'll listen for that. We'll allow you to get ready for it. And thank you so much for taking some time out to talk to us, Sam.
SPEAKER_02Of course, thank you, Lauren. It was a pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER_04That was SLSO Assistant Conductor Samuel Hollister. After the intermission, Samuel Hollister will lead the orchestra in Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3 in A minor Opus 44.
SPEAKER_00Joining
Interview with Marie-Hélène Bernard, SLSO President and CEO
SPEAKER_00us in the broadcast booth now is SLSO president and CEO, Marie-Helen Bernard. Welcome, Marie Helene. Thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_01Good evening. Bonsoir.
SPEAKER_00Bonsoir. Everybody in St. Louis now at least reach each other with bonsoir.
SPEAKER_01Yes, indeed.
SPEAKER_00You said one of the biggest goals of the renovation of Powell Hall during that project was to create opportunities for generations of people to connect through music. So, how have you seen audience engagement evolve with the reopening of the building?
SPEAKER_01Well, it's been wonderful. First of all, this is really truly becoming a destination. So there's curiosity, people come. We also program a variety of repertoires. So we've seen it in people's following of all walks of life. We see a lot of young families, we see people really who have never come here and wanted to enjoy the music making, and it's truly been truly a remarkable season so far.
SPEAKER_00And on St. Louis Magazine's 314 podcast earlier on this season, you said the expanded and renovated building positions, the SLSO and St. Louis is a global destination. What's the orchestra's role in shaping a thriving St. Louis?
SPEAKER_01It's very, very important. So in my role, I don't only view the Symphony as a performing agent, but as a social agent and a connector and a global ambassador. So whenever we bring artists from around the world, whenever we bring guests, we also celebrate how special and how extraordinary St. Louis is, whether it's its culture, its food scene, its healthcare, its quality of life, its architecture. I mean, the building alone, the reopening, has drawn national and international press. And there's been a great vivid interest from the architectural industry into this project. So it has really brought the world to St. Louis. Just this morning alone, I welcomed 28 New Yorkers who were on a cultural trip, gave them a tour of the hall. And in speaking about Powell and the St. Louis Symphony, spoke about the great asset that St. Louis is. And as they were leaving, they were blown away and said, We want to move here. I said, Yes, please do.
SPEAKER_00So from your perspective as the president and CEO, do you see any other future opportunities?
SPEAKER_01Oh, it's huge. I think it's huge. Just the way that with the convention center in Explore St. Louis and other social agents and also the cultural sector, we have one of the most thriving, extraordinarily compelling artistically standards that we have in this town are remarkable. So I think St. Louis has so much to offer. And we see this as the years that will come, 2030 marks the 150th anniversary. We're the second oldest orchestra in the country after New York. I mean, St. Louis has so much to offer. If you were the fourth largest train station in 1900, that we were one of the largest commercial centers of the states back in the days.
SPEAKER_00So the orchestra has announced the 2026-27 season, and subscriptions are on sale now. What stands out about the upcoming season to you as the president of the CEO?
SPEAKER_01Again, I mean the orchestra sounds extraordinary. We have two choruses. We have a music director who knows this community very well. So I think the breadth of repertoire, I think the new commissions just this evening, Christopher Stark, who is based here in St. Louis, professor at Wash U, we commissioned Chris to write a violin concerto for our associate concertmaster, Erin Schreiber. This will be uh premiered in the spring. So continuing to elevate talent to commission new music while exposing the core traditional repertoire to new ears. I think we always want to make sure people of all places in life come to us and discover the traditional and also the new music. So I think that's our role, a constant evolution of music, but also all of us in this learning capacity, which is really exciting.
SPEAKER_00So we just had a chance to speak with Samuel Hollister. He made his subscription debut just in this series of concerts this weekend. What does he bring to the podium and the organization more broadly?
SPEAKER_01Oh, Sam is an extraordinary talent. He's a natural. I think his parents are here this weekend, and I tell his mother that Sam is the son we all want to adopt, regardless of our age. But Sam has extraordinary humanity in him. He has deep emotional intelligence, he's extraordinarily gifted, humbled, which I think is one of the traits that music directors and conductors need to have. I think he has a vast career ahead of him, and he's very, very talented. And this was this is a big program. So as a first, I think he gets the support of the orchestra. The orchestra is extraordinary in the way, first of all, they respect him, they love him, they support him, but also they're there for him. And it's wonderful to see that collaboration evolving this week.
SPEAKER_00Marie-Helen, let me let you go back out and listen to this last section of the concert and the subscription concert debut of Samuel Hollister.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for joining us. That is Marie Helen Bernard. She's the SLSO president and CEO.
Interview with Gabriela Montero, piano
SPEAKER_04And joining us now is tonight's featured soloist, pianist Gabriela Montero. Good evening, Gabriella. Good evening. Wonderful to be here with you. Thank you so much for coming down. Congratulations on your performance of Procofi Ev's Third Concerto.
SPEAKER_03Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_04You're making your SLSO debut this weekend. What's it been like working with the orchestra and Sam Hollister for the first time?
SPEAKER_03You know, it just feels like it fits like a glove. They are such amazing team players, and to have the luxury of having companionship in that way where you have the freedom to really take risks and to really play this concerto with the rawness that it lives in is just a wonderful, absolute privilege, and I've enjoyed every moment with them.
SPEAKER_04This concerto appears to be fiendishly difficult. And the composer even himself admitted that he had to practice three hours a day leading up to it, right? What are the challenges for the pianist in it?
SPEAKER_03Well, I think in the end it depends how you play it, you know, because it's it's a universe of multitudes where, you know, it's not only the virtuosity, but it's more than anything this kind of demonic character that comes out and that has to come out in the sound, but then also the sardonic humor and these moments of just almost like an arid desert, you know, contrasting all of this vitality. And it's it's just a piece that has everything and and allows me to, like my husband says, become a scary monster on stage which I actually enjoy.
SPEAKER_04Well, pulling back a little, in addition to performing, you also compose. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03How did that interest in composing come about? Well, I've always improvised, which is, you know, the beginnings of composing and it's the seed, you know, of creativity and composition since I was a very little girl, and it it's always been part of my nature. I I never studied any of it, it's just a natural language. But in 2011, I actually decided to write my first composition called Expatria, to be able to tell the story through sound and music of the collapse of my country, Venezuela. So it's a very, very powerful piece. It's a piece that I wanted it to be a physical experience where people kind of almost felt suffocated, like we felt, you know, as a country. And very much, you know, about music imitating life, and that's very much what Expatria is about. You're also a human rights advocate. Yes. How did that interest develop? Because of Venezuela, because of what's happened to my country and continues to happen, and because I felt that as an artist I had the duty as a human being to speak out. You know, you have a choice. You can either look away or you can get involved. And for me it was very clear I wanted to use my music and my platform to actually tell the story of Venezuela.
SPEAKER_04Switching modes a little bit, the encore featured improvisation. Yes. And this is not something that we typically hear in contemporary classical music. No. Could you tell us a little bit more about your choices around improvisation?
SPEAKER_03Well, it happens by itself, really. It's not anything I'm thinking of, and there's no template, there's nothing. It's really in the moment. And I asked the public for a theme, not because I need a theme, but because it's the best way to involve them and for them to actually follow the theme and have fun with how it transforms. And it becomes a very kind of communal experience, which is you know what I said from stage. And I love that. I love breaking that that wall, I love breaking this kind of you know, the separation between the public and the artist, and it should feel like you're in your living room. And improvisation is very much about you know about the moment and life in the moment and who you are in the moment and imagination and playfulness.
SPEAKER_04And there we were in the moment with you. Besides performing with orchestras and huge works like this Procofia, you're also a recitalist.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_04Recently you've performed a program of Spanish influence works titled Iberia. Could you tell us about that?
SPEAKER_03Yes, I'm leaving tomorrow to play in Switzerland and then at the Barbican on Friday, and then I'm playing in New York on May 14th. This program, which is a new program, it's you know, from Soler Scarlatti to Monpu to De La Rocha to Albenis, Granados, ending with uh Lis Spanish Rhapsody and Chopin as well. So the influence of Spanish music on different composers and you know the bolero of Chopin, which nobody plays very often. So it's very much, you know, a program centered around the spirit of Spanish music and its influence.
SPEAKER_04Well, we can't wait to continue following you and hearing more about this. Thank you, thank you so much for taking the time to come talk to us.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much, and you have an incredible orchestra. I love them.
SPEAKER_04We appreciate that compliment. That was tonight's featured soloist, pianist Gabriela Montero.
SPEAKER_00Well, our concert concludes with Sergei Rachmanonov's symphony number three in A minor, Opus 44. So Laurent Rachmanonov's third symphony was composed almost 30 years after his second, which we heard earlier this season. What took him so long to make this next one?
SPEAKER_04Well, Rod, we have to take a look at Rachmanonov's life in order to answer that question. Rachmanonov had built quite a fine reputation in Russia. His compositions, piano skills, and conducting were all highly regarded, but the 1917 Russian Revolution forced him to leave his homeland for good. After spending time in Scandinavia, he eventually settled in Los Angeles. As a practical matter with a family to support, Rachmaninoff made his primary living as a pianist and wound up traveling for weeks at a time. He didn't write a single work until 1926, and between then and 1940, he wrote only six major works. Although Rachmaninoff was well received in the U.S., he sorely missed his homeland. Losing my country, I lost myself also, he wrote. To the exile whose musical roots have been annihilated, there remains no desire for self-expression, no solace apart from the unbreakable silence of memory. In the 1930s, Rachmaninoff and his wife began spending summers in a villa overlooking Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. There they could surround themselves with all things Russian, and the setting gave the composer a kind of peace that aided his productivity. He wrote a good bit of his third symphony there in the summers of 1935 and 1936. Rachmanonoff's symphony number three was premiered on November 6, 1936, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Unlike the second symphony, it wasn't well received by critics or audiences. Rachmaninoff was caught in a bit of a catch-22 situation. Although he was firmly old school, some accused him of turning too much to modernism, while others belittled him for being stuck in the past, saying it sounded like something written at the turn of the century, which was almost 40 years earlier. Disappointed, Rachmaninoff reportedly said, it has been heard once in every capital in the musical world. It has been condemned in them all, but it's quite possible that in 50 years' time, it will be rediscovered like Schumann's violin concerto and become a sensational success. While it hasn't achieved the popularity of the second symphony, the third has earned a solid place in the symphonic repertoire. The third symphony is in three movements, unlike the four of the second symphony. The first movement, marked Lento Allegro moderato, opens with a three-note chant-like motto by clarinet, muted horn, and cello that will be repeated in various guises throughout the symphony. The second movement, marked adagio manontropo, allegro vivaci tempo comprima, can almost be considered as two movements. It opens with a slow section by horn and harp, followed by an extended schirto-like section before the return of a slow section. The Allegro finale opens vigorously and makes great use of the opening motto. The music seems to rush toward the brilliant conclusion with brief lyrical interludes and nods to the Dia Sera theme.
SPEAKER_00A reminder, you can follow along at home with your own program notes. All you have to do is go to stlpr.org slash symphony. You're listening to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra live from Powell Hall on St. Louis Public Radio and online at stlpr.org.
SPEAKER_04As intermission winds down, a note of interest about the orchestra. Recently, the SLSO acquired a rare vintage cymbal collection from former SLSO percussionist Tom Stubbs, expanding the sonic range of the percussion section. The handmade cymbals, many made in the early 20th century in Turkey, offer unique tonal variety compared to modern instruments. Collected over decades, they enhance expressive possibilities, are already in use in performances, and represent a long-term investment in the orchestra's distinctive sound. You can read more about the collection at slso.org slash stories.
SPEAKER_00Sergei Rachmanenov was born in 1873 in Russia and died in 1943 in Beverly Hills, California. The first performance of this work was on November 6, 1936. The first SLSO performance was on November 27th, 1936. The most recent SLSO performance was on March 19th, 2022, and Stefan Dev conducting. But conducting tonight is Samuel Hollister. He's going to lead our final work tonight, Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphony number three in A minor, Opus 44. You're listening to the single symphony orchestra on St. Louis Public Radio.
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3
SPEAKER_00You just heard Surgey Rockman and off symphony number three in A minor opens 44. The Satan Symphony Orchestra was led by Samuel Hollister.
SPEAKER_04And conductor Samuel Hollister has invited the orchestra to rise, has turned around and taken a bow, and is now exiting the stage. He's received an enthusiastic standing ovation from the audience. Now he's a signal for principal four logic model to take a bow. And also associated principle four and also principal clarinetics about Andrew. And this clarinet is doing wrong. Now a little low fire associated principle over the raw. And in the far player, Helly Banner. Also principal thought is Andrew Cornell. And the hard boost. And it's taking another bow. And Dr. Sam Hollister is now leaving the stage. And now Hollister is re-entering the stage and has gestured for the orchestra to rise, but they are actually remaining seated and applauding him. And this is a gesture of special respect and honor.
SPEAKER_00It's a big weekend for him to his first day.
SPEAKER_04It's a very big deal. And I think that it went really, really well. He's now shaking the hand of the sort of circle of principal string players, giving a wave to the principal bassist because they're a little bit further away. And is now taking another bow at the podium.
SPEAKER_00You're listening to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra live from Powell Hall on St. Louis Public Radio, simulcast on Classic 1073 and online at stlpr.org. This evening we had a chance to hear the following works: Sergei Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Opus 44. Before that, Sergei Prokofioff's piano concerto number three in C major, Opus 26, featuring pianist Gabriela Montero. And we began the evening with Gabriela Smith's Tumblebird Contracts.
SPEAKER_04You're invited to join St. Louis Public Radio two weeks from tonight for the final live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's 2025-26 season. Stefan Deneve will lead the orchestra in Kevin Putts, Virilli after Guillaume Demachot, Natalie Joachim's family, featuring the St. Louis Symphony in Unison chorus, Kevin McBeth, Director, and Maurice Revelle's Daphne St. Chloe, featuring the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, Erin Freeman, Director. That's the next live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Saturday, May 9th at 7.30 p.m. on St. Louis Public Radio.
SPEAKER_00We invite you to share your thoughts about our live broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra season. You can find us online at stlpr.org and on social media. Just search for and like the St. Louis Public Radio Facebook page. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcast is produced by Mary Edwards with audio engineered by Kyle Pike. Additional assistance is provided by Tim Munro, Paul Schiavo, Greg Montaneux, Eric Dundan, Maggie Bailey, Rachel Madison, Gino Belasi, Madeline Painter Tala, and Alex Rice. Also, a special thank you goes to all the musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Local 2197. Live broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra are a production of St. Louis Public Radio.
SPEAKER_04I am Lauren Elder Stewart.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Rod Milam. Please join us again in two weeks.