Subscription Concert C Series

Subscription Concert No.1033 C Series

Date: Sat. 17. January 2026 14:00 (13:00)

Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Venue Info Seat

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Artists

Daniele RUSTIONI, Conductor
Francesca DEGO, Violin

Profile

Daniele RUSTIONI (Principal Guest Conductor)

Daniele Rustioni is one of today’s most dynamic conductors, celebrated for his artistry across leading opera houses and major orchestras worldwide. Named “Best Conductor” at the 2022 International Opera Awards, he has served as Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon since 2015, concluding his tenure in 2025. He was the first-ever Principal Guest Conductor at the Bavarian State Opera and, and he has become Principal Guest Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in the 2025-26 season, where he debuted in 2017. He has led acclaimed productions including Carmen, Rigoletto, and Falstaff, and made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Met Orchestra in 2023. Rustioni has held major positions with the Ulster Orchestra and Orchestra della Toscana, and appears regularly with top ensembles across Europe, the U.S., and Japan where he debuted with Madama Butterfly at the Nikkikai Opera in 2014. Other orchestras in Japan include the HPAC Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Osaka Philharmonic. Rustioni has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor at the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in the 2025-2026 season. A former student of the Milan Conservatory, Accademia Chigiana, and Royal Academy of Music, he also records for major labels including Decca, Naxos, and Sony Classical.

Francesca DEGO (Violin)

Italian American violinist Francesca Dego is celebrated for her versatility, compelling interpretations, and flawless technique.
She regularly appears with major orchestras such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington, Fabio Luisi, Philippe Herreweghe, Daniele Rustioni.
Her 2024/25 season includes debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
She is signed exclusively to Chandos Records. Her most recent recording of the violin concertos of Busoni and Brahms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stasevska, and the complete Mozart violin concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Roger Norrington. She is based in London and plays a rare Francesco Ruggeri violin (Cremona 1697).
photo ©David Cerati

Program

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, op.77

Program Notes
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol, op.34

Program Notes
Respighi: Feste Romane

Program Notes

｜Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, op.77

Ⅰ Allegro non troppo
Ⅱ Adagio
Ⅲ Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace

Johannes Brahms: Born in Hamburg, May 7, 1833; died in Vienna, April 3, 1897
　Brahms spent the summer of 1878 at Pörtschach on Lake Wörth in southern Austria. It was a region, he once said, where melodies were so abundant that one had to be careful not to step on them. Here Brahms began work on his only violin concerto, completing it by early fall. As was his custom, Brahms conferred with the eminent violinist Joseph Joachim on technical and musical matters. Biographers disagree on the extent to which Brahms heeded Joachimʼs advice (many difficult, awkward passages for the soloist remain), yet, as was only to be expected, he dedicated the score and entrusted the premiere to Joachim, his friend and adviser of 25 years. The first performance took place on New Yearʼs Day, 1879, with Brahms conducting the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
　The concertoʼs technical difficulties did not encourage further performances, nor did audiences respond kindly. As with many of Brahmsʼs large-scale works, it was considered dry and pedantic; even the critic and long-time Brahms supporter Eduard Hanslick didnʼt appreciate it. But that is all history now. Brahmsʼs concerto is ranked today alongside Beethovenʼs (also in D major) as one of the two greatest ever written. Hubert Foss states the case eloquently: “Of all Brahmsʼs major works, this is the one which shows in the highest degree of perfection the reconciling of the two opposites of his creative mind − the lyrical and the constructive: Brahms the song writer and Brahms the symphonist. For this concerto is a song for the violin on a symphonic scale − a lyrical outpouring which nevertheless exercises to the full his great powers of inventive development. The substance of it is, throughout, the growth of the themes; they blossom before us like opening flowers in a richly stocked garden. It is Brahmsʼs most lovable work of extended design.”
　The concerto opens with a relaxed theme in the violas, cellos, bassoons, and horns − a characteristically warm, Brahmsian scoring. It takes only a few moments to realize that this is going to be a concerto on a grand scale. After presentation of several more thematic ideas, the soloist enters with a flourish, which develops into a long, quasi-cadenza before eventually settling down to repeat the themes first heard in the long orchestral exposition. Additionally, the violin first presents a new theme, rapturously flowing and waltz-like. Brahms left the cadenza to the discretion of the soloist. Many have been written since the original one by Joachim.
　The sustained, serene oboe solo that begins the second movement is one of the most gorgeous melodies Brahms ever wrote, and it serves to remind us that Brahms was one of the great song writers of the nineteenth century. The central portion of the movement shifts to the minor mode, and has been described as soaring into “impassioned melancholia.” The final part of the ternary-form (ABA) movement begins with a re-statement of the oboe theme accompanied by new figurations from the violin. The soloist forms a tight bond with the orchestra, yet interestingly enough never plays more than the first three notes of the main theme in unadorned fashion.
　The bold and fiery finale, the only movement full of virtuosic display, is a slightly modified rondo structure (ABACBA) whose principal theme is marked by a Hungarian gypsy flavor. Thus Brahms pays fitting tribute to two Hungarian violinists who played significant roles in his life: Joseph Joachim and Eduard Reményi, who “discovered” Brahms and presented him to the European music world.

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

｜Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol, op.34

Ⅰ Alborada
Ⅱ Variation
Ⅲ Alborada
Ⅳ Scena e canto gitano (Scene and Gypsy Song)
Ⅴ Fandango asturiano

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Born in Tikhvin (near Novgorod), March 18, 1844; died in Lyubensk (near St. Petersburg), June 21, 1908

　The allure of Spain, with its passionate spirit, flamboyant rhythms, dazzling local color and exotic aura, captivated any number of composers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Bizet, Chabrier, Debussy, Lalo, Ravel, and Rimsky-Korsakov, to mention only a few. Rimsky-Korsakov, for all his world travel as a professional sailor, ironically enough spent a mere three days in Spain as a youth. Yet his Capriccio Espagnol so ebulliently captures the flavor of the land that a rumor circulated that he had taken out a three-year lease on a gypsy cave in Granada.
　The composition had its genesis in a virtuoso fantasy on Spanish themes for violin and orchestra, sketched in 1886. But later Rimsky-Korsakov, realizing that in such a form the orchestra could never fulfill its potential for riotous color, recast the work for orchestra alone. Nevertheless, elements of the original conception remain in numerous solo violin passages, many replete with the virtuosoʼs arsenal of harmonics, triple stops and flying arpeggios.
　The work was an instant success, even before it got its first public performance. During the first rehearsal, the musicians in the orchestra burst into applause at every opportunity, praising the composer and his music. At the premiere, on October 31, 1887 in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer, the audience cheered so enthusiastically that the entire work had to be encored. Two weeks later, Tchaikovsky wrote the following accolade to his colleague: “I must add that your Spanish Caprice is a colossal masterpiece of instrumentation, and you may regard yourself as the greatest master of the present day.” But Rimsky-Korsakov regarded the music in a different light. In his autobiography, he wrote, “The opinion formed by both the critics and the public, that the Capriccio is a magnificent piece of orchestration, is incorrect. The Capriccio is a brilliant composition for the orchestra. The change of timbres, the selection of melodic designs and figurations – exactly adapted to each kind of instrument – the brief virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments, the rhythm of the percussion, etc., all constitute the very essence of the composition, and not its garb and orchestration.”
　There are five short, connected movements. The work opens with an alborada, which is supposed to be a gentle, romantic song sung under a ladyʼs window in the morning, but Rimsky-Korsakov either didnʼt know or didnʼt care, for this alborada sounds like no other. The music is loud, garish, and far more rousing than any alborada has a right to be! In a moderately contrasting passage, the clarinet and violin play exuberant solos.
　The second movement is more subdued, beginning with a genial theme played by a horn quartet and followed by five variations for (in succession) strings, English horn, full orchestra, horns and cellos, and again full orchestra with a flute cadenza as a coda. The third movement returns to the dazzling opening alborada with some changes in the orchestration. The fourth movement, entitled Scene and Gypsy Song, offers a parade of cadenzas: for brass ensemble, for solo violin, for flute, for clarinet, and for harp and triangle. The Gypsy Song follows, moving with ever greater animation into the final movement. This is a zesty, vivacious fandango, a Spanish dance in triple meter for one couple and accompanied with guitar and castanets. Rimsky-Korsakov evokes the guitarʼs strumming effects with the entire string section, and the castanets are likewise much in evidence.

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

Respighi: Feste romane

Ⅰ Circenses (The Circus Maximus)
Ⅱ The Jubilee
Ⅲ The October Festival
Ⅳ The Epiphany

Ottorino Respighi: Born in Bologna, July 9, 1879; died in Rome, April 18, 1936

Respighiʼs reputation today rests first and foremost on his trilogy of symphonic evocations of Rome: The Fountains of Rome (1916), The Pines of Rome (1924), and Feste romane (1928). Rome, the “Eternal City,” was a “natural” for a musician of Respighiʼs antiquarian inclinations − a city steeped in history, studded with monuments and statues, rich in art and architecture. Unlike the Pines and Fountains, which are symphonic impressions of historic sites, Feste romane portrays events, and, hence, is more “action” -oriented. Feste romane outstrips Pines and Fountains by a large margin in terms of dazzling effects and torrents of riotous noise. The already large orchestra is further augmented by a huge percussion section and several instruments not normally found in a symphony orchestra: mandolin, organ, and pianos (four hands). In addition, the first festival portrayed, the Circus Maximus, requires three buccine, a kind of ancient Roman bugle. (Obviously, an alternative must be found today!) Arturo Toscanini, a friend of the composer and champion of his music, conducted the New York Philharmonic in the first performance of Feste romane on February 21, 1929.
I. CIRCENSES (Circus Maximus) − The crowd is in a festive mood − it is their holiday. “Hail Nero!,” they shout. The sounds of snapping jaws from wild beasts rend the air; iron doors swing open and the air is filled with a mix of religious chanting from condemned martyrs and the howls of animals. The chanting of the martyrs rises to a peak of intensity, then becomes lost in the tumult of the frenzied crowd and ferocious sounds of the beasts.
II. THE JUBILEE − On the highway, weary pilgrims make their way toward Rome, their shuffling tread reflected in the violins. Solo clarinet and bassoon intone the pilgrimsʼ prayer. When they finally reach Rome, a hymn of praise bursts forth, answered by a symphony of the cityʼs church bells.
III. THE OCTOBER FESTIVAL − Sounds of the hunt, the tinkling of bells and ardent songs of love and merrymaking fill the air; castle walls are decorated with vines. Echoes of the hunt recede into the distance. In the quiet of the evening, in a remote byway far from the crowds, a lover serenades his girl to the strains of the mandolin. The image fades; misty twilight envelopes the scene.
IV. THE EPIPHANY − The night before Epiphany in the Piazza Navona. A characteristic rhythm of trumpets dominates the frantic clamor. From time to time above the swelling noise can be heard rustic motives, saltarello cadenzas, the strains of a barrel-organ, the cry of a street vendor, the crowd calling “We are Romans! Let us pass!”

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

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