UMS Concert Program, December 10, 1988: Vienna Choir Boys --

Season: 110th
Concert: Eighteenth
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

itetfiatipnal
THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Vienna Choir Boys
STEPHAN AICHINGER, Conductor
Saturday Evening, December 10, 1988, at 8:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme ................... Dietrich Buxtehude
(1637-1707)
Natus Est Nobis......................................... Jacobus Gallus
(1550-1591) Solo (to be announced)
Laudate Dominum.......................... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
Jubilate Deo.......................................... Heinz Kratochwil
(b. 1933)
Pause -the audience is requested to remain seated.
Theaterg'Schichten (The Jealous Primadonna)..............Jean Baptist Klerr
Comic Opera in One Act (1830-1875)
INTERMISSION
Omnes de Saba Venient ............................... Joseph von Eybler
(1765-1846)
In Dulci Jubilo ...................................... Michael Praetorius
(1571-1621)
Christmas Carols:
Es 1st Ein Ros Entsprungen
Maria Durch Ein Dornwald Ging
Adeste Fideles
Es Wird Scho Glei Dumpa
Hirtenterzett
Stacherl
Angels We Have Heard On High
Cameras and recording devices are not allowed in the auditorium. Halls Cough Tablets, courtesy of Warner-Lambert Company, are available in the lobby.
Eighteenth Concert of the 110th Season Eighteenth Annual Choice Series
Theaterg'Schichten (The Jealous Primadonna) -Comic Opera in One Act
In the dressing room of a provincial theatre, the choir is preparing for the performance. One of the young ladies is Antonia, who is being teased by the others because of her aspirations to become a great primadonna. This, however, does not sadden her as much as the fact that she cannot marry her lover Mario, the star tenor of the ensemble, because the director, up until now, has refused to give his permission.
Mario is worried about their future, and he presents Antonia with a small gift before she rushes off for her entrance on stage. Just as Mario is also about to leave, he notices Marcelina, the reigning primadonna, who is, however, well past her prime. Mario overhears her plans of intrigue to hinder Antonia's career as a soloist. The director is explaining to Antonia the importance of his position. Marcelina appears and, when left alone with Antonia, they begin to fight. A fury ensues, and soon the entire house is talking about the event. Only with great difficulty are they able to prevent another outburst in the presence of the entire company. Marcelina storms furiously from the scene, and Mario tries to console Antonia by telling her a little story. Marcelina is held back by the chorus girls, and when Mario openly scolds her and reveals her plans to scandalize Antonia, the entire ensemble takes sides with Antonia. The climax is reached with the appearance of the director, who not only manages the reconciliation of the two rivals but also grants permission for the young couple to marry.
About the Artists
The Vienna Choir Boys are at once one of the world's oldest musical institutions and one of the youngest. Its youth is immediately evident -seen in the faces and heard in the voices of these boys aged 8 to 14. Its age is less apparent, yet no less impressive. In the year 1498, a group of eight boys was assembled as a singing group by an imperial decree of Emperor Maximilian I, fulfilling his wish to have choristers in the Imperial Chapel. In addition to the boys choir, the Emperor included a symphony orchestra, a lyric theater, and a teaching conservatory -a total musical organization that quickly became a center of Viennese cultural life.
From its inception, this organization has attracted the finest musicians in the Western world. Among those who worked at the Imperial Court and composed music for the choirboys were Christoph Willibald Gluck, Josef Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Franz Schubert, who was himself a member of the choir from 1808 to 1813. Anton Bruckner became organist of the Imperial Chapel in 1867, adding his influence to that of his illustrious predecessors.
In 1918, the collapse of the Hapsburg dynasty and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire threatened to end the world-famous institution. As chaplain of the Imperial Chapel, Josef Schnitt revived the boys choir in 1924 and gave it its official name -the Vienna Choir Boys. Their first tour was to Switzerland in 1926, the beginning of an enormous worldwide success. Since their first visit to the United States in 1932, they have made more than 3,000 appearances in almost every country on six continents and before innumerable heads of state. In addition, they are known to millions through their film and television appearances and their recordings on the Philips label.
Boys who wish to be considered for choir membership attend a special preparatory school where they receive a thorough education. Candidates take their examinations at the age of nine, where musical ability plays the decisive role in selection. Once accepted, the boys live in a private boarding school -since 1948 the beautiful Augarten Palace in Vienna -where a staff of 30 fully qualified secondary school teachers provide an intensive program of study in classes that seldom exceed more than ten students. Today there arc four Vienna Choir Boy units, two of which perform on tour while the other two remain at home -all of them rotating so that each choirboy spends part of the year traveling. Each tour lasts an average of three months.
The University Musical Society first presented the Vienna Choir Boys in 1933. This evening's concert marks their eleventh Ann Arbor performance.
The piano heard in tonight's concert is a Steinway available through Hammcll Music, Inc.
The pre-concert carillon recital from Burton Memorial Tower was performed by Kathleen Beck, a student of U-M Carillonneur Margo Halsted.
The Vienna Choir Boys appear by arrangement with 1CM Artists, Ltd.
The University Musical Society expresses thanks to Ford Motor Company Fund for underwriting the printing costs of this program.
New Group Ticket Sales Policy
The Musical Society is pleased to offer a new group discount policy for tickets to all concerts in the Choral Union, Chamber Arts, and Choice Series, subject to availability depending upon prior sale.
Group discounts as follows:
Minimum of 20 to 49 tickets -10 percent discount
50 tickets and above -15 percent discount
For students and seniors: Minimum of 10 tickets -20 percent discount For information and to reserve tickets, call 763-061 or 764-2538.
Coming Concerts
Kathleen Battle, soprano ....................................Mon. Jan. 9
Klezmer Conservatory Band ................................Sat. Jan. 14
Montreal Symphony Orchestra Charles Dutoit.........Wed. Jan. 25
Radu Lupu, pianist
Mazowsze, Polish Folk Company.............................Mon. Jan. 30
Canadian Brass...........................................Thurs. Feb. 2
Beaux Arts Trio.............................................Sat. Feb. 4
Osipov Balalaika Orchestra..............................Thurs. Feb. 9
with stars of the Bolshoi Opera
Mummenschanz....................................Sat., Sun. Feb. 11, 12
New York City Opera National Company ..........Sat., Sun. Feb. 18, 19
Verdi's "La Traviata"
Richard Stoltzman and Friends...........................Wed. Feb. 22
"New York Counterpoint"
Folger Consort & Western Wind..........................Mon. Mar. 6
Paul Taylor Dance Company .......................Tues., Wed. Mar. 7, 8
Israel Philharmonic Zubin Mehta .......................Tues. Mar. 14
Faculty Artists Concert (free admission) ....................Sun. Mar. 19
The Chieftains............................................Wed. Mar. 22
Emerson String Quartet .................................Wed. Mar. 29
Alicia de Larrocha, pianist ...............................Thurs. Mar. 30
Stuttgart Wind Quintet ..................................Wed. Apr. 5
Dennis Russell Davies, pianist
Munich Philharmonic Sergiu Celibidache...............Thurs. Apr. 13
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin........Thurs. Apr. 20
96th Annual May Festival .........................Wed.-Sat. Apr. 26-29
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Kurt Masuu
Complete information in free color brochure, available upon request.
Pre-concert Presentations
Make new discoveries and enjoy nuances in the performing arts with this season's series of presentations by authoritative speakers. All are free and open to the public, held in the Rackham Amphitheater one hour before the concert.
Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:00, preceding Kathleen Battle, soprano
Speaker: Richard LeSueur, Head of Technical Services, Ann Arbor Public Library;
President of a consulting service for singers and accompanists Topic: The Song Recital: A Musical Society Tradition
Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7:00, preceding "New York Counterpoint," Richard Stoltzman & Friends Speaker: David Gregory, Associate Professor, and Director, Center for Performing Arts and
Technology, U-M School of Music Topic: The New Age of Multimedia Performance
Wednesday, Mar. 22 at 7:00, preceding The Chieftains Speaker: Marie McCarthy, Authority on Irish Music; Doctoral Candidate, U-M School of Music Topic: The Chieftains: An Image of Ireland
Wednesday, Mar. 29 at 7:00, preceding Emerson String Quartet Speakers: John Madison, Violist, and Maria Smith, Violinist
Co-founders of the Cassini Ensemble Topic: PlayerInstrument Chemistry: Making It Work
Wednesday, Apr. 5 at 7:00, preceding Stuttgart Wind Quintet
Speaker: William Bolcom, Professor of Composition, U-M School of Music;
1988 Pulitzer Prize Winner Topic: Live Program Notes on "FiveFoldFive"
Thursday, Apr. 20 at 7:00, preceding St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Speakers: Robert Alexander and Judy Dow Alexander, Producers and Arts Consultants Topic: Performing With and Managing American Orchestras
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY Board of Directors
John W. Reed, President
David B. Kennedy, Vice President
Thomas E. Kauper, Secretary Norman G. Herbert, Treasurer
Robert G. Aldrich James J. Duderstadt Richard L. Kennedy
Patrick B. Long Judythe R. Maugh
John D. Paul Ann S. Schriber Herbert E. Sloan
Kenneth C. Fischer, Executive Director Advisory Committee
Ann S. Schriber, Chair
Catherine Arcure Charles Borgsdorf Barbara Bryant Bradley Canale Sandra Connellan Katharine Cosovich Elena Delbanco Anne Duderstadt
Judy Fry Joann Gargaro Joyce Ginsberg Anne Glendon Charles Hills Stuart Isaac Janet Jeffries Frances lelinek
Shirley Kauper Howard King Lynn Luckcnbach Carl Lutkehaus Alan Mandel Ingrid Martin Charlotte McGeoch Joan Olsen
Agnes Reading Dorothy Reed Sally Rogers Alice Vining Raven Wallace Mary White Sally White Shelly Williams
Ex-qfficio: Kenneth C. Fischer, Nancy Cordincr Judge, Rebecca Liss Kott
University Choral Union and Festival Chorus
Donald T. Bryant Stephen L. Bryant Nancy Hodge Ncal Kurz
Staff
Sally A. Cushing Leilani Denison Barbara L. Ferguson Michael L. Gowing Nancy Cordiner Judge
Michael Kondziolka Rebecca Liss Kott William Orr Laura Rosenberg
Robin Stephenson Drent Pamela S. Teeple Carol G. Wargelin LornaJ. Young
U-M Student Intern: Mark Ewing
Student Assistants: Sara Billmann, Matthew Levy, Michele Mustert, Susan Natan, Karen Paradis, Annette Sievert, Clare Stollak, Trevor Young
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1270 Telephone: (313) 764-2538