UMS Concert Program, Thursday Nov. 30 To Dec. 10: University Musical Society: Fall 2006 - Thursday Nov. 30 To Dec. 10 --

Season: Fall 2006
Hill Auditorium

Fall 2006 Season
128th Annual Season
General Information
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Event Program Book
Thursday, November 30 through Sunday, December 10, 2006
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Thursday, November 30, 8:00 pm Hill Auditorium
Handel's Messiah 15
Saturday, December 2, 8:00 pm Sunday, December 3, 2:00 pm Hill Auditorium
Michigan Chamber Players 31
Complimentary Admission Sunday, December 10, 4:00 pm Rackham Auditorium
Dear Friends,
The performances included in this program book constitute the final concerts of the UMS fall season--and what a fall it has been! Three highlights for me were the rare appearance in September of the Alice Coltrane Quartet; the completion in October of the Kirov Orchestra's five-concert Shostakovich Centennial Festival; and the three-week resi?dency in October and November of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). The RSC residen?cy was the largest, most expensive, and most engaging project ever undertaken by UMS in our 128-year history. Nearly 30,000 people attended the performances and dress rehearsals including more than 5,000 students. People came from 39 states and four countries. RSC actors and crew were all over Ann Arbor and southeastern Michigan participating in the more than 140 edu?cational events that supplemented the plays. Michigan loves the RSC, and the RSC loves
Michigan. Writes Michael Boyd, the Artistic Director of the RSC: "We are very proud of our residencies in Ann Arbor. They have allowed us to show you what we can do, and they have proved an exciting model of how theatre can and should engage with a community. They have allowed us to re-explore our work and find fresh insight and new depth and make our story-telling better. Working with you has raised our game and made us more ambitious for ourselves. We're already looking forward to engineering our return to Michigan." Yes, they are coming back. Stay tuned for details.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) concert on November 30, while sadly missing Ann Arbor favorite Kurt Masur on the podium, warms the hearts of anyone associated with the Interlochen Center for the Arts. The program opens with Liszt's Les Preludes, the piece that clos?es each season at the famous summer music
Ken Fischer flanked by RSC actors Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter at Michigan Stadium on November 4.
camp in northern Michigan. Warm memories flow whenever Interlochen alumni hear the work. It is always a treat to hear Sarah Chang, who per?forms the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the LPO. This year's performances of Handel's Messiah December 2 and 3 are the first to be performed by the UMS Choral Union since it received a Grammy Award for "Best Choral Recording" for its participation in the performance and recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience in Hill Auditorium in April 2004. UMS congratulates both the Interlochen Center for the Arts and U-M Professor William Bolcom for being awarded the National Medal of Arts presented by President Bush at the White House on November 9 of this year. We are pleased to present col?leagues from the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance in the Michigan Chamber Players con?cert on December 10.
If you have a minute sometime between now and the New Year to send me a message, I'd love to have you share with me your highlights of UMS's fall season. Drop me an email message at kenfisch@umich.edu.
Have a joyous holiday season.
Ken Fischer UMS President
UMS Educational Events
through Sunday, December 10, 2006
All UMS educational activities are free, open to the public, and in Ann Arbor unless otherwise noted. For complete details and updates, please visit www.ums.org or contact the UMS Education Department at 734.647.6712 or e-mail umsed@umich.edu.
Handel's Messiah
PREP with Dr. Jerry Blackstone
Saturday, December 2, 7:00-7:30 pm and Sunday, December 3, 1:00-1:30 pm, Hill Auditorium Mezzanine Lobby
UMS Choral Union conductor Jerry Blackstone will give a pre-performance lecture on the historical and musical background of Handel's Messiah. You must have a ticket to the performance to attend.
urns
and the
Catherine S. Arcure and Herbert E. Sloan Endowment Fund
present
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Alexander Vedernikov, Guest Conductor Sarah Chang, Violin
Program
Franz Liszt Jean Sibelius
Johannes Brahms
Thursday Evening, November 30, 2006 at 8:00 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor
Les Preludes, S. 97
Violin Concerto in d minor. Op. 47
Allegro moderato Adagio molto Allegro, ma non tanto
Ms. Chang INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
Allegro non troppo
Adagio non troppo
Allegretto grazioso, quasi andantino
Allegro con spirit
38th Performance of the 128th Annual Season
128th Annual Choral Union Series
The photographing or sound and video record?ing of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
Tonight's performance is supported by the Catherine S. Arcure and Herbert E. Sloan Endowment Fund.
Special thanks to Alan Aldworth and ProQuest Company for their support of the UMS Classical Kids Club.
Tonight's pre-concert Prelude Dinner is sponsored by TIAA-CREF.
Special thanks to Mark Clague, Assistant Professor of Musicology, U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, for his participation in tonight's Prelude Dinner.
Media partnership provided by WGTE 91.3 FM, WRCJ 90.9 FM, and Observers Eccentric newspapers.
Thanks to Tom Thompson of Tom Thompson Flowers, Ann Arbor, for his generous contribution of floral art for tonight's performance.
Thanks to Steven Ball for coordinating the pre-concert music on the Charles Baird Carillon.
London Philharmonic Orchestra appears by arrangement with Columbia Artists Management, LLC.
Ms. Chang appears by arrangement with ICM Artists.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Les Preludes, S. 97 (1854)
Franz Liszt
Born October 22, 1811 in Doborjan, Hungary
(now Raiding, Austria) Died July 31, 1886 in Bayreuth
In the wake of the momentous changes that shook Europe during the revolutions of 1848, Franz Liszt changed his entire life. He gave up his international concert career as the most brilliant piano virtuoso of his time and transferred his home base from Paris to Weimar, where he became the conductor of the court orchestra. Concurrently, he turned his attention increasingly to orchestral composition. However, he had no intentions of cultivating the four-movement sym?phonic form inherited from Beethoven, as Schumann had done before him or Brahms would do subsequently. Just as his early piano music often evoked "poetic and religious harmonies" or picturesque places from his travels (as opposed to the more abstract preludes, nocturnes, and mazurkas of his friend Chopin), so in his symphon?ic works he wanted openly to acknowledge the inspiration received from extra-musical sources.
In Weimar, Liszt began work on what would become a cycle of twelve symphonic poems, each based on a specific literary or artistic program. Les Preludes, the third in the set, was inspired by a poem by the French Romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869). Liszt followed the basic outline of the poem, but much of the musical material was recycled from earlier projects, some of which had never been completed.
Lamartine's poem "Les preludes" is a philo?sophical reflection on life, focusing in particular between the states of war and peace. Liszt must have been captivated by a certain musical quality in the poem, which the poet himself had called a "poetic sonata."
Liszt wrote a preface to his score, in which he summarized some of the ideas that lay behind both the poem and the music:
What else is life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death--Love is the dawn of
all existence; but what fate is there whose first delights of happiness are not interrupted by some storm, whose fine illusions are not dissi?pated by some mortal blast, consuming its altar as though by a stroke of lightning And what cruelly wounded soul, issuing from one of these tempests, does not endeavour to solace its memories in the calm serenity of rural life Nevertheless, man does not resign himself for long to the enjoyment of that beneficent still?ness which he first enjoyed in Nature's bosom, and when "the trumpet sounds the alarm" he takes up his post, no matter how dangerous may be the struggle which calls him to its ranks, that he may recover in combat the full consciousness of himself and his powers.
The sections of Liszt's symphonic poem--in turn amorous, dramatic, pastoral, and martial-correspond closely to the analogous sections of the poem, though Lamartine had closed with the pastoral rather than with the martial. Yet Liszt uni?fied his material in a way that has no parallels in the poetry. During the Weimar years, he perfect?ed a new method of thematic transformation, where a principal theme is repeated throughout a work with fundamental changes in rhythm, tempo, and harmony that completely alter its character. The immediate model for Liszt's proce?dure was Schubert's Wanderer fantasy for piano, which he arranged for piano and orchestra in 1851. Liszt used this technique not only in his symphonic poems, where they were placed in the service of literary programs, but also in his two piano concertos and the b-minor sonata, thereby crossing the lines between "absolute" and "pro?gram" music.
In Les Preludes, Liszt subjected two separate themes to this kind of transformation. The first one, heard in the powerful "Andante maestoso" section following the introduction, alludes to the Muss es sein (Must it be) theme from Beethoven's last string quartet, Op. 135, and reappears in lyrical and jubilant guises. (The same theme would be taken up later in Cesar Franck's Symphony in d minor.) The other theme, first played in an espressivo manner by a quartet of horns, is restated as a pastoral and then as a mil?itary march to provide a grandiose ending.
Violin Concerto in d minor. Op. 47 (1903)
Jean Sibelius
Born December 8, 1865 in Hameenlinna
(Tavastehus), Finland Died September 20, 1957 in Jarvenpaa
"I've got some lovely themes for a violin concer?to," Sibelius wrote to his wife, Aino, in September 1902. The Finnish composer, at 37 already a national figure and the recipient of an annual pension from the Finnish government, had been asked by the German violinist Willy Burmester to write a violin concerto. Despite the "lovely themes" Sibelius had, however, the concerto was?n't coming along as expected. The difficulties had to do with the composer's alcoholism that around this time began to alarm his family seriously; that addiction in turn seemed to stem from a deep sense of inner insecurity. It was a year before Sibelius sent the piano score to Burmester, who responded enthusiastically:
I can only say one thing: wonderful! Masterly! Only once before have I spoken in such terms of a composer, and that was when Tchaikovsky showed me his concerto.
What happened after this is rather hard to explain. Burmester was expecting to play the world premiere of the new work in the spring of 1904, but Sibelius, for financial reasons, pushed for an earlier date even though Burmester wasn't available sooner and the orchestration of the con?certo wasn't even finished. Sibelius completed the concerto sometime before the end of 1903, and gave it to a local violin teacher, Viktor Novcek. All accounts agree that Novacek was hardly more than a mediocre player. Leading Sibelius biogra?pher Erik Tawaststjerna writes that at the Helsinki premiere, in February 1904, "a red-faced and per?spiring Novacek fought a losing battle with a solo part that bristled with even greater difficulties in this first version than it does in the definitive score."
Sibelius had been trying to pacify Burmester by saying that "Helsinki doesn't mean a thing," and still promised him performances in Berlin and elsewhere. But after the Helsinki premiere, he was
dissatisfied with the work and decided to revise it entirely. After the definitive version was complet?ed, he sent it off to his German publisher who suggested Karl Halir as the soloist. Sibelius acqui?esced, passing over Burmester for the second time. Greatly offended, Burmester never played the work whose composition he had initiated.
Halir, the concertmaster of the Berlin Court Opera, and a professor at the Conservatory, was a fine violinist but not a virtuoso of the highest caliber. It was a 17-year-old boy from Hungary named Ferenc (Franz von) Vecsey who became the work's first international champion, and it is to him that the printed score is dedicated.
But, as Tawaststjerna has noted, Sibelius wrote his concerto for neither Burmester nor any?one else but himself. As a young man, he had hoped to become a concert violinist, and gave up his dreams of a virtuoso career only with great reluctance. At any rate, his primary instrument was the violin; unlike Brahms who consulted Joseph Joachim when he was writing his violin concerto, Sibelius did not need to ask others for advice on technical matters. Tawaststjerna writes, "Naturally in his imagination he identifies himself with the soloist in the Violin Concerto and this may well explain something of its nostalgia and romantic intensity."
"Nostalgia and romantic intensity"--these are indeed key words if one wishes to describe the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Written in the first years of the 20th century, it looks back to the great Romantic concertos of the 19th. The begin?ning, with the d-minor tremolos of the muted first and second violins over which the soloist plays a wistful melody, is unabashedly old-fashioned. The only unconventional features are the repeated augmented-fourth leaps (from D to G-sharp or G to C-sharp) which create harsher sonorities, and the irregular phrase structure of the theme, which makes it impossible to predict how the melody is going to evolve.
Simple and song-like at first, the violin part gradually becomes more and more agitated, erupting in a first virtuoso cadenza. As the meter changes from 44 to 64 time, the orchestra intro?duces a second idea, which the violin soon takes over; when that happens, however, the tempo
suddenly slows down and the character of the theme changes from dramatic to lyrical. This is followed by a third, purely orchestral section, in a fast 22 time; lively and energetic; it ends in pianissimo with the cellos and basses repeating a single note (B-flat). The three sections roughly outline the exposition of a sonata form, although the meter changes and the succession of charac?ters is unusual; also, the key of b-flat minor, which is eventually reached, is a highly unusual tonal direction for a concerto movement in d minor. Its many flats contribute to a certain dark, "Nordic" flavor in the concerto, reinforced by the frequent use of the violin's low register. The brass parts also abound in "glacial" low notes, harmonized with austere-sounding chordal passages.
There is no real development section; its place is taken by the solo cadenza, which occurs in the middle of the movement rather than at the end as usual. The cadenza is followed by a free recapitulation in which the first melody returns almost literally. The second theme (especially in its orchestral rendition) is substantially modified. The melody of the third section is now given to the violas while the soloist adds virtuoso passages, turning the ending of the movement into a kind of grandiose Gypsy fantasy.
The second-movement "Adagio molto" is based on the combination of two themes, one played by the two clarinets at the beginning, the other by the solo violin a few measures later. The violin melody is, according to the composer's own written instruction, "sonorous and expressive"; the clarinet theme later grows into an impas?sioned middle section whose dynamism carries over into the recapitulation of the violin melody (part of it is now given to the woodwinds). Only at the very end does the melody find its initial peace and tranquility again.
Speaking about the finale, it is impossible not to quote Donald Francis Tovey's characteriza?tion of its main theme as a "polonaise for polar bears." Tovey's words capture the singular combi?nation of dance rhythms and a certain heavy-footedness felt at least at the beginning of this movement. Again, there are two themes, one in a polonaise rhythm, and one based on the alterna-
tion of 68 and 34 time (the first is subdivided into 3 + 3 eighth-notes, the second into 2 + 2 + 2). "With this," Tovey concluded his analysis, "we can safely leave the finale to dance the listener into Finland, or whatever Fairyland Sibelius will have us attain."
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 (1877)
Johannes Brahms
Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany
Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna
It took Brahms almost 20 years to complete his Symphony No. 1. After the successful premiere of that work in November 1876, however, the ice was broken, and the Second Symphony was writ?ten in a single summer the following year.
Symphony No. 2 is usually considered an "idyllic" work (musicologist Reinhold Brinkmann has called his book-length study of the symphony Late Idyll). Yet the usual cliche about Symphony No. 2, that it is Brahms's "Pastorale," is just as misleading as the one about his First, which was called "Beethoven's Tenth" (meaning some kind of continuation of the Ninth, on account of the last movement's main theme, which is reminiscent of the "Ode to Joy" melody). It is true that the Second is the happiest of the four Brahms sym?phonies, but there is no programmatic intent as in Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. Also, the rhythm of the first movement's opening theme recalls, if anything, the first theme of Beethoven's Eroica, and the triumphant trumpet fanfares of the clos?ing measures resemble the end of the Egmont Overture, one of the most glorious examples of Beethoven's heroic style.
In fact, Symphony No. 2 describes a rather unique emotional curve, from a soft-spoken and lyrical, indeed somewhat pastorale-like first move?ment to this exuberant ending, with a melancholy "Adagio" and a graceful "Allegretto" in between. In addition, each movement departs from its basic character to encompass others that are sometimes very different from the initial ones; so it would be hard to attach a single descriptive label to the symphony.
The first movement is mostly gentle and sweet, and contains some of Brahms's warmest melodic thoughts. But there are some "dim and spectral effects," as Karl Geiringer called them in his classic Brahms monograph, right at the begin?ning of the symphony, as the trombones and tuba (the latter not used in any of the other Brahms symphonies) make their presence felt by their somber chordal progressions, punctuated by soft timpani rolls. Brahms "rocks the boat" in particu?lar by introducing a series of rhythmical irregular?ities: the martial dotted rhythms, which Brahms used with some frequency in his work, are distin?guished in this case by the asymmetry between the two halves of the phrase. In the development section there are moments of intense drama, but the recapitulation eases these tensions and the coda even adds a gentle smile as one of the themes receives a new accompaniment by pizzi?cato (plucked) strings.
The second-movement "Adagio non trop-po" (the only full-fledged adagio in the Brahms symphonies) begins with an expansive cello melody that does not obey any Classical rules of articulation; the listener may never be sure when the phrase will come to a rest. After the melody has been repeated in a fuller instrumentation, a haunting horn solo leads into a more animated middle section, culminating in a dense forte pas?sage. The recapitulation that follows still seems to be under the spell of the excitement that has not completely passed, and includes a second out?burst of emotions after which the movement dies away with a brief clarinet solo and a soft orches?tral chord.
The third movement is a lyrical intermezzo, similar to the analogous movement in Brahms's Symphony No. 7. The alternation of two contrast?ing thematic materials (ABABA) is an idea bor?rowed from scherzo form. The "B" section (or Trio) is in a faster tempo than the opening alle?gretto, and its theme is a variant of the latter. The second time, the 24 meter of the Trio is changed to 38. The final repeat of the "Allegretto" theme is somewhat extended, with a digression to a remote key; a beautiful, bittersweet new idea appears in the violins just before the end.
The finale begins in a subdued piano as a unison melody; harmonies and counterpoint are added later as the full orchestra enters and the volume increases to forte. The broad second theme is played by violins and violas in parallel sixths. The development section opens by the main theme in its original form, giving the impres?sion for a moment that the whole movement is starting all over again. Soon, however, the music takes a new turn and a true development follows, progressing towards a true anti-climax, getting slower and softer and finally reaching a mysteri?ous moment with mere melodic fragments are played by the winds over tremolos of the strings. The recapitulation is shortened and contains many subtle changes; but it brings back all the important thematic material and leads into the rousing trumpet fanfare that concludes the sym?phony.
After hearing the symphony, the composer's longtime friend, the eminent surgeon and accom?plished amateur musician Theodor Billroth exclaimed: "How beautiful it must be at Portschach!" Billroth knew that the piece had been written at the resort on the Worthersee (Lake of Worth) in the Austrian province of Carinthia; Brahms spent three consecutive sum?mers there between 1877 and 1879. There is no doubt that the beauty of the lake surrounded by mountains exerted a strong influence on him, and some of the similarity in tone between Symphony No. 2 and the Violin Concerto, completed at Portschach the following year, can probably be ascribed to the genius loci.
The premiere, conducted by Hans Richter on December 30, 1877, was one of Brahms's great?est triumphs; the third movement had to be repeated. The enthusiastic reception of his Symphony No. 2 marked the beginning of Brahms's reconciliation with his native city.
Program notes by Peter Laki.
Alexander Vedernikov was appointed Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre in August of 2001. Since that time, he has conducted numerous pro?ductions including Ruslan and Ludmilla (2003), Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel (2004), The Flying Dutchman (2004), Falstaff and Leonid Desyatnikov's The Children of Rosenthal (world premiere, opera commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre), Prokofiev's War and Peace (2005 and 2006), Prokofiev's Cinderella (2006), and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (2006).
Under the tutelage of Maestro Vedernikov, the Bolshoi Theatre has developed an active con?cert program; and under his direction, the Bolshoi Theatre has toured extensively including a season of opera and ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden this past July, and an upcoming tour to Germany in February 2007.
In 1995, Maestro Vedernikov founded the Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra where he was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor until 2004. He has conducted Russia's State Symphony
Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Since 2003, he has been a regular conductor of the Russian National Orchestra with whom he toured in France, Germany, and the US. In January 2004, as part of the Russian National Orchestra's tour of nine cities, Maestro
Vedernikov made his Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center debuts.
Maestro Vedernikov worked at Moscow's Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre from 1988-90; from 1988-95 he was assistant to the chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra with whom he toured extensively throughout Russia as well as to Austria, Germany, and Great Britain.
Maestro Vedernikov has conducted through?out Europe and abroad including performances with the Tokyo, Bergen, and London Philharmonic Orchestras, the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the RAI National Orchestra (Turin), the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Montreal, Budapest, Sydney Symphony Orchestras, and the Orchestra of the Teatro Colon. He was the Groningen Symphony Orchestra's (Netherlands) first guest conductor.
On the international operatic circuit, Maestro Vedernikov has appeared as guest conductor at leading opera houses including La Scala, Teatro Reggio, the Teatro Communale, the Teatro La Fenice, Rome Opera, and London's Royal Opera House. In April 2005, he conducted a new pro?duction of Boris Godunov, making his debut at the Paris National Opera (Opera Bastille).
In the current season, his engagements include invitations to the Gothenburg Symphony, Hamburg, Netherlands, and Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestras, Odense Symphony, Orchestra Radio Suisse Italiana, Helsingborg Symphony, and symphonic programs with Teatro Comunale Firenze, Cagliari, and Genova as well as recently taking over a cancellation with the Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich.
Maestro Vedernikov was born in Moscow into a musical family--his father, Alexander Vedernikov, is a bass and Bolshoi Theatre soloist, and his mother, Natalya Gureyeva, is a Moscow Conservatory professor and organist. Maestro Vedernikov studied at the Moscow Conservatory.
Violinist Sarah Chang is recognized the world over as one of classical music's most captivating and gifted artists. One of the most remarkable prodigies of any generation, she has matured into a young artist whose musical insight, technical virtuosity, and emotional range continue to astonish.
Born in Philadelphia to Korean parents, Sarah Chang began her violin studies at age four and enrolled in The Juilliard School of Music at age seven, studying with the late Dorothy DeLay. Within a year, she had already performed with several orchestras in the Philadelphia area. Her early auditions, at age eight, for Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti led to immediate engagements
Vedernikov
with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Appearing in the music capitals of Asia, Europe, and the Americas, she has collaborated with most major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony,
the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the principal London orchestras, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Notable recital engagements have included her Carnegie Hall debut and performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Symphony Hall in Boston, the Barbican Centre in London, the Philharmonie in Berlin, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
She has reached an even wider audience through her many television appearances, concert broadcasts, and best-selling recordings for EMI Classics. The remarkable accomplishments of her career were recognized in 1999 when she received the Avery Fisher Prize, one of the most prestigious awards given to instrumentalists.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has long established a high reputation for its versatility and artistic excellence. These are evident from its performances in the concert hall and opera house, its many award-winning record?ings, its trail-blazing international tours and its pioneering education work.
Kurt Masur has been the Orchestra's Principal Conductor since September 2000, extending the line of distinguished conductors who have held positions with the Orchestra since its foundation in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham. These have included Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Pritchard, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt, and Franz Welser-Most. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed the Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor in March 2003. In May this year it was
announced that Jurowski would become the Orchestra's new Principal Conductor from the 200708 season.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been resident symphony orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall since 1992 and there it presents its main series of concerts between September and May each year. During the current refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall, the Orchestra is giving its main series at the Queen Elizabeth Hall next door. Renowned for the diversity of its programming, the Orchestra presents concerts featuring some of the outstanding musicians of our time, screenings of silent films with live orchestral accompaniment, family concerts, and performances for schools. As an ongoing commitment to new music, the Orchestra includes new commissions in its series and this year appointed Mark-Anthony Turnage as its Composer-in-Residence.
In summer, the Orchestra moves to Sussex where it has been the resident symphony orches?tra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera for the past 42 years. The London Philharmonic Orchestra also performs at venues around the UK and is resident orchestra at the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne and the Dome Brighton.
Abroad, the Orchestra has made numerous tours to America, Europe, and Japan, and visited India, Hong Kong, Australia, and South Africa. Its Russian tour in 1956 was the first ever to be undertaken by a British orchestra and, in 1973 it made the first visit by a Western orchestra to China. Recent tours have taken Kurt Masur and the Orchestra to Germany, Greece, Ireland, and South Korea. In March, the London Philharmonic Orchestra undertook a 16-city tour of the US. Recent visits have included a trip to Baden Baden in Germany with Anne-Sophie Mutter in May 2006, and major tours of Germany in October of this year.
The quality of the recording work undertaken by the London Philharmonic Orchestra is reflected in the awards conferred on it for recordings with Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Klaus Tennstedt, and Franz Welser-Most. Over the years, the Orchestra has also recorded the soundtracks for many feature films
Chang
UMS ARCHIVES
Tonight's concert marks the London Philharmonic Orchestra's (LPO) second appearance under UMS auspices and the 30th anniversary of the Orchestra's UMS debut. The LPO first appeared under UMS auspices on November 14, 1976 at Hill Auditorium under the direc?tion of Maestro Bernard Haitink. Tonight's concert marks Maestro Alexander Vedernikov's UMS debut.
Tonight marks Sarah Chang's third appearance under UMS auspices. Ms. Chang made her UMS debut at Hill Auditorium as soloist with the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo in April 1999 under the baton of Maestro Charles Dutoit. Ms. Chang returned to Hill Auditorium as a featured soloist in the 2000 Ford Honors Program honoring violinist Isaac Stern.
including Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia, In the Name of the Father, East is East, and The Lord of the Rings. In May 2005 the Orchestra launched its own record label with the aim of showcasing the talents of its current play?ers and conductors with CDs of 'live' performanc?es as well as celebrating memorable relationships with conductors from the past with previously unreleased material. Its initial CDs, including Shostakovich conducted by Kurt Masur and Rachmaninov conducted by Vladimir Jurowski as well as historic performances with Beecham, Haitink, and Tennstedt, have met with universal acclaim.
Education work plays a prominent part in the Orchestra's schedule. Schools and family concerts, workshops, and community projects introduce all ages to music-making.
Boris Garlitsky has been Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since September 2003. Born in Russia where he studied at the Moscow Conservatory, he was Concertmaster of the Orchestre National de Lyon from 1991 to 1999 and has made guest appear?ances as the leader of many major orchestras. As a soloist, he has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York, and at the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow; as a chamber musician he has collaborated with Gidon Kremer, Pinchas Zukerman, Truls Mork, and Maria Joao Pires. He is a Professor at the Paris Conservatory and since 2001 has been Artistic Director of the Summer Academy of Violin in Troyes in France. Boris Garlitsky has recorded Mozart's Concertone for two violins (with Vladimir Spivakov) and sever?al Bach Concertos.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Kurt Masur, Principal Conductor
First Violin
Boris Garlitsky, Leader
Pieter Schoeman, Co-Leader
Robert St. John Wright
Katalin Varnagy
Catherine Craig
Thomas Eisner
Martin Hbhmann
John Kitchen
Geoffrey Lynn
Robert Pool
Florence Schoeman
Sarah Streatfeild
Yang Zhang
Peter Nail
Rebecca Shorrock
Galina Tanney
Second Violin
Clare Duckworth, Principal
Joseph Maher
Kate Birchall
Nancy Elan
Fiona Higham
Nynke Hijlkema
Ashley Stevens
Andrew Thurgood
Dean Williamson
Alison Strange
Peter Graham
Stephen Stewart
Mila Mustakova
Colin Callow
Viola
Alexander Zemtsov, Principal Robert Duncan Anthony Byrne Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Dan Cornford Claudio Cavalletti Martin Fenn Ian Rathbone Sarah Malcolm Mary Samuel
Cello
Susanne Beer, Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Sabino Carvalho Jonathan Ayling Rosie Banks Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone
Double Bass
Kevin Rundell, Principal Paul Kimber, Co-Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Kenneth Goode Richard Lewis Kenneth Knussen Roger Linley
Flute
Celia Chambers Susan Thomas Stewart Mcllwham
Piccolo
Stewart Mcllwham
Oboe
Ian Hardwick Angela Tennick
Clarinet
Nicholas Carpenter Paul Richards
Bassoon
John Price Simon Estell Gareth Newman
Horn
Richard Bissill Gareth Mollison Christopher Parkes Martin Hobbs Neil Shewan
Trumpet
Paul Beniston Anne McAneney Nicholas Betts
Trombone
Mark Templeton Robert Workman
Bass Trombone
Andrew Fawbert
Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis
Timpani
Simon Carrington
Percussion
Rachel Gledhill Andrew Barclay Keith Millar
Harp
Helen Cole
Principal Guest Conductor and Principal Conductor Designate Vladimir Jurowski Supported by Aviva Pic
Composer-in-Residence Mark-Anthony Turnage
Patron
HRH The Duke of Kent KG
Chief Executive and Artistic Director Timothy Walker AM Supported by Macquarie Bank
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Concerts Director Matthew Todd
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Touring ManagerAssistant Personnel Manager Ashley Morris
Concerts and Tours Assistant Hattie Jordan
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Development Director Mo Carrington
Marketing Director Emily Smith
Personnel Manager Adrian Rutter
Librarian Richard Payne
Stage Manager Michael Pattison
Transport Manager Ken Graham
Columbia Artists Management, LLC
Tour Direction:
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Senor Wee President
Karen Kloster, Tour Coordinator
Ryan McCarthy, Managerial Assistant
Elizabeth E. Torres, Program Manager
Ann Woodruff, Tour Manager Maestro! Travel and Touring, Hotels
Jim Putnam, Driver
ums University Musical Society
and the
Carl and Isabelle
Brauer Fund
present
Messiah
Composed by George Frideric Handel
UMS Choral Union
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Jerry Blackstone, Conductor and Music Director
Janice Chandler-Eteme, Soprano Jennifer Dudley, Mezzo-soprano Colin Balzer, Tenor Stephen Salters, Baritone
Edward Parmentier, Harpsichord
Program
Saturday Evening, December 2, 2006 at 8:00 Sunday Afternoon, December 3, 2006 at 2:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor
39th and 40th Performances of the 128th Annual Season
The photographing or sound and video record?ing of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
This performance is supported by the Carl and Isabelle Brauer Fund. Media partnership provided by Michigan Radio.
Special thanks to Dr. Jerry Blackstone and the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance for their participation in this residency.
Thanks to Steven Ball for coordinating the pre-concert music on the Charles Baird Carillon.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme and Mr. Balzer appear by arrangement with Matthew Sprizzo. Ms Dudley and Mr Salters appear by arrangement with Schwalbe and Partners, ln
Large print programs are available upon request.
Tart I
1 Sinfonia
2 Arioso
Isaiah 40: 1 Isaiah 40: 2
Isaiah 40: 3
Air
Isaiah 40: 4
Chorus
Isaiah 40: 5
Accompanied recitative Haggai 2: 6
Haggai 2: 7 Malachi 3: 1
Air
Malachi 3: 2
Mr. Balzer
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Mr. Balzer
Every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain . . . made low: the crooked . . . straight, and the rough places plain:
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Mr. Salters
. . . thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once, ... a little while, and I
will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations
shall come: . . . ... the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Ms. Dudley
But who may abide the day of his coming And who shall stand when he appeareth For he is like a refiner's fire,.. .
7 Chorus
Malachi 3: 3
8 Recitative Isaiah 7: 14
9 Air and Chorus
Isaiah 40: 9
Isaiah 60: 1
. . . and he shall purify the sons of Levi, . . . that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Ms. Dudley
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, "God-with-us."
Ms. Dudley
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; 0 thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: Behold your God!
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
10 Arioso
Isaiah 60: 2
Isaiah 60: 3
11 Air
Isaiah 9: 2
12 Chorus
Isaiah 9: 6
13 Pifa
14 Recitative Luke 2: 8
Mr. Salters
For behold, . . . darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Mr. Salters
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
(Pastoral Symphony)
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
.. . there were . . . shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
15 Arioso Luke 2: 9
16 Recitative Luke 2: 10
Luke 2: 11
17 Arioso Luke 2: 13
18 Chorus Luke 2: 14
19 Air
Zechariah 9: 9
Zechariah 9: 10
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will toward men.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, 0 daughter of
Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is the righteous Saviour, . . .
. . . and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: . . .
20 Recitative
Isaiah 35: 5
Isaiah 35: 6
21 Air
Isaiah 40: 11
Matthew 11: 28 Matthew 11:29
22 Chorus
Matthew 11: 30
Ms. Dudley
Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the
deaf. . .unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the
dumb shall sing: . . .
Ms. Dudley and Ms. Chandler-Eteme
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and . . . gently lead those that are with young. Come unto Him, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and He
will give you rest. Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek and
lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
... His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
Intermission
Tart II
23 Chorus John 1: 29
24 Air
Isaiah 53: 3
Isaiah 50: 6
25 Chorus Isaiah 53: 4 Isaiah S3: 5
26 Chorus
Isaiah 53: 4
27 Arioso
Psalm 22: 7
. . . Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! . ..
Ms. Dudley
He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: . . . He gave his back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair: He hid not His face from shame and spitting.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: . . .
... he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes are we healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Mr. Balzer
All they that see him laugh him to scorn: they shoot our their lips, and shake their heads, saying:
28 Chorus Psalm 22: 8
29 Accompanied recitative Psalm 69: 20
30 Arioso
Lamentations 1: 12
31 Accompanied recitative
Isaiah 53: 8
32 Air
Psalm 16: 10
He trusted in God that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, if he delight in him.
Mr. Balzer
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart; he is full of heaviness: he looked for some to have pity on him, but there was no man; neither found he any to comfort him.
Mr. Balzer
. . . Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow . .
Mr. Balzer
... he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgressions of thy people was he stricken.
Mr. Balzer
But thou didst not leave his soul in hell; nor didst thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.
33 Chorus
Psalm 24: 7
Psalm 24: 8 Psalm 24: 9 Psalm 24: 10
Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory The Lord of hosts, he is the King of
glory.
34 Recitative Hebrews 1: 5
35 Chorus
Hebrews 7: 6
36 Air
Psalm 68: 18
37 Chorus
Psalm 68: 11
38 Air
Isaiah 52: 7
Mr. Balzer
. . . unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee . . .
... let all the angels of God worship him.
Mr. Salters
Thou art gone up on high, thou has lead captivity captive: and received gifts for men; yea, even for thine enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of the preachers.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things .. .
39 Chorus
Romans 10: 18
40 Air
Psalm 2: 1
Psalm 2: 2
41 Chorus
Psalm 2: 3
42 Recitative
Psalm 2: 4
43 Air
Psalm 2: 9
44 Chorus
Revelation 19:6
Revelation 11: 15
Revelation 19: 16
Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Mr. Salters
Why do the nations so furiously rage together, . . . why do the
people imagine a vain thing The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and his anointed, . . .
Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from us.
Mr. Balzer
He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: the Lord shall leave them in derision.
Mr. Balzer
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. . . . The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. . . . King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
You are invited to join the Choral Union in singing the "Hallelujah" chorus. Please leave the music at the door when exiting the auditorium. Thank you.
Tart III
45 Air Ms. Chandler-Eteme
Job 19: 25 I know that my redeemer Iiveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. Job 19: 26 And though . . . worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
see God. Cor. 15: 20 For now is Christ risen from the dead, ... the first fruits of them
that sleep.
46 Chorus
Cor. 15: 21 ... since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. Cor. 15: 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
47 Accompanied recitative Mr. Salters
Cor. 15: 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed, Cor. 15: 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet:
48 Air Mr. Salters
Cor. 15: 52 ... the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Cor. 15: 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality.
49 Recitative Ms. Dudley
Cor. 15: 54 ... then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death
is swallowed up in victory.
50 Duet Ms. Dudley and Mr. Balzer
Cor. 15: 55 0 death, where is thy sting 0 grave, where is thy victory
Cor. 15: 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
51 Chorus
Cor. 15: 57
But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
52 Air
Romans 8: 31 Romans 8: 33
Romans 8: 34
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
If God be for us, who can be against us
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect It is God
that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is... at the right hand of God, who . . .
maketh intercession for us.
53 Chorus
Revelation 5: 12
Revelation 5: 13
. . . Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by His blood to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
. . . Blessing, and honour, . . . glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Amen.
Messiah
George Frideric Handel
Born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Germany
Died on April 14, 1759 in London
George Frideric Handel's sacred oratorio Messiah is without question one of the most popular works in the choralorchestral repertoire today. In what has become an indispensable Christmas tra?dition, amateur and professional musicians in almost every city and town throughout the coun?try perform this work as a seasonal entertain?ment, and are rewarded with the satisfaction of taking part in one of the great communal musical events.
Since the first performances in 1742, genera?tions of musicians have adapted Handel's Messiah to suit the changing tastes of fashion and func?tion. The small ensembles Handel conducted him?self had around 20 singers and an equal number of instrumental players, but even before the end of the 18th century much larger ensembles were performing the work. By the mid-19th century, when the appeal of the spectacle sometimes out?weighed the demands of musical integrity, singers and instrumentalists for a single performance would often number in the several thousands. But the size of the ensemble wasn't the only variable. Mozart re-orchestrated Handel's score in 1789, adding extra parts for woodwinds to give the orchestral writing richer harmonies and a more varied timbre. In addition to Mozart's re-orches?tration, Sir Arthur Sullivan and Eugene Goosens likewise made their own arrangements of the orchestral parts, updating the work for their respective audiences. And in 1993, a popular recording of excerpts from Messiah titled A Soulful Celebration brought together Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, the Boys Choir of Harlem, and others in a gospel-style interpreta?tion of Handel's music. The diversity of perform?ance styles and enthusiastic responses to this ora?torio over the centuries testify to its immense popularity.
The oratorio as a musical genre originated during the 17th century in the churches and monasteries of Italy. In the Oratory (a side chapel
found in many consecrated buildings), the the?atrical presentation of vocal music on a sacred topic was an adjunct to the liturgy of the Church. But by 1700, oratorios were being performed in private chapels and palaces as a form of enter?tainment, and had taken on the now-standard characteristics of a sung drama on sacred texts, without staging or costumes.
Handel composed several oratorios early in his career, including some in Italian-Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and La Resurrezione-and the later English-language works Esther, Deborah, and Athalia. But after the collapse of his operatic ventures in London around 1740, Handel devoted himself to the oratorio as a form in which he could combine his flair for dramatic vocal writ?ing and his experience as a composer of sacred, devotional music. With these later oratorios Handel eventually won back the esteem of the London critics, and secured a phenomenal public following that would ensure his future success and reputation.
The text for Messiah was selected and com?piled from the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible by Charles Jennens, an aristocrat and musicianpoet of modest talent and exceptional ego. With Messiah, Jennens seems to have out?done himself in compiling a libretto with pro?found thematic coherence and an acute sensitivi?ty to the inherent musical structure. With the fin?ished libretto in his possession, Handel began set?ting it to music on 22 August 1741, and com?pleted it 24 days later. He was certainly working at white-hot speed, but this didn't necessarily indicate he was in the throes of devotional fervor, as legend has often stated. Handel composed many of his works in haste, and immediately after completing Messiah he wrote his next oratorio, Samson, in a similarly brief time-span.
The swiftness with which Handel composed Messiah can be partially explained by the musical borrowings from his own earlier compositions. For example, the melodies used in the two cho?ruses "And He shall purify" and "His yoke is easy" were taken from an Italian chamber duet Handel had written earlier in 1741, "Quelfiorche all' alba ride." Another secular duet, "Wo, di voi
non wo' fidarmi," provided material for the famous chorus "For unto us a Child is born," and the delightful "All we like sheep" borrows its wandering melismas from the same duet. A madrigal from 1712, "Se tu non lasci amore," was transformed into a duet-chorus pair for the end of the oratorio, "O Death, where is thy sting," and "But thanks be to God." In each instance, however, Handel does more than simply provide new words to old tunes. There is consid?erable re-composition, and any frivolity that remains from the light-hearted secular models is more than compensated for by the new material Handel masterfully worked into each chorus.
Over-enthusiastic "Handelists" in the 19th century perpetuated all sorts of legends regarding the composition of Messiah. An often-repeated story relates how Handel's servant found him sob?bing with emotion while writing the famous "Hallelujah Chorus," and the composer claiming, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself." Supposedly Handel often left his meals untouched during this compositional period, in an apparent display of devotional fast?ing and monastic self-denial. Present-day histori?ans more familiar with Handel's life and religious views tend to downplay these stories. It's been suggested that if Handel did indeed have visions of Heaven while he composed Messiah, then it was only in the same manner in which he visual?ized the Roman pantheon of gods while he com?posed his opera Semele. Handel's religious faith was sincere, but tended to be practical rather than mystical.
Handel was also not a native English-speaker, and examples of awkward text-setting in Messiah demonstrate some idiosyncrasies in his English declamation. He set the word "were" as if it had two syllables, and "surely" with three syllables. In the bass aria, "The trumpet shall sound," Handel originally declaimed "incorruptible" with empha?sis on the second and fourth syllables. While these can be corrected by the editor of the score or the singer in performance, sometimes Handel placed rhythmic accents on the wrong words entirely. Yet they are so familiar to us now that we don't hear them as unusual: "For unto us a Child is born," or
"Come unto Him, ye that are heavy laden."
The first public performance of Messiah took place in Dublin, Ireland, on 13 April 1742. As this was to be a benefit performance for charity, the ladies were asked not to wear hoop dresses, and the men to leave their swords at home, in order to accommodate more people in the hall. Messiah was an unqualified success in Dublin; Handel had worked for months preparing his chorus and orchestra, and brought in some of the finest solo singers from England. The alto soloist in particular sang so affectingly that after one aria an audience member exclaimed from his chair, "Woman, for this, be all thy sins forgiven." But when Handel took Messiah to London the following season, it received a chilly reception. Even though King George II attended the first performance at Covent Garden Theatre (and, it is claimed, initiat?ed the tradition of standing for the "Hallelujah Chorus"), London audiences found its contem?plative texts lacking in drama and narrative action, and it closed after only three performanc?es. Some clergy considered the theater in general a den of iniquity and certainly no place for a work on such a sacred topic (Handel couldn't win-when it was scheduled to be performed in Westminster Abbey, other members of the clergy declared it sacrilege for a public entertainment to take place in a consecrated church). And Jennens, the librettist, wasn't entirely pleased with what Handel had done to his texts. After initially voic?ing his thorough disappointment with the work, Jennens later declared Handel's composition "a fine Entertainment, tho' not near so good as he might and ought to have done." It wasn't until 1750, when another performance for charity was staged at the Foundling Hospital in London, that English audiences took Messiah to their hearts, and yearly performances at the hospital from that time on established the lasting popularity of both the work and its composer. Upon Handel's death in 1759, he willed his score and parts for Messiah to the Foundling Hospital in a charitable gesture of gratitude.
The tradition of performing Messiah at Christmas began later in the 18th century. Although the work was occasionally performed
during Advent in Dublin, the oratorio was usually regarded in England as an entertainment for the penitential season of Lent, when performances of opera were banned. Messiah's extended musical focus on Christ's redeeming sacrifice also makes it particularly suitable for Passion Week and Holy Week, the periods when it was usually performed during Handel's lifetime. But in 1791, the Caecilian Society of London began its annual Christmas performances, and in 1818 the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston gave the work's first complete performance in the US on Christmas Day--establishing a tradition that continues to the present. The University Musical Society is a direct result of this tradition. In 1879, a group of local university and townspeople gathered together to study Handel's Messiah; this group assumed the name "The Choral Union" and, in 1880, the members of the Choral Union estab?lished the University Musical Society.
Following the pattern of Italian baroque opera, Messiah is divided into three parts. The first is concerned with prophecies of the Messiah's coming, drawing heavily from messianic texts in the Book of Isaiah, and concludes with an account of the Christmas story that mixes both Old and New Testament sources. The second part deals with Christ's mission and sacrifice, culminat-
ing in the grand "Hallelujah Chorus." The final, shortest section is an extended hymn of thanks?giving, an expression of faith beginning with Job's statement "I know that my Redeemer liveth" and closing with the majestic chorus "Worthy is the Lamb" and a fugal "Amen." In its focus on Christ's sacrifice Messiah resembles the great Lutheran Passions of Schutz and Bach, but with much less direct narrative and more meditative commentary on the redemptive nature of the Messiah's earthly mission. Handel scholar Robert Myers suggested that "logically Handel's master?piece should be called Redemption, for its author celebrates the idea of Redemption, rather than the personality of Christ."
For the believer and non-believer alike, Handel's Messiah is undoubtedly a majestic musi?cal edifice. But while a truly popular favorite around the world, Messiah aspires to more than just a reputation as an enjoyable musical event. After an early performance of the work in London, Lord Kinnoul congratulated Handel on the "noble entertainment" he had recently brought to the city. Handel is said to have replied, "My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better." Certainly Messiah carries an ennobling message to people of all faiths and credos, proclaiming "peace on
UMS ARCHIVES
The UMS Choral Union began performing on December 16, 1879 and has presented Handel's Messiah in annual performances. This weekend's performances mark the UMS Choral Union's 405th and 406th appearances under UMS auspices. This weekend Dr. Blackstone makes his eighth and ninth UMS appearances following his debut leading the Choral Union in performances of Messiah in 2003 at the Michigan Theater.
The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra makes its 51st and 52nd UMS appearances this weekend since their 1974 UMS debut. Harpsichordist Edward Parmentier has performed in the annual UMS presentation of Messiah since 1995 and makes his 23rd and 24th UMS appearances in this week?end's performances.
This weekend also marks the UMS debuts of Jennifer Dudley and Colin Balzer. Janice Chandler-Eteme made her UMS debut in March 2002 at Hill Auditorium as soloist in Brahms's German Requiem. This weekend's concerts mark her fourth and fifth appearances under UMS auspices. Stephen Salters made his UMS debut in December 2003 as soloist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. This weekend's concerts mark his second and third appearances on a UMS presentation.
earth, and goodwill towards men"--a message that continues to be timely and universal.
Program note by Luke Howard.
Jerry Blackstone is Director of Choirs and Chair of the Conducting Department at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he conducts the Chamber Choir, teaches conducting at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and administers a choral
program of 11 choirs. In February 2006, he won two Grammy Awards ("Best Choral Perfor?mance" and "Best Classical Album") as chorusmaster for the crit?ically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom's monumental Songs of Innocence and
of Experience. Dr. Blackstone is the recent recipi?ent of the Maynard Klein Lifetime Achievement Award announced at the annual convention of the Michigan chapter of the American Choral Directors' Association this past October.
In November, the Chamber Choir presented a special invited performance at the inaugural national convention of the National Collegiate Choral Organization in San Antonio.
Professor Blackstone is considered one of the country's leading conducting teachers, and his students have received first-place awards and been finalists in both the graduate and under?graduate divisions of the ACDA biennial National Choral Conducting Awards competition. US News and World Report ranks the graduate conducting programs at the University of Michigan first in the nation.
Dr. Blackstone has appeared as festival guest conductor and workshop presenter in 28 states as well as in Hong Kong and in Australia.
In April 2004, Dr. Blackstone was named Conductor and Music Director of the UMS Choral Union, a large chorus of community and university
singers that frequently appears with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Ann Arbor Symphony and presents yearly performances of Handel's Messiah.
Choirs prepared by Dr. Blackstone have appeared under the batons of Neeme Jarvi, Nicholas McGegan, Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, James Conlon, and Yitzak Perlman. Professor Blackstone serves as Director of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance Summer Programs for High School Students and Adults, which includes MPulse Ann Arbor, a series of music and performing arts camps for high school students from around the world held on the Ann Arbor campus. He also leads the Michigan Youth Ensembles Program, offering advanced instrumental and choral ensemble opportunities in Ann Arbor during the academic year for talented high school students from throughout the state of Michigan.
Among America's foremost lyric sopranos, Janice Chandler-Eteme is renowned for a beautiful voice deployed with excep?tional musicianship, artistry, and conviction. She is a particularly accomplished and acclaimed inter?preter of Strauss' Four Last Songs, which she has performed with Yuri Temirkanov and the
Baltimore Symphony, Daniel Hege and the Syracuse Symphony, Peter Oundjian at the Grand Teton Music Festival, and Stefan Sanderling and the Florida Orchestra. In the current season she reunites with Maestro Temirkanov for Mahler's
Symphony No. 2 with Rome's Santa Cecilia Orchestra, opens the Nashville Symphony with performances of Mahler's Second Symphony con?ducted by Leonard Slatkin, and performs in Porgy and Bess with the Choral Arts Society of Washington at the Kennedy Center.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme first gained international
Blackstone
Chandler-Eteme
prominence as a favorite of Robert Shaw, per?forming with the Cleveland, Minnesota, and Florida Orchestras and Baltimore and Atlanta Symphonies. She collaborates with several other distinguished conductors performing with numer?ous ensembles throughout the US and overseas. Festival invitations include Bard, Grant Park, Aspen, Chautauqua, Prague Autumn, Blossom, and the Berkshire Choral Festival. Recent high?lights include Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Nashville Symphony; Elijah with Franz Welser-Most and the Cleveland Orchestra, and Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the Brahms Requiem with Marin Alsop and the Colorado Symphony. She also made dis?tinguished debuts with the Dallas Symphony (Brahms Requiem); and Pittsburgh Symphony (Britten's Ceremony of Carols, Poulenc's Gloria and Rachmaninoff's The Bells); and the Mozart Mass in c minor with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in both Los Angeles and at Carnegie Hall.
Her recordings to date include There Shall a Star: Choral Jewels for Christmas with The Choral Arts Society of Washington, an English adaptation of the Brahms Requiem with the Utah Symphony, and the Dvorak 7e Deum with Zdenek Macal and the New Jersey Symphony. Ms. Chandler-Eteme holds a BA in vocal performance from Oakwood College and a MM in vocal performance from Indiana University. She has studied with Virginia Zeani, Margaret Harshaw, and Todd Duncan.
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Dudley is a compelling performer in both operatic and concert venues. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1999 in Mefistofeles, and later that season created the role of the Tango Singer in The Great Gatsby and sang Flora in La Traviata. She returned in 2001 for roles in Manon and Lulu. Ms. Dudley's portrayal of Rosmira in Handel's Partenope captivated audi?ences at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival when she debuted there in 1998. At the 2000 Festival she re-created the role of Geraldine in John Philip Sousa's 1913 opera The Glass Blowers. As Jo in
the recent Glimmerglass production of Little Women, she was des?cribed as "a singing actress of immense talent" by the Toronto Globe and Mail.
A former member of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Ms. Dudley returned to the
Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1998 as the Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos. She was lauded by critics again in 2000 for her portrayal of Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby, followed by Maddalena in Rigoletto and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. Ms. Dudley made her feature debut at New York City Opera in 1998, reprising Rosmira in Partenope; she returned to NYCO in 2001 in The Mikado, fol?lowed by performances of The Glass Blowers in 2002 and Little Women in 2003. Upcoming roles also include Carmen, Isabella in L'ltaliana in Algeri, Irene in Tamerlano, and Bradamante in Alcina. In addition to her active opera career, Ms. Dudley's orchestral engagements have included the Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the American Symphony Orchestra, in repertoire ranging from Handel to Dukas.
Born and raised in Portland, Maine, Ms. Dudley received her BA from New York University in French Language and Culture, and her MM from the Manhattan School of Music. She has also trained extensively in theater and dance.
An extraordinarily gifted, Germany-based young Canadian lyric tenor, Colin Balzer is fast becoming one of the most sought-after concert soloists of his generation, combining assured musicality and the communicativeness and varied tonal palette of a lieder specialist. His current season promises a US tour with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy, Paulus with the Quebec Symphony, St. John Passion with Tafelmusik, and a MozartBerlioz program for Music Director James Setapen's farewell concerts
Dudley
with the Amarillo Symphony. He has made impor?tant debuts with Bernard Labadie and the New Jersey Symphony and with Mario Venzago and the Indianapolis Symphony, both in the Mozart Requiem.
With repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Penderecki, Mr. Balzer has enjoyed critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, working with such conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Simone Young, Simon Preston, Yoav Talmi, Gabriel Chmura, and Christof Perick, performing with ensembles including the Hungarian and Polish National Radio Orchestras, Stuttgart Philharmonic, and the Oregon, Vancouver, and Quebec Symphonies.
Particularly esteemed as a recitalist, he has been welcomed at London's Wigmore Hall (accompanied by Graham Johnson), the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, and at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Recordings to date include Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch and Eisler and Henze song antholo?gies.
A prizewinner of Holland's Hertogenbosch Competition, the UK's Wigmore Hall Song Competition, and Stuttgart, Germany's Hugo
Wolf Competition, Mr. Balzer holds the rare dis?tinction of earning the Gold Medal at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau with the high?est score in 25 years. Masterclasses have been with such artists as Phillip Langridge, Helmut
Deutsch, Robert Tear, Elly
Ameling, Brigitte Fassbaender, Rudolph Jansen, and Christoph Pregardien. Born in British Columbia, he received his formal musical training at the University of British Columbia with David Meek and with Edith Wiens at the Hochschule fur Musik NumbergAugsburg.
Winner of both the Queen Elizabeth Competition and the Walter W. Naumburg Prize, Stephen Salters has performed concert and operatic repertoire with the orchestras of Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San
Francisco, the Boston Pops, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium, Noordhollands Phil-harmonisch Orkest, Orchestre Philharmonique
du Luxembourg, and the Tokyo Philharmonic. In addition, Mr. Salters has sung at leading Festivals worldwide, including Aldeburgh, Banff, Edinburgh, Ravinia, Tanglewood, BAM's Next Wave, and Bravo! Vail, where he has twice appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mr. Salters' European opera credits include the National Opera of Paris, Opera de Nice, Opera de Rennes, Opera du Rhin, and Opera de Tour in such productions as Rigoletto, Madame Butterfly (Yamadori), Tristan und Isolde (Melot), Billy Budd (Novice's Friend), Penelope (Eumee), Der Freischutz and Giulio Cesare (Curio), and the Minotaure in the world premiere of Phillipe Fenelon's Les Rois for Opera Bordeaux. In the US, he sang the role of Captain Balstrode at Tanglewood under Seiji Ozawa in performances commemorating the 50th anniversary of the American premiere of Peter Grimes. Other acclaimed roles have included Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Belcore in L'Elisir d'amore, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and the title role in the world premiere of Elena Ruehr's Toussaint before the Spirits. A noted recitalist, Mr. Salters is known worldwide for his musically distinctive and intensely involving per?formances.
Balzer
Salters
Edward Parmentier, Professor of Music at the U-M School of Music (Harpsichord, Early Music Ensemble), toured in Korea and Japan in spring 2005, performing concerts in Seoul, Tokyo, and in various cities in Hokkaido. This past season, he performed solo harpsichord recitals at Oglethorpe University (Atlanta), Hope College (Holland, Ml), DePaul University (Chicago),
Redeemer Lutheran Church (St. Clair Shores, Ml), the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and at the Michigan Multiple-Sclerosis Rehabilitation Center (Southfield, Ml). This past summer, Mr. Parmentier hosted two U-M summer harpsichord workshops
on 17th-century toccata and Bach's Partitas and French Overture. He also conducted a workshop for pianists and piano teachers in Portland, Oregon for the Northwest Music Teachers Association and gave masterclasses and lectures at Georgia Perimeter College and at Brenau University in Atlanta. This fall has seen Mr. Parmentier in concert with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.
Please refer to UMS Annals, page P26 of your program, for complete biographical information on the UMS Choral Union.
This year marks the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra's (A2SO) 78th year of exception?al music making that involves the Ann Arbor community, fires its imagination, and inspires the next generation of listeners. In 1941, Joseph Maddy (founder of Interlochen Music Camp) conducted this "mom and pop" orchestra of committed and talented amateur musicians.
Since 1986, the A'SO has been a fully profes?sional orchestra, first under the baton of Carl St. Clair, followed by Samuel Wong. Over 275 indi?viduals applied to succeed Maestro Wong, and through the diligent work of the A2SO musicians, Board of Directors, and active feedback from the community, Arie Lipsky was the unanimous choice to lead this orchestra.
Maestro Lipsky's distinguished and inspired music making treats growing audiences to thrilling performances. This past season under Mr. Lipsky's leadership, the A2SO has been favorably compared to both the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In September, a record number of patrons heard a transcendent Verdi's Requiem at Hill Auditorium. A standing-room-only crowd heard Maestro Lipsky trade his baton for a bow with cellist Matt Haimovitz in a Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto. The Ann Arbor News lauded this October 2006 con?cert by saying that the "AASO played with a new richness and unprecedented assurance."
Each carefully prepared season features time-honored classics, a variety of less-familiar works by the great masters, plus a bouquet of accessible new works by modern composers, including the premiere of a new work by an emerging U-M stu?dent composer. This past year celebrated Mozart's 250th birthday anniversary with a special musical-theater commission, "Mozart Comes to Ann Arbor." The Orchestra was heard over National Public Radio in November 2004, performing Once Upon a Castle, a commission created by Ann Arbor-based composer Michael Daugherty for the A2SO's 75th anniversary.
Parmentier
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Arie Lipsky, Music Director and Conductor Mary Steffek Blaske, Executive Director
Violin I
Kathryn Votapek, Concertmaster
Stephen B. Shipps Concertmaster Chair Anton Shelepov
University of Michigan Credit Union
Associate Concertmaster Chair Linda Etter
Linda Etter Violin Chair Katie Rowan
Kim, Darlene and Taylor Eagle Violin Chair Judy Blank
Sarah and Jack Adelson Violin Chair Kathryn Stepulla Yi-Ting Kuo Val Jaskiewicz
Violin II
Barbara Sturgis-Everett
A' Principal Second Violin Chair Honoring Anne Gates
and Annie Rudisill David Lamse
Abraham Weiser Violin Chair Sharon Quint
Brian K. Etter Memorial Violin Chair Anne Ogren Jackie Livesay Jeanine Markley Jinhee Suh Denice Turck
Viola
Megan Mason
Tim and Leah Adams Principal Viola Chair Leslie Richards
Antione Hackney Viola Chair Megan Ferguson Daniel McCarthy Carolyn Tarzia
Carolyn Tarzia Viola Chair
Cello
Sarah Cleveland
Sundelson Endowed Principal Cello Chair Vladimir Babin+ Mimi Morris-Kim
Weiblen Cello Chair Eileen Brownell
Marijean Quigley-Young Cello Chair
Bass
Gregg Emerson Powell
Mercantile Bank of Michigan Principal Bass Chair Robert Rohwer Mitchell Nelson
Oboe
Kristin Reynolds
Gilbert Omenn Principal Oboe Chair Kristy Meretta Yuki Harding Yopie Prins
Bassoon
Melissa Kritzer
?. Daniel Long Principal Bassoon Chair Scott Armstrong
Trumpet
David Kuehn
David S. Evans III Principal Trumpet Chair Jonathan Poland
Timpani
James Lancioni Sherman and Sylvia Funk Principal Timpani Chair
= Principal
+ = Associate Principal
Gregg Emerson Powell, Personnel Manager
Kathleen Grimes, Librarian
James Wright, Operations Manager
UMS Choral Union
Jerry Blackstone, Conductor and Musical Director
Jason Harris, Assistant Conductor
Steven Lorenz, Assistant Conductor
Jean Schneider and Scott VanOrnum, Accompanists
Kathleen Operhall, Chorus Manager
Nancy K. Paul, Librarian
Donald Bryant, Conductor Emeritus
Soprano I
Kathryn Borden
Ann Marie Borders
Jamie Bott
Ann K. Burke
Sandra E. Burke
Susan F. Campbell
Elizabeth Crabtree
Marie Ankenbruck Davis
Jennifer Freese
Kathleen Gage
Keiko Goto
Kyoung Kim
Allison Lamanna
Kathleen Licari
Meredith Lovelace
Toni Marie Micik
Emily Mitchell
Kamilah Neighbors
Nancy K. Paul
Margaret Dearden Petersen
Julie Pierce
Mili Reisner
Rachel Ridenour
Kira Rose
Vera Sacharin
Jennifer Wagner Sobocinski
LeeAnne Green Snyder
Elizabeth Starr
Ashley Talsma
Jennifer Tomko
Margie Warrick
Barbara J. Weathers
Mary Wigton
Linda Kaye Woodman
Karen Woollams
Soprano II
Rebecca Benton Mary Bowman Debra Joy Brabenec Carol Callan Young Cho Cheryl Clarkson Carrie Deierlein Catherine Dupuis Carol Bearss Fedewa Jennifer Jacobson Etsuko Koyama Nancy Kyro Loretta Lovalvo Linda Selig Marshall Marie Morrison Ann Orwin Ann Payne Sara Peth
Holly Preston
Dana Rossiter
Mary A. Schieve
Kristi Shaffer
Sue Ellen Straub
Melissa Swain
DeAnn Teff
Virginia A. Thome-Herrmann
Jane VanSteenis
Catherine Wadhams
Barbara Hertz Wallgren
Dr. Rachelle Barcus Warren
Kathleen A. Young
Alto I
Olga Astapova Marjane L. Baker Lauren Banach Dody Blackstone Kathenne Brokaw Kathryn Drenning Norma Freeman Siri Gottlieb Ann Gustitus Laura Kaplan Katherine Klykylo Jan Leventer Jean Leverich Carolyn Loh Marilyn Meeker Carol Milstein Caroline E. Mohai Catherine P. Morgan, O.P Mary Morse Joy Schroeder Cindy Shindledecker Susan Sinta Rhonda Sizemore Hanna Song Katherine R. Spindler Ruth A. Theobald Barbara Trevethan Barbara Tritten Rebecca Wiseman
Alto II
Paula Allison-England Meredith Ammons Carol Barnhart Ellie Christensen Anna Chung Alison Cohen Joan Cooper Marilyn A. Finkbeinert Grace K. Gheen Kat Hagedorn
Allison Halerz Lynn E. Heberlein Carol Kraemer Hohnke Josephine Kasa-Vubu Jeenee Lee Jessica Lehr Cynthia Lunan Frances Lyman Karla K. Manson Patricia Kaiser McCloud Jennifer McFarlane-Harris Beth McNally Kathleen Operhall Connie Pagedas Beverly N. Slater Gail Beck Stevens Cheryl Utiger Madeleine A. Vala Alice VanWambeke Mary Beth Westin Sandra K. Wiley Susan Wortman
Tenor I
Adam D. Bonarek
Fr. Timothy J. Dombrowski
Steven Fudge
Arthur Gulick
Jason Harris
Steve Heath
Brent Hegwood
John Hodge
J. Derek Jackson
Mark A. Krempski
Adrian Leskiw
David Meitzler
Nicholas J. Pharris
David Schnerer
Elizabeth Sklar
Tenor II
John W. Etsweiler III Roy Glover Matthew Gray Min Kim Bob Klaffke Richard A. Marsh AT. Miller Carl Smith Joshua Smith Patrick Tonks Jim Van Bochove Andrew Wakefield Vincent Zuellig
Bass I
Dennis Blubaugh
David Bowen
Michael Coster
John Dryden
Kenneth A. Freeman
Timothy Krohn
John Lee
George Lindquist
Lawrence Lohr
Steven Lorenz
Charles Lovelace
William Malone
Joseph D. McCadden
Fredy Nagher
Peter Pirotte
Michael Pratt
James Cousins Rhodenhiser
Kevin Simons
Donald Sizemore
John Paul Stephens
Robert Stevenson
William Stevenson
Steve Telian
Jack L. Tocco
Thomas L. Trevethan
Michael Zeddies
Bass II
Sam Baetzel William Guy Barast William Baxter Harry Bowen Jeff Clevenger George Dentel Don Faber James Head Rod Little Gerald Miller Jeremy Peters Jeff Spindler Robert Stawski Robert Strozier Terril 0. Tompkins John F. Van Bolt James Wessel Walker
ums University Musical Society
Michigan Chamber Players
Faculty Artists of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Yehonatan Berick, Violin Deborah Chodacki, Clarinet Anthony Elliott, Cello Christopher Harding, Piano Caroline Helton, Soprano
Martin Katz, Piano Fred Ormand, Clarinet Carmen Pelton, Soprano Amy Porter, Flute
Program
Franz Schubert
Frank Martin
Maurice Ravel
Sunday Afternoon, December 10, 2006 at 4:00 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor
Totus in corde langueo, D. 136
Ms. Pelton, Ms. Porter, Mr. Katz
Trois chants de noel
Les cadeaux Image de noel Les bergers
Ms. Pelton, Mr. Ormand, Mr. Katz
Chansons madecasses
Nahandove Aoua! II est doux
Ms. Helton, Mr. Katz, Ms. Porter, Mr. Elliott
INTERMISSION
Olivier Messiaen
Quatuor Pour La Fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time)
Liturgie de cristal; bien modere, en poudroiment harmonieux
Vocalise, pour I'ange qui annonce la fin du temps; robuste, modere
Abime des oiseaux; lent, expressif et triste
Intermede; decide, modere, un peu vif
Louange a l'?ternite de Jesus; infiniment lent, extatique
Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes; decide, vigoreaux,
grantique, un peu vif Fouillis D'arcs-en-ciel, pour I'ange qui annonce la fin du temps;
revenur, presque lent Louange a I'lmmortalite de Jesus; extremement, lent et tender, extatique
Mr. Berick, Ms. Chodacki, Mr. Elliott, Mr. Harding
41st Performance of the 128th Annual Season
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
Thanks to all of the U-M School of Music Faculty Artists for their ongoing commitment of time and energy to this special UMS performance.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Totus in corde langueo, D. 136
Franz Schubert
Born January 31, 1797 in Himmelpfortgrund
(now part of Vienna) Died November 19, 1828 in Vienna
Trois chants de noel
Frank Martin
Born September 15, 1890 in Geneva, Switzerland Died November 21, 1974 in Naarden, The Netherlands
Chansons madecasses
Maurice Ravel
Born March 7, 1875 in Ciboure,
Basses-Pyrenees, France Died December 28, 1937 in Paris
Quatuor Pour La Fin du Temps
(Quartet for the End of Time) Olivier Messiaen
Born December 10, 1908 in Avignon, France Died April 27, 1992 in Paris
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire...and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. And the angel lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever...that there should be time no longer.
--The Revelation of St. John 10:1-2, 5-6
Soon after enlisting in the French Army in 1940, Olivier Messiaen was captured and sent to Stalag 8-A, a prisoner-of-war camp in Polish Silesia. While there, he organized an ensemble from among the other prisoners: a violinist, a clarinetist (both of whom had been allowed to bring their instruments with them), and a cellist. Although
there was no piano in the camp yet, and the cello provided by the German officers was missing one string, Messiaen began to compose his apocalyp?tic Quartet for the End of Time, inspired by the 10th chapter of St. John's Revelation.
Messiaen's title is intentionally ambiguous: it refers to the end of "time" in musical as well as theological terms. He renounces the division of "musical time" into regular meters and equal durations, adopting instead his own rhythmic pro?cedures (partially based on Hindu talas) in which irregular patterns "elongate the temporal" and strive for the Eternal. For Messiaen, the link between theology and music was sacred and irrevocable.
The Quartet has eight movements--a number with spiritual significance, as Messiaen explains in his preface to the score:
Seven is the perfect number, the creation of six days made holy by the divine Sabbath; the seventh in its repose prolongs itself into eter?nity and becomes the eighth, of unfailing light, of immutable peace.
The opening movement introduces Messiaen's fascination with bird-song, signifying Nature and Divine Love: the dawn songs of the blackbird and nightingale form the "crystal liturgy" of the movement's title. In the Vocalise that follows, rep?resentations of the apocalyptic angel's power frame a peaceful, reflective recitativo.
Of the third movement (for solo clarinet) Messiaen writes, "The abyss is Time, with its sad?nesses and tediums. The birds are the opposite of Time; they are our desire for light, for stars, for rainbows, and for jubilant outpourings of song."
A short interlude leads to the expansive fifth movement for piano and cello, a melodic sermon on the eternal nature of the Word. The sixth movement, according to Messiaen, is "music of stone...as irresistible as steel, huge blocks of livid fury or ice-like frenzy." He describes the "cluster of rainbows" in the seventh movement as an ecstatic vortex, a "dizzying interpenetration of superhuman sounds and colors."
The final movement's slow ascent into the
highest registers carries a triple symbolism: the ascension of man toward of God, of the Son to the Father, and of the mortal toward paradise.
In writing the quartet, Messiaen strove to comprehend the spiritual immensity of a God-filled universe--a striving all the more poignant coming as it did from behind barbed-wire enclo?sures in a time of global war. On January 15, 1941, Quartet for the End of Time was premiered on old, broken instruments, in sub-zero tempera?tures, with Messiaen's 5,000 fellow prisoners at Stalag 8-A as audience. He later recalled, "Never have I been listened to with such attention and understanding."
Program note by Luke Howard.
A prizewinner at the 1993 Naumburg competi?tion, and a recipient of the 9697 Prix Opus, Yehonatan Berick (Violin) is in high demand internationally as soloist, recitalist, chamber musi?cian (on violin as well as on viola), and peda?gogue. He has performed with the Quebec, Windsor, Jerusalem, and Haifa Symphonies; and the Israeli, Cincinnati, Montreal, and Manitoba Chamber Orchestras. He has collaborated in chamber music performances with such pianists as Stephen Prutsman and Michael Chertock, David Soyer and Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet, cellists Peter Wiley and Stephen Isserlis, clarinetists Wolfgang Meyer and James Campbell, flutist Julius Baker, and many other international?ly renowned artists. Mr. Berick's festival credits include Marlboro, Ravinia, Seattle, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Jerusalem. Touring as a chamber musician with Musicians from Marlboro, The Lortie-Berick-Lysy Piano Trio, and the Huberman String Quartet, he has been featured in the world's most important music centers. On CD, Mr. Berick has recorded for the Centaur, Summit, Gasparo, Acoma, JMC, and Helicon labels. Previously he has held the position of Professor of Violin at McGill University, as well as Visiting Professor of Violin at the Eastman School of Music. He has been invited as teacher and Artist-in-Residence at the Bowdoin Music Festival
(Maine), Keshet Eilon Mastercourse (Israel), and at the JMC Young Players' Unit (Israel). Mr. Berick started his musical education at the age of six. He currently performs on a violin by Honore Derazy Pere from 1852 and a viola by Stanley Kiemoziak from 2003.
Deborah Chodacki {Clarinet) studied clarinet with Stanley Hasty and Robert Marcellus. She has performed in chamber music festivals, in orches?tras, and as soloist with orchestras in the United States and Western Europe, including the North Carolina and Grand Rapids symphony orchestras, the Colorado Philharmonic, the American Chamber Symphony, the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, the Skaneateles and Spoleto festivals, and Monterey Summer Music. Prior to her appointment at Michigan, she taught at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and from 1979 to 1989 she was on the faculty of the East Carolina University School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
Anthony Elliott {Cello), a protege of Janos Starker and of Frank Miller, won the Feuermann International Cello Solo Competition which was followed by a highly successful New York recital. Mr. Elliott has given masterclasses at most leading American conservatories. He is a frequent soloist with major orchestras, including those of Detroit, Minnesota, Vancouver, CBC Toronto, and the New York Philharmonic. His CD recording of Kabalevsky, Martinu, and Shostakovich sonatas received a rave review from Strad Magazine of London and was named a "Best Buy of 1991" by the Houston Post. Forthcoming releases include works by French and Russian composers. In demand as a chamber musician, Mr. Elliott has been a guest artist at the Sitka (Alaska) Summer Music Festival, the Seattle and Texas chamber music festivals, New York's Blossom Music Festival, Houston's Da Camera Series, and the Victoria International Festival. He has performed as a member of Quartet Canada and as a guest artist with the Brunswick, Lyric Art, and Concord string quartets. He devotes his summers to teach?ing and performing at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Christopher Harding (Piano) was born in Munich, Germany and raised in Northern Virginia. An active and successful competitor, Professor Harding has taken 25 first prizes in national and international competitions. Among his achieve?ments are top prizes in competitions sponsored by the American Matthay Society, the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony and Esperia Foundation, the Kingsville International Young Performers' Competitions, and the Grace Welsh Prize for Piano. In 1999, he was awarded the special "Mozart Prize" at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, given for the best performance of a composition by Mozart. He was a semi-finalist in the Calgary Esther Honens International Piano Competition 2000, one of 27 pianists chosen through worldwide auditions to compete. A trip to Seoul, Korea this fall (his fifth since 1999) included lecture recitals and classes at Seoul National University, Ewha Womens University, and Dong Duk University. His current recording projects include the complete solo piano works of Samuel Barber; the complete piano chamber music of Franz Xaver Mozart with Amy Porter, Aaron Berofsky, Yizhak Schotten, and Anthony Elliott; and the Brahms sonatas for piano and violin with Stephen Boe.
Caroline Helton (Soprano) joined the University of Michigan voice faculty in 2000, after having completed her doctoral work at the same institu?tion in 1998. In December 2005, Professor Helton premiered Three Spanish Songs by Matthew Tommasini with the University of Michigan Symphony Band, directed by Michael Haithcock. She has recently appeared with the Michigan Chamber Players and the Brave New Works Ensemble, with whom she performed Joseph Schwantner's Wild Angels of the Open Hills. Over the last year Professor Helton has sung a series of recitals in Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia and Michigan. She has also had the pleasure of pre-miering works by Vitezslava Kapralova (Sbohem a satecek, Leden) with fellow U-M faculty Professor Timothy Cheek, Andre Myers (Moon Songs), Tom Schnauber (Liebeslieder fur Vogel), and Gabriel
Gould (Songs from A Child's Garden) in Ann Arbor and South Bend, Indiana. She annually appears in concerts with the Ann Arbor Festival of Song, collaborating with pianist Kevin Bylsma, and has also performed with the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, founded by pianist Jeffrey Sykes and flutist Stephanie Jutt. Professor Helton has sung opera, oratorio, chamber music, and recitals in Germany and Italy as well as in the US, and has also been active as a teacher, clinician, and adjudicator since she came to Michigan from North Carolina in 1995.
Martin Katz (Piano) dubbed "dean of accompa?nists" by The Los Angeles Times, was the 1998 recipient of Musical America's "Accompanist of the Year" award. He regularly collaborates in recitals and on recordings with artists including Marilyn Home, Frederica von Stade, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kathleen Battle, Cecilia Bartoli, David Daniels, and Jose Carreras. Highlights of Mr. Katz's more than 30 years of concerning with the world's most celebrated vocal soloists include innumerable recitals at Carnegie Hall, appear?ances at the Salzburg Festival, tours in Australia and Japan, and performances at La Scala, the Paris Opera, and the Edinburgh Festival. His con?certs are frequently broadcast both nationally and internationally. His work has been recorded on the RCA, CBS, Cetra, BMG, EMI, Phillips, and Decca labels. The Metropolitan, Houston, and Ottawa operas have performed his editions of Baroque and bel canto operas of Handel, Vivaldi, and Rossini. At the University of Michigan, in addition to instruction in ensemble for pianists, Mr. Katz coaches singers, teaches vocal repertory, and is a frequent conductor of the School's opera productions.
Fred Ormand (Clarinet) has played with the Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit symphony orchestras and has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the United States, China, and Europe. He founded and has toured extensively with the Interlochen Arts Quintet and the Dusha Quartet. Formerly a faculty member at several leading American universities, he was visiting pro-
fessor at the Shanghai Conservatory in 1988. In 1995 he gave master classes in England, Denmark, and Sweden. Since 1988 Professor Ormand has been a member of the summer fac?ulty at the Music Academy of the West. From 1990 to 1992, Professor Ormand served as presi?dent of the International Clarinet Association and is often invited to perform at the international conferences of this group. In recent years he has published editions of the music for winds of Amilcare Ponchielli. In 1996 he released a com?pact disc on Danacord Records titled Convegno, a premiere recording of Ponchielli's solo works for winds.
Carmen Pelton (Soprano) has appeared in a wide range of works with orchestras, opera hous?es, chamber music groups, Equity drama theaters and Off-Broadway productions. Conductors have included Robert Shaw, Jeffrey Tate, Donald Runnicles, Patrick Summers, Gerard Schwarz, and Nicholas McGegan with such diverse groups as the San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Goodman Theater, the Smithsonian's 21st-century Consort, the New York Festival of Song, and the Library of Congress. Recent premieres include works by Mark Adamo at Carnegie Hall and Augusta Read Thomas at the Kennedy Center. Ms. Pelton's performances are on two recently released recordings: Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Pro Musica Orchestra and the Naxos recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (winner of four Grammy Awards), as well as one of Robert Shaw's last recordings with the Atlanta Symphony: Barber, Bartok, and Vaughan-Williams, which won a Grammy for "Best Classical Album of the Year." She is also on the faculty at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina.
Amy Porter (Flute) was recently awarded the 2006 Henry Russel Award from the University of Michigan for distinguished scholarship and con?spicuous ability as a teacher. This is only the third time since 1926 that this award has been given to a U-M School of Music Professor. Recently, she served as the American jury member of the 2005 Kobe International Flute Competition in Kobe, Japan. Ms. Porter recently premiered her arrange?ment of Six Songs by Benjamin Godard, published by Little Piper, and has produced a study guide DVD for the Karg-Elert Caprices for Solo Flute. International prizes include: 2001 Deuxieme Prix at the ParisVille d'Avray International Flute Competition in France, and the Alphonse Leduc Prize for outstanding musicianship; 1993 Kobe International Flute Competition in Kobe, Japan and the Special Prize for the best performance of the commissioned work required at the competi?tion; and First Prize at the 1990 National Flute Association Competition in the US. From 1991-99, she was Associate Principal Flute of the Atlanta Symphony. Ms. Porter has performed as principal flute with the orchestras of Atlanta, Houston, and Boston. She has been heard in recital on NPR, featured on the cover of Flute Talk Magazine, and highlighted on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center. She received her BA and MM degrees from The Juilliard School. Ms. Porter serves as a founding member and Past President of the Southeast Michigan Flute Association and is on the Board of the National Flute Association.