UMS Concert Program, Thursday Oct. 27 To Nov. 05: University Musical Society: Fall 2011 - Thursday Oct. 27 To Nov. 05 --

Season: Fall 2011
Hill Auditorium

ums
Fall 2011 Season
133rd Annual Season
General Information
On-site ticket offices at performance venues open 90 minutes before each performance.
Children of all ages are welcome at UMS Family and Youth Performances. Children under the age of three will not be admitted to regular, full-length UMS performances. All children must be able to sit quietly in their own seats without disturbing other patrons. Children unable to do so, along with the adult accompanying them, will be asked by an usher to leave the auditorium. Please use discretion in choosing to bring a child.
Remember, everyone must have a ticket, regardless of age.
While in the Auditorium
Starting Time Every attempt is made to begin concerts on time. Latecomers are asked to wait in the lobby until seated by ushers at a predetermined time in the program.
Cameras and recording equipment
are prohibited in the auditorium.
If you have a question, ask your usher. They are here to help.
Please turn off your cellular phones and other digital devices so that everyone may enjoy this UMS event disturbance-free.
In the interests of saving both dollars and the environment, please either retain this program book and return with it when you attend other UMS performances included in this edition or return it to your usher when leaving the venue.
Event Program Book
Thursday, October 27 through Saturday, November 5, 2011
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela 5
Thursday, October 27, 7:30 pm St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
Gate Theatre Dublin 13
Samuel Beckett's IVaff and Endgame
Thursday, October 27, 7:30 pm Friday, October 28, 8:00 pm Saturday, October 29, 8:00 pm Power Center
Apollo's Fire and Philippe Jaroussky 21
Thursday, November 3, 7:30 pm Hill Auditorium
Audra McDonald 27
Friday, November 4, 8:00 pm Hill Auditorium
Diego El Cigala 31
Saturday, November 5, 8:00 pm Michigan Theater
ums University Musical Society
Fall 2011
September
i An Evening with Ahmad Jamal
i Emerson String Quartet 23-24; Mark Morris Dance Group
25 i Dan Zanes & Friends
October
John Malkovich and Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra: The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer 9 I Yuja Wang, piano 9 ! National Theatre Live: One Man, Two
Guvnors
13 ! State Symphony Capella of Russia 15 ! Goran Bregovic and His Wedding and
Funeral Orchestra 21-22 ! Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan:
I Water Stains on the Wall 27 i Schola Cantorum de Venezuela 27-29! Gate Theatre Dublin: Beckett's ; Endgame and Watt
30
National Theatre Live: The Kitchen
November
Apollo's Fire with Philippe Jaroussky,
countertenor
4 5 9
I 1
Audra McDonald
Diego El Cigala
AnDa Union
A Night in Treme: The Musical Majesty
of New Orleans 12 i St. Lawrence String Quartet 20 I Beijing Guitar Duo with Manuel Barrueco 27 : Canadian Brass
December
3-4 i Handel's Messiah
! London Philharmonic Orchestra with ; Janine Jansen, violin
I Stile Antico
Winter 2D12
January
8
National Theatre Live: The Collaborators
20-22 i Einstein on the Beach 23 i Denis Matsuev, piano 28 : Les Violons du Roy with Maurice Steger, recorder
29
Hamburg Symphony Orchestra with Francesco Tristano, piano: Messiaen's From the Canyons to the Stars
February
4 ; Sabine Meyer and the Trio di Clarone 10 i Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai
I Chinese Orchestra 12 i Michigan Chamber Players
i The Tallis Scholars
i Sweet Honey In The Rock
I Wayne McGregor I Random Dance: FAR
! FELA! (at Music Hall, Detroit) 19 National Theatre Live: Title TBA
@@@@: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with i Wynton Marsalis
i Hagen Quartet
March
9 i Chicago Symphony Orchestra with
I Pinchas Zukerman, violin Max Raabe & Palast Orchester Ex Machina: The Andersen Project National Theatre Live: The Comedy of Errors San Francisco Symphony with
; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor:
i American Mavericks
April
i Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion
CheikhLo
i Charles Lloyd New Quartet 18 i Pavel Haas Quartet
19-21 I Ballet Preljocaj: Snow White 22 I Ford Honors Program: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, violin
May
i Breakin' Curfew
UMS Educational and Community Events i,?
All UMS educational activities are free, open to the public, and take place in Ann Arbor unless otherwise noted. For complete details and updates, please visit www.ums.org or contact the UMS Education Department at 734.615.4077 or umsed@umich.edu. b
Gate Theatre Dublin
Artist Q&A: Gate Theatre Dublin
Thursday, October 27, post-performance Power Center
Gate Theatre Dublin Artistic Director Michael Colgan is joined by U-M professor Enoch Brater in a post-performance Q&A. Must have a ticket to the performance to attend.
AnDa Union
Lecture: The Art of Mongolian Singing
Tuesday, November 8, 4:00 pm
Michigan Union Parker Room, 530 S. State Street
In conjunction with UMS's presentation of AnDa Union, the Confucius Institute of the University of Michigan offers a lecture on the art of Mongolian singing given by Bao Darhan, Professor and Vice Dean of the Music College of the Central University for Nationalities.
UMS on Film: AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City
Tuesday, November 8, 7:00 pm
Helmut Stern Auditorium, U-M Museum of Art,
525 S. State Street
Filmmakers Sophie Lascelles and Tim Pearce preview their work-in-progress documentary which follows AnDa Union, a group of 14 musicians who all hail from the Xilingol Grassland area of Inner Mongolia, a semi-autonomous region of China. Formed in 2003, AnDa Union is part of a musical movement that is finding inspiration in old and forgotten folk music from the nomadic herdsman cultures of Inner and Outer Mongolia, drawing on a repertoire of music that all but disappeared during China's recent tumultuous past. (2011, Sophie Lascelles and Tim Pearce, 90 minutes)
visit www.ums.org for more information {
urns
presents
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
Alberto Grau, Founder and Director
Maria Guinand, Conductor and Artistic Director
Ana Maria Raga, Associate Conductor
betcol Program
Thursday Evening, October 27, 2011 at 7:30
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Ann Arbor
@@@@Jose Antonio Calcano Gonzalo Castellanos Eric Whitacre Osvaldo Golijov
Alberto Orau Gonzalo Grau
Astor Piazzolla
Popular Brazilian folk song Guido Ldpez-Gavilan
Los Ruffino
An. Maria Adela Alvarado
and Amanda Soriano
Aqua and Fiesta
Part I: Water
Evohe
Al Mar anochecido
Cloudburst
Oceana (excerpt) Coral del Arrecife
Binnamma
Aqua (excerpts)
Cancion de los rapidos remeros Yemaya
Victor Gonzalez, Paul Sojo, and Javier Silva, Soloists INTERMISSION
Part II: Fiesta
Las Cuatro Estaciones (excerpt) Primavera Portefia
Muie Rendeira Mambo 'que rico e' Cerezo Rosa (cha cha cha)
Billo Frdmeta Arr. Angel Sauce
Edgar Zapata Arr. Federico Ruiz
Consuelo Velazquez Arr. Alberto Grau
Miguel Matamoros Arr. Alberto Grau
Otilio Galindez Arr. Alberto Grau
Rene Barms
Arr. Ana Maria Raga
Ochoa Rojas
Toy Contento
El Menciona'o Besame Mucho Son de la Loma
La Arestinga
Jose Dario Cano and Said Barrios, Soloists Tengo una forma mas
Nuestras Navidades
13th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
UMS Voices Series
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
Media partnership is provided by WRCJ 90.9 FM.
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela appears by arrangement with Opus 3 Artists, New York, NY.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Evohe (Venezuela) Jose Antonio Calcano Born March 23, 1900 Died September 11, 1980
Like his friend and contemporary Vincente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan composer Jose Antonio Calcano was extremely active in both his musical and political life, working as a composer, pianist, and critic in Switzerland, Ireland, England, and the US. As with Sojo, his first passion was for Venezuelan music. Together with his brother Emilio and with Sojo, Calcano was one of the founders of the Orfeon Lamas, which gave its first public concert in 1930 and is one of the pioneering choirs in establishing and nurturing the musical heritage of Venezuela.
Al Mar anochecido (To the sea in
twilight) (Venezuela) Gonzalo Castellanos Bom June 3, 1926 in Canoabo, Venezuela
Also from the composition school lead by Sojo, this madrigal from the composer and conductor Gonzalo Castellanos uses an impressionistic musical style. The way he paints the movement of the waves and the water is evidently inspired by Debussy's La Mer.
Cloudburst (United States)
Eric Whitacre
Born January 2, 1970 in Reno, Nevada
The text, taken from Octavio Paz's poem El Cantaro roto (The Broken Water Jug) is suggestive and imaginative. The composer writes in the preamble of his work:
Cloudburst is a ceremony, a celebration of the unleashed kinetic energy in all things. The mood throughout is reverent, meditative, and centered. This does not imply solemn or calm; it simply means the performer must take the spiritual journey with total respect for the power of the water and profundity of the rebirth.
This piece was awarded First Prize in the 1993 American Choral Directors Association's Composers of the Future competition.
Oceana (excerpt) (Argentina)
Osvaldo Golijov
Born December 5, 1960 in La Plata, Argentina
Oceana is a major work commissioned from Osvaldo Golijov by the Oregon Bach Festival, and was premiered in 1995 by Schola Cantorum de Venezuela at the OBF.
Golijov chose for his text the poem "Oceana" from Neruda's 1961 collection Cantos Ceremoniales. As Bach's cantatas invoke the grace of God upon believers, Neruda's verses passionately invoke the thrilling and mysterious presence of the ocean goddess.
The voices fade gradually, and the instrumental sounds become increasingly thinner and higher, finally coming to rest upon soft, extended chords as the choruses begin the finale. Gently swelling and withdrawing, the two choruses repeatedly invoke the name of Oceana, occasionally dissolving in receding echoes of forgotten memory. The bulk of the movement is sung without accompaniment, as the voices hypnotically recall ancient images of reefs and shells and seafarers, fading to a final chord of unresolved longing.
Binnamma (SpainAenezuela)
Alberto Grau
Born November 7, 1937 in Barcelona, Spain
"Binnamma" was composed in the wake of the catastrophe caused by the rain and subsequent flooding in the Vargas State region of Venezuela in December 1999. This work, dedicated to the victims of this tragedy, was composed for the Orfebn Universitario Simbn Bolivar. Grau explores new sonorities and vocal effects inspired by native songs of the Brazilian Amazon, and uses eurhythmies and choral choreography as fundamental aspects of the piece in a virtuoso manner.
"Binnamma" starts with a popular Catalan song that is gradually deconstructed and transformed into a ritualistic song to celebrate the sunrise.
Aqua (excerpts) (Venezuela)
Gonzalo Grau
Born November 9, 1972 in Caracas, Venezuela
The oratorio Aqua was commissioned by the International Bach Academy Stuttgart for its 2011
Musikfest Stuttgart. It sings of the myriad aspects of water: of the hidden ways in which water flows beneath the earth, the blessings of rain, the destructive wrath of water bursting its banks. Its theme also laments the water sources that are poisoned by man and by acid rain as a result of unbridled progress.
The work had its world premiere in Caracas on August 20, 2011 with the Bundesjugendorchester (National Youth Orchestra of Germany) and the Gaechinger Kantorei Stuttgart conducted by Maria Guinand. Excerpts were performed earlier that month at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin, where Grau received the 2011 European Composer Award for his "water oratorio."
Las Cuatro Estaciones (The Four Seasons)
(excerpt) (Argentina) Astor Piazzolla
Born March 11, 1921 in Mar del Plata, Argentina Died July 4, 1992 in Buenos Aires
Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata in 1921 and died in Buenos Aires in 1992. He played the bandoneon and studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He recreated the tango, incorporating new harmonic combinations where dissonance plays a fundamental role, with crisper rhythms and a fuller orchestration. He was often criticized in his time for these innovations and would counter that this was the contemporary music of Buenos Aires.
The four tangos that comprise The Four Seasons are instrumental, and in this program, the choir will sing them with instrumental accompaniment, and also in onomatopoeic sounds that mimic the instruments. Each of these tangos has a distinct character, although they all alternate between lyrical and melancholic, with particularly beautiful melodies in "Primavera Porteha," and sections that are especially rhythmic and lively.
Muie Rendeira (Lacemaker Woman)
(Brazil)
Popular Brazilian folk song Arr. Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca Born June 7, 1933 in Belo Horizon te, Brazil Died May 27, 2006
Two of the most popular folk tunes from northeast Brazil are combined in this joyful arrangement of Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca's "Ole Muie Rendera"
and "F_ Lampa e Lampa, e Lampeao." Although Pinto Fonseca emphasizes the rhythmic aspect of the piece, his choral writing is very clear, which allows the listener to easily identify the melodies. The simple harmonic vocabulary reinforces the simplicity of the style. In performance, the addition of percussion reinforces the characteristics of the baiao, a Brazilian folk dance.
Mambo 'que rico e' (Mambo, how nice
it is) (Cuba) Guido Lopez Gavilan Born March 1, 1944 in Matanzas City, Cuba
Rhythm is the essential element in the choral works of Guido Lopez Gavilan. "Mambo," along with "El Guayaboso" and "Aporrumbeosis," are a group of virtuoso pieces that transform the choral ensemble into an instrumental group. Many different onomatopaiec sounds are heard throughout that imitate in particular the percussion instruments and the bass, in formulas characteristic of the mambo.
Cerezo Rosa (cha cha cha) (CubaVenezuela)
Los Ruffino
Arr. Maria Adela Alvarado
Born October 19, 1961 in Venezuela
Arr. Amanda Soriano
Born 1963
This song is based on a style of Cuban dance music called cha-cha-cha introduced in the 1950s by Enrique Jorrin. It developed from the danzon of Cuba and is today one of the most popular forms of ballroom dance.
Toy Contento (Venezuela)
Billo Frometa
Born November 15, 1915 in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
Died May 5, 1988 in Caracas, Venezuela Arr. Angel Sauce
Born August 2, 1911 in Caracas, Venezuela Died December 26, 1995 in Caracas
This song is a very popular joropo, which is often referred to as Venezuela's national dance. The joropo is, at its heart, musica llanera--music of Venezuela's plains region, heavily influenced by Spanish colonial style--but today this music has evolved into several different regional forms. Even in
the 1920s, theoropo, which traditionally features intricate playing on the harp and cuatro (a small, four-stringed guitar) and maraca accompaniment, became a way of referring not just to the dance, but also to a particular and complex rhythm that combines both 34 and 68 time.
El Menciona'o (The Named One)
(Venezuela) Edgar Zapata Born 1952 Arr. Federico Ruiz Born 1 948 in Caracas, Venezuela
Here, the traditional joropo song "El Menciona'o" (The Named One), by Edgar Zapata, is given a virtuoso choral twist in this Federico Ruiz arrangement, in which the individual voice sections evoke the sprightly, light-hearted spirit of the dance.
Besame Mucho (Mexico)
Consuelo Velazquez
Bom August 21, 1916 in Ciudad Guzman, Mexico
Died January 22, 2005 in Mexico City
Arr. Alberto Grau
"Besame Mucho" was composed in 1940 based on Enrique Granados's piece "La maja y el ruisenor" from his famous Goyescas suite. This song was acknowledged in 1999 as the most well known song in the Spanish language and has been translated into more foreign languages than perhaps any other piece of music. Commissioned by the Korean National Chorus, this song was recreated by Grau after his own fashion to achieve a special intimacy and charm.
Son de la Loma (They are from the Hill)
(Cuba)
Miguel Matamoros
Born May 8, 1894 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba Died April 15, 1971 in Havana Arr. Alberto Grau
This Cuban song was composed by Miguel Matamoros, a founding member of the Trio Matamoros, one of the most popular Cuban trova groups. They played boleros and son, toured throughout Latin America and Europe, and recorded in New York. The group was renowned
for their vocal harmony and for the quality of their lyrics.
Matamoros was one of the greatest and most prolific composers of the Cuban son; his first hit was "El que siembra su maiz" (literally, he who sows his corn). "Mamci, son de la loma y cantan en llano (mama, they're from the hill, and they sing on the plain)" means that they are from the Oriente province of Cuba, and they sing in Havana.
Son refers a style of Cuban music that combines elements of Spanish cancion with African rhythms.
La Arestinga (Venezuela)
Otilio Galindez
Born December 13, 1935 in Yaritagua, Venezuela
Died June 13, 2009 in Maracay
Arr. Alberto Grau
The gaita is a typical rhythm used in Venezuelan folkloric music, formed in patterns of triplets. This choral version shows the full vivacity of the music. The text refers to a fisherman who, instead of fishing, always goes in search of beautiful mermaids. Arestinga is a region of the Margarita Island in Venezuela.
Tengo una forma mas (I have another
way) (Cuba) Rene Banos Arr. Ana Maria Raga Born December 16, 1967 in Caracas, Venezuela
This is also a Cuban son, written by Rene Banos, director of the well-known a capella group Vocal Sampling. This choral arrangement uses voice to imitate instruments and create improvised passages as part of the vocal jazz language.
Nuestras Navidades (Our Christmas)
(Venezuela) Ochoa Rojas
Sangueo and Tamboera are two genres that belong to different popular traditions of Venezuelan music, which relate to important religious festivities, in particular Christmas.
Sangueo is a slow and ceremonial song, which is used as a procession. Tamborera is an Afro-Venezuelan folk genre of music that features rich use of the tambora drum in carrying the main beat.
M
aria Guinand is Artistic Director of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela and conducts choral projects through?out Latin America, Europe, the US, and Asia. Re?nowned as an authentic interpreter and trainer of Latin American choral music of the 20th and 21st centuries, she is a recipient of the Helmuth Rilling Preis (2009), the Robert Edler Preis fur Chormusik (2000), and the Kulturpreis of the InterNationes Foundation (1998), three of the most distinguished prizes in choral music conducting.
A graduate of Bristol University in England, Ms. Guinand studied choral conducting with Alberto Grau, and went on to further studies in conducting and musical education with Helmuth Rilling, Luigi
Agustoni, and Johannes B. Goschl.
Currently, she con?ducts two of Venezuela's most prestigious choirs, the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela and the Can-toria Alberto Grau, both with whom she has toured and recorded ex?tensively and won many awards. Always interest?ed in new choral music,
she has been involved in projects such as the pre?mieres, performances, and recordings of Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasion segun San Marcos and John Ad?ams' A Flowering Tree. In 2011, she conducted the world premiere of Gonzalo Grau's oratorio Aqua in Stuttgart and at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin, where Mr. Grau received the 2011 Euro?pean Composer Award for the piece.
For over three decades, Ms. Guinand has been Associate Conductor and Advisor of Choral Sym?phonic Performances and Activities for El Sistema, the world-renowned music program in Venezuela. She teaches in the master's degree program for choral conductors at the Universidad Simon Bolivar where she has taught as a professor and conductor for 28 years.
As a choral promoter and Director of the Fundacion Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, she contributes to the permanent establishment of choral music centers for children and youth of disadvantaged backgrounds in Venezuela and other Andean countries. As conductor of the Polar Foundation Choir she has actively contributed to the development of choral music in private enter?prises. She served for 12 years as the Latin America
Vice President of the International Federation of Choral Music. She is also editor of the Musica de Latinoamerica collection at the Earthsongs music editorial house.
@@@@T
he Schola Cantorum de Venezuela (for?merly known as Schola Cantorum de Cara?cas) is one of the most important choral so?cieties belonging to the growing choral movement in Venezuela. It was founded in 1967 and directed by Alberto Grau, Venezuelan composer and con?ductor born in Barcelona, Spain. The choir's broad repertoire includes works from the Spanish, Ital?ian, French, and English Renaissance; German and Italian Baroque; contemporary Venezuelan and international composers; a vast collection of Ven?ezuelan and Latin American traditional music; and a number of symphonic choral pieces.
International tours have taken the Schola to venues in the US, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and South America. The ensemble was chosen for the premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasion segun San Marcos (Saint Mark Passion) which debuted at the European Music Festival 2000 under the sponsor?ship of the Bachakademie Stuttgart. The Hanssler Classic recording of this concert was nominated for a 2002 Grammy and Latin Grammy Award in the category of "Best Choral Performance." A new recording of this work was released in 2010 by Deutsche Grammophon in a CDDVD edition to great critical acclaim. In 2006, under the direction of Peter Sellars, the Schola premiered John Adams' opera A Flowering Tree at the Crown Hope Festival in Vienna, which they subsequently brought to Lin?coln Center in New York. A recording of this piece was released in 2008 by Nonesuch Records. Most recently in September 2011, the Schola gave the world premiere of Gonzalo Grau's award-winning oratorio Aqua, commissioned by the Bachakad?emie. The Schola has more than 50 major sym?phonic choral works in their repertoire and has performed under the batons of such distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Ab-bado, Gustavo Dudamel, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, Roberto Spano, John Adams, and Edmon Colomer.
With a variety of a capella and symphonic cho?ral programs, the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela has appeared internationally at music festivals and concert halls, including the Jose Felix Ribas and Rios Reyna Hall of the Teatro Teresa Carreno in Ca?racas, Concertgebouw and Royal Carre Theatre in
Maria Guinand
Amsterdam, Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Cen?tre in London, Beethovenhalle in Stuttgart, Nexa-hualc6yotl Hall of the UNAM in Mexico, Sydney Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music's How?ard Gilman Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, Canary Islands, and Oregon Bach festivals.
A specialized ensemble with unique arrange?ments and repertoire, the Schola has recorded 26 albums to date. Ana Maria Raga and Maria Guinand are the titular directors. Since 2005, the
Schola Cantorum of Venezuela has worked under the aegis of the Schola Cantorum Foundation, a non-profit organization that oversees several other choirs such as the Cantoria Alberto Grau, Peque-nos Cantores de la Schola, and Schola Juvenil. To?gether they provide a complete system to promote and develop choral music in Venezuela.
UMS welcomes Maria Guinand and Schola Canto?rum de Venezuela, who make their UMS debuts this evening.
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
Alberto Grau, Founder and Director Maria Guinand, Artistic Director and
Conductor Ana Maria Raga, Associate
Conductor and Piano Luimar Arismendi, Pablo Morales,
and Gioconda Cabrera, Assistant
Conductors Zaira Castro, Victor Gonzalez,
Anaida Carquez, and Verbnica
Sosa, Vocal Coaches Laura Silva, Piano Andres Ferrer, Coordinator
Instrumentalists
Luimar Arismendi, Mandolin, Cuatro,
and Percussion Gioconda Cabrera, Cuatro and
Percussion Anaida Carquez, Javier Silva, and Iris
Pagano, Percussion Paul Sojo, Flute
Soprano
Anaida Carquez Jessica Colmenares Flor Yanez Ruth Rojas Mariana Diaz Katherine Perez Rima Ibrahim Iris Pagano Veronica Sosa
Alto
Victoria Nieto Adriana Gonzalez Gioconda Cabrera Luimar Arismendi Carla Aular Genesis Devonish Zenaida Vasquez Laura Silva
Tenor
Said Barrios Jose D. Cano Juan De Sousa Daniel Gonzalez John Martinez Jose Eduardo Castillo Alexander Simoes Miguel Castro
Bass
Alejandro Figueroa Javier Silva Roberto Medina Andres Ferrer Mario Lo Russo Paul Sojo Federico Diaz Victor Gonzalez Jose Gilberto Manrique
Soosts
For Opus 3 Artists:
David V. Foster, President & CEO Jonathan Brill, Executive Vice
President, Manager, Artists &
Conductors Leonard Stein, Senior Vice President,
Director, Tour Administration Leiwei Jiang, Associate John C. Gilliland III, Associate, Tour
Administration Nadia Mokhoff, Company Manager
ums University Musical Society
presents
Watt
and
Endgame
by Samuel Beckett
A production of Gate Theatre Dublin
Michael Colgan
Artistic Director
Program
Thursday Evening, October 27, 2011 at 7:30 Friday Evening, October 28, 2011 at 8:00 Saturday Evening, October 29, 2011 at 8:00 Power Center Ann Arbor
Watt
Watt is approximately 55 minutes in length and is performed with no intermission.
INTERMISSION
This evening's intermission is 30 minutes in length. Please refer to page 20 in this program book for a QR code to scan with your smartphone that will lead you to more information about this production.
Endgame
Endgame is approximately 90 minutes in length and is performed with no intermission.
14th, 15th, and 16th Performances of the 133rd Annual Season
International Theater Series
The photographing or sound and video recording of this performance or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
The Thursday evening performance is sponsored by the Herbert S. and Carol L. Amster Fund and the Charles H. Gershenson Charitable Trust, Maurice Binkow, Trustee.
The Saturday evening performance is hosted by Dody Viola.
This week's performances are funded in part by the Wallace Endowment Fund.
Media partnership is provided by Between the Lines, Michigan Radio 91.7 FM, and Ann Arbor's 107one.
Special thanks to Enoch Brater, Tim Grimes, Ken Raynor, and the Ann Arbor District Library for their support of and participation in the Gate Theatre Dublin residency.
The US tour of Gate Theatre Dublin is presented by David Eden Productions.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Watt
by Samuel Beckett
Texts from the novel selected by Barry McGovern
Directed by Tom Creed
Costume Design by Joan O'Clery
Lighting Design by James McConnell
Sound Design by Denis Clohessy
Music by Barry McGovern after Samuel Beckett
Cast Barry McGovern
Endgame
by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Alan Stanford
Set Design by Eileen Diss
Costume Design by Joan O'Clery
Lighting Design by James McConnell
@@@@Cast
Hamm Owen Roe
Clov Barry McGovern
Nell Rosaleen Linehan
Nagg Des Keogh

ums University Musical Society
A Note on Watt
Samuel Beckett wrote of Watt: "It is an unsatisfactory book, written in dribs and drabs, but it has its place in the series, as will perhaps appear in time."
It was begun in Paris on February 11, 1941 and not completed until 1945. There are six notebooks in the University of Texas at Austin which are full of material that did not end up in the published book. These notebooks are extraordinary manuscripts, full of doodles, drawings, and designs--mathematical and otherwise--which tell the tale of the book, so long in gestation. The novel (if that is the word) was written in English, his last work in that language before turning to French. He did, of course, write in both English and French later.
Watt is the great transition work in Beckett's writing, the bridge between the Joyce-influenced early work and the great middle period of the late-1940s and 1950s. Most of the writing of Watt took place in the village of Roussillon in the Vaucluse area of southeastern France between 1943 and 1944 when Beckett was on the run from the Gestapo because of his work with the French Resistance during World War II. He described writing it as "only a game, a means of staying sane."
The house of Mr. Knott where Watt goes to work is based on two houses: mainly Cooldrinagh in Foxrock, County Dublin, the Beckett family home; and, to a lesser extent, the nearby Glencairn, the former home of Richard "Boss" Croker, a retired Irish-American politician, and more recently, the residence of the British Ambassador to Ireland. Watt's journey on the train is from Harcourt Street Station in Dublin City to Foxrock on the old Harcourt Street railway line, most of which is now a tramline. The racecourse is Leopardstown.
After the war, Beckett tried to have Watt published, but it was rejected by all to whom it was sent. One publisher wrote "What is it that this Dublin air does to these writers" It was eventually published in August 1953 in Paris by Olympia Press in collaboration with a group of young American expatriates, led by Richard Seaver, called Collection Merlin (or the Merlin juveniles, as Beckett called them). Later it was published by Grove Press in the US and by John Calder in Britain. Watt was
banned in Ireland in 1954 but, curiously, Ireland was the first country to publish extracts from Waft in the literary magazines Envoy and Irish Writing between 1950 and 1953. It was while touring Ireland as an actor in Anew McMaster's company in the early 1950s that Harold Pinter read an extract from Watt in one of those magazines and became one of Beckett's greatest champions.
Watt is for many a difficult book to read, not least because of its seemingly endless lists and combinations and permutations. But the perseverance is worth it and those who give it a chance will find great riches of language and philosophy and great cause for laughter. It is one of the few books that have made me laugh out loud on public transport.
Watt the show is not Watt the book. It is a distillation of the essence of the book. Much has had to be left out for an hour-long show. My earnest hope is that those who enjoy the show, and particularly those who don't, will read the book. It is unlike anything else you will have read.
This stage version of Waff is dedicated to the memory of my good friend Dick Seaver, the great New York publisher and book lover, who died in 2009 and who, more than anyone else, was responsible for publishing Waff.
Program note by Barry McGovem.
Beckett at the Gate
The Gate Theatre is synonymous with the works of Samuel Beckett, having toured productions throughout the world from Beijing to New York, Sydney to Toronto, and London to Melbourne.
In 1991, the Gate became the first theater in the world to present a full retrospective of all 19 stage plays and, later, repeated the festival at New York's Lincoln Center and at the Barbican Centre in London. The Gate also played a major role in Dublin's 2006 Beckett Centenary Festival.
In 2007, the Gate toured a critically acclaimed season, entitled GATE I BECKETT, to the Sydney Festival and the following year to Lincoln Center Festival in New York. In 2008, the Gate completed an historic national tour of its landmark production of Waiting for Godot which sold out 40 venues throughout the country in the first ever all-Ireland tour.
T
he Gate Theatre Dublin has been, artistically and architecturally, a landmark building for over 250 years. Established as a theater company in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheal MacLiamm6ir, the Gate offered Dublin audiences an introduction to the world of European and American theater and also to classics from the modern and Irish repertoire. It was with the Gate that Orson Welles, James Mason, and Michael Gambon began their prodigious acting careers.
Today, in its 83rd year, the Gate has become unique in that it has had only two artistic directorates. In 1983, the directorship passed to Michael Colgan under whose guidance the theater continues to represent Ireland at the very highest level of artistic endeavor, receiving numerous invitations each year to major festivals on every continent.
The Gate has a close association with the works of Samuel Beckett, the late Harold Pinter, Brian Friel, and Conor McPherson, among others. Having presented many major festivals, both internationally and at home, the Gate continues to develop, nurture, and promote the works of a diverse range of playwrights and is committed to delivering the very highest quality productions that its audiences have come to expect.
Denis Clohessy {Sound Design, Watt) Gate Theatre: Hay Fever, Molly Sweeney, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Beckett Pinter Mamet Festival, Death of a Salesman, Arcadia, Present Laughter, All My Sons, Faith Healer, Afterplay, The Yalta Game, Sydney Festival 09, The Real Thing, Festen, Hedda Gabler. Other Theater: The Rivals, An Ideal Husband, Three Sisters, The Seafarer, Romeo and Juliet, The Crucible, Julius Caesar, Abbey Theatre; Big Love, Burial at Thebes, Fool for Love, Woman and Scarecrow, Peacock; The Importance of Be?ing Earnest, Sodome My Love (Irish Times Theatre Award-winner), Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, Life is a Dream, Is This About Sex, Attempts on Her Life, Don Carlos, Dream of Au?tumn, Rough Magic; The Giant Blue Hand, The Ark; 57enf, The Pride of Parnell Street, Fishamble; Macbeth, Titus Andronicus, Siren Productions; Underneath the Lintel, Landmark; Man of Valour, Corn Exchange. Film: His and Hers, Undressing My Mother, Useless Dog, Venom Films; The Limits of Liberty, South Wind Blows; In Sunshine or in
Shadow, Babyface Goes To Hollywood, A Bloody Canvas, Fastnet Films; Her Mother's Daughters, Underground Films.
Tom Creed {Director, Watt) Gate Theatre: Watt (Dublin Theatre Festival, Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater, New York). New York: Mimic (PS122 as part of COIL 2010). Other Theater: Una Santa Oscura by Ian Wilson, Project Arts Centre and Dublin Theatre Festival; Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, Life is a Dream, Attempts on her Life ("Best Director" nomination, Irish Times Theatre Awards), Dream of Autumn, 4.48 Psychosis (SEEDS 2 showcase), Rough Magic; Berlin Love Tour, Say Hi To The Riv?ers and the Mountains, The Heights, The Art of Swimming, The Train Show, Dark Week (Judges' Special Award nomination, Irish Times Theatre Awards), Soap!, Crave, Integrity, Playgroup; Bro?ken CroiHeart Briste, Manchan Magan; All Over Town, CalipoTHISISPOPBABY; The Last Mile, Blue Raincoat; Ian Wilson's The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World with Gavin Friday, Brighton Fes?tival and Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris; The Com?ing World, Making Strange; The Case of the Rose Tattoo, Dublin Theatre Festival; Mr Kolpert, Once Off Productions Rep Experiment, Dublin Fringe Festival; Love's Labour's Lost, Vinegar Tom, Samuel Beckett Centre; The Ideal Homes Show, Activate Youth Theatre; Purple, Dublin Youth Theatre. Mr. Creed is Director of Cork Midsummer Festival. He has been a co-founder and joint Artistic Director of Playgroup, an Associate Director of Rough Magic Theatre Company, and Theater and Dance Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival.
Eileen Diss (Set Design, Endgame) Gate Theatre: God of Carnage, Beckett Pinter Mamet Festival, Present Laughter (transfer to Spo-leto Festival), The Old Curiosity Shop, The Deep Blue Sea, Private Lives, Beckett Centenary Festival, The Constant Wife, Lady Windermere's Fan, The Heiress, Arcadia, The Homecoming, Pinter Festival (also at Lincoln Center, New York). Other The?ater: The Caretaker (with Jonathon Pryce, transfer to New York), Theatre Royal Bath; Watch on the Rhine, Measure for Measure, The Caretaker, The Philanderer, No Man's Land, Royal National The?atre; A Letter of Resignation, Taking Sides, The Hothouse, Oleanna, Twelve Angry Men, and most of Simon Gray's plays, London's West End. Televi-
sionFilm: The Maigret, Somerset Maugham series, many plays and films for the BBC and ITV including Cider With Rosie, Jeeves and Wooster series, Lon?gitude, A Doll's House, Betrayal, 84 Charing Cross Road, August, A Handful Of Dust.
Des Keogh {Nagg, Endgame) Gate Theatre: Endgame, Arms and the Man, The Shadow of a Gunman, Two-Faced, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Dresser, Blithe Spirit, Heart?break House, Charley's Aunt. Other Theater: The School for Scandal, The Coleen Bawn (transfer to National Theatre, London), Portia Coughlan (trans?fer to Royal Court Theatre, London), Kevin's Bed, Abbey Theatre; The Matchmaker, The Love-Hungry Farmer, Confessions of an Irish Publican (all adapted from John B. Keane), The Plough and the Stars, My Scandalous Life, Irish Repertory Theatre, New York; A Great Night for the Irish, Carnegie Hall and Ra?dio City Music Hall; Dancing at Lughnasa, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Old Wicked Songs, The Best of Friends, DA, United States; The Matchmaker ("Best Actor" nominee 2001); The Love-Hungry Farmer ("Best Actor" nominee 2004), Edinburgh Fringe; Des and Rosie Shows, Canaries, Gaels of Laughter, Gaiety Theatre; Tartuffe, The Pirates of Penzance, Olympia Theatre; The Stanley Parkers, Druid, Galway; The Quare Land (Galway Arts Fes?tival 2010); The Quiet Moment, Belltable, Limerick; The Sunshine Boys, The Civic, Tallaght. FilmTelevi?sion: Ryan's Daughter, Ulysses, Bad Day at Black-rock, The Clinic, Father Ted, Charley's Aunt, An Ideal Husband, Me Mammy. Radio: Plays, comedy shows, and 35 years presenting Music for Middlebrows on RTE Radio.
Rosaleen Linehan {Nell, Endgame) Gate Theatre: Endgame, Gates of Gold, Happy Days, Long Day's Journey into Night, The Rivals, She Stoops to Conquer, London Assurance, The Double Dealer. Other Theater: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Young Vic; The New Electric Ball?room, Druid; Juno, City Center; Encores!, Season; Blood Wedding, Almeida; Tartuffe, Roundabout Theatre, New York; Lost in Yonkers, The Guthrie, Minneapolis; House of Bernarda Alba, Abbey; Olga, Rough Magic. FilmTelevision: About Adam, The Butcher Boy, Happy Days (Beckett on Film), 77ie Hilo Country, Mad About Mambo, Sharpe's Gold, The Matchmaker.
James McConnell {Lighting Design, Watt
Endgame)
Theater: Hay Fever, Jane Eyre, Krapp's Last Tape (2010, Dublin and transfer to London); A Christ?mas Carol, Afterplay, The Yalta Game, Faith Healer (GatelFriel, Dublin, Sydney Festival, Edinburgh In?ternational Festival); Waiting for Godot (National Tour, 2008); Present Laughter (Dublin and Spoleto Festival, US); Eh Joe (Irish Times Irish Theatre Award nomination for "Best Lighting Design," transfer to Duke of York's, London, Sydney Festival, Lincoln Center Festival); ' Go On (Gate I Beckett); First Love (world premiere, Gate I Beckett); Salome; Krapp's Last Tape (Barbican, BITE 99); Breath, A Piece of Monologue, Beckett Festival (Dublin 1991). Mr. McConnell is also the Gate Theatre's Production Manager.
Barry McGovern (Watt Clov, Endgame) Barry McGovern has had a long association with the work of Samuel Beckett. With the Gate Theatre he has played Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, Clov in Endgame, and Willie in Happy Days. He has also played Lucky in Waiting for Godot, Krapp in Krapp's Last Tape, Henry in Embers, Fox in Rough for Radio II, Words in Words and Music, and directed All That Fall. His one-man show ' Go On (derived from the novels Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable) was produced by the Gate in 1985 and has played worldwide, most recently at the 2008 Lincoln Center Festival.
Mr. McGovern has lectured, written, and given master classes on Beckett's work and is frequently asked to give readings of the poetry and prose. His recordings of the "Three Novels" (Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable) are available from www.rte.ieshop.
Mr. McGovern's recent stage work includes Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Jane Eyre, Death of a Salesman, Arcadia, Gate Theatre; The Plough and the Stars, Abbey Theatre; Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Gaiety Theatre; and Life is a Dream, Rough Magic. Films include Joe Versus the Volcano, Braveheart, The General, and Waiting for Godot (Beckett on Film). In March 2012 he will be playing Vladimir in a new production of Waiting For Godot at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
Joan O'Clery (Costume Design, Endgame Watt) Gate Theatre: Molly Sweeney, God of Carnage, Watt, Endgame, Boston Marriage, Celebration, Arcadia, 2010, and the Pinter Festival 1997 (Irish
Times "Best Costume Design" Award), Oleanna. Other Theatre: Translations, The Plough and the Stars, The Last Days of Reluctant Tyrant, Christ De?liver Us, Lolita (Irish Times "Best Costume Design" Award) Hamlet, A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, A Whistle in the Dark, The Colleen Bawn, The Im?portance of Being Earnest, Abbey Theatre; The Girl Who Forgot To Sing Badly, The Ark; The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford and London's West End. Dance: The Rite of Spring, Swept, CoisCeim Dance Theatre. Opera: La Traviata, English National Opera, London Coli-sieum; Turandot, Dead Man Walking, Opera Ire?land. Films: Swansong, The Story of Occi Byrne by Conor MacDermottroe (IFTA nominated for "Best Costume Design"), Snap by Carmel Winters. Ms. O'Clery has a long association with The Abbey Theatre and was head of its costume department from 2002-2007.
Owen Roe (Hamm, Endgame) Gate Theatre: Caf on a Hot Tin Roof, God of Car?nage, Jane Eyre, Endgame, The Birds, Faith Healer (Sydney Festival 2009, Edinburgh International Fes?tival 2009, Gate Theatre 2009 and 2010), Uncle Vanya, Festen (Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for "Best Actor"), Catastrophe (Irish Times Irish The?atre Award for "Best Actor"), Greaf Expectations, Shadow of a Gunman, The Cherry Orchard, Ro?meo and Juliet. Other Theater: Titus Andronicus (Irish Times Irish Theatre Award "Best Actor" nom?inee). Siren Productions; The Taming of the Shrew (Irish Times Irish Theatre Award "Best Actor"), Copenhagen, Rough Magic; Skylight, Landmark Productions; Heavenly Bodies, The Peacock; The Gigli Concert, Abbey Theatre and Australia tour. FilmTelevision: Sensations, Swansong, Wide Open Spaces, When Harry Met Bob, Whistleblower, God's Executioner, The Galway Races, Alarm, Pride and Joy, Breakfast on Pluto, Intermission, Frankie Starlight, Michael Collins, When the Sky Falls, Val Falvey, Making The Cut, The Last Furlong, Prosperi?ty, In The Shadow of the North, Ballykissangel, The Ambassador, Anytime Now, The Broker's Man, Loving, Soft Sand, Blue Seas.
Alan Stanford (Director, Endgame) Gate Theatre: Directing credits include own adap?tations of Pride and Prejudice, The Old Curiosity Shop, Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, which he co-adapted.
Other productions for the Gate include God
of Carnage, Present Laughter (transfer to Spoleto Festival 2010), A Christmas Carol, The Real Thing, The Deep Blue Sea, Great Expectations, Private Lives, The Constant Wife, Romeo and Juliet, A Tale of Two Cities, Lady Windermere's Fan (1997 and 2005), Cyrano de Bergerac, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Endgame. Other Theatre: Mr. Stanford is Artistic Director of Second Age Theatre Company for whom he has most re?cently directed Hamlet, Philadelphia, Here I Come! and A Doll's House. He is an Associate Director of Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre for whom he has directed Salome, Betrayal, and Celebration. Film: Educating Rita, The Irish R.M., The Treaty, The Hanging Gale, Moll Flanders, Kidnapped, The American, Animal Farm, Waiting for Godot. Mr. Stanford has written a screenplay of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
David Eden Productions, Ltd (DEP) (Producer) has been one of the leading American organiza?tions devoted to producing international work in the US for over 20 years. Most recently, DEP has produced North American tours of Galway's Druid Theatre's The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Walworth Farce, and DruidSynge, which included presenta?tions of The Shadow of the Glen and The Playboy of the Western World. Other recent tours include the Gate Theatre Dublin's Waiting for Godot, De-clan Donnellan's Twelfth Night, Propeller's The Winter's Tale, Piccolo Teatro di Milano's Arlec-chino, the Russian Patriarchate Choir of Moscow, Batsheva Dance Company, and the State Ballet of Georgia with the legendary Bolshoi prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili. In 2004, David Eden curated Lin?coln Center Festival's Ashton Celebration, a two-week centennial retrospective at the Metropolitan Opera House celebrating master choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton. Other notable projects include US tours of the Bolshoi Ballet; festival programs for the Kennedy Center, including Arts of the United Kingdom (2001), Island: Arts from Ireland (2000), and Art of the State: Israel at 50 (1998); and pre?miere presentations of international theater and dance projects at the BAM Next Wave and Lincoln Center Festivals.
Gate Theatre Dublin
Administrative Staff
Michael Colgan, Director Padraig Heneghan, Deputy Director Teerth Chungh, Head of Production David Quinlan, Theatre Manager Jim McConnell, Production Manager Jennifer Higgins and Caroline Kennedy, Press and Marketing
Tour Production Staff
Leo McKenna, Tour Production Manager
Company Manager Miriam Duffy, Stage Director Valerie Keogh, Production Coordinator Kiki Beamish, Wardrobe Supervisor
Board of Directors
David Bunworth, Chairman Michael Colgan Ingrid Craigie Laurence Crowley Mary Finan Kevin McHugh
The Edwards-MacLiammoir Gate Theatre Trust
David Bunworth Alan Gray Ronnie Tallon
UMS Archives
T
his week's performances by the Gate Theatre Dublin mark the company's fifth, sixth, and seventh performances under UMS auspices. The company made its UMS debut in October 2000 with performances of Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Power Center (featuring Barry McGovern) and Krapp's Last Tape at the U-M Residential College Auditorium.
The Gate is grateful to The Arts Council for their continued support.
The Gate is grateful to be supported by Culture Ireland as part of Imagine Ireland, a Year of Irish Arts in America 2011.
The Gate Theatre is a not-for-profit organization which is administered by the Edwards-MacLiammoir Trust and funded in part by the Irish Arts Council.
For more information, please visit www.gatetheatre.ie
Watt and Endgame by Samuel Beckett are presented through special arrangement with Georges Borchardt, Inc. on behalf of the Estate of Samuel Beckett. All rights reserved.
David Eden Productions, Ltd
David Eden, Producer Erica Charpentier, General Manager Trevor Long, Production Manager Elise-Ann Konstantin, Visa Coordinator Lori Harrison, Atlas Travel, Travel Agent Scott Watson, Consultant
Download a free QR Scanner App for your smart phone, then scan this code for more information on Beckett and the Gate!
ums University Musical Society
presents
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra
Jeannette Sorrell, Music Director Philippe Jaroussky, Countertenor
Program
Antonio Vivaldi, Arr. Jeannette Sorrell
George Frideric Handel
Handel
Vivaldi
Handel
Handel
Thursday Evening, November 3, 2011 at 7:30 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor
Handel & Vivaldi Fireworks
"Concerto Grosso in D Major" after Concerto in D Major for Two Violins, RV 511 (excerpt) Allegro
Oreste (excerpt)
Agitato da fiere tempeste
Mr. Jaroussky
II Parnasso in Festa (excerpt) Ho perso il caro ben
Mr. Jaroussky
Concerto in a minor for Two Violins, Op. 3, No. 8, RV 522
Olivier Brauit and Johanna Novom, Violin
Imeneo (excerpt)
Se potessero I sospir miei
Mr. Jaroussky
Ariodante (excerpt) Con I'ali di costanza
Mr. Jaroussky INTERMISSION
Handel
Handel
Vivaldi
Vivaldi, Arr. Sorrell
Vivaldi
Vivaldi
Prelude in A Major
Ms. Sorrell
II pastor fido (Terpsichore), HWV 8c (excerpt) Chaconne
Mr. Jaroussky
Catone in Utica (excerpt) Se mai senti spirati sul volto
Mr. Jaroussky
"Concerto Grosso 'La Follia' (Madness)" after Trio Sonata in d minor, RV 63
Olivier Brault and Johanna Novom, Violin
Giustino (excerpt) Vedro con mio diletto Mr. Jaroussky
Tito Manlio (excerpt) Fra le procelle
Mr. Jaroussky
17th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
133rd Annual Choral Union Series
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
Media partnership is provided by WGTE 91.3 FM and Between the Lines.
Special thanks to Tom Thompson of Tom Thompson Flowers, Ann Arbor, for his generous contribution of lobby floral art for this evening's performance.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Handel & Vivaldi Fireworks
George Frideric Handel
Born February 23, 1685 in Halle, Germany
Died April 14, 1759 in London, England
Antonio Vivaldi
Born March 4, 1678 in Venice, Italy
Died July 27 or 28, 1741 in Vienna, Austria
Love and Rage: Operatic Fireworks from the 18th Century
"Farinelli drew every Body to the Haymarket. What a Pipe! What Modulation! What Extasy to the Ear!" --Roger Pickering, London, 1755
Tonight's concert is a tale of two cities--two great baroque cities that attracted the greatest compos?ers and singers of the time. Though 18th-century Venice and London boasted wealth and sophisti?cation, it was their opera stages, above all, that made them the spotlights of the world.
Venice was a city of cosmopolitan decadence. On a given day, Handel and Scarlatti might be found playing a duel as keyboardists at a lavish party, while down the street, foreign tourists lis?tened to a famous virtuoso orchestra of orphan girls, led by Vivaldi. Music was the supreme attrac?tion--especially opera, which flourished in eight opera theaters.
In this magical city lived Antonio Vivaldi, a priest (of sorts) who served as music-master for the or?phaned girls of the famous Ospedale della Pieta, while pursuing an ambitious international career as soloist and opera composer. And in this city, for about five years, visited the young George Frideric Handel--equally ambitious, equally international, and equally fascinated by opera. Both composers were destined for tumultuous successes, failures, and upheavals in their careers as they pursued that passionate art form of love and rage: opera.
A Priest Misunderstood
Many people think of Vivaldi as the composer of The Four Seasons. In reality, though, we are still in the early stages of getting to know his work. His 49 operas and approximately 30 sacred works are still in the process of being published. It is therefore surprising to hear prominent musicians talk about Handel as being "the only important baroque op-
era composer," and to hear people toss Vivaldi aside as merely a composer of violin concertos. When I ask these people how many of Vivaldi's operas they know, they look blank. Likewise, we tend to talk about Vivaldi as a composer of youthful, light music, forgetting that we are primarily acquainted with his concertos, which he wrote for performance by orphan girls. His operas and sacred music could hardly be described as light or playful.
Vivaldi had a meteoric career, achieving the pop?ularity of a rock star and then crashing to complete oblivion. In his concertos for his orphan protegees, he was the great developer of ritornello form--the form that became the model for concerto-writing by all European composers of the century, includ?ing J.S. Bach. The Italian word "ritornello" means something that returns. The same word is used to mean the refrain in pop music--and indeed, Viv?aldi's ritornellos convey the bold and driving sense of rhythm and melody found in pop music. Like pop composers today, he was writing for teenagers. The Concerto in a minor for Two Violins combines spirit?ed ritornellos with fiery solo writing and a poetically rhetorical slow movement.
Scholars believe that the great follia dance tune originated in Portugal, where girls would engage in the "folly" of a mad dance around the fire. The follia is a ground bass in haughty sarabande-like rhythm, traditionally growing faster and faster to?ward the end. It was said that the girls finished in a state of frenzied collapse. The theme is full of the tension of courtship and seduction, and has served as inspiration for variations by dozens of baroque composers, including Corelli, Marais, Geminiani, C.P.E. Bach, and of course, Vivaldi. Vivaldi's ver?sion, which I believe is the finest of them all, was originally a triosonata; I arranged it as a concerto grosso so that all of us could join in the fray.
Divas and Castrati
Opera performances in 18th-century Venice re?sembled the atmosphere of a casino--people chatting, playing cards, and shouting their approv?al or annoyance with the show. The operas were formulaic and the public demanded new ones every few weeks. This was the pop music of the times. Into this circus walked Handel and Vivaldi, both with ambitions to conquer the fickle public. In 1712 Handel indeed had the Venetian public at his feet with his wildly successful opera Agrippina,
performed 27 times that year.
Fifteen years later, we see Vivaldi, already an international operatic star, producing perhaps his greatest masterpiece for the stage: Orlando fu?rioso. With this opera, Vivaldi declared war on the trivial and formulaic operas that were all the rage. Based on the 16th-century epic poem by Ariosto, Orlando furioso is a tragic and heroic dramma per musica that explores the fragile strength of hu?manity. It can be seen as Vivaldi's manifesto, pro?claiming boldly that great music can and should be in the service of great drama.
London, too, was a city of rival opera com?panies and a fickle public. Handel made London his home after his Italian studies were completed, and during his checkered career in the opera world he both made and lost a fortune. In 1729 he became joint manager of the Theatre in the Haymarket, and travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. But he failed to compete with the rival Opera of the Nobility, who brought in more famous singers such the castrato Farinelli.
Seven of the eight arias performed tonight
were written for the great castrato singers of Italy (several of whom went to London to work with Handel). Castrati had entered the musical world in the late 16th century, when papal decree es?tablished them in the cathedral choirs. (Women were banned by the Vatican from performing.) By 1680, castrati were the rage. An Italian opera not featuring at least one renowned castrato would be doomed to fail. Singers such as Farinelli and Car-estini became the first operatic superstars, earning enormous fees and hysterical public adulation.
By presenting Vivaldi's neglected arias along?side the well-known ones of Handel, we hope to?night to give you, our Noble Publick, the chance to decide for yourselves: Does Vivaldi deserve a place beside Handel on the baroque opera stage
Program notes by Jeannette Sorrell.
@@@@N
amed for the classical god of music and the sun, Apollo's Fire was founded in 1992 by award-winning harpsichordist and conduc?tor Jeannette Sorrell. The ensemble is a collection
Seven Operas in One Night! A Whirlwind Tour
Handel's Oreste
1734 pastiche for Covent Garden. Cobbled togeth?er from earlier works by Handel, this opera featured the great Italian castrato Giovanni Carestini in the role of Oreste, the tragic Greek hero who must murder his mother in order to avenge his father's death.
Handel's Parnasso in Festa
1734 serenade for the wedding of Princess Anne and Prince William of Orange. At a wedding feast on Mount Parnassus, the great musician Orpheus sings the angst-ridden song of longing for his lost beloved: "Ho perso il caro ben."
Handel's Imeneo
1740 opera for Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Act I opens with Tirinto's lamentation for his lost be?loved, kidnapped by pirates: "Se potessero I sospir miei." The role of Tirinto was sung by castrato Giovanni Battista Andreoni.
Handel's Ariodante
1735 opera for Covent Garden, based on Ariosto's classic poem Orlando furioso. The Act I aria "Con I'ali di costanza" (With wings of faithfulness) was
written for Carestini, and contains many thrilling vocal acrobatics.
Vivaldi's Catone in Utica
1735 opera for the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. Com?posed to a pre-existing libretto by Metastasio, the op?era concerns Julius Caesar ("Cesare"), who sings the tender Act II aria "Se mai senti spirati sul volto." The role of Cesare was sung by castrato Giacomo Zaghini.
Vivaldi's Giustino
1724 dramma per musica for the carnival celebrations in Rome. Vivaldi recycled much of the music from his earlier works. Anastasio, the emperor of Byzantium, sings the Act I love song "Vedro con mio diletto." Anastasio was sung by the castrato Giovanni Ossi.
Vivaldi's Tito Manlio
1719 opera composed for the Duke of Mantua. Perhaps because of the lavish Mantuan resources, this opera features exuberant orchestral writing and many elaborate ensembles in addition to solo arias. The Act I! aria "Fra le procelle" depicts Tito being rescued from a storm at sea. The wild ac?companiment shows similarity to the concerto "La Tempesta di Mare."
of creative artists who share Ms. Sorrell's passion for the baroque ideals of rhetoric and emotional communication (Affekf) in music.
Since its sold-out London debut at Wigmore Hall in 2010, Apollo's Fire is credited with "forging a vibrant, life-affirming approach to the re-making of early music" (BBC Magazine). The ensemble's appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Library of Congress, and concerts this year in Los Angeles, San Francis?co, Toronto, Boston, Madrid, Lisbon, and Bordeaux.
Apollo's Fire has released 17 commercial CDs and currently records for the British label AVIE. Since the ensemble's introduction into the European CD mar?ket last summer, the recordings have won rave re?views in the European press. At home in Cleveland, the ensemble enjoys one of the largest subscription audiences of any American baroque orchestra.
@@@@J
eannette Sorrell is recognized internationally as a leading voice among early music conduc?tors. One of the youngest students ever ac?cepted to the prestigious conducting courses of the Aspen and the Tanglewood music festivals, she stud?ied conducting under Leonard Bernstein and Roger Norrington. After harpsichord studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam, she won first prize in two international harpsichord competitions.
Since founding Apollo's Fire in 1992, Ms. Sor?rell has attracted national attention and awards
for creative program?ming. She is twice the recipient of the presti?gious "American Mas?terpieces" grant from the National Endow?ment for the Arts, for her research in early American repertoire. Her guest engage?ments as conductor and solo keyboard art?ist include the Handel
and Haydn Society in Boston, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis with the St. Louis Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. She holds awards from the Cambridge Society for Early Music and the American Musicological Soci?ety, as well as an honorary doctorate from Case Western University.
P
hilippe Jaroussky, born in 1978, has al?ready established himself as one of the great vocal artists on the international scene. His awards include "Lyric Artist of the Year"--the French equivalent of a Grammy Award--and "Best Singer of the Year" at the Echo Classic Awards in
Munich. Since 2305, he has been in demand at the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, including the Theatre des Champs Elysees, London's Wigmore Hall and the Barbican Cen?tre, the Vienna Konzer-thaus, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Berlin Sta-atsoper, and the Palais des Beaux Arts n Brus-
sels. He has twice given recitals at Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Jaroussky has collaborated with conduc?tors and ensembles including William Christie (Les Arts Florissants), Mark Minkowski (Les Musiciens du Louvre), Christina Pluhar (L'Arpeggiata), and Jean-Chistophe Spinosi (Ensemble Matheus). His CD recording of Vivaldi opera arias, Heroes, was named "Disque d'Or" in France and won a Gram?ophone Award in the UK. His other recordings include discs of Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and French melodie, on EMI and Virgin Classics.
UMS welcomes Apollo's Fire, Jeannette Sorrell, and Philippe Jaroussky, who make their UMS debuts this evening.
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra
Jeannette Sorrell, Music Director
Violin
Olivier Brault, Concertmaster
Johanna Novom, Associate Concertmaster
Adriane Post, Principal
Cynthia Freivogel
Carrie Krause
Emi Tanabe
Beth Wenstrom
Viola
Karina Fox, Principal Kristen Linfante
Cello
Rene Schiffer, Principal Steuart Pincombe
Contrabass
Sue Yelanjian
Theorbo and Guitar
William Simms
Harpsichord
Jeannette Sorrell
ums University Musical Society
Jeannette Sorrell
Photo Simon fowler
Philippe Jaroussky
ums University Musical Society
presents
Audra McDonald
Soprano
Andy Einhorn, Music Director and Piano Mark Vanderpoel, Bass Gene Lewin, Drums
Friday Evening, November 4, 2011 at 8:00 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor
Tonight's program is approximately 90 minutes in duration and will be announced from the stage by the artists. It will be performed without intermission.
18th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
77ie photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
This evening's performance is sponsored by KeyBank.
This evening's performance is supported by Robert and Pearson Macek in memory of Shirley Verrett.
Special thanks to Retirement Income Solutions for their generous sponsorship of this evening's Prelude Dinner.
Special thanks to Brent Wagner, Chair of the U-M Musical Theatre Department, for speaking at this evening's Prelude Dinner.
Media partnership is provided by Metro Times, The Michigan Chronicle, Ann Arbor's 107one, and WEMU 89.1 FM.
The Steinway piano used in this evening's performance is made possible by William and Mary Palmer and by the Steinway Piano Gallery of Detroit.
Audra McDonald appears by arrangement with IMG Artists, New York, NY.
Large print programs are available upon request.
ums University Musical Society
A
udra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actress. With four Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a long list of other accolades to her name, she is among today's most highly regarded performers. Blessed with a luminous soprano and an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling, she is equally at home on Broadway and opera stages as in roles on film and television. In addition to her theatrical work, she maintains a major career as a concert and recording artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world.
In the summer of 2011, after four seasons play?ing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's hit television series Private Practice, Ms. McDonald turns her attention back to live performances, making her role debut as the title character in a new musical adaptation of the Gershwins' folk opera, Porgy and Bess, at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In December the production trans?fers to the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, marking Ms. McDonald's first Broadway appear?ance since 2007, when she received a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for her performance in 110 in the Shade. Between the runs in Cam?bridge and New York of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Ms. McDonald embarks on a 20-city concert tour across North America, presenting her trade?mark mix of show tunes, classic songs from mov?ies, and pieces written expressly for her by lead?ing contemporary composers. Performing with a wide range of ensembles, from solo piano to full orchestra, tour highlights include season-opening concerts at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the Celebrity Series in Boston, as well as perfor?mances at Washington DCs Kennedy Center and New York's Carnegie Hall.
Born into a musical family, Ms. McDonald grew up in Fresno, California and received her classical vocal training at The Juilliard School. One year after graduating, she won her first Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical" for Carousel at Lincoln Center Theater, directed by Nicholas Hytner. She received two additional Tony Awards in the "Featured Actress" category over the next four years for her performances in the Broadway premieres of Terrence McNally's play Master Class (1996) and his musical Ragtime (1998), earning her an unprecedented three Tony Awards before turning 30. In 2004 she won her fourth Tony, starring with Sean "Diddy" Combs in
A Raisin in the Sun. Her other theater credits in?clude The Secret Garden (1993), Marie Christine (1999), Henry IV (2004), 710 in the Shade (2007), and, most recently, her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park debut in Twelfth Night alongside Anne Hathaway and Raul Esparza (2009).
Ms. McDonald made her opera debut in 2006 at Houston Grand Opera, which featured her in a double-bill of Poulenc's monodrama La voix hu-maine and the world premiere of Send, a com?panion-piece to the Poulenc written by one of her frequent collaborators, composer Michael John LaChiusa. She made her Los Angeles Opera debut in 2007 in John Doyle's production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. The result?ing recording won Ms. McDonald two Grammy Awards, for "Best Opera Recording" and "Best Classical Album."
On the concert stage, she has premiered music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams and sung with virtually every major American or?chestra--including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Phil?harmonic, National Symphony, New York Philhar?monic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony--and under such conductors as Sir Si?mon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Leonard Slat-kin. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1998 with the San Francisco Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas in a season-opening con?cert that was broadcast live on PBS. Internation?ally, she is a returning guest at the BBC Proms in London (where she was only the second American in more than 100 years to solo on the famed "Last Night of the Proms" at the Royal Albert Hall) and at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, as well as with the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Phil?harmonic.
A familiar face on PBS, Ms. McDonald has headlined telecasts including an American Song-book season-opening concert, a presentation of Sondheim's Passion, a tribute concert to Rodgers and Hammerstein titled Something Wonderful, and three galas with the New York Philharmonic: a New Year Eve's performance in 2006, a concert celebrating Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday, and most recently, Carnegie Hall's 120th Anniversary Concert. She was also featured in the PBS televi?sion special A Broadway Celebration: In Perfor?mance at the White House, singing at the request of President Obama and the First Lady.
As an exclusive Nonesuch recording artist, Ms.
McDonald has released four solo albums on the label, interpreting songs from the classic to the contemporary. Her first Nonesuch album, 1998's Way Back to Paradise, was named "Adult Record of the Year" by The New York Times. Following the best-selling How Glory Goes in 2000 and Hap?py Songs in 2002, she released the 2006 album Build a Bridge, which saw the singer stretch her repertoire to include songs by the likes of Randy Newman, Elvis CostelloBurt Bacharach, Rufus Wainwright, and Nellie McKay. Her ensemble recordings include the acclaimed EMI version of Bernstein's Wonderful Town conducted by Sir Si?mon Rattle, the New York Philharmonic release of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and Dreamgirls in Concert, as well as the first recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro and Broadway cast al?bums of Carousel, Ragtime, Marie Christine, and 110 in the Shade.
In addition to her professional obligations, Ms. McDonald is an ardent proponent of marriage equality and sits on the advisory board of the ad?vocacy organization Broadway Impact. Of all her many roles, her favorite is that of mother to her daughter, Zoe Madeline.
In demand as music director, conductor, pianist, orchestrator, arranger, and vocal coach, Andy Einhorn boasts Broadway credits for Brief En?counter, The Light in the Piazza, and Sondheim on Sondheim, which won a Grammy nod for "Best Original Broadway Cast Recording." He is also recognized for his frequent collaborations with many of the musical theater world's biggest stars, including Kristin Chenoweth, Barbara Cook, and Audra McDonald.
Mr. Einhorn received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award nomination for "Outstand?ing Music Direction" for his work on the Swee-
ney Todd national tour. Other tour credits in?clude The Light in the Piazza. South Pacific, White Christmas, Mam?ma Mia!, and The Lion King.
He was music direc?tor of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for PaperMill Play?house and the world-
premiere production of Henry Krieger's Radio Girl at Goodspeed. He orchestrated Adam Gwon's The Boy Detective Fails at Signature Theatre and She Loves Me for Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He was principal vocal coach and pianist for Houston Grand Opera's An Evening with Audra McDonald, a double-bill of Poulenc's La voix humaine and La-Chiusa's Send.
Mr. Einhorn has served as music director and pianist for Ms. McDonald, performing with her at the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Sympho?ny, and Carnegie Hall. In the fall of 2011 he joins her on a coast-to-coast tour of North America.
Mr. Einhorn has also music directed for Barbara Cook at venues including Feinstein's and Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. DRG Records recent?ly released an album of his recent collaboration with Ted Chapin, Stage Door Canteen, previously seen at the 92nd Street Y.
An honors graduate of Rice University, Mr. Ein?horn is a native of Houston, Texas. He now lives in New York City.
Mark Vanderpoel is a native of San Diego, Cali?fornia and a former member of the San Diego Symphony, in addition to various orchestras and chamber groups in the Baja, California area of Mexico. He attended the University of California San Diego, where he studied under the direction of Bertram Turetzky. After UCSD, Mr. Vanderpoel attended the University of Southern California and later received a master's degree from the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied with Charlie Hayden and Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz. Now liv?ing in New York, Mr. Vanderpoel works extensively on and off Broadway. His credits include Jane Eyre, Amour, See What I Wanna See, Legally Blonde, and Guys and Dolls. Mr. Vanderpoel has recently been performing on the rock-and-roll circuit with
David Johansson and Clay Aiken. In summer 2010, he had the privi?lege of performing for President Obama and assembled dignitaries in A Broadway Celebra?tion: In Performance at the White House, which was later televised na?tionally on PBS. Mr. Vanderpoel has also ap-
Andy Einhorn
Mark Vanderpoel
peared with the American Symphony Orchestra, James Taylor, Cyndi Lauper, Nancy Sinatra, Sir Cliff Richard, Audra McDonald, Rob Evans, and the Moody Blues World Festival Orchestra.
Gene Lewin appears on 33 CDs, with several more soon to be released. His eclectic discography ranges from the modern jazz of Fundementia (a group he co-led with saxophonistcomposer Andy Parsons) to the electric-violin pop of GrooveLily. Several straight-ahead jazz projects and singer-songwriter efforts round out the list.
Mr. Lewin drums, sings, and composes for GrooveLily, a trio that has been together for 15 years and has toured extensively in the US and
Canada. While they have morphed through many different musical scenes (and hair styles), they are now focused on creating hybrid musical theater; performances that feel both like concert and story. The band's credits in this area include a production of Shakespeare's A
Midsummer Night's Dream (directed by Tina Landau), Striking 12, and the forthcoming autobiographical show Wheelhouse.
Mr. Lewin isalso active in New York City'sjazz scene, performing and recording with many well-respected singers and instrumentalists. He has appeared on CDs with bassists John Patitucci and Scott Colley, guitarists Ben Monder and Steve Cardenas, jazz legend tenor saxophonist George Coleman, bassistvocalist Jay Leonhart, and many others.
Originally an engineering major at Princeton University, Mr. Lewin soon changed paths and returned to school to receive a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 1991. He sends love to wife Suzanne and sons Elias and Jacob.
UMS Archives
T
his evening's performance marks Audra McDonald's fourth appearance under UMS auspices. Ms. McDonald made her UMS debut in March 2000 at the Power Center and last appeared in January 2005 at Hill Auditorium.
Gene Lewin makes his second UMS appearance tonight. Mr. Lewin last appeared at UMS with Ms. McDonald in January 2005. UMS welcomes Mark Vanderpoel and Andy Einhorn, who make their UMS debuts this evening.
Gene Lewin
urns
presents
Diego El Cigala
Diego El Cigala, Vocals
Yelsy Heredia, Bass
Sabu Sucirez, Flamenco Percussion
Jaime Calabuch "Jumitus," Piano
Diego Del Morao, Flamenco Guitar
Bernardo Fernandez, Violin
Program
Saturday Evening, November 5, 2011 at 8:00 Michigan Theater Ann Arbor
Cigala & Tango
Tonight's program will be announced from the stage by the artists. It will be performed without intermission.
19th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
UMS World Series
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
Media partnership is provided by WEMU 89.1 FM.
Diego El Cigala appears by arrangement with Maurice Montoya Music Agency.
Large print programs are available upon request.
R
amon Jimenez Salazar is the name shown on Diego El Cigala's passport. Diego's name is the result of a family dispute while at the baptismal font. "El Cigala" was a name given to him by the Losada brothers--and not by Camaron, as it is often said--during one of their first tours.
Diego was born in the cold month of Decem?ber 1968, on Provisiones Street near the famous Madrilian fleet market "El Rastro." His mother, Au?rora Salazar Motos, sister of the great musician Ra?fael Farina from the Spanish city of Salamanca, did not pursue a professional career as a singer but she touched those who listened to her flamenco echo. His Andalusian father, Jose de Cordoba, made a living at popular tablaos (flamenco clubs) such as Torres Bermejas, El Corral de la Pacheca, and Arco de Cuchilleros.
Young Diego spent his time running after a football but whenever he would hear someone singing, he would drop everything just to listen. Barely 12 years old, he won the Certamen Flamen?co Joven de Getafe (a flamenco competition in Madrid for young singers) as well as an award on the Spanish TV show Genfe Joven. Soon after, he started to sing for well-known flamenco dancers such as Cristobal Reyes, Mario Maya, Manolete, Farruco, Manuel Camacho, and El Guito. Musi?cians such as Camar6n, Tomatito, Gerardo Nunez, and Vicente Amigo have relied on his collaboration for their recordings.
In 1997, Diego began his solo career with the album Undebel, produced by David Amaya. This album featured guitarists Anton Jimenez, David Amaya, Paquete, and Tomatito. In 2000, his sec?ond album Entre vareta y canasta was released by 18 Chulos, a record label owned by the artists Wy?oming, Santiago Segura, and Faemino y Cansado. It was Wyoming who introduced Diego to Fernan?do Trueba (a prominent Spanish film director) who was interested in listening to the CD and ended up filming the music video of the album's first single.
A year later, Diego released Corren tiempos de alegria, a collaboration with some of the jazz musicians who participated in the film Calle 54 by Trueba. Among them, two artists would mark his career: Bebo Valdes and Jerry Gonzalez. The album was nominated for a Latin Grammy for "Best Fla?menco Album."
With Jerry Gonzalez, Diego recorded the al?bum Piratas del flamenco and during that year, they both toured throughout Mexico and Spain
with a breathtaking live show. In 2002, El Cigala conquered one of the most coveted stages: the Teatro Real in Madrid. The recordings of this con?cert, which included a collaboration with Nino Jo-sele, became a monumental flamenco manifesto from this Madrilian singer.
Diego El Cigala's first taste of international suc?cess came in 2003 with the release of Lagrimas Negras, the album that united Diego with Bebo Valdes on piano. At the end of 2004, the album had sold more than 700,000 copies around the world, by 2008 more than one million.
The Ondas Award became the first of many awards for Diego including remarkable ones such as Microfono de Oro, five Amigo Awards and five Latin Grammy Award nominations. Prior to this recognition, The New York Times music critic, Ben Ratliff, selected Lagrimas Negras as the "2003 Al?bum of the Year."
In 2005, Diego decided to return to flamenco paying homage to one of the greatest painters of all times, Pablo Ruiz Picasso. In this CD, musicians such as Paco de Lucia, Tomatito, Raimundo Ama-dor, Josemi Carmona, and Jerry Gonzalez contrib?uted their sound to lyrics that range from the clas?sic "Se equivoco la paloma" by Rafael Albeiti to other tunes by contemporary composers such as Javier Rubial, Javier Krahe, or Carlos Chaouen. Pi?casso en mis ojos became "Disco de Oro" in Spain and also in Venezuela.
In 2006, Cigala hit the shelves, a compila?tion of Diego's work in five CDs. He also shared the stage with Salif Keita, considered the golden voice of African music, at the Biennial Festival of Seville. The occasion confirmed Diego's capacity to adapt his style to great traditional music. That same year, he became the new main attraction at the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony receiving the award for "Best Flamenco Album" for Picasso en mis ojos, as well the award for "Best Long Form Music Video" for "Blanco y Negro," directed by Fernando Trueba for the album Lagrimas Negras.
UMS welcomes Diego El Cigala, who makes his UMS debut this evening.
Touring Staff
Alvaro Mata, FOH Engineer Borja Perez, Monitor Engineer Jesus Lumbreras, Tour Manager