Season 2015-2016 - The Philadelphia Orchestra

27
Season 2015-2016
Thursday, December 31,
at 7:30
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor
Angela Meade Soprano
David Kim Violin
Rossini Overture to The Barber of Seville
Puccini “Mi chiamano Mimì,” from La bohème
Puccini Intermezzo from Act III of Manon Lescaut
Puccini “O mio babbino caro,” from Gianni Schicchi
Verdi Overture to La forza del destino
Verdi “Pace, pace, mio Dio!” from La forza del destino
Intermission
Verdi Prelude to Act I of La traviata
Verdi “È strano! … Ah, fors’è lui … Sempre libera,” from
La traviata
Mascagni Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana
Cilea “Ecco: respiro appena … Io son l’umile ancella,”
from Adriana Lecouvreur
Massenet “Meditation,” from Thaïs, for violin and orchestra
J. Strauss, Jr. “Tales from the Vienna Woods” Waltz,
Op. 325
This program runs approximately 2 hours.
Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI
90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit wrti.org to
listen live or for more details.
2 Story Title
28
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Jessica Griffin
The Philadelphia Orchestra
is one of the preeminent
orchestras in the world,
renowned for its distinctive
sound, desired for its
keen ability to capture the
hearts and imaginations
of audiences, and admired
for a legacy of imagination
and innovation on and off
the concert stage. The
Orchestra is transforming its
rich tradition of achievement,
sustaining the highest
level of artistic quality, but
also challenging—and
exceeding—that level by
creating powerful musical
experiences for audiences at
home and around the world.
Music Director Yannick
Nézet-Séguin’s highly
collaborative style, deeplyrooted musical curiosity,
and boundless enthusiasm,
paired with a fresh approach
to orchestral programming,
have been heralded by
critics and audiences alike
since his inaugural season in
2012. Under his leadership
the Orchestra returned to
recording, with two celebrated
CDs on the prestigious
Deutsche Grammophon
label, continuing its history
of recording success. The
Orchestra also reaches
thousands of listeners on the
radio with weekly Sunday
afternoon broadcasts on
WRTI-FM.
Carnegie Hall and the
Kennedy Center while also
enjoying summer residencies
in Saratoga Springs, New
York, and Vail, Colorado.
Philadelphia is home and
the Orchestra nurtures an
important relationship with
patrons who support the
main season at the Kimmel
Center, and also with those
who enjoy the Orchestra’s
area performances at the
Mann Center, Penn’s Landing,
and other cultural, civic,
and learning venues. The
Orchestra maintains a strong
commitment to collaborations
with cultural and community
organizations on a regional
and national level.
The Philadelphia Orchestra
serves as a catalyst for
cultural activity across
Philadelphia’s many
communities, as it builds an
offstage presence as strong
as its onstage one. The
Orchestra’s award-winning
Collaborative Learning
initiatives engage over
50,000 students, families,
and community members
through programs such as
PlayINs, side-by-sides, PopUp
concerts, free Neighborhood
Concerts, School Concerts,
and residency work in
Philadelphia and abroad.
The Orchestra’s musicians,
in their own dedicated
roles as teachers, coaches,
and mentors, serve a key
role in growing young
musician talent and a love
of classical music, nurturing
and celebrating the wealth
of musicianship in the
Philadelphia region. For
more information on The
Philadelphia Orchestra,
please visit www.philorch.org.
Through concerts, tours,
residencies, presentations,
and recordings, the Orchestra
is a global ambassador for
Philadelphia and for the
United States. Having been
the first American orchestra
to perform in China, in 1973
at the request of President
Nixon, The Philadelphia
Orchestra today boasts a new
partnership with the National
Centre for the Performing
Arts in Beijing. The ensemble
annually performs at
6
Music Director
Chris Lee
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who holds the
Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, is an inspired leader
of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and he has renewed his
commitment to the ensemble through the 2021-22 season.
His highly collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity,
and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach
to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics
and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him
“phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble,
famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has
never sounded better.” Highlights of his fourth season include
a year-long exploration of works that exemplify the famous
Philadelphia Sound, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and
other pieces premiered by the Orchestra; a Music of Vienna
Festival; and the continuation of a commissioning project for
principal players.
Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the
highest caliber and one of the most thrilling talents of his
generation. He has been music director of the Rotterdam
Philharmonic since 2008 and artistic director and principal
conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since
2000. He also continues to enjoy a close relationship with
the London Philharmonic, of which he was principal guest
conductor. He has made wildly successful appearances with
the world’s most revered ensembles, and he has conducted
critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading
opera houses.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership The
Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with two CDs
on that label; the second, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a
Theme of Paganini with pianist Daniil Trifonov, was released
in August 2015. He continues fruitful recording relationships
with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics,
and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic and Choir for
the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA
Classique.
A native of Montreal, Yannick studied at that city’s
Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned
conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt
at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors
are appointments as Companion of the Order of Canada
and Officer of the National Order of Quebec, a Royal
Philharmonic Society Award, Canada’s National Arts Centre
Award, the Prix Denise-Pelletier, Musical America’s 2016
Artist of the Year, and honorary doctorates from the University
of Quebec, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Westminster
Choir College.
To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.
29
Soloist
Dario Acosta
Hailed as “the most talked about soprano of her
generation” (Opera News), American soprano Angela
Meade is the recipient of the 2012 Beverly Sills Artist
Award from the Metropolitan Opera and the 2011 Richard
Tucker Award. She joined an elite group of singers when
she made her professional operatic debut on the Met
stage in 2008, substituting for an ill colleague in the role
of Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani. She had previously sung at
the Met as one of the winners of the 2007 Metropolitan
Opera National Council Auditions, a process documented
in the film The Audition, released on DVD by Decca. She
was also the face of the Opera News 2014 “Diva Issue.”
Highlights of Ms. Meade’s 2015-16 season include
Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore at the Met, the Deutsche
Oper Berlin, and the Palacio de la Opera in Spain’s A
Coruña, and revisiting her celebrated portrayal of the
title role in Bellini’s Norma at Los Angeles Opera. On the
concert stage she performs selections from Mozart’s
Don Giovanni with the Baltimore Symphony; makes her
Cincinnati Symphony debut under Giancarlo Guerrero
in her first performances of Rachmaninoff’s The Bells;
debuts with the St. Louis Symphony in Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony; and sings Verdi’s Requiem on three continents:
with the Boston Philharmonic, Brazil’s Fundação Orquestra
Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and with Spain’s
Asociación Bilbaína de Amigos de la Ópera. Last season
Ms. Meade reprised Verdi’s Elvira at the Met, singing
opposite Plácido Domingo under the baton of James
Levine; sang the title role of Rossini’s Ermione at the
Palacio de la Opera; and, as one of the few sopranos
to feature all three of Donizetti’s Tudor queens in her
repertoire, headlined Maria Stuarda in concert at Oregon’s
Astoria Music Festival.
Ms. Meade made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in June
2009 on a Best of Baroque concert and her subscription
debut in October 2012 in Verdi’s Requiem, after being
called again on short notice to replace an ailing colleague.
Most recently she appeared with the ensemble in fall 2014
for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”). She returns
to Verizon Hall in March for the Orchestra’s performances
of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. Ms. Meade is a native of
Washington and an alumnus of the Academy of Vocal Arts
in Philadelphia.
30
Soloist
Jessica Griffin
Violinist David Kim was named concertmaster of The
Philadelphia Orchestra in 1999. Born in Carbondale, Illinois,
in 1963, he started playing the violin at the age of three,
began studies with the famed pedagogue Dorothy DeLay
at the age of eight, and later received his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the Juilliard School.
Highlights of Mr. Kim’s 2015-16 season include teaching/
performance residencies at Oberlin College in Ohio,
Bob Jones University in South Carolina, and the Boston
Conservatory; continued appearances as concertmaster of
the All-Star Orchestra on PBS stations across the United
States and online at the Kahn Academy; recitals, speaking
engagements, and appearances with orchestras across the
United States; and the launching of the first annual David
Kim Orchestral Institute of Cairn University in Philadelphia.
Mr. Kim appears as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra
each season (having made his Orchestra solo debut in
November 2000 with the Dvořák Concerto and Wolfgang
Sawallisch conducting) as well as with numerous orchestras
around the world. He also appears internationally at
such festivals as Grand Teton (Wyoming), Brevard (North
Carolina), MasterWorks (Indiana), and Pacific (Sapporo,
Japan).
Mr. Kim has been awarded honorary doctorates from
Eastern University in suburban Philadelphia, the University
of Rhode Island, and Dickinson College. His instruments
are a J.B. Guadagnini from Milan, ca. 1757, on loan from The
Philadelphia Orchestra, and a Michael Angelo Bergonzi from
Cremona, ca. 1754. Mr. Kim resides in a Philadelphia suburb
with his wife, Jane, and daughters, Natalie and Maggie. He
is an avid runner, golfer, and outdoorsman.
31
“Mi chiamano Mimì,” from La bohème
(Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa)
Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì,
ma il mio nome è Lucia.
La storia mia è breve:
a tela o a seta
ricamo in casa e fuori.
Son tranquilla e lieta,
ed è mio svago far gigli e rose.
Mi piaccion quelle cose
che han sì dolce malìa,
che parlano d’amor, di primavere;
che parlano di sogni e di chimere,
quelle cose che han nome poesia.
Lei m’intende?
Yes. They call me Mimi,
but my name is Lucia.
My story is brief:
I embroider linen or silk,
at home or outside.
I’m contented and happy,
and it’s my pleasure to make roses and lilies.
I love those things
that possess such sweet enchantment,
that speak of love and springtime;
that speak of dreams and illusions,
those things that people call poetic.
Do you understand?
Mi chiamano Mimì,
il perchè non so.
Sola mi fo il pranzo da me stessa.
Non vado sempre a messa,
ma prego assai il Signor.
Vivo sola, soletta,
là in una bianca cameretta;
guardo sui tetti e in cielo,
ma quando vien lo sgelo,
il primo sole è mio;
il primo bacio dell’aprile è mio!
Il primo sole è mio!
Germoglia in un vaso una rosa:
foglia a foglia la spio!
Così gentil il profumo d’un fior.
Ma i fior ch’io faccio, ahimè!
non hanno odore!
Altro di me non le saprei narrare:
sono la sua vicina
che la vien fuori d’ora a
importunare.
They call me Mimi,
why, I don’t know.
All alone I make my own supper.
I don’t always go to Mass,
but I pray diligently to God.
I live alone, quite alone,
there in a little white room;
I overlook roofs and sky,
but when the thaw comes,
the first sunshine is mine;
April’s first kiss is mine!
The first sunshine is mine!
In a vase a rose comes into bloom;
petal by petal I watch it!
The scent of a flower is so sweet.
But the flowers I make, alas,
have no smell!
There’s no more I can tell you about myself:
I am your neighbor
who comes to bother you at the wrong
moment.
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
Please turn the page quietly.
32
“O! mio babbino caro,” from Gianni
Schicchi
(Giovacchino Forzano)
O! mio babbino caro,
mi piace, è bello, bello;
vo’ andare in Porta Rossa
a comperar l’anello!
Si, si, ci voglio andare!
E se l’amassi indarno,
andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,
ma per buttarmi in Arno!
Mi struggo e mi tormento!
O Dio, vorrei morir!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Oh, dear father,
I like him, he’s so handsome;
I want to go to Porta Rossa
to buy the ring!
Yes, yes, I do want to go!
And if I were to love him in vain,
I’d go to the Ponte Vecchio
and throw myself in the Arno!
I fret and suffer torments!
Oh, God, I wish I could die!
Father, have pity, have pity!
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
“Pace, pace, mio Dio!” from La forza
del destino
(Francesco Maria Piave)
Pace, pace, mio Dio!
Cruda sventura
m’astringe, ahimè, a languir;
come il di primo da tant’anni dura
profondo il mio soffrir.
Pace, pace, mio Dio!
L’amai, gli è ver!
Ma di beltà e valore
cotanto Iddio l’ornò,
che l’amo ancor,
nè togliermi dal core
l’immagin sua saprò.
Fatalità! Fatalità! Fatalità!
Un delitto disgiunti n’ha quaggiù!
Alvaro, io t’amo,
e su nel cielo è scritto
non ti vedrò mai più!
Oh Dio, Dio, fa ch’io muoia;
chè la calma può darmi morte sol.
Invan la pace qui sperò quest’alma
in preda a tanto duol.
Peace, peace, my God!
Cruel misfortune
forces me, alas, to languish;
deep as on the first day, for so many years
my suffering has endured.
Peace, peace, my God!
I loved him, it is true!
But God endowed him
with such beauty and valor,
that I love him still,
nor will I be able to tear his image
from my heart.
Fate!
A crime has separated us in this world!
Alvaro, I love you,
and in the heavens above it is written
that I shall never see you again!
Oh God, let me die;
since death alone can bring me peace.
In vain my soul hoped for peace here,
while prey to such grief.
33
Misero pane, a prolungarmi vieni
la sconsolata vita.
Ma chi giunge?
Chi profanare ardisce il sacro loco?
Maledizione! Maledizione!
Wretched bread, you are here to prolong
my disconsolate life.
But who is approaching?
Who dares to profane this sacred place?
A curse! A curse upon you!
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
Verdi: “È strano! ... Ah, fors’è lui …
Sempre libera,” from La traviata
(Francesco Maria Piave)
È strano! È strano!
In core scolpiti ho quegli accenti!
Sarìa per me sventura un serio amore?
Che risolvi, o turbata anima mia?
Null’uomo ancora t’accendeva.
O gioia ch’io non conobbi,
esser amata amando!
E sdegnarla poss’io
per l’aride follie del viver mio?
How strange! How strange!
His words are burned upon my heart!
Would a real love be a tragedy for me?
What decision are you taking, oh my soul?
No man has ever made me fall in love.
What joy, such as I have never known—
loving, being loved!
And can I scorn it
for the arid nonsense of my present life?
Ah, fors’è lui che l’anima
solinga ne’ tumulti
godea sovente pingere
de’ suoi colori occulti!
Lui, che modesto e vigile
all’egre soglie ascese,
e nuova febbre accese
destandomi all’amor!
A quell’amor ch’è palpito
dell’universo intero,
misterioso, altero,
croce e delizia al cor!
Ah!
Ah, perhaps he is the one whom my soul,
lonely in the tumult,
loved to imagine
in secrecy!
Watchful, though I never knew it,
he came here while I lay sick,
awakening a new fever,
the fever of love.
Love that is the very breath
of the universe itself—
mysterious, noble,
both cross and ecstasy of the heart.
Ah!
Follie! Delirio vano è questo!
Povera donna, sola, abbandonata
in questo popoloso deserto
che appellano Parigi.
Che spero or più?
Che far degg’io!
Gioire, di voluttà nei vortici perir!
Gioire!
Folly! This is mad delirium!
A poor woman, alone, lost
in this crowded desert
known to men as Paris.
What can I hope for?
What should I do?
Revel in the whirlpool of earthly pleasures.
Revel in joy!
Please turn the page quietly.
34
Sempre libera degg’io
folleggiare di gioia in gioia,
vo’ che scorra il viver mio,
pei sentieri del piacer
nasca il giorno, o il giorno muoia,
sempre lieta ne’ ritrovi,
a diletti sempre nuovi
dee volare il mio pensier.
Forever free, I must pass
madly from joy to joy;
my life’s course shall be
forever in the paths of pleasure
whether it be dawn or dusk,
I must always live
gaily in the world’s gay places,
ever seeking newer joys.
Follie! follie! follie!
Gioire! gioire!
Folly! Folly! Folly!
From joy to joy!
Sempre libera degg’io (ecc.)
Forever free, I must pass (etc.)
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
“Ecco: respiro appena … Io son
l’umile ancella,” from Adriana
Lecouvreur
(Arturo Colautti)
Ecco: respiro appena.
Io son l’umile ancella
del genio creator:
ei m’offre la favella,
io la diffondo ai cuor.
Del verso io son l’accento,
l’eco del dramma uman,
il fragile strumento
vassallo della man.
Mite, gioconda, atroce,
mi chiamo Fedeltà:
un soffio è la mia voce,
che al nuovo di morrà.
See: I can hardly breathe.
I am the humble servant
of the creative spirit:
He gives me the words,
I pass them on to people’s hearts.
I am only the voice of his verse,
the echo of the human drama,
the fragile instrument
he plays with his hand.
Mild, happy, terrible,
my name is Fidelity:
my voice is a breath
that tomorrow will die.
English translation by Darrin T. Britting
English translations © The Philadelphia Orchestra. All rights reserved.