Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Programs, Summer, 1991
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A Break forYou A Break for Us Help the Boston Symphony Orchestra acquire a collection of outstanding string instruments for concert performance by BSO musicians. Owners of fine musical instruments are eligible for a significant tax deduction on federal income taxes when such instruments are donated to the BSO this year. The deduction will be based on the current, appreciated value of the instrument. Gifts must be made on or before December 31, 1991. In addition to outright gifts, this year, income-pro- ducing arrangements with tax benefits are available. For further information please visit the Friends Office at Tanglewood or contact John C. Marksbury or Joyce M. Serwitz at Symphony Hall, Boston (617) 266-1492. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT ACQUISITION FUND Tangtewqpd Wednesday, July 17, at 8:30 FREDERICA VON STADE, mezzo-soprano MARTIN KATZ, piano RESPIGHI Pioggia PUCCINI E l'uccellino RESPIGHI E se un giorno tornasse RESPIGHI Venitelo a vedere PIZZETTI I pastori SCHUBERT An Silvia, D.891 Die Liebe hat gelogen, D.751 Geheimes, D.719 Nachtstiick (Wenn iiber Berge sich der Nebel breitet), D.672b Der Musensohn, D.764 MOZART "Giunse alfin il momento . Al desio, di chi t'adora," Rondo for soprano, K.577 INTERMISSION MESSIAEN Trois Melodies Pourquoi? Le Sourire La Fiancee perdue HONEGGER Petit Cours de morale Jeanne Adele Cecile Irene Rosemonde SATIE Trois Melodies La Statue de bronze Dapheneo Le Chapelier POULENC Hotel Les Gars qui vont a la fete SCHOENBERG Three Brettl-lieder (Cabaret Songs) Galathea Gigerlette Aus dem Spiegel von Arcadia The audience is politely requested to withhold applause until after each group of songs. Please do not applaud after the individual songs within each group. Martin Katz plays the Steinway piano. Notes In the late nineteenth century, the leading Italian composers wrote operas in a style known as verismo ("realism"), which most often drew material from the new naturalis- tic works of European literature, treating the real lives of characters from the lower social strata. Eventually the term verismo became applied to operas of a highly emo- tional, even melodramatic, cast by such composers as Puccini and later Pizzetti and Respighi. But all three of these composers also wrote at least a few songs for voice and piano. Naturally the love of vocal melody that served them so well in their operas showed up in their songs, too, and their ability to paint a mood continued to stand them in good stead. Best-known for his orchestral trilogy The Pines of Rome, The Foun- tains ofRome, and Roman Festivals, Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) was exceptionally sensitive to visual imagery, and his ability to translate the imagery and mood of poems into supple song made him one of the leading Italian song composers of his genera- Week 3 . — tion. The operas of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) were so extraordinarily successful that he rarely bothered composing anything else; E Vuccellino dates from 1899, which puts it between La boheme and Tosca. Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968) composed Ipastori in 1908 and later orchestrated the song. He had already worked with the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio in creating the incidental score for a stage play. D'Annunzio later created the libretti for Pizzetti's operas Fedra and Gigliola. RESPIGHI Pioggia (Pompily) Piovea; per le finestre spalancate, It rained A quella tregua di osdnati ardori, Through the wide open window like waves saliano dal giardin fresche folate of obstinate summer heat d'erbe risorte e di risorti fiori. Rose fresh whiffs of the reborn grasses and reborn flowers. S'acchetava il tumulto dei colori The heat was lessening under the veil of sotto il vel delle gocciole implorate; the implored drops. E intorno ai pioppi ai frassini agli allori Around the poplar, the ash and the laurel Beveano ingorde le zolle assertate. trees Thirsty clods drank greedily. Esser pianta, esser foglia, esser stello Would that I were a plant, a leaf, a stem, E nell'angoscia dell' ardor (pensavo) In the anguish of the heat, I thought, Cosi largo ristoro aver dal cielo! Such great relief I would receive from Sul davanzal protesa io gli arboscelli, the skies. i fiori, l'erbe guardavo . Leaning far out of the window mi battea la pioggia sui cappelli. I looked and looked upon the bushes, the flowers and the grasses. The rain pattered down on my hair. PUCCINI E l'uccellino (Fucini) E l'uccellino canta sulla fronda: While the little bird sings on the branch, Dormi tranquillo, boccuccia d'amore; sleep quietly, my love. Piega laggiu quella testina bionda, Bow your blond head Delia tua mamma posala sul cuore. and put it on your mother's heart. E l'uccellino canta su quel ramo, The little bird sings on the branch, Tante cosine belle imparerai. You will remember many beautiful things, Ma se vorrai conoscer quant'io t'amo, but nobody in the world can ever tell you Nessuno al mondo potra dirlo mai! how much your mother loves you. E l'uccellino canta al ciel sereno: The little bird sings under the serene sky: Dormi tesoro mio qui sul mio seno. Sleep my treasure upon my breast. RESPIGHI E se un giorno tornasse . .-. (Pompily) E se un giorno tornasse che dovrei dirgli? And if one day he should return, what should I say to him? Digli che lo si attese fino a morirne. Tell him that I waited for him until the end. E se ancora interogasse senza And if he should ask again, without riconoscermi? recognizing me? Parla a lui come farebbe una sorella; Speak to him as a sister would. He may be forse egli soffre. suffering. E se chiede dove siete, che debbo dirgli? And if he asks where you are, what should I tell him? Dagli il mio anello dbro senza parole. Give him my gold ring—without speaking. E se vorra sapere perche la sala e vota? And if he should want to know why the Mostragli che la lampada e spenta e l'uscio room is empty? aperto. Show him that the lamp is spent and the door is open. Ma se poi mi richiede del ultima or? But if he asks me about the last hour? Digli che in quellbra ho sorriso per non Tell him that in that hour, I smiled far ch'egli pianga. that he should not weep. RESPIGHI Venitelo a vedere (Birga) Venitelo a vedere'l mio piccino Come see my little one, or che nella culla e addormentato: sleeping there in his cradle. Venitelo a veder com'e carino, See how dear he is; pare un angiol di Dio he seems an angel of God, dal ciel calato! fallen from heaven! Angioletti del ciel, venite in coro, Little angels of heaven, a sorridere al dolce mio tesoro, venite come see my sweet treasure. Zitto! Hush! Ha mosso il labbro al riso! He moved his lips in a smile, Sognando, ora e con voi dreaming he is with you, su in Paradiso! up in Paradise! Please turn the page quietly, and only after the music has stopped. The Art of Landsbaptog. The Heart of Designate Weaile : '#**fi'4te£v Ideas Begin at C.W. Nelson Landscape Design and Nursery, &&S&M&*-- Dodd Road, Sandisfield. 413-258-3375 413-258-4057 ^1B : „/- Design / Build Co. ^r ; Call for Free Brochure. '^ , v . PIZZETTI I pastori (D'Annunzio) Settembre, andiamo. 'E tempo di migrare. Ora in terra d'Abruzzi i miei pastori lascian gli stazzi e vanno verso il mare. Scendono allAdriatico selvaggio che verde e come i pascoli dei monti. Han bevuto profondamente ai fonti alpestri, che sapor d'acqua natia rimanga ne'cuori esuli a conforto, che lungo illuda la lor sete in via. Rinnovato hanno verga d'avellano. E vanno pel tratturo antico al piano quasi per un erbal fiume silente, su le vestigia degli antichi padri. O voce di colui che primamente conosce il tremolar della marina. Ora lungh'esso il litoral cammina la greggia. Senza mutamento e l'aria. II sole imbionda si la viva lana che quasi dalla sabbia non divaria. Isciacquio, calpestio, dolci romori . Ah perche non son io co'miei pastori? It is September, time to migrate. Now in Abruzzi, my shepherds leave the hills and go towards the sea. They go down to the wild Adriatic that is as green as the grass on the hills. They have drunk profoundly from the mountain streams, and the sweet taste of the water of their homeland will sustain and comfort them while far from home. Now the sheep are grazing along the beach. The air is still. The sun bleaches the wool so that it is the color of the white sand. Sweet sounds of flowing water and small hooves on the sand. Oh! Why am I not with my shepherds? * * Franz Schubert (1797-1828) created a new genre of song that far surpassed his forerunners. Melody is central to song, and Schubert's melodies boast a rare and won- derful simplicity and directness—to such a degree that many have become virtual folk songs in German-speaking countries. But what was quite new in his songs, rarely attempted by earlier composers, was the significance of the accompaniment, now called upon to build a world of expression around the voice, to suggest depths only hinted at in the words or the melody, to allow for rich irony or to create instantaneous changes of mood with a sudden chord or striking new texture. An Sylvia is Schubert's setting of the Shakespeare song "Who is Sylvia?" from The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act IV, scene 2). The song balances voice and piano in an immediacy that evades analysis, but offers delight.