58 CONCERT PROGRAM

George Frederic Handel Sunday, December 18, 2016 Messiah 3:00pm

Part One Monday, December 19, 2016 Tuesday, December 20, 2016 Intermission Wednesday, December 21, 2016 Friday, December 23, 2016 Part Two 8:00pm

Part Three Nicholas McGegan conductor

Yulia Van Doren soprano

Abigail Levis mezzo-soprano

DECEMBER 20 PERFORMANCE Isaiah Bell PRESENTED BY tenor

Daniel Okulitch bass-baritone

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir The December 21 performance is sponsored in support of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir by Noel Edison Middlefield Group. Artistic Director

Handel’s Messiah is one of the great traditions of the season. Somehow, this time of year makes traditions seem even more significant. It is a turning point in the year—by the calendar, it is the time when the days cease to grow darker and begin to grow lighter with the promise of spring a few months away, and this great work is a perfect way to celebrate. Messiah was written to celebrate faith, Peter but it is first and foremost a work of music, not of philosophy or religion. Great Oundjian melodies transcend any divisiveness among people, making us one, voices united. Music Handel has achieved something remarkable in this wondrous music: it overcomes Director time and language, and links the past and the future. Simultaneously pious and joyous, it is music that is both old and still new, still able to communicate to contemporary audiences. Nicholas McGegan returns to the TSO with this wonderful celebration, and he is joined by four outstanding soloists and the ever- popular Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

59 THE DETAILS

George Frederic Handel Messiah

Born: Halle, now in Germany, Feb 23, 1685 135 Died: London, United Kingdom, Apr 14, 1759 min Composed: 1741

The English oratorio, of which Messiah is and others for whom the very concept of an arguably the greatest and certainly the most oratorio—a musical setting of a religious subject popular specimen, was a genre that Handel intended for public entertainment outside the single-handedly invented by forging elements church—was an improper conflation of sacred from existing types of dramatic and sacred and secular. Objections were short-lived, music into a potent synthesis. When his fortunes however, and Messiah quickly assumed its place as an operatic impresario declined in London (in the English-speaking world especially) as one through the 1730s, Handel increasingly turned of Handel’s most beloved works. his attention to oratorio. In 1741, the same In many ways, Messiah is typical of a Handel year in which he gave his last Italian opera in oratorio—in its reliance on types of recitative and London, Handel was invited to produce a season aria borrowed from opera, for instance, and in in Dublin, and that summer, he composed its basic structure of three large “acts” divided Messiah. The libretto was compiled by Charles into smaller “scenes”. But Messiah differs from Jennens, an eccentric but well-connected Handel’s other oratorios in some significant Englishman with a passion for literature and ways. First, it deals directly with the life of Christ— music. A public rehearsal on April 12, 1742 subject matter audiences were not accustomed and the official première the next day drew to seeing in an English theatre. Second, the large and enthusiastic audiences, and earned text, taken directly from the Authorized Version overwhelmingly positive reviews. In March of of the Bible, includes no real poetry, only the following year, Handel introduced Messiah relatively short units of prose. And third, the to London, though not before weathering some text is a narrative, not a drama—the story is not controversy instigated by religious authorities dramatized, but observed, related, interpreted, contemplated.

The libretto of Messiah gives almost no attention to Christ’s own words and deeds, preferring to maintain a more cosmic perspective, focusing on God’s redemption of mankind through Christ. Part One deals with Biblical prophecies of the Saviour, and their realization in the incarnation of Christ; Part Two deals with the events of Christ’s Passion and the ultimate triumph of the Second Coming; and Part Three comments on Christ’s role as Saviour.

Program note by Kevin Bazzana First page of “Worthy is the Lamb” from Handel’s manuscript

60 LIBRETTO – Text compiled by Charles Jennens

PART ONE RECITATIVE – MEZZO-SOPRANO Behold! A virgin shall conceive, and SINFONIA (Overture) bear a son, (Isaiah 7:14) And shall call His name Emmanuel: ACCOMPAGNATO – TENOR “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably AIR – MEZZO-SOPRANO AND CHORUS to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get warfare is accomplish’d, that her iniquity thee up into the high mountain; O thou that is pardon’d. The voice of him that crieth tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say of the Lord, make straight in the desert unto the cities of Judah: Behold your God! a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:9) (Isaiah 40:1–3) Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory AIR – TENOR of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1) Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the ACCOMPAGNATO – BASS For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and rough places plain. (Isaiah 40:4) gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall CHORUS arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40:5) (Isaiah 60:2–3)

ACCOMPAGNATO – BASS AIR – BASS Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts: The people that walked in darkness have seen Yet once, a little while, and I will shake a great light. And they that dwell in the land of the heav’ns and the earth, the sea the shadow of death, upon them hath the light and the dry land, and I will shake all shined. (Isaiah 9:2) nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. (Haggai 2:6–7) CHORUS For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is The Lord, whom ye seek, shall given, and the government shall be upon His suddenly come to His temple, ev’n the shoulder; and His Name shall be called Wonderful, messenger of the Covenant, whom ye Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting delight in: behold, He shall come, saith Father, The Prince of Peace! (Isaiah 9:6) the Lord of Hosts. (Malachi 3:1) PIFA (Pastoral Symphony) AIR – MEZZO-SOPRANO But who may abide the day of His coming? RECITATIVE – SOPRANO And who shall stand when He appeareth? There were shepherds abiding in the field, For He is like a refiner’s fire.(Malachi 3:2) keeping watch over their flocks by night.(Luke 2:8)

CHORUS ACCOMPAGNATO – SOPRANO And He shall purify the sons of Levi, And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, that they may offer unto the Lord an and the glory of the Lord shone ’round about offering in righteousness.(Malachi 3:3) them, and they were sore afraid. (Luke 2:9)

61 RECITATIVE – SOPRANO PART TWO And the angel said unto them: Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings CHORUS of great joy, which shall be to all people. Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh For unto you is born this day, in the city of away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10–11) AIR – MEZZO-SOPRANO He was despised and rejected of men, a man of ACCOMPAGNATO – SOPRANO sorrows, and acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3) And suddenly there was with the angel a He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks multitude of the heav’nly Host praising God, to them that plucked off the hair; He hid not His and saying: (Luke 2:13) face from shame and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6) CHORUS CHORUS Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, Surely, He hath borne our griefs and good will toward men! (Luke 2:14) carried our sorrows; He was wounded AIR – SOPRANO for our transgressions, He was bruised Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, for our iniquities; the chastisement of our O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King peace was upon Him. (Isaiah 53:4–5) cometh unto thee. He is the righteous Saviour, CHORUS and He shall speak peace unto the heathen. And with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5) (Zechariah 9:9–10) CHORUS RECITATIVE – MEZZO-SOPRANO All we like sheep have gone astray, we have Then shall the eyes of the blind be open’d, and turned ev’ry one to his own way; and the the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the (Isaiah 53:6) dumb shall sing. (Isaiah 35:5–6) ACCOMPAGNATO – TENOR DUET – SOPRANO / MEZZO-SOPRANO All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn, He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, and He shall gather the lambs with His arm, saying: (Psalm 22:7) and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. CHORUS (Isaiah 40:11) He trusted in God that He would deliver Him; let Come unto Him all ye that labour, Him deliver Him, if He delight in Him. come unto Him that are heavy laden, (Psalm 22:8) and He will give you rest. Take His yoke ACCOMPAGNATO – TENOR upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek Thy rebuke hath broken His heart; and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest He is full of heaviness. He looked for some unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28–29) to have pity on Him, but there was no man, CHORUS neither found He any to comfort Him. His yoke is easy, and his burthen is light. (Psalm 69:20) (Matthew 11:30) ARIOSO – TENOR Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto INTERMISSION His sorrow. (Lamentations 1:12)

62 ACCOMPAGNATO – TENOR PART THREE He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of Thy people was AIR – SOPRANO He stricken. (Isaiah 53:8) I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day AIR – TENOR upon the earth, and tho’ worms destroy But Thou didst not leave His soul in Hell; this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. nor didst Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see (Job 19:25–26) corruption. (Psalm 16:10) For now is Christ risen from the dead, CHORUS the first fruits of them that sleep. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, (1 Corinthians 15:20) ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord CHORUS strong and mighty in battle. The Lord of hosts, Since by man came death, by man came He is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:7–10) also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in AIR – SOPRANO Christ shall all be made alive. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach (1 Corinthians 15:21–22) the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15) ACCOMPAGNATO – BASS Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all AIR – BASS sleep, but we shall all be chang’d, in a moment, Why do the nations so furiously rage together, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. why do the people imagine a vain thing? The (1 Corinthians 15:51–52) kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against AIR – BASS His anointed. (Psalm 2:1–2) The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be rais’d incorruptible, and we shall be chang’d. CHORUS For this corruptible must put on incorruption, Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away and this mortal must put on immortality. their yokes from us. (Psalm 2:3) (1 Corinthians 15:52–53)

RECITATIVE – TENOR CHORUS He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision. redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive (Psalm 2:4) power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. AIR – TENOR Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou Blessing and honour, glory and pow’r be shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, (Psalm 2:9) and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.

CHORUS Amen. (Revelation 5:9, 12–14) Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. (Revelation 19:6) The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16)

63 THE ARTISTS

Nicholas McGegan conductor Nicholas McGegan made his TSO début in January, 2001.

As he embarks on his fourth decade on the podium, Nicholas McGegan is increasingly recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. In 2015, he celebrated his 30th year as Music Director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and he is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony.

Best known as a Baroque and Classical music specialist, McGegan’s approach— intelligent, infused with joy, and never dogmatic—has led to appearances with many of the world’s major orchestras. At home in opera houses, McGegan shone new light on close to twenty Handel operas as the Artistic Director and Conductor at the Göttingen Handel Festival for 20 years (1991–2001) and the Mozart canon as Principal Guest Conductor at the Scottish Opera in the 1990s. His 2016/17 guest appearances include, among others, the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Pasadena Symphony; Baltimore, St. Louis, and Toronto symphony orchestras; Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Handel and Haydn Society; Aspen Music Festeival; and The Cleveland Orchestra/Blossom Music Festival.

His extensive discography features eight releases on Philharmonia Baroque’s label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions (PBP), including the 2011 GRAMMY® Award– nominated recording of Haydn symphonies and most recently, the first-ever recording of the newly rediscovered 300-year-old work La Gloria di Primavera by Scarlatti.

English-born Nicholas McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to music overseas”. Other awards include the Halle Handel Prize; the Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony (Germany); the Medal of Honour of the City of Göttingen, and a declaration of Nicholas McGegan Day, by the Mayor of San Francisco in recognition of his work with Philharmonia Baroque. In 2013, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Music.

For more information, please visit nicholasmcgegan.com.

64 Yulia Van Doren soprano Yulia Van Doren made her TSO début in December, 2012.

Recognized by Opera Magazine as “a star-to-be” following her Lincoln Center début, young Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren’s début with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was acclaimed as a “revelation...a ravishing lyric voice and an ease with vocal ornamentation that turned her into an enchanted songbird” (Toronto Star).

A dedicated interpreter of repertoire off-the-beaten path, career highlights include creating the lead female role in the world première of Shostakovich’s Orango with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, directed by Peter Sellars and released on Deutsche Grammophon; two GRAMMY®-nominated opera recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival; the modern revival of Monsigny’s opera Le roi et le fermier at Opera de Versailles, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center (recorded for Naxos); and a tour of Handel’s with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra to the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, and Tanglewood festivals. Ms. Van Doren’s 2016/17 season features appearances with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group, Milwaukee and Charlotte symphonies, and the Arion Baroque Orchestra.

Abigail Levis mezzo-soprano These performances mark Abigail Levis’s TSO début.

Named “Début Artist of the Year” by the Joy in Singing Foundation, mezzo-soprano Abigail Levis was recently hailed in The New York Times for her “lithe-voiced” performance in “First Songs” with Dawn Upshaw, while The Boston Musical Intelligencer noted her “dramatic style” and “high level of technical ability” in the Handel and Haydn Society’s . As winner of the Opera Foundation’s Curt Engelhorn Competition, Ms. Levis joined the Deutsche Oper Berlin in September, 2016, and appears in La traviata, Dido and Aeneas, Don Carlo, Death in Venice, Andrea Chenier, and Les huguenots.

First Prize Winner in the San Diego District Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, she is an alumna of the Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colborn-Stein Young Artist Program and the Utah Opera Young Artists Program, appearing as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges. From Portland, Maine, Ms. Levis holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, and Bard College Conservatory.

65 For a biography of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, THE ARTISTS please turn to page 25.

Isaiah Bell tenor Isaiah Bell made his TSO début in March, 2015.

The New York Times described Canadian-American tenor Isaiah Bell’s portrayal of the Madwoman in Britten’s Curlew River as “a performance of haunting beauty, ideally depicting emotional distraction with ultimate economy and glowing vocal skill.” Recently, Isaiah sang Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Metz, France; Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Opera Lyra Ottawa; Strauss’s Elektra under Yannick Nézét-Séguin at Opéra de Montréal; and Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day and Messiah with Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. In 2017, he will sing Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Bernstein’s Mass with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and will make appearances with the Seattle Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Isaiah appears on the Decca recording of L’Aiglon with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Kent Nagano, and on two discs of German Baroque cantatas with Daniel Taylor’s Theatre of Early Music. He is also active as a composer and librettist; in January 2017, he will perform as the Emcee in an original music-theatre piece, Mewsy the Adulteress, at the Buddies in Bad Times cabaret space.

Daniel Okulitch bass-baritone These performances mark Daniel Okulitch’s TSO début.

Bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch has performed in some of the most prestigious opera companies and orchestras throughout Europe and North America. Most recently, he débuted at Opéra de Montréal as Lieutenant Horstmayer in Kevin Putt’s Silent Night; the role of Herman Broder in the world première of Enemies: A Love Story with Palm Beach Opera; and the role of Ennis Del Mar in the world première of Brokeback Mountain at Madrid’s Teatro Real. He also joined the cast of the Metropolitan Opera for their production of Don Giovanni, and returned to Santa Fe Opera as the Count in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.

Future engagements include Leporello in Don Giovanni and a revival of JFK with Opéra de Montréal; his return to Vancouver Opera as Joseph de Rocher in Dead Man Walking; his début with New Orleans Opera as Don Giovanni, and his début with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro. In concert, he performs Bach’s St. John’s Passion with Master Voices at Carnegie Hall.

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