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Home , Au monde, Beau Soir, Drinking song, Emmet (heraldry), Henri Duparc (composer), Livia Frege

CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS PROGRAM

Sunday, November 20, 2011, 3pm Hertz Hall

Eric Owens, -baritone Claude (1862–1918) Beau Soir Fleur des Blés Craig Rutenberg, piano Romance Nuit d’étoiles

PROGRAM Henri Duparc (1848–1933) L’Invitation au Voyage Le Manoir de Rosemonde Élégie Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Michelangelo Wohl denk ich oft Alles endet, was entstehet Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) Don Quichotte à Dulcinée Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht Chanson romanesque Chanson épique Chanson à boire (1810–1856) Mein Herz ist schwer, Op. 25, No. 15 Muttertraum, Op. 40, No. 2 Der Schatzgräber, Op. 45, No. 1 (1813–1883) Les Deux Grenadiers Melancholie, Op. 74, No. 6

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) , D. 674 Fahrt zum Hades, D. 526 Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, D. 583

INTERMISSION Funded by the Koret Foundation, this performance is part of Cal Performances’ 2011–2012 Koret Recital Series, which brings world-class artists to our community.

Cal Performances’ 2011–2012 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo.

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Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) a vigorous character (developed from the previ- successful bookseller in Zwickau, and he kept November 1840, two months after his wedding, Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Michelangelo ous motive) and closes festively with triumphal abreast of the day’s most important writers Schumann created a pendant to those two song (“Three Songs on Poems by Michelangelo”) fanfares, like a flourish of trumpets sounded throughout his life. He was already aware of the cycles with the Romanzen und Balladen I, Op. 45, for [Michelangelo] by his contemporaries 32-year-old Hans Christian Andersen (1805– which contains two poems by Eichendorff and Hugo Wolf was the greatest German composer in homage.” 1875), the prolific Danish writer of novels, trav- one by Heine. The first song—Der Schatzgräber of songs after Schubert. A seething emotional The second song—Alles endet, was entstehet elogues, poetry and fantasy tales, when his Kun (“The Treasure-Seeker”)—is a grim morality turmoil dominated his life—from his inability (“Everything ends which comes to be,” based on en Spillemand (“Only a Fiddler”) appeared in tale by the devoutly Catholic Eichendorff about to subject himself to the rigors of formal train- Michelangelo’s Chiunche nasce a morte arriva)— German translation in June 1837. Schumann the wages of avarice. ing, through his vehemently zealous support of is one of Wolf’s most profound utterances. He read the novel—“very wise, so clever, so child- The verses of Emanuel von Geibel, one of Wagner and his bouts of near-manic compo- once considered titling it Vanitas Vanitatum, like” was his estimation—and he thereafter Germany’s most popular Romantic poets, were sitional frenzy, to his suicide attempts and his and Eric Sams, in his 1961 study of Wolf’s songs, sought out other works by the Danish author, set to music hundreds of times through the early death in an insane asylum. His life and his mu- wrote that it seems to be music from “among including several poems translated by the 20th century by Robert and , sic blaze with a white-hot inflammability that the dead, speaking the language of the dead,” a German Romanticist Adalbert von Chamisso and his sister, Fanny, Wolf, speaks of the deepest feelings of an age that was phrase that echoes the title Modeste Mussorgsky (1781–1838), whose Frauenliebe und -leben Grieg, Bruckner, Berg, Brahms, Bruch, Griffes, just beginning to sense the end of the artistic, gave to his somber evocation of the Roman cata- (“Woman’s Love and Life”) he set in July 1840. Strauss, Schoenberg, MacDowell, Lehár and social, political and ideological era that culmi- combs in Pictures at an Exhibition, subtitled As soon as he had finished that cycle, Schumann dozens of others. Robert Schumann first learned nated in the catastrophe of World War I. Cum Mortuis in Lingua Mortua—“With the set five of Andersen’s poems as his Fünf Lieder, of Geibel’s poems around 1840, when his verses On March 5, 1892, a teacher in Berlin Dead in a Dead Language.” Op. 40. In October 1842, Schumann sent began appearing in literary journals and com- named Paul Müller attended a recital of Wolf’s Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht von Andersen a copy of the Op. 40 Songs with posers were submitting their songs set to them songs sponsored by the city’s Wagner Society, Gott? (“Is my soul feeling the longed-for light of the following note: “Perhaps the settings will for review to the Neue Zeitschift für Musik and he was struck not just by the depth of ex- God?” based on Michelangelo’s Non so se s’è la seem strange to you. So at first did your poems (“New Journal for Music”), which Schumann pression in the music but also by the high qual- desïata luce) yearns for spiritual fulfillment but to me. But as I grew to understand them bet- had founded six years before. Schumann and ity of the texts on which it was based. He met can find no answer within, and ends by tracing ter, my music took on a more unusual style.” Geibel met in Dresden four times between Wolf after the concert and complimented him the unsettled state of the poet’s mind to an un- Schumann arranged a performance of the Op. April and June 1846, and it is possible that on the verses he had chosen for his songs, and named beloved: I am driven by a yes and a no, a 40 Songs by Livia Frege with his wife, the poet presented the composer on one of a friendship quickly sprang up between them; sweet and a bitter—that, mistress, is the doing of Clara, as pianist when he and Andersen met for those occasions with a copy of his Volkslieder Müller established the first Hugo Wolf Society, your eyes. the first time during the writer’s visit to Leipzig und Romanzen der Spanier (1843), transla- in Berlin, three years later and published his on June 22, 1844; Andersen declared the songs tions of song texts and poems by such Spanish reminiscences of him shortly after the com- to be “poetic.” The strangeness that Schumann and Portuguese Renaissance authors as Luis poser’s death, in 1903. As a Christmas gift in Robert Schumann (1810–1856) perceived in Andersen’s verses is exemplified by de Camoens (c.1524–1580), Pedro de Padilla 1896, Müller sent Wolf a copy of Walter Robert- Four Songs the second number of the set, Muttertraum (“A (1540–after 1599), Gil Vicente (1465–1537) and Tornow’s just-published German translations Mother’s Dream”), in which a mother lovingly Rodrigo de Cota (c.1430–c.1505); several of of poems by Michelangelo, and the following In 1815, Lord Byron (1788–1824) published a cradles her child while just outside the window the poems are anonymous and at least some of March, only six months before his final mental collection of Hebrew Melodies, poems inspired ravens, symbolic ill omens since ancient times, them may have been written by Geibel himself. breakdown, Wolf set three of them. They were by verses from the Old Testament, that the gather with sinister intent. In 1848, Schumann took over direction of the his last works, and in his 1910 biography of the would-be composer Isaac Nathan, the son of a Schumann composed some 140 songs in Dresden Verein für Chorgesang (“Association composer, English musicologist Ernest Newman Jewish cantor in Canterbury, had persuaded him 1840, the year he finally married his beloved for Choral Singing”), and the following March wrote that they contain “the throb of feeling as to fit to his adaptations of a number of melodies Clara. “Oh Clara, what bliss to write songs,” he he set ten of Geibel’s verses for that ensemble profound as in anything Wolf ever wrote.” from the synagogue services. My Soul Is Dark, told his new wife. “I should like to sing myself to as the Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74 (“Spanish In a letter to a friend, Wolf provided his own based on I Samuel 16:14-23, was rendered into death like a nightingale.” Since Schumann was Song Play”), which included Melancholie, based description of the first song, Wohl denk’ ich oft German as Mein Herz ist schwer by Karl Julius given to concentrating on one poet at a time, on a text by the 16th-century Spanish writer an mein vergang’nes Leben (“I often think on Körner (1793–1873) and given a new and deeply many of his songs are arranged into cycles creat- Francisco de Sá de Miranda. my past life,” excerpted from Michelangelo’s Io thoughtful setting by Robert Schumann under ed around the texts of a single author. He com- crederrei, se tu fussi di sasso—“I believe I could, the title Aus den Hebräischen Gesängen (“From posed such a “”—a “Liederkreis”—on (1797–1828) even if you were made of stone, love you so faith- the Hebrew Melodies”) for inclusion in his song nine poems by Heinrich Heine, one of his favor- Three Songs fully”): “[It] begins with a melancholy introduc- cycle Myrthen (“Myrtles”) of 1840. ite writers, and issued it as his Op. 24; the Heine tion and holds fast to this tone until the Schumann acquired his interest in litera- Liederkreis was followed by a sequel on texts of Schubert set some 30 poems by Johann before the last. Then it takes on unexpectedly ture from his father, August, a bibliophile and Joseph von Eichendorff, cataloged as Op. 39. In Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), including

18 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 19 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES the beloved Erlkönig. Prometheus was the myth- souls, where Zeus imprisoned the Titans after was a director of the Parisian music publishing when five of his songs appeared in print. After a ological titan of ancient Greece who stole fire, defeating them; Cocytus was a tributary of the firm that issued a biweekly journal titled L’Art pilgrimage to hear Die Walküre and Tristan in the symbol of enlightenment, from the gods to Acheron, the river over which Charon ferried the Musical in the 1880s and handled several less- Munich, where he met both Wagner and Franz release mankind from ignorance through sci- souls of the dead; Saturn was the god of agricul- er-known French composers; Girod published Liszt, Duparc devoted himself to a musical ca- ence and art. For his brazen disregard of Zeus, ture, believed to have ruled earth during a pe- the song in 1891. Fleur des Blés was composed reer. He became secretary of the new Société Prometheus was chained to a rock, where daily riod of happiness and plenty, and “shattering his early in 1881, when Debussy was accompa- Nationale, founded by Saint-Saëns to promote an tore at his liver until he was released by sickle asunder” portends the death of hope itself. nying the singing class of Madame Moreau- French music after the debacle of the Franco- Hercules. Goethe began a drama on the subject The great German baritone Dietrich Fischer- Sainti for “les jeunes filles du meilleur monde” Prussian War in 1870, which premiered his of Prometheus in 1773 but sketched only three Dieskau said that he never placed Gruppe aus and dedicated to one of the students, Madame orchestral Suite de Valses and three-movement scenes, one of which is a poem of raging defi- dem Tartarus at the end of a recital because “the Émile Deguingand, the wife of a prominent Poème nocturne in 1874. (He later destroyed ance that Schubert made into a dramatic song listener will be left stunned and terrified.” Parisian businessman. the Poème’s second and third movements; only (D. 674) in October 1819. Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823–1891) Aux étoiles remains.) The Société gave his tone Johann Baptist Mayrhofer was born in Steyr gained prominence through his 20 volumes of poem Lénore, after Burger’s ballad, the following in 1787, went to school in Linz, and moved to (1862–1918) poetry but he was also known as a literary and year. During the next decade, Duparc worked Vienna in 1810 to study law. He met Schubert Four Songs drama critic, essayist and author of several plays on an based on Pushkin’s Roussalka, four years later, and the two became close friends produced at the Comédie-Française. He was which he never completed and whose drafts he despite their contrasting characters—Mayrhofer Edward Lockspeiser’s statement that “poetry made a member of the Légion d’honneur in 1858 eventually destroyed, and added several more was moody and melancholic; Schubert, ebul- fertilizes the art of Debussy” is borne out by and promoted to an officer in that in 1886. numbers to his collection of songs. In 1885, he lient and outgoing. Schubert was influenced the dozens of songs that the composer created Debussy’s 15 settings of Banville’s verses in- suddenly stopped composing after suffering a both by Mayrhofer’s thoughtfulness and by throughout his career. French art at the dawn clude a dreamy setting of Nuit d’étoiles (“Starry breakdown occasioned by what Martin Cooper his knowledge of the classics, and he set some of the 20th century was seeking to escape the Night”) from 1880, which was the young com- described in his article on Duparc in the New three-dozen of his poems during the next four hyperventilated expression of , poser’s first published work. Grove Dictionary as ”a neurasthenic condition years. They grew close enough personally that specifically the pervasive influence of Germanic [nervous debility and exhaustion], no doubt of the composer moved into the poet’s quarters late Wagnerian Romanticism, to forge a new art physical origin but predominantly psychological in 1818, but when the libertarian but congeni- informed by intimation and suggestion, by Henri Duparc (1848–1933) in its manifestations of crippling hyperaesthesia tally contrary Mayrhofer accepted what seemed gossamer image and evocative word. Debussy Three Songs [an abnormally acute sense of pain, heat, cold to be a deliberately self-flagellating post with was profoundly affected by these quietly revo- touch].” Duparc never composed another the state censor’s office in 1820 to make ends lutionary French artistic upheavals, and he im- Troubled in spirit and in health and sufficiently note. He withdrew into a quiet life with his wife meet, Schubert moved out. Their friendship mersed himself in the painting and poetry of self-critical to destroy much of what he com- and family, tried rest cures in and continued, however, and Schubert set nine more his near-contemporaries. He sought to embody posed, Henri Duparc left a tiny musical legacy southern , read, painted, listened to mu- of Mayrhofer’s verses. Mayrhofer was deeply the spirit of his nation in his music—he chose to posterity: two tone poems (Lénore and Aux sic, grew devoutly religious, and eventually be- moved by Schubert’s early death in 1828, and he as his personal title musicien français—and étoiles), a suite of waltzes for orchestra, a half- came blind and paralyzed. He died at Mont-de- largely gave up writing thereafter. He first tried found continual inspiration for his work in the dozen pieces for piano, a cello sonata, one vocal Marsan, in southeastern France, in 1933, nearly to commit suicide in 1831, and finally succeeded art of the Impressionists and the verses of the duet, a motet for three voices, a few arrange- 50 years after composing his last song; he was 85. five years later. Schubert set Fahrt zum Hades Symbolists. All of his songs use French texts by ments of organ works by Bach and Franck, and The sweet, fantastic vision evoked by Charles (“Journey to Hades,” D. 526), Mayrhofer’s evo- French authors. 16 songs. He is remembered almost entirely for Baudelaire (1821–1867) in his L’Invitation au cation of the soul’s journey across the River Romance (1881) and Beau Soir (1882) are set- his handful of songs, but what songs they are— voyage is perfectly reflected in Duparc’s music. Styx, the mythical boundary separating the tings of evocative poems by the French writer exquisite, fluid, precisely inflected musical wrap- Le Manoir de Rosemonde (“Rosemonde’s lands of the quick and the dead, in January 1817. Paul Bourget (1852–1935), who was noted for his pings of voluptuously beautiful verse that count Manor”), composed in 1879, sets a text by the There is no more disturbing and violent critical essays and his psychologically penetrat- among the greatest contributions to the French Parisian novelist, journalist and poet Robert page anywhere in Schubert’s creative output ing novels. Bourget enjoyed considerable acclaim vocal repertory. de Bonnières (1850–1905), a close friend with than Gruppe aus dem Tartarus (“Group from during his lifetime for his writings—which in- Duparc, born in on January 21, 1848, whom Duparc once shared an apartment. Tartarus,” D. 583), his 1817 setting of Friedrich cluded a journal of his visit to the United States studied piano and, later, composition privately The poem, which had just been published in von Schiller’s chilling vision of a most fearsome in 1893—and he was admitted to the Academie at the Collège du Vaugiraud with César Franck, Bonnières’s Contes de fées (“Fairy Tales”), tells hell. The frightening imagery of Schiller’s poem Française in 1894 and made an Officier de la who regarded Henri as his most talented pupil. of a feverish quest to find the refuge of love in is heightened by references to ancient mythol- Légion d’honneur the following year. Duparc’s formal training was for a career in law, the cryptic “blue domain of Rosemonde,” per- ogy: Tartarus was the sunless abyss below Fleur des Blés (“Wheat Flower”) is Debussy’s but the lure of music was too strong for him, haps a reference to the beautiful Rosamund Hades, the underworld inhabited by departed winsome setting of a poem by André Girod, who and he had begun composing in earnest by 1868, Clifford, mistress of King Henry II of England

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(1133–1189), who lost his beloved when she had to complete his film, a valuable document of headway. He lived in poverty in a miserable gar- to enter a nunnery after their liaison became Chaliapin if not a memorable cinematic en- ret, struggling to exist by writing journal articles public knowledge, shortly before her death in deavor.) Ravel, however, continued the songs as and undertaking such menial musical tasks as 1176. Numerous legends sprang up around “The a concert work and completed them some time arranging selections from recent operatic hits. Fair Rosamund,” and she was the subject of a early the following year, though his deteriorat- The nadir of his fortunes came in October 1840, poem by Apollinaire that was set by Poulenc. ing neurological condition made it difficult for when he was briefly incarcerated in debtor’s pris- Duparc’s dramatic song mirrors the wild hunt- him to control his hands, forcing him to seek the on. Though he was longing to bring his visions ing in the poem’s first part and the sullen help of Lucien Garban and Manuel Rosenthal of vast operatic ventures to the stage (he had be- disillusion of the failed pursuit that follows. in preparing the fair copy of the full score. Don gun Rienzi before leaving Riga), Wagner wrote Élégie is Duparc’s setting of the French Quichotte à Dulcinée was Ravel’s last work. a few songs to French texts “in order to gain the translation of the verse that the Irish poet These songs are the final evidence of Ravel’s graces of the Parisian salon world through its fa- (1779–1852) wrote in memory of long interest in the music of Spain, which had vorite singers,” he recalled in his autobiography. Robert Emmet, a close friend and fellow student blossomed in such earlier works as the Rapsodie “I composed several French songs, which, after at Trinity College in Dublin, who was captured, espagnole, L’Heure espagnole and Boléro. He had all my efforts to the contrary, were considered tried and hung for participating in an uprising even contemplated an opera based on the tale too out of the way and difficult to be actually of the United Irishmen in 1803. of Cervantes’s quixotic knight, though that plan sung.” Wagner demonstrated his nascent sense never came to fruition. Each of the three set- of drama early in 1840 in a setting of Die beiden tings of Morand’s poems is based on a tradition- Grenadiere (“The Two Grenadiers”) by Heinrich Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) al dance rhythm of Spain: Chanson romanesque Heine that had been rendered into French Don Quichotte à Dulcinée on the quajira, Chanson épique on the zortzico by François-Adolphe Loève-Veimar. (Robert and Chanson à boire on the jota. The first is a Schumann set Heine’s poem in the original Ravel spent four months early in 1932 on tour love song of near manic devotion to the beloved German that April.) The poem, which Heine in- with Marguerite Long putting his new Piano Dulcinée in the characteristic Spanish meter cluded in his Buch der Lieder of 1827, imagines Concerto in G on display throughout much of produced by alternate measures of 6/8 and 3/4. two of Napoleon’s soldiers captured in Russia central Europe to enthusiastic praise. When he The second song presents Quixote as a holy war- who only learn of their emperor’s ultimate de- returned to the Basque countryside for a rest, he rior invoking the aid of the Madonna and Saint feat at Waterloo in June 1815 on their long trek found waiting for him there a commission to Michael to sustain him in his valiant quest. The home. One says that it is time to return to his write music for a film version ofDon Quixote closing Drinking Song paints the hero in his one wife and child, but the other experiences one last starring the legendary Russian basso Feodor undeniable virtue—as an expansive tippler. surge of patriotism that culminates in a fervent Chaliapin in the title role. Despite his declin- reference to La Marseillaise. ing health and his doctor’s warning to save his strength, Ravel was intrigued by the project and Richard Wagner (1813–1883) he accepted it, agreeing to compose both back- Les deux grenadiers (“The Two Grenadiers”) © 2011 Dr. Richard E. Rodda ground music and songs specially prepared for Chaliapin. The film’s producer, Georg W. Pabst, In July 1839, cabals and creditors ran Wagner had already engaged as screenwriter and lyricist out of Riga, where he had been conducting at Paul Morand, a world traveler, skilled diplomat the local opera house for the previous two years. and writer well known for his novels depicting (Wagner was a notorious financial deadbeat many cultures with clarity and realism. With throughout his life.) With his wife, Minna, and the widely regarded Ravel as another contribu- Robber, their enormous Newfoundland dog, he tor, Pabst not only had a fine artistic team, but arrived in Paris on September 17 by a circuitous also figured to attract backers for the undertak- route that led through London. Wagner’s time ing. Ravel, despite an ambitious beginning dur- in the French capital was the most miserable ing the summer, was unable to complete any of he ever endured. Though he met many of the his assignment on time, and Jacques Ibert was city’s important musicians, including Meyerbeer entrusted to take over in his place in the produc- (a transplanted German), he spoke virtually tion team. (Pabst overcame financial difficulties no French, and could make no professional

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Hugo Wolf Robert Schumann Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Michelangelo Mein Herz ist schwer from Myrthen My Soul Is Dark Wohl denk ich oft I Often Think of My Past Life Text: Karl Julius Körner (1793–1873) Text: Walter Heinrich Robert-Tornow (1852–1895) Based on the English text by George Gordon Noel Byron, Based on the Italian text by Michelangelo Buonarroti Lord Byron (1788–1824) (1475–1564) Mein Herz ist schwer! Auf! My heart is heavy! Arise! Wohl denk ich oft an mein vergangnes Leben, I often think of my past life, Von der Wand die Laute— Take the lute from the wall, Wie es vor meiner Liebe für dich war; The way it was before my love for you; Nur sie allein mag ich noch hören, it alone I still wish to hear; Kein Mensch hat damals Acht auf mich gegeben, no one had paid any attention to me then, Entlocke mit geschickter Hand with a skilful hand entice from it Ein jeder Tag verloren für mich war; each and every day was lost to me; Ihr Töne, die das Herz betören. sounds that beguile the heart. Ich dachte wohl, ganz dem Gesang zu leben, I thought that I would dedicate my life to song, Kann noch mein Herz ein Hoffen nähren, If my heart can still nurture a hope, Auch mich zu flüchten aus der Menschen Schar. and flee from human throng. Es zaubert diese Töne her, these sounds shall magically call it forth, Genannt in Lob und Tadel bin ich heute, Today my name spoken in praise and criticism, Und birgt mein trocknes Auge Zähren, and if my dry eyes harbor tears, Und, dass ich da bin, wissen alle Leute! and that I exist—that is known by all. Sie fliessen, und mich brennt’s nicht mehr! they shall flow, and I shall no longer be burned by pain!

Alles endet, was entstehet Everything Ends Which Comes to Be Nur tief sei, wild der Töne Fluss, Only deep, wild be the flow of the notes, Und von der Freude weggekehret! and turned away from joy! Alles endet, was entstehet. Everything ends which comes to be. Ja, Sänger, dass ich weinen muss, Yea, singer, that I must weep, Alles, alles rings vergehet, Everything everywhere passes away, Sonst wird das schwere Herz verzehret! otherwise my heavy heart shall be consumed! Denn die Zeit flieht, und die Sonne for time moves on, and the sun Denn sieh! Von Kummer ward’s genähret, For look! It was nourished by anguish, Sieht, dass alles rings vergehet, sees that everything passes away, Mit stummem Wachen trug es lang, with mute watching it long bore its burden, Denken, Reden, Schmerz, und Wonne; thinking, speaking, pain and joy; Und jetzt vom Äussersten belehret, and now, having been taught by the extremes of pain, Und die wir zu Enkeln hatten and those who had been our grandchildren Da brech es oder heil im Sang. it must break or heal in song. Schwanden wie bei Tag die Schatten, have vanished as shadows flee the day, Wie ein Dunst im Windeshauch. as a breath of wind dispels the mist. Muttertraum A Mother’s Dream Menschen waren wir ja auch, Yes, we once were people too, Text: Adelbert von Chamisso (1781–1838) Froh und traurig, so wie ihr, glad and sad, just like you, Based on a Danish text by Hans Christian Andersen Und nun sind wir leblos hier, and now we are here lifeless, (1805–1875) Sind nur Erde, wie ihr sehet. are but earth, as you can see. Alles endet, was entstehet. Everything ends which comes to be. Die Mutter betet herzig und schaut The mother prays sweetly and gazes with delight Alles, alles rings vergehet. Everything everywhere passes away. Entzückt auf den schlummernden Kleinen. upon her slumbering little one. Er ruht in der Wiege so sanft und traut. He rests in his cradle, so tender and cozy. Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht Is My Soul Feeling the Longed-for Light? Ein Engel muss er ihr scheinen. He must seem to be an angel to her.

Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht Is my soul feeling the longed-for light Sie küsst ihn und herzt ihn, sie hält sich kaum. She kisses him and hugs him, she cannot restrain Von Gott, der sie erschuf? Ist es der Strahl of God who created it? Is it the gleam herself. Von andrer Schönheit aus dem Jammertal, of a different beauty from the valley of misery, Vergessen der irdischen Schmerzen, Forgetting all earthly pain, Der in mein Herz Erinnrung weckend bricht? reflecting in my heart and evoking memory? Es schweift in die Zukunft ihr Hoffnungstraum. her hopeful dreams wander into the future. So träumen Mütter im Herzen. Thus do mothers often dream. Ist es ein Klang, ein Traumgesicht, Is it a sound, a dream vision, Das Aug und Herz mir füllt mit einem Mal that suddenly fills my eye and heart Der Rab indes mit der Sippschaft sein The raven meanwhile, with its clan, In unbegreiflich glüh’nder Qual, in incomprehensibly burning pain, Kreischt draussen am Fenster die Weise: shrieks a tune outside the window: Die mich zu Tränen bringt? Ich weiss es nicht. that brings me to tears? I do not know. Dein Engel, dein Engel wird unser sein, your angel, your angel will be ours— Der Räuber dient uns zur Speise. the brigand shall serve us at supper. Was ich ersehne, fühle, was mich lenkt, What I long for, the sense of what directs me, Ist nicht in mir: sag mir, wie ich’s erwerbe? is not within me: Tell me how do I acquire it? Der Schatzgräber The Treasure-Seeker Mir zeigt es wohl nur eines Andren Huld; To me it reveals only another’s grace and love; Text: Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788–1857)

Darein bin ich, seit ich dich sah, versenkt. I have been their captive since I first saw you. Wenn alle Wälder schliefen, When all the forests were sleeping, Mich treibt ein Ja und Nein, ein Süss und Herbe— I am driven by a yes and a no, a sweet and a bitter— Er an zu graben hub, he began to dig Daran sind, Herrin, deine Augen Schuld. that, mistress, is the doing of your eyes. Rastlos in Berges Tiefen without rest in the mountain deep: Nach einem Schatz er grub. for a treasure did he dig.

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Die Engel Gottes sangen Angels of God sang Ich kenne nichts Ärmeres I know nothing more shabby Dieweil in stiller Nacht, while, in the still night, Unter der Sonn’, als euch, Götter! under the sun than you gods! Wie rote Augen drangen like red eyes, Ihr nähret kümmerlich You wretchedly nourish, Metalle aus dem Schacht. metals emerged from the shaft. Von Opfersteuern from offerings Und Gebetshauch and the breath of prayers, »Und wirst doch mein,« und grimmer “And you will be mine!” and more grimly Eure Majestät your majesty; Wühlt er und wühlt hinab! did he burrow and burrow downward! Und darbtet, wären And you would starve, were Da stürzen Steine und Trümmer Then the stones and rubble tumbled Nicht Kinder und Bettler children and beggars not Über den Narren herab. down upon the fool. Hoffnungsvolle Toren. such hopeful fools.

Hohnlachen wild erschallte Scornful, wild laughter resounded Da ich ein Kind war When I was a child Aus der verfallnen Gruft, from the collapsed vault, Nicht wusste, wo aus noch ein, I did not know in from out; Der Engelsang verhallte and the angel-song faded away Kehrt’ ich mein verirrtes Auge I turned my confused eyes Wehmütig in der Luft. sadly into the air. Zur Sonne, als wenn drüber wär’ to the sun, as if above it there were Ein Ohr, zu hören meine Klage, an ear to hear my laments— Melancholie from Spanisches Liederspiel Melancholy Ein Herz wie meins, a heart like mine Text: Emanuel von Geibel (1815–1884) Sich des Bedrängten zu erbarmen. that would pity the oppressed. Based on a Spanish text by Francisco de Sá de Miranda (1481?–1558) Wer half mir Who helped me Wider der Titanen Übermut? against the pride of the titans? Wann, wann erscheint der Morgen, When, when will the morning come, Wer rettete vom Tode mich, Who rescued me from death— Wann denn, wann denn, wann denn, when, when, when, Von Sklaverei? from slavery? Der mein Leben löset\ that will release my life from these bonds? Hast du nicht alles selbst vollendet Did you not accomplish it all yourself, Aus diesen Banden! You my eyes, so clouded by sorrow, Heilig glühend Herz? my sacred, glowing heart? Ihr Augen, vom Leide saw only torment instead of love, Und glühtest jung und gut, Yet did you not glow with ardent and youthful goodness, So trübe, so trübe! saw no joy; Betrogen, Rettungsdank deceived, and full of gratitude Saht nur Qual für Liebe, saw only wounds upon wounds, Dem Schlafenden da droben? to the sleepers above? Saht nicht eine Freude, agony upon agony inflicted on me; Saht nur Wund’ auf Wunde, and in my long life, Ich dich ehren? Wofür? I, honor you? Why? Schmerz auf Schmerz mir geben, not one cheerful hour. Hast du die Schmerzen gelindert Have you ever alleviated the pain Und im langen Leben If it would only finally happen Je des Beladenen? of one who is oppressed? Keine frohe Stunde. that the hour would arrive Hast du die Tränen gestillet Have you ever quieted the tears Wenn es endlich doch geschähe, when I could no longer see! Je des Geängsteten? of one who is distressed? Dass ich säh’ die Stunde, When will the morning come, Hat nicht mich zum Manne geschmiedet Was I not forged into a man Wo ich nimmer sähe! that will release my life from these bonds? Die allmächtige Zeit by all-mighty Time Und das ewige Schicksal, and eternal Fate, Meine Herrn und deine? my masters and yours? Franz Schubert Wähntest du etwa, You were deluded if you thought Prometheus Ich sollte das Leben hassen, I should hate life Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) In Wüsten fliehen, and fly into the wilderness Weil nicht alle because not all of my Bedecke deinen Himmel, Zeus, Cover your heavens, Zeus, Blütenträume reiften? budding dreams blossomed. Mit Wolkendunst with gauzy clouds, Und übe, dem Knaben gleich, and practice, like a boy Hier sitz’ ich, forme Menschen Here I will sit, forming men Der Disteln köpft, who beheads thistles, Nach meinem Bilde. after my own image. An Eichen dich und Bergeshöh’n; on the oaks and peaks of mountains; Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei, It will be a race like me, Musst mir meine Erde but you must allow Zu leiden, zu weinen, to suffer, to weep, Doch lassen stehn my world to stand, Zu geniessen und zu freuen sich to enjoy and to rejoice, Und meine Hütte, die du nicht gebaut, and my hut, which you did not build, Und dein nicht zu achten, and to pay no attention to you, Und meines Herd, and my hearth, Wie ich! as I do! Um dessen Glut whose glow Du mich beneidest. you envy me.

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Fahrt zum Hades Journey to Hades Claude Debussy Text: Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787–1836) Beau Soir Beautiful Evening Der Nachen dröhnt, Cypressen flüstern, The dory creaks, cypresses whisper; Text: Paul Bourget (1852–1935) Horch, Geister reden schaurig drein; hear, spirits’ eerie cries. Bald werd’ ich am Gestad’, dem düstern, Soon I will be on the gloomy shore Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses, When streams turn pink in the setting sun, Weit von der schöne Erde sein. far removed from beautiful Earth. Et qu’un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé, and a slight shudder rushes through the wheat fields, Un conseil d’être heureux semble sortir des choses a plea for happiness seems to rise out of all things Da leuchten Sonne nicht, noch Sterne, Sunlight, starlight, neither shines there, Et monter vers le cœur troublé. and it climbs up towards the troubled heart. Da tönt kein , da ist kein Freund. no song sounds, no friend is found. Empfang die letzte Träne, o Ferne, Take, o distant land, these final Un conseil de goûter le charme d’être au monde, A plea to relish the charm of life Die dieses müde Auge weint. tears my eyes have left to shed. Cependant qu’on est jeune et que le soir est beau, while there is youth and the evening is fair, Car nous nous en allons comme s’en va cette onde, for we pass away, as the wave passes: Schon schau’ ich die blassen Danaiden, Already I see the wan Danaids, Elle à , nous au tombeau. the wave to the sea, we to the grave. Den fluchbeladnen Tantalus; and curse-burdened Tantalus; Es murmelt todesschwangern Frieden, heavy with death’s stillness, Fleur des Blés Wheat Flower Vergessenheit, dein alter Fluss. Oblivion, your age-old river, murmurs. Text: André Girod

Vergessen nenn’ ich zwiefach Sterben, I call forgetting a second death. Le long des blés que la brise Amid the wheat that the breeze Was ich mit höchster Kraft gewann, To lose what I spent utmost strength Fait onduler puis défrise has ruffled in playful teasing, Verlieren, wieder es erwerben— to win, and then repeat the struggle— En un désordre coquet, leaving disorder so gay, Wann enden diese Qualen? Wann? When will these tortures finish? When? J’ai trouvé de bonne prise here I seize my chance to please you, De t’y cueillir un bouquet. and pluck for you a sweet bouquet. Der Nachen dröhnt, Cypressen flüstern, The dory creaks, cypresses whisper; Horch, Geister reden schaurig drein; hear, spirits’ eerie cries. Mets-le vite à ton corsage— Place it lightly on your breast; Bald werd’ ich am Gestad’, dem düstern, Soon I will be on the gloomy shore Il est fait à ton image I made it in your image blest Weit von der schöne Erde sein. far removed from beautiful Earth. En même temps que pour toi… and do you say, “Tell me why?” Ton petit doigt, je le gage, A little bird, I have guessed, Gruppe aus dem Tartarus Group from Tartarus T’a déjà soufflé pourquoi: has already told you why! Text: Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805) Ces épis dorés, c’est l’onde First some ears of wheat, the flare Horch—wie Murmeln des empörten Meeres, Hark—like the angered ocean’s murmuring, De ta chevelure blonde of your lovely hair, Wie durch hohler Felsen Becken weint ein Bach, like a brook weeping through rocky hollows, Toute d’or et de soleil; golden tresses full of sun; Stöhnt dort dumpfigtief ein schweres, leeres groans yonder, dankly deep, a grievous, vain, Ce coquelicot qui fronde, now the scarlet poppies fair, Qualerpresstes Ach! torment-extracted moan. C’est ta bouche au sang vermeil. these your lips that love has won. Schmerz verzerret Agony contorts Ihr Gesicht, Verzweiflung sperret their faces, despair opens Et ces bluets, beau mystère! And these bluets, how enchanting, Ihren Rachen fluchend auf. wide their jaws in imprecation. Points d’azur que rien n’altère, but of disconcerting, Hohl sind ihre Augen, ihre Blicke Hollow their eyes: their gaze Ces bluets ce sont tes yeux, these bluets are your own eyes, Spähen bang nach des Cocytus Brücke, fixes fearfully on Cocytus’s bridge, Si bleus qu’on dirait, sur terre, no blue on this earth so dazzling, Folgen tränend seinem Trauerlauf. or, weeping, follows Cocytus’s drear course. Deux éclats tombés des cieux. heaven’s flow’rs fall’n from the skies. Fragen sich einander ängstlich leise, Softly and in fear, each of the other asks Ob noch nicht Vollendung sei! whether it be not yet the end. Romance Ewigkeit schwingt über ihnen Kreise, Eternity above them whirls in circles, Text: Paul Bourget (1852–1935) Bricht die Sense des Saturns entzwei. and shatters Saturn’s sickle asunder. L’âme évaporée et souffrante, The vanishing and suffering soul, L’âme douce, l’âme odorante the sweet soul, the fragrant soul Des lys divins que j’ai cueillis of divine lilies that I have picked Dans le jardin de ta pensée, in the garden of your thoughts, Où donc les vents l’ont-ils chassée, where, then, have the winds chased it, Cette âme adorable des lys? this charming soul of the lilies?

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N’est-il plus un parfum qui reste Is there no longer a perfume that remains Vois sur ces canaux See how those ships, De la suavité céleste of the celestial sweetness Dormir ces vaisseaux nomads by nature, Des jours où tu m’enveloppais of the days when you enveloped me Dont l’humeur est vagabonde; are slumbering in the canals. D’une vapeur surnaturelle, in a supernatural haze, C’est pour assouvir To gratify Faite d’espoir, d’amour fidèle, made of hope, of faithful love, Ton moindre désir your every desire De béatitude et de paix? of bliss and of peace? Qu’ils viennent du bout du monde. they have come from the ends of the earth.

Nuit d’étoiles Starry Night Les soleils couchants The westering suns Text: Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823–1891) Revêtent les champs, clothe the fields, Les canaux, la ville entière, the canals and the town Nuit d’étoiles, sous tes , Starry night, beneath your pinions, D’hyacinthe et d’or; with reddish- and gold. sous ta brise et tes parfums, beneath your breeze and your perfumes, Le monde s’endort The world falls asleep Triste lyre qui soupire, lyre, in sorrow, softly sighing, Dans une chaude lumière! bathed in warmth and light. je rêve aux amours défunts. I dream of a love long past. Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté, There, all is harmony and beauty, La sereine mélancolie vient éclore Melancholy, so sadly tranquil, fills with gloom Luxe, calme et volupté. luxury, calm and delight. au fond de cœur, my poor weary heart. Et j’entends l’âme de ma mie And I hear your dear soul, my darling, Le Manoir de Rosemonde Rosemonde’s Manor Tressaillir dans le bois rêveur. quivering in the dreamy wood. Text: Robert de Bonnières (1850–1905)

Dans les ombres de la feuillée, In the shadows of the greenwood, De sa dent soudaine et vorace, With its sudden, voracious fangs, Quand tout bas je soupire seul, when, alone, I am sighing low, Comme un chien l’amour m’a mordu… love, like a dog, has bitten me… Tu reviens, pauvre âme éveillée, you come back, O! poor soul awaken’d, En suivant mon sang répandu, Following my spilled blood, Toute blanche dans ton linceuil. pure and white as snow in your shroud. Va, tu pourras suivre ma trace… come, you will be able to retrace my path… Prends un cheval de bonne race, Take a horse of good breed, Je revois à notre fontaine I watch here at this, your small Pars, et suis mon chemin ardu, set out, and follow my arduous road, tes regards bleus comme les cieux; your blue eyes like the sky; Fondrière ou sentier perdu— marsh, or lost pathway— Cettes , c’est ton haleine, this rose, it is my dear hope, Si la course ne te harasse! if the journey does not exhaust you! Et ces étoiles sont tes yeux. and these fair stars they are your eyes. En passant par où j’ai passé Passing where I have passed, Tu verras que seul et blessé you will see that, alone and wounded, J’ai parcouru ce triste monde, I have traversed this sorry world, Henri Duparc Et qu’ainsi je m’en fus mourir and that I thus went off to die Bien loin, bien loin, sans découvrir far, far away, without discovering L’invitation au voyage The Invitation to the Voyage Le bleu manoir de Rosemonde. the blue domain of Rosemonde. Text: (1821–1867) Élégie Mon enfant, ma sœur, My child, my sister, Text: Anonymous Songe à la douceur think of the sweetness Based on an English text by Thomas Moore (1779–1852) D’aller là-bas vivre ensemble, of going there to live together! Aimer à loisir, To love at leisure, Oh! ne murmurez pas son nom! Oh! breathe not his name. Aimer et mourir to love and to die Qu’il dorme dans l’ombre, Let it sleep in the shade, Au pays qui te ressemble. in a country that is the image of you! Où froide et sans honneur repose sa dépouille. Where cold and unhonor’d his relics are laid: Muettes, tristes, glacées, tombent nos larmes, Sad, silent and dark, be the tears that we shed, Les soleils mouillés The misty suns Comme la rosée de la nuit, qui sur sa tête humecte As the night-dew that falls on the grass o’er his head. De ces ciels brouillés of those changeable skies la gazon; Pour mon esprit ont les charmes have for me the same Mais la rosée de la nuit bien qu’elle pleure en silence, But the night-dew that falls, though in silence it weeps, Si mystérieux mysterious charm Fera briller la verdure sur sa couche Shall brighten with verdure the grave where he sleeps; De tes traîtres yeux, as your fickle eyes Et nos larmes, en secret répandues, And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls, Brillant à travers leurs larmes. shining through their tears. Conserveront sa mémoire fraîche verte dans nos cœurs. Shall long keep his memory green in our souls.

Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté, There, all is harmony and beauty, Luxe, calme et volupté. luxury, calm and delight.

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Maurice Ravel Je bois A la joie! Drink then! drink to joy! Don Quichotte à Dulcinée La joie est la seul but O! je vais droit… For good wine makes you laugh like a merry boy! Text: Paul Morand (1888–1976) lorsque j’ai…lorsque j’ai bu! Makes you laugh, laugh like a boy! Ah! Ah! Ah! la joie! La La La! Ah! Ah! Ah! to joy! La La La! I. Chanson romanesque I. Romanesque Song Je bois A la joie! Drink on, drink to joy!

Si vous me disiez que la terre If ever for rest you are yearning, Foin du jaloux, brune maîtresse, Who wants a maid (not I, I’m thinking!), A tant tourner vous offense I’ll hush the winds and the seas, my love, Qui geind, qui pleure et fait serment a maiden who mopes all day long, Je lui dépêcherais Pança: I will say to the sun above, D’être toujours cepâle amant silent and , never a song, Vous la verriez fixe et se taire. “Cease in your flight, stay in your turning!” Qui met de l’eau dans son ivresse! Ah! frowning to see her lover drinking! Ah!

Si vous me disiez l’ennui If ever for morning you sigh, Je bois A la joie! Drink then! drink to joy! Vous vient du ciel trop fleuri d’astres, the stars I will hide and their wonder, La joie est la seul but O! je vais droit… For good wine makes you laugh like a merry boy! Déchirant les divins cadastres, the splendor of heaven tear asunder, lorsque j’ai…lorsque j’ai bu! Makes you laugh, laugh like a boy! Je faucherais d’un coup la nuit. and banish the night from the sky. Ah! Ah! Ah! la joie! La La La! Ah! Ah! Ah! to joy! La La La! Je bois A la joie! Drink on, drink to joy! Si vous me disiez que l’espace, If space lost in chaos was o’er you, Ainsi vidé ne vous plaît point, filling your soul with nameless fear, Chevalier-dieu, la lance au poing, god-like I’d come, shaking my spear, Richard Wagner J’étoilerais le vent qui passe. and sow the stars, radiant before you. Les deux grenadiers The Two Grenadiers Text: François-Adolphe Loève-Veimar Mais si vous disiez que mon sang But if ever I hear you cry, Based on a German text by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) Est plus à moi qu’à vous, ma Dame, “Give me your life! Prove how you love me!” Je blêmirais, dessous le blame Darkness will fall, shadows above me, Longtemps captifs chez le Russe lointain, Two grenadiers were returning to France, Et je mourrais, vous bénissant. blessing you still, then I shall die. Deux grenadiers retournaient vers la France; from Russian captivity they came. O Dulcinée. O Dulcinée. Déjà leurs pieds touchent le sol germain; And as they crossed into German lands Mais on leur dit: Pour vous plus d’espérance; they hung their heads in shame. II. Chanson épique II. Epoch Song L’Europe a triomphé, vos braves ont vécu! Both heard there the tale that they dreaded most, Bon Saint Michel qui me donnez loisir Saint Michael, come! my lady bring to me, C’en est fait de la France, et de la grande armée! that France had been conquered in war, defeated and De voir ma Dame et de l’entendre, unto my soul her presence lending, shattered! Bon Saint Michel qui me daignez choisir Saint Michael, come! he champion let me be, Et rendant son épée, That once proud host— Pour lui complaire et la défendre, with knightly grace her fame defending, l’Empereur est captif et vaincu! And the Emperor, a free man no more. Bon Saint Michel veuillez descendre Saint Michael, come! to earth descending, Avec Saint Georges sur l’autel with good Saint George before the shrine Ils ont frémi; chacun d’eux sent tomber The grenadiers both started to weep De la Madone au bleu mantel. of the Madonna with face divine. des pleurs brülants sur sa mâle figure. at hearing so sad a review. “Je suis bien mal”…dit l’un, “je vois couler The first said, “My pain is too deep; D’un rayon du ciel bénissez ma lame May the light of heaven on my sword be lying, des flots de sang de ma vieille blessure!” my old wound is burning anew!” Et son égale en pureté give to my spirit purity, Et son égale en piété and lend my heart sweet piety, “Tout est fini,” dit l’autre, ô, je voudrais mourir! The other said, “The song is done; Comme en pudeur et chasteté: Ma Dame, and lift my soul in ecstasy, undying! Mais au pays mes fils m’attendent, et leur mère, like you, I’d not stay alive; (O grands Saint Georges et Saint Michel) (O good Saint George and Saint Michael, hear me!) qui mourrait de misère! but at home I have wife and son, L’ange qui veille sur ma veille, An angel watches ever near me, J’entends leur voix plaintive; il faut vivre et souffrir!” who would not survive without me.” Ma douce Dame si pareille A Vous, my own beloved, so like to you, Madone au bleu mantel! Amen. Madonna, maid divine! Amen. “Femmes, enfants, que m’importe! “What matters son? What matters wife? Mon cœur par un seul vœu tient encore à la terre. By nobler needs I set store; III. Chanson à boire III. Drinking Song Ils mendieront s’ils ont faim, let them go beg to sustain their life! l’Empereur, il est captif, mon Empereur! My Emperor, a free man no more! Foin du bátard, illustre Dame, Lady adored! Wherefore this sorrow? Qui pour me perdre à vos doux yeux I live in your glances divine, Ô frère, écoute-moi…je meurs! Promise me, brother, one thing: Dit que l’amour et le vin vieux say not that love, love and good wine, Aux rives que j’aimais, if at this time I should die, Mettent en deuilmon cœur, mon âme! Ah! brings to us mortals grief tomorrow! Ah! rends du moins mon cadavre, et du fer de ta lance, Take my corpse to France for its final rest; au soldat de la France as a French soldier creuse un funèbre lit sous le soleil français! let me lie in France’s dear earth.

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Fixe à mon sein glacé par le trépas The Cross of Valor, on its red band, cclaimed for his commanding stage pres- la croix d’honneur que mon sang a gagnée; over my heart you shall lay; Aence and inventive artistry, American bass- dans le cerceuil couche-moi l’arme au bras, my musket place into my hand; baritone Eric Owens has carved a unique place mets sous ma main la garde d’une épée; and my sword at my side display. in the contemporary opera world as both an es- de là je prêterai l’oreille au moindre bruit, So shall I lie and listen in the ground, teemed interpreter of classic works and a cham- jusqu’au jour, où, tonnant sur la terre ébranlée, a guard watching, silently staying pion of new music. Equally at home in concert, l’écho de la mêlée till once more I hear the cannon’s echo recital and opera performances, Mr. Owens m’appellera du fond de l’éternelle nuit! and the hoofbeats of neighing horses. continues to bring his powerful poise, expansive voice and instinctive acting faculties to stages Peut-être bien qu’en ce choc meurtrier, Perhaps in the shock of battle, around the world. sous la mitraille et les feux de la bombe, under fire and with bombs falling, The 2010–2011 season saw Mr. Owens’s mon Empereur poussera son coursier my Emperor will pass right over my grave, Ring cycle debut as Alberich in Wagner’s Das vers le gazon qui couvrira ma tombe. with each sword a flashing reflector. Rheingold in Robert Lepage’s new produc- Alors je sortirai du cerceuil, tout armé; And I, fully armed, will rise up from that grave, tion at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted et sous les plis sacrés du drapeau tricolore, and under the sacred folds of the tricolor, by James Levine on the opening night of the j’irai défendre encore I’ll again defend Metropolitan’s season. Universally praised, la France et l’Empereur, France and the Emperor, Mr. Owens’s performance was considered a l’Empereur bien aimé.” the beloved Emperor.” standout of the production. The 2010–2011 Dario Acosta season also saw Mr. Owens as Ramfis in Aida with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He will at San Francisco Opera, and in the title role in continue his summer at Glimmerglass Festival Peter Sellars’s new Hercules at Lyric Opera of 2012 as the Artist in Residence. There, he will Chicago. On the concert stage, Mr. Owens ap- appear in Aida and Lost in the Stars, and will per- peared as Lodovico in Otello with the Chicago form a jazz concert. Symphony Orchestra and conductor Riccardo Mr. Owens has created an uncommon Muti in performances at Symphony Center in niche for himself in the ever-growing body of Chicago and Carnegie Hall in New York. contemporary opera works through his deter- During 2011–2012, Mr. Owens embarks on mined tackling of new and challenging roles. a significant recital tour with pianists Robert He received great critical acclaim for portray- Spano and Craig Rutenberg. With engage- ing the title role in the world premiere of Elliot ments in Washington DC, Berkeley, Portland Goldenthal’s Grendel with the Los Angeles and Philadelphia, Mr. Owens will also perform Opera, and again at the Lincoln Center Festival, February 21 at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. He in a production directed and designed by will sing Bach Cantatas with the Chamber Music Taymor. Mr. Owens also enjoys a close associa- Society of Lincoln Center on December 6. This tion with John Adams, for whom he created the season, Mr. Owens continues his work with the role of General Leslie Groves in the world pre- Metropolitan Opera’s Ring cycle, with his charac- miere of Doctor Atomic at San Francisco Opera, ter Alberich reappearing in October in Siegfried and of the Storyteller in the world premiere of A and in January in Götterdämmerung. The com- Flowering Tree at Peter Sellars’s New Crowned plete cycles will begin in April 2012. Mr. Owens Hope Festival in Vienna and later with the Los will perform Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Owens made his the Boston Symphony Orchestra in March at Boston Symphony debut under the baton of Carnegie Hall, one of three appearances there David Robertson in Adams’s Nativity oratorio in 2011–2012. Appearing as Jochanaan in El Niño. Strauss’s Salome with the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Owens’s career operatic highlights in- Mr. Owens assumes the role in both Cleveland clude his San Francisco Opera debut in Otello and at Carnegie Hall in May. Summer 2012 be- conducted by Donald Runnicles; his Royal gins with Mr. Owens reprising the role of the Opera, Covent Garden, debut in Norma; Aida Storyteller in A Flowering Tree by John Adams at Houston Grand Opera; Rigoletto, Il Trovatore

34 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 35 ABOUT THE ARTISTS and La Bohème at Los Angeles Opera; Die Pianist Craig Rutenberg has collaborated with Zauberflöte for his Paris Opera (Bastille) debut; many of the world’s greatest vocalists and is rec- and Ariodante and L’Incoronazione di Poppea at ognized as one of the most distinguished accom- the English National Opera. He sang Collatinus panists on the stage today. in a highly acclaimed Christopher Alden pro- Having studied piano and interpretation duction of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at with John Wustman, Geoffrey Parsons, Pierre Glimmerglass Opera. A former member of the Bernac and Miriam Solovieff, Mr. Rutenberg Houston Grand Opera Studio, Mr. Owens has appeared in recital with Denyce Graves, has sung Sarastro, Mephistopheles in Faust, Sumi Jo, Harolyn Blackwell, Susanne Mentzer, Frère Laurent, Angelotti in Tosca, and Aristotle Frederica von Stade, Angelika Kirchschlager, Onassis in the world premiere of Jackie O (avail- Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson, Ben able on the Argo ) with that company. Heppner and Jerry Hadley, as well as Olaf Bär, Mr. Owens is featured on two Telarc record- Simon Keenlyside and José van Dam. He has ings with the Atlanta Symphony: Mozart’s performed with Mr. Hampson at the White Requiem and scenes from Strauss’s Elektra and House under the Clinton administration. Die Frau ohne Schatten, both under the baton Mr. Rutenberg records for Deutsche of Donald Runnicles. He is featured on the Grammophon, EMI/Angel, BMG/RCA and Nonesuch Records release of A Flowering Tree. Koch International. He has often appeared in In addition to great popular and critical ac- concert on national and international television claim, Mr. Owens has been recognized with and radio, including numerous PBS specials. multiple awards, including the 2003 Marian Currently Head of Music Administration at Anderson Award, a 1999 ARIA award, and the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Rutenberg is also second prize in the Plácido Domingo Operalia guest coach at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National the Gothenburg Opera and the Norwegian Council Auditions and the Luciano Pavarotti Opera in Oslo. International Voice Competition. He has coached and given master classes at A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Owens began the Ryan Opera Center for American Artists at his musical training as a pianist at age six, fol- Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theatre, lowed by formal oboe study at age eleven under Santa Fe Opera and the Royal Opera House, Lloyd Shorter of the Delaware Symphony and Covent Garden. Mr. Rutenberg has also worked Louis Rosenblatt of the Philadelphia Orchestra. for the Opera Studio de Paris, the Glyndebourne He later studied voice while an undergraduate at Festival Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Temple University, and then as a graduate stu- Grand Opera and Vancouver Opera. dent at the Curtis Institute of Music. He cur- In addition to his duties at the Metropolitan rently studies with Armen Boyajian. He serves Opera and his teaching activities in the 2011– on the Board of Trustees of both the National 2012 season, Mr. Rutenberg appears in recital Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and with Christine Brewer, Marcello Giordani, Eric Astral Artistic Services. Owens, Mathias Hausmann and Mr. Hampson. Mr. Owens appears by arrangement with As a solo pianist, he continues to record the IMG Artists, Carnegie Hall Tower, 152 West complete piano music of Virgil Thomson for the 57th Street, New York, New York 10019. Virgil Thomson Foundation’s label, Everbest.

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