Program Notes
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Monday Evening, July 25, 2016, at 8:00 pm m Opening-Night Program a r The Illuminated Heart (World premiere) g Selections from Mozart’s Operas o r P Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra Louis Langrée , Conductor e Netia Jones , Director, Designer, and Illuminations M|M h Kiera Duffy , Soprano M|M T Christine Goerke , Soprano Ana María Martínez , Soprano M|M Nadine Sierra , Soprano M|M Marianne Crebassa , Mezzo-soprano M|M Daniela Mack , Mezzo-soprano (New York debut) Matthew Polenzani , Tenor Christopher Maltman , Baritone M|M Peter Mattei , Baritone M|M Peter Carwell , Program Consultant Andrew Hill , Director of Lighting This program is approximately 90 minutes long and will be performed without intermission. The Illuminated Heart was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. M|M Mostly Mozart debut (Program continued) Please make certain all your electronic devices are switched off. The Mostly Mozart Festival is made possible by Renée and Robert Belfer, Sarah Billinghurst Solomon and Howard Solomon, and Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser. This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center. Fortepiano by R.J. Regier, Freeport, Maine David Geffen Hall Mostly Mozart Festival Additional support is made possible by Chris and Bruce Crawford, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, S.H. and Helen R. Scheuer Family Foundation, and Friends of Mostly Mozart. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center Nespresso is the Official Coffee of Lincoln Center NewYork-Presbyterian is the Official Hospital of Lincoln Center MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center “Summer at Lincoln Center” is supported by Diet Pepsi Media Partner WQXR Artist Catering provided by Zabar’s and Zabars.com UPCOMING MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL EVENTS: Thursday–Saturday, July 28–30, at 7:30 pm in Alice Tully Hall Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra Louis Langrée , conductor Leif Ove Andsnes , piano BACH (trans. GEORGE BENJAMIN): Canon and Fugue (New York premiere) MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 20 BACH (arr. WEBERN): Ricercare, from The Musical Offering MOZART: Symphony No. 38 (“Prague”) Pre-concert recitals on July 29–30 at 6:30 pm by Leif Ove Andsnes and members of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra Monday, August 1, at 7:30 pm in Alice Tully Hall Emerson String Quartet Emanuel Ax , piano PURCELL: Chacony in G minor SCHUBERT: String Quartet in A minor (“Rosamunde”) DVO Rˇ ÁK: Piano Quintet Monday, August 1, at 10:00 pm in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse A Little Night Music Emerson String Quartet Emanuel Ax , piano SCHUBERT: Quartettsatz in C minor BEETHOVEN: Six Variations in F major MOZART: Piano Quartet in G minor For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit MostlyMozart.org. Call the Lincoln Center Info Request Line at (212) 875-5766 to learn about program cancellations or request a Mostly Mozart brochure. Visit MostlyMozart.org for full festival listings. Join the conversation: #LCMozart We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might distract the performers and your fellow audience members. In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building. Mostly Mozart Festival I The Program The Illuminated Heart ALL-MOZART PROGRAM Overture to Le nozze di Figaro (1786) Ah, guarda, sorella, from Così fan tutte (1790) MARTÍNEZ, MACK Crudel! Perchè finora, from Le nozze di Figaro SIERRA, MATTEI Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja, from Die Zauberflöte (1791) MALTMAN Ah perdona al primo affetto, from La clemenza di Tito (1791) SIERRA, CREBASSA Act I Finale: Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro, from Così fan tutte DUFFY, MARTÍNEZ, MACK, POLENZANI, MALTMAN, MATTEI Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben, from Zaide (1779–80) SIERRA In quali eccessi, o Numi…Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata, from Don Giovanni (1787) MARTÍNEZ Hai già vinta la causa…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro, from Le nozze di Figaro MATTEI Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio, from La clemenza di Tito CREBASSA; JON MANASSE, Clarinet Dalla sua pace, from Don Giovanni POLENZANI Soave sia il vento, from Così fan tutte MARTÍNEZ, MACK, MATTEI Andrò ramingo e solo, from Idomeneo, re di Creta (1781) GOERKE, SIERRA, CREBASSA, POLENZANI Fin ch’han dal vino, from Don Giovanni MALTMAN O smania! O furie!...D’Oreste, d’Aiace, from Idomeneo, re di Creta GOERKE Act IV Finale: Gente, gente, all’armi all’armi!, from Le nozze di Figaro DUFFY, GOERKE, MARTÍNEZ, SIERRA, CREBASSA, MACK, POLENZANI, MALTMAN, MATTEI Mostly Mozart Festival I Director’s Note By Netia Jones e t The Illuminated Heart is a celebration of 50 years of the Mostly Mozart o Festival, a golden anniversary that reflects the genius of Mozart, the joy of live performance, the vibrancy of New York City—home to Mozart’s N librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte for more than 20 years—and the artistic mag - net of Lincoln Center itself. The insight, humanity, daring, and innovation s ’ of this composer, whose instrumental compositions themselves are like r pieces of theater—dramatic, moving, and life-affirming—reach even o greater heights in his operatic works. t c In these timeless operas, Mozart shines a light on the human condition; e his characters are tangible and alive, flawed, contradictory, and emotion - r ally complex. The Illuminated Heart traces fragmented mo ments of in - i tense human emotion and interaction in these vivid works—the moral D obscurity and exposure of human failure and heartbreak, alongside dis - plays of the greatest strength and resilience. In these fragments we witness, simultaneously, both the real and the ideal in human behavior. We observe and relate to the perils and follies of self- delusion and vanity, jealousy, infidelity, ambition, and deception, and are inspired similarly by instances of constancy and magnanimity, ingenuity, kindness, generosity, and honor. Here there is both darkness and light, the peculiarly Mozartian balance between seriousness and comedy, and the irresolvable ambiguity of the human condition, translated into Mozart’s luminous and sublime musical language. We see the composer in the con - text of 18th-century Enlightenment, while also recognizing his characters in ourselves. The Illuminated Heart draws all of its visual references from staged pro - ductions of Mozart throughout the last 50 years, both period and mod - ern, where certain motifs recur whatever the style of the production: the bright Neapolitan coastal skies, the myriad doors of Aguas Frescas, the shadows of Cretan ships and dark seas. The sharply tapered stage of David Geffen Hall corresponds directly to the diminishing perspective of late Baroque stages. The explosion of theatrical technology in the 18th century, with its passion for stage machinery, trompe l’oeil, and painted effects, focused on creating beautiful visual tableaux. Scenes and stage settings were transformed by unfurling painted cloths. In our own age, location and atmosphere can be transformed in a similar way by digital technology. Stage illumination provided by candles and oil footlights is replaced by illumination from projection. The costume and gowns draw on both 18th-century and modern styles, as well as from leading designers around the time of Mostly Mozart’s inauguration in 1966, in particular the American couturier Charles James, who himself drew inspiration from 18th-century styles, colors, fabrics, and details. That century’s passion for silhouettes and Mostly Mozart Festival I Director’s Note silhouette portraits is echoed by modern projection, where the crispness of the projected light creates the same effect, and light and shadows become dramatic devices. In the hands of great singers and instrumentalists, these moments of intense emotion reach their fullest expression and enlighten us as listeners. These operas touch on all human encounters, extending to the political, religious, moral, and social. We witness class conflict, the interrogation of aristocratic privilege, the relations between the genders, and, most profoundly, we see directly into the human heart. We are all reflected in the darkness and in the light, but finally we are allowed reconciliation, forgiveness, and redemption. In these transcendent works, the light prevails. —Copyright © 2016 by Netia Jones Mostly Mozart Festival I Notes on the Program By Peter Carwell m Overture to Le nozze di Figaro (1786) a WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART r Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg g Died December 5, 1791, in Vienna o r Mozart’s operas are made up of many splendid moments—arias and ensembles that can be enjoyed out of context in concert—but by framing P tonight’s program with the overture and finale of Le nozze di Figaro , we are also paying tribute to Mozart as a complete dramatist. This overture uses e none of the opera’s musical themes, but it immediately brings the listener h into the world of Casa Almaviva. The bubbling opening bars quickly leap to t life with a tireless energy, the swirling and swishing strings perfectly pre - viewing the fleet movements of the story to come. There is none of the n existential awe that characterizes the Don Giovanni overture, nor the firm o and stately unison chords that introduce the magic priestly world of Die Zauberflöte . Instead, Mozart opens his most sophisticated human comedy s with a whirl of warmth and spirit and drive, perfectly setting the scene, e opening the door, and leading us in. t o Ah, guarda, sorella, from Così fan tutte (1790) N WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART The delightful duet “Ah, guarda, sorella,” from the first act of Così fan tutte , introduces the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella to the audience as they sing of their deep devotion to their boyfriends.