The Detroit Symphony Orchestra

AN BEElltOVEN iCOltau,a.' by ANTA DORAn

Detro Symphony Orchestra in cooperation Michigan Opera Theatre April 9 and 11, 1981 Copyright• 2010,ford Michigan Auditorium Opera Theatre • 8:30 p.m. Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre Thursday and Saturday evening, April 9 and 11, 1981 at 8:30 • Ford Auditorium

THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Antal Dorati, Music Director

in cooperation with MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE David DiChiera, General Director

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN FIDELIO Opera in two acts Libretto by Josef Sonnleithner and Georg Friedrich Treitschke

conductor: Antal Dorati stage director: Sarah Ventura set and costume design: Tonina Dorati lighting designer: Richard Winkler costumes realized by: Bonnie Whalen

Characters in order of vocal appearance:

Jaquino, Rico Serbo porter at the prison Marzelline, Dinah Bryant daughter of Rocco Rocco, Kurt Rydl jailer at the prison Leonore, Elisabeth Ander wife of Florestan, disguised as a youth under the name of Fidelio Don Pizarro, Wolfgang Lenz governor of the prison First Prisoner Michael Hendricks Second Prisoner Mark Vondrak Florestan, Hermann Winkler a prisoner of the state Don Fernando, Andreas Poulimenos Minister of State

Soldiers, Prisoners, People Kenneth Jewell Chorale Eric Freudigman, director

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre PRODUCTION CREDITS production coordinators: Dwight Bowes Andrew Raeburn musical preparation: Murray Gross George Darden make-up and wigs: Lenna Rashkovsky Steven Horak production stage manager: Peggy Imbrie I technical director: Robert Murphy - costume mistress: Bonnie Whalen assistant lighting designer: Betsy Adams .. property master: William m'Arch McCarty costume assistants: Mary Habeck, Marion B. Solomon, Sharon Yesh, Diane jamieson set construction: Merrill Stone Associates costumes built by: MOT Costume Shop and The Studio, New York additional costumes from: Eaves-Brooks Inc., New York, and Malabar, Ltd., Toronto leather jackets by: Reed Sportswear Manufacturing Co. and Serman's supernumeraries: james Hillman, Fred Lozen, Chuck McGraw, Rick Mox, jerry Orlowski, Robert Paul, Terry Prim, jim Theisen

STAFF FOR DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Ralph O. Guthrie, managing director Andrew Raeburn, artistic administrator Michael A. Smith, orchestra manager Sylvia Espenschade, director of public affairs Margaret Devine, director of finance Bruce Carr, assistant manager Peter G. Remington, director of development Stevan Davis, communications manager Steve Haviaras, audience development director Vernon C. Allen, house manager Elizabeth Carr, secretary to the music director

STAFF FOR MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE David DiChiera, general director Dwight Bowes, director of productions Karen DiChiera, director of education . Richard A. johnson, director of finance Stefanie Ott-O'Toole, director of development Edward Townley, director of public relations

Activities of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and of Michigan Opera Theatre are made possible in part with the support of the State of Michigan through funds from the Michigan Council for the Arts. Michigan Opera Theatre is a member of OPERA America, Inc.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre ANTAL DORATI, Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1977, has had a long and distinguished career as an orchestra conductor, and has appeared with virtual ly every major orchestra. Maestro Dorati was born in Budapest in 1906 and entered that city's Acad emy of Music at the age of 14. Trained as a composer, cellist, pianist and con ductor, he graduated at 18, the youngest in the history of the Academy. He was immediately named coach and, soon after, conductor of the Royal Opera House in Budapest. From 1934 until 1941 he was Music Director of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and, subsequently, of the American Ballet Theatre. His first perform ance in Detroit was in 1936, as a conductor of the DR. DAVID DiCHIERA Ballets Russes . founder and general di He left the American Ballet Theatre in 1945 to rector of Michigan Opera organize the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his Theatre, fi rst came to th is spectacular success there led to an invitation from state as teacher and ad the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra to become ministrator at Oakland Music Director. During this period he was respon University, where he sible for numerous commissions, world premieres served as Chairman of the and American premieres of important compositions. Department of Music. He His principal appointments since leaving the Min created and developed the neapolis Symphony include the Chief Conductor idea of Overture to Opera ships of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1963-67), - a company of local the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (1967-74), singers who presented and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London programs featuring ex (1974-78), and the Music Directorship of the Na cerpts in English from operas to be featured during tional Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. the Metropolitan Opera's annual visit to Detroit. (1969-77). Maestro Dorati was named Conductor The success of Overture to Opera provided a Laureate of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in strong foundation for the establishment of an in july of 1978, and he continued his affiliation with dependent professional opera company in Detroit. the National Symphony as Principal Guest Conduc In 1971 the new company-later renamed Mich tor through the spring of 1980. igan Opera Theatre - found its home in the his In 1977, Maestro Dorati instituted a series of toric Music Hall, rescued and refurbished under annual mid-season festivals in Detroit dedicated to Dr. DiChiera's artistic leadership as founding direc one composer or group of composers. Beethoven tor of the Music Hall Center for the Performing was the first, followed by a "Schubert and Vienna" Arts - a role he subsequently relinquished to con festival in 1978. The International Brahms Festival in centrate full-time on MOT, although he remains spring of 1980 made Detroit the site of North Amer a member of the Music Hall Board of Directors. ica's most comprehensive series of events ever de In addition to his local duties, David DfChiera voted to Johannes Brahms. currently serves as president of OPERA America, In the fall of 1979 Antal Dorati led the DSO on the federation of all major opera companies in Hs premiere tour of Europe, producing rave reviews North and South America. An accomplished com and standing ovations throughout the five weeks, poser, he resides in Bloomfield Hills with his wife two dozen concerts, and eight countries of the tour. Karen and their two daughters, Lisa and Cristina.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre Scenic designer TONINA DORATI is the only child of Detroit Symphony Orchestra Music Director Antal Dorati. She designed the sets and costumes for the Detroit Symphony's production of Richard Strauss's opera Elektra, performed at Ford Audito rium in March 1978. She has studied her craft exten sively in Europe, including three summers at Italy's renowned Spoleto Festival. She has also designed sets and costumes for opera and ballet productions in Holland, and most notably, designed seven pro ductions for Joan Sutherland's own company when it toured Australia in 1965.

Lighting designer RICHARD WINKLER has, for the past five seasons, designed for the Dallas Civic Opera. Some of his credits include their new pro duction of Turandot, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Salome, and Madam Butterfly. For the Greater Miami Opera Guild he created the lighting design for The Abduction, and for the Houston Grand Opera he recreated his Cenerentola. His International stage director SARAH VENTURA Broadway designs include the current Your Arms has worked with some of Europe's most distin Too Short To Box With God, the Shirley Bassey guished artists, among them Jacques Charon, Marcel Concert, Something's Afoot, Best Friend, and The Lamy, Herbert Graf, Lotfi Mansouri, Gunther Ren Play's The Thing. He has supervised the lighting for nert and Wieland Wagner. Miss Ventura 'has herself The Concert, starring Frank Sinatra, both of Shirley staged more than 50 diverse productions through MacLaine's Palace Theatre engagements, George out Europe, South America and the United States. Benson at the Belasco, and Ashford and Simson at Traditional repertoire in the original languages has the Pa'iace. Regional assignments have been the included La Boheme, The Marriage of Figaro, The Folger Theatre's Wild Oats, A Christmas Carol for Barber of Seville and La Traviata, while she has also the Milwaukee Rep, Tuscaloosa, and How To Rob A directed seldom performed operas such as Scarlatti's Bank. He designed the lighting for MOT's highly If Trionfo del Onore, Cimarosa's If Matrimonio successful production of Die Fledermaus last fall. In Segreto, Haydn's If Mondo della Luna, Strauss's A addition to Mr. Winkler's work in the theatre he is Night in Venice and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. also the lighting consuhant for Canada's Wonder Twentieth-century works include Le Donne Curiose land, a huge new Theme Park to open in Toronto by Wolf-Ferrari, Nino Rota's If Capella di Paglia di this spring. Firenze, Stravinsky's Mavra, Landowsky's Le Ventri loque, Menotti's Amahl and The Night Visitors and Milhaud's Le Pauvre Matelot. In Detroit, she was Costumer BONN ~ E WHALEN is a Detroit native director of MOT's production of II Trovatore. in her fifth season with Michigan Opera Theatre. Miss Ventura's immediate plans include Don She most recently designed costumes for MOT's Pasquale and Lucia di Lammermoor in Utah, Madam acclaimed production of Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice Butterfly in Santiago de Chile, the forthcoming pro and Men, and has also designed for MOT produc- . duction of Tosca with Michigan Opera Theater next tions of Don Pasquale, Hansel and Gretel and Porgy fal,l, and Sutermeister's La Botte Rouge in Geneva. and Bess. A graduate of the University of Detroit, Miss Ventura's energy and dynamic personality she has worked with the New York Shakespeare contribute to the ever-increasing success of her Festival and Santa Fe Opera in addition to the Har career, to her distinctive style, and her respected binger Dance Company, Meadow Brook Theatre reputation. and Greenfield Village Players in this area.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre Soprano ELISABETH AN THE CAST DER (Leonore) was born in Sweden, where she be gan her musical studies at six. She studied voice with Ingrid Rappbe at the The atre and Dramatic School in Malmo, continuing her studies in Italy, Vienna and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. During the last decade, her opera and concert career has devel oped rapidly. With the famed German director Gotz Friedrich she has ap peared as Fiordiligi and Cherubino in Amsterdam, Brussels, Hamburg and Stockholm. Other assign ments have taken her to several French music cen ters - Angers, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseilles and Stras bourg. In England she has appeared several times with Kent Opera, and in 1975 she won the Mozart Prize in London, where she now makes her home. In addition to concert appearances throughout Brit ain and Scandinavia, she has appeared in Belgium and Holland. These performances with the Detroit Symphony mark her United States debut.

Tenor HERMANN WIN' KLER (Florestan), a native of Duisburg, Germany, is a member of the opera companies of Berlin, Ham burg, Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna. One of the most important German lyric tenors, he has sung all of the major Mozart roles. Wieland Wagner has invited him to Bay reuth for Salome, also produced in Brussels, Paris, Vienna and at the Holland Festival. Other festival appearances include the Munich every year since 1972, the 1976 Salzburg (at which he sang lJ lJ "ldomeneo ), and the 1977 Bayreuth (IJParsifal ). Herbert von Karajan invited him in the same year to Tokyo to sing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In . 1978 he sang Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Berlin and Salzburg and in London under Pierre Bou rez. Mr. Winkler sang his first Florestan in Frank furt under Christoph von Dohnanyi, and again performed the work at the Easter Festival in Salz burg; these performances are his first in Detroit.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre Bass KURT RYDL (Rocco) is currently a member of the Vienna Staatsoper in his native city. A graduate of the Vienna Hochschule of Music, he was pre No stranger to the Detroit viously associated with the area, soprano DINAH Linz and Stuttgart opera BRYANT (Marzelline) made companies. His guest en her debut with the Detroit gagements include per Symphony in 1979, singing formances in Hamburg, in Richard Strauss's Die Munich, Venice, Barce agyptische Helena, which lona, Geneva, Zurich, she recorded after appear Frankfurt, Rome, and Na • ing wHh the Orchestra at ples. In addition, he has appeared in major festivals Carnegie Hall and Kenne including Bayreuth, Salzburg, Vienna, Lyon, and dy Center as well as Ford Hohenems; he has recorded with So'iti and Karajan, Auditorium. She has sung among others, and is recipient of several prizes. Despina in a concert ver These are his first appearances with the DSO. sion of Cosi fan tutte with the Michigan Chamber Orchestra, and has Baritone WOLFGANG performed twice with the Opera Company of LENZ (Pizarro) was born Greater Lansing, first in the American premiere of in Bonn, where he studied Eugen Suchon's Krutnava and this past January as history of art, German lit Nanetta in Falstaff. With the Calvin College Oratorio erature, theater sciences Society in Grand Rapids she has sung two perform and economics. His musi ances of Messiah . Dinah Bryant has made several cal training he received at appearances in Europe, notably her Paris debut this the Munich Hochschule, past December in Messiah, with the Tonkunstler in and also with Luigi Ricci Zurich, and in various operatic roles in theaters in and Tito Gobbi in Rome. Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt. A native of Atlanta, Mr. Lenz has sung on all she studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the leading German con the Villa Schifanoia in Florence. cert and opera stages. He has just returned from a Tenor RICO SERBO (Ja very successful tour with the Israel Philharmonic quino) began his singing Orchestra, Antal Dorati conducting, singing Beetho career in northern Califor ven's Missa Solemnis. These performances of Fidelio nia, where he was born. mark his Detroit debut. After graduating from the University of the Pacific, Baritone ANDREAS POU he joined the San Fran L1MENOS (Don Fernan cisco Opera Merola Pro do), the acclaimed Don gram and the Santa Fe Giovanni of Michigan Op Opera Apprentice Pro era Theatre's 1980 fall sea gram, which led to solo son, is currently on the ... I contracts with the San faculty of Bowling Green Francisco Opera, Seattle State University. In 1966 Opera and engagements he received his Bachelor's in oratorios and recitals throughout the United Degree in Music from the States. He was the recipient of the Kirsten Flagstad Boston Conservatory of Award, a Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant, and a Music and his Master's grant from the Corbett Foundation of Ohio which Degree from that school took him to Europe where he spent six years as in 1968. The following principal tenor with the Coblenz Theater and the year he received a Fulbright scholarship to study . Bavarian State Theater in Munich, with additional opera in Rome. A winner of several major regional guest contracts throughout Germany, Austria and opera awards, he has appeared with the Boston Switzerland. In 1979, he sang with great success in Pops, the opera companies of Boston and Western the Michigan Opera Theatre's production of La Michigan, and the symphony orchestras of Lansing, Boheme. He makes his DSO debut in this produc Flint, and Grand Rapids. These performances mark tion. his DSO debut.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre The KENNETH JEWELL CHORALE, an ensemble of highly skilled musicians, has presented numerous " concerts throughout the midwest since its inception in 1962. Most Chorale members are graduate musi cians who teach music professionally, direct church choirs, and are featured soloists with local opera groups and major church choirs. The Chorale first appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1964; this is its 44th DSO appearance. In addition to performing every summer at the Meadow Brook Musci Festiva l" and making two recordings for Musi cal Heritage, the Jewell Chorale has recorded twice with the DSO on the London label : Strauss's opera Die agyptische Helena and Szymanowski's Sym MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE - whose home is phony No.3. Detroit's Music Hall - is ranked among the fore most opera companies in the United States, and re ERIC FREUDIGMAN, director cently celebrated its tenth anniversary season. MOT is nationally recognized for its commitment to opera SOPRANO ALTO in English, and for its encouragement of American Dorothy Berry Kay Abbott musical theatre through productions of new works Carmen Beverst Margaret DiFranco (Washington Square, Of Mice and Men) and im Joyce Bigelow Cynthia English Sally Bunin Helene Eppinga portant revivals (Naughty Marietta, Showboat, Re Janis Casai Sari Frey gina) . MOT also plays an important role in develop Marilyn Chapman Sylvia Geisler ing the careers of America's finest young creative Joyce Cromwell Barbara Halter Ellen Ferguson Katherine Harris talents; such opera stars as Maria Ewing, Catherine Katherine Holway Barbara Hoffmeier Malfitano, Kathleen Battle and Leona Mitchell were Patricia Koontz Darlene Hutchison Denise Love Susan Ingersoll part of the Michigan Opera Theatre company early Joyce vanNiewkuyk Ruth Kenny in their careers. Nancy Nowak Sonja Keyt Nancy vonOeyen Florence Laatz MOT's Music Hall Season for 1981-82 will open Dolly Paul Jean MacKenzie October 2 with a new production of Puccini's Tosca Carol Petty Diane Marshall Jo Pickett Anne Maters starring Nancy Shade in three Italian performances Martha Ray and Stephanie Sundine in three English perform Judith Reger BASS Beth Stewart George Beverst ances. Six performances of Carmen in English will Linda Trestrail Thomas Brandt be followed by the North American premiere of the Norman Brinkman' Armenian opera Anoush. A new winter series wi" TENOR Paul Bruns Donald Daniels' Paul Cook offer GHbert and Sullivan's The Mikado and Gersh Stuart Eppinga Craig Everett· win's Porgy and Bess . Eric Freudigman Paul Feig Timothy Hamel Cliff Halter MOT also presents one production each year in Michael Hendricks William Keener Russell Ives' Daniel Pascu Kalamazoo, and mounts a unique Opera-in-Resi William Legros David Pulice dence tour taking a full-length opera plus one-acts John Lukens Daniel Ramsay and workshops into communities throughout the Richard Mehl' Steve Sell Robert Morency John Stewart' state. Outreach programs also seek to develop new Harvey Neumann Larry Svalya audiences through programs in schools, malls and Lloyd Schultz Kim Taylor Paul Silver Mark Vondrak other centers - including senior citizen centers Val Sisto Richard York and schools for the handicapped. Michigan Opera William Smith' Theatre's level of excellence has also been recog Robert Sullivan Steven Wipfli' nized through national telecasts of two of its pro Kenneth Zorn 'Guards ductions.

ACT I: Bya prison gatehouse in eighteenth-century ACT 1/: Chained in his gloomy cel'l, Florestan imag Spain, the turnkey Jacquino attempts to court Mar ines that Leonore has come to free him, but his zelline, daughter of the jailer Rocco. Marzelline in vision turns to despair and he sinks exhausted to the turn has set her heart on the new helper Fidelio. floor. Rocco and Leonore enter on their gruesome When Jacquino is called away, she dwells on the mission; the distraught woman tries in vain to dis delights of married life. Rocco enters, impatient that cern the sleeping prisoner's features, vowing to help Fidelio has not yet returned with important dis him whoever he may be. When the grave lis finished, patches; but the youth soon arrives, laden also with Rocco takes out a flask and drinks. Florestan awak provisions, and confirms his trustworthiness. Fidelio ens, and Leonore nearly faints at the familiar sound is actually Leonore, a noblewoman of Seville, whose of his voice. Imploring Rocco to send a letter to his husband Florestan - a victim of political tyranny wife in Seville, the emaciated prisoner moves the languishes in an unknown dungeon. Disguised as a jailer to offer him a drink; then Leonore, who has boy to discover his whereabouts she is understand recovered her composure, gives him a piece of ably uneasy when Rocco announces Fidelio as Mar bread, urging him not to lose faith. As Rocco sig zelline's future husband and advises the young cou nals with a whistle that the grave is ready, Leonore ple to feather their nest. Later, as Rocco describes withdraws into the shadows. The governor appears, a prisoner who lies in the vaults beneath them, triumphantly casting aside his cloak. With drawn Leonore hopes it may be Florestan and begs the dagger he advances, hurling taunts at his victim, jailer to take her with him on his rounds. Though who defies him with helpless curses. Just as Pizarro Don Pizarro, cruel governor of the fortress, has for is set to strike, Leonore leaps forward, revealing her bidden others to enter the lower levels, Rocco true identity and holding the tyrant at bay with a promises to ask his permission. pistol. At that moment a trumpet sounds from the As soldiers assemble in a square outside, Pizarro battlements above, and Jacquino runs in shouting learns from dispatches brought by Rocco that Don that the minister of state has arrived. As Rocco con Fernando, the benign minister of state, is on his way ducts Pizarro to the courtyard, Florestan turns to to inspect the fortress. At this news the governor Leonore with wonder and asks her what she had secretly determines to murder his victim Florestan to go through to save him. "Nothing," she assures immediately. Sending his captain to sound a trumpet him, and the two ecstatically hail their reunion. from the ramparts at the minister's approach, Pi The populace assembled before the prison hears j zarro first tells the reluctant Rocco to murder Flore Don Fernando proclaim that he has come to admin stan; when he refuses, Pizarro orders him to prepare ister justice to all. When Florestan appears, the 1 a grave in the prisoner's solitary dungeon. Leonore minister expresses amazement at finding his friend, overhears this; left alone, she curses the tyrant and whom he had assumed dead. Rocco then presents prays that hope will not desert her as she strives for Leonore to Don Fernando, relating the story of her her husband's release. She then compassionately heroism. After Pizarro is arrested for his crimes and asks Rocco if the prisoners may have a few moments led away, the minister tells Leonore that she herself of fresh air in the courtyard, which he permits. should remove Florestan's chains. The selfless wife, When the wretched men have murmured their grati overcome with emotion, is hailed as the noblest of tude, Marzelline rushes in to warn that Pizarro is women. returning. Furious at Rocco's kindness, the governor - Courtesy of OPERA NEWS sends the prisoners back to their dungeons, then orders the jailer and his assistants to start digging the grave at once.

ACT I No.1 "Jetzt, Schatzchen, jetzt sind wir allein" (Duet: Jaquino, Marzelline) J No.2 "0 war ich schon mit dir vereint" (Aria: II Marzelline) NO. 3 "Mir ist so wunderbar" (Quartet: Marzel line, Jaquino, Rocco, Leonore) NO.4 "Hat man nicht auch Gold" (Aria: Rocco) NO.5 "Gut, Sohnchen, gut" (Trio: Leonore, Mar zelline, Rocco) No. 6 (March) No. 7 "Ha! welch' ein Augenblick!" (Aria with Chorus: Pizarro) No. 8 "Jetzt, Alter" (Duet: Pizarro, Rocco) NO.9 "Abscheulicher!" (Recitative and Aria: Leonore) No. 10 "0 welche Lust" (Finale)

ACT II

No. 11 "Gott! welch' Dunkel hierl" (Introduction and Aria: Florestan) No. 12 "Nur hurtig Fort" (Melodrama and Duet: Leonore, Rocco) No. 13 "Euch werde Lohn" (Trio: Leonore, Flore stan, Rocco) No. 14 "Er sterbe" (Quartet: Leonore, Florestan, Pizarro, Rocco) No. 15 "0 namenlose Freude!" (Duet: Leonore, Florestan) No. 16 "Heil sei dem Tag" (Finale)

SYNOPSIS OF SCENES

Act I, Scene 1: Outside the jailer's lodge Scene 2: The prison courtyard

Act II, Scene 1 : The dungeon One of history's most renowned Leonores, Wilhelmine Scene 2: The courtyard Schroeder-Devrient, who first sang the role in 1822

by JEFF GAYDOS

Those of us living in the metropolitan area equate "renaissance" with Detroit. It is the catch word, the slogan for the city's recent physical and cultural growth. Great and modern structures have been erected; old structures have been rejuvenated. People from all over are noticing the new and proud Detroit. Surely many should be credited with Detro,it's rebirth. But few have had as much impact on the city's reputation and development-not only locally, or nationally, but internationally as well - as the man who has served as music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1977, Antal Dorati. Maestro Dorati, it is clear, deserves celebration, not only for his energy, which will be felt in Detroit for decades to come, but for his enormous contri bution to the world's musical enrichment through out the 20th century. His 75th birthday (April 9, 1981) is the proper occasion to celebrate a life dedicated to promoting the enjoyment and under standing of art and music. Detroit, Dallas, Mi,nne apolis, New York, Washington, London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Paris - these are some of the major cities that have been touched by Dorati. He is a man of strong opinion. A leader. A man of volatility, of wit and humor, and of passion about his work and his life. At the same time he has been described by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin as possessing other qualities as well : " . .. a childlike freshness in his sensibilities : mischievous as a child when things went well, he pouted like a child when they didn't." Menuhin has said Dorati is "a tremendously gifted musician ... a musician too comp l' ete to be labeled simply a conductor or a composer or a pianist, and a man too complete to be labeled simply a musician; he also draws beautifully." Indeed, Dorati's own earliest memory of himself revolves around art and his frustration over not being able to satisfy himself. This from the opening chapter of his memoirs, Notes of Seven Decades: "A small boy in a garden, drawing lines on the sandy path with a twig. He looks at what he has drawn, tramples on it furiously, then goes at it again. The result is the same. Again he tramples on the dust, again he draws, now other criss-cross lines. Jeff Gaydos is a free-lance writer who has covered the He does not like that one either, erases it, trampling, Detroit arts scene for the last four years. kicking. He starts to cry."

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre He continues: "In a way the little story has con Dorati began acquiring the self-assurance of a tinued throughout my life: I have tried and tried to strong conductor, and he began to build his repu draw what would p lease at the end'. I am still tation in the United States. The Ballet Russe toured trying." America in the thirties, and Dorati soon came up Dorati's musical experience began in Budapest, against the great manager and impresario Sol Hurok: the city of his birth, where his mother introduced "For him, I felt, music was a necessary evil that him to the piano, and his father, a violinist, coaxed had to be lived with in the ballet world. It seemed him to play cello, to round out a family quartet. By to me he would be happiest if ballets could be age 14 he was sent to study at the Academy of danced to rhythms beaten out with a ladle on the Music in Budapest during a time in Hungary when bottom of a pot," Dorati recalls in his Notes. such greats as Bart6k, Kodaly, and Leo Weiner had "The first American Ballet season the orchestra established musical standards unequalled anywhere was treated in a very careless manner indeed .... in the world. Zoltan Kodaly was his teacher at the One day when I bitterly complained to Hurok .about Academy. "And not by accident. I chose him," the surprise disappearance of my second ObOist, he Dorati remembers. gave me this classic reply: "Have you ever heard of He spent four years studying under Kodaly, with a second oboe filling the house?" Bela Bart6k nearby - an inspiration to which he has He was fanatical in his constant quest for per clung all of his life. In 1924, at just 18 years of fection. He worked doggedly at his career over the age, he became the youngest person to graduate years, and he became a member of the musical from the Academy with a degree. Dorati remembers elite. He was a warrior who fought brilliantly for himself as immature, as capable of performing his perfection in style and performance; one who lessons at the Academy and at the same time in fought not only for himself, but also for the great capable of understanding them. He felt torn be masters whom he worshipped. Doing battle for tween the teachings of his musical father - whose Haydn and Bart6k was his cause. background, in music and art, was conservative The Maestro had begun to travel as his confi and his professor, whose music was revolutionary. dence increased. He made his American debut as He says he feels that he was graduated twice from a symphonic conductor in 1937 (he had appeared the teachings of Kodaly - once in 1924 when he with the Ba.llet Russe in Detroit in 1936), toured left the Academy, and again later when he began Australia in 1939 and 1940, directed the New York to understand fully what his professor had been Opera Company in 1941 and 1942 and was ~usical saying. director of the American Ballet Theatre until 1945. Nevertheless, it was at 18 that he entered the In that year, still not 40 years of age yet with ex musical profession - first as coach, and shortly tensive experience in conducting, he headed for thereafter as conductor of the Royal Opera House Dallas, Texas, where he was engaged to lead ~he in Budapest. He was assistant to Fritz Busch in orchestra, and where in his way - a way which Dresden in 1928 (where as part of his duties he pre Detroiters have recently experienced - he would T pared performances of Richard Strauss's new opera help to mold the city itself into a significant music Die agyptische Helena), and in the next year he be center. came the permanent First Conductor of the Opera He arrived in Dallas at 2 a.m. with about two 1 House in Munster. In 1934 he was made Musical hours to sell himself as orchestra builder. Texas Director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a posi drawl met Hungarian accent. And in no time, in a tion he retained, with interruptions, for seven years. conversation that would have thrilled John Wayne, It was here, it seems, that Dorati launched the sec the two sides came to terms. ond phase of his career. The first had developed his own musical awareness and maturity; the second "And, Mr. Dorati, what will you do if it is not a would develop the orchestras he headed. good orchestra," one of the Texans asked. He started by refining scores, editing sloppy "I hang myself," was the answer. instrumentations, reorchestrating pieces, and even Needless to say, hanging proved unnecessary. trying to persuade Colonel DeBasil's dancers to Dorati remained in Dallas until 1949 when he was show respect for the music that accompanied their appointed Musical Director of the Minneapolis dance. Symphony Orchestra.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre "The Minneapoli,s years were, in retrospect, per It is he who argues that the acoustics of Minne haps the most important in my development as an apolis' Northrup Auditorium are inadequate and artist," Dorati recalled . "Those were the last of my unfair to his orchestra. He notes that the administra formative period .. . I am a late maturer ... if I tion foolishly spends money trying to repair what now show any signs of so-called maturity, it cer is irreparable. tainly did not emerge any sooner than my sixties. But Dorati built a tru:ly fine orchestra in Minne "The development of a human being is a process apolis - one which recorded nearly 100 long play like the fermentation of wine. The crucial, deter ing albums during his stay and which toured Europe mining factor is the quality of the grape. If the fruit and the Middle East - a feat not accomplished is fi ne, the young wine made of it is very enjoyable. since Arturo Toscanini took The New York Philhar Some may even like it better young than the old monic across the ocean in 1930. and heady. And finally comes the time when ... The tour, Dorati recalls, was greatly uplifting to but by then, with luck, all of it will have been the musicians and the people of Minneapolis. Hori gratefully drunk - the best proof of the vintage's zons widened. It was a lesson he remembered well, quality." and replicated in Detroit two decades later. It was during his tenure with the Minneapolis After he left M inneapolis Dorati headed for Eur Symphony Orchestra - an appointment he held un ope, winning success as Chief Conductor of the BBC til 1960 - that Dorati renewed his interest and Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Stock activity in composition. holm Philharmonic Orchestra, and Chief Conductor He wrote prolifically until he was 22, when he of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He abandoned that creative outlet to settle down to became Music Director of the National Symphony serious conducting. Orchestra in Washington, D.C., in 1969. In Minneapolis, however, Dorati took seriously Washington, he has said, has been one of his ill. He battled, and won as usual. And in his fight, greatest achievements, for it is there he brought he recalls, his greatest weapon was composing. together an orchestra with little style and lacking "I wrote and wrote, fiercely, madly, day and profile, and in his own way turned it into a cohe night, whenever I could snatch an hour, a moment. sive, even elegant group of musicians. He made the It was my way back to health." National Symphony into a fi rst-rate orchestra. Since then writing music is as integral a part of Then once again, he turned to the job of char his life as conducting. During the past 25 years he acter- and orchestra-building - this time in Detroit. has composed more than one work a year, including Dorati has admitted that he accepted the posi a symphony; and a full-length cantata, The Way, for tion of Music Director of the Detroit Symphony orchestra, choir, two solo singers and narrator. Orchestra after much urging on the part of its ad The Maestro discusses his compositions, "his ministrators. His reputation, his talent, indeed, his children" as he calls them, with charming humility: accomplishments by this point in his career were "If my son is not Alexander the Great, that makes enormous. me no less his father." He tends to laugh and call it public relations Yet many of his works have been enthusiastically talk when it is pointed out that he is "one of the received, and they surely give insight to his genius. most recorded conductors in history." Yet it is fact Clearly, Dorati's view of his blossoming self, in this that he made his first recording in 1934 and since decade of his life when he renewed his interest in has recorded more than 500 discs. His series of the composition, was true. He was maturing, growing, complete Haydn symphonies has sold more than a as a musician and as a man. million records. It is no surprise that he has been The tales of his life until this period are filled awarded numerous accolades for his recordings. with scenes in which the young Dorati meets the And it is no surprise that Detroit was thrilled great musical figures of the early 20th century. and fortunate to land a man with as much back Dorati meets Richard Strauss and Fritz Busch in ground as Dorati's. He is a father figure and more. Hungary. Dorati befriends the great violinist Menu A f,ield marshall, a coach, a musical genius with a hin and the great composer Stravinsky. Dorati is quality that would be difficult to parallel and per influenced by Bart6k. He meets and has long con haps impossible to equal. versations with Toscanini. Dorati is developing. Dorati, as he himself points out, grew up with And as he matures and develops, the major the masters. He absorbed through his pores, it character in the tales changes. would seem, the flavor and knowledge of an age

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre that is forever gone, except for the knowledge tries with extraordinary press reviews for exquisite which he is continuing to pass on today. performance. So Dorati, many critics agree, electrified an al Those who were on the tour remember that he ready accomplished orchestra when he took to the took great pride in his knowledge of the halls, of podium in Detroit. He was mature in all respects the people and the countries they would visit. He confident in his knowledge of what was right and briefed the members of the orchestra on matters of what was wrong in the art of conducting: acoustics - telling them how he would balance the orchestra sound. He involved his musicians person "It is a modest profession; its true pride is in its ally as well as musically, and the tour became their modesty ... triumph. And because it was theirs, it was his also. " .. . the person on the platform is taking the Dorati would have it no other way. place of the absent composer, so to speak re-com posing or recreating the music for the listeners Another accomplishment. Musical and other present . .. wise. Because it is clear that through the special musical events and the special level of energy " . .. youth is not an asset ... Dorati created in Detroit, he has graced the city "Conducting an orchestra ~ like every act of with national and international musical attention leadership - is a human, man-to-man activity." something it never before enjoyed. His volatile nature had mellowed since his early Antal Dorati. Chevalier of Arts and Letters in days of vehement argument with those who tried France, holder of the Austrian Cross of Honor, to dissaude him from his way. Commander of the Vasa Order of Sweden, whose Yet he swept into Detroit with startling vigor influence in the world of music has made him a and quickly embraced his appointed duties with the world citizen, has brought Detroit a kind of pride flair which was now second nature. it was needing - a kind, it seems, only he could His tenure in Detroit began with a Beethoven muster. Festival which was recorded in nine parts for tele Now the Maestro wants his life to be somewhat vision. A huge success. less hectic. In the revised edition of Notes of Seven The Schubert-Vienna Festival the following year Decades, which has just been published by Detroit's won international acclaim. And the Maestro then Wayne State University Press, he announces that he staged the most comprehensive series of events ever will' curtail the pace of his role as performer and devoted to Johannes Brahms. He did it in Detroit continue at an accelerated pace his role as com ... once known only as The Motor City. poser. The next quarter of a century should be He returned his new orchestra to the interna exciting, to Dorati himself and the rest of the musi tional recording field with an ongoing series of best cal world. selling discs. One of them was the first complete He is a charmer, an accomplished artist - his recording of Die agyptische Helena - the very same humorous and colorful sketches decorate his office opera he'd helped prepare for Strauss a half-century here in Ford Auditorium - a brilliant conductor, ago. organizer and musician. As had been the case time and time before, We are grateful that he belongs in part to us. Dorati embraced Detroit and its musicians as a But Dorati has said many times that his life will father embraces his children - sternly at times, but never be complete - that he will never accomplish lovingly. all he wants to and that he can only offer a fragment He remarked that he found strong talent close of what could be. to the surface among the musicians in his new or In the end his life will be no great work of art, chestra and felt that by merely taking them from he insists. Merely a sketch - part of a greater work. the humdrum of symphony life - introducing them to new challenges and demanding perfection - he Detroiters may take issue. It is far too early to was able to bring out that something extra which tell what The Maestro's future will be - or for that leads an orchestra to triumph. matter, what the future of music in Detroit will be - but the fact remains that this city has been Yes, that's the word. And Dorati is not alone in touched by a special man. And to him we rise. sizing up the work of the Detroit Symphony Or chestra as triumphant. Bravo, Dorati. And In October and November of 1979 the Maestro led his troops on to Europe, conquering eight coun- HAPPY BIRTHDAYI

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, INC. 1980-81 OFFICERS John B. Ford, honorary c1l1lirmall Paul S. Mirabito, picf prfsidrrrl Robert B. Semple, chairmmr' Walter T. Murphy, I,i(f prfsidrrrl Louis A. MacKenzie, prfsidrrrl William C. Rands III, assislanl Irfasurfr Dean E. Richardson, I,icf prfsidrrrl and William C. Ferguson, vicr prfsidfnl and chairmmr of dfPf/opmrrrl chairmmr of prrsoll/lfl Alan E. Schwartz, I,icf prfsidflll mrd chairman Walter B. Fisher, vicr prrsidrrrl and c1lairman of of nominaling finatlcial matlagfmrrrl Peter P. Thurber, I,icf prfsidrrrl and c/rairman of Gordon T. Ford, picr prrsidftll by. laws and Sfcrfla ry Pierre V. Heftier, I,ia prrsidrnl and chairman of Mrs. R. Jamison Williams, I,icf prfsidfnt anti faci/ilirs chairman of audirrrcf dfvf/opmrrri Thomas H. Jeffs II, vicr prrsidrrrllrtld Irrasurfr Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley, I,i(f prfsidrrrl anel Ralph T. McElvenny, !licf prrsidftll chairman of opfralioll planning John McNulty, vicr prfsidrrrl of public affairs and Mrs. Theodore O. Yntema, honorary officfr o!' communicalions Ihr board BOARD OF DIRECTORS Thomas B. Adams David Handleman Robert E. L. Perkins. D.D.S. William M. Agee Mrs. Hugh Harness Raymond T. Perringt James A. Aliber Morton E. Harris Ralph L. Polk Louis G. Allen Martin Hayden John Prepolec Andrew W. Barr Pierre V. Heftier· Edith Quintana Donald e. Becker Hon. Erma Henderson Mrs. Jerome H. Remick. Jr. Theodore A. Bintz Frank M. Hennessey Dean E. Richardson' H. Glenn Bixby Lee Hillst Thomas Ricketts Thomas N. Bonner Lee A. lacocca Robert D. Rowan Paul Borman William R. James Irving Rose Rinehart S. Bright Dr. Arthur Jefferson Thomas F. Russell Ramon M. Brinkman Thomas H. Jeffs II" Mrs. Samuel G . Salloum J. Lawrence Buell. Jr. Arthur L. Johnson Alan E. Schwartz· Mrs. e. Henry Buhlt Mrs. Henry e. Johnson Arthur R. Seder. Jr. John T. Caldwell. Jr. Ernest A. Jones Robert B. Semple' Philip Caldwell Maxwell Jospey Mrs. Allan Sheldent E. Paul Casey Robert Kanzler Mrs. Florence Sisman Ferdinand Cinelli John Karmazin. Jr. Otis M. Smith Walker L. Cisler Dr. Rachel Keith Frank D. Stella Mrs. Avern Cohn Robert Lambrecht Gari M. Stroh. Jr. Mrs. Abraham Cooper Kenneth B. Lange Joe H. Stroud Michael Counen Walton Lewis Robert M. Surdam Rodkey Craighead Thomas V. Lo Cicero Peter P. Thurber' Alexander A. Cunningham Hury A. Lomason Mrs. S. Pinkney Tuck Frederic DeHaven James T . Lynagh Mrs. Richard W. Tucker Robert Dewar Wilber H. Mack Mrs. Joseph A. Vance. Jr. Frank W. Donovan Louis A. MacKenzie· Mrs. Richard Van Dusen Mrs. Charles H. Endicott Ralph J. Mandarino Richard Vining William e. Ferguson' Donald R. Mandich Harold G. Warner Mrs. Robert Fife Harold M. Marko Jervis e. Webb Peter Fink Robert E. McCabe Hon. G. Mennen Williams Mrs. Charles T. Fisher III Walter J. McCarthy Mrs. R. Jamison Williams· Max M. Fisher Ralph T . M'cElvenny' Richard E. Williams Wal·ter B. Fisher' John McNulty' . Mrs. Eric A. Wiltshire Cristina V. Ford Richard L. Measelle Mrs. Isadore Winkelman Gordon T. Ford' Philip J. Meathe Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley· John B. Ford' Gerald e. Meyers Mrs. Theodore O. Ynlema Edward P. Frohlich Dr. Marjorie Peebles Meyers Hon. Coleman A. Young Glen W. Fortinberry Hon. William G. Milliken Donald S. Young Mrs. Harold L. Frank Paul S. Mirabito' . Mrs. John E. Young. Jr. David L. Gamble Rev. Robert A. Mitchell, S.J. Paul Zuckerman Mrs. Robert A. Gerisch· Ken Morris 'fIt(ulil't (ommiffu Walter R. Greene Rev. J. Stanley Mu·rphy. e.S.B. thollornry bonrll mtmbtr William E. Giles Walter T. Murphy' A. R. Glancy 111 Robert J. Mylod William T. Gossett Miles M. O'Brien )chn e. Griffin Peters Oppermann Ceorge E. Gullen. Jr. Mrs. Arthur Z. Ostrowski· Karl Haas W. Calvin Patterson

by E. J. DENT and SANDOR KALLAl

The libretto of Fidelio is an adaptation of Leo The history of Fidelio's early productions is col nore, ou I'amour conjugal, an opera written by J. N. orful. Beethoven, though hampered by his steadily Bouilly for the French composer Pierre Gaveaux increasing deafness, was a severe taskmaster in re (paris, 1798). Bouilly in his memoirs tells us that the hearsals. At one time he wrote a note to the man story of the opera was based on events which ac agement of the theatre where the opera was to be tually happened and with which he was personally performed that he would prefer to have another associated during the Reign of Terror, while he was conductor take over a particular rehearsal. "I want a government official at Tours. Bouilly's Leonore to look at and hear it from a distance," he said, was twice adapted for Italian composers - Ferdi "thus at least my patience will not be so greatly nando Paer, whose setting was produced at Dresden tried as if I were to hear my music bungled close at in 1804 and Simone Mayr, for whom the story was hand! I cannot think otherwise than it is done pur reduced to one act (Padua, 1805). The libretto be posely .... All delight in composing departs when longs to the category of what are called "rescue one hears one's music played thus." operas," which from 1790 onwards were very popu Beethoven was never really satisfied with the lar with French revolutionary audiences. performances. One distinguished listener remarked The first opera of Bouilly and Gaveaux contained to the composer that he considered Fidelio the comparatively little music; the most dramatic scenes greatest of all operas he had heard in Vienna, to - Pizarro's instructions to Rocco and the scene of which Beethoven replied that he had not heard it, the frustrated murder - are carried on in spoken as the singers at the opera house were not ab le to dialogue. More music was introduced in Paer's ver sing it. sion and Beethoven's librettist made provision for The composer's irascible nature was one of the more music still, at the cost of dramatic clarity. Mar major reasons for Fidelio's indifferent success. He zellina and her love-affairs recede into the back was distrustful of the theatre management and he ground; Rocco, who in the French version is a typi often overestimated the house receipts, accusing cal peasant ready to do anything for money, is al the management of defrauding him. Rockel de lowed his one song in praise of gold but afterwards scribes the situation: becomes rather characterless. The nervousness of "The opera ... was exceedingly well received the Viennese police very nearly caused Fidelio to be by a select audience which became more numerous suppressed altogether; operas of a political type and enthusiastic with each new representation; and were suspect as possible incitements to revolution, no doubt the opera would have been a favorite if and only a month before the first night Sonnleithner the evil genius of the composer had not prevented carried on an anxious correspondence with the cen it and, since he was paid a percentage of the re sorship. Fidelio was given only three times in No ceipts instead of a single honorarium, repetition vember 1805; the aud ience consisted largely of would have helped his circumstances considerably." French officers, Napoleon having entered Vienna a few days before. The opera was revised and per formed again in March 1806, but with little success; finally it was revised very considerably and new additions made, in which form it was given in 1814. Beethoven wrote only one opera, but he lavished much attention on it, revising it again and again. Much has been written about the four different overtures that were composed for Fidelio over the years, but it is seldom mentioned that Beethoven wrote the introduction to the second act no less than 18 times, the opening of the great final chorus 10 times, and that he made numerous attempts at Leonore's splendid aria before completing it. Exterior of the Theater-an-der-Wien

ANTAL DORATI Music Director KENN JEAN MURRAY GROSS, Assistant Conductor Conductor

FIRST VIOLINS VIOLONCELLOS BASSOONS tGordon Staples tltalo Babini tRobert Williams Concertmaster James G. Gordon Chair Phillip Austin Bogos Mortchikian "Marcy Chanteaux "Paul Ganson Associate Concertmaster John Thurman Lyell Lindsey Joseph Goldman Mario DiFiore Gordon Peterson David Levine CONTRABASSOON Assistant Concertmasters Kevin Plunkett Lyell Lindsey Misha Rachlevsky Barbara Fickett Franklyn D'Antonio Debra Fayroian Linda Snedden-Smith David Saltzman FRENCH HORNS Derek Francis Paul Wingert tEugene Wade Alan Gerstel Fergus McWilliam Nicholas Zonas BASSES Edward Sauve LeAnn Toth tRobert Gladstone Willard Darling Beatriz Budinszky "Corbin Wagner Malvern Kaufman "Raymond Benner Stephen Molina Keith Vernon Richard Margitza Maxim Janowsky Margaret Tundo Linton Bodwin TRUMPETS I·Fu Wang Stephen Edwards tOonald Green Elias Friedenzohn Albert Steger Kevin Good Santo Urso Donald Pennington "'Alvin Belknap Craig Rifel Gordon Smith SECOND VIOLINS HARPS TROMBONES tEdouard Kesner "Felix Resnick tElyse Ilku tRaymond Turner Alvin Score Joseph Skrzynski Lillian Fenstermacher fLUTES "Nathaniel Gurin James Waring tErvin Monroe Thomas Klaber Lenore latzko Shaul Ben·Melr Walter Maddox "'Robert Patrick TUBA Roy Bengtsson Clement Barone tWesley Jacobs Thomas Downs PICCOLO Robert Murphy TIMPANI Joseph Striplin Clement Barone tSalvatore Rabbio Bruce Smith "Robert Pangborn Gabriel 8zitas OBOES Glenn Basham tDonald Baker PERCUSSION Ann Alicia Ourada John Snow tRobert Pangborn "Robert Sorton "Norman Fickett Treva Womble Raymond Makowski VIOLAS Ronald Odmark tNathan Gordon Sam Tundo '"David Ireland ENGLISH HORN KEYBOARD Philip Porbe Treva Womble Eugenia Staszewski Muriel Kilby LeRoy Fenstermacher CLARINETS Hart Hollman LIBRARIAN Walter Evich tPaul Schaller Albert Steger Anton Patti Douglas Cornelsen Charles Weaver, assistant Gary Schnerer Oliver Green Catherine Compton Paul Silver BASS CLARINET PERSONNEL MANAGER Glenn Mellow Oliver Green Oliver Green tPrincipal *Assistant Principal

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