Amahl and the Night Visitors

December 2018 4 From the President

Dear Friends:

The holidays are a special time for many reasons, one of which is we get to hear some of our favorite music. There’s nothing like listening to the great Philadelphia Orchestra with friends and family in Verizon Hall to get you into the holiday spirit.

We will carry on many cherished holiday traditions this month. Yannick brings his unique vision and warmth to our annual performances of Handel’s Messiah (December 6, 8, and 9), our 57th consecutive year, with a stellar cast of vocalists and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He also returns to conduct a festive New Year’s Eve concert, the perfect way to usher in 2019. For our younger fans we present the Christmas Kids’ Spectacular Family Concert (December 15), complete with a visit from you-know-who. And beloved guest conductor Bramwell Tovey once again leads the Glorious Sound of

Jessica Griffin Christmas (December 20-23) with the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. These concerts were named for our 1962 album that went “gold,” exceeding one million dollars in sales at the time. Just last year we released a new digital version of the Glorious Sound of Christmas, featuring many of your favorites, including several of Tovey’s own arrangements.

This year we add two new concerts to our holiday line-up: a subscription set featuring Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors (December 13 and 15) and an Organ and Brass Christmas (December 14) featuring the Orchestra’s brilliant brass section. It is a first for us, but Amahl is considered a Christmas tradition in many parts of the world, with its story of a poor boy and his mother who are visited by the Three Magi on their way to see the newborn Holy Child. It was also the first written specifically for television, in 1951: You can read more about that on page 14 of this Playbill.

As the calendar year comes to a close and you reflect on what the Orchestra has meant to you, we ask you to consider a year-end charitable gift—of any size—to the Annual Fund. With your support, we can continue another longstanding tradition: bringing the music of The Philadelphia Orchestra to the stage, into the community, and around the world.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is your orchestra, and we hope to see you, our Orchestra family, during this festive time of year. We wish you and yours the most joyous of holiday seasons.

With warmest wishes,

Matías Tarnopolsky President and CEO 6 Music Director

Chris Lee Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through at least the 2025-26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he became the third music director of the , beginning with the 2018-19 season. Yannick, who holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, is an inspired leader of The Philadelphia Orchestra. His intensely collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.”

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most thrilling talents of his generation. He has been artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000, and in summer 2017 he became an honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He was music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 2008 to 2018 (he is now honorary conductor) and was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon (DG) in May 2018. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with three CDs on that label. His upcoming recordings will include projects with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Orchestre Métropolitain, with which he will also continue to record for ATMA Classique. Additionally, he has recorded with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records, and the London Philharmonic for the LPO label.

A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada; an Officer of the Order of Montreal; Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year; the Prix Denise-Pelletier; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, McGill University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit philorch.org/conductor. 8 The Philadelphia Orchestra 2018–2019 Season

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Violas Flutes Music Director Choong-Jin Chang, Principal Jeffrey Khaner, Principal Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair Ruth and A. Morris Williams Chair Paul and Barbara Henkels Chair Kirsten Johnson, Associate Patrick Williams, Stéphane Denève Principal Associate Principal Principal Guest Conductor Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal Rachelle and Ronald Kaiserman Kensho Watanabe Judy Geist Chair Assistant Conductor Renard Edwards Olivia Staton First Violins Anna Marie Ahn Petersen Erica Peel, Piccolo David Kim, Concertmaster Piasecki Family Chair Dr. Benjamin Rush Chair David Nicastro Oboes Juliette Kang, First Associate Burchard Tang Peter Smith, Associate Principal Concertmaster Che-Hung Chen Jonathan Blumenfeld Joseph and Marie Field Chair Rachel Ku Edwin Tuttle Chair Ying Fu, Associate Concertmaster Marvin Moon Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, Marc Rovetti, Assistant Meng Wang English Horn Concertmaster Joanne T. Greenspun Chair Barbara Govatos Cellos Robert E. Mortensen Chair Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Clarinets Jonathan Beiler Priscilla Lee, Associate Principal Ricardo Morales, Principal Hirono Oka Yumi Kendall, Assistant Principal Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Richard Amoroso Wendy and Derek Pew Chair Robert and Lynne Pollack Chair Foundation Chair Samuel Caviezel, Associate Yayoi Numazawa Richard Harlow Principal Jason DePue Gloria dePasquale Sarah and Frank Coulson Chair Larry A. Grika Chair Orton P. and Noël S. Jackson Socrates Villegas Jennifer Haas Chair Paul R. Demers, Bass Clarinet Miyo Curnow Kathryn Picht Read Peter M. Joseph and Susan Elina Kalendarova Robert Cafaro Rittenhouse Joseph Chair Daniel Han Volunteer Committees Chair Julia Li Ohad Bar-David* Bassoons William Polk John Koen Daniel Matsukawa, Principal Mei Ching Huang* Derek Barnes Richard M. Klein Chair Mollie and Frank Slattery Chair Mark Gigliotti, Co-Principal Second Violins Alex Veltman Angela Anderson Smith Kimberly Fisher, Principal Holly Blake, Contrabassoon Peter A. Benoliel Chair Basses Paul Roby, Associate Principal Harold Robinson, Principal Horns Sandra and David Marshall Chair Carole and Emilio Gravagno Jennifer Montone, Principal Dara Morales, Assistant Principal Chair Gray Charitable Trust Chair Anne M. Buxton Chair Joseph Conyers, Acting Jeffrey Lang, Associate Principal Philip Kates* Associate Principal Hannah L. and J. Welles Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan John Hood Henderson Chair Family Foundation Chair Michael Shahan Daniel Williams Booker Rowe David Fay Jeffry Kirschen Joseph Brodo Chair, given by Duane Rosengard Ernesto Tovar Torres Peter A. Benoliel Robert Kesselman Shelley Showers Davyd Booth Nathaniel West Paul Arnold Trumpets Lorraine and David Popowich Chair Some members of the string David Bilger, Principal Dmitri Levin sections voluntarily rotate Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Boris Balter seating on a periodic basis. Chair Amy Oshiro-Morales Jeffrey Curnow, Associate Yu-Ting Chen Principal Jeoung-Yin Kim Gary and Ruthanne Schlarbaum Chair Anthony Prisk Robert W. Earley

continued on page 10 10 The Philadelphia Orchestra 2018–2019 Season

Trombones Percussion Librarians Nitzan Haroz, Principal Christopher Deviney, Principal Robert M. Grossman, Principal Neubauer Family Foundation Angela Zator Nelson Steven K. Glanzmann Chair Matthew Vaughn, Co-Principal Piano and Celesta Stage Personnel Eric Carlson Kiyoko Takeuti James J. Sweeney, Jr., Manager Blair Bollinger, Bass Trombone James P. Barnes Drs. Bong and Mi Wha Lee Chair Keyboards Davyd Booth Tuba Carol Jantsch, Principal Harp Lyn and George M. Ross Chair Elizabeth Hainen, Principal Patricia and John Imbesi Chair Timpani Don S. Liuzzi, Principal Dwight V. Dowley Chair Angela Zator Nelson, Associate Principal *On leave

Musicians Behind the Scenes Davyd Booth Violin Where were you born? I was born Clarksburg, West Virginia. What piece of music could you play over and over again? Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Jessica Griffin What is your most treasured possession? My violin. What’s your favorite Philadelphia restaurant? La Viola. Tell us about your instrument. It was made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in 1861, and is a copy of a Guarneri del Gesù. I also have two instruments made by Sergio Peresson. What’s in your instrument case? My violin, four bows, rosin, some extra strings, and some photos, one in particular of the pianist Martha Argerich, whom I adore and is one of my idols. If you could ask one composer one question what would it be? I would like to ask Bach why he didn’t write more solo music for the violin. What piece of music never fails to move you? Anything by Bach and Schubert. When did you join the Orchestra? 1973. Do you play any other instruments? Piano, celesta, synthesizer, and accordion, all of which I perform with the Orchestra. What’s your favorite type of food? Anything that is tasty! What books are on your nightstand? The Grand Tradition by J.B. Steane and a lot of cookbooks. I like to read cookbooks the way most people read novels. I particularly love the cookbooks by a Philadelphian, Laurie Colwin. Do you speak any other languages? No unfortunately. Do you follow any blogs? Slipped Disc, a music news blog. Do you have any hobbies? Growing orchids. I have two greenhouses with 5000 plants. I also collect music in all forms, 24,000 CDs and still growing. Do you have a favorite movie? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

To read the full set of questions, please visit www.philorch.org/Booth. 12 Beyond the Baton This Month Yannick Talks about Handel’s Messiah.

Why is it important to continue the tradition of performing Handel’s Chris Lee beloved oratorio? I think it’s important in life to have rituals, moments where we can get together once a year, or once every other year, and reflect on what has happened and keep deepening our knowledge of a piece. Every year I believe listening to Messiah can add to the knowledge of, or the love for, the music. It’s such a fantastic masterpiece—lots of arias, ensembles, and choruses, and also some wonderful instrumental moments. I think everyone has a favorite aria or favorite chorus in Messiah. But every year they might discover another one and say, “Oh I used to not like that one so much but now I like it very much.” I believe it is important in our lives to encourage that some pieces be played every year. And that’s why we keep this very English-world tradition of playing Messiah at Christmas at The Philadelphia Orchestra. It was originally an oratorio that was performed for Easter, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Music is international. Music speaks to everyone. Music speaks beyond the language of the text.

When I first conducted Messiah with my beloved musicians in Philadelphia a few years ago, it was a kind of revelation for us all: my vision of this piece and the way I could bring it to the experience of these musicians who have played it under so many conductors for so many years. We decided that it would be important for me to once in a while add my contribution to this tradition, with fabulous soloists, some that we’ve heard in Philadelphia in other oratorios, such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. And also, of course, the chorus, which is my world. I’m from a choral background and that very much colors my programming each season in Philadelphia. I can’t wait to do Messiah again because if I’m not conducting it in any given year, I certainly listen to it around the Christmas tree. So now to do it with The Philadelphia Orchestra will really be a treasure.

Handel’s Messiah will be performed December 6, 8, and 9.

To read previous Beyond the Batons, please visit www.philorch.org/baton. 14 Amahl and the “television opera”: The creation of a rare, important genre By Paul J. Horsley

The original television It’s not as if sat down one day and said, “I broadcast of Amahl and think I’ll invent a new genre today.” Yet with the composition the Night Visitors in 1951. of Amahl and the Night Visitors in 1951 (the Philadelphians perform the work December 13 and 15), that is essentially what he did. Almost unwittingly, the Italian-born American created what has come to be considered the first opera composed for television. Although he himself might not have seen it as a huge milestone initially, the 45-minute telecast established a tradition of “television opera” that has continued, in one form or another, to the present day.

Opera had, of course, been a part of television since its earliest days, just as it formed part of radio’s beginnings. By the mid-1930s, the BBC and other European networks were including (or portions of operas) in their transmissions, and in 1940 NBC presented an abridged version of Pagliacci. But Amahl established something entirely different: opera composed specifically for television. And although it and many of its successors were later adapted for the stage, their origins as television operas were essential to their very essence.

The concept behind Amahl was perhaps not as startlingly new as it might seem. New operas had appeared on television shortly after their staged versions (Kurt Weill’s Down the

Jessica Griffin Valley was telecast a year after its premiere, and Menotti’s own The Old Maid and the Thief was seen on TV in 1948), and indeed broadcast companies around the world had been commissioning operas for radio since the mid- 1920s. To some extent it became the task of publicists and critics to declare Amahl a milestone. “It may be said at once that television, operatically speaking, has come of age,” wrote Olin Downes in a rare front-page review in the New York Times on Christmas Day, 1951, adding that Menotti’s “tender and exquisite piece,” which tells the story of the Magi from the point of view of a young disabled boy named Amahl who is miraculously cured when he offers his crutch as a gift to the Holy Child, formed a “historic event in the rapidly evolving art of television.”

The brainchild of NBC General Music Manager Samuel Chotzinoff and Artistic Director (who had been a pupil of Alexander Zemlinsky), the newly created NBC Opera Theatre had lofty ambitions. Adler dreamed that television opera would “bridge the gap between the mass audience and the opera house” and “develop a new kind of opera.” The success of Amahl was so great (there were repeat performances, live and taped, for years afterward) that it propelled the Opera Theatre to commission works from a wide range of composers between 1951 and 1964. CBS and others followed, and the phenomenon quickly spread to Europe. Most of these 16 Television Opera

composers took to heart what Amahl had taught them: Television opera required small casts, expressive acting,

Ernst Haas a clearly articulated story, and relatively simple melodic design.

Some composers took to these challenges naturally. “The saving of musical time interests me more than anything visual,” wrote Igor Stravinsky of his venture into TV opera in 1962. “This new musical economy was the one specific of the medium which guided my conception of The Flood. Because the succession of visualizations can be instantaneous, the composer may dispense with the afflatus of overtures, connecting episodes, curtain music.”

As increasingly sophisticated technology enabled more complex teleplay, composers created works that felt as if they could only exist as television dramas. By the Composer Igor Stravinsky time of his second attempt in the genre, The and his advisor Robert Craft (1963), Menotti was ready to embrace all of the special going over the score to The effects TV could lend. “And in the process, he fashioned Flood in 1962. an opera that (unless extensively revised and rethought) could never be given on the stage,” John Ardoin writes. “The Labyrinth’s moral … is all but submerged in video trickery, from a gravity-free sequence aboard a rocket ship to a railroad car that fills with water to become a swimming pool.”

Composers were learning to embrace the interconnections between teleplay and music—much as film composers had been doing for half a century. Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave, composed as a television opera for BBC Two and first shown in 1971, opens with a set of chords specifically designed to coincide with camera shots. “The camera shows a series of family portraits,” writes Jennifer Barnes, whose Television Opera (2003) was a first attempt at a history of this genre. “Britten has written the figures in the orchestral score to time precisely with the change from picture to picture. This means that the opening pages of Wingrave are both a score and a camera script.”

Drawn by the promise of enormous viewership, many composers found they were willing to risk the notion their works might never be staged in exchange not only for the hope of a mass audience but also for the excitement of creating dramas that were emphatic, dramatically fierce, and above all, concise. The time restrictions that had frustrated participants in broadcasts of savagely abridged repertoire operas were welcomed by these new composers.

When Britain’s Channel 4 created a series of television commissions in the mid-1990s, it dictated that each 18 Television Opera

opera should be precisely 51:45 in length (including opening Amahl and the titles) and entirely dependent on television techniques. Channel 4’s Andrew Yeates said that he wanted works that Night Visitors were “unsuitable for live performance,” thereby assuring that the televised version of each would become the artwork Thursday December 13 itself. Recent composers such as Jonathan Dove (Man on 7:30 PM the Moon) and Alexina Louie (Burnt Toast: Eight Mini Comic Operas about Love) have shown themselves quite comfortable Saturday December 15 in this ever-increasing “miniaturization” of opera. 8:00 PM But none of this could have been possible without the The Philadelphia Orchestra staggering success of Menotti’s defining mini-opera, whose Bramwell Tovey commercial appeal helped compel increased interest in Conductor the genre. Over the next two decades NBC was joined by CBS, the CBC, and a wide range of European networks in Dante Michael DiMaio commissioning works by Lukas Foss, Ezra Laderman, Norman Boy Soprano (Amahl) Dello Joio, Carlisle Floyd, Jack Beeson, R. Murray Schaefer, Renée Tatum Malcolm Arnold, Hans Werner Henze, and many others. Mezzo-soprano (Mother) Andrew Stenson In fact the “body” of TV operas composed since Amahl is Tenor (King Caspar) probably larger even than we know. Many of the recorded broadcasts sit gathering dust at studios around the world— Brandon Cedel and sadly, many of the operas were never recorded at all. Bass-baritone The original video of Owen Wingrave, for example, lay in (King Melchior) BBC’s vaults for 20 years before anyone even thought about David Leigh asking to see it. Many studios continue to guard carefully the Bass (King Balthazar) surviving copies of these operas as their own property. Lively Philadelphia Symphonic Choir studios in the former Soviet Union and in Eastern European countries are thought to have produced television operas, Amanda Quist although these networks having been subjected to “such Director radical political and cultural changes,” Barnes writes, “that Omer Ben Seadia the archives … are in disarray, with much accidentally or Stage Director deliberately destroyed.”

As we begin to see more of these works, we will doubtless begin to gain a new appreciation for television operas in their original form. For if digitally remastered versions of every episode of The Twilight Zone are considered a thing of value to our culture, surely these works will eventually be deemed worthy of excavation.

NBC’s Adler imagined TV as a means of mass distribution of opera, and history has not necessarily proven him wrong. Though few composers write operas expressly for television (and thus one might reasonably say that television opera as we know it is virtually defunct), a single showing of a new work on PBS’s Great Performances (such as that of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin in April 2017) reaches exponentially more viewers than the opera’s entire run at the 3,700-seat Metropolitan Opera.

If Menotti’s live Amahl reached more viewers in a single night than any work in the 400-year history of opera, the Met and others are taking these numbers to a new level—especially Composer Benjamin Britten on the set of the TV opera Owen Wingrave.

Paul J. Horsley is performing arts editor of the Independent in Kansas City and writes for several publications nationwide. During the 1990s he was program annotator and musicologist for The Philadelphia Orchestra and subsequently served as music and dance critic for the Kansas City Star.

with the advent of live HD technology found in thousands of cinema multiplexes worldwide. And although opera-lovers will continue to revere the live experience, anyone who believes that introducing new operas to untold millions is a bad thing is simply not “thinking outside the proscenium.” P 20 In the Spotlight A Monthly Profile of Orchestra Fans and Family

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s website touts its Campus Representative program as “a great way to get professional publicity and promotions experience while in college.”

But that’s not why Matthew Fitzpatrick decided to become a campus rep, starting last year. For one thing, the St. Joseph’s University senior is a math major, not a marketer.

He got hooked on The Philadelphia Orchestra in the simplest way imaginable: He went to one of its Free College Concerts, the annual kickoff to the eZseatU program that lets college students see unlimited concerts for just $25 a season, thanks to funding provided by the Amy P. Goldman Foundation and an Matthew Fitzpatrick anonymous donor.

“Afterwards I was looking on the website for opportunities to get involved with the Orchestra,” says Matt, “and I stumbled on the Campus Rep program randomly. I thought it would be a good opportunity for me personally, and that St. Joe’s would be fertile territory for the Orchestra. Students are always looking for a reason to go into the city, and eZseatU pays for itself after just one concert!”

The reps do everything from hanging flyers and posters around campus to representing the Orchestra at school orientations and activities fairs. There are two requirements for campus reps: They have to go to at least one Orchestra concert a season and they are asked to volunteer for at least one Orchestra event, either at the Kimmel Center or elsewhere in Philadelphia.

In a way, Matt himself is the ideal target for a pitch from a campus rep. Growing up in Lansdale, he wasn’t always interested in classical music, although thanks to family members, classics by the Beatles and the Beach Boys were on his early playlist. He took clarinet lessons briefly in elementary school, then got more serious about the trumpet in high school. “I got more into jazz and classical … and then I found the Orchestra.”

For more on Matthew Fitzpatrick’s story visit www.philorch.org/fitzpatrick. 21 Board Chairman Richard Worley Recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award

Congratulations to Richard B. Worley, chairman of the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, who was honored November 16 with the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors an individual with a proven lifetime record of exceptional generosity who demonstrates outstanding civic and charitable responsibility while also encouraging others to assume philanthropic leadership roles in the community.

Worley first joined the Orchestra’s Board in 2005 and became chairman in 2009. The Orchestra’s accomplishments under his leadership include hiring acclaimed Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, successfully raising $75 million for a Transformation Fund, launching an endowment campaign, adopting a five-year strategic plan, and, for the ninth consecutive year, ending its fiscal year with a balanced budget.

Richard B. Worley “This is an important and well-deserved honor for Rich, who has been an extraordinary leader and tireless champion of The Philadelphia Orchestra over the past decade,” said Orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky. “Through his transformational support, integrity, and advocacy, he has led by example and motivated others in our community to help ensure the organization’s vitality. I am personally very grateful for his partnership as we chart an exciting course for the Orchestra’s future.”

In addition to his role as Orchestra Board chairman, Worley is managing partner of Permit Capital LLC, which he founded in 2002; a member of the Board of Neuberger Berman; a member of the American Philosophical Society; a director at Philadelphia Media Network; and a director at Two River Theater. He is a former trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine, and the National Constitution Center and previously served as a director of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Independence Seaport Museum, and the mutual funds board of Putnam Investments.