23 Season 2016-2017 Thursday, March 23, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, March 24, at 2:00 Saturday, March 25, at 8:00 Charles Dutoit Conductor Tatiana Pavlovskaya Soprano Steve Davislim Tenor Matthias Goerne Baritone Westminster Symphonic Choir Joe Miller Director The American Boychoir Fernando Malvar-Ruiz Director Britten War Requiem, Op. 66 I. Requiem aeternum II. Dies irae III. Offertorium IV. Sanctus V. Agnus Dei VI. Libera me This program runs approximately 1 hour, 30 minutes, and will be performed without an intermission. These performances are made possible in part by the generous support of the Presser Foundation and by Mollie and Frank Slattery, in honor of Charles Dutoit. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit WRTI.org to listen live or for more details. 25 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and impact through Research. is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues The Orchestra’s award- orchestras in the world, to discover new and winning Collaborative renowned for its distinctive inventive ways to nurture Learning programs engage sound, desired for its its relationship with its over 50,000 students, keen ability to capture the loyal patrons at its home families, and community hearts and imaginations of in the Kimmel Center, members through programs audiences, and admired for and also with those who such as PlayINs, side-by- a legacy of imagination and enjoy the Orchestra’s area sides, PopUP concerts, innovation on and off the performances at the Mann free Neighborhood concert stage. The Orchestra Center, Penn’s Landing, Concerts, School Concerts, is inspiring the future and and other cultural, civic, and residency work in transforming its rich tradition and learning venues. The Philadelphia and abroad. of achievement, sustaining Orchestra maintains a strong Through concerts, tours, the highest level of artistic commitment to collaborations residencies, presentations, quality, but also challenging— with cultural and community and recordings, The and exceeding—that level, organizations on a regional Philadelphia Orchestra is by creating powerful musical and national level, all of which a global ambassador for experiences for audiences at create greater access and Philadelphia and for the home and around the world. engagement with classical US. Having been the first Music Director Yannick music as an art form. American orchestra to Nézet-Séguin’s connection The Philadelphia Orchestra perform in China, in 1973 to the Orchestra’s musicians serves as a catalyst for at the request of President has been praised by cultural activity across Nixon, the ensemble today both concertgoers and Philadelphia’s many boasts a new partnership with critics since his inaugural communities, building an Beijing’s National Centre for season in 2012. Under his offstage presence as strong the Performing Arts and the leadership the Orchestra as its onstage one. With Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, returned to recording, with Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated and in 2017 will be the first- two celebrated CDs on body of musicians, and one ever Western orchestra to the prestigious Deutsche of the nation’s richest arts appear in Mongolia. The Grammophon label, ecosystems, the Orchestra Orchestra annually performs continuing its history of has launched its HEAR at Carnegie Hall while also recording success. The initiative, a portfolio of enjoying summer residencies Orchestra also reaches integrated initiatives that in Saratoga Springs, NY, and thousands of listeners on the promotes Health, champions Vail, CO. For more information radio with weekly Sunday music Education, eliminates on The Philadelphia afternoon broadcasts on barriers to Accessing the Orchestra, please visit WRTI-FM. orchestra, and maximizes www.philorch.org. 4 Music Director Chris Lee Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now confirmed to lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through the 2025-26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera beginning with the 2021-22 season. Yannick, who holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, is an inspired leader of the Orchestra. His intensely collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm 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.” Highlights of his fifth season include an exploration of American Sounds, with works by Leonard Bernstein, Christopher Rouse, Mason Bates, and Christopher Theofanidis; a Music of Paris Festival; and the continuation of a focus on opera and sacred vocal works, with Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Mozart’s C-minor Mass. 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 music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic since 2008 and artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. He was also 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 Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with two CDs on that label. He continues fruitful recording relationships with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. In Yannick’s inaugural season The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to the radio airwaves, with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM. 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, Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year, Canada’s National Arts Centre Award, the Prix Denise-Pelletier, and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ. To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor. 26 Conductor Laureate Priska Ketterer Priska Charles Dutoit is one of today’s most sought-after conductors. He is presently artistic director and principal conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic. In 2010-11 he celebrated his 30-year artistic collaboration with The Philadelphia Orchestra, which in turn bestowed upon him the title of conductor laureate in 2012. He collaborates every season with the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles and is a regular guest on the stages of London, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Sydney, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, among others. His more than 200 recordings for Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Philips, and Erato have garnered multiple awards and distinctions including two Grammys. For 25 years Mr. Dutoit was artistic director of the Montreal Symphony, and from 1991 to 2001 music director of the Orchestre National de France. In 1996 he was appointed music director of the NHK Symphony in Tokyo; today he is its music director emeritus. For 10 years he was music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s season at the Mann Center, and for 21 years at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Mr. Dutoit has been music director of both the Sapporo Pacific Music Festival and the Miyazaki International Music Festival in Japan, as well as the Canton International Summer Music Academy in Guangzhou. In 2009 he became music director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. While still in his early 20s, Mr. Dutoit was invited by Herbert von Karajan to conduct at the Vienna State Opera. He has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Rome Opera, and the Teatro Colón. In 1991 Mr. Dutoit was made an Honorary Citizen of Philadelphia. In 1995 he was named Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Québec, and in 1996 Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France. In 1998 he was invested as an Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2007 he received the Gold Medal of the city of Lausanne, his birthplace, and in 2014 was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Classical Music Awards. He holds honorary doctorates from McGill University, the University of Montreal, Laval University, and the Curtis Institute. A globetrotter motivated by his passion for history, art, archaeology, political science, and architecture, he has traveled in all 196 nations of the world. 27 Soloist Russian soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya began her musical education as a pianist and choral director and completed her post-graduate study at St. Petersburg’s State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where she also taught solo singing as a professor’s assistant. After graduating from the Conservatory in 1994 she joined the Mariinsky Theatre and made her debut as Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. She has since appeared in opera houses all over the world, including La Scala, Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Her roles include Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, Liù in Puccini’s Turandot, Antonia in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Ms. Pavlovskaya has appeared in a gala concert with Plácido Domingo and the London Philharmonic under the baton of Valery Gergiev.