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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 20, 2017 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5700; [email protected]

ALAN GILBERT’S FINAL WEEKS

WAGNER’S

ERIC OWENS as Wotan JAMIE BARTON as Fricka in Her Philharmonic Debut CHRISTOPHER PURVES as Alberich in His Philharmonic Debut RUSSELL THOMAS as Loge

June 1, 3, and 6, 2017

In the third of Alan Gilbert’s final four subscription weeks as Philharmonic , he will lead an enhanced concert production of ’s Das Rheingold. Soloists include - Eric Owens as Wotan, mezzo- Jamie Barton as Fricka (in her debut), baritone Christopher Purves as Alberich (debut), Russell Thomas as Loge, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor as Erda, bass as Fasolt (debut), bass Stephen Milling as Fafner (debut), soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Freia (debut), tenor Brian Jagde as Froh (debut), bass-baritone Christian Van as Donner (debut), tenor Peter Bronder as Mime (debut), soprano as Woglinde, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Wellgunde, and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford as Flosshilde. The enhanced concert production will be directed by Louisa Muller with costume design — featuring character-based treatment of modern concert attire — by David C. Woolard. The performances will take place Thursday, June 1, 2017, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Conducting has been an essential commitment of Alan Gilbert’s during his tenure as Music Director. In June 2013 he conducted A Ring Journey, his own of music from the Ring cycle, as part of the season-concluding Gilbert’s Playlist. He has also led the in music from Wagner’s , Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, , Tannhäuser, , and Die Walküre, as well as Idyll. Alan Gilbert’s opera productions at the Philharmonic include critically celebrated staged productions of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre (2010) and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (2011), both cited as the top cultural events of their respective years. At The Opera, he led Mozart’s in 2015 and ’s Doctor Atomic in 2008, which New York magazine declared one of the year’s top ten classical events and the DVD/Blu-ray of which earned the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. (more)

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“Performing great opera with the New York Philharmonic is special on many levels,” Alan Gilbert said. “Very often it is music that the Orchestra is not as familiar with, which is wonderful: it’s always a thrill to introduce new music to an orchestra discovering it for the first time. We’ve put together an ace cast starring Eric Owens as Wotan: the beauty of his voice and the kind of depth of his psychological understanding of the role, which is exactly what I think is demanded, is rare these days.”

Bass-baritone Eric Owens served as the New York Philharmonic’s 2015–16 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. The New York Times called his January 2016 Philharmonic performance as Wotan in the Final Scene from Act III of Wagner’s Die Walküre an “impressive portrayal. His diction crisp, his tone dark and burnished, with an exciting undercurrent of muscular force.” The New York Times wrote that when he appeared as Alberich in The ’s 2010 production of Das Rheingold, “he seemed destined to play the king of the gods,” and that when he appeared as Wotan in the ’s 2016 Das Rheingold production, “he sang with rich, deep sound and impeccable diction, and conveyed Wotan’s essential dignity.”

Alan Gilbert’s final four subscription programs as Music Director reflect signature themes of his tenure and feature works that hold particular meaning for him and musicians with whom he has formed close relationships. They also include Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw paired with Beethoven’s No. 9 (May 3–6 and 9); a concert highlighting the Philharmonic’s close collaborations, with the New York Premiere of Kravis Emerging Composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Aeriality, the New York Premiere of Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Wing on Wing, and Brahms’s with Artist-in-Residence Leonidas Kavakos as soloist (May 19–20 and 23); and Alan Gilbert Season Finale: A Concert for Unity, which celebrates the power of music to build bridges and unite people across borders (June 8–10).

Artists As Music Director of the New York Philharmonic since 2009, Alan Gilbert has introduced the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and Artist-in-Association; CONTACT!, the new-music series; the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, an exploration of today’s music; and the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, partnerships with cultural institutions to offer training of pre-professional musicians, often alongside performance residencies. The Financial Times called him “the imaginative maestro- impresario in residence.”

Alan Gilbert concludes his final season as Music Director with four programs that reflect themes, works, and musicians that hold particular meaning for him, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony alongside Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, Wagner’s complete Das Rheingold in concert, and an exploration of how music can effect positive change in the world. Other highlights include four World Premieres, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, and , performed live to film. He also leads the Orchestra on the EUROPE / 2017 tour and in performance residencies in Shanghai and Santa Barbara. Past highlights include acclaimed stagings of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd starring and Emma Thompson (2015 Emmy nomination), (more)

Alan Gilbert / Das Rheingold / 3 and Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake starring Marion Cotillard; 28 World Premieres; a tribute to Boulez and Stucky during the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL; The Nielsen Project; the Verdi and Bach’s B-minor Mass; the score from 2001: A Space Odyssey, performed live to film; Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony on the tenth anniversary of 9/11; performing violin in Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time; and ten tours around the world.

Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and former principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, Alan Gilbert regularly conducts leading around the world. This season he returns to the foremost European orchestras, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Philharmonic, ’s Royal Concertgebouw, and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He will record Beethoven’s complete with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Inon Barnatan, and conduct Gershwin’s at ’s Teatro alla Scala, his first time leading a staged opera there. He made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut John Adams’s Doctor Atomic in 2008, the DVD of which received a Grammy Award, and he conducted Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux étoiles on a recent album recorded live at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Gilbert is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The , where he holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. His honors include Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music (2010) and Westminster Choir College (2016), Columbia University’s Ditson Conductor’s Award (2011), election to The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2014), a Foreign Policy Association Medal for his commitment to cultural diplomacy (2015), Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2015), and New York University’s Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to (2016).

Bass-baritone Eric Owens launched the 2016–17 season with his role debut as Wotan in ’s new production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He sings a trio of at The Metropolitan Opera: the house’s premiere of Kaijo Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin, a new production of Dvořák’s under Mark Elder, and a revival of Mozart’s Idomeneo conducted by . Other highlights include recitals with Susanna Phillips at and at Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Metropolitan Opera’s 50th anniversary at gala, and, for the third time, he joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Negaunee Music Institute to present an interactive recital for incarcerated youth with and Joyce DiDonato. He rounds out his season singing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Le Coq d’Or at . Mr. Owens collaborates regularly with Muti, Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, Alan Gilbert, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Franz Welser-Möst, Andrew Davis, Osmo Vänskä, and . In addition to performing with leading opera companies in Europe and North America, he has appeared with orchestras including the New York, Berlin, and orchestras; Chicago, Boston, Toronto, Bavarian Radio, , St. Louis, Baltimore, and Swedish Radio symphony orchestras; and the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras. Mr. Owens is featured on several recordings including excerpts from operas (Telarc) and John Adams’s A Flowering Tree (Nonesuch Records) and Doctor Atomic (Sony). A Philadelphia native, Eric Owens began studying piano at age six, and at eleven began formal training under Lloyd Shorter of the Delaware Symphony and Louis Rosenblatt of The . He studied voice while an undergraduate at Temple University and as a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of (more)

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Music. He currently studies with Armen Boyajian. He serves on the boards of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and Astral Artistic Services. Eric Owens made his New York Philharmonic debut in June 2003 singing selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, led by then Philharmonic Music Director , during the Orchestra’s residency at Sardinia’s Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. He will have recently appeared with the Philharmonic in the May 2017 performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, led by Music Director Alan Gilbert.

Recently honored with the 2017 Artist Award by The Metropolitan Opera, mezzo- soprano Jamie Barton (Fricka) is also the winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, both Main and Song Prizes at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. This season, Ms. Barton released her debut solo album, All Who Wander, featuring songs by Mahler, Dvořák, and Sibelius. She returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Fenena in Verdi’s and Jezibaba in a new production of Dvořák’s Rusalka, both simulcast in cinemas worldwide, and to Houston as Waltraute / Second Norn in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. She will make her debut this summer as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo. The winner of the 2014 International Opera Award in the Young Singer category and the 2014 Marian Anderson Award, Ms. Barton has recently appeared as Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma at The Met, Los Angeles Opera, and ; Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at The Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at ; Waltraute / Second Norn at Washington National Opera; Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Oper ; and Fenena at and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Ms. Barton’s concert engagements include recent debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall and with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, as well as returns to the Toronto and Iceland symphony orchestras. Ms. Barton premiered ’s The Work at Hand at Carnegie Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and will return to New York next season for the World Premiere of Iain Bell’s Of You, commissioned by Carnegie Hall. Other 2017–18 engagements include debuts with Madrid’s Teatro Real, London Symphony Orchestra, and Taiwan’s National Taichung Theater, as well as returns to Houston and New York as Adalgisa, to Washington, D.C. as Princess Eboli, and to San Francisco for Wagner’s Ring Cycle. These performances mark Jamie Barton’s New York Philharmonic debut.

Highlights of Christopher Purves’s (Alberich) 2016–17 season include the title role in Richard Jones’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for ; The Protector in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin for Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the title role in ’s production of Handel’s Saul at the Adelaide Festival; and Alberich in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung for Houston Grand Opera. Recent highlights include Written on Skin led by Alan Gilbert at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart festival as well as on tour with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; his debut at the Opéra national de in Schoenberg’s ; Alberich in Götterdämmerung at the Bavarian Staatsoper and in Wagner’s Siegfried with and Houston Grand Opera; his return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera as the Gamekeeper in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen; the title role in Puccini’s at Opera North; Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at ; and the title role in Saul for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Other operatic highlights include appearances at Royal Opera, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Festival, Berlin Staatsoper, and Opera. These performances mark Christopher Purves’s New York Philharmonic debut. (more)

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In the 2016–17 season, tenor Russell Thomas (Loge) returns to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco; Canadian Opera Company and Lyric Opera of Chicago as Pollione in Bellini’s Norma; and Los Angeles Opera as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s . He also makes his debut at the singing the title role in Mozart’s . Concert highlights this season include performances of Mahler’s with the Detroit and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. Future engagements include debuts with the Bavarian Staatsoper, Washington National Opera, and Netherlands Opera, and returns to San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company, and . Mr. Thomas’s role debuts last season included Turiddu in Mascagni’s with Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role of a new production of Verdi’s with Oper Frankfurt, Don José in Bizet’s with Canadian Opera Company, and Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Opera. He made his Los Angeles Opera debut as Pollione in Norma and reprised his portrayal of Lazarus in John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary in Strasbourg. Russell Thomas made his New York Philharmonic debut in June 2012 performing the finale to Act I of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, conducted by Alan Gilbert at Park Avenue Armory as part of the Philharmonic 360. He most recently joined the Orchestra in October 2015 for In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy, conducted by Thomas Wilkins.

Grammy Award–winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor’s (Erda) 2016–17 season includes her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in a program of Brahms, Purcell, and Stravinsky with Thomas Adès, Wagner’s with Matthias Pintscher and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary with Simon Rattle and the and with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Louis Langrée and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Ms. O’Connor also joins Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. In recital, the California native returns to Collaborative Arts Institute Chicago in songs of Debussy, Massenet, Chausson, and Canteloube; joins Louis Langrée, as pianist, for recital programs in Cincinnati featuring songs of Brahms and Ravel; and is accompanied by her frequent collaborator, Donald Runnicles, at the Grand Teton Music Festival in works by Brahms and Bernstein. Kelley O’Connor has won acclaim for her performances of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar in her debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano, which led to a Grammy Award–winning recording on the label. Her discography also includes Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Gospel According to the Other Mary with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Franz Welser-Möst and The for Deutsche Grammophon. Kelley O’Connor made her New York Philharmonic debut in October 2006 in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges conducted by then Music Director Lorin Maazel. She most recently joined the Orchestra in October 2013 for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert.

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Morris Robinson (Fasolt), a graduate of The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2002 in Beethoven’s Fidelio. He has since appeared there as Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic , Ferrando in Verdi’s , and in productions of Verdi’s and Nabucco, Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Berlioz’s , and Richard Strauss’s . He has also appeared at San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, and the Aix-en- Provence Festival. His many roles include Osmin in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Ramfis in Aida, Sparafucile in Verdi’s , Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Grand Inquisitor in Verdi’s , Timur in Puccini’s Turandot, and Fasolt in Wagner’s Das Rheingold. A prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson recently made his BBC Proms debut in a televised performance of the Verdi Requiem. He has also appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall and with the Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Met Chamber orchestras; the Chicago, Boston, Montreal, and São Paulo symphony orchestras; and at the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier, and Aspen festivals. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This season, Mr. Robinson made his debut at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in the title role of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and returned to The Met for and Aida, and to Los Angeles Opera in The Abduction from the Seraglio. Upcoming engagements include returns to Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals. Mr. Robinson’s first album, Going Home, was released by Decca. These performances mark Morris Robinson’s New York Philharmonic debut.

Danish bass Stephen Milling (Fafner) made his critically acclaimed debut at the 2015 Festival as Hagen in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung led by Kirill Petrenko. Mr. Milling has been acclaimed for his performances as Gurnemanz in Wagner’s , which he has performed at the Staatsoper under Simon Rattle, at the Salzburg Festival under , and on DVD for Deutsche Grammophone. His other Wagnerian highlights include Hunding in Die Walküre at The Metropolitan Opera; Fasolt in Das Rheingold at the BBC; King Marke in Tristan und Isolde at the Berlin Staatsoper, Vienna Staatsoper, and with the Los Angeles and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras; Daland in The Flying Dutchman at the Bavarian Staatsoper; and both Landgraf in Tannhäuser and Viet Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at , Covent Garden. Mr. Milling’s recent performances include Philip II in Verdi’s Don Carlos at San Francisco Opera and Opera National du Rhin, Rocco in Beethoven’s Fidelio at Gran Teatre del , Padre Guardiano in Verdi’s at Palau de les Artes in Valencia, Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater at Opéra national de Paris, Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto at The Met, and Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Royal Opera and the Vienna Staatsoper. Trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Stephen Milling joined the Royal Danish Opera in 1994. His debuts at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala as Don Fernando in Fidelio and as Fasolt and Hunding in Seattle Opera’s Ring Cycle launched his international career. Stephen Milling made his Berlin Philharmonic debut in the Verdi Requiem led by . His recordings include Les Troyens with the London Symphony Orchestra, led by , and DVDs of Wagner’s , staged by La Fura dels Baus in Valencia, and The Copenhagen Ring, Tannhäuser, and Maskarade with Kasper Holten at the Royal Danish Opera. These performances mark Stephen Milling’s New York Philharmonic debut. (more)

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Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Freia) won First Prizes at the 2014 Operalia competition in Los Angeles and at the 2011 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, and she was a winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She holds both bachelor and master of music degrees from Brigham Young University and is a recent alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She was a member of the ensemble at the , where she sang the title role in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Vitellia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Diemut in Richard Strauss’s , Rosalinde in J. Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, and Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème. Recent roles include Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s at The Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Houston Grand Opera; Gutrune in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung at Royal Opera; Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at San Francisco Opera; Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin with Deutsche Oper Berlin; and Donna Anna at the Vienna Staatsoper. This season she sings Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s , Eva at Royal Opera, and Elsa at Zurich Opera. Ms. Willis-Sørensen’s recent concert performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the Dresden Staatskapelle; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra della Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl; Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Dresden Festival; and Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischütz in concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. This season’s concert engagements include the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro and R. Strauss’s with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Leonora in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Orchestra della Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. These performances mark Rachel Willis-Sørensen’s New York Philharmonic debut.

In the 2016–17 season American tenor Brian Jagde (Froh) makes his role debuts as Radamès in Verdi’s Aida, at San Francisco Opera, and Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, at Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He also sang Pinkerton in Puccini’s at Palermo’s Teatro Massimo and Washington National Opera, and in summer 2017 he makes his debuts at Madrid’s Teatro Real as Macduff in Verdi’s and at Oper as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca. He and soprano Joyce El-Khoury performed as part of the first Mondavi Center–hosted concert at the new Anne E. Pitzer Center in Davis, California. Next season he returns to San Francisco Opera as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot and to Deutsche Opera Berlin as Cavaradossi in Tosca and in Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane and makes his Zurich Opera debut as Cavaradossi and Seattle Opera debut as Radamès. Mr. Jagde’s previous engagements include debuts at The Metropolitan Opera as Count Elemer in Richard Strauss’s and Royal Opera as Pinkerton; Don José in Bizet’s Carmen at San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro San Carlo, and Opéra de Limoges; Cavaradossi at Santa Fe Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème with Ópera de Bellas Artes; Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia; and the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka at Houston Grand Opera and Opera San Antonio. He was also seen as in Richard Strauss’s at Minnesota Opera and Palm Beach Opera; Pinkerton at San Francisco Opera; Matteo in Arabella with Minnesota Opera; Rodolfo with the and at the Castleton Festival; and Narraboth at Santa Fe Opera and Opera San Antonio. Mr. Jagde made his European debut as Massenet’s and as Macduff in Macbeth at Poland’s Teatr Wielki Opera Poznan. These performances mark his New York Philharmonic debut. (more)

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This season, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn (Donner) returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Bizet’s Carmen and Bizet’s Les Troyens, The Metropolitan Opera as Colline in Puccini’s La bohème, and Dallas Opera for Bellini’s Norma, and made his debuts with the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Symphony, and at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre. Mr. Van Horn has appeared in concert at the Salzburg Easter Festival with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle, at Carnegie Hall in a concert programmed by the Emerson as part of its Perspective Series, and in Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Pacific Symphony, and the opening concerts of the Bard Music Festival. Mr. Van Horn has also appeared at San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Bavarian Staatsoper, Rome Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, and Netherlands Opera, and at the Salzburg and Munich Festivals. He recorded the title role in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for Sony Classical, and recently appeared in The Met’s HD broadcast of Verdi’s . Christian Van Horn received his master’s degree in music from Yale University and is a graduate of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. His numerous honors include winning at the 2003 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a 2003 Sarah Tucker Study Grant, First Place at the 2002 MacAllister Competition Collegiate Division, a prize in the 2002 Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition, and the Richman Award from Opera Theatre of St. Louis. These performances mark Christian Van Horn’s New York Philharmonic debut.

Born in England to German-Austrian parents, tenor Peter Bronder (Mime) began his career as principal tenor at Glyndebourne and Welsh National Opera. He made his American debut as Mime in Wagner’s Siegfried with The Cleveland Orchestra, followed by his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2005. He has also appeared as Mime at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Berlin Staatsoper, Municipal Theatre of São Paulo, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Palermo’s Teatro Massimo. He has appeared as Loge in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Edinburgh International Festival, Oper Stuttgart, and the Ruhrtriennale Festival. His other signature roles include Herod in Richard Strauss’s Salome, which he has performed in Milan, Madrid, Frankfurt, São Paulo, and Hong Kong; at the Bolshoi; and earlier this season with the . He sang the title roles in Wagner’s Rienzi in Frankfurt, Britten’s Peter Grimes in Bielefeld, Pfitzner’s in Frankfurt and Zurich, and Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg in Frankfurt, Seville, and Lisbon. He has appeared as Erik in Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman in Rouen and Paris, as Shuisky in Musorgsky’s in Turin, and as Luzio in Wagner’s in Frankfurt and Madrid. Mr. Bronder is a regular guest at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, where roles have included Arturo in Donizetti’s , Cassio in Verdi’s , Pedrillo in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Andres in Berg’s , Selem in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, First Jew in Salome, and Trabuco in Verdi’s La forza del destino. In 2016–17 he returned to the Royal Opera as Yarushkin in Shostakovich’s . Peter Bronder’s recent roles also include the Moneylender in ’s The Miserly Knight with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hauptmann in Wozzeck at Oper Frankfurt. Other notable credits include the Bregenz Festival, Bavarian Staatsoper, La Monnaie, and San Francisco Opera. These performances mark his New York Philharmonic debut.

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This season Jennifer Zetlan (Woglinde) ended a run in Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Bartlett Sher on Broadway, makes her European debut with the Stuttgart Staatstheater in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, and creates the title role in the World Premiere of Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre with the Center for Contemporary Opera, to be recorded by Naxos next season. She sings the soprano solos in Bruckner’s and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall and on tour in Montevideo, Uruguay (in her South American debut). She also performs at Carnegie Hall as a celebrated alumna of Mannes College of Music in its Centennial Celebration concert, and performs in recital with pianists David Shimoni and composer . In the summer she appears as Laurey in Charlottesville Opera’s new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! Ms. Zetlan has been featured in the premieres of numerous American operas including Ned Rorem’s Our Town, Matt Aucoin’s , Steven Stucky and Jeremy Denk’s The Classical Style, Ricky Ian Gordon’s Morning Star, ’s and Dark Sisters, ’s , and David Diamond’s Six from The Noblest Game. Other contemporary works include Purcell/Kaija Saariaho’s The Tempest Songbook, Ligeti’s Requiem, Osvaldo Golijov’s 3 Songs for Soprano, John Tavener’s Requiem, and Richard Ayres’s No. 42, In The Alps with Alarm Will Sound. Ms. Zetlan has performed in concert with the New York Philharmonic; the Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Omaha, Baltimore symphony orchestras; and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, and the National Chorale. She has been heard at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, Musica Sacra, Alarm Will Sound, American Symphony Orchestra, MasterVoices (formerly Collegiate Chorale), and the New York Youth Symphony. Jennifer Zetlan made her New York Philharmonic debut in June 2012 performing Mozart’s Mass in C minor, led by Music Director Alan Gilbert. She most recently joined the Orchestra in October 2016 performing Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh at Park Avenue Armory as part of Circle Map, conducted by The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano (Wellgunde) received a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant and a 2014 George London Award. She joined The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera in 2008, and made her Met debut in the 2009–10 season. As First Prize winner of the 2009 Young Concert Artist International Auditions, she made recital debuts with her husband, pianist Christopher Cano, at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Kennedy Center, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. Ms. Cano has appeared with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Utah symphony orchestras; and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others, working with conductors such as James Levine, Manfred Honeck, Marin Alsop, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Andrew Davis. This season, Ms. Cano bows as Emilia in Verdi’s Otello at The Metropolitan Opera, Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Arizona Opera, and with Des Moines Opera. Her orchestral engagements include the Verdi Requiem with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with The Cleveland Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Minnesota Orchestra and Kansas City Symphony, and Enrique Granados’s Dante and Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody with the Monterey Symphony. Ms. Cano makes her recital debut at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing Brahms’s Two Songs, appears at Houston Da Camera Society with pianist (more)

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Thomas Sauer and cellist Colin Carr, and performs with Christopher Cano at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City and for Electric Earth Concerts in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Her summer festival appearances have included title roles in Purcell’s and at Saratoga Opera and Bizet’s Carmen at the Savannah Voice Festival, and a recital at Boston’s Outside the Box Festival. In 2014 Jennifer Johnson Cano released her debut recital recording, Unaffected: Live from the Savannah Voice Festival. Jennifer Johnson Cano made her New York Philharmonic debut in November 2010 performing in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, conducted by Alan Gilbert; she most recently appeared with the Orchestra in July 2016 performing Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat (complete ballet), led by Bramwell Tovey during the Orchestra’s annual Bravo! Vail residency.

This season mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford (Flosshilde) returned to The Metropolitan Opera for the new production of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin and appeared in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Boston, San Francisco, and Simón Bolívar symphony orchestras on tour in Europe. This summer she returns to the Britt and Tanglewood Festivals. Next season she returns to The Met for Mozart’s The Magic Flute and appears in concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and National Symphony Orchestra and at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A graduate of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ms. Mumford made her Met debut as Laura in Verdi’s and has since appeared with the company in more than 140 performances. Other recent opera engagements have included Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira and Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at the Caramoor Festival; Tchaikovsky’s Iolante at Dallas Opera; Henze’s Phaedra, Britten’s The Rape of , and the World Premiere of Daniel Schnyder’s Yardbird at Opera Philadelphia; Purcell’s at the Glimmerglass Festival; and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Glyndebourne Festival and BBC Proms. Also an active concert performer, Ms. Mumford has appeared at Carnegie Hall with James Levine and the Met Chamber Orchestra. She has also appeared with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the World Premiere tour of John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary, and on a U.S. and European tour of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. Other concert engagements include appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ravinia, Tanglewood, Grand Teton, and Bravo! Vail festivals. In recital she has been presented in New York by both the Foundation and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Tamara Mumford appeared with Musicians from the Philharmonic in a November 2012 performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, a co- presentation with Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival; she made her Philharmonic subscription debut in December 2013 performing Handel’s Messiah, led by Andrew Manze.

In recent seasons Louisa Muller (director) has made directing debuts at The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opera Queensland, and Atlanta Opera. She earned critical acclaim for new productions of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, both for Wolf Trap Opera. She is in her ninth season on the directing staff of The Metropolitan Opera, where she has directed revivals of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s , Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. This season she directs a new production of Puccini’s Tosca with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap Opera, returns to The Met to direct Don Giovanni and assist Robert Lepage (more)

Alan Gilbert / Das Rheingold / 11 on Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin, serves as associate director for Bizet’s Carmen at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and works with young singers at Rice University, London’s National Opera Studio, and the Scuola di Belcanto Urbania. This production marks Louisa Muller’s New York Philharmonic debut.

Costume designer David C. Woolard received Tony Award nominations for Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show and The Who’s Tommy. He has designed more than 20 shows on Broadway and more than 200 shows around the world. Highlights include musicals such as Bernstein’s West Side Story and Adler and Ross’s Damn Yankees, as well as operas such as Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain and Joby Talbot’s Everest. In addition to his Tony nominations, Mr. Woolard has won a Drama Desk Award and the Henry Hewes Design Awards, and was nominated for an Olivier Award.

Repertoire (1813–83) envisioned Das Rheingold as the prologue to what would become his monumental, four-opera Ring of the Nibelung. Premiered in Munich in 1869, Das Rheingold introduces the dramatic issues and themes that would subsequently play out in the following three pieces. The mythological tale begins with a crime that sets the entire drama in motion — events that, by the end of the series, impact the order of the universe: The dwarf Alberich steals gold from the river and forges a ring that gives him unlimited power. Wotan, lord of the gods, hoping to secure his throne, steals the ring from Alberich, who in turn curses the ring and anyone who ever owns it. By the time he composed Das Rheingold, Wagner had mastered his system of leitmotifs (musical themes that are associated with specific characters, things, or ideas), an approach that would bind together not only this opera but the tetralogy as a whole. The earliest New York Philharmonic presentation of any of Das Rheingold was in March 1882, when Theodore Thomas led three selections from the opera. led the complete work in concert at the Orchestra’s Lewisohn Stadium summer series in 1937; most recently, conducted “Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla” (arr. Zumpe) in April 1982.

* * * These concerts are made possible by The Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, Inc., with special underwriting from the Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Helen Huntington Hull Fund.

* * * Citi. Preferred Card of the New York Philharmonic.

* * * Emirates is the Official Airline of the New York Philharmonic.

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* * * Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Tickets Single tickets for this performance start at $34. Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic’s Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

For press tickets, call Lanore Carr in the New York Philharmonic Communications Department at (212) 875-5714, or email her at [email protected].

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ALAN GILBERT’S FINAL WEEKS

New York Philharmonic

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

Thursday, June 1, 2017, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3, 2017, 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Alan Gilbert, conductor Louisa Muller*, director David C. Woolard*, costume designer

Eric Owens, bass-baritone (Wotan) Jamie Barton*, mezzo-soprano (Fricka) Christopher Purves*, baritone (Alberich) Russell Thomas, tenor (Loge) Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano (Erda) Morris Robinson*, bass (Fasolt) Stephen Milling*, bass (Fafner) Rachel Willis-Sørensen*, soprano (Freia) Brian Jagde*, tenor (Froh) Christian Van Horn*, bass-baritone (Donner) Peter Bronder*, tenor (Mime) Jennifer Zetlan, soprano (Woglinde) Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano (Wellgunde) Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano (Flosshilde) Dan Saunders, music preparation Kaitlin Springston*, stage manager

WAGNER Das Rheingold (enhanced concert production)

* New York Philharmonic debut

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ALL PROGRAMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

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Photography is available in the New York Philharmonic’s online newsroom, nyphil.org/newsroom/1617 or by contacting (212) 875-5700 or [email protected].