Gustav Mahler, 1893, by E. Bieber

MAHLER SYMPHONY 3

24 CONCERT PROGRAM

Gustav Mahler Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Symphony No. 3 in D Minor 8:00pm I. Kräftig. Entschieden. Thursday, September 29, 2016 Intermission 8:00pm

II. Tempo di Menuetto. Sehr mässig. Peter Oundjian III. Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast. conductor IV. Sehr langsam. Misterioso. V. Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck. Jamie Barton VI. Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden. mezzo-soprano Women of the Amadeus Choir & Lydia Adams Conductor & Artistic Director

with the ORIANA Women’s Choir Mitchell Pady, Artistic Director

Toronto Children’s Chorus Elise Bradley Artistic Director

There is no work in all of music quite like Mahler’s Third Symphony. This evening, we’re joined by Jamie Barton, the women of the Amadeus Choir and Elmer Iseler Singers with the ORIANA Women’s Choir, and the Children’s Chorus for this most monumental of works. In some ways, Mahler was the ultimate symphonist. He inherited the great German tradition of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner, and took it further, creating works which had at their core a Peter Oundjian highly personal journey. This is what makes a symphony: it’s not just several Music movements stuck together, it is a single voyage, speaking to human experience Director through contrasts and continuities. Somehow, this massive canvas, the longest regularly performed work in the repertoire, takes us on an intense pilgrimage, encompassing a huge variety of sounds and styles. Nowhere is Mahler’s famous assertion—that a symphony must be a whole universe—more clearly demonstrated than in this work. Every kind of emotion appears in this music, from the most mundane to the most lofty and inspirational. It is a hymn to the human spirit, from one of music’s greatest prophets.

25 THE DETAILS

Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 3 in D Minor

Born: Kalischt, Austria, Jul 7, 1860 97 Died: Vienna, Austria, May 18, 1911 min Composed: 1893–1896

The Third is Mahler’s longest symphony and giving way to a cheerful, confident march—living requires huge instrumental and vocal forces. It Nature, in all its Dionysian glory. The music of depicts nothing less than Mahler’s cosmology. No. 2 unfolds in a five-part minuet-and-trio form Part 1 shows “the way life gradually breaks through (ABABA): the opening section is graceful, genial, out of soulless, petrified matter”; Part 2 (which was pastoral; the contrasting section is more agitated, composed first) shows life taking on “ever more scherzo-like. No. 3 is a complex, rondo-like highly developed forms: flowers, beasts, man, up movement in which Mahler sought to convey to the sphere of the spirits,” the finale depicting the liveliness and humour he saw in the animal eternal love—for Mahler, “the highest level from world. It opens with “the quiet, undisturbed life which the world can be viewed,” synonymous with of the forest,” but two episodes in the latter half, God. The Third is thus “a musical poem,” at once featuring long, poignant post horn calls, introduce monumental and deeply personal, offering an an “other” on the scene: man. ultimately positive vision of life. Individual human consciousness finally flowers In No. 1, the long “Introduction” portrays “lifeless, in No. 4, a profound song for alto based on a text rigid Nature” in mysterious, primeval music, finally from Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra. Although Mahler’s world-view was not entirely compatible with that of the self-described “Godless and anti-metaphysical” Nietzsche, his setting of MUSIC AS VARIED AS THE WORLD this “magnificent” poem elevates the Third Mahler resisted explaining his Third beyond the merely descriptive. It is slow, quiet, Symphony publicly but was unusually ruminative, and evocative. No. 5, by contrast, is forthcoming about it in conversations and a public celebration. Telling the story of Peter’s letters, and in his final manuscript the six sin and his absolution through Jesus, it sets a movements bore the following titles: text from the folk-poetry anthology Des Knaben Wunderhorn (the source for many of Mahler’s Part 1 songs). A cheerful, brightly scored communal song No. 1: “Introduction: Pan Awakes”…”Summer of bells and angels, it proclaims the kind of naïve Marches In (Bacchic Procession)” faith that Mahler always took seriously. Part 2 The Third closes unconventionally, with what has No. 2: “What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me” been called “the first typical Mahler adagio”—music No. 3: “What the Animals in the Woods Tell Me” of reconciliation and transcendence, connecting No. 4: “What Mankind Tells Me” the human to the divine. Here, “everything has No. 5: “What the Angels Tell Me” dissolved in peace and quiet,” Mahler wrote. No. 6: “What Love Tells Me” Program note by Kevin Bazzana

26 Text and Translation

No. 4 [“What Mankind Tells Me”]– Sehr langsam. Misterioso.

O Mensch! Gib Acht! O man! Take heed! Was spricht die tiefe Mitternacht? What does the deep midnight say? “Ich schlief, ich schlief—, “I slept, I slept—, aus tiefem Traum bin ich erwacht:— from deep dreaming I have awoken:— die Welt ist tief, the world is deep, und tiefer als der Tag gedacht. and deeper than the day conceives.

O Mensch! O Mensch! O man! O man! Tief ist ihr Weh—, Deep is its woe—, Lust—tiefer noch als Herzeleid; joy—deeper still than heartache; Weh spricht: Vergeh! Woe says: Go away! Doch alle Lust will Ewigkeit— But all joy desires eternity— will tiefe, tiefe Ewigkeit!” desires deep, deep eternity!”

No. 5 [“What the Angels Tell Me”] – Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck.

Es sungen drei Engel einen süßen Gesang; Three angels sang a sweet song; mit Freuden es selig in dem Himmel klang, with joy it rang blissfully in heaven, sie jauchzten fröhlich auch dabei, they shouted, too, for joy, daß Petrus sei von Sünden frei! that Peter was free from sin!

Und als der Herr Jesus zu Tische saß, And as the Lord Jesus sat at the table, mit seinen zwölf Jüngern das Abendmahl aß, and ate the evening meal with his twelve disciples, da sprach der Herr Jesus: Was stehst du denn hier? the Lord Jesus said: Why do you stand here? Wenn ich dich anseh’, so weinest du mir! When I look at you, you weep at me!

“Und sollt’ ich nicht weinen, du gütiger Gott? “And should I not weep, you bounteous God? Du sollst ja nicht weinen! No, you must not weep! Ich hab’ übertreten die zehn Gebot, I have broken the Ten Commandments, Ich gehe und weine ja bitterlich. I wander and weep bitterly. Du sollst ja nicht weinen! No, you must not weep! Ach komm’ und erbarme dich über mich!” O come and have mercy on me!”

Hast du denn übertreten die zehn Gebot, If you have broken the Ten Commandments, so fall auf die Knie und bete zu Gott! then fall on your knees and pray to God! Liebe nur Gott in all Zeit! Love only God at all times! So wirst du erlangen die himmlische Freud’. Thus will you gain heavenly joy.

Die himmlische Freud’ ist ein’ selige Stadt, Heavenly joy is a blessed city, die himmlische Freud’, die kein Ende mehr hat! heavenly joy, which has no end! Die himmlische Freude war Petro bereit’t Heavenly joy was granted to Peter durch Jesum, und allen zur Seligkeit. through Jesus, and to all people for eternal bliss.

27 For a biography of Peter Oundjian, THE ARTISTS please turn to page 15.

Jamie Barton mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton made her TSO début in May, 2015.

Recipient of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, mezzo- soprano Jamie Barton is also the winner of both Main and Song Prizes at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, a winner of the 2007 National Council Auditions, and a GRAMMY® nominee.

In the 2016/17 season, Ms. Barton returns to the Metropolitan Opera for her role début as Ježibaba in a new production of Rusalka and as Fenena in Nabucco. Both appearances will be simulcast in cinemas around the globe via the Met’s Live in HD series. She sings her first Princess Eboli in Don Carlo in her Deutsche Oper Berlin début, makes her New York Philharmonic début as Fricka in Das Rheingold, and returns to the as Waltraute/2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung.

Ms. Barton’s concert season includes her much-anticipated début with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Elgar’s Sea Pictures, a work she also performs with The Florida Orchestra. Other highlights include these performances of Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a recital tour with James Baillieu, culminating in her Wigmore Hall début.

Recent performances include: Adalgisa (Norma) at the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and San Francisco Opera; Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena) at the Metropolitan Opera and ; Fricka (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre) at Houston Grand Opera; Cornelia (Giulio Cesare) at Oper Frankfurt; Azucena (Il trovatore) at Cincinnati Opera; and Fenena at Seattle Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Future projects include returns to Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Metropolitan Opera.

28 Amadeus Choir Lydia Adams Conductor & Artistic Director The Amadeus Choir made its TSO début in June, 1989.

The Amadeus Choir is known for its professionalism, exceptional musicality, and diverse, high-quality programming—all a reflection of the leadership provided by Lydia Adams, Conductor and Artistic Director for the past 32 years. Under Ms. Adams’s leadership, the choir has grown significantly in size and reputation to become one of Canada’s pre-eminent choral groups.

The Amadeus Choir performs a regular series of concerts in Toronto, presenting exceptional choral works and artists in major works with orchestra and instrumental ensembles, as well as outstanding a cappella repertoire. In addition to the Amadeus Choir’s regular concert series, the Choir collaborates with many superb Toronto ensembles, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Bach Children’s Chorus, the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Trillium Brass, and True North Brass.

The Amadeus Choir is a recipient of the 2014 Association of Canadian Choral Communities Award for Outstanding Innovative Performance. Lydia Adams was the Artist Recipient of the 2013 Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the 2012 winner of the Roy Thomason Hall Award of Recognition from the Toronto Arts Foundation.

Women of the Amadeus Choir for this evening’s performance: Soprano Emily Lynch Alto Anne Massicotte Barb Adams Mishy Moffitt Lynda Clark Lani Milstein Joan Andrews Marina Mooney Anne Compagnie Alison Roy Jelica Bornath Joanne Nasmith Cherie Crosby Wendy Simone Mikaela Boutilier Edmee Nataprawira Phyllis Doherty Sharon Smith Jennifer Boyd Carole Nelles Karen Freedman Bonnie Tepperman Joyce Fung (Byrd) Cathy Robinson Mary Gray Judy Young Virginia Gies Catherine Ross Inge Hermann Jane Gorman Debbie Scoffield Laura Hope Marianne Hamilton Carol Stairs Kathy Irvin Eleanor Hart Kathleen Tapp Mock Joyce Kenno Anita Lo Judy Tracey Christine Kerr Ilana Lucas Adriene Verschuren Elizabeth MacLean Aviva Lufer Julie Winn Shirley Madden

29 THE ARTISTS

Elmer Iseler Singers Lydia Adams Conductor & Artistic Director Jessie Iseler General Manager The Elmer Iseler Singers made their TSO début in May, 1982.

The Elmer Iseler Singers (EIS), conducted by Artistic Director Lydia Adams for the past 19 years, are now in their 38th season. This 20-voice fully-professional choral ensemble, founded by the late Dr. Elmer Iseler in 1979, has built an enviable reputation throughout Canada, the United States, and internationally through concerts, broadcasts, and recordings—performing repertoire that spans 500 years, with a focus on Canadian composers. The Singers present a five-concert series in Toronto each season, and are featured at concerts, workshops, and festivals throughout Canada. Touring is also a major component of their activities, with a seven-city Western Canada concert and workshop tour planned for April 19–28, 2017. The Elmer Iseler Singers are a 2014 National Choral Award recipient.

Women of the Elmer Iseler Singers for this evening’s performance: Soprano Alto Anne Bornath Joan Campbell Amy Dodington Claudia Lemke Gisele Kulak Andrea Ludwig Claire Morley Laura McAlpine Cathy Robinson Alison Roy

ORIANA Women’s Choir Mitchell Pady, Artistic Director

Founded in 1972, ORIANA Women’s Choir has focused on highlighting and expanding the choral repertoire available for women’s voices through excellence in performance and by the commissioning of Canadian composers. Since 2011, under Artistic Director Mitchell Pady, ORIANA has presented 27 new Canadian works, collaborated with numerous Canadian groups, and has been featured in the Roy Thomson Hall Choir and Organ concert series.

Soprano I Soprano II Alto I Alto II Mary Lee Diana Barry Susan Astington Laura Inostroza Dawn Pear Marcelle Cerny Dianne Ball Marilyn Lamson Cathy Ullmann Diana Chiarelli Susan Ludwig Kate Matthews Jane Irwin Barb MacKenzie Julia Topping Julia Lee Rena Potter Roberta Williamson Shobna Nijhawan Nicole Tavares Sue Roberts Tami Teixeira

30 Toronto Children’s Chorus Elise Bradley Artistic Director The Toronto Children’s Chorus made its TSO debut in October, 1978.

The Toronto Children’s Chorus, now in its 10th season under Artistic Director Elise Bradley, has won many competitions, recorded professionally, and represented Toronto on 29 international and four national tours since its founding in 1978 by Conductor Laureate, Jean Ashworth Bartle, C.M., O.Ont. This year, the Chorus will appear in Opera Atelier’s production of Dido and Aeneas and will return to the TSO stage for performances of Carmina Burana in June, 2017.

The Toronto Children’s Chorus is internationally recognized for its high standard of performance and its uniquely challenging and eclectic treble repertoire that spans diverse cultures, languages, and traditions. Its latest CD, Sounzscapes: From Our Lands, was named Outstanding Choral Recording by Choral Canada in 2014.

Artistic Director Elise Bradley is a passionate musician, award-winning teacher and conductor, and internationally respected adjudicator and clinician. She receives many invitations to work with choirs and present at conferences around the world, most recently with Gondwana Voices (Sydney, Australia), Kokopelli Choirs (Edmonton, Alberta), the IFCM World Choral Expo (Macau, China) and the inaugural New Zealand National Children’s Choir (Auckland). In 2017, Ms. Bradley will travel to Brisbane to present at Choralfest, hosted by the Australian National Choral Association, and will also lead the Toronto Children’s Chorus Chamber Choir on its 30th international tour to perform at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona, Spain.

Toronto Children’s Chorus Chamber Choir: Alex Annosantini # Julie Frynta # Tal Ohana Shira Aronson # Charmaine Handojo Nora Popescu # Zachary Brookes Leandrae Henry-Da Costa Kirsten Read # Ariel Brookes # Vivien Illion #† Ellen Reid Giulia Brown # Taira Kajiwara # Jamie Rokin # Erin Case # Madeleine Kerbler Katrina Skuterud Nicole Cheung #† Lauren Kidd Ania Suri # Jonathan Chung Molly Klebanoff Alisha Suri #† Aramea Copeman # Alexandra Koukarina # Amanda Won Dean Ebona # Yoo Jin Lee Catherine Ziabko Jordan Edwards # Andrew Lowe # Summer Figueroa # Faith Lum Fiona Fisher # Keera McNalty Barbora Frynta Gabrielle Moreau # Choral Scholar Elizabeth Frynta Jessica Nigli #† † Head Chorister

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