Season 2013-2014

27 Season 2013-2014 Thursday, September 26, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, September 27, at 2:00 Saturday, September 28, Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor at 8:00 Christine Brewer Soprano Mihoko Fujimura Mezzo-soprano Christian Elsner Tenor Shenyang Bass-baritone Westminster Choir and Westminster Symphonic Choir Joe Miller Director Beethoven Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 112, for chorus and orchestra Muhly Bright Mass with Canons I. Kyrie II. Gloria III. Sanctus and Benedictus— IV. Agnus Dei World premiere of orchestrated version—Commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra Intermission Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (“Choral”) I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso II. Molto vivace—Presto III. Adagio molto e cantabile—Andante moderato—Tempo I IV. Presto—Allegro assai—Presto (Recitativo)— Allegro assai—Allegro assai vivace: alla marcia—Andante maestoso—Allegro energico—Allegro ma non tanto—Poco adagio—Poco adagio, strigendo il tempo— Prestissimo This program runs approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 2 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. 3 Story Title 29 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra community itself. His concerts to perform in China, in 1973 is one of the preeminent of diverse repertoire attract at the request of President orchestras in the world, sold-out houses, and he has Nixon, today The Philadelphia renowned for its distinctive established a regular forum Orchestra boasts a new sound, desired for its for connecting with concert- partnership with the National keen ability to capture the goers through Post-Concert Centre for the Performing hearts and imaginations of Conversations. Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra audiences, and admired for annually performs at Under Yannick’s leadership a legacy of innovation in Carnegie Hall while also the Orchestra returns to music-making. The Orchestra enjoying annual residencies in recording with a newly- is inspiring the future and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at released CD on the Deutsche transforming its rich tradition the Bravo! Vail festival. Grammophon label of of achievement, sustaining Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Musician-led initiatives, the highest level of artistic and Leopold Stokowski including highly-successful quality, but also challenging transcriptions. In Yannick’s Cello and Violin Play-Ins, and exceeding that level, by inaugural season the shine a spotlight on the creating powerful musical Orchestra has also returned Orchestra’s musicians, as experiences for audiences at to the radio airwaves, with they spread out from the home and around the world. weekly Sunday afternoon stage into the community. Music Director Yannick broadcasts on WRTI-FM. The Orchestra’s commitment Nézet-Séguin triumphantly to its education and Philadelphia is home and opened his inaugural community partnership the Orchestra nurtures an season as the eighth artistic initiatives manifests itself important relationship not leader of the Orchestra in numerous other ways, only with patrons who support in fall 2012. His highly including concerts for families the main season at the collaborative style, deeply- and students, and eZseatU, Kimmel Center but also those rooted musical curiosity, a program that allows full- who enjoy the Orchestra’s and boundless enthusiasm, time college students to other area performances paired with a fresh approach attend an unlimited number at the Mann Center, Penn’s to orchestral programming, of Orchestra concerts for Landing, and other venues. have been heralded by a $25 annual membership The Orchestra is also a global critics and audiences alike. fee. For more information on ambassador for Philadelphia Yannick has been embraced The Philadelphia Orchestra, and for the U.S. Having been by the musicians of the please visit www.philorch.org. the first American orchestra Orchestra, audiences, and the 8 Music Director Nigel Parry/CPi Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. His highly 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 Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton “the ensemble … has never sounded better.” In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia. Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s conducting fellows program in the fall of 2013. 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 Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise- Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal. To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor. 30 Soloist Christian Steiner Soprano Christine Brewer made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1991. Born in Illinois she began her professional career with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, with which she has performed Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and the title roles in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Rossini’s Armida. She has sung the roles of the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for New York City Opera and at Covent Garden; Donna Anna at the Edinburgh Festival and in London, New York, and Florida; and Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio in Lisbon and San Francisco. Most recently she sang in the world premiere of Douglas J. Cuomo’s Doubt for Minnesota Opera. Ms. Brewer has appeared in concert in the United States with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles and New York philharmonics, and the Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New World symphonies, with such conductors as Pierre Boulez, James Levine, James Conlon, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Alan Gilbert, Christoph Eschenbach, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Gustavo Dudamel. She is a regular guest with the Saint Louis Symphony. In Europe she has sung with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony with Mariss Jansons, the BBC Symphony with Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek, the London Philharmonic with Vladimir Jurowski, the London Symphony with Colin Davis, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Antonio Pappano. She has also been a regular guest at the Edinburgh Festival and the BBC Proms. Highlights of Ms. Brewer’s 2013-14 season include Britten’s Albert Herring with the BBC Symphony and War Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony; Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Tokyo with Jonathan Nott; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; and a return to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites. Her many recordings include Don Giovanni with Charles Mackerras; Barber’s Vanessa with Leonard Slatkin; Fidelio and Verdi’s Requiem with Mr. Davis; Ariadne auf Naxos with Richard Armstrong; the War Requiem with Kurt Masur; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Simon Rattle; the Four Last Songs with Donald Runnicles; and Schubert and Strauss recitals. 31 Soloist R&G Photography Mezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura was born in Japan and studied at both Tokyo University and the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. She won numerous international singing competitions before joining the ensemble of Graz Opera from 1995 to 2000, where she sang many of her signature roles for the first time. She came to international attention in performances at the 2002 Munich Opera Festival and the Bayreuth Festival and has since become a regular guest at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; the Vienna State Opera; the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; the Teatro Real in Madrid; Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; and the Bayreuth and Aix-en-Provence festivals. She is a regular guest artist in Japan and has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras. She has sung with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Rotterdam and London philharmonics, and with The Philadelphia Orchestra both in Philadelphia with Charles Dutoit and on tour in Europe with Christoph Eschenbach.

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