23 Season 2019-2020

Sunday, November 24, at 2:00 Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Joyce DiDonato Mezzo-soprano

Mozart Overture to La clemenza di Tito, K. 621

Mozart “Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio,” from La clemenza di Tito, K. 621 Simon Aldrich, clarinet

Mozart “Non più di fiori,” fromLa clemenza di Tito, K. 621 Simon Aldrich, clarinet

Intermission

Bruckner Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major (“Romantic”) I. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell II. Andante quasi allegretto III. Scherzo: Bewegt—Trio: Nicht zu schnell. Keinesfalls schleppend IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell

This program runs approximately 2 hours. 24 25 Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal Simon Couturier

Since its founding in the Maison Symphonique ATMA Classique label. 1981, the Orchestre de Montréal with sound Published in the spring Métropolitain de and resonate in a dozen of of 2018 and showered Montréal (OM) has had the city’s boroughs through with critical praise, its but one mission: to share its the Conseil des Arts de complete Bruckner passion for symphonic music Montréal on Tour program. symphony cycle is proof of and make it accessible to In the summer of 2019, the Orchestre’s daring as all. Building on its special more than 35,000 music well as its excellence. The relationship with audiences, lovers attended the free OM’s collaboration with the the quality of its concerts, outdoor concert performed Deutsche Grammophon and its many recordings, at the foot of Mount Royal, label began in 2017, first with the OM has made a place while more than double that tenor Rolando Villazón and for itself, in the process number were welcomed Ildar Abdrazakov on a becoming one of Quebec’s during the OM’s entire disc titled Duets, then for leading cultural ambassadors summer season. Verdi, a solo album with Mr. and acquiring an enviable Abdrazakov. The OM is also international reputation. At The Orchestre also stands the subject of Ensemble, a the Orchestre’s helm for the apart though the vitality of 2018 documentary by Jean- last two decades, Artistic the OM for Schools and Nicolas Orhon that has been Director and Principal the OM for Young Talent screened at many festivals. Conductor Yannick Nézet- programs. In addition, In November 2019, Séguin has developed an it works closely with encouraged by the success exceptional rapport with his other performing arts of its highly lauded 2017 musicians. In September organizations, most notably European tour, the OM 2019, the OM announced as the Opéra de Montréal’s undertakes a tour of four the lifetime extension of his main orchestra. United States cities— contract, a rare commitment The recipient of numerous Chicago, Ann Arbor, New for such a young conductor national awards, the York City, and Philadelphia— and an orchestra not Orchestre Métropolitain with its conductor, Yannick founded by him. owes its international Nézet-Séguin. In the fall of Each year, the Orchestre reputation largely to the 2020, the Orchestre will Métropolitain performs some 20 recordings it has celebrate the start of its around 50 concerts that fill made for the Canadian 40th season. 6 Music Director

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through at least the 2025–26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Jessica Griffin Additionally, he became the third music director of New York’s in August 2018. 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 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 2018. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with five 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, the University of Montreal, and the University of Pennsylvania.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit philorch.org/conductor. 26 Soloist

Simon Pauly Multi Grammy-Award winner and 2018 Olivier-Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, Kansas- born Joyce DiDonato entrances audiences across the globe. She has soared to the top of the industry both as a performer and a fierce advocate for the arts, gaining international prominence in operas by Handel and Mozart, as well as through her wide-ranging, acclaimed discography. She is also widely acclaimed for the bel canto roles of Rossini and Donizetti. Much in demand on the concert and recital circuit, she has recently held residencies at Carnegie Hall and at London’s Barbican Centre; toured extensively in the US, South America, Europe, and Asia; and appeared as guest soloist at the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms. Other recent concert highlights include performances with the Chicago Symphony and , the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and John Eliot Gardiner, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra USA and . Ms. DiDonato’s 2019–20 season sees her staged debut as the title role in Handel’s Agrippina in a new production at the ; returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Agrippina and Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther; and the title role in Rossini’s at the Gran Teatre del in Barcelona. She is a Carnegie Hall 2019–20 Perspectives Artist with appearances including the Chicago Symphony and Mr. Muti; a recital with Mr. Nezet-Séguin performing Schubert’s Winterreise; a Joyce & Friends chamber music concert with the Brentano Quartet and pianist Byran Wagorn; a Baroque-inspired program with Il Pomo d’Oro; and live-streamed master classes. Other highlights include touring her latest album, Songplay, and recorded concerts of Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet with John Nelson and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. An exclusive recording artist with Erato/Warner Classics, Ms. DiDonato’s award-winning discography includes Berlioz’s Les Troyens, which in 2018 won the Recording (Complete Opera) category at the International Opera Awards, the Opera Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards, and Gramophone’s Recording of the Year. Her other recent albums include Songplay, In War & Peace, Stella di Napoli, Diva Divo, and Drama Queens. 27 28 Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal 2019 US Tour

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Violas Clarinets Artistic Director and Principal Brian Bacon, Principal Simon Aldrich, Principal Conductor Elvira Misbakhova, Associate François Martel Principal First Violins Pierre Tourville, Assistant Principal Bassoons Yukari Cousineau, Concertmaster Gérald Daigle Michel Bettez, Principal Marcelle Mallette, Associate Julie Dupras Gabrièle Dostie-Poirier Concertmaster Pierre Lupien Johanne Morin, Assistant Élisa Boudreau Horns Concertmaster Suzanne Careau Louis-Philippe Marsolais, Principal Alain Giguère, Second Assistant Jean René Simon Bourget Concertmaster François Vallières Pierre Savoie Monica Duschênes Jean Paquin Carolyn Klause Cellos Jocelyn Veilleux, Assistant Principal Alexander Lozowski Christopher Best, Principal Florence Mallette Caroline Milot, Associate Principal Trumpets Linda Poirier Thérèse Ryan, Assistant Principal Stéphane Beaulac, Principal Ryan Truby Louise Trudel Lise Bouchard Ariane Bresse Vincent Bergeron Benjamin Raymond Mary-Elizabeth Brown Iona Corber Chloé Chabanole Christine Giguère Trombones Caroline Chéhadé Sheila Hannigan Patrice Richer, Principal Julien Oberson Veronika Ronkos Michael Wilson Trevor Dix, Principal Bass Trombone Second Violins Basses Lyne Allard, Principal René Gosselin, Principal Tuba Dominic Guilbault, Associate Marc Denis, Associate Prinicpal Alain Cazes, Principal Principal Réal Montminy Lucie Ménard, Assistant Principal Gilbert Fleury Timpani Lizann Gervais Yannick Chênevert Julien Bélanger, Principal Sylvie Harvey Catherine Lefebvre Monique Lagacé Personnel Manager Claudio Ricignuolo Flutes Jean Paquin Céline Arcand Marie-Andrée Benny, Principal Marie-Claire Cousineau Jocelyne Roy Librarian Helga Dathe Paul Marcotte Daniel Godin Oboes Myriam Pelletier Lise Beauchamp, Principal Marjorie Tremblay 29 30 Framing the Program

Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been artistic director and Parallel Events principal conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain in his 1791 Music hometown of Montreal since 2000. This afternoon he Mozart Cherubini shares his Canadian roots with Philadelphia in a program La clemenza di Overture to featuring three excerpts from Mozart’s late opera La Tito Lodoïska clemenza di Tito and Anton Bruckner’s majestic Fourth Literature Symphony. Paine The Rights of Mozart was commissioned to write La clemenza di Tito Man, Part I (The Clemency of Titus) to celebrate the coronation of Art Leopold II as King of Bohemia and traveled to Prague Morland for its premiere in early September 1791, just months The Stable before he died at age 35. The opera is about the History benevolent Emperor of Rome, Titus, who pardons a group Vermont of conspirators that had plotted his assassination. This becomes a state afternoon we hear its magnificent overture as well as two soprano arias that prominently feature a clarinet soloist to 1874 Music Bruckner Musorgsky add to the brilliance. Symphony Pictures from an Bruckner was a relatively late bloomer when it came to No. 4 Exhibition writing the pieces that posterity values most: monumental Literature symphonies. He made his first attempt at age 39, but Hardy suppressed this early “Study Symphony.” Bruckner’s Far from the official Symphony No. 1 came three years later. He Madding Crowd struggled for years to win broad recognition, which he Art Renoir finally enjoyed with his Fourth Symphony, a powerful work La Loge he titled the “Romantic.” History First American zoo founded in Philadelphia 31 32 The Music Selections from La clemenza di Tito

Emperor Leopold II was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on September 6, 1791. A new opera was commissioned for the occasion, an opera seria (serious opera), a very stylized form of 18th-century Italian opera that was to have a castrato in the lead role and music written by a distinguished composer. The libretto was La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) by Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782), which portrays an episode in the life of the Roman emperor Titus, who ruled from 79 to 81 AD. Written half a century earlier, the book was edited and Wolfgang Amadè Mozart adapted by Caterino Mazzolà (1745–1806). Born in Salzburg, January 27, 1756 Impresario Domenico Guardasoni, the director of the Prague Died in Vienna, National Opera, was placed in charge of the production. December 5, 1791 He first approached Antonio Salieri, who declined due to other commitments. Guardasoni then turned to Mozart, who composed the key parts of the score in only a few weeks while also working on The Magic Flute and the . Too often overshadowed by The Magic Flute, La clemenza di Tito La clemenza di Tito was contains some of Mozart’s most sublime passages. composed in 1791. The remarkably concise Overture begins with a slow These excerpts are collectively introduction whose solemn character recalls that of The scored for two flutes, two Magic Flute. This is followed by a very vigorous first theme oboes, two clarinets, two with ascending and descending figures and a second, bassoons, two horns, two sweeter and softer theme in which the flute and oboe join trumpets, timpani, strings, and in a delicate duo. After a stormy development section, the solo voice. earlier elements return. The conclusion is as laconic as it Performance time of the is effective. Overture is approximately five Among the opera’s highlights are two concertante or minutes, and the arias are each obbligato arias that feature a solo instrument given a role approximately seven minutes. nearly as important as that of the voice. In Sextus’s first act aria “Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio,” the instrument is a basset clarinet, a clarinet with a wider range than modern- day versions. The other aria, “Non più di fiori,” sung in the second act by the character Vitellia, spotlights the basset horn, a kind of alto clarinet with a particularly suave tone and an even lower range than a basset clarinet. The two arias are probably the most beautiful moments in La clemenza di Tito. —Claudio Ricignuolo 33

“Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio” (Pietro Metastasio/Caterino Mazzolà)

Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio, I go; but, my beloved, meco ritorna in pace; make peace with me once more; sarò qual più ti piace, I will be whatever pleases you, quel che vorrai farò. I will do whatever you want.

Guardami, e tutto obblio, Look at me, and I will forget all else e a vendicarti io volo; and fly to avenge you; a questo sguardo solo and that glance alone da me si penserà. is all I will think of.

Ah qual poter, oh Dei, Ah, what power, O gods, donaste alla beltà! you have bestowed on beauty!

“Non più di fiori” (Pietro Metastasio/Caterino Mazzolà)

Non più di fiori, vaghe catene, No longer let Hymen descend discenda Imene ad intrecciar. to weave lovely garlands of flowers. Stretta fra barbare aspre ritorte Bound in cruel, severe chains, veggo la morte ver me avanzar. I see death coming toward me.

Infelice! qual orrore! Woe is me! What horror! Ah! di me che si dirà? Ah, what will be said of me? Chi vedesse il mio dolore, Yet anyone who could see my grief pur avria di me pietà. would have pity on me.

English translations by Charles Johnston (Chandos Records) 34 The Music Symphony No. 4

Anton Bruckner was a small, timid, and reserved man. Born in Upper Austria in the village of Ansfelden, not far from Linz, he followed his father’s and grandfather’s lead and became a primary school teacher. He also acquired a solid reputation as a virtuoso organist, although he had to wait until he was 60 to experience his first triumphs as a composer. His humility was such that he left no significant work for his instrument. He did, however, transpose the religious spirit that informed his organ playing into his monumental symphonies and choral works. Anton Bruckner Born in Ansfelden, Austria, In 1862 Bruckner assisted with the preparations for a Linz September 4, 1824 production of Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser. This was his first Died in Vienna, October 11, encounter with Wagner’s music and it would prove decisive 1896 in the formation of his personal style. Inspired by aspects of Wagner’s musical language, Bruckner developed in his symphonies a kind of discourse in which the monumental Bruckner composed his Fourth and grandiose are secondary to a spiritually charged Symphony in 1874 and revised message. While not the “masses without words” they are it from 1878 to 1880 and sometimes called, the works can be seen as prayers in the again in 1887–88. form of aural cathedrals. The work is scored for two Bruckner adopted the traditional four-movement structure flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, for all his symphonies, although his death prevented him two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, from completing the finale of his Ninth. Also, in contrast to tuba, timpani, and strings. symphonies by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Mahler, none Performance time is of Bruckner’s includes voices. approximately 70 minutes. It was the composer himself who nicknamed his Fourth Symphony “Romantic,” an apt epithet. The work contains many elements of Romanticism, which was then at its height: omnipresent poetry, a celebration of nature, folk allusions, and epic flights—all are there. The spell is cast from the outset, with the violins’ shimmering tremolos forming a sonic backdrop to the gradual unfurling of the first theme. Bruckner’s mature style here achieves its most radiant and masterful expression. And let’s not forget the famous scherzo with its evocation of a large hunting party! —Claudio Ricignuolo

Program notes © 2019. English translation of notes by Craig Schweickert.

36 Musical Terms

GENERAL TERMS century as the lightest Timbre: Tone color or tone Aria: An accompanied movement of a symphony quality solo song (often in ternary Obbligato: Literally Tremolo: In bowing, form), usually in an opera “obligatory.” An essential repeating the note very fast or oratorio instrumental part that is not with the point of the bow Cadence: The conclusion to be omitted. Trio: See scherzo to a phrase, movement, Oratorio: Large-scale or piece based on a dramatic composition THE SPEED OF MUSIC recognizable melodic originating in the 16th (Tempo) formula, harmonic century with text usually Allegretto: A tempo progression, or dissonance based on religious subjects. between walking speed resolution Oratorios are performed and fast Chord: The simultaneous by choruses and solo Andante: Walking speed sounding of three or more voices with an instrumental Bewegt: Animated, with tones accompaniment, and motion Concertante: A work are similar to operas but Schleppend: Dragging, featuring one or more solo without costumes, scenery, slow instruments and actions. Schnell: Fast Dissonance: A Recitative: Declamatory combination of two or more singing, free in tempo and TEMPO MODIFIERS tones requiring resolution rhythm. Recitative has also Doch nicht zu: But not Harmonic: Pertaining to sometimes been used to too chords and to the theory refer to parts of purely Keinesfalls: By no means and practice of harmony instrumental works that Quasi: Almost Harmony: The resemble vocal recitatives. combination of Scherzo: Literally “a simultaneously sounded joke.” Usually the third musical notes to produce movement of symphonies chords and chord and quartets that was progressions introduced by Beethoven K.: Abbreviation for Köchel, to replace the minuet. The the chronological list of all scherzo is followed by a the works of Mozart made gentler section called a trio, by Ludwig von Köchel after which the scherzo is Legato: Smooth, even, repeated. Its characteristics without any break between are a rapid tempo in triple notes time, vigorous rhythm, and Meter: The symmetrical humorous contrasts. grouping of musical Ternary: A musical form rhythms in three sections, ABA, in Minuet: A dance in triple which the middle section time commonly used up to is different than the outer the beginning of the 19th sections 37 38 Tickets & Patron Services

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