PROGRAM NOTES Sunday, February 9, 2020, 3pm Hertz Hall Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano Malcolm Martineau, piano PROGRAM Reynaldo HAHN (1874–1947) Quand je fus pris au pavillon [Charles d’Orléans] [Victor Hugo] Si mes vers avaient des ailes [Léopold Dauphin] Le rossignol des lilas [Th éophile Gautier] Infi délité [Th éodore de Banville] Le printemps Gustav MAHLER (1860–1911) Rückert Lieder [Friedrich Rückert] Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft Um Mitternacht Liebst du um Schönheit Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen INTERMISSION Hector BERLIOZ (1803–1869) Les nuits d’été [Th éophile Gautier] Villanelle Le spectre de la rose Sur les lagunes Absence Au cimetière L’île inconnue Georg Friedrich HANDEL (1685–1759) “Ombra mai fu” from Serse [Unknown] Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791) “Deh, per questo istante solo” [Caterino Mazzolà] from La Clemenza di Tito Th is performance is made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Michael A. Harrison and Susan Graham Harrison. Cal Performances’ 2019–20 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 15 ABOUT THE ARTISTS Susan Graham (mezzo-soprano)—hailed as “an Malcolm Martineau (piano) was born in Ed- artist to treasure” by the New York Times—rose to inburgh, read music at St Catharine’s College, the highest echelon of international performers Cambridge, and studied at the Royal College of within just a few years of her professional debut, Music. mastering an astonishing range of repertoire and Recognized as one of the leading accom- genres along the way. Her operatic roles span panists of his generation, he has worked with four centuries, from Monteverdi’s Poppea to many of the world’s greatest singers, including Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Sir Th omas Allen, Dame Janet Baker, Anna Ne- Walking, which was written especially for her. trebko, Elīna Garanča, Dorothea Röschmann, Among her numerous honors are a Grammy Dame Sarah Connolly, Angela Gheorghiu, Award for her collection of Ives songs, Musical Susan Graham, Th omas Hampson, Sir Simon America’s Vocalist of the Year, and an Opera Keenlyside, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher News Award. As one of the foremost exponents Maltman, Karita Mattila, Dame Ann Murray, of French vocal music, Graham has been recog- Anne Sofi e von Otter, Michael Schade, Frederica nized with the French government’s Chevalier de von Stade, and Sir Bryn Terfel. la Légion d’Honneur. He has presented his own series at London’s Th is season, Graham makes her role debut Wigmore Hall and at the Edinburgh Festival, as Herodias in Salome at Houston Grand Opera and has appeared throughout Europe (includ- and reprises her portrayal of Mrs. De Rocher ing La Scala, Milan; the Châtelet, Paris; the in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s company premiere Liceu, Barcelona; Berlin’s Philharmonie and of Dead Man Walking. In concert, she sings La Konzerthaus; Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw; mort de Cléopâtre and excerpts from Les Troyens and Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein); with the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin North America (including both New York’s at the Berlin Musikfest, revisits her signature in- Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall); Australia terpretation of Les nuits d’été with the Vancouver (including the Sydney Opera House); and at the Symphony, and headlines the Jacksonville Aix en Provence, Vienna, Edinburgh, Schuber- Symphony 2020 Gala. Graham completes the tiade, Munich, and Salzburg festivals. season with a “Beyond the Aria” concert in Recording projects have included the com- Chicago’s Millennium Park and recitals with pi- plete Beethoven folk songs and Schubert, anist Malcolm Martineau in Fort Worth and at Schumann, and English song recitals with New York’s Lincoln Center. Sir Bryn Terfel; Schubert and Strauss recitals Graham’s earliest operatic successes were in with Sir Simon Keenlyside, plus the Grammy such trouser roles as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Award-winning Songs of War; recital recordings nozze di Figaro. Her technical expertise soon with Magdalena Kozena, Anne Schwanewilms, brought mastery of more virtuosic parts, and Dorothea Röschmann and Christiane Karg; and she went on to triumph as Octavian in Richard the complete Poulenc songs and Britten song Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier and the Composer in cycles as well as Schubert with Florian Boesch. his Ariadne auf Naxos. She sang the leading la- Martineau was a given an honorary doctor- dies in the Metropolitan Opera’s world premieres ate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and of John Harbison’s Th e Great Gatsby and Tobias Drama in 2004, and appointed International Picker’s An American Tragedy, and made her mu- Fellow of Accompaniment in 2009. He was the sical theater debut in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s artistic director of the 2011 Leeds Lieder+ Fes- Th e King and I at the Th éâtre du Châtelet in Paris. tival. Martineau was made an OBE in the 2016 In concert, she makes regular appearances with New Year’s Honors. the world’s foremost orchestras, oft en in French repertoire, while her distinguished discography comprises a wealth of opera, orchestral, and solo recordings. Gramophone magazine has dubbed her “America’s favorite mezzo.” Opposite: photo by Dario Acosta 16 TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS REYNALDO HAHN Quand je fus pris au pavillon When I was lured to her love nest [Charles d’Orléans] Quand je fus pris au pavillon When I was lured to her love nest De ma dame très gente et belle, By my lady so gentle and fair, Je me brûlai à la chandelle I was singed by a burning heat, Ainsi que fait le papillon. A butterfl y caught in a fl ame. Le rougis comme vermillon, I glowed a fi ery, crimson red À la clarté d’use étincelle, At the gleam of a single spark, Quand je fus pris au pavillon When I was lured to her love nest De ma dame très gente et belle. By my lady so gentle and fair. Si j’eusse été émerillon If I had only been a falcon Ou que j’eusse eu aussi bonne aile, Or had the wings to fl y away Je me fusse gardé de celle I’d have saved myself from her, Qui me bailla de l’aiguillon Who enticed me with her charms, Quand je fus pris au pavillon. When I was lured to her love nest. Si mes vers avaient des ailes If only my poems had wings [Victor Hugo] Mes vers fuiraient, doux et frêles, My poems would fl ee, sweet, frail, Vers votre jardin si beau, To your beautiful garden, Si mes vers avaient des ailes If only my poems had wings Comme l’oiseau. Like a bird. Ils voleraient, étincelles, Th ey would fl y, like sparks, Vers votre foyer qui rit, To your smiling hearth, Si mes vers avaient des ailes, If only my poems had wings Des ailes comme l’esprit. Like the soul. Près de vous, purs et fi dèles, Close to you, pure and true, Ils accouraient, nuit et jour, Th ey would hasten night and day, Si mes vers avaient des ailes, If only my poems had wings Des ailes comme l’amour! Like love! Opposite: photo by Alessandro Moggi 17 TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Le rossignol des lilas Th e Nightingale in the Lilac Bush [Léopold Dauphin] Ô premier rossignol qui viens Oh you, the fi rst nightingale to come Dans les lilas, sous ma fenêtre, To the lilac bush beneath my window, Ta voix m’est douce a reconnaître! How sweet it is to hear your voice again! Nul accent n’est semblable au tien! No other voice can compare to yours! Fidèle aux amoureux liens, Be true to the bonds that lovers make, Trille encor, divin petit être! Trill once more, divine little being! Ô premier rossignol qui viens Oh you, the fi rst nightingale to come Dans les lilas, sous ma fenêtre! To the lilac bush beneath my window! Nocturne ou matinal, combien At night or in the morning, how Ton hymne à l’amour me pénètre! Your hymn of love pierces through me! Tant d’ardeur fait en moi renaître Such ardor rekindles in me L’écho de mes avrils anciens, Th e memory of so many Aprils gone by. Ô premier rossignol qui viens! Oh you, the fi rst nightingale to come! Infi délité Infi delity [Th éophile Gautier] Voici l’orme qui balance Here is the elm that casts Son ombre sur le sentier: Its shadow along the path; Voici le jeune églantier, Here is the young briar, Le bois où dort le silence. Th e forest where silence sleeps; Le banc de pierre où le soir Th e stone bench where, at night, Nous aimions à nous asseoir. We loved to sit. Voici la voûte embaumée Here is the luscious canopy D’ébéniers et de lilas, Of ebony and lilac trees, Où, lorsque nous étions las, Where, when we were weary, Ensemble, ô ma bien aimée! Together, my darling, Sous des guirlandes de fl eurs, Under garlands of fl owers, Nous laissions fuir les chaleurs. We would escape the heat. L’air est pur, le gazon doux... Th e air is pure, the grass soft ... Rien n’a donc changé que vous. Nothing has changed except you. 17b PLAYBILL TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Le printemps Spring [Théodore de Banville] Te voilà, rire du Printemps! You have come, laughter of spring! Les thyrses des lilas fl eurissent. Th e clusters of lilacs are blooming. Les amantes, qui te chérissent Th e lovers who cherish you Délivrent leurs cheveux fl ottants. Set free their fl oating hair. Sous les rayons d’or éclatant Beneath the shimmering golden rays, Les anciens lierres se fl étrissent.