PROGRAM: Bravo 1981 April Fidelio program

THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Antal Dorati, Music Director in cooperation with

MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE

David DiChiera, General Director

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

FIDELIO

Opera in two acts

Libretto by Josef Sonnleithner and Georg Friedrich Treitschke

conductor: stage director: set and costume design: lighting designer : costumes realized by:

Antal Dorati

Sarah Ventura

Tonina Dorati

Richard Winkler

Bonnie Whalen

Characters in order of vocal appearance:

Jaquino, Rico Serbo porter at the prison

Marzelline, Dinah Bryant daughter of Rocco

Rocco, Kurt Rydl jailer at the prison

Leonore, Elisabeth Ander wife of Florestan, disguised as a youth under the name of Fidelio

Don Pizarro, Wolfgang Lenz governor of the prison

First Prisoner Michael Hendricks

Second Prisoner Mark Vondrak

Florestan, Hermann Winkler a prisoner of the state

Don Fernando, Andreas Poulimenos Minister of State

Soldiers, Prisoners, People Kenneth Jewell Chorale Eric Freudigman, director

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

PRODUCTION CREDITS

production coordinators: Dwight Bowes

musical preparation:

make-up and wigs:

production stage manager: technical director: costume mistress: assistant lighting designer:

Andrew Raeburn

Murray Gross

George Darden

Lenna Rashkovsky

Steven Horak

Peggy Imbrie

Robert Murphy

Bonnie Whalen

Betsy Adams

property master: William m'Arch McCarty

costume assistants: Mary Habeck, Marion B. Solomon, Sharon Yesh, Diane jamieson set construction: Merrill Stone Associates

costumes built by: MOT Costume Shop and The Studio, New York additional costumes from: Eaves-Brooks Inc., New York, and Malabar, Ltd., Toronto leather jackets by: Reed Sportswear Manufacturing Co. and Serman's supernumeraries: james Hillman, Fred Lozen, Chuck McGraw, Rick Mox, jerry Orlowski, Robert Paul, Terry Prim, jim Theisen

STAFF FOR DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Ralph O. Guthrie, managing director

Andrew Raeburn, artistic administrator

Sylvia Espenschade, director of public affairs

Bruce Carr, assistant manager

Stevan Davis, communications manager

Michael A. Smith, orchestra manager

Margaret Devine, director of finance

Peter G. Remington, director of development

Steve Haviaras, audience development director

Vernon C. Allen, house manager

Elizabeth Carr, secretary to the music director

STAFF FOR MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE

David DiChiera, general director

Dwight Bowes, director of productions

Karen DiChiera, director of education

Richard A. johnson, director of finance

.

Stefanie Ott-O'Toole, director of development

Edward Townley, director of public relations

Activities of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and of Michigan Opera Theatre are made possible in part with the support of the State of Michigan through funds from the Michigan Council for the Arts.

Michigan Opera Theatre is a member of OPERA America, Inc.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

ANTAL DORATI, Music

Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1977, has had a long and distinguished career as an orchestra conductor, and has appeared with virtually every major orchestra Maestro Dorati was born in Budapest in 1906 and entered that city's Academy of Music at the age of 14. Trained as a composer, cellist, pianist and conductor, he graduated at 18, the youngest in the history of the Academy. He was immediately named coach and, soon after, conductor of the Royal Opera House in Budapest.

From 1934 until 1941 he was Music Director of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and, subsequently, of the American Ballet Theatre His first performance in Detroit was in 1936, as a conductor of the Ballets Russes

He left the American Ballet Theatre in 1945 to organize the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his spectacular success there led to an invitation from the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra to become Music Director. During this period he was responsible for numerous commissions, world premieres and American premieres of important compositions

His principal appointments since leaving the Minneapolis Symphony include the Chief Conductorships of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1963-67), the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (1967-74), and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London (1974-78), and the Music Directorship of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D C. (1969-77). Maestro Dorati was named Conductor Laureate of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in july of 1978, and he continued his affiliation with the National Symphony as Principal Guest Conductor through the spring of 1980.

In 1977, Maestro Dorati instituted a series of annual mid-season festivals in Detroit dedicated to one composer or group of composers. Beethoven was the first, followed by a "Schubert and Vienna" festival in 1978. The International Brahms Festival in spring of 1980 made Detroit the site of North America's most comprehensive series of events ever devoted to Johannes Brahms

In the fall of 1979 Antal Dorati led the DSO on Hs premiere tour of Europe, producing rave reviews and standing ovations throughout the five weeks, two dozen concerts, and eight countries of the tour.

DR. DAVID DiCHIERA

founder and general director of Michigan Opera Theatre, fi rst came to th is state as teacher and administrator at Oakland University, where he served as Chairman of the Department of Music. He created and developed the idea of Overture to Opera - a company of local singers who presented programs featuring excerpts in English from operas to be featured during the Metropolitan Opera's annual visit to Detroit.

The success of Overture to Opera provided a strong foundation for the establishment of an independent professional opera company in Detroit. In 1971 the new company-later renamed Michigan Opera Theatre - found its home in the historic Music Hall, rescued and refurbished under Dr. DiChiera's artistic leadership as founding director of the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts - a role he subsequently relinquished to concentrate full-time on MOT, although he remains a member of the Music Hall Board of Directors.

In addition to his local duties, David DfChiera currently serves as president of OPERA America, the federation of all major opera companies in North and South America. An accomplished composer, he resides in Bloomfield Hills with his wife Karen and their two daughters, Lisa and Cristina.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

International stage director SARAH VENTURA has worked with some of Europe's most distinguished artists, among them Jacques Charon, Marcel Lamy, Herbert Graf, Lotfi Mansouri, Gunther Rennert and Wieland Wagner. Miss Ventura 'has herself staged more than 50 diverse productions throughout Europe, South America and the United States. Traditional repertoire in the original languages has included La Boheme, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville and La Traviata, while she has also directed seldom performed operas such as Scarlatti's If Trionfo del Onore, Cimarosa's If Matrimonio Segreto, Haydn's If Mondo della Luna, Strauss's A Night in Venice and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Twentieth-century works include Le Donne Curiose by Wolf-Ferrari, Nino Rota's If Capella di Paglia di Firenze, Stravinsky's Mavra, Landowsky's Le Ventriloque, Menotti's Amahl and The Night Visitors and Milhaud's Le Pauvre Matelot. In Detroit, she was director of MOT's production of II Trovatore.

Miss Ventura's immediate plans include Don Pasquale and Lucia di Lammermoor in Utah, Madam Butterfly in Santiago de Chile, the forthcoming production of Tosca with Michigan Opera Theater next fal ,l, and Sutermeister's La Botte Rouge in Geneva. Miss Ventura's energy and dynamic personality contribute to the ever-increasing success of her career, to her distinctive style, and her respected reputation.

Scenic designer TONINA DORATI is the only child of Detroit Symphony Orchestra Music Director Antal Dorati. She designed the sets and costumes for the Detroit Symphony's production of Richard Strauss's opera Elektra, performed at Ford Auditorium in March 1978. She has studied her craft extensively in Europe, including three summers at Italy's renowned Spoleto Festival. She has also designed sets and costumes for opera and ballet productions in Holland, and most notably, designed seven productions for Joan Sutherland's own company when it toured Australia in 1965

Lighting designer RICHARD WINKLER has, for the past five seasons, designed for the Dallas Civic Opera. Some of his credits include their new production of Turandot, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Salome, and Madam Butterfly. For the Greater Miami Opera Guild he created the lighting design for The Abduction, and for the Houston Grand Opera he recreated his Cenerentola. His Broadway designs include the current Your Arms Too Short To Box With God, the Shirley Bassey Concert, Something's Afoot, Best Friend, and The Play's The Thing. He has supervised the lighting for The Concert, starring Frank Sinatra, both of Shirley MacLaine's Palace Theatre engagements, George Benson at the Belasco, and Ashford and Simson at the Pa 'iace. Regional assignments have been the Folger Theatre's Wild Oats, A Christmas Carol for the Milwaukee Rep, Tuscaloosa, and How To Rob A Bank. He designed the lighting for MOT's highly successful production of Die Fledermaus last fall. In addition to Mr. Winkler's work in the theatre he is also the lighting consuhant for Canada's Wonderland, a huge new Theme Park to open in Toronto this spring.

Costumer WHALEN is a Detroit native in her fifth season with Michigan Opera Theatre. She most recently designed costumes for MOT's acclaimed production of Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men, and has also designed for MOT productions of Don Pasquale, Hansel and Gretel and Porgy and Bess A graduate of the University of Detroit, she has worked with the New York Shakespeare Festival and Santa Fe Opera in addition to the Harbinger Dance Company, Meadow Brook Theatre and Greenfield Village Players in this area.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

THE CAST

Soprano ELISABETH ANDER (Leonore) was born in Sweden , where she began her musical studies at six She studied voice with Ingrid Rappbe at the Theatre and Dramatic School in Malmo, continuing her studies in Italy, Vienna and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. During the last decade , her opera and concert career has developed rapidly. With the famed German director Gotz Friedrich she has appeared as Fiordiligi and Cherubino in Amsterdam, Brussels, Hamburg and Stockholm. Other assignments have taken her to several French music centers - Angers, Grenoble, Lyon , Marseilles and Strasbourg In England she has appeared several times with Kent Opera, and in 1975 she won the Mozart Prize in London, where she now makes her home In addition to concert appearances throughout Britain and Scandinavia, she has appeared in Belgium and Holland. These performances with the Detroit Symphony mark her United States debut.

Tenor HERMANN WIN'KLER (Florestan), a native of Duisburg, Germany, is a member of the opera companies of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna. One of the most important German lyric tenors, he has sung all of the major Mozart roles. Wieland Wagner has invited him to Bayreuth for Salome , also produced in Brussels, Paris, Vienna and at the Holland Festival. Other festival appearances include the Munich every year since 1972, the 1976 Salzburg (at which he sang "ldomeneo lJ ), and the 1977 Bayreuth (IJParsifal lJ ). Herbert von Karajan invited him in the same year to Tokyo to sing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In 1978 he sang Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Berlin and Salzburg and in London under Pierre Bou rez. Mr. Winkler sang his first Florestan in Frankfurt under Christoph von Dohnanyi, and again performed the work at the Easter Festival in Salzburg; these performances are his first in Detroit.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

No stranger to the Detroit area, soprano DINAH BRYANT (Marzelline) made her debut with the Detroit Symphony in 1979, singing in Richard Strauss's Die agyptische Helena, which she recorded after appearing wHh the Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center as well as Ford Auditorium. She has sung Despina in a concert version of Cosi fan tutte with the Michigan Chamber Orchestra, and has performed twice with the Opera Company of Greater Lansing, first in the American premiere of Eugen Suchon ' s Krutnava and this past January as Nanetta in Falstaff. With the Calvin College Oratorio Society in Grand Rapids she has sung two performances of Messiah Dinah Bryant has made several appearances in Europe, notably her Paris debut this past December in Messiah, with the Tonkunstler in Zurich, and in various operatic roles in theaters in Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt. A native of Atlanta, she studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Villa Schifanoia in Florence.

Tenor RICO SERBO (Jaquino) began his singing career in northern California, where he was born After graduating from the University of the Pacific, he joined the San Francisco Opera Merola Program and the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, which led to solo contracts with the San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera and engagements in oratorios and recitals throughout the United States. He was the recipient of the Kirsten Flagstad Award, a Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant, and a grant from the Corbett Foundation of Ohio which took him to Europe where he spent six years as principal tenor with the Coblenz Theater and the Bavarian State Theater in Munich, with additional guest contracts throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 1979, he sang with great success in the Michigan Opera Theatre's production of La Boheme. He makes his DSO debut in this production.

Bass KURT RYDL (Rocco) is currently a member of the Vienna Staatsoper in his native city. A graduate of the Vienna Hochschule of Music, he was previously associated with the Linz and Stuttgart opera companies His guest engagements include performances in Hamburg, Munich, Venice, Barcelona, Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt, Rome, and Naples. In addition, he has appeared in major festivals including Bayreuth, Salzburg, Vienna , Lyon, and Hohenems; he has recorded with So'iti and Karajan, among others, and is recipient of several prizes. These are his first appearances with the DSO.

Baritone WOLFGANG

LENZ (Pizarro) was born in Bonn, where he studied history of art, German literature, theater sciences and economics. His musical training he received at the Munich Hochschule, and also with Luigi Ricci and Tito Gobbi in Rome. Mr. Lenz has sung on all the leading German concert and opera stages. He has just returned from a very successful tour with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Antal Dorati conducting, singing Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. These performances of Fidelio mark his Detroit debut.

Baritone ANDREAS POUL1MENOS (Don Fernando), the acclaimed Don Giovanni of Michigan Opera Theatre's 1980 fall season, is currently on the faculty of Bowling Green State University. In 1966 he received his Bachelor's Degree in Music from the Boston Conservatory of Music and his Master's Degree from that school in 1968. The following year he received a Fulbright scholarship to study opera in Rome. A winner of several major regional opera awards, he has appeared with the Boston Pops, the opera companies of Boston and Western Michigan, and the symphony orchestras of Lansing, Flint, and Grand Rapids. These performances mark his DSO debut.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

The KENNETH JEWELL CHORALE, an ensemble of highly skilled musicians, has presented numerous concerts throughout the midwest since its inception in 1962. Most Chorale members are graduate musicians who teach music professionally, direct church choirs, and are featured soloists with local opera groups and major church choirs. The Chorale first appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1964; this is its 44th DSO appearance. In addition to performing every summer at the Meadow Brook Musci Festiva l" and making two recordings for Musical Heritage, the Jewell Chorale has recorded twice with the DSO on the London label : Strauss's opera Die agyptische Helena and Szymanowski's Symphony No.3.

ERIC FREUDIGMAN, director

SOPRANO

Dorothy Berry

Carmen Beverst

Joyce Bigelow

Sally Bunin

Janis Casai

Marilyn Chapman

Joyce Cromwell

Ellen Ferguson

Katherine Holway

Patricia Koontz

Denise Love

Joyce vanNiewkuyk

Nancy Nowak

Nancy vonOeyen

Dolly Paul

Carol Petty

Jo Pickett

Martha Ray

Judith Reger

Beth Stewart

Linda Trestrail

TENOR

Donald Daniels'

Stuart Eppinga

Eric Freudigman

Timothy Hamel

Michael Hendricks

Russell Ives'

William Legros

John Lukens

Richard Mehl'

Robert Morency

Harvey Neumann

Lloyd Schultz

Paul Silver

Val Sisto

William Smith'

Robert Sullivan

Steven Wipfli'

Kenneth Zorn

ALTO

Kay Abbott

Margaret DiFranco

Cynthia English

Helene Eppinga

Sari Frey

Sylvia Geisler

Barbara Halter

Katherine Harris

Barbara Hoffmeier

Darlene Hutchison

Susan Ingersoll

Ruth Kenny

Sonja Keyt

Florence Laatz

Jean MacKenzie

Diane Marshall

Anne Maters

BASS

George Beverst

Thomas Brandt

Norman Brinkman'

Paul Bruns

Paul Cook

Craig Everett·

Paul Feig

Cliff Halter

William Keener

Daniel Pascu

David Pulice

Daniel Ramsay

Steve Sell

John Stewart'

Larry Svalya

Kim Taylor

Mark Vondrak

Richard York

'Guards

MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE - whose home is Detroit's Music Hall - is ranked among the foremost opera companies in the United States, and recently celebrated its tenth anniversary season. MOT is nationally recognized for its commitment to opera in English, and for its encouragement of American musical theatre through productions of new works (Washington Square, Of Mice and Men) and important revivals (Naughty Marietta, Showboat, Regina) MOT also plays an important role in developing the careers of America's finest young creative talents; such opera stars as Maria Ewing, Catherine Malfitano, Kathleen Battle and Leona Mitchell were part of the Michigan Opera Theatre company early in their careers.

MOT's Music Hall Season for 1981-82 will open October 2 with a new production of Puccini's Tosca starring Nancy Shade in three Italian performances and Stephanie Sundine in three English performances. Six performances of Carmen in English will be followed by the North American premiere of the Armenian opera Anoush. A new winter series wi" offer GHbert and Sullivan's The Mikado and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

MOT also presents one production each year in Kalamazoo, and mounts a unique Opera-in-Residence tour taking a full-length opera plus one-acts and workshops into communities throughout the state Outreach programs also seek to develop new audiences through programs in schools, malls and other centers - including senior citizen centers and schools for the handicapped. Michigan Opera Theatre's level of excellence has also been recognized through national telecasts of two of its productions.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

SYNOPSIS

ACT I: Bya prison gatehouse in eighteenth-century Spain, the turnkey Jacquino attempts to court Marzelline, daughter of the jailer Rocco. Marzelline in turn has set her heart on the new helper Fidelio. When Jacquino is called away, she dwells on the delights of married life. Rocco enters, impatient that Fidelio has not yet returned with important dispatches; but the youth soon arrives, laden also with provisions, and confirms his trustworthiness. Fidelio is actually Leonore, a noblewoman of Seville, whose husband Florestan -a victim of political tyrannylanguishes in an unknown dungeon. Disguised as a boy to discover his whereabouts she is understandably uneasy when Rocco announces Fidelio as Marzelline's future husband and advises the young couple to feather their nest. Later, as Rocco describes a prisoner who lies in the vaults beneath them, Leonore hopes it may be Florestan and begs the jailer to take her with him on his rounds. Though Don Pizarro, cruel governor of the fortress, has forbidden others to enter the lower levels, Rocco promises to ask his permission.

As soldiers assemble in a square outside, Pizarro learns from dispatches brought by Rocco that Don Fernando, the benign minister of state, is on his way to inspect the fortress. At this news the governor secretly determines to murder his victim Florestan immediately. Sending his captain to sound a trumpet from the ramparts at the minister's approach, Pizarro first tells the reluctant Rocco to murder Florestan; when he refuses, Pizarro orders him to prepare a grave in the prisoner's solitary dungeon. Leonore overhears this; left alone, she curses the tyrant and prays that hope will not desert her as she strives for her husband's release. She then compassionately asks Rocco if the prisoners may have a few moments of fresh air in the courtyard, which he permits. When the wretched men have murmured their gratitude, Marzelline rushes in to warn that Pizarro is returning. Furious at Rocco's kindness, the governor sends the prisoners back to their dungeons, then orders the jailer and his assistants to start digging the grave at once.

ACT 1/: Chained in his gloomy cel'l, Florestan imagines that Leonore has come to free him, but his vision turns to despair and he sinks exhausted to the floor. Rocco and Leonore enter on their gruesome mission; the distraught woman tries in vain to discern the sleeping prisoner's features, vowing to help him whoever he may be. When the grave lis finished, Rocco takes out a flask and drinks. Florestan awakens, and Leonore nearly faints at the familiar sound of his voice. Imploring Rocco to send a letter to his wife in Seville, the emaciated prisoner moves the jailer to offer him a drink; then Leonore, who has recovered her composure, gives him a piece of bread, urging him not to lose faith. As Rocco signals with a whistle that the grave is ready, Leonore withdraws into the shadows. The governor appears, triumphantly casting aside his cloak. With drawn dagger he advances, hurling taunts at his victim, who defies him with helpless curses. Just as Pizarro is set to strike, Leonore leaps forward, revealing her true identity and holding the tyrant at bay with a pistol. At that moment a trumpet sounds from the battlements above, and Jacquino runs in shouting that the minister of state has arrived. As Rocco conducts Pizarro to the courtyard, Florestan turns to Leonore with wonder and asks her what she had to go through to save him. "Nothing," she assures him, and the two ecstatically hail their reunion.

The populace assembled before the prison hears Don Fernando proclaim that he has come to administer justice to all. When Florestan appears, the minister expresses amazement at finding his friend, whom he had assumed dead. Rocco then presents Leonore to Don Fernando, relating the story of her heroism. After Pizarro is arrested for his crimes and led away, the minister tells Leonore that she herself should remove Florestan's chains. The selfless wife, overcome with emotion, is hailed as the noblest of women.

- Courtesy of OPERA NEWS

Overture

ACT I

No.1 "Jetzt, Schatzchen, jetzt sind wir allein" (Duet: Jaquino, Marzelline)

No.2 "0 war ich schon mit dir vereint" (Aria: Marzelline)

NO . 3 "Mir ist so wunderbar" (Quartet: Marzelline, Jaquino , Rocco, Leonore)

NO.4 "Hat man nicht auch Gold" (Aria: Rocco)

NO.5 "Gut, Sohnchen, gut" (Trio: Leonore, Marzelline, Rocco)

No . 6 (March)

No. 7 "Ha! welch' ein Augenblick!" (Aria with Chorus: Pizarro)

No 8 "Jetzt, Alter" (Duet : Pizarro, Rocco)

NO.9 "Abscheulicher!" (Recitative and Aria: Leonore)

No 10 "0 welche Lust" (Finale)

ACT II

No. 11 "Gott! welch' Dunkel hierl" (Introduction and Aria: Florestan)

No. 12 "Nur hurtig Fort" (Melodrama and Duet : Leonore, Rocco)

No 13 "Euch werde Lohn" (Trio: Leonore, Florestan, Rocco)

No 14 "Er sterbe" (Quartet : Leonore, Florestan, Pizarro, Rocco)

No. 15 "0 namenlose Freude!" (Duet : Leonore, Florestan)

No 16 "Heil sei dem Tag" (Finale)

SYNOPSIS OF SCENES

Act I, Scene 1: Outside the jailer's lodge

Scene 2: The prison courtyard

Act II, Scene 1 : The dungeon

Scene 2: The courtyard

One of history's most renowned Leonores, Wilhelmine Schroeder-Devrient, who first sang the role in 1822

TO CELEBRATE ANTAL DORATI

by JEFF GAYDOS

Those of us living in the metropolitan area equate "renaissance" with Detroit. It is the catchword, the slogan for the city's recent physical and cultural growth Great and modern structures have been erected ; old structures have been rejuvenated. People from all over are noticing the new and proud Detroit.

Surely many should be credited with Detro ,it's rebirth But few have had as much impact on the city's reputation and development-not only locally, or nationally, but internationally as well - as the man who has served as music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1977, Antal Dorati.

Maestro Dorati, it is clear, deserves celebration, not only for his energy, which will be felt in Detroit for decades to come, but for his enormous contribution to the world's musical enrichment throughout the 20th century . His 75th birthday (April 9, 1981) is the proper occasion to celebrate a life dedicated to promoting the enjoyment and understanding of art and music. Detroit, Dallas, Mi,nneapolis, New York, Washington, London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Paris - these are some of the major cities that have been touched by Dorati.

He is a man of strong opinion. A leader A man of volatility, of wit and humor, and of passion about his work and his life. At the same time he has been described by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin as possessing other qualities as well :

" a childlike freshness in his sensibilities : mischievous as a child when things went well, he pouted like a child when they didn't."

Menuhin has said Dorati is "a tremendously gifted musician a musician too comp l' ete to be labeled simply a conductor or a composer or a pianist, and a man too complete to be labeled simply a musician; he also draws beautifully."

Indeed, Dorati's own earliest memory of himself revolves around art and his frustration over not being able to satisfy himself. This from the opening chapter of his memoirs, Notes of Seven Decades:

"A small boy in a garden, drawing lines on the sandy path with a twig. He looks at what he has drawn, tramples on it furiously, then goes at it again. The result is the same. Again he tramples on the dust, again he draws, now other criss-cross lines. He does not like that one either, erases it, trampling, kicking. He starts to cry."

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

Jeff Gaydos is a free-lance writer who has covered the Detroit arts scene for the last four years.

He continues: "In a way the little story has continued throughout my life: I have tried and tried to draw what would p lease at the end'. I am still trying."

Dorati's musical experience began in Budapest, the city of his birth, where his mother introduced him to the piano, and his father, a violinist, coaxed him to play cello, to round out a family quartet. By age 14 he was sent to study at the Academy of Music in Budapest during a time in Hungary when such greats as Bart6k, Kodaly, and Leo Weiner had established musical standards unequalled anywhere in the world. Zoltan Kodaly was his teacher at the Academy. "And not by accident. I chose him," Dorati remembers.

He spent four years studying under Kodaly, with Bela Bart6k nearby - an inspiration to which he has clung all of his life. In 1924, at just 18 years of age, he became the youngest person to graduate from the Academy with a degree. Dorati remembers himself as immature, as capable of performing his lessons at the Academy and at the same time incapable of understanding them. He felt torn between the teachings of his musical father - whose background, in music and art, was conservativeand his professor, whose music was revolutionary. He says he feels that he was graduated twice from the teachings of Kodaly - once in 1924 when he left the Academy, and again later when he began to understand fully what his professor had been saying.

Nevertheless, it was at 18 that he entered the musical profession - first as coach, and shortly thereafter as conductor of the Royal Opera House in Budapest. He was assistant to Fritz Busch in Dresden in 1928 (where as part of his duties he prepared performances of Richard Strauss's new opera Die agyptische Helena), and in the next year he became the permanent First Conductor of the Opera House in Munster. In 1934 he was made Musical Director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a position he retained, with interruptions, for seven years. It was here, it seems, that Dorati launched the secon d phase of his career. The first had developed his own musical awareness and maturity; the second would develop the orchestras he headed.

He started by refining scores, editing sloppy instrumentations, reorchestrating pieces, and even trying to persuade Colonel DeBasil's dancers to show respect for the music that accompanied their dance.

Dorati began acquiring the self-assurance of a strong conductor, and he began to build his reputation in the United States. The Ballet Russe toured America in the thirties, and Dorati soon came up against the great manager and impresario Sol Hurok:

"For him, I felt, music was a necessary evil that had to be lived with in the ballet world. It seemed to me he would be happiest if ballets could be danced to rhythms beaten out with a ladle on the bottom of a pot," Dorati recalls in his Notes.

"The first American Ballet season the orchestra was treated in a very careless manner indeed .... One day when I bitterly complained to Hurok .about the surprise disappearance of my second ObOist, he gave me this classic reply: "Have you ever heard of a second oboe filling the house?"

He was fanatical in his constant quest for perfection. He worked doggedly at his career over the years, and he became a member of the musical elite. He was a warrior who fought brilliantly for perfection in style and performance; one who fought not only for himself, but also for the great masters whom he worshipped. Doing battle for Haydn and Bart6k was his cause.

The Maestro had begun to trave ll as his confidence increased. He made his American debut as a symphonic conductor in 1937 (he had appeared with the Ba.llet Russe in Detroit in 1936), toured Australia in 1939 and 1940, directed the New York Opera Company in 1941 and 1942 and was director of the American Ballet Theatre until 1945. In that year, still not 40 years of age yet with extensive experience in conducting, he headed for Dallas, Texas, where he was engaged to lead orchestra, and where in his way -a way which Detroiters have recently experienced - he would help to mold the city itself into a significant music center.

He arrived in Dallas at 2 a.m. with about two hours to sell himself as orchestra builder. Texas drawl met Hungarian accent. And in no time, in a conversation that would have thrilled John Wayne, the two sides came to terms.

"And, Mr. Dorati, what will you do if it is not a good orchestra," one of the Texans asked.

"I hang myself," was the answer.

Needless to say, hanging proved unnecessary. Dorati remained in Dallas until 1949 when he was appointed Musical Director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

"The Minneapoli,s years were, in retrospect, perhaps the most important in my development as an artist," Dorati recalled "Those were the last of my formative period I am a late maturer if I now show any signs of so-called maturity, it certainly did not emerge any sooner than my sixties.

"The development of a human being is a process like the fermentation of wine. The crucial , determining factor is the quality of the grape. If the fruit is fi ne , the young wine made of it is very enjoyable. Some may even like it better young than the old and heady. And finally comes the time when but by then, with luck , all of it will have been gratefully drunk - the best proof of the vintage's quality."

It was during his tenure with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra - an appo i ntment he held until 1960 - that Dorati renewed his interest and activity in composition

He wrote prolifically until he was 22, when he abandoned that creative outlet to settle down to serious conducting

I n Minneapolis, however, Dorati took seriously ill He battled, and won as usual. And in his fight, he recalls, his greatest weapon was composing.

"I wrote and wrote, fiercely, madly, day and night, whenever I could snatch an hour, a moment. It was my way back to health."

Since then writing music is as integral a part of his life as conducting During the past 25 years he has composed more than one work a year, including a symphony; and a full-length cantata, The Way, for orchestra, choir, two solo singers and narrator

The Maestro discusses his compositions, "his children" as he calls them, with charming humility: "If my son is not Alexander the Great , that makes me no less his father."

Yet many of his works have been enthusiastically received, and they surely give insight to his genius. Clearly, Dorati ' s view of his blossoming self, in this decade of his life when he renewed his interest in composition, was true. He was maturing , growing, as a musician and as a man.

The tales of his life until this period are filled with scenes in which the young Dorati meets the great musical figures of the early 20th century

Dorati meets Richard Strauss and Fritz Busch in Hungary Dorati befriends the great violinist Menuhin and the great composer Stravinsky Dorati is influenced by Bart6k. He meets and has long conversations with Toscanini. Dorati is developing.

And as he matures and develops, the major character in the tales changes.

It is he who argues that the acoustics of Minneapolis' Northrup Auditorium are inadequate and unfair to his orchestra He notes that the administration foolishly spends money trying to repair what is irreparable.

But Dorati built a tru :ly fine orchestra in Minneapolis - one which recorded nearly 100 long playing albums during his stay and which toured Europe and the Middle East -a feat not accomplished since Arturo Toscanini took The New York Philharmonic across the ocean in 1930.

The tour, Dorati recalls , was greatly uplifting to the musicians and the people of Minneapolis. Horizons widened. It was a lesson he remembered well, and replicated in Detroit two decades later.

After he left M i nneapolis Dorati headed for Europe, winning success as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra , Chief Conductor of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra , and Chief Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London He became Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D C., in 1969.

Washington , he has said, has been one of his greatest achievements, for it is there he brought together an orch estra with little style and lacking profile, and in his own way turned it into a cohesive, even elegant group of musicians. He made the National Symphony into a fi rst-rate orchestra

Then once again, he turned to the job of character- and orchestra-building - this time in Detroit.

Dorati has admitted that he accepted the position of Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after much urging on the part of its administrators. His reputation, his talent, indeed, his accomplishments by this point in his career were enormous .

He tends to laugh and call it public relations talk when it is pointed out that he is "one of the most recorded conductors in history." Yet it is fact that he made his first recording in 1934 and since has recorded more than 500 discs. His series of the complete Haydn symphonies has sold more than a million records It is no surprise that he has been awarded numerous accolades for his recordings.

And it is no surprise that Detroit was thrilled and fortunate to land a man with as much background as Dorati's He is a father figure and more. A f,ield marshall, a coach, a musical genius with a quality that would be difficult to parallel and perhaps impossible to equal.

Dorati, as he himself points out, grew up with the masters. He absorbed through his pores, it would seem, the flavor and knowledge of an age

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

that is forever gone, except for the knowledge which he is continuing to pass on today.

So Dorati, many critics agree, electrified an already accomplished orchestra when he took to the podium in Detroit. He was mature in all respectsconfident in his knowledge of what was right and what was wrong in the art of conducting :

"It is a modest profession; its true pride is in its modesty

" the person on the platform is taking the place of the absent composer, so to speak re-composing or recreating the music for the listeners present

" . .. youth is not an asset ...

"Conducting an orchestra like every act of leadership - is a human, man-to-man activity."

His volatile nature had mellowed since his early days of vehement argument with those who tried to dissaude him from his way.

Yet he swept into Detroit with startling vigor and quickly embraced his appointed duties with the flair which was now second nature

His tenure in Detroit began with a Beethoven Festival which was recorded in nine parts for television. A huge success.

The Schubert-Vienna Festival the following year won international acclaim. And the Maestro then staged the most comprehensive series of events ever devoted to Johannes Brahms. He did it in Detroit ... once known only as The Motor City .

He returned his new orchestra to the international recording field with an ongoing series of bestselling discs. One of them was the first complete recording of Die agyptische Helena - the very same opera he'd helped prepare for Strauss a half-century ago.

As had been the case time and time before, Dorati embraced Detroit and its musicians as a father embraces his children - sternly at times, but lovingly.

He remarked that he found strong talent close to the surface among the musicians in his new orchestra and felt that by merely taking them from the humdrum of symphony life - introducing them to new challenges and demanding perfection - he was able to bring out that something extra which leads an orchestra to triumph.

Yes, that's the word. And Dorati is not alone in sizing up the work of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as triumphant.

In October and November of 1979 the Maestro led his troops on to Europe, conquering eight coun-

tries with extraordinary press reviews for exquisite performance

Those who were on the tour remember that he took great pride in his knowledge of the halls, of the people and the countries they would visit. He briefed the members of the orchestra on matters of acoustics - telling them how he would balance the orchestra sound He involved his musicians personally as well as musically, and the tour became their triumph. And because it was theirs, it was h i s also. Dorati would have it no other way.

Another accomplishment. Musical and otherwise Because it is clear th at through the special musical events and the special level of energy Dorati created in Detroit , he has graced the city wit h national and international musical attentionsomething it never before enjoyed.

Antal Dorati. Chevalier of Arts and Letters in France , holder of the Austrian Cross of Honor, Commander of the Vasa Order of Sweden, whose influence in the world of music has made him a world citizen , has brought Detroit a kind of pride it was needing -a kind, it seems, only he could muster.

Now the Maestro wants his life to be somewhat less hectic. In the revised edition of Notes of Seven Decades, which has just been published by Detroit's Wayne State University Press, he announces that he will' curtail the pace of his role as performer and continue at an accelerated pace his role as composer. The next quarter of a century should be exciting, to Dorati himself and the rest of the musical world.

He is a charmer , an accomplished artist - his humorous and colorful sketches decorate his office here in Ford Auditorium -a brilliant conductor, organizer and musician.

We are grateful that he belongs in part to us

But Dorati has said many times that his life will never be complete - that he will never accomplish all he wants to and that he can only offer a fragment of what could be.

In the end his life will be no great work of art, he insists. Merely a sketch - part of a greater work.

Detroiters may take issue. It is far too early to tell what The Maestro's future will be - or for that matter, what the future of music in Detroit will be - but the fact remains that this city has been touched by a special man And to him we rise.

Bravo, Dorati. And

Copyright 2010, Michigan Opera Theatre

THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, INC.

1980-81 OFFICERS

John B. Ford, honorary c1l1lirmall

Robert B. Semple, chairmmr'

Louis A. MacKenzie, prfsidrrrl

Paul S. Mirabito, picf prfsidrrrl

Walter T. Murphy, I,i(f prfsidrrrl

William C. Rands III, assislanl Irfasurfr

Dean E. Richardson, I,icf prfsidrrrl and

William C. Ferguson, vicr prfsidfnl and chairmmr of prrsoll/lfl chairmmr of dfPf/opmrrrl

Walter B. Fisher, vicr prrsidrrrl and c1lairman of finatlcial matlagfmrrrl

Gordon T. Ford, picr prrsidftll

Alan E. Schwartz, I,icf prfsidflll mrd chairman of nominaling

Peter P. Thurber, I,icf prfsidrrrl and c/rairman of by. laws and Sfcrfla ry

Pierre V. Heftier, I,ia prrsidrnl and chairman of Mrs. R. Jamison Williams, I,icf prfsidfnt anti chairman of audirrrcf dfvf/opmrrri

faci/ilirs

Thomas H. Jeffs II, vicr prrsidrrrllrtld Irrasurfr

Ralph T. McElvenny, !licf prrsidftll

John McNulty, vicr prfsidrrrl of public affairs and communicalions

Thomas B. Adams

William M Agee

James A Aliber

Louis G. Allen

Andrew W. Barr

Donald e. Becker

Theodore A. Bintz

H. Glenn Bixby

Thomas N Bonner

Paul Borman

Rinehart S Bright

Ramon M. Brinkman

J Lawrence Buell. Jr.

Mrs e. Henry Buhlt

John T. Caldwell. Jr.

Philip Caldwell

E. Paul Casey

Ferdinand Cinelli

Walker L. Cisler

Mrs. Avern Cohn

Mrs Abraham Cooper

Michael Counen

Rodkey Craighead

Alexander A. Cunningham

Frederic DeHaven

Robert Dewar

Frank W. Donovan

Mrs. Charles H Endicott

William e. Ferguson'

Mrs. Robert Fife

Peter Fink

Mrs. Charles T. Fisher III

Max M Fisher

Wal ter B. Fisher'

Cristina V. Ford

Gordon T. Ford'

John B Ford'

Edward P. Frohlich

Glen W. Fortinberry

Mrs. Harold L. Frank

David L. Gamble

Mrs. Robert A Gerisch·

Walter R Greene

William E. Giles

A. R Glancy 111

William T. Gossett

)chn e. Griffin

Ceorge E Gullen. Jr.

Karl Haas

Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley, I,i(f prfsidrrrl anel chairman of opfralioll planning

Mrs. Theodore O. Yntema, honorary officfr o!' Ihr board

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Handleman

Mrs. Hugh Harness

Morton E. Harris

Martin Hayden

Pierre V. Heftier·

Hon. Erma Henderson

Frank M Hennessey

Lee Hillst

Lee A. lacocca

William R James

Dr. Arthur Jefferson

Thomas H. Jeffs II"

Arthur L. Johnson

Mrs Henry e. Johnson

Ernest A. Jones

Maxwell Jospey

Robert Kanzler

John Karmazin. Jr.

Dr Rachel Keith

Robert Lambrecht

Kenneth B. Lange

Walton Lewis

Thomas V Lo Cicero

Hury A Lomason

James T . Lynagh

Wilber H. Mack

Louis A MacKenzie·

Ralph J Mandarino

Donald R. Mandich

Harold M. Marko

Robert E. McCabe

Walter J McCarthy

Ralph T M'cElvenny'

John McNulty'

Richard L. Measelle

Philip J Meathe

Gerald e. Meyers

Dr. Marjorie Peebles Meyers

Hon. William G. Milliken

Paul S. Mirabito'

Rev. Robert A. Mitchell, S.J.

Ken Morris

Rev. J Stanley Mu rphy. e.S.B.

Walter T. Murphy'

Robert J. Mylod

Miles M. O'Brien

Peters Oppermann

Mrs. Arthur Z Ostrowski·

W Calvin Patterson

Robert E. L. Perkins. D D.S.

Raymond T. Perringt

Ralph L. Polk

John Prepolec

Edith Quintana

Mrs. Jerome H Remick. Jr.

Dean E. Richardson'

Thomas Ricketts

Robert D. Rowan

Irving Rose

Thomas F. Russell

Mrs. Samuel G Salloum

Alan E. Schwartz·

Arthur R Seder. Jr.

Robert B. Semple'

Mrs Allan Sheldent

Mrs. Florence Sisman

Otis M. Smith

Frank D. Stella

Gari M Stroh. Jr.

Joe H. Stroud

Robert M Surdam

Peter P. Thurber'

Mrs. S. Pinkney Tuck

Mrs. Richard W. Tucker

Mrs Joseph A Vance. Jr.

Mrs. Richard Van Dusen

Richard Vining

Harold G. Warner

Jervis e. Webb

Hon G. Mennen Williams

Mrs. R. Jamison Williams·

Richard E. Williams

Mrs Eric A. Wiltshire

Mrs. Isadore Winkelman

Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley·

Mrs. Theodore O. Ynlema

Hon. Coleman A. Young

Donald S. Young

Mrs. John E. Young. Jr.

Paul Zuckerman

'fIt(ulil't (ommiffu thollornry bonrll mtmbtr

ABOUT THE OPERA

by E. J. DENT and SANDOR KALLAl

The libretto of Fidelio is an adaptation of Leonore, ou I'amour conjugal, an opera written by J. N. Bouilly for the French composer Pierre Gaveaux (paris, 1798). Bouilly in his memoirs tells us that the story of the opera was based on events which actually happened and with which he was personally associated during the Reign of Terror, while he was a government official at Tours. Bouilly's Leonore was twice adapted for Italian composers - Ferdinando Paer, whose setting was produced at Dresden in 1804 and Simone Mayr, for whom the story was reduced to one act (Padua, 1805). The libretto belongs to the category of what are called "rescueoperas," which from 1790 onwards were very popular with French revolutionary audiences.

The first opera of Bouilly and Gaveaux contained comparatively little music; the most dramatic scenes - Pizarro's instructions to Rocco and the scene of the frustrated murder - are carried on in spoken dialogue. More music was introduced in Paer's version and Beethoven's librettist made provision for more music still, at the cost of dramatic clarity. Marzellina and her love-affairs recede into the background; Rocco, w h o in the French version is a typical peasant ready to do anything for money, is allowed his one song in praise of gold but afterwards becomes rather characterless. The nervousness of the Viennese police very nearly caused Fidelio to be suppressed altogether; operas of a political type were suspect as possible incitements to revolution, and only a month before the first night Sonnleithner carried on an anxious correspondence with the censorship. Fidelio was given only three times in November 1805; the aud ience consisted largely of French officers, Napoleon having entered Vienna a few days before. The opera was revised and performed again in March 1806, but with little success; finally it was revised very considerably and new additions made, in which form it was given in 1814. Beethoven wrote only one opera, but he lavished much attention on it, revising it again and again. Much has been written about the four different overtures that were composed for Fidelio over the years, but it is seldom mentioned that Beethoven wrote the introduction to the second act no less than 18 times, the opening of the great final chorus 10 times, and that he made numerous attempts at Leonore's splendid aria before completing it.

The history of Fidelio's early productions is colorful. Beethoven, though hampered by his steadily increasing deafness, was a severe taskmaster in rehearsals. At one time he wrote a note to the management of the theatre where the opera was to be performed that he would prefer to have another conductor take over a particular rehearsal. "I want to look at and hear it from a distance," he said, "thus at least my patience will not be so greatly tried as if I were to hear my music bungled close at hand! I cannot think otherwise than it is done purposely All delight in composing departs when one hears one's music played thus."

Beethoven was never really satisfied with the performances. One distinguished listener remarked to the composer that he considered Fidelio the greatest of all operas he had heard in Vienna, to which Beethoven replied that he had not heard it, as the singers at the opera house were not ab le to sing it.

The composer's irascible nature was one of the major reasons for Fidelio's indifferent success. He was distrustful of the theatre management and he often overestimated the house receipts, accusing the management of defrauding him. Rockel describes the situation:

"The opera was exceedingly well received by a select audience which became more numerous and enthusiastic with each new representation; and no doubt the opera would have been a favorite if the evil genius of the composer had not prevented it and, since he was paid a percentage of the receipts instead of a single honorarium, repetition would have helped his circumstances considerably."

Exterior of the Theater-an-der-Wien

ETR IT SYMP NY

ANTAL DORATI Music Director

RC ESTRA

KENN JEAN Assistant Conductor

MURRAY GROSS, Conductor

FIRST

VIOLINS

tGordon Staples

Concertmaster

Bogos Mortchikian

Associate Concertmaster

Joseph Goldman

Gordon Peterson

Assistant Concertmasters

Misha Rachlevsky

Franklyn D'Antonio

Linda Snedden-Smith

Derek Francis

Alan Gerstel

Nicholas Zonas

LeAnn Toth

Beatriz Budinszky

Malvern Kaufman

Richard Margitza

Margaret Tundo

I·Fu Wang

Elias Friedenzohn

Santo Urso

SECOND VIOLINS

tEdouard Kesner

"Felix Resnick

Alvin Score

Lillian Fenstermacher

James Waring

Lenore latzko

Walter Maddox

Roy Bengtsson

Thomas Downs

Robert Murphy

Joseph Striplin

Bruce Smith

Gabriel 8zitas

Glenn Basham

Ann Alicia Ourada

VIOLAS

tNathan Gordon

'"David Ireland

Philip Porbe

Eugenia Staszewski

LeRoy Fenstermacher

Hart Hollman

Walter Evich

Anton Patti

Gary Schnerer

Catherine Compton

Paul Silver

Glenn Mellow

tPrincipal

*Assistant Principal

VIOLONCELLOS

tltalo Babini

James G. Gordon Chair

"Marcy Chanteaux

John Thurman

Mario DiFiore

David Levine

Kevin Plunkett

Barbara Fickett

Debra Fayroian

David Saltzman

Paul Wingert

BASSES

tRobert Gladstone

"Raymond Benner

Stephen Molina

Maxim Janowsky

Linton Bodwin

Stephen Edwards

Albert Steger

Donald Pennington

Craig Rifel

HARPS

tElyse Ilku

fLUTES

tErvin Monroe

Shaul Ben·Melr

"'Robert Patrick

Clement Barone

PICCOLO

Clement Barone

OBOES

tDonald Baker

John Snow

"Robert Sorton

Treva Womble

Ronald Odmark

ENGLISH HORN

Treva Womble

CLARINETS

tPaul Schaller

Douglas Cornelsen

Oliver Green

BASS CLARINET

Oliver Green

BASSOONS

tRobert Williams

Phillip Austin

"Paul Ganson

Lyell Lindsey

CONTRABASSOON

Lyell Lindsey

FRENCH HORNS

tEugene Wade

Fergus McWilliam

Edward Sauve

Willard Darling

"Corbin Wagner

Keith Vernon

TRUMPETS

tOonald Green

Kevin Good

"'Alvin Belknap

Gordon Smith

TROMBONES

tRaymond Turner

Joseph Skrzynski

"Nathaniel Gurin

Thomas Klaber

TUBA

tWesley Jacobs

TIMPANI

tSalvatore Rabbio

"Robert Pangborn

PERCUSSION

tRobert Pangborn

"Norman Fickett

Raymond Makowski

Sam Tundo

KEYBOARD

Muriel Kilby

LIBRARIAN

Albert Steger

Charles Weaver, assistant

PERSONNEL MANAGER

Oliver Green