Helena Symphony - Season 65 Program

SEASON

2019–2020 15 EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCES

6 MASTERWORKS CONCERTS | 3 NON-SERIES CONCERTS 5 EDUCATION CONCERTS | 1 BENEFIT CONCERT

SEE IT. HEAR IT. FEEL IT. We're honored to be part of a community that embraces the arts. It makes Helena an inspiring and invigorating place to live and work. And it’s beautiful proof of the power of creativity—something we celebrate every day at Edge. Here’s to the Helena Symphony’s exciting 65th season.

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CONTENTS 10

MASTERWORKS CON C ER T I

18

MASTERWORKS CON C ER T I I

28

NON-SE RI ES CON C ER T 2

34

NON-SE RI ES CON C ER T 3

40

MASTERWORKS CON C ER T I I I

46

MASTERWORKS CON C ER T I V

54

MASTERWORKS CON C ER T V

64

MASTERWORKS CON C ER T VI

THANK YOU TO OUR SEASON PARTNERS

Opening Night: Violinist Tim Fain Carmina Burana & Sleeping Beauty Mozart by Candlelight Christmas in the Cathedral Violinist Robyn Bollinger & Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony Gershwin’s Piano & New World Symphony Mendelssohn & Rossini Carmen in Concert

THE HELENA SYMPHONY 05

Season 65 at a Glance

06

Staff & Board

08

Orchestra & Chorale

78

Donors

The official restaurant of the Helena Symphony

www.helenasymphony.org

3

“ While his cautious smile came and went, Maestro Scott worked with ferocity throughout the performance, his expression revealing the urgency and surprise hidden in the music.” – Independent Record

THREE EASY WAYS TO BUY TICKETS  ON OUR WEBSITE: helenasymphony.org

Fast and convenient. Select the available seat you prefer.

Pay with a debit/credit card, using our secure ticket system.

 OVER THE PHONE: 406.442.1860

Symphony Box Office staff are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Pay with a debit/credit card.

 IN PERSON: 2 N Last Chance Gulch, Suite 1

The Symphony Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

The Symphony accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, checks, and cash.

Please note, there is a $5 processing fee per transaction.

4

Helena Symphony Season 65

season at a glance MASTERWORKS & NON-SERIES J UL 20

N O N -S E R I E S C O N C E R T 1

Intrepid Credit Union

Symphony Under

the Stars – ARETHA:

A Tribute

S EPT 14

MA S TER WO R KS CONCE RT I

Opening Night: Violinist Tim Fain

OCT 19

MA S TER WO R KS CONCE RT I I

NOV 16

N O N -S E R I E S C O N C E R T 2

D EC 16

N O N -S E R I E S C O N C E R T 3

Mozart by Candlelight

Christmas in the Cathedral

JAN 25

MASTERWORKS CONCERT III

FEB 29

JUN 27

Instrument Petting Zoo sponsored by:

Violinist Robyn Bollinger & Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony

SEPT 28

SYM PH ON Y KI D S 1

NOV 2

SYM PH ON Y KI D S 2

FEB 8

SYM PH ON Y KI D S 3

APR 4

SYM PH ON Y KI D S 4

Xavier’s Very Bad Days The Little Red Hen This is My Story

The Four Musicians

Sponsored by generous support from:

Gershwin’s Piano & New World Symphony

MAR 28

We invite kids and families to hear fun, imaginative and interactive performances. Young learners are introduced to the world of music and instruments, engaging them in the concert experience.

MASTERWORKS CONCERT IV

These FREE PERFORMANCES are all held at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 10:00 a.m.

Carmina Burana & Sleeping Beauty

MAY 2

EDUCATION CONCERTS

RON WAT E R M A N

MASTERWORKS CONCERT V

Mendelssohn & Rossini MASTERWORKS CONCERT VI

Carmen in Concert BENEFIT CONCERT

at Montana Ting PLEASE NOTE:

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

A N N U A L

YOUTH CONCERT Tickets are not sold for this concert – students attend through their school music program.

APR 15

ANNUAL YOUTH CONCERT

Beethoven Lives Upstairs

Sponsored by generous support from:

www.helenasymphony.org

5

artistic staff

A L L A N R . S C O T T – Music Director & Conductor

“A concert with Maestro Scott is as intoxicating as you could wish and has that all-too-rare feeling of risk-taking spontaneity.”

– New Zealand National Radio “Maestro Scott is on a mission to bring music to the people, and if his music is as infectious as he is, then it’s only a matter of time.”

– Independent Record Currently in his seventeenth season as Music Director of the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, Maestro Allan R. Scott is one of the most dynamic figures in symphonic music and opera. He is widely recognized for his outstanding musicianship, versatility, and ability to elicit top-notch performances from musicians. SYMPHONY Magazine praised Maestro Scott for his “large orchestra view,” noting that “under Scott’s leadership the quality of the orchestra’s playing has skyrocketed.”

Maestro Scott has also become closely associated with the works of Gustav Mahler. He has conducted all of Mahler’s symphonies nationally and internationally with companies such as The National Orchestra of Romania and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra of New Zealand.

Last season Maestro Scott made his debut with Marble City Opera conducting Puccini’s Suor Angelica “with marvelous attention to Puccini romanticism and dramatic balance” (Arts Knoxville). He has appeared with such companies as The Tanglewood Music Center, Royal Opera of Netherlands, Portland Opera, Fairfax Opera Company, Kent Opera, The Bucharest National Opera, The National Radio Orchestra of Romania in Bucharest, New Zealand’s Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Firelands Symphony in Cleveland, Pottstown Symphony (PA), Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, New Artists Philharmonic (CO), and Fairfax Symphony.

Dividing his time between residences in Helena and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia native also begins his eighteenth season as Music Director of Pennsylvania’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony in addition to serving as the Principal Conductor of the Wilmington Ballet Company in Delaware for the past decade. He is a regular host on NPR affiliate Montana Public Radio hosting specials on Mahler, Bernstein, jazz, and Morning Classics.

Having studying piano since the age of five and his conducting studies at the age of fifteen, Maestro Scott developed his artistry under the guidance of some of the most prolific conductors of our time including Seiji Ozawa, and Charles Dutoit. He further refined his craft with Luis Biava, Zdenék Macal, Sir David Willcocks, and Jorge Mester at renowned institutions, among them the Tanglewood Music Center, California Conducting Institute, the Keene Music Festival, Ogontz Music Festival, and the Conducting Institute of South Carolina.

Maestro Scott is exclusively represented by Marvel Arts Management.

To learn more about Maestro Scott please visit allanrscott.com or on Facebook at ALLAN R. SCOTT - Conductor.

L A R R Y S H E L D O N – HSC Assistant Conductor Conductor Larry Sheldon has a been a member of the Helena Symphony Chorale for several seasons, and this year marks his second Season as Assistant Conductor of the Chorale. As a singer, Mr. Sheldon has appeared with the Bozeman Symphony Chorale, Helena Chamber Singers, and the Helena Symphony Chorale.

After receiving his degree in music education from Montana State University, he led choruses at Park County High School and maintained a private vocal studio. For the past seventeen years, Mr. Sheldon has served as an adjudicator throughout Montana for district and state music festivals, and for the past decade, he has guest conducted several high school choral festivals.

In addition to serving as the “cover conductor” for Maestro Scott, Mr. Sheldon assists with rehearsals and will appear in performance during the Education Concert Series this Season in one of the Symphony Kids concerts.

6

Helena Symphony Season 65

J U N E L E E – Staff Accompan i st Joining the Artistic Staff of the Helena Symphony in 2007, Pianist June Lee received a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance with emphasis in accompanying and pedagogy from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and a Master of Music in piano performance at the University of Washington, as well as a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. As staff accompanist, Ms. Lee works with Maestro Scott and the conducting staff accompanying guest artists in preparation for performance, performs piano and celeste with the Helena Symphony Orchestra, serves as accompanist for the Helena Symphony Chorale, and often serves as assistant conductor of the Chorale.

She held a staff accompanist position at Pacific Lutheran University, and an assistantship in vocal accompanying at University of Washington. After completing her degrees, she spent many years as a minister and missionary. Ms. Lee currently resides in Townsend, Montana, and maintains a studio, teaching piano and voice in Helena.

staff

AND

ARTISTIC STAFF

board OFFICERS

Allan R. Scott – Music Director & Conductor Vacant – Orchestra Assistant Conductor Larry Sheldon – Chorale Assistant Conductor June Lee – Staff Accompanist

Patrick Keim – President Ronald Lee, Ph.D. – Vice President Alison Paul, Esq. – Treasurer Eleanor Parker, Esq. – Secretary

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Scott Kall – Director of Patron Services Sara Groves – Director of Development Ellie Parker – Administrative Assistant Barb Berg – Education Coordinator Duane Johnson – IT Manager Ginny Emery – Staff Photographer Wipfli – Accounting

MARKETING

EDGE MARKETING + DESIGN Diana Norton – Public Relations Lori Pederson – Graphic Designer Deanna Johnson – Webmaster

ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION

Cindy Stevens – Director of Artistic Planning Scott Kall – Operations Manager Chelsey Hallsten – Librarian Joshua Dickey – Chorale Manager Rachel Aagenes – Assistant Chorale Manager Dawn Cowan – Hospitality Coordinator John Murphy – Recording Engineer Vacant – Stage Manager Darla Sautter – Head Usher Tom Rolfe – Artist Driver

OFFICE VOLUNTEERS Ellie Parker Marie Brown Marty Thieltges

Patrick Keim – Chair Helen Ballinger – honorary Caitlin Borgmann, Esq. Art Bumgardner, D.M.A. James Burkholder – orchestra representative Matthew Dalton Duane Johnson – chorale representative Ronald Lee, Ph.D. Renee Liston Ronald Lukenbill Virginia Markell – honorary Eleanor Parker, Esq. Alison Paul, Esq. Timothy Reardon, Esq. Allan R. Scott – ex officio Darien G. Scott – honorary Laura Weiss Smith, Esq. Ronald Waterman, Esq.

HELENA SYMPHONY FOUNDATION

Ross Cannon, Esq. – President Joan Poston, Esq. – Chair Thomas C. Morrison, Esq. – Treasurer Peter E. Bogy, Esq. – Treasurer Darien G. Scott – Secretary Helen Ballinger

www.helenasymphony.org

7

orchestra VIOLIN

CELLO

ENGLISH HORN

TROMBONE

Stephen Cepeda Concertmaster

Linda Kuhn Principal

Sue Logan

Don Stone Principal

The Mary Douglass Chair

Michael Mleko Principal Second & Associate Concertmaster Ali Schultz Levesque Principal Second & Associate Concertmaster Eleanor Parker Associate Principal Second The Fran Waddell Chair

Emily Cooley** Sandy Daniel* Allison Elliott

The Eleanor Parker Chair

Chelsey Hallsten Sarah Harmsworth* Pam Hillygus* Mary Murphy Millie Olsen* Kiersti Osborn Trevor Ostenson* Vikki Payne* Taylor Peterson Susan Platt* Cathy Pomeroy* Geoffrey Taylor Clara Weick* Laura Weiss Smith**

The Barbara & Bartley Weiss Chair

Coral White*

The Dana Hillyer & Robert Caldwell Chair

Don Harmsworth Associate Principal Katharine Cavanaugh** Assistant Principal Fern Glass-Boyd* David Harmsworth* Kelly Kuhn** Maren Haynes Marchesini Diane Sine* Else Trygstad-Burke* Emily Wolfram* Carson Yahvah+

Jill Miller, Principal James Burkholder+ Associate Principal The Peter Sullivan Chair

The Nancy & Richard Trudell Chair

Scott Black

The Renee and Steve Liston Chair

Scott Kall

The Marie Kall Chair

Jennifer Skogley

TUBA

E-FLAT CLARINET

Phil Johnstone+ Principal

Mary Ann Jacobson

The Carol J. Roberts Memorial Chair

BASS CLARINET

HARP

BASS

Jennifer Skogley

Trebor Riddle Principal

BASSOON

Tess Michel Principal Angela Espinosa

Cortney Bury

Dana Nehring Principal

The David Genter Chair The Katie Mason Chair

April Cooper* Ryan Hennessey* Dillon Johns* Max Johnson* Tom Larson

The Renee & Chip Erdmann Chair

Alicia McLean Audrey Daniel*

CONTRABASSOON

PIANO & CELESTE Kihana VanDiest Principal

HARPSICHORD June Lee*

Alicia McLean

String section players are listed alphabetically, as seating rotates.

The Barbara Harris Chair

PICCOLO

HORN

Matthew O’Sullivan*

Elizabeth Burke

Erin Vang Principal

TIMPANI

VIOLA Sara Schultz Levesque Principal

The Rosana Skelton Chair

The Linda & Patrick Keim Chair

Katie Benton Laura Dalbey* Scott Grundsted Elisabeth Sibulsky Amelia Thorton* Aurora Torres* Richard Wells

* Substitute ** Leave of Absence

8

CLARINET

Helena Symphony Season 65

FLUTE Barbara Berg Principal Kathy Chase

The Susan Benedict & Scott Mainwaring Chair

Jeffrey H. Vick

Madeleine Folkerts Warren McCullough

PERCUSSION

The Mary Douglass Chair

Elizabeth Burke

Ian McLean* Daniel Lande Brooke Mortensen**

OBOE

TRUMPET

Becky Tipler Principal Nicole Evans MacKenzie Stone*

Thomas Lee Principal

The Fran Waddell Chair

+ Players Council

ORGAN

The Scott Pargot Chair

Michael Hamling+ Associate Principal Nicholas Slaggert Jens Jacobson

The Kerry Brown Memorial Section

Jeffrey H. Vick Principal

The Harlan & William Shropshire Chair

Tom Schaefer Lauree Wenger Dennis Dell Jason Callon* Jennifer Hotz*

chorale

SOPRANO Tascha Anderson Briar Bell Margaret Bowman Kayla Broughton Fay Buness* Val Colenso Kelly Downing-Keil Christina Dube Laurie Ekanger Katja Elias** Starsha Frederickson Betsy Griffing Jill Guthrie Nancy Harper Christine Harris Fong Hom Deanna Johnson Sarah Karasch Linda Keim Karen Keith Autumn Keller Janet Kenny June Lee Carolyn Linden Stephanie Lineaweaver Sharon Maynard Patty Mazurek Karen McLean Meg McMahon** Elizabeth Mehl

Kellie Myers Susan Osborne Stacy Perkins Laura Pippin Sanna Porte** Makenna Sellers Gayle Sheldon Coleen Smith Anna Strange Mary Thomas Carol Waniata* Mary Williams Lisa Williams-Mathews

ALTO Emma Ackerman Cathy Barker Jeannette Bower** Kathy Bramer Marj Clark Angela Conley Connie Conley* Lisa DeWitt Kristin Drees Margaret Gillkin Jennifer Miller Danna Jackson Jen Jenkins** Marian Jittu Christine Kaufmann Ann Kenny**

Marissa Krupa Rika Lashley Sharon Madsen Beverly Magley Michelle Maltese Liz Moore Judy Nakagawa Roberta Nelson Jeanne Parr Carol Potuzak Alyson Rake Mary Reynolds Molly Roby** Kathy Schiffman MÄ“ghan Scott Molly Severtson Naci Spano Maggie Stockwell Marty Thieltges Teri Vore** Linda Vrooman Peterson Cathy Wright Dawn Zehr Janet Zimmerman

TENOR Rachel Aagenes Jerry Bowman Fred Collins Harlan D. Conroy Joshua Dickey* Seth Fontaine

Michael Gray Duane Johnson John Mundinger Dean Naylor Rehanna Olson Neil Squires Dale Waniata Alex Worthy

BASS Jon Bennion** Art Bumgardner* David Buness Robert Caldwell Henry Elsen Hal Fossum Gary Guthrie Jim Keil Pat Keim Evan Kulesa Ron Lee Kevin Mathews Ron Nelson Brett Olin James Perkins Harlan Reidmohr Larry Sheldon* Gordon Stockstad Michael Swisher John Vore** Dick Weaver Greg Zeihen

* Section Leader ** Leave of Absence

www.helenasymphony.org

9

MASTERWORKS CONCERT I

OPENING NIGHT:

violinist tim fain SATURDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2019 7:30 P.M.

HELENA CIVIC CENTER

From his performances in the films Black Swan and 12 Years A Slave, world-renowned violinist Tim Fain returns to open Season 65 with Philip Glass’ hypnotic and meditative American Four Seasons. The HSO continues with Jennifer Higdon’s ethereal blue cathedral and Richard Strauss’ lush and luxurious celebration of life with music from Der Rosenkavalier.

Maestro Allan R. Scott

This concert is sponsored in part by generous support from:

Tim Fain

Mr. Fain’s appearance is sponsored by the generous support of:

Tonight’s Opening Night Celebration following the performance is sponsored by:

400 n park Ave helena, montana 406 - 443 - 4422 www.1stmt.com

proudly supports the helena symphony

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

10

Helena Symphony Season 65

JOIN US AFTER THE CONCERT!

opening night celebration FREE for Season Ticket Holders / $10 for Non-Subscribers A reception with Violinist Tim Fain, Maestro Scott, and the musicians of the HSO after the Opening Night Concert.

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor TIM FAIN – Violin H elena S ymphony O rchestra GLASS Violin Concerto No. 2, American Four Seasons+

Mr. Fain, violin

Prologue — Movement 1 — Song No. 1 — Movement 2 — Song No. 2 — Movement 3 — Song No. 3 — Movement 4 –– INTERMISSION ––

HIGDON blue cathedral R. STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier: Suite+

+ = Helena Symphony premiere performance

www.helenasymphony.org

11

MASTERWORKS CONCERT I O P E N I N G N I G H T: V I O L I N I S T T I M FA I N

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

PHILIP GLASS

Violin Concerto No. 2, The American Four Seasons The American Four Seasons is scored for violin solo, synthesizer, and divided strings.

Duration: 40 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 2 009 Barack Obama becomes 44th U.S. President and the first African-American president General Motors files for bankruptcy Senator Edward Kennedy, pop singer Michael Jackson, newscaster Walter Cronkite, painter Andrew Wyeth, novelists John Updike and Frank McCourt, TV personality Ed McMahon, film director John Hughes, and actors Farah Fawcett, Karl Malden, and Bea Arthur die 12

Born: Baltimore, Maryland, 31 January 1937 L i v i n g : N e w Yo r k C i t y , N e w Yo r k

THERE ARE FEW COMPOSERS WHOSE MUSIC is not only instantly recognizable, but whose music has impacted the culture of their own times. American composer Philip Glass has left an enormous output of music that is so distinct that some listeners are immediately entranced, and others are reactively dismissive. One thing is for sure: Glass’ music is fascinating.

Growing up in Baltimore, Glass spent time in his father’s record store, which received promotional copies of new recordings of various styles of music. “My father was selftaught, but he ended up having a very refined and rich knowledge of classical, chamber, and contemporary music,” explains Glass. “He would sit and listen to music… and I would listen with him.” The record store developed a reputation as Baltimore’s leading source of modern music. Glass was attracted to the sounds of modern composers, including Hindemith, Bartók, Schoenberg, and Shostakovich, as well as the chamber music of Beethoven and especially Schubert (with whom Glass shares a birthday). After studying flute and attending the preparatory division of the Peabody Institute, Glass studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Chicago. There he discovered the music of Anton Webern and serialism and twelve-tone music before he traveled to Paris where he encountered the films of Jean Cocteau.

Glass became serious about composing and attended Juilliard to study with Vincent Persichetti, where his fellow classmates were Steve Reich and Peter Schickele (“P.D.Q. Bach”). By 1960, Glass received awards to study with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Music Festival and later settled in Pittsburgh to serve as the composer-in-residence for the public school system. Perhaps his greatest education came when Glass received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Paris with legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger (who taught Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, Quincy Jones, and many of the greatest composers of the 20th century). “The composers I studied with Boulanger are the people I still think about most – Bach and Mozart,” says Glass.

By the mid 1960s, Glass rejected all of his earliest compositions that were in the conventional modern style of the day, as he left Paris for India to experience Tibetan refugees, discover Buddhism, and experience the music of Hindustani classical musicians Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha. By 1967, Glass settled in New York City where he first worked as a plumber and a cab driver, and eventually formed the Philip Glass Ensemble which included keyboards, wind instruments (saxophones and flutes), and soprano voices.

For over three decades Glass has developed one of the most unique musical languages that leads him to compose such a diverse amount of music, including more than 25 operas,

large and small; 12 symphonies; three piano concertos, concertos for violin, piano, timpani, and saxophone quartet; string quartets; works for solo organ and piano; and soundtracks for films ranging from new scores to the stylized classics of Jean Cocteau to documentaries to high-profile, Academy Award-nominated films such as The Hours. Glass’ own evolution and inspiration comes from his unstoppable desire to collaborate with leading artists of literature, film, ballet, and visual arts. He has worked with artists from diverse artforms, including rock musicians Paul Simon and Linda Ronstadt, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and many art installations.

While Glass does not like the term “minimalism,” he is generally considered to be one of minimalism’s greatest legends. Defined as the “avant-garde movement in music characterized by the repetition of very short phrases which change gradually, producing a hypnotic effect,” minimalism has been one of the defining musical movements since the 1960s led by Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams, Arvo Pärt, and Henryk Gorecki. Glass refers to his music as the concept of “additive process” or “music with repetitive structures” instead of minimalism. While there is nothing minimal about Glass’ music, the clichés of his works are often called “static” or “stuck-record music.” One music critic criticized the composer, saying “Glass never had a good idea that he didn’t flog to death. He repeats the haunting scale 30 mind-numbing times, until it’s long past time to go home.”

The virtuoso violin soloist Robert McDuffie became captivated with Glass’ music after hearing Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1 in 1987. McDuffie regarded Glass as “America’s Vivaldi” and encouraged Glass to compose a companion piece to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. McDuffie said he wanted Glass to write “a new work that would have a long shelf life.” Glass took seven years to complete his Violin Concerto No. 2, which is dedicated to McDuffie. The composer eventually decided that the 40-minute Concerto, subtitled The American Four Seasons, did not need to be Continued on page 15

T I M FA I N – Vi ol i n Returning to Helena, award winning Violinist Tim Fain has been seen on screen and heard in the Grammy-nominated soundtrack to the film Black Swan. Mr. Fain also performs on the soundtrack to the Oscarwinning film Moonlight, and he gave “voice” to the violin of the lead actor in the hit film 12 Years a Slave, as he did with Richard Gere’s violin in the film Bee Season. He has appeared internationally as a soloist with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York, Pittsburgh Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestras at Lincoln Center, and National Orchestra of Spain. Mr. Fain’s recitals have taken him to the world’s major music capitals. He has toured with musicians from Marlboro, as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and around the globe in a duo-recital program with Philip Glass.

Mr. Fain’s multi-media solo evening Portals premiered to sold-out audiences on both coasts and he continues to travel world-wide. The evening includes a new work written for him by Philip Glass, and features collaborations with Benjamin Millepied, Leonard Cohen, filmmaker Kate Hackett, composer/pianist Nicholas Britell, and radio personality Fred Child. He has collaborated with an eclectic array of artists from Pinchas Zukerman and Mitsuko Uchida, to the Mark Morris Dance Group and New York City Ballet, Iggy Pop, Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20), Bryce Dessner (The National), and he has performed for the Dalai Lama and at the Vatican. His discography includes River of Light (Naxos), Philip Glass: The Concerto Project IV with the Hague Philharmonic, Tim Fain plays Philip Glass (both on OMM), and First Loves (VIA).

Always at the forefront of technology, Mr. Fain has worked on a number of boundary-pushing projects including the musical score for a new Virtual Reality TV series through Samsung and a collaboration with Google on a VR music video for his composition, Resonance. The latter introduced its 360 stereoscopic VR capability for YouTube to the world and was subsequently shown at The Sundance Film Festival. He also composed music for a virtual experience, Flock, which premiered at the Future of Storytelling in NYC. Mr. Fain collaborated with new media artist Alexander Green on an LED light installation project which was the subject for a documentary featured on BBC and PBS, and performed with Shimon, an improvising, marimba-playing AI robot.

Mr. Fain appears courtesy of Dworkin & Company (Bedford Hills, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

13

MASTERWORKS CONCERT I O P E N I N G N I G H T: V I O L I N I S T T I M FA I N

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

JENNIFER HIGDON

blue cathedral Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral is scored for two piccolos, two flutes, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, crotales, marimba, tam-tam, vibraphone, glockenspiel, bell tree, sizzle cymbal, suspended cymbal, chimes, bass drum, tom-tom, two triangles, piano, celeste, harp, eight crystal glasses, dozens of Chinese medicine balls, and divided strings.

Duration: 12 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 2 000 George W. Bush controversially and narrowly elected 43rd U.S. President Terrorists attack U.S.S. Cole Yugoslavia ousts President Slobodan Milosevic U.S. and Cuba fight over custody of Elian Gonzalez New York elects First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to U.S. Senate Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, football coach Tom Landry, comedian Steve Allen, flutist Jean Pierre Rampal, pianist Victor Borge, and actors Walter Matthau, Sir John Gielgud, and Sir Alec Guinness die 14

B o r n : 3 1 D e c e m b e r 1 9 6 2 , B r o o k l y n , N e w Yo r k L i v i n g : Ph i l a d e l p h i a , Pe n n s y l v a n i a

IN THE PAST DECADE, PHILADELPHIA COMPOSER Jennifer Higdon has become the most commissioned composer alive. As one of the most highly regarded composers of her generation, Higdon’s music has an immediate audience appeal. Some critics suggest her music’s accessibility is due to her “conservative” use of familiar harmonies and colors, yet she also creates a unique sound.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in flute performance from Bowling Green University, Higdon focused on composition, receiving her masters and doctorate in composition from the University of Pennsylvania and then an artist diploma from the world- renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she currently teaches. Higdon’s teachers and mentors are a “who’s who” among composers today, including George Crumb, Wallace DePue, James Primosch, Jay Resise, Marilyn Shrude, and the internationally noted Ned Rorem. Higdon’s music has been performed by almost every major orchestra in the United States and is performed over 200 times a year.

In 1999, the Curtis Institute commissioned Higdon to compose a work for the school’s 75th anniversary in 2000. At the time she began working on the commission, her thoughts were particularly filled with memories of her younger brother, Andrew Blue Higdon, who had died a year earlier.

Higdon explains in her program notes for blue cathedral: I was pondering a lot of things about the journey we make after death. I had a lot of very crystal images in my head, which contributed to the composition process.

Blue – like the sky. Where all possibilities soar. Cathedrals – places of thought, growth, spiritual expression, serving as a symbolic doorway into and out of this world. Blue represents all potential and the progression of journeys. Cathedrals represent a place of beginnings, endings, solitude, fellowship, contemplation, knowledge, and growth.

As I was writing this piece, I found myself imagining a journey through a glass cathedral in the sky. Because the walls would be transparent, I saw the image of clouds and blueness permeating from the outside of this church. In my mind’s eye the listener would enter from the back of the sanctuary, floating along the corridor amongst giant crystal pillars, moving in a contemplative stance. The stained glass windows’ figures would start moving with song, singing a heavenly music.

The listener would float down the aisle, slowly moving upward at first, and then progressing at a quicker pace, rising towards an immense ceiling which would open to the sky. As this journey progressed, the speed of the traveler would increase, rushing forward and upward. I wanted to create the sensation

of contemplation and quiet peace at the beginning, moving towards the feeling of celebration and ecstatic expansion of the soul, all the while singing along with that heavenly music.

I began writing this piece at a unique juncture in my life and found myself pondering the question of what makes a life. The recent loss of my younger brother, Andrew Blue, made me reflect on the amazing journeys that we all make in our lives, crossing paths with so many individuals singularly and collectively, learning and growing each step of the way. This piece represents the expression of the individual and the group – our inner travels and the places our souls carry us, the lessons we learn, and the growth we experience.

In my tribute to my brother, I feature solos for the clarinet (the instrument he played) and the flute (the instrument I play). Because I am the older sibling, it is the flute that appears first in this dialogue. At the end of the work, the two instruments continue their dialogue, but it is the flute that drops out and the clarinet that continues on in the upward progressing journey.

This is a story that commemorates living and passing through places of knowledge and of sharing and of that song called life.

Higdon’s blue cathedral’s ethereal musical journey also seems rooted in the promise of hope expressed in Aaron Copland’s music and the orchestral tapestry of Maurice Ravel’s scores.

Ultimately, Higdon’s voice is her own, and she captures the two experiences that bring most of us our rare glimpses of the transcendent – death and joy. She accomplishes the awesome task of showing us her own journey from loss to illumination – and all in twelve minutes. 

GLASS

Continued from page 13

performed alongside Vivaldi’s masterpiece. In fact, McDuffie and Glass experienced the work differently, specifically which particular season each of the four movements of the Concerto seem to evoke. “There are no instructions for the audience, no clues as to where Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall might appear in the new Concerto – an interesting, though not worrisome, problem for the listener,” explains Glass. “An independent interpretation can be tolerated and even welcomed.”

Instead of composing four ad lib-like cadenzas that Vivaldi inserts between movements, Glass frames each of the movements with a “Prelude” and then three “Songs.” He does, however, keep a similar orchestra accompaniment as Vivaldi. Vivaldi used the conventional Baroque string orchestra with harpsichord, and Glass uses a similar size string orchestra but with a synthesizer. The first movement of The American Four Seasons demonstrates that the solo violin will be as virtuosic as Vivaldi’s solo lines, and the second movement is the emotional core of the piece and “the Concerto’s signature movement, for which Philip wrote achingly beautiful music,” explains McDuffie. The final two movements build up a driving energy with “subtle rhythmic seduction” that McDuffie describes as “waves of rhythm and harmony to a kick-ass ending.” 

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15

MASTERWORKS CONCERT I O P E N I N G N I G H T – V I O L I N I S T T I M FA I N

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

RICHARD STRAUSS

Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59: Suite The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier is scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, ratchet, cymbal, bass drum, celeste, two harps, and divided strings.

Duration: 25 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 91 1 Chinese Revolution begins to overthrow last imperial dynasty Italy declares war on Turkey King George V becomes King of England Ernest Rutherford discovers structure of the atom Portugal grants women the right to vote San Francisco Symphony is formed Physicist Marie Curie receives second Nobel Prize Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre 16

Helena Symphony Season 65

Born: Munich, Germany, 11 June 1864 Died: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, 8 September 1949

WHILE BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC CLOSED the Classical era of Mozart and Haydn and simultaneously transitioned to the Romantic period, it was the music of Mahler and Richard Strauss that culminated the Romantic period. Mahler and his symphonies also created the bridge between the late Romantic period (championed by Wagner) and the more modern sounds of the twentieth century. Richard Strauss, however, seems to hold on to the sounds of the late nineteenth century. Even though Strauss was originally referred to as “the other Strauss,” due to the popularity of the waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr. (no relation to Richard), Strauss rose to be one of most important music figures of the twentieth century. Even more so, Strauss’ music came to symbolize the end of an era and, while somewhat controversial at times, it became more en vogue than much of Mahler’s music.

The son of an exceptional horn player, Richard Strauss was raised on the formality and perfection of Brahms’ music and the dramatic operas of Wagner. At the same time, Strauss lived long enough to experience the first half of the twentieth century.

During the Nazi regime in the 1930s, Strauss seemed to attempt to keep his head down. He disliked the interference of the government in the arts and was not interested in politics, but he did not wish to leave Germany, so he passively acquiesced to the Nazis in order to ensure the performance of his music.

Because of his family’s daily involvement with music, Strauss began his piano studies at the age of four, and wrote his first work, a Christmas song, when he was six. By his mid-twenties, Strauss had already begun a successful conducting career.

More than anything, however, Strauss is hailed as the greatest composer of orchestral tone poems. Designed to musically depict a story, poem, painting, or idea, tone poems became increasingly popular in the late nineteenth century. Composers enjoyed a lack of required structure in a tone poem, and Strauss used this freedom to assign melodic themes to aspects of a story and then carefully wove those themes together to create a musical narrative that is unparalleled even today. In addition to the successes of tone poems starting with Death and Transfiguration and later works such as Til Eulenspiegel, Don Juan, Don Quixote, and Also Sprach Zarathustra (known today for its famous opening used in the film Space Odyssey 2001), it was the tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) that remains one of Strauss’ landmark masterpieces.

He also made his mark in the theatre with nearly twenty operas, specifically with landmark and revolutionary operas Elektra, Salome, and Der Rosenkavalier. While Salome made Strauss rich and the most famous composer alive, it was his next opera, Der Rosenkavalier, that was his most popular work. After proclaiming that “Now I shall write a Mozart opera,” he teamed up with poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal (with whom Strauss had worked on Elektra) to produce an eighteenth-century Viennese tale as “comedy for music.”

The opera focuses on love and age, and what works and what does not in romantic relationships. Set in perfumed aristocracy,

complete with powdered wigs, ballrooms, and tradition, the plot revolves around the Marschallin (a soprano), who has been having an affair with Count Octavian Rofrano, a much younger man (a “trouser-role” played by a mezzo soprano). The Marschallin’s cousin, the foolish and lecherous Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, who lacks class and riches, is arranging to marry the sophisticated Sophie von Faninal. Octavian is selected as the “Rosenkavalier” (“The Knight of the Rose”) to present a silver rose to Sophie on behalf of the Baron – an elaborate engagement tradition invented by the opera’s librettist Hofmannsthal. The two young characters, Octavian and Sophie, instantly fall in love, and the perceptive Marschallin supports her lover Octavian to leave her for Sophie, so Sophie does not suffer the same loveless marriage that the Marschallin herself endures.

Throughout the three acts, the plot involves jealousy, love, gratitude, cross-dressing, comedic trickery, and popular Viennese waltzes. Overall, the story is just as much sentimental and cynical as it is a frisky comedy.

The plot to Der Rosenkavalier is very much Mozart-like (especially The Marriage of Figaro), but the orchestra evokes Strauss’s orchestral excitement that he inherited from Richard Wagner. In fact, the orchestra in the opera is equally if not more so the musical focus. The 1911 premiere of Der Rosenkavalier remains one of the grandest events in opera history. There were 33 orchestra rehearsals (totaling 100 hours), and audiences simply adored the new work from its premiere up to the present day. There were ten curtain calls after Act II, and twenty after Act III! To accommodate the public, there were special “Rosenkavalier trains” that ran from Berlin to Dresden following its premiere, and later, Rosenkavalier brands of champagne and cigarettes were sold throughout Europe.

Like the opera itself, the Suite to Der Rosenkavalier opens with horns and bassoons introducing a bold, erotic, leaping melody that is now known as the opera’s calling card. The orchestra relaxes as the music recalls the erotic affair between Octavian and the Marschallin, Octavian’s “presentation of the silver rose” to Sophie, and the soaring ecstasy we hear as we witness the two fall in love. Strauss captures the scenes through the orchestra’s sparkling and lush sounds until the entrancement of the musical romance is interrupted by a brief chaos signaling the intrusion of Baron Ochs’ egotistical waltz. The Suite shifts to the most memorable moment in the opera where the Marschallin, Octavian, and Sophie each simultaneously sing reflecting on love from their view point until the Marschallin exits and the two young lovers perform a duet celebrating their fairytale ending. The Suite, unlike the opera itself, returns to the music of the foolish, lecherous Baron as the Suite comes to a crashing close with a rousing waltz. 

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT II

carmina burana sleeping beauty

AND

SATURDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2019 7:30 P.M.

HELENA CIVIC CENTER

Indulge in the fairy-tale romance and magical enchantments of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty followed by the pulsating power of intoxicating love and lust explored in Carmina Burana – complete with over 200 performers, three acclaimed soloists, the Helena Youth Chorus, and the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale.

Maestro Allan R. Scott

Jessica Fishenfeld

This concert is sponsored in part by generous support from:

Jeffrey Kitto

Evan Thomas Jones

The guest artists’ appearances are sponsored with generous support from

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

18

Helena Symphony Season 65

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor JESSICA FISHENFELD – Soprano JEFFREY KITTO – Tenor EVAN THOMAS JONES – Baritone H elena Y outh C horus Maren Haynes Marchesini - artistic director H elena S ymphony O rchestra & C horale

TCHAIKOVSKY The Sleeping Beauty: Suite, Op. 66a+ I. Introduction et La Fée des Lilas (Introduction & The Lilac Fairy) II. Pas d’Action III. Pas de Caractère: Puss in Boots IV. Panorama V. Valse (Waltz) –– INTERMISSION –– ORFF Carmina Burana

Ms. Fishenfeld, soprano Mr. Kitto, tenor

Mr. Jones, baritone FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI O FORTUNA FORTUNE PLANGO VULNERA

PART I PRIMO VERE Veris leta facies Omnia Sol temperat Ecce gratum UF DEM ANGER Tanz Floret silva Chramer, gip die varwe mir Reie Swaz hie gat umbe Were diu welt alle min

PART II IN TABERNA Estuans interius Olim lacus colueram Ego sum abbas In taberna quando sumus PART III COUR D’AMOURS Amor volat undique Dies, nox et omnia Stetit puella Circa mea pectora Si puer cum puellula Veni, veni, venias In trutina Tempus est iocundum Dulcissime BLANZIFLOR ET HELENA AVE FORMOSISSIMA FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI O FORTUNA + = Helena Symphony premiere performance www.helenasymphony.org

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT II CARMINA BURANA & SLEEPING BEAUT Y

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

The Sleeping Beauty: Suite, Op. 66a The Suite from Sleeping Beauty is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, tam-tam, glockenspiel, cymbals, bass drum, harp, and divided strings.

Duration: 23 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 8 90 Ellis Island, NY becomes immigration station German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck is fired Tchaikovsky’s opera Queen of Spades premieres Artist Vincent Van Gogh commits suicide Idaho and Wyoming become 43rd and 44th U.S. states Dwight Eisenhower, Rose Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle, Ho Chi Minh, Agatha Christie, and Julius Henry “Groucho” Marx are born Peanut butter is invented for people with missing teeth First Army-Navy football game 20

B o r n : K a m s k o - Vo t k i n s k , R u s s i a , 7 M a y 1 8 4 0 Di e d : St . Pe t e r s b u rg, Ru s s i a , 6 No v e m b e r 1 8 9 3

MANY OF THE GREAT ROMANTIC COMPOSERS produced their greatest works while struggling against the disease of the body or of the mind. Beethoven struggled against deafness, Schumann succumbed to insanity, and Brahms sickened of a broken heart.

Tchaikovsky, too, produced music out of suffering. A sensitive, shy child, young Tchaikovsky had turbulent formative years. Having moved from city to city throughout his childhood, Tchaikovsky and his brother were eventually banished to a factory-like boarding school. At the age of 14, he lost his mother, whom he loved obsessively, to cholera.

The young Tchaikovsky was prone to sudden fits of neurosis, ironically induced by the very music he loved. Too, the composer attempted to shield his homosexuality from a disapproving world with a failed marriage. It is not surprising then that Tchaikovsky struggled against depression throughout his life, attempting suicide more than once and, eventually, dying by his own hand.

The melancholy of Tchaikovsky’s life left its mark on his compositions. Much of Tchaikovsky’s music is ponderous and gloomy, due to the dark cast of his harmonies and orchestration. Tchaikovsky, however, had a deeply rooted love of life that also finds expression in his music, especially his ballet scores, which are vibrant with vigor, harmonic richness, and elegant beauty.

While Tchaikovsky is one of the first major Russian composers to emerge out of Russia, he was not considered the most “Russian” of composers. The group of composers called “The Mighty Five” (which included composers Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, and Balakirev) were committed to writing music that was steeped in Russian musical traditions, in lieu of Western European conservatory trained styles. “The Mighty Five” in many ways were amateurs limited by their insistence on using native Russian materials; however, they remained suspicious of Tchaikovsky’s works, who simply dismissed them.

Tchaikovsky was not only one of the most prolific composers of symphonies, he remains a legendary composer of works for the opera and ballet, even though he only composed three ballets. His first ballet, Swan Lake (1877), was revolutionary but also exceedingly demanding for the choreographer, dancers, and orchestra. The Nutcracker was his final ballet and one of his final works and is a part of contemporary Christmas culture. It was The Sleeping Beauty, however, that remains one of ballet’s greatest masterpieces strictly because of the music itself.

Composed in 1888-1889 and first performed in 1890, The Sleeping Beauty was instantly loved by critics and audience.

“

Thanks to Sleeping Beauty, I fell in love with ballet.

CHOREOGRAPHER GEORGE BALANCHINE

Unlike with The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky was immediately intrigued by a ballet based on Charles Perrault’s (author of folklores and early fairy-tales) La belle au bois dormant the moment he received the detailed list of scenes from choreographer Marius Petipa. For the remaining few years of Tchaikovsky’s life, he considered The Sleeping Beauty one his greatest works, and thought of it as a dancing symphony about fate and life woven from an old tale of a princess who pricks her finger and is put under a 100-years spell to be awakened by a handsome prince.

As Tchaikovsky’s longest ballet (nearly four hours including intermissions), it is set in three acts plus a Prologue. The story takes place in the 16th-century and begins with the christening of the baby Princess Aurora. The good fairies present their gifts to the child, but then the evil fairy Caraboose enters, angry that she was not invited to the event. Taking revenge on the family, Caraboose casts a spell on the baby princess: the princess will grow up to be beautiful, but on her sixteenth birthday she will prick her finger and fall into an eternal sleep. The good Lilac Fairy intervenes and alters the curse that will keep Princess Aurora asleep for 100 years until she is kissed by a handsome prince to break the spell. Sixteen years later events transpire as expected: Aurora pricks her finger; she, along with her family, fall into a 100-year sleep; the Lilac Fairy lures a prince to awaken the Princess with a kiss; the couple marries with the blessing of her family; and other Mother Goose characters attend the wedding, including Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, and Cinderella.

As often with concert suites, the Suite from The Sleeping Beauty does not coincide with the narrative sequence of the ballet. The Introduction to the Suite foreshadows the curse of the evil fairy Caraboose until the helpful blessing of the Lilac Fairy intervenes. The Suite continues with the “Rose Adagio,” one of the most famous moments in the ballet where Princess Aurora is courted by four suitors, each bearing a rose. The third movement of the Suite skips ahead to the end of the ballet where everyone in the kingdom attends the wedding, including other wellknown fairy tale characters, such as Puss in Boots and the White Cat. The “Panorama” from the Suite is the opening movement in Act II of the ballet where we see the forest around Aurora’s castle during the 100-year sleep. The Suite ends with the most famous musical moment (made popular by Disney) – the “Sleeping Beauty Waltz” from Act I. While Tchaikovsky authorized the Suite, he never was able to create the arrangement of it. The Suite was not put together until 1899, and the composer died in 1893. The ballet itself, however, became the second most popular ballet at the Imperial Theatre, with over 200 performances in ten years. 

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21

MASTERWORKS CONCERT II CARMINA BURANA & SLEEPING BEAUT Y

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

CARL ORFF

Carmina Burana Carmina Burana was originally scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, English horn, three clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, glockenspiel, xylophone, castanets, sleigh bells, ratchet, chimes, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, suspended cymbal, tamtam, celesta, two pianos, divided strings, mixed chorus, children’s chorus, soprano solo, tenor solo, and baritone solo.

Duration: 55 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 93 7 King of England, George VI is crowned George Gershwin dies at the young age of 39 Composer Maurice Ravel dies Rodgers & Hart’s Babes in Arms premieres JRR Tolkien publishes The Hobbit San Francisco Bay’s Golden Gate Bridge and New York City’s Lincoln Tunnel open First McDonald’s opens 22

Born: Munich, Germany, 10 July 1895 Died: Munich, Germany, 29 March 1982

IN 1937, COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR Carl Orff believed that his new composition Carmina Burana was remarkable enough to warrant withdrawing all of his earlier works. Today, it remains one of the most performed 20th century works and has achieved universal popularity along with hostile critical response.

Carmina Burana has all the trademarks that the public would come to know and want: drinking, gambling, sex, and love. Musically, the work evokes the spirit of the modern age, yet made modern by the sheer animal strength of the repeated phrases and driving rhythms, joining themselves to ancient folk and jazz characteristics.

Carl Orff’s musical style that culminated with Carmina Burana evolved out of his obsession with primitive and evocative rhythms – not simply rhythms in music, but music coupled with dance. Orff proclaimed that his natural aim in music was “reviving the natural unity of music and movement … which arise from a single source.”

The composer began to develop a strong interest in music education, creating a new range of percussion instruments.

The “Orff Method” of teaching incites children to express themselves with percussion instruments, at first by making very simple noises and then clashes that become more and more elaborate. This quickly leads to the associations of gestures and simple rhythms which later are used in ensembles before the student has the slightest notion of how to read or write music. Musicologist Marcel Marnat asserts that “Orff, most importantly, wants the pupils to become conscious of the group’s spontaneous creation which reflects a certain collective unconscious. Therefore, rhythm is designated well before melody as a connecting force between conception and expression.” Furthermore, harmony almost becomes unnecessary and is, in a sense, replaced by rhythm.

The other element of Orff’s works and philosophy grew from his interest in the formal, simple melodies of Renaissance composer Monteverdi. Before Carmina Burana, Orff wrote several unaccompanied choral works and songs with ancient Latin texts that began to show the traits of Carmina.

At a fairly young age, Orff studied piano, cello, and organ, although he did not take kindly to instruction and much preferred to improvise and to develop his own musical ideas through imitation of earlier composers. Born into a musical family, his mother assisted him with his first set of songs that were published, along with his first story, at the age of ten. Captivated by imaginative fables, Orff was attracted to the melodramatic tone poems of Richard Strauss, who would musically paint the lives of fictitious characters, such as Don Continued on page 24

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23

MASTERWORKS CONCERT II CARMINA BURANA & SLEEPING BEAUT Y

“

Carmina Burana presents all that the Christian world between the 11th and 12th centuries was capable of expressing. That age was not partitioned like today nor was it inhibited by taboos – an entire cosmos wherein Good does not exist without Evil, faith without curses and doubts: thus perpetual oscillation wherein lies the grandeur of Humanity.

MARCEL MARNAT

ORFF

Continued from page 22

Juan and Don Quixote. Orff’s works mainly consist of several operas, choral works, and some isolated orchestral works, and unlike Carmina, are not well remembered or often performed.

Carmina Burana, itself, is a scenic, secular cantata based on 13th century anonymous poems and songs in Latin and high-middle German which were discovered in a Bavarian monastery in 1803. The manuscript employed scholarly verses and parodies of sacred texts, including love songs and seemingly offensive tunes. Orff set twenty-four of these poems to music, dividing them into three categories devoted to spring, the tavern, and love, framed by an appeal to the power of fortune (O Fortuna).

The three sections deal with humankind’s encounter with nature, with the joys of drinking, and with the bliss of love, particularly the secular pleasures of romance. Carmina Burana (literally meaning, “the songs of the Beurens”) pays tribute to a world that thrives off desire and love and their ability to enable man to live, struggle, and believe; a world that does not fear to contradict itself and pour out its heart with equal intensity at all levels of its conscious.

Marnat states that “Carmina Burana presents all that the Christian world between the 11th and 12th centuries was capable of expressing. That age was not partitioned like today nor was it inhibited by taboos – an entire cosmos wherein Good does not exist without Evil, faith without curses and doubts: thus perpetual oscillation wherein lies the grandeur of Humanity.”

In the process of deriving a musical style to reflect the vigorously shifting moods of the poems, Orff called on the earlier melismatic (sequence of several notes moving quickly), curving lines of Gregorian chant, the virtuoso style of the early operas, and the shattering rhythmic pulses of Stravinsky (Les Noces, in particular). To these, Orff added a pure melodic gift and superb orchestral colors, and what emerged was a work of unique drive, energy, and charm. The poetry is complemented by music of gigantic power (such as the O Fortuna which encases the entire work), simplicity and grace (demonstrated in the soprano solo’s Stetit puella), boisterous vulgarity (as in the male chorus’ In taberna), and pointed parody (the tenor solo’s “roasted bird” aria).

It must be remembered that Carmina Burana was designed to be seen as well as heard; but, either mimed and choreographed as a ballet or performed in concert, Carmina continues to maintain its chilling and hypnotic effect on admirers of all generations (even when they are not familiar with the work itself), proving that besides the ear of the “civilized” man there exists another ear – a greedy, barbaric one that cries for its food, drink, desire, lust, risks, and fate.  24

Helena Symphony Season 65

J E S S I C A F I S H E N F E L D – Sopran o The Helena Symphony is pleased to welcome American Soprano Jessica Fishenfeld back to the stage. Ms. Fishenfeld “triumphed” (NY Observer) in her New York City Opera debut this season as “Leah” in the World Premiere of Stonewall, with “clean coloratura,” (Opera News) and “spunky personality” (Opera Wire). Ms. Fishenfeld recently won a Semi-Finalist Prize in the 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition, starred in the World Premiere of Love Sick at National Sawdust, debuted with On Site Opera, and was a featured soloist at Carnegie/Zankel Hall. Since her residency with Palm Beach Opera, where she sang the roles of “Norina” in Don Pasquale, “Mabel” in The Pirates of Penzance, “Najade” in Ariade auf Naxos, and covered “Gilda” in Rigoletto, she has made her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist, and appeared with Maestro Scott and both the Helena Symphony and Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony in Bernstein 100!. She sang with international orchestras at St. Bart’s Music Festival and Orquesta Filarmonía de Xalapa, created the role of “Kim” in Big Jim & the Small-Time Investors with Gramercy Opera, sang “May Fielding” in the North American premiere of Il grillo del focolare with Teatro Grattacielo, and was a 2017 Career Bridges Grant Winner. She opens the 2019-2020 Season with a guest appearance at NYC’s famed Birdland Jazz Club.

Ms. Fishenfeld appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY)

J E F F R E Y K I T T O – Te n or Montana native and Helena Tenor favorite Jeffrey Kitto returns to the HSO stage. Mr. Kitto recently thrilled the audience at the 2019 Benefit Concert at Montana Ting and was also recently seen directing and starring in Nova Theater’s production of Pirates of Penzance as well as creating the role of “Manus Duggan” in the world premiere of No Greater Love in Butte, Montana. Before that, he performed the roles of “Calaf” in Turandot for the Rimrock Opera, “Don Jose” in Carmen’s Tragedy (as well as directing) for the Nova Center for the Performing Arts, and “Frederic” in Pirates of Penzance for The Glacier Symphony. Previous engagements include “The Duke” in Rigoletto, “Pinkerton” in Madama Butterfly, “Ferrando” in Cosi fan Tutte, “Cavaradossi” in Tosca, “Don Jose” in Carmen, “Rodolfo” in La Boheme, “Nemorino” in L’Elisir d’Amore, and “Rinuccio” in Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Kitto has recently performed with the Mendocino Summer Festival Opera, Intermountain Opera, Spokane Opera, Montana Lyric Opera, Oregon Lyric Opera, the Great Falls Symphony, and the Glacier Symphony. A multiple recipient of The Metropolitan Opera Auditions National Council Awards as well as a past winner of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award. He was a founding member of national recording artists The Clintons, with whom he performed, toured, and helped release four albums which were met with independent acclaim throughout the northwest.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

MASTERWORKS CONCERT II CARMINA BURANA & SLEEPING BEAUT Y

E VA N T H O M A S J O N E S – Bari ton e Baritone Evan Thomas Jones returns with the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale after a sensational performance at the 2019 Benefit Concert at Montana Ting. He has performed with the HSO in performances of Rossini’s Il Barbiere de Siviglia, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem; and this performance marks his second appearance in Carmina Burana with the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale. An audience favorite, he has enjoyed a diverse performing career in opera, musical theater, concert and recital.

In opera, notable roles include “Figaro” in both Il Barbiere de Siviglia and Le Nozze de Figaro, the title role in Don Giovanni, “Papageno” in Die Zauberflöte, and “Sam” in Trouble in Tahiti. Highlights in musical theater and operetta include “Danilo Danilovich” in The Merry Widow, and “Fredrik Egerman” in A Little Night Music.

In concert Mr. Jones has been featured as a soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Brahms’ German Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, and Bach’s Magnificat and St. Matthew Passion. He has sung with the Tanglewood Music Festiva, Opera Memphis, Opera Naples, Berkshire Opera Company, Compañia Lirica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras and others.

Active in the performance of new works, Mr. Jones was the featured soloist and released the world premiere recording of Randol Bass’ Passage into Spirit with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in 2009. In 2013, he was the baritone soloist for the premiere performance and Naxos recording of Dohnányi’s Orchesterlieder with the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Jones made his company debuts with the Tanglewood Music Festival in 2018–2019. He also appeared in the Ravinia Festival as “Pangloss” and “Voltaire” in Bernstein’s Candide, and traveled with the Nashville Symphony Chorus to Prague for Carmina Burana.

HELENA YOUTH CHORUS Ma ren Ha y nes Ma rches i ni – arti sti c dir ect o r The Helena Youth Chorus was founded in 2017, reigniting the longstanding Helena Youth Choir that flourished in Helena for decades. The mission is to inspire, educate, and connect elementary and middle school students through vocal music, and beginning in Fall 2019, HYC has joined forces with the Helena Youth Orchestra to form the Ironhorse Consortium for Young Musicians which offers a variety of extracurricular ensemble opportunities for Helena-area students. The Helena Youth Symphonic Chorus, directed by Dr. Maren Haynes Marchesini, auditions experienced singers in grades 3 through 8 to sing with the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale.

Dr. Maren Haynes Marchesini earned her Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance from Whitworth University, and her Doctorate in Ethnomusicology from the University of Washington. In addition to her work with the Helena Youth Chorus, Dr. Marchesini plays with the Helena Symphony Orchestra, directs the Helena Youth Orchestra Camerata, and directs the choir at Carroll College. www.helenasymphony.org

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N O N-S E R I E S C O N C E R T 2

mozart candlelight BY

SATURDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2019 7:30 P.M.

ST. PAUL’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Experience the music of Mozart in the intimate and acoustically wonderful setting of St. Paul’s UMC, including the Overture to The Magic Flute, the popular Jupiter Symphony, and his prolific Clarinet Concerto performed by world-renowned Clarinetist Ricardo Morales. The sublime and magnificent music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – and all by candlelight.

Maestro Allan R. Scott

Ricardo Morales

Mr. Morales’ appearance is made possible with generous support from:

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor RICARDO MORALES – Clarinet H ELENA S YMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Magic Flute, K. 620: Overture

MOZART

MOZART Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622

Mr. Morales, clarinet

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Rondo: Allegro –– INTERMISSION ––

MOZART

Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, Jupiter

I. Allegro vivace

II. Andante Cantabile

III. Menuetto: Allegretto

IV. Molto Allegro

www.helenasymphony.org

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N O N-S E R I E S C O N C E R T 2 MOZART BY CANDLELIGHT

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

Overture to Die Zauberflöte, K. 620 (The Magic Flute) The Overture to The Magic Flute is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and divided strings.

Duration: 7 minutes

Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622 Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is scored for clarinet solo, two flutes, two bassoons, two horns, and divided strings.

Duration: 27 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 7 91 Bank of U.S. and U.S. Mint are established Vermont becomes the 14th U.S. state Priestly Riots occur in Birmingham, England Mozart’s operas The Magic Flute and La Clemenza di Tito premiere The world’s first Sunday newspaper, The Observer, is first published Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dies suddenly Pianist Carl Czerny, inventor Samuel Morse, chemist John Mercer, Mozart’s sixth child Franz Xavier, and 15th U.S. President James Buchanan are born 30

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

Born: Salzburg, Austria, 27 January 1756 Died: Vienna, Austria, 5 December 1791

ABOUT THE COMPOSER No other composer has mastered every musical form as Mozart did, and done so with such ease. For him, it seemed to be a nuisance to transcribe his musical thoughts onto paper. Like Handel, but to an even higher degree, Mozart would develop and achieve perfection in his imagination before his hand ever began to write. Whereas most composers, even the great Beethoven, would go through countless drafts and revisions before completing a work, Mozart’s first draft was his final draft.

As a child prodigy, Mozart was immediately recognized as an unprecedented musical genius. Under his father’s tutelage, the young Mozart became a virtuoso performer on the keyboard and violin. By the age of eight, he had composed his first symphony and had toured most of Europe, performing for dignitaries, royalty, and prominent composers of the day, who were simply awed by the youth’s abilities and musical imagination.

During his brief 36 years, Mozart composed well over 600 works, including dozens of operas (both comic and dramatic operas), many mass settings, choral works, songs, ballets, 41 symphonies (the last three of which some believe Mozart never heard and are considered to be his finest), divertimentos, instrumental dances, marches, serenades, sonatas, 31 piano concertos, 8 violin concertos, other concertos for flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, a new arrangement of Handel’s Messiah, and a Requiem, his final work.

Born into the Age of Enlightenment – the era of the American and French revolutions, when liberty and fraternity were the centers of thought – Mozart’s scores exhibited an order, balance, and structure associated with the Classical era that was fathered by composer Franz Joseph Haydn.

ABOUT THE OVERTURE TO THE MAGIC FLUTE There has always been a kind of mystique surrounding Mozart’s final year before his untimely death. From Mozart’s earliest biographers to Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus (later revised for a film version), myth-makers have painted a picture of a driven, almost haunted composer who was forced to create by thoughts of guilt or his own impending death.

In fact, by the end of 1791 Mozart was at the peak of his career artistically and somewhat financially. Most of his final year Mozart composed two major works for solo instrument and orchestra (his final piano concerto and a concerto for clarinet), dozens of smaller works, from dance music and songs to music for Benjamin Franklin’s novelty instrument – the glass harmonica. Just two months before his death and before he began his Requiem (which he never finished), Mozart completed his final two operas – the drama La Clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) and Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).

Collaborating with longtime friend Emanuel Shikaneder, a singer and a leader of a traveling musical troupe, Mozart composed an instant hit with The Magic Flute. Not only was

the opera an immense success for the often less than supportive audiences of Vienna, it was a source of pride to Mozart. The Magic Flute is traditionally referred to as a singspiel, referring to a light, German-language operatic form with spoken dialogue. Singspiels were often little more than musical pantomimes featuring low comedy and vulgar language, but The Magic Flute stands out among all singspiels both for quality of its music and for the subtle depth of its plot.

The Magic Flute is often known as Mozart’s “Masonic opera” as its libretto is full of symbols and ideas taken from the rituals and philosophy of the Freemasons. Both Mozart and Shikaneder belonged to the same Masonic lodge in Vienna, at a time when the Freemasons were increasingly persecuted by the Austrian government, and The Magic Flute appears to be, if not exactly a propaganda piece, at least an attempt to provide some cheer to their lodge brothers.

Set in German (not in the traditional opera language of Italian), The Magic Flute tells the story of Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of who has been induced by Sarastro the Priest to go to the Temple of Isis and there learn the ways of wisdom as well meet her lover, Tamino, an Egyptian prince. In her efforts to revenge her daughter’s loss, the Queen of Night induces Tamino to rescue Pamina. Upon reaching the Temple, Tamino and Papageno, a bird-catcher and comic relief in the opera, are seized and brought before Sarastro. Tamino promises to follow Pamina’s example and take the vows. After various absurd and grotesque adventures, the evil spirits are overcome and Tamino and Pamina are united as the reward for their fidelity.

Mozart wrote the Overture to The Magic Flute just a few days before the first performance and not surprisingly it is one of the finest orchestral works of the 18th century. The slow introduction opens with three chords associated with the solemn rituals of Sarastro’s priests and is the Overture’s only thematic borrowing from the opera. The number three also holds a special significance for Freemasons as well as the key of the Overture, E-flat major, which contains three flats. The prominent use of trombones, usually reserved for church music or the most solemn operatic moments, implies that The Magic Flute is much more than a mere comedy. Masonic themes are not only suggested in the Overture, but from the broad outline of the opera’s plot to several small details. The opposition of light and darkness, the testing of an initiate seeking enlightenment, the commands to fasting and silence – all these from both The Magic Flute and the Masonic doctrine Mozart knew. Numerical symbolism provides further links to the tenets of Freemasonry, particularly the use of the number three: the opera features three Ladies, three Spirits, three Temples (Reason, Wisdom, and Nature), three trials, and the three chords in the Overture and throughout the opera.

The quicker Allegro section of the Overture is built on a comedic opera theme and playfully and remarkably set to a fugue (where one theme chases itself all the while introducing subordinate themes throughout). Mozart retains a subtly sacred suggestion by setting the lighthearted main theme in a fugue for the strings. The second theme involves a series of phrases echoing through the woodwinds until the Overture pauses and the three-chord figure representing the three knocks Continued on page 32

R I C A R D O M O R A L E S – Cl ari n e t Making his debut with the Helena Symphony, Ricardo Morales is one of the most sought-after Clarinetists of today. He joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as Principal Clarinet in 2003 and made his solo début with the orchestra in 2004. He previously served as principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where, during his tenure with the Met Orchestra, he soloed at Carnegie Hall and on two European tours. He has also been a featured soloist with the Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Memphis Symphony and the Flemish Radio Symphony. In addition, Mr. Morales was a featured soloist with the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” with whom he recorded Jonathan Leshnoff’s Clarinet Concerto, a piece commissioned for him by The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has been asked to perform as principal clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and, at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle, with the Berlin Philharmonic. An active chamber musician, he has performed at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Seattle Chamber Music Summer Festival, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Morales’ début solo recording, French Portraits, is available on the Boston Records label, and his recent recordings include performances with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, a Latin Grammy-nominated release with the Pacifica Quartet, and the Mozart Concerto with the Mito Chamber Orchestra (Japan). www.helenasymphony.org

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Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 Symphony No. 41 was scored for one flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and divided strings.

Duration: 32 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 7 88 England abolishes slave trade U.S. Constitution is ratified London Times first published Maryland offers territory for a new U.S. capital, District of 32 Columbia United Kingdom’s King George III suffers a mental breakdown Australia discovered Mozart’s Don Giovanni premieres Mozart composes Symphonies No. 39, 40, & 41 English artist Thomas Gainsborough dies English poet George Gordon, aka Lord Byron, is born 32

MOZART

Continued from page 31

of Masonic ritual along with the final return of the music’s momentum. Rich in sonority, concise in construction, complete with melodic invention, and masterful in harmonic certainty, the Overture balances the seemingly polar opposites of the opera – profundity and comedy – with ease and conviction.

In the end, The Magic Flute tells an allegorical story that can be experienced on many levels. On one level, it is an adventure story in which the protagonist wins his love through heroic efforts. On another, and much deeper level, it is a fairy-tale that metaphorically suggests a morality play extolling the virtue of faithfulness against severe trials when in pursuit of a greater good. Perhaps the least obvious point of view may be the most significant to Mozart – a glorification of Freemasonry.

ABOUT THE CLARINET CONCERTO While many composers composed works for their own performance as soloist, several often wrote music for friends or colleagues to perform. Brahms composed his Violin Concerto for Joseph Joachim; and Bernstein, Britten, and Shostakovich all wrote works for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Mozart wrote most of his concertos for his own performances, but one of his final works was composed for his dear friend and clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812).

Throughout most of his brief life, Mozart enjoyed the clarinet and used them in many operas and symphonies, but not as universally used as the flutes, oboes, or bassoons. The clarinet was the last instrument in the woodwind family to become a regular instrument in the modern orchestra. After he met Anton Stadler, Mozart realized that the rich sounds and voicelike qualities of the clarinet were suited for a solo instrument in a concerto. Stadler and his clarinetist brother Johann were both soloists in Vienna for almost two decades by the time Mozart composed his Clarinet Concerto. The Stadler brothers advanced to salaried players in the Court Orchestra, and Anton and Mozart belonged to the same Masonic lodge where they developed a friendship. They were close enough that Anton borrowed large sums of money from Mozart (that was unpaid at the time of Mozart’s death).

During the final five years of Mozart’s life, he composed a trio, quintet, and arrangements from his opera La Clemenza di Tito for Anton to perform. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto was actually composed for the basset clarinet, “basset” meaning “little bass.”

It should not be confused with the bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower, or the basset horn, which is essentially the tenor range of the clarinet. The original manuscript for the Concerto for basset clarinet has not survived, nor do any basset clarinets themselves; however, the Concerto has been reworked in its current form for the regular clarinet.

Composed shortly after The Magic Flute, the Clarinet Concerto and Mozart’s final opera share a combined simplicity yet sophistication that was becoming the composer’s hallmark style in his last few years. In many ways, Mozart’s final year of his life was his most musically profound. The Clarinet Concerto alone reveals an artistry of Mozart that surpasses many of his other brilliant works.

The Concerto’s first movement exhibits a Haydn-like grace coupled with the clarinet solo singing as if it was one of Mozart’s operas. In addition to the exciting virtuosity of the clarinet, the movement turns inward and expresses serene melancholy moments. Some of the most hauntingly beautiful moments are in the traditional slower second movement, where the idea of the soloist “singing” captures the hearts of listeners instantly. Finally, in a typical Mozart way, the last movement is

full of comic relief, playfulness, and surprises. Today, the work remains one of Mozart’s greatest achievements as well as the definitive work for the clarinet.

ABOUT THE SYMPHONY NO. 41 Mozart’s last three symphonies (39, 40, and 41) appeared in quick succession during the summer of 1788. While Mozart was somewhat of a celebrity at times during his life, particularly in Prague, his music went in and out of favorability in Vienna. During the late 1780’s Viennese society had “dropped” Mozart completely as a pianist and composer, leaving him in dire financial troubles.

Mozart’s last three symphonies may perhaps have been the composer’s last vain attempt to gain another foothold in the cultural life of Vienna.

Mozart’s last symphony was completed on 10 August 1788 and, along with symphonies 39 and 40, it remains one of the great mysteries about Mozart and his works. Ironically, Mozart’s last three symphonies are more of a mystery than his final work – his Requiem.

Almost immediately upon Mozart’s death, a romantic myth became attached to the unfinished pages of the Requiem that were left scattered on his bed; a host of questions: who commissioned the Requiem?; who finished it?; was Mozart poisoned?; etc. We know now most of those answers today.

The final three symphonies, however, continue to beg more questions than are answerable. The most provocative fact that Mozart probably never heard them is now believed to be untrue. The idea that Mozart composed these works with no plans for a performance is also doubtful. While no facts remain of the first performance of these works with Mozart present, it is fairly certain that a performance had to have taken place.

Apparently, a series of subscription concerts was planned for the summer of 1788, and while no record remains of those performances, Mozart did seem to intend for Symphonies 39, 40, and 41 to be published together. The Symphonies were actually published two years after Mozart’s death, thereby adding to the legend that the composer never heard them in his lifetime. Even if the 1788 performance never took place, Mozart did tour Germany the following year, conducting concerts that have only sketchy records.

Mozart did not expect Symphony No. 41 to be his last nor did he add the title Jupiter to the work. The title of Jupiter Symphony appeared in 1819 when London violinist and concert promoter Johann Peter Salomon gave the work its nickname after the most powerful of Roman gods.

Salomon’s nickname of Mozart’s final symphony was probably suggested because he and the English-speaking world were responding to the majesty and nobility of the first movement, which includes the brilliant sound of trumpets and timpani along with stately dotted rhythmic figures in the opening moments (also the key of the work, C major, was the traditional key for ceremonial music in the 18th century).

While Mozart may have composed the work in conjunction with the 39th and 40th, the 41st stands out as a clear point where the pre-Beethoven Classical symphony reaches its highest peak.

The Symphony begins with a conservative juxtaposition of strong and soft dynamics in a very similar manner to what any other 18th century composer may have written. The heroic orchestral gestures against the serenity of pleading strings immediately commands attention, pauses, and the restates the heroic theme in a quiet, radiant way coupled with delicate commentary by the woodwinds, something that is only unique to Mozart. Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 is set in the traditional sonata form; however, he writes the recapitulation (the return of the opening theme in the first movement) in the “wrong” key – not in the tonic key of C major, but in the subdominant key of F major. While the formality and balanced structure of a traditional 18th century symphony prevails in the Jupiter Symphony, the work is also somewhat light and playful, keeping the Mozart stamp of a wonderful mixture of the serious and the comic.

The second movement, Andante cantabile, is also quintessential Mozart. He uses muted strings to counter the brilliance of the opening movement, thereby exposing the darker under currents that is often at the heart of Mozart’s music. Like in many other works, Mozart uses the same dramatic sounds as he does in his operas to create heart-wrenching moment. As with most third movements of 18th century symphonies, Mozart employs a plain and traditional dance for the third movement, a minuet and trio; however, Mozart composes a fairly unusually rich and complicated minuet and trio both musically and emotionally.

The finale to the Symphony includes an exciting fugue and is one of the most celebrated melodies of the 18th century. Beginning innocently enough with a simple do-re-fa-mi theme, the finale turns into a exemplary moment of Classical counterpoint. Mozart offers five themes throughout the finale that are explored in various ways and then restated in their original form until all five are brought together in various forms (even upside-down) in a dazzling display of counterpoint and exciting conclusion. Within the final two minutes of music, Mozart shifts the traditional focus of the work from the opening movement to the final movement and becomes the model by which Beethoven, Brahms, and countless other composers would also follow. Mozart may not have known his Symphony No. 41 would bring his own symphonic career to an end, but he could not have found a more spectacular and fitting way to crown his achievement, all the while, to point the way to the future.  www.helenasymphony.org

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N O N-S E R I E S C O N C E R T 3

christmas cathedral IN THE

MONDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2019 7:30 P.M.

CATHEDRAL OF ST. HELENA

Usher in Helena’s longest and greatest holiday tradition with Handel’s Messiah, the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, and four acclaimed soloists, all in the profoundly reflective Cathedral of St. Helena. Experience why Handel’s Messiah remains the most popular work of all time.

Maestro Allan R. Scott

Jacqueline Brecheen

Ross Hauck

Katelyn Jackman

Keith Harris

The guest artists’ appearances are sponsored in part by the generous support of:

CONSTANCE & RONALD BERGUM

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor JACQUELINE BRECHEEN – Soprano KATELYN JACKMAN – Mezzo Soprano ROSS HAUCK – Tenor KEITH HARRIS – Baritone H elena S ymphony O rchestra & C horale

HANDEL

Messiah PART I

Overture

Tenor Accompagnato: “Comfort ye my people”

Tenor Air: “Every valley shall be exalted”

Chorus: “And the glory of the Lord”

Bass Accompagnato: “Thus saith the Lord”

Bass Air: “But who may abide the day of His coming”

Chorus: “And He shall purify”

Alto Recitative: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive”

Alto Air & Chorus: “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion”

Bass Accompagnato: “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth”

Bass Air: “The people that walked in darkness”

Chorus: “For unto us a Child is born”

Pastoral Symphony

Soprano Recitative: “There were shepherds abiding in the field”

Soprano Accompagnato: “And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them”

Soprano Recitative: “And the angel said unto them”

Soprano Accompagnato: “And suddenly there was with the angel”

Chorus: “Glory to God in the highest”

Soprano Air: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion”

Alto Recitative: “Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened”

Alto and Soprano Duet: “He shall feed His flock”

Chorus: “His yoke is easy, His burthen is light”

–– INTERMISSION ––

PART II

Chorus: “Behold the Lamb of God” Alto Air: “He was despised” Chorus: “Surely, He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows” Chorus: “And with His stripes, we are healed” Chorus: “All we like sheep, have gone astray” Tenor Accompagnato: “All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn” Chorus: “He trusted in God” Tenor Accompagnato: “Thy rebuke hath broken His heart” Tenor Air: “Behold, and see if there may be any sorrow” Tenor Recitative: “Unto which of all the angels said He at any time” Chorus: “Let all the angels of God worship Him” Chorus: “The Lord Gave the word” Bass Air: “Why do the nations so furiously rage together” Chorus: “Let us break their bonds asunder” Tenor Recitative: “He that dwelleth in heaven” Tenor Air: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron” Chorus: “Hallelujah”

PART III

Soprano Air: “I know that my Redeemer liveth” Chorus: “Since by man came death”

Bass Accompagnato: “Behold, I tell you a mystery”

Bass Air: “The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be rais’d”

Thomas Lee, trumpet

Alto Recitative: “Then shall be brought to pass”

Alto and Tenor Duet: “O death, where is thy sting?”

Chorus: “But thanks be to God”

Soprano Air: “If God be for us, who can be against us”

Chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain”

Chorus: “Blessing and honor, glory, pow’r be unto Him”

Chorus: “Amen” www.helenasymphony.org

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N O N-S E R I E S C O N C E R T 3 C H R I S T M A S I N T H E C AT H E D R A L

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

Messiah Messiah was originally scored for two oboes, bassoon, two trumpets, timpani, continuo (performed by cello, bass, organ, and harpsichord), divided strings, mixed chorus, and solo voices.

It was generally believed that the King attended one of the premiere performances and was so moved by the “Hallelujah” chorus that he stood.

Of course, if the King stood, everyone stood.

While there is no record of the King attending, the legend persists and audiences throughout the world still stand for the “Hallelujah” chorus.

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 741 War of Austrian Succession continues Elizabeth of Russia becomes Czarina Height of the reigns of Louis XV in France, George II in Great Britain, and Frederick II in Prussia Jonathan Edwards delivers speech “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” First American magazine is published American General Benedict Arnold is born Composer Antonio Vivaldi dies 36

GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL

Born: Halle, Germany, 23 Februar y 1685 Died: London, England, 14 April 1759

MOZART, BEETHOVEN, AND HAYDN all proclaimed George Frederick Handel the greatest and most important composer who ever lived. The son of a surgeon, George Frederic Handel was a true cosmopolitan European, having lived in Germany, Italy, and England. Although German by birth, Handel has been claimed by many countries, especially England. By 1741, at the age of 56, Handel was a true entertainment icon, having written 40 operas, five English oratorios, one Italian oratorio, two German passions, four Te Deums, one dramatic masque (Acis and Galatea), numerous sacred and secular choral works, and many works for orchestra and solo instrument. Handel’s celebrity status was so great that in his own lifetime there was a statue erected in his honor in London in 1738!

Despite his European fame, Handel lacked the economic security enjoyed by some of his colleagues. Unlike J.S. Bach and G.P. Telemann, Handel did not consider himself a church musician, rather a composer for the theatre – thereby depending for his success upon social popularity and box office receipts. Handel’s 38 operas for the English stage received mixed reception by the London audiences, and ultimately his last opera, Deidamia, flopped, closing in 1741 after only three performances.

The newly prosperous London middle class had grown tired of the elaborate productions of Italianate operas and were hungry instead for oratorios. Un-staged operas and oratorios were usually performed in the vernacular, dispensed with costumes and staging, and dramatized Old Testament narratives familiar to 18th century audiences.

At 56, Handel, depressed by the commercial failure of his opera, reluctantly turned to the more popular oratorio form. The ink was barely dry on his final opera when Handel began to compose Messiah in August of 1741. The fact that the entire composition took only 24 days to compose is no surprise, for Handel traditionally wrote operas and oratorios with Mozart-like speed.

The impetus for Messiah came six years earlier when Charles Jennens (1700-1773), an English editor, sent the composer the libretto, which Handel ignored for several years. (Jennens served as Handel’s librettist for two other oratorios, Saul and Israel in Egypt.)

The text for Messiah consists essentially of selected passages from the Bible and from the English Prayer Book Psalter. Despite popular belief, Messiah takes little interest in the details of Christ’s life but concentrates rather on the idea of the Messiah as a redeemer for mankind. The Gospel story is related but not in a sacred narrative as in

the Passion oratorios by Bach. Handel insisted that the Messiah was a dramatic work, just like every previous oratorio he composed – that despite its subject, Messiah was a theatrical composition and not a sacred work.

Yet Messiah was not a typical oratorio. Unlike Handel’s previous works in the genre, Messiah was not based solely on the lives of Old Testament figures like Saul, Solomon, or Samson. Nor does Messiah have a plot featuring named characters in a series of incidents; the only narrative portion is the brief birth of the hero (from the “Pastoral Symphony” to the chorus “Glory to God in the Highest”).

Handel’s Messiah reflects the humanistic spirit of the age rather than conventional religious teachings. Jennens’ effective depiction, however, is that of a believer’s meditation on the goodness of God and His offering to the world of His only Son, a suffering Christ, and the hope of salvation. Therefore, while the text is a commentary on the Nativity, the Passion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension framed by God’s promise through prophets and redemption roots, Handel uses the text to create a blockbuster work for the theatre – a work about a superhuman figure that saves mankind.

Continued on page 38

J A C Q U E L I N E B R E C H E E N – Soprano Soprano Jacqueline Brecheen makes her debut performance with the Helena Symphony this Season. She recently worked with Maestro Scott singing the role of “Suor Genovieffa” in Marble City Opera’s 2019 production of Suor Angelica, where she was praised for bringing “beautiful vocal clarity and punch” to the role (Artsknoxville.com). Ms. Brecheen was an Indiana District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions where she was described as having “a full, lyric soprano voice with coloratura that carries with ease in a big hall.” She won honorable mention at the Heida Hermanns competition and has performed the roles of “Peep Bo” in The Mikado and “Micaela” in Peter Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen with the Indianapolis Opera. At Central City Opera Ms. Brecheen performed the roles of “Diana” in Orpheus in the Underworld, “Celie” in Signor Deluso, and “Isabelle/ Madeline” in The Face on the Barroom Floor. She has appeared with the Indianapolis Symphony, recently as a soloist in Faure’s Requiem, and as the featured soloist at New Year’s Eve in Vienna.

K AT E LY N J A C K M A N – Me zzo Soprano Called “winningly wily and dauntless” by Boston Classical Review, American Mezzo Soprano Katelyn Jackman makes her debut with the Helena Symphony this Season. On stage, Ms. Jackman performed the lead role in Oliver Knussen’s Higglety Pigglety Pop! at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music as the “touchingly incarnated Jennie” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker). Other recent roles include “Bradamante” in Fargo-Moorhead Opera’s 2018 production of Alcina, “Giovanna” in Charlottesville Opera’s 2017 production of Rigoletto, the title role in Carmen with Maryland Concert Opera, the “Beggar Woman” in Baltimore Concert Opera’s Sweeney Todd, and “Bloody Mary” in Annapolis Opera’s 2016 production of South Pacific.

As a winner of the DC Vocal Arts competition, Ms. Jackman made her Kennedy Center recital debut in 2012. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in Marilyn Horne’s The Song Continues series, at Seiji Ozawa Hall as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and in the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. In concert, Ms. Jackman has performed solos from Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christen, atzet diesen Tag over internationally televised programming with The Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. Other concert credits include Narrator in Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with the Lunar Ensemble, and performances of Beethoven’s Mass in C major and Vivaldi’s Gloria with Maryland Choral Society.

Ms. Jackman appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

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N O N-S E R I E S C O N C E R T 3 C H R I S T M A S I N T H E C AT H E D R A L

“

Handel’s Messiah reflects the humanistic spirit of the age rather than conventional religious teachings.

HANDEL

Continued from page 37

Furthermore, with few exceptions, Handel deliberately avoids using the word “Jesus Christ” so as to make clear the work’s dramatic intentions. Handel was very careful not to title the work “THE Messiah,” so as to avoid a direct reference to the accepted savior of Christians.

Even the word messiah, it is also important to note, as in Biblical times, refers to a political hero, such as Moses who freed his people from slavery, rather than a savior for the afterlife.

Musically, Handel draws on his full background in Messiah. His early training in the German tradition is evident in the use of harmonies and traditional accompaniment associated with other German greats, like J.S. Bach. As with other German oratorios, such as the Passions of J.S. Bach, Handel gives the chorus narrative roles, such as the descending angels in “Glory to God in the Highest” and the mocking crowd towards a crucified Christ in “He trusted in God.” The simplicity and flowing arias are born out of Handel’s respect and knowledge of the Italian opera tradition. Thirdly, Handel’s observations and training in the orchestras of the French courts takes shape in the exciting and very dramatic overture that opens Messiah with the common performance practice of ‘double dotting’ – where the dotted

R O S S H A U C K – Te n or The HSO welcomes back lyric Tenor Ross Hauck. Hailed by the Seattle Times as “almost superhuman in musical effect,” Mr. Hauck maintains a busy and eclectic career, often specializing in sacred oratorio. As a concert artist, he is a regular soloist in Handel’s Messiah, a work he has sung with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has also sung in pops concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. A frequent performer of early music, Mr. Hauck has sung with the Boston Early Music Festival, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Baroque, Dallas Bach Society, and the San Diego Bach Collegium and Early Music Now in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Hauck began playing piano and cello at the age of three. Because of this life-long exposure to music as a “mother tongue”, Mr. Hauck has developed a reputation as a consummate musician. He is frequently noted for his expressive capabilities in delivering the text of a song. Of his singing, the San Francisco Classical Voice and Opera News commented that Mr. Hauck has “an elevated and extraordinary range of subtle inflections. The singing was as nuanced as one would expect from a consummate art-song recitalist or bel canto specialist.” Mr. Hauck’s true passion is the intersection of fine arts and faith, and he maintains a keen interest in history, culture, theology, and worship. He is a frequent lecturer and presenter on these subjects, and often provides sacred concerts and creative presentations.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

rhythms are sustained longer, thereby shortening the notes that follow and lending urgency to the melodic line.

As an adopted Englishman, Handel borrows from the English choral tradition, notably the choral works of Henry Purcell. Handel’s use of ‘text-painting,’ where the music seems to imitate the words, is pure genius. For example, in the chorus “All we like sheep” the vocal parts literally scatter – becoming “lost” as the chorus sings “everyone to his own way,” until an abrupt, almighty force unites the “lost sheep,” laying the sins of mankind on the hero. Unlike Bach’s choral style of long interweaving melodic lines, Handel seldom uses counterpoint throughout; rather, block harmony alternates with the counterpoint. If Bach was more introspective, using his religious soul to form melodic motifs symbolizing pain, death, and sin, then Handel had more external, worldly inspirations such as traditional, simple folk songs and popular airs of the city whose influence can be heard in the “Pastoral Symphony” movement.

Although today Messiah has become a Christmas staple, its first performance took place in Dublin, 13 April 1742 during Holy Week (a traditional time for both sacred and secular works to be premiered). The Dublin debut was a great success, but the English premiere of Messiah in London at Covent Garden in March 1743 failed. Religious conservatives in London were puzzled by Handel’s choice to present the work not in church but in a theatre – as one Puritan critic remarked, the most “profane of all places.” Librettist Charles Jennens (a devout Puritan) also did not like Handel’s music for Messiah and disagreed with Handel’s conception of the work as (in Handel’s words) “musical entertainment.” Once the work was performed for a London charity and the London audience began to grasp Handel’s intent, Messiah grew in popularity and has never fallen from favor since.

Messiah’s popularity today is due in part to the fact that it is easily accessible to the listener while retaining vivid expression and genius; in fact, Handel’s simplicity and directness account for many of the greatest moments in Messiah. Sixty-eight performances of Messiah took place between the original performance and Handel’s death in 1759.

Messiah continues to be the most performed work ever written, despite that it is over 250 years old! Since its conception composers, including Mozart, have reorchestrated Handel’s masterpiece. Although these orchestrations are intriguing, Handel knew the ends he wished to achieve and his music needs no improvement. 

K E I T H H A R R I S – Bari ton e The Helena Symphony welcomes the debut performance of American Baritone Keith Harris, who is praised for the distinctive warmth of his voice, clear diction, and his exceptional musicianship. This Season he returns to the Metropolitan Opera for The Merry Widow, and performs the role of “Papageno” in Die Zauberflöte with St. Petersburg Opera.

Future engagements include “Albert” in Werther with The Israeli Opera.

Mr. Harris’ successful career in opera includes such highlights as Angels in America with the New York City Opera, the roles of “Count Almaviva” in Le nozze di Figaro and “Dandini” in La Cenerentola with the Bar Harbor Music Festival, and productions of Faust, Werther, and Lulu with The Metropolitan Opera.

Internationally, he has performed at Teatro Comunale di Bologna and often performs many roles with The Festival Lyrique International de Bell-Ile en Mer France. He has appeared with the Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Holders Festival in Barbados and more. Mr. Harris has also performed “Billy Bigelow” in Carousel, “Anthony Hope” in Sweeney Todd, “Pirate Bras Piquein” in Naughty Marietta, and The Music Man with Baltimore Actors’ Theatre. A seasoned concert artist, Mr. Harris has performed with numerous esteemed symphonies throughout North America. A vocal competition winner, Mr. Harris’ honors and awards include first prize in the Seattle Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, “Young Artist of the Year” with Opera Longview Vocal Competition in Texas, and the Ellen Faull Gordon Northwest Vocal Competition.

Mr. Harris appears courtesy of Uzan International Artists (New York, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

39

MASTERWORKS CONCERT III

robyn bollinger bruckner's VIOLINIST

AND

ROMANTIC SYMPHONY SATURDAY, 25 JANUARY 2020 7:30 P.M.

HELENA CIVIC CENTER

Firecracker Violinist Robyn Bollinger, proclaimed as “daring, charismatic, and passionate,” performs Édouard Lalo’s fiery Symphonie espagnole.

Bruckner’s popular Fourth Symphony was hailed as his greatest triumph and an “extraordinary musical creation,” and is a perfect escape from winter with sweeping sounds of grandeur.

Maestro Allan R. Scott

Robyn Bollinger

Ms. Bollinger’s appearance is made possible with generous support from:

ALICE & ED SANTOS The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor ROBYN BOLLINGER – Violin H elena S ymphony O rchestra

LALO Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op. 21+

Ms. Bollinger, violin

I. Allegro non troppo

II. Scherzando: Allegro molto

III. Intermezzo: Allegretto non troppo

IV. Andante

V. Finale: Rondo: Allegro –– INTERMISSION ––

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, Romantic+

I. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell (With motion, not too fast)

II. Andante quasi allegretto III. Scherzo: Bewegt (With motion) — Trio: Nicht zu schnell (Not too fast) — Scherzo IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (With motion,

but not too fast)

+ = Helena Symphony premiere performance www.helenasymphony.org

41

MASTERWORKS CONCERT III VIOLINIST ROBYN BOLLINGER AND BRUCKNER’S ROMANTIC SYMPHONY

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21 Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole is scored for violin solo, piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, snare drum, harp, and divided strings.

Duration: 30 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 8 74 Stephen Dudley Field invents the electric streetcar Alexander Graham Bell proposes the idea for a telephone Verdi’s Requiem premieres Johann Strauss’ opera Die Fledermaus premieres Tchaikovsky writes his Piano Concerto No. 1 Monet and Renoir begin painting along the Seine First ice cream soda is sold First zoo in U.S. opens in Philadelphia 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore dies Poet Robert Frost, magician Harry Houdini, U.S. President Herbert Hoover, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, composers Arnold Schoenberg, Gustav Holst, and Charles Ives are born 42

ÉDOUARD L ALO

Born: Lille, France, 27 Januar y 1823 Died: Paris, France, 22 April 1892

THERE ARE ARTISTS IN ALL GENRES that remain “one hit wonders,” meaning they are recognized mainly because of one work and little to nothing else. Composer and violinist Édouard Lalo is one of those “wonders,” the hit is his Symphonie espagnole.

The son of a decorated military man who fought for Napoleon, Lalo actually was discouraged to take up music as a career. At age 16, however, he left for Paris to study violin and composition, and remained there to teach and perform chamber music. He was a founding member of the Armingaud Quartet and was determined to promote chamber music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven at a time when chamber music was not particularly popular with French audiences. The quartet often collaborated with high profile pianists such as Camille Saint-Saëns and Clara Schumann.

Lalo as a composer was virtually unknown perhaps because he not only preferred to perform chamber music, he preferred to compose works for small ensemble and his quartet. After abandoning composing for several years, he wrote his opera Fiesque. The 43-year-old composer was so furious when he submitted the opera to a competition and did not win that he paid for its premiere himself, even though it was never performed. About a decade later, Lalo’s luck changed. He met legendary Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) and composed a Violin Concerto for Sarasate to premiere. While the concerto is now lost, the collaboration between Lalo and Sarasate inspired the composer to create his Symphonie espagnole the same year Sarasate premiered the concerto (Sarasate eventually premiered other works composed for him, such as those by Bruch, Saint-Saëns, and Dvořák).

From the title of the work to nearly every phrase, Symphonie espagnole not only captures the emerging popularity of Spanish music, but it incorporates Sarasate’s cultural insight to the music. While Lalo’s first name is certainly French, “Lalo” is of Spanish origin, as his father’s family immigrated from Spain during the 16th century to settle in northern France.

Several things are unconventional about Lalo’s new work.

Most obvious is the title does not convey a work for solo instrument and orchestra at all, but rather a work that is for orchestral virtuosity, such as the popular works by Brahms, Schumann, or Mendelssohn. “I kept the title Symphonie espagnole, contrary to, and in spite of everybody’s advice,” wrote Lalo. “first, because it conveyed my thought – that is to say, of a violin solo soaring above the rigid form of an old symphony – and then because the title was less banal

“

The famous finale combines the spirited Spanish sounds with a fun, virtuosic, quick-paced melody that clears away the melancholy of the previous movement and concludes with musical fireworks. than others that were proposed to me.” The work is also in five movements in lieu of the conventional three movements.

The orchestra boldly begins the Symphonie espagnole, and the first movement is the most assertive and the most traditional of the five for sure. The violin solo’s virtuosity captures our attention immediately as does the overall rhythmic energy of the movement. The second movement is where the real sounds of Spain emerge. If one was not aware that Bizet’s Carmen would not premiere for another year, one would swear Lalo was writing a tribute to the Spanish dances in Carmen. Complete with strings and harp plucking like a Spanish guitar, the violin solo in the second movement serenades us with a seguidilla dance that is as alluring as Carmen. The third movement, which was added later and was often omitted from performances, is a hypnotic haberna (again, just like in Carmen) that seduces with some of the most virtuosic and colorful moments in the entire work. Darker colors open the fourth movement as Lalo explores the lower, weeping sounds of the violin in a folk song-like reflection. The famous finale combines the spirited Spanish sounds with a fun, virtuosic, quick-paced melody that clears away the melancholy of the previous movement and concludes with musical fireworks.

Even though Lalo may be remembered mostly for his Symphonie espagnole, the work paved the way for Bizet’s Carmen; inspired Sarasate to compose his fantasy of themes of Carmen; and gave impetus to Tchaikovsky to write his own violin concerto. Most of all, Symphonie espagnole still has the power to tantalize audiences today with the same exotic flare. 

R O B Y N B O L L I N G E R – Vi ol i n Last Season superstar Violinist Robyn Bollinger performed Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. “Daring, versatile, charismatic and passionate,” the Boston Musical Intelligencer says that “at times, Bollinger’s violin spoke like a limpid and pure flute. At other times, it mourned as a cello.” A sought-after collaborator, Ms. Bollinger is a popular figure on the chamber music stage, both as a member of the renowned, Grammy-nominated Boston-based ensemble A Far Cry, and for her work at festivals, and on chamber music series. She has performed in Midori’s Music Sharing International Community Engagement Program “ICEP” in Japan; and performed in recital in Japan’s Phoenix Hall (Osaka), Oji Hall (Tokyo), and Tokyo National Arts Center. She served as a Young Artist Fellow for Music for Food, the national musician-led initiative for local hunger relief. Having made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut at age twelve, Ms. Bollinger has since performed with orchestras and at festivals nationwide, among them the Boston Pops, the Grand Tetons Music Festival Orchestra, and the music festivals of Aspen, Lake Champlain, Maui, Marlboro, and Rockport. Ms. Bollinger’s 2019-2020 Season is anchored by a prestigious Dumbarton Oaks Early-Career Musician Residency in Washington, DC. Following her appearance with the HSO, Ms. Bollinger will perform with the Boston Chamber Music Society and with Maestro Scott and the Southern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra. www.helenasymphony.org

43

MASTERWORKS CONCERT III VIOLINIST ROBYN BOLLINGER AND BRUCKNER’S ROMANTIC SYMPHONY

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, Romantic Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and divided strings.

Duration: 65 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 8 74 First electric street trolley Alexander Graham Bell proposes idea for telephone Verdi’s Requiem premieres Johann Strauss’ opera Die Fledermaus premieres Tchaikovsky writes his First Piano Concerto Monet and Renoir begin painting along the Seine First ice cream soda is sold First zoo in U.S. opens in Philadelphia 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore dies Poet Robert Frost, magician Harry Houdini, U.S. President Herbert Hoover, Winston Churchill, composers Arnold Schoenberg, Gustav Holst, and Charles Ives are born 44

ANTON BRUCKNER

Born: Ansfelden, Austria, 4 September 1824 Died: Vienna, Austria, 11 October 1896

OFTEN DESCRIBED AS SIMPLE, SHY, socially awkward, conscientious, and in some ways naïve, Anton Bruckner was well into his thirties before his imagination took shape. Even though his enormously powerful (and extremely lengthy) nine symphonies embodied the Wagnerian trends of large sounds and dramatic writing, Bruckner also remained a man of simple tastes, unsure of himself, and something of an enigma.

The son of schoolmasters, Bruckner may always be remembered more for his monumental symphonies, often described as “Gothic cathedrals of sound”; yet, his greatest achievement is that he was the most important church musician since J.S. Bach. Mainly due to his education at an Augustinian monastery and his experience singing and conducting a chorus, Bruckner’s career as organist, chorusmaster, and church composer was an ideal fit. His three masses continued the Viennese tradition of Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert and they even provided much of the melodic core to his symphonies.

Bruckner’s works are not dominated by continuity of musical ideas; rather, he used tonal tensions to create an original structure and unique symmetry. He was forty when he composed his first significant large-scale work (a mass), and forty-two before he wrote his first published symphony. His personal insecurities and over-sensitive nature often were an impediment to finding his musical voice.

Like so many other composers, Bruckner died before completing his final symphony, and, in many ways, he rarely felt that he had finished any of his earlier ones. His Symphony No. 3 exists in no fewer than nine versions, and his Symphony No. 4 endured essentially three major revisions over a period of fifteen years. Composed in 1874, the Fourth Symphony in its original version was not performed for nearly a hundred years.

The first major revision, often referred to as the “1878/1880 version,” included a completely new third movement and a substantially rewritten finale. Final revisions, and larger cuts, were made in 1887-1888, and published in 1889. In all its versions, the Fourth Symphony has the subtitle “Romantic,” and it is the only symphony that Bruckner gave a title. The nickname does not refer to romantic love, but medieval romance (knights, hunting scenes, towns, etc.) that are found in fairy tales or Wagner operas. Bruckner attempted to sum the “Romantic” subtitle by describing the first movement as a scene from the days of chivalry, the second movement as a rustic love scene, and the third as a hunting scene interrupted by a dance; but when asked about the finale, he admitted that he really forgot what the whole thing was about. Most listeners and scholars have found that the subtitle does not have a direct correlation to the music, and it is often best to disregard any literal images that one might attempt to relate to the work.

Perhaps the only “romantic” connection that could be made is the opening rising and falling horn calls over the undercurrent of the strings in the opening of the work. As with so many other symphonies Bruckner composed, the Fourth Symphony uses Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 as a model for the large-scale structure: a lengthy first movement, a spacious slow movement, a scherzo (in the sonata form), and an immense finale that combines many of the themes from the previous movements. Unlike Beethoven, however, Bruckner exhausted the music to almost ridiculous lengths. The first movement, for example, is more than twice as long as any opening movement to a symphony by Mozart or Haydn. Bruckner scholar Robert Simpson describes Bruckner’s style as a “manifestation of patience.” Over time, however, many listeners have come to realize that Bruckner’s genius is revealed only through the enormous length of his music. “Bruckner has never been known to make a long story short,” suggests program annotator Phillip Huscher, “but he is a masterful storyteller”, and while the Fourth Symphony moves at “a deliberate and relentless gait, it is shrewdly paced and lovingly told, with moments of almost unimaginable beauty.” Bruckner himself acknowledged that he “liked to catch his breath before saying something significant.”

Beethoven’s “tragedy to joy” notion in his Ninth Symphony seems much more of a tangible idea today than Bruckner’s more transcendent mysticism that permeates his Fourth Symphony.

In addition to horn calls, the work is quintessential Bruckner, in that it is full of extreme range of dynamics, sweeping and intense strings, and unrestrained jubilant affirmations of the brass. In many ways, the Fourth Symphony is the peak of Bruckner’s symphonies, as it seems to have the more rustic elements of his earlier works coupled with the lofty grandeur of his later symphonies.

The Fourth Symphony also demonstrates some of Bruckner’s finest craftsmanship, maturity, creativity, and even confidence – the one thing that he so craved and so needed. 

BENEFIT CONCERT SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 2020

$150 Per Person / Limited Seating - Reserve Your Place!

This event is unlike any other and seating is limited to 500 people, so get your name on the reserved list now! Exquisite food, picturesque views from the estate of acclaimed European actors Nick Wilder and Christine Mayn, and the music-making of the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale.

This is an elegant, formal, red-carpet affair. Look for details throughout the year!

www.helenasymphony.org

45

MASTERWORKS CONCERT IV

gershwin's piano symphony

AND

NEW

WORLD

SATURDAY, 29 FEBRUARY 2020 7:30 P.M.

HELENA CIVIC CENTER

Acclaimed Pianist Carl Cranmer performs Gershwin’s jazzy Piano Concerto, and the HSO performs Dvořák’s musical postcard from America in his final symphony – two beloved masterpieces!

Maestro Allan R. Scott

This concert is sponsored in part by generous support from:

MARY AHMANN HIBBARD

Carl Cranmer

Mr. Cranmer’s appearance is made possible with generous support from:

JEAN & RON BALDWIN

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor CARL CRANMER – Piano H elena S ymphony O rchestra

GERSHWIN Piano Concerto in F

Mr. Cranmer, piano

I. Allegro

II. Adagio – Andante con moto

III. Allegro agitato –– INTERMISSION ––

DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World

I. Adagio – Allegro molto

II. Largo

III. Molto vivace

IV. Allegro con fuoco

www.helenasymphony.org

47

MASTERWORKS CONCERT IV GERSHWIN’S PIANO AND NEW WORLD SYMPHONY ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

GEORGE GERSHWIN

Piano Concerto in F Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F is scored for solo piano, piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tam-tam, triangle, wood block, whip, xylophone, glockenspiel, and divided strings.

Duration: 33 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 925 The Scopes “Monkey Trial” takes place Benito Mussolini becomes dictator of Italy Hitler publishes Mein Kampf F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is published Art Deco style is introduced in Paris Charlie Chaplin’s film The Gold Rush premieres Georgia O’Keeffe paints Large Dark Red Leaves on White Robert F. Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher, Malcolm X, Johnny Carson, blues musician B.B. King, actors Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Rock Hudson, Angela Lansbury, Dick Van Dyke, and Sammy Davis, Jr., are born 48

B o r n : B r o o k l y n , N e w Yo r k , 2 6 S e p t e m b e r 1 8 9 8 Died: Hollywood, California, 11 July 1937

AT A LATE-NIGHT PARTY TYPICAL OF the Jazz Age, pianist George Gershwin was overheard pondering if his music would “be heard a hundred years from now.” “It will,” a friend remarked, “if you are around to play it.”

It is not quite a hundred years since Gershwin composed his claim-to-fame song “Swanee” (1919) and his legendary Rhapsody in Blue (1924), yet Gershwin has not been around to play his music for more than seventy years.

Born Jacob Gershowitz to Russian immigrants, George Gershwin actually began his music career as a high school drop out in Tin Pan Alley, New York’s famous songwriting district. As a “song plugger” for the Jerome Remick Company, the young George was exposed to thousands of songs and limitless experience as a jazz pianist.

As one of the first notable American composers, Gershwin made the first attempts to close the gap between “popular” music and “serious” music. While some classical music purists still do not fully accept Gershwin into the circles of classical music completely, no one can deny Gershwin’s uncanny ability as a songwriter.

Despite his Broadway success with his lyricist brother, Ira, George also followed his less natural talents as a classical composer. Ravel refused to teach Gershwin, saying “Why would you want to be a second rate Ravel when you are already a first rate Gershwin?” Upon learning that Gershwin made over a $100,000 a year, Stravinsky suggested “it is Gershwin that should be giving me lessons.” So Gershwin initially had to study composition, theory, and orchestration on his own.

When Gershwin composed his Rhapsody in Blue, he had no experience writing for orchestra and no formal training in theory or orchestration. After being refused by Ravel and Stravinsky, Gershwin sought out training, including tutelage with atonal composer Arnold Schoenberg. As a result, Gershwin’s musical language became more sophisticated and produced perhaps his two most developed and creative works: his opera Porgy & Bess and his Piano Concerto in F. Astonished by Rhapsody in Blue, conductor Walter Damrosch commissioned Gershwin to write another work for piano and orchestra. This time Gershwin wanted to compose a lengthier and more structured concerto as in the style established by Mozart and Beethoven. Originally titled the New York Concerto, the new work was to have the conventional three movements; however, Gershwin was still Gershwin, and the Piano Concerto in F is complete with his signature song-like melodies, brilliant pacing, and, most of all, the fusion of jazz with the more formal symphonic music.

Like most Gershwin works, the Concerto in F has a natural

“

... Gershwin made the first attempts to close the gap between “popular” music and “serious” music.

While some classical music purists still do not fully accept Gershwin into the circles of classical music completely, no one can deny Gershwin’s uncanny ability as a songwriter. feeling to it – perhaps why most of Gershwin’s music is so easily remembered. The opening movement is crammed with many inspired ideas that range from the grandiose to the skittish, the broad to the delicately soft. A duet between the piano solo and a solo muted trumpet becomes one of the most memorable in the jazz-inspired second movement that is one of the greatest examples of blues in all of symphonic music. Reprising the earlier themes, the final movement brings the thirty-minute Concerto in F to a grand culmination in the best Broadway-like fashion, that Gershwin called an “orgy of rhythm.”

Continued on page 50

C A R L C R A N M E R – Pi an o The Helena Symphony is pleased to welcome back Pianist Carl Cranmer. Mr. Cranmer made his debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra at age nine, playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488. He has performed with the Royal Philharmonic of England, the Gulbenkian Orquesta of Portugal, Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra and several other orchestras in the U.S. and Asia.

Of his performance of Liszt’s Concerto No. 2, The New York Times’ James Oesterreich remarked that Mr. Cranmer “made light work of Liszt’s fiendishly demanding octaves, scales, and glissandos, showing a fine lyrical strain to boot. And he did it all with lovely, controlled tone.” In the summer of 2018, Mr. Cranmer was a judge of the 12th Moscow International Frédéric Chopin Competition held in Foshan, China. His 2018-2019 Season included performances of the quartet version of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Dali Quartet, Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with Maestro Scott and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, and solo recitals in Anchorage, Alaska; Salt Lake City, Utah; Krakow, Poland; and Beijing and Guangzhou, China.

Mr. Cranmer’s performances have been televised in Madrid, Tokyo, Montreal, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, and have been broadcast on radio stations in Tokyo, New York, Montreal, Boston, and Atlanta, including NPR. His recordings include a solo album of the music of Poulenc, Fauré, Liszt, Granados, Chopin and one by Samuel Barber entitled “Soirée.” In 2010, he recorded Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto with the Russian Philharmonic, and in 2015 released a CD of Barber’s Complete Published Solo Piano Music. In summer, 2019 he plans to record a CD of Rachmaninov’s Suites for Two Pianos 1 and 2 and other pieces for two pianos with pianist YoungAh Tak. Mr. Cranmer has performed in Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie Weill Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and the Academy of Music, Verizon Hall, and the Perelman Theater in Philadelphia. www.helenasymphony.org

49

MASTERWORKS CONCERT IV GERSHWIN’S PIANO AND NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

GERSHWIN

Continued from page 49

While today Gershwin’s Concerto in F is one of the most respected and most loved works of the twentieth century, the work received mixed reactions in 1925. Stravinsky, who did not care much for Rhapsody in Blue, loved the Concerto in F. Serge Prokofiev, however, disliked it immensely, dismissing it as nothing but “a succession of 32 bar choruses.”

“The Concerto in F,” says musicologist Phillip Huscher, “stands as one of the high points in the merger of European sensibilities with the freedom, rhythmic excitement, and bravado of jazz and American musical theater—a new tradition fostered alike by the Europeans Stravinsky and Milhaud (both of whom scooped Gershwin in their efforts, but could not match his success) and the Americans Copland and Bernstein.” After conducting the premiere of the Concerto in F, Walter Damrosch praised the work: Various composers have been walking around jazz like a cat around a plate of soup, waiting for it to cool off so that they could enjoy it without burning their tongues, hitherto accustomed only to the more tepid liquids distilled by cooks of the classical school. Lady Jazz . . . has danced her way around the world . . ., but for all her travels and sweeping popularity, she has encountered no knight who could lift her to a level that would enable her to be received as a respectable member of musical circles. George Gershwin seems to have accomplished this miracle . . . boldly by dressing his extremely independent and up-to-date young lady in the classic garb of a concerto. . . He is the Prince who has taken Cinderella by the hand and openly proclaimed her a princess to the astonished world, no doubt to the fury of her envious sisters.

Like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, Gershwin’s music has come to define American life and culture during the “roaring” 1920s. Immediately after Gershwin’s death and throughout the 1940s through the 1950s, Gershwin’s songs essentially set the stage for some of the great performers, like Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett. There is not a cabaret singer, jazz musician, or jazz lover that does not hold Gershwin as the father of the American song. From airline commercials and dozens of films, to remakes of nearly every kind, (including hip hop, rock and roll, and rap), Gershwin’s music has remained in main stream Americana.

Sadly, the man who gave us the cheerful, fun-spirited, heart-warming music that has stayed with us for nearly a century never lived long enough to enjoy it. When he died, it was and remains an incalculable loss to American music. Gershwin collapsed in July 1937 and fell into a coma from which he never regained consciousness and died of a brain tumor. He was 38. 

Supporting the Arts in Helena T H E H E L E N A H O M E T E A M AT

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Mary Ahmann Hibbard

Helena Symphony Season 65

Tara Palmer

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT IV GERSHWIN’S PIANO AND NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, and cymbals, and divided strings.

Duration: 44 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 8 93 Grover Cleveland becomes the 24th U.S. President (he was also the 22nd) Chicago hosts World’s Fair Pissarro paints Place du Havre, Paris Verdi’s last opera, Falstaff, premieres Composer Cole Porter, choreographer Martha Graham, Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung, and actress Mae West are born New Zealand becomes the first country to grant women the right to vote Cream of wheat is invented 52

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Born: Nelahozeves, Czechoslovakia, 8 September 1841 Died: Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1 May 1904

ABOUT THE COMPOSER Without question Antonín Dvořák is one of the most prolific symphony composers of all time and the greatest of all Czech composers. His contribution to symphonic and chamber music ranks alongside that of the most commanding nineteenth century masters.

Born in a small Bohemian Czech village to an innkeeper and part-time butcher, Dvořák’s upbringing instilled in him a love for the countryside and its people – a love that he never lost, and a love that would be his greatest inspiration.

As a small boy he learned the violin, sang in the local church choir, played in orchestras, and composed marches and waltzes for the town orchestras. As his compositional studies progressed, Dvořák became highly proficient on the piano, organ, and viola. Like most of the late-Romantic composers, he quickly succumbed to the spell of Richard Wagner’s music and ideas.

Dvořák’s career as a composer began slowly, so he served as an organist at a church in Prague and played viola in several orchestras. After the performance of his Seventh Symphony (originally numbered No. 2), several string quartets, and a few operas, Dvořák became well respected as a major composer throughout Czechoslovakia.

As several other nationalist movements in music took shape, specifically in Russia, Hungary, England, Italy, and France, Dvořák assumed the mantle of the Czech nationalist movement that was started by composer Bedrich Smetana.

As Dvořák began to benefit from his celebrity status, honors were heaped on him at home and abroad. The University of Prague presented him with an honorary degree and the Prague Conservatory named him Professor of Composition.

In England Dvořák conducted his works for several years, and he was invited to head the newly founded New York National Conservatory of Music. After giving in to much persuasion, Dvořák embarked for the United States in 1892. The next three years would become one of his most productive periods as a composer.

Upon witnessing the growth of music in America, Dvořák asked American composers, “What is American music? What are its origins?” These questions would shape American artists for the next century, particularly Aaron Copland.

The distance from Europe gave Dvořák perspective on his homeland and during his tenure in the United States Dvořák made his own attempt to identify the roots of American music. His internationally-loved Symphony No. 9, subtitled From the New World, along with his cello concerto and two more string quartets, secured Dvořák’s place among the

greatest composers of the late-Romantic era, and an equal to Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler.

Since then Dvořák’s music has generally been represented in concert halls outside of Prague only by these last great works, as the Ninth Symphony in many ways has blinded audiences to the existence of his eight others. Only during the last thirty years or so have orchestras throughout the world performed these works, which have met with amazement by audiences.

ABOUT THE WORK The New York National Conservatory was established to help create a new American tradition of music. Naturally, Dvořák felt nostalgic for his native country and after only two years (and with little regularity of pay) Dvořák chose to return to Europe and resume his duties at the Prague Conservatory.

Although homesick, Dvořák was equally enthusiastic for the sights and sounds of the United States, particularly the sounds that were native to the country and not those that were transplanted from Europe. During the final weeks of 1892 on East 17th Street in New York, Dvořák sketched his most notable work to date, his “postcard” from America to his homeland – the New World Symphony. In his final weeks before returning to Europe, Dvořák visited a Czech colony in Spillville, Iowa, where he completed the Symphony on 24 May 1893.

Much has been made of the Native American chants and black spirituals which allegedly permeate Dvořák’s work; however, with the exception of a possible reference in the final movement to “Three Blind Mice” (which is actually English in origin), the Ninth Symphony contains not a single American folk tune. The well-known melody in the second movement which dominates the slower part of the movement eventually became the American folk tune “Goin’ Home,” but only long after the Ninth Symphony had been composed.

In an interview published in the New York Herald on 15 December 1893, the day before the Ninth Symphony premiered, Dvořák discussed the work and provided a succinct understanding: Since I have been in this country I have been deeply interested in the national music of the Negroes and the Indians. The character, the very nature of a race is contained in its national music. For that reason my attention was turned at once in the direction of these native melodies.

It is this spirit which I have tried to reproduce in my new Symphony. I have not actually used any of the melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the music, and, using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythms, harmony, counterpoint, and orchestra color.

The Symphony is in E minor. It is written upon the classical models and is in four movements. It opens with a short introduction, an Adagio of about thirty bars in length. This leads directly into the Allegro, which embodies the principles which I have already worked out in my Slavonic Dances; that is, to preserve, to translate into music, the spirit of a race as distinct in its national melodies or folk songs.

The second movement is a Largo. But it is different from the classical works in the form. It is in reality a sketch for a longer work, either a cantata or an opera which I propose writing, and which will be based on Longfellow’s “Hiawatha.”

The Scherzo of the Symphony was suggested by the wedding feast in “Hiawatha” where Indians dance, and is also an essay which I made in the direction of imparting the local color of Indian character to the music. The last movement is an Allegro con fuoco. All the previous themes reappear and are treated in a variety of ways.

With the Carnegie Hall premiere, the Ninth Symphony became an overnight sensation.

Following each movement, Dvořák was obliged to rise and bow from his box, and at the end of the evening, he was greeted with thunderous cheering and applause. Within several years, From the New World made similar conquests of virtually every musical capital in the world. By 1904, the year of Dvořák’s death, the Ninth Symphony was already established as one of the most popular symphonies ever written – a position, over one hundred years later, it still enjoys.  www.helenasymphony.org

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT V

mendelssohn rossini AND

SATURDAY, 28 MARCH 2020 7:30 P.M.

HELENA CIVIC CENTER

Mendelssohn captures his impressions of Italy as “the supreme joy of life” in his famous Italian Symphony, and legendary Italian composer Gioachino Rossini brings his flair for operatic drama, passion, love, and loss to the setting of Stabat Mater – a recounting of the Virgin Mary’s devastation over the death of her Son.

Maestro Allan R. Scott

Saundra DeAthos

Omar Najmi

This concert is sponsored in part by generous support from:

Teresa Buchholz

John Robert Green

The guest artists’ appearances are sponsored in part by the generous support of:

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor SAUNDRA DEATHOS – Soprano TERESA BUCHHOLZ – Mezzo Soprano OMAR NAJMI – Tenor JOHN ROBERT GREEN – Baritone H elena S ymphony O rchestra & C horale

MENDELSSOHN

Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, Italian

I. Allegro vivace

II. Andante con moto III. Con moto moderato IV. Saltarello: Presto –– INTERMISSION ––

ROSSINI Stabat Mater+

Ms. DeAthos, soprano Mr. Najmi, tenor

Ms. Buchholz, mezzo soprano Mr. Green, baritone

I. Introduction: Stabat mater dolorosa

II. Cujus animam gementem III. Quis est homo

IV. Pro peccatis suae gentis

V. Eja, mater, istud agas

VI. Sancta mater, istud agas

VII. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem

Performed in Latin with English subtitles. + = Helena Symphony premiere performance www.helenasymphony.org

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT V MENDELSSOHN AND ROSSINI

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, Italian The Italian Symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and divided strings.

Duration: 27 minutes

PA R A L L E L EVENTS / 1833 Slavery is abolished in the British Empire Chicago is incorporated as a village with 200 people Oberlin College is founded as the first college to admit students regardless of race or gender First U.S. music school is established in Boston 23rd U.S. President Benjamin Harrison and composers Johannes Brahms and Alexander Borodin are born First successful penny newspaper, New York Sun, is established First soda fountain is patented 56

Born: Hamburg, Germany, 3 Februar y 1809 Died: Leipzig, Germany, 4 November 1847

IT IS OFTEN SUGGESTED THAT in order to truly be a great artist of any kind, one must endure a certain amount of suffering.

This thought has never been more false for the career of Felix Mendelssohn. Few composers have been born into such congenial and unworrying circumstances as Mendelssohn. Son of a banker, he was never wanting for material needs, yet even if he had not had these advantages his natural talents would surely have brought him to prominence. His education included private one-on-one liberal arts education and even private philosophy instruction at the University of Berlin and further intellectual instruction with world renowned poet Johann Goethe.

Musically, Mendelssohn resembled the pianist skills and early compositional talents of Mozart, mastering the fugues of Bach and associating with musical giants such as Moscheles (student of Salieri), Hummel (student of Mozart and Haydn), Cherubini, and Rossini. By the time Mendelssohn was eighteen he was an accomplished painter and poet, and musically he had produced a substantial body of works.

As a composer Mendelssohn was influenced by the works of J.S. Bach, Handel, and Mozart, rather than those of his contemporaries. By the close of his career Mendelssohn emerged, along with Richard Wagner, as one of the fathers of modern conducting and the person who first put the works of J.S. Bach into mainstream performances. In addition to serving as conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the founder of the Leipzig Conservatory, Mendelssohn produced operas, incidental music, oratorios, sacred and secular cantatas, twelve sinfonias for strings, four symphonies, overtures and other orchestral works, concertos for violin and piano, chamber music, many keyboard works, choral works, songs and duets.

Mendelssohn’s parents encouraged their talented young son, but they also wanted him to be a well-rounded adult, with a chance to see and learn from the wider world. When the composer reached his twenty-first birthday, his father urged him to leave Germany on a series of travels, telling him “to examine the various countries closely,” as Mendelssohn recalled, “I was to make my name and gifts known, and was to press forward in my work.”

Living up to his father’s wishes, Mendelssohn first journeyed to Great Britain in 1829, which resulted in a number of compositions including the popular Hebrides Overture and the initial sketches of his Scottish Symphony. He made such an impression on the musical scene in London that two generations of English composers were influenced by Mendelssohn’s example.

On the advice of one of his mentors, poet Johann Goethe, Mendelssohn next visited Italy, specifically Venice, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Genoa, and Milan over the course of eighteen

“

I was to make my name and gifts known, and was to press forward in my work.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

months. He had long wanted to visit Italy, the cradle of so much of European culture. Basking in the sunny climate, Mendelssohn enjoyed the scenery and art treasures as much as he anticipated he would. He explained that he could no longer work on the Scottish Symphony because “the loveliest time of the year in Italy is the period from April 15 to May 15. Who then can blame me for not being able to return to the mists of Scotland?”

Mendelssohn furthered explained that he was beginning work on a new symphony which he titled Italian. “It will be the jolliest piece I have ever done, especially the last movement,” he told his sisters. While Mendelssohn did not complete the Italian Symphony in Italy, he finished the work at home and in Paris, and premiered it for a commission for the Philharmonic Society of London, conducting the premiere himself on 13 May 1833 in London.

The Italian Symphony opens with an outburst of energy in a theme played by the violins over a rapid energy by the winds. The pulsing pattern gives the movement its air of urgent motion as if almost speeding through the Italian countryside. The rhythms of the movement are almost implied to suggest an Italian tarantella, a feverish dance intended to cure the dancer from a tarantula bite.

In contrast, the second movement has a sense of reserved grace. The movement is often referred to as the melody of a Czech pilgrim song composed by Mendelssohn’s teacher or even a variation on one of Mendelssohn’s movements from his Song Without Words. Another source claims it depicts a solemn religious procession the composer witnessed in Naples. Whatever its origins, the slow movement in a minor key is a wonderful contrast to the energetic opening. The sustained theme over the gently “walking” countermelody closes with a quiet pizzicato bass line bringing the processional-like movement to a close.

The minuet-like third movement makes a stately entrance. Supposedly, Mendelssohn was inspired by Goethe’s poem “Lilis Park,” which depicts an elaborate formal garden and menagerie with a bear (the poet), presided over by a beautiful woman. The middle section of the movement (the trio) represents the powerful bear, who longs to escape, with a horn chorale and swelling brass. While the trio section tries to maintain supremacy during the final moments of the movement, the main minuet theme returns and ends the movement.

Like the opening movement, the final movement sparkles with energy and joy. Conversely, the first movement (and the second and third movements) is not specifically Italian in the folk-music sense. The last movement exudes an unmistakably Italian flavor, as it is a symphonic version of a saltarello, a lively Neapolitan leaping dance which Mendelssohn witnessed during his travels at the carnival festivals in Rome. Dating back to the sixteenth century, a saltarello features lively leaps, hoops, and wild arm movements. The final section of the Italian Symphony is equally wild, opening vigorously and maintaining a breathtaking pace. Mendelssohn even pays tribute to Italy’s celebrated opera composer, Rossini, by using a version of a “Rossini crescendo,” which continuously and quickly builds from very soft to very strong. In the final moments, the theme from the opening movement reappears but in the minor key, until the Symphony comes to an energetic and dramatic close and is every bit as “jolly” as Mendelssohn assured it would be.

Although the first performance was a success, Mendelssohn withdrew the Italian Symphony for revision less than a year later. Never fully satisfied with it, Mendelssohn refused to allow either its performance in Germany or its publication. Not until four years after Mendelssohn’s death did the Italian Symphony appear in print and with the composer’s revisions. Perhaps it was Mendelssohn’s overdeveloped sense of self-criticism that caused him to pull the work during his lifetime, since the Italian Symphony is as polished and appealing a gem as anything he created. Even though Mendelssohn seemed to live a sheltered and fairy tale life of extraordinary wealth, for him at least, he captured in music what he first experienced upon arriving – “This is Italy! The greatest pleasure in life has now begun.”  www.helenasymphony.org

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT V MENDELSSOHN AND ROSSINI

ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

GIOACCHINO ROSSINI

Stabat Mater Rossini’s Stabat Mater is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, divided strings, mixed chorus, and soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor, and baritone solos.

Duration: 62 minutes

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 8 42 U.S. and Britain settle dispute over Canadian border U.S. passes first child labor laws New York Philharmonic gives first performance London Illustrated News is first published Mount St. Helen’s erupts in Washington state Jules Verne writes Around the World in 80 Days Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd marry Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, Verdi’s opera Nabucco, and Glinka’s opera Russlan & Ludmilla premiere Composers Sir Arthur Sullivan and Jules Massenet, Outlaw Jesse James, and German astronomer Hermann Karl Vogel are born Paper becomes used for Christmas cards Sewing machine is patented 58

Bo r n : Pe s a ro , It a l y, 2 9 Fe b r u a r y 1 7 9 2 Died: Passy, Italy, 13 November 1868

ABOUT THE COMPOSER The son of a municipal trumpeter in a small Italian village, Gioacchino Rossini revealed his own musical ability at a very early age, and by his early teens was proficient not only on the piano but also on the viola and the horn. The young Rossini was also in demand as a boy soprano, and soon began to compose. His mother was a soprano and between the two parents they patched a livelihood together. Often moving to different towns for work, Rossini was able to gain some formal musical education from noted Italian composers.

When Rossini was eighteen he left his schooling in Liceo for a commission to write a one-act opera in Venice. This first work, La Cambiale di Matrimonio, was successful enough to lead to several other commissions for one-act comic operas, but the first major work of Rossini’s was the full length dramatic opera Tancredi, based on a tragedy by Voltaire. Rossini quickly found himself famous throughout Italy, and was now invited to compose operas in Milan and Naples. The opera business in early nineteenth century Italy was very hectic. Every season there were two to three operas a year for each opera house and the public expected to hear at least two new operas that were composed specifically for the presenting theatre and its singers. In most cases the composer would receive the libretto only a few weeks in advance of the premiere performance, so often composers had to use previously composed material.

Even the celebrated Rossini had to work under these pressures: he composed more than thirty operas in little over a dozen years, often writing them in less than three weeks. In many cases, Rossini used material of his previously published operas and presented them in the new opera. His most popular work, The Barber of Seville, was composed in less than two weeks, although much of the music had already served in other (non-comic) operas.

Rossini’s career continued to grow, writing other popular operas such as Otello, Mosè, La donna del lago, The Thieving Magpie, Semiramide, and William Tell, his most influential work written for the Paris Opera. Curiously, Rossini never composed another opera after William Tell and was only thirty-seven years old, and yet he lived for another thirtynine years.

ABOUT THE WORK When William Tell premiered, Rossini’s final opera, in Paris in 1829, he was the most famous composer in the world.

While he never wrote another opera and vowed to never compose again, Rossini did create one his most powerful works nearly a dozen years later. It took some convincing

“

On his death bed and while receiving last rites, Rossini was asked the traditional questions about his faith.

Instead of a simple yes, Rossini responded with “would I have been able to compose the Stabat Mater if I had not had faith?”

from Rossini’s friend, patron, and financial advisor, Alexandre-Marie Aguardo, during a trip to Spain with Rossini. A member of the Spanish court and admirer of Rossini suggested that the retired composer set music to the text of Stabat Mater – the 13th century Latin poem about the Virgin Mary grieving the murder of her son on the cross. The text, which was not adopted into the Roman Catholic liturgy until 1727, had already been used by important composers such as Palestrina, Pergolesi, and Alessandra and Domenico Scarlatti (and would later be used by Liszt, Dvořák, and Verdi). After being amazed by a performance in Continued on page 60

www.helenasymphony.org

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MASTERWORKS CONCERT V MENDELSSOHN AND ROSSINI

ROSSINI

Continued from page 59

1820 of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (composed in 1736), Rossini committed to never using the text, and in 1831 during his trip to Spain, he originally declined the invitation to compose a Stabat Mater. Later that year, however, because of the importance of the requester, Rossini began working on his own version.

Six of the ten movements were finished before Rossini was derailed with illness from composing, and he entrusted his friend and conductor Giovanni Tadolini to complete the remainder of the score. In March 1832, Rossini sent the score entirely as his own to benefactor Don Francisco Varela, who in return sent a gold snuffbox studded with eight diamonds. At Rossini’s request, there would only be a private performance later that year.

That might have been the end of the story and Rossini’s Stabat Mater might have become a forgotten and somewhat controversial work, but Varela died five years later, and the score was sold at auction and ended up at a French publisher who announced there would be a public performance. Rossini initiated legal action to prevent the performance, and quickly began to rewrite the sections that he did not compose himself. He added three new movements: one for a tenor solo; one for a virtuosic duet between the two female soloists; and a powerful aria for bass soloist. He also rewrote the entire finale using all of the forces – orchestra, chorus, and soloists. The fully completed score as we experience today was performed in Italy and conducted by Italian composer Donizetti. Astonished to hear a new work by the supposedly retired Rossini, the audience went wild, so much so that three movements had to be repeated.

It was clear to listeners in 1842 as it is today that Rossini’s creative genius had not waivered. To many, his Stabat Mater picked up where William Tell had left off. The Stabat Mater captures the emotional weight of the text coupled with the musical freshness, dramatic brilliance, and vocal expressiveness that is the hallmark of Rossini’s writing. As with Verdi’s Requiem that came later (Rossini’s death was one of the original inspirations for Verdi’s Requiem), Rossini’s Stabat Mater is often criticized for being too theatrical to be a sacred work, but Rossini considered the undeniable drama to be “opera’s offering to the Church.” And like Verdi, Rossini was not very religious, and yet both composed two of the most dramatic works that capture the power of sacred text more than almost any other.

On his death bed and while receiving last rites, Rossini was asked the traditional questions about his faith. Instead of a simple yes, Rossini responded with “would I have been able to compose the Stabat Mater if I had not had faith?” 

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Proudly Supporting the Helena Symphony 60

Helena Symphony Season 65

NMLS 848605

S A U N D R A D E AT H O S – Sopran o Having appeared with the Helena Symphony numerous times, Lyric Soprano Saundra DeAthos has been heralded for the remarkable quality of both her vocal and dramatic presentations. Most recently, she has received rave reviews at Utah Festival Opera for her portrayals of “Giorgetta” in Il Tabarro and the title role in Suor Angelica. The Herald Journal declared that, “defying typecasting, Soprano Saundra DeAthos plays an unfaithful wife in Il Tabarro and a doomed nun minutes later in Suor Angelica. Ms. DeAthos captures the emotional torment in both roles and her singing is breathtaking, especially in her tragic aria ‘Senza Mamma’.” Of her San Francisco Opera performances, Opera Magazine proclaimed, “Saundra DeAthos imparted vulnerability and an elegant soprano.” Accordingly, the San Francisco Chronicle noted, “Saundra DeAthos delivered a virtuosic performance... a real charmer of a soprano, she made one love the character.” San Francisco Classical Voice confirmed, “Saundra DeAthos nailed all of her coloratura flights and showed perfect timing.” Ms. DeAthos has graced the stages of many outstanding opera companies across the United States, such as San Francisco Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Virginia Opera, Amarillo Opera, Sacramento Opera, and Opera Illinois among others.

In addition to her operatic activities, Ms. DeAthos performs regularly with symphony orchestras throughout the United States including the San Francisco Symphony, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Symphony Orchestra, Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and others. She offers a remarkably broad concert repertoire that encompasses Handel’s Messiah and Jeptha, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, Dvořák’s Te Deum, Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem, Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Poulenc’s Gloria and Fauré’s Requiem. She was featured in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for a performance telecast on PBS.

T E R E S A B U C H H O L Z – Me zzo Soprano The Helena Symphony welcomes back versatile Mezzo Soprano Teresa Buchholz. Ms. Buchholz enjoys success in the realms of opera, art song and oratorio. Verdi’s Requiem is quickly becoming a staple of her repertoire, and she has recently performed the work with True Concord Chorus and Orchestra (Tucson, AZ), the Lake Como Music Festival (Italy), and recently with the Helena Symphony. This past March she performed Alexander Nevsky with the Anchorage Symphony, and the 2018-2019 Season marked her collaboration in the debut of the newly formed Blithewood Ensemble, which performed a program of chamber music at the Hudson Hall (Hudson, NY) and Bitò Hall at Bard College Conservatory of Music in New York.

She recently appeared with the New Jersey Choral Society on a concert featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Choral Fantasy, and performed the role of “Domna Ivanovna Sobyrova” in a staged production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tsar’s Bride as part of the Bard Music Festival. In December 2018 she appeared in Handel’s Messiah at the Bardavon Theatre in Poughkeepsie, and last fall she was heard as “Anne” in Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All in a highly acclaimed production that took place in Hudson NY. Ms. Buchholz appeared in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with The Orchestra Now at Bard College and in the role of “Berta” in a New York City concert version of the rarely heard opera Il Grillo del Focolare by Riccardo Zandonai.

Ms. Buchholz appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

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Helena Symphony Season 65

MASTERWORKS CONCERT V MENDELSSOHN AND ROSSINI

O M A R N A J M I – Te n or Making his debut with the Helena Symphony, Tenor Omar Najmi is praised for his “luxuriously Italianate voice” and “soaring upper range.”

Mr. Najmi has performed across a wide variety of repertoire both on the operatic stage and in concert. As a former Emerging Artist with the Boston Lyric Opera, he has appeared in over ten productions, including recent performances as “Nick” in The Handmaid’s Tale, the title role in the workshop of Joseph Summer’s Hamlet, and “Vanya Kudrjas” in Katya Kabanova. Mr. Najmi has also performed with Chautauqua Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Saratoga, Annapolis Opera, Odyssey Opera, Opera North, and Opera NEO. Mr. Najmi recently made his Carnegie Hall debut last season in Mark Hayes’ Gloria, and he has since returned for performances of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living, and Talents of the World International’s Enrico Caruso Tribute Concert. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Savannah Philharmonic in Mozart’s Requiem, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra in Bernstein 100!, and the Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in conjunction with the touring concert Video Games Live. Also active as a composer, Mr. Najmi recently presented the premiere of his first opera, En la ardiente oscuridad at the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. Mr. Najmi appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY)

J O H N R O B E R T G R E E N – Bari ton e Hailed at his recent Carnegie Hall debut for his “rich and deep sound,” versatile Baritone John Robert Green returns to Helena. Mr. Green recently had great success with his Wagnerian debut as “Gunther” in Götterdämmerung with LidalNorth. He enthralled Norwegian audiences with his transfixing “Tarquinius” in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and his enchanting “Peter” in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and then reprised the role of “Peter” in Hänsel und Gretel with the Savannah Voice Festival to great acclaim. Mr. Green has been lauded for his performances as “Guglielmo” in Così fan tutte, “Marcello” in La bohème, “Dr. Rappaccini” in La Hija de Rappaccini, “Count Almaviva” in Le nozze di Figaro, and the title role in Don Giovanni. For his performance of “Germont” in La traviata, Mr. Green received the Opera Performance of the Year Award from Illinois Opera Theatre and received accolades for his commanding performance of “Elijah” in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Omaha Symphony.

Mr. Green was praised for his recent performance as the bass soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Hunter College. For his performance in Spirit Suite II with Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) at Carnegie Hall, he “gave Little David, Play on Your Harp an infectious energy, and imbued the perennial favorite, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, with such pure emotion that a number of tissues were spotted being pulled from pockets and purses.”

(New York Concert Review Inc.) He has appeared as a featured soloist with the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana in performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor, Christmas Oratorio, and St. John Passion, as well as Handel’s Messiah and as the title character in Handel’s Saul. He also gained critical acclaim for his performances of Haydn’s The Creation, and Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony. This performance marks Mr. Green’s return appearance with the Helena Symphony.

He made his debut with the HSO in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem.

Mr. Green appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

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carmen in concert SATURDAY, 2 MAY 2020

5:00 P.M.

HELENA CIVIC CENTER

One of the most thrilling stories ever told, Carmen pulls us into a messy love triangle between a handsome soldier, sexy bullfighter, and the free-spirited gypsy seductress who is driven by her heart’s desires and makes men melt. Live dangerously and be tempted by one of the greatest female heroines ever – Carmen!

Maestro Allan R. Scott

Kirstin Chávez

Harold Meers

Jared Guest

Danielle Talamantes

Adelmo Guidarelli

Megan Pachecano

Katelynn Meyer

Miguel Angel Olivas

Kevin Mathews

This concert is sponsored in part by generous support from:

The guest artists’ appearances are sponsored in part by the generous support of:

The use of photographic and recording equipment is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to the performers and fellow concert-goers, please disconnect all cell phones prior to the beginning of the performance. Latecomers or those that leave the hall during the performance will be seated at an appropriate time in the concert.

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Helena Symphony Season 65

J O I N

U S

A F T E R

T H E

C O N C E R T !

JOIN US AFTER THE CONCERT!

closing night celebration $75 per Person / $550 for Table of 8 / $700 for Table of 10 Join us in the Helena Civic Center Ballroom for a post-concert event in grand style, including exquisite cuisine, open bar, entertainment, and fun live and silent auction items!

ALLAN R. SCOTT – Conductor Carmen, a gypsy KIRSTIN CHÁVEZ – Mezzo Soprano Don José, a corporal HAROLD MEERS – Tenor Escamillo, a toreador JARED GUEST – Baritone Micaëla, a village maiden DANIELLE TALAMANTES – Soprano Zuñiga, a lieutenant ADELMO GUIDARELLI – Bass Moralés, a corporal ADELMO GUIDARELLI – Bass Frasquita, a gypsy MEGAN PACHECANO – Soprano Mercédès, a gypsy KATELYNN MEYER – Mezzo Soprano Le Remendado, a smuggler MIGUEL ANGEL OLIVAS – Tenor Le Dancaïro, a smuggler KEVIN MATHEWS – Baritone H elena Y outh C horus Maren Haynes Marchesini - artistic director H elena S ymphony O rchestra & C horale

BIZET Carmen Set in Seville, Spain and surrounding hills around 1820

Act I: A square outside a tobacco factory, near an army barracks

Act II: The inn of Lillias Pastia –– INTERMISSION ––

Act III: In the mountains

Act IV: A square outside an amphitheatre Italian libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.

Performed in French with English subtitles. www.helenasymphony.org

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM By Allan R. Scott©

GEORGES BIZET

Carmen Carmen is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, harp, divided strings, three soprano, mezzo soprano, three tenor, two baritone, and bass solos, divided chorus, and several speaking roles.

Duration: 167 minutes

Bizet never saw Carmen become one of the most popular and most performed operas. He died on the eve of the 31st performance of the opera from a long-time illness relating to a throat infection and heart failure, and not from a broken heart caused by the failure of his opera as some originally believed. Bizet was only 36 years old.

PA R A L L E L E V E N T S / 1 8 75 Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 premieres Degas paints Place de la Concorde California Gold Rush Poet Robert Frost and composer Maurice Ravel are born The Billy McGeorge Gang attacks and robs settlers in Yankee Hill, Colorado First Kentucky Derby 66

Born: Paris, France, 25 October 1838 Died: Bougival, France, 3 June 1875

DESPITE THE FACT THAT BIZET’S Carmen is one of the most performed operas sitting along side Puccini’s La Bohème, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Verdi’s La Traviata, the original reception of Carmen was in many ways a failure. Perhaps at the time of the premiere of Carmen (1875) much of the public was alienated by the true sense of shocking realism of the story, where a new type of operatic heroine was introduced. Typical audiences who expected stereotypes and happy endings were confronted by a promiscuous gypsy girl whose intoxicating dramatic story leads irresistibly to the climax of her being murdered.

Bizet’s music also portrays a simple directness capturing Carmen’s fatalism and courage as well as Don José’s gradual degeneration. This musical truthfulness seemed to also offend the opera’s first audiences in Paris.

Set in the exotic Spanish city of Seville at the beginning of the nineteenth century and based on the novel by Prosper Mérimée, Carmen was adapted for the stage by French librettists Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac. At the center of the story is Carmen’s seduction of a young corporal, Don José, who tosses aside the love of the more respectable Micaëla in favor of the alluring Carmen. Carmen eventually abandons her love for Don José and turns her attention to the dashing bullfighter Escamillo. Carmen’s scornful taunts eventually bring Don José to a jealous rage, and he stabs her to death.

Born to a very musical family, Bizet entered the Paris Conservatory at the young age of nine and later won the coveted compositional award of the Grand Prix de Rome. Most of Bizet’s compositional thoughts were aimed at imitating his mentor, Charles Gounod; however, Bizet’s style proved to be far more advanced.

Much of Bizet’s career proved to be a series of a few mediocre successes coupled with several failures. His musical gifts and extraordinary insights seemed to almost prevent him from completing many projects. In addition to Carmen, Bizet composed a symphony, twelve works for piano duet titled Jeux d’enfants, a one-act opera (Djamileh), incidental music to the play L’Arlesienne, and the operas The Fair Maid of Perth, The Pearl Fishers, and several other lesser known operas.

With Carmen, Bizet makes effective use of Spanish rhythms and melodic turns, especially with the heroine herself.

Memorable moments are known to audiences who have never seen Carmen, such as the “Habañera” which exotically captures the seductive Carmen as she sings about the nature of love and her creed of freedom – living, loving, and dying as she chooses – while the soldiers become hypnotized by the sexy, almost smoky vocal range of Carmen’s first appearance.

From the softer and gentler movements for soprano Micaëla to the brassier, machismo music associated with Escamillo and the bullfight, Bizet constantly evokes the eroticism of Spain Continued on page 68

K R I S T I N C H ÁV E Z – Me zzo Sopran o

Continued on page 69

Kirstin Chávez is considered one of the most riveting and significant performing Mezzo Sopranos today. Making her debut with the Helena Symphony in the title role of Carmen, the combination of her magnificent voice, expansive range, dramatic intensity of her acting, and natural physical beauty make her an arresting and unique presence on the operatic stage. Ms. Chávez captures attention and acclaim and is recognized as one of the definitive interpreters of Carmen of our generation. She has performed Bizet’s iconic heroine with great success throughout the world with leading opera companies and symphonies including New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, Staatsoper Hannover, Opera Australia, China National Center for the Performing Arts, Central City Opera, Arizona Opera, Columbus Symphony, Opera Queensland, Welsh National Opera, Opera San Antonio, the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival, Orlando Philharmonic, and Oper Graz, when Opera News reported that her “Carmen” was “the ‘Carmen’ of a lifetime. With her dark, generous mezzo, earthy eroticism, volcanic spontaneity and smoldering charisma, Chávez has it all, including a superb command of French and a sense of humor.”

Last season, Ms. Chávez returned to The Metropolitan Opera for productions of Carmen and La Traviata. Recently, Ms. Chávez launched a London tour of CARMEN INSIDE OUT. She also sang the role of “Ultima” in the world premiere of Bless Me, Ultima, a famous Chicano novel by Rudolfo Anaya, that was turned by composer Hector Armienta into an opera with Opera Southwest. Ms. Chávez continues to collect accolades for her fiery portrayals throughout Europe and Australia.

Notable recent engagements have brought her to Australia in her signature role in Carmen at Opera Queensland and to Italy for The Rape of Lucretia at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. She also made her debut with The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London with the role of “Marquise de Merteuil” in the contemporary opera Quartett by Luca Francesconi, which she later reprised at Opera Malmö in Sweden. After a series of successful recitals of Spanish art songs with pianist Paolo André Gualdi and guitarist Sara Gianfelici, Ms. Chávez released the album Pasión, which features the trio in a diverse sampling of Spanish song repertoire for mezzo soprano, piano, and guitar.

Ms. Chávez appears courtesy of Uzan International Artists (New York, NY)

H A R O L D M E E R S – Te n or Since his professional debut with the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Harold Meers has established himself as one of the outstanding American tenors performing today and is a welcomed returnee to the Helena Symphony.

He has garnered critical and popular praise for his work at the most important venues in North America, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Los Angeles Opera, Minnesota Opera, Madison Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Omaha, Des Moines Metro Opera, New Orleans Opera and Baltimore Opera. In his 2018-2019 Season, Mr. Meers sang “Riccardo” in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, “Boris” in Katya Kabanova with Opera North in the United Kingdom, and reprised one of his signature roles as “Rodolfo” in Puccini’s La Bohème with Theater Freiburg.

Mr. Meers also appeared as a soloist with the Southwest Florida Symphony and Santa Barbara Symphony as tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem. Mr. Meers returned to Opera Santa Barbara as “Des Grieux” in Massenet’s Manon as well as covering the title role of “Hoffmann” in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at LA Opera, and he assumed three leading roles at Theater Freiburg in Germany. As “Don Josè” in Bizet’s Carmen opposite the formidable Denyce Graves with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston City Paper gushed, “Tenor Harold Meers sang the role of the jilted lover ‘Don José’ to pearly-toned perfection, his buildup of seething rage reminding the audience of what crimes of passion are all about.” Mr. Meers has appeared with the Helena Symphony in productions of La Bohème, Elixir of Love, Barber of Seville, and Madame Butterfly.

Mr. Meers is represented by Zemsky Green Artists Management (New York, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

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BIZET

Continued from page 66

and creates a masterpiece of local color and warmth. The brilliance of Carmen not only rests with Bizet’s score, but also with the concept and dramatic elements of how the composer and librettists presented the work. Carmen was extremely innovative in its drama: no longer was French opera confined to one-dimensional comic characters and in many ways the two principal characters, Carmen and José, are some of the most profound in all of operative literature. Don José transforms from an exemplary soldier and faithful lover to almost an obsessed lunatic. In many ways Carmen symbolizes not only the exotic land of Spain, but also represents a toreador luring the bulls to their own demise. Later she transforms into the bull herself and is in a sense sacrificed exactly when the bull is being killed.

Musically, the three highlights between Carmen and José are quite symbolic. The three duets suggest a development and destruction of their relationship: seduction, conflict, and finally, resolution, as Carmen’s death is not only predicted throughout the opera but it is necessary for her own completion. Contrary to most love duets, Carmen and José’s voices never truly become one, in fact, they almost never sing together.

While not as dramatically developed as Carmen and José, Micaëla, Escamillo, and Zuñiga (José’s superior officer, who also attempts to pursue Carmen) also seem to represent important dramatic structures of the opera. Micaëla represents José’s past, his mother, and even his small village, whereas, Zuñiga represents Carmen’s past, José her present, and Escamillo her future. Musically, Micaëla’s duet with José and her aria almost seem right out of a Gounod opera (Bizet’s teacher) where Escamillo’s toreador solo comes from the opera buffa (comic opera) tradition. Bizet knew that the toreador song would be popular, but he personally despised it, saying “They want their trash, and they will get it.”

While the score is obviously French, Bizet elegantly works elements of Spanish music into Carmen, such as a gypsy song, some flamenco dancing, and the famous “Habañera” (of which Bizet made over ten revisions). Giving into Wagner’s influence over nineteenth century operas, Bizet makes the orchestra as important as the singers (which several French critics disliked) and uses Wagner’s concept of leitmotif where certain musical themes are associated with specific characters and ideas. Carmen and her death are represented immediately after the overture to the opera with a slow, mysterious, and haunting melody that appears throughout the four acts. In addition to this fate motif, Carmen’s influence over José is captured by a beautifully tragic theme that also is used frequently.

The premiere production was indeed a risky venture for the venerable Opéra-Comique in 1875.

In spite of his training at one of the most respected conservatories, and winning the most coveted prize for composition in all of Europe, Bizet was not a well-established composer. The OpéraComique in Paris had become a venue that attracted families and a conservative crowd accustomed to sentimentality, moral plots, happy endings, and elements of the supernatural and exotic. In many ways Carmen met the expectations of the exotic, but the realism, amoral characters, tragic ending, and absence of fantasy put off much of the audience and critics. Even the elements of the exotic Seville and lead character, who exemplified a bold, reckless, and dangerous female, were not appealing. When the subject of Carmen was proposed to the theatre one of the directors of the company resigned in protest. A friend of one of the librettists commented “I won’t mince words.

Carmen is a flop, a disaster! It will never play more than twenty times.”

Carmen was not well-received in Paris nor during Bizet’s lifetime; however, when the opera premiered in Vienna, it quickly became part of standard repertoire. Bizet’s score not only has remained one of the most popular operas, but a number of other composers have used themes from Bizet’s score as the basis for their own works: Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy for violin and orchestra, film composer Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie, and pianist Vladimir Horowitz’s Variations on a theme from Carmen for solo piano.

In this last work of Bizet’s, Carmen became the musical representation that linked Bizet as the true bridge between Berlioz and Debussy. His death at the young age of 36 (just after the thirtieth performance of Carmen) is today believed to be the greatest single blow to French music in the nineteenth century. In many ways, it seems a necessity and less of a tragedy for the femme fatale in the opera to die, as the real tragedy and conclusion of the opera is perhaps Bizet’s death so suddenly and so young, never able to see the success of his greatest work.  68

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J A R E D G U E S T – Bari ton e Making his Helena Symphony debut, Baritone Jared Guest’s robust voice has made him an in-demand performer across the United States.

Mr. Guest was a 2016 Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was awarded the Encouragement Award in 2015. During the 2016-2017 Season, he won a Career Bridges Award Grant for talented, young opera singers and debuted with Sarasota Opera’s Studio Artist program covering the roles of “Sharpless” in Madama Butterfly and “Taddeo” in L’italiana in Algeri. Last season, he returned to Sarasota singing “Baron Douphol” in La traviata and was heard as “Morales” in Carmen while covering “Escamillo” and “Sebastiano” in Eugen d’Albert’s Tiefland. Upcoming engagements include a return to Sarasota Opera singing the “Mandarin” and covering the roles of “Ping” in Turandot and the title role in Nabucco.

A sought after performer on the concert stage as well, Mr. Guest makes his debut with the Fort Meyers Symphonic Mastersingers this season as the baritone soloist in Fauré’s Requiem.

This Season, he made his debut with Teatro Grattacielo as “Un banditore” and covering the baritone lead in Cilea’s Gloria. A graduate of the University of Houston‘s Moores School of Music, Guest has participated in a number of prestigious programs including Opera Colorado, Chautauqua Opera Company, and Opera in the Ozarks. He has performed with Opera in the Heights (Houston), Salt Marsh Opera (Stonington, CN), LoftOpera (Brooklyn, NY), and Chelsea Opera (New York, NY).

Mr. Guest appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY)

D A N I E L L E TA L A M A N T E S – Sopran o Making her Helena Symphony debut, Soprano Danielle Talamantes first earned a spot on the Metropolitan Opera roster in the spring of 2011 and made her exciting stage debut as “Frasquita” in Bizet’s Carmen. Other recent engagements include a return to the National Philharmonic for both Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’s Requiem and Exsultate, jubilate, which she also performed with the City Choir of Washington; a Canciones Españolas concert at The Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.; Dvořák’s Stabat Mater at North Carolina Master Chorale; and a debut at Spoleto Festival USA as Sergente in Veremonda.

“It’s not often that a fortunate operagoer witnesses the birth of a star!” critics hailed for Danielle Talamantes’ recent role debut as “Violetta” in La Traviata. Other performances include Mozart’s Requiem at the Washington National Cathedral and Fairfax Symphony; Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, Bach’s Magnificat; “Fiordiligi” in Così fan tutte with the National Philharmonic; the world première of Bartoldus’s Magnificat, Handel’s Laudate pueri dominum, and Charpentier’s Te Deum with The City Choir of Washington; Handel’s Messiah with United States Naval Academy and Austin Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, and others. Additionally, she returned to The Metropolitan Opera for their production of The Exterminating Angel.

Ms. Talamantes and pianist Henry Dehlinger recently performed a recital titled: Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook, a collection of new arrangements of Duke Ellington standards and songs from the American Songbook – written especially for Ms. Talamantes. She and Dehlinger also captivate audiences with tales of amorous longing, joy and despair as they bring the lush music and poetry of Spain to life in a concert of gorgeous Spanish songs featured in their critically-acclaimed MSR Classics album: Canciones españolas.

An accomplished recitalist, Ms. Talamantes was a featured soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Chorale & Orchestra, United States Army Band, Oratorio Society of Virginia, Nashville Symphony, Choralis, and Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

She made her Carnegie Hall debut in a sold-out solo recital in 2007, and was the Soprano in Residence for the Summer 2012 at the Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, Vermont.

Ms. Talamantes appears courtesy of Uzan International Artists (New York, NY) www.helenasymphony.org

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A D E L M O G U I D A R E L L I – Bass Grammy award-winning Bass Adelmo Guidarelli makes his debut with the Helena Symphony. He is known for having a voice that is “both deep and powerful” that cuts easily through the orchestra “with a pleasing timbre.” This Season, Mr. Guidarelli performs the role of “Dulcamara” in L’elisir d’amore with Opera Theater of Connecticut and Opera Las Vegas; “Frank” in Die Fledermaus with Amarillo Opera; and “Benoit/Alcindoro” in La bohéme and “Paris” in Roméo et Juliette with Sarasota Opera. Last Season, Mr. Guidarelli performed the role of “Benoit/Alcindoro” in La bohéme with Salt Marsh Opera; sang at St. Johns Lattingtown Church’s Opera Gala; and performed the roles of “Sacristan” in Tosca with New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and “Second Priest” in The Magic Flute with Opera in Williamsburg.

In addition to opera, Mr. Guidarelli has hosted a TV show called Voices Among Us, won the 2011 MAC Award for “Best Comedy Performer” for his opera comedy show Operation Opera, was invited by Ryan Seacrest to perform Mozart’s Non più andrai on his E! Channel series, was heard on a national commercial for Lidia’s Italian Gourmet Kitchen, and is a featured soloist on a German children’s CD called Der Kleine Tanzbar Schubidu. His debut solo album, titled Treasured Songs of Italy & Germany, spawned an IAIRA certified International #1 hit for his dual language version of Funiculi, Funicula, and in 2015 his one-man show, Operation Opera, made its symphonic debut with The Garden State Philharmonic.

Mr. Guidarelli has been the recipient of career grants from The Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges, The Amadeus Fund, The Bloomfield Chapter of UICO, The New Jersey Alliance for Performing Artists, The Columbians, The Caruso International Voice Competition and from Richard and Donna Esteves. Mr. Guidarelli was also featured in two SONY Play Station commercials. He has worked with operatic legends such as Luciano Pavarotti, Jerome Hines, Giulietta Simionato, Licia Albanes, Sherril Milnes and Robert Merrill. In Europe, he has performed with Opera Evreuz of France; as a soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana in Italy; at The Vatican before Pope John Paul II; and for Queen Elizabeth in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Guidarelli appears courtesy of Uzan International Artists (New York, NY)

M E G A N PA C H E C A N O – Sopran o Returning to the Helena Symphony, Soprano Megan Pachecano has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Caramoor International Music Festival, Opera New Jersey, Salt Marsh Opera, Opera Company of Middlebury, St. Petersburg Opera, Opera in Williamsburg, New Rochelle Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut at the Sanibel Music Festival, and Orchestra of New Spain at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Soluna Festival.

Recent performances by Ms. Pachecano include “Farinelli’s Trainer” in Little and Vavrek’s Vinkensport or The Finch Opera with Opera Saratoga, “Echo” in R. Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxo with Austin Opera, “Fiordiligi” in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with LoftOpera, and “Anne Page” in Williams’ Sir John in Love with Odyssey Opera. Other role highlights are “Adina” in L’elisir d’amore, “Norina” in Don Pasquale, “Susanna” in Le nozze di Figaro, “Cunegonde” in Candide, and “Cinderella” in Into the Woods. She will next reprise the role of “Valencienne” in The Merry Widow with Musica Viva Hong Kong, and returns to Odyssey Opera to sing the lead role of “Lady Jane Grey” in the World Premiere of Arnold Rosner’s The Chronicle of Nine in a co-production and recording with Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Ms. Pachecano was a soloist on the Naxos recording of American Choral Music and created the role of “Elizabeth” on the cast album of Melillo’s Son of the Storm. She presented a solo cabaret recital with the Odeon Theater’s concert series and was a guest artist at Colorado State University, performing a duet art song recital entitled The Tides of Love.

Ms. Pachecano appears courtesy of Wade Artists Management (New York, NY) 70

Helena Symphony Season 65

WE ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT THE 2019–2020 SEASON

DELOITTE www.helenasymphony.org

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K AT E LY N N M E Y E R – Me zzo Sopran o Mezzo Soprano Katelynn Meyer makes her debut with the Helena Symphony and is thrilled to be back performing in her home state of Montana for this Season’s performance of Bizet’s Carmen. Ms. Meyer has performed a number of roles, including “Elen” in Parry’s Blodwen, “Mother Jeanne” in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, “Marthe” in Henderson and Gioia’s Nosferatu, “Die Dritte Dame” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and “Mrs. Ott” in Floyd’s Susannah. Most recently, Meyer earned her Master’s in Music at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

M I G U E L A N G E L O L I VA S – Te n or Tenor Miguel Angel Olivas makes his debut with the Helena Symphony for this Season’s performance of Bizet’s Carmen. Hailing from California where he studied under Sandra Bengochea and Christopher Bengochea, Mr. Olivas continues his vocal studies at the University of Montana.

He has performed with Opera San Jose and appeared in productions of Mozart’s Idomeneo and Mechem’s The Rivals. Mr. Olivas has also participated in many competitions where he won “Singer of the Year,” and “Concerto-Aria competition” in 2017. Recently he performed with Opera Nova in Billings as “Chrysodule Babylas” in A Musical Night at the Choufleuri’s.

K E V I N M AT H E W S – Bari ton e Well-known Helena Baritone and audience favorite Kevin Mathews returns to perform with the Helena Symphony. Mr. Mathews has appeared with the Helena Symphony in performances of the inaugural Night at the Opera, the Family Holiday Concert, multiple Symphony Under the Stars concerts, Handel’s Messiah, and as “Anthony Hope” in Sweeney Todd,” Zuñiga” and “Moralès” in Bizet’s Carmen, “Count Almaviva” in The Marriage of Figaro, “Fiorello” in The Barber of Seville, the “Imperial Commissioner” and “Prince Yamadori” in Madame Butterfly, “Benoit” and “Alcindoro” in La Bohème, and as “Tony” and “Candide” in HSO’s Bernstein 100! concert.

Mr. Mathews is well known for his musical theater performances including Helena Grandstreet Theatre productions where he appeared in Bridges of Madison County, Les Misérables, Urinetown, and as the title role in The King and I. He portrayed “Count Malcom” in the Helena Theater Company’s production of A Little Night Music. He has performed as a vocal soloist with Ballet Montana and frequently with the Helena Chamber Singers. He has also performed as a soloist with the Bozeman Symphonic Choir and MSU Chorale and Orchestra. Mr. Mathews frequently performs jazz standards with Jim Madden at Benny’s Bistro in Helena.

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MORE INFO artisticplanning@helenasymphony.org 406.442.1860 72

Helena Symphony Season 65

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News you can trust and hand-picked music.

Missoula 89.1 & 91.5 | Hamilton 91.9 | Kalispell/Whitefish 90.1 & 91.7 Polson 89.5 | Libby 90.5 | Swan Lake 101.3 | Butte 91.3 Helena & Dillon 91.7 | Great Falls 89.9 | mtpr.org

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Helena Symphony Season 65

WE WELCOME YOU HERE!

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thank you

FOR YOUR CONTINUING SUPPORT AND GENEROSITY Support of the Helena Symphony comes from a variety of important sources: donations, performance proceeds, program advertising, concert sponsorships, grants, patron-planned annuities, and the Helena Symphony Society Foundation.

(This list includes donations, grants, or gifts in kind from 1 July 2017 through 15 August 2019. It will be updated throughout the Season. Corrections are welcomed.)

MAESTRO’S CIRCLE $20,000 & ABOVE

Anonymous Susan Benedict & Scott Mainwaring Pamela Bompart Intrepid Credit Union Linda & Pat Keim Joan Poston Treacy Foundation

BENEFACTOR

$10,000 TO $19,999 BNSF Railway Foundation James Burkholder Mary Douglass & Harry Israel Helena Symphony Society Foundation Susie & Ray Kuntz Montana Arts Council Montana Community Foundation Fran Waddell

PRINCIPAL

$5,000 TO $9,999 Susan & C. Franklin Brookhart, Jr Gail Brown City of Helena Michael Dalton in memory of Matt Dale Great Northern Best Western Premier Helena School District No. 1 Home 2 Suites Marilyn Hudson Marie Kall Nick Kuntz Lewis & Clark County Commission Renee & Steve Liston Christine Mayn & Nick Wilder Montana Credit Union League Mary D. Munger Northwestern Corporation Beth O’Hallerleu Opportunity Bank of Montana Ellie Parker Candace Rutledge 78

Helena Symphony Season 65

LeRoy Schramm Mēghan F. Scott & Maestro Allan R. Scott Silver Star Steak Company Abigail St. Lawrence Peter W. Sullivan

ASSOCIATE

$1,000 TO $4,999 AARP of Montana American Chemet Helen & William Ballinger in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Ballweber & Ostby Orthodontics The Base Camp The Boeing Company Peter & Janice Bogy Blackfoot River Brewing Co. Caitlin Borgmann Gaynell M. & David Bruck Rena & Art Bumgardner David & Fay Buness Amie Butler Robert Caldwell Sigrid & William Carroll Barbara Creel CWG Architects Kelly & Matthew Dalton D.A. Davidson & Co Mary Jane Davidson Eagle Beverage Edge Marketing + Design Enterprise Rent-A-Car First Interstate Bank First Security Bank Flagstar Bank Sidney E Frank Foundation Heidi & David Genter Raylene & Edwin Glenn Elizabeth & Jeffry A. Goldes Jill & Gary Guthrie Barbara Harris Dana Hillyer Jim Hunt & Barb Howe Deanna & Duane Johnson Paulette Jones

Jorgensen’s Inn & Suites Carol Josephson Janet Kelly Janet Kenny Tatiana & Ron Lukenbill Katherine Mason in memory of Matt Dale Lisa Mason Patty Mazurek Judith & Bruce Meadows Mosaic Architecture Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras Montana Club Montana Ting Liz & Tim Moore Delores Morrow & Bill Winterburn Network For Good Nancy & Alan Nicholson Ann M. Page in memory of Matt Dale Katy Wright & Scott Pargot PayneWest Insurance Robert Peccia Piccolo’s Music Julie & Tim Reardon Linda & Lew Reeves William C. Roberts Rocky Mountain Credit Union Joan & Charles E. Rolling Melanie Reynolds & Bob Rowe Joyce Schillinger Gayle & Larry Sheldon in memory of Charla & Dave Taylor Harlan & Bill Shropshire Rosana & William Skelton Laura W. & Mark M. Smith SoFi Nick Spano St. Peter’s Health State Employees’ Charitable Giving Campaign Nancy & Richard Trudell Valley Bank of Helena Van’s Thriftway Ron Waterman Lisa Welsh Wipfli LLP

SUSTAINER

CONTRIBUTOR

AllWays On I.T. Anderson ZurMuehlen Connie & Ron Bergum Kathy Bramer Joyce & Raymond Brown Margaret Bullock Donna Burgess Rebekka Cantrell Colleen & Mike Casey Victoria & John Cech Stephen Cepeda Sheila & Jack Collishaw The Creperie Crowley Fleck PLLP Kathleen M Curtis Bruce L. Desonia & Shirley Palmer Tom & Diana Dowling Donald & Donna Eisenmenger Laurie Ekanger Karen Fairbrother Sarah Fenton Julie & Marco Ferro Sue & Bob Ganter Betsy Griffing Chelsey Hallsten James Harrison The Hawthorn Bottle Shop & Tasting Room Helena Tourism Tori Hunthausen Danna Jackson Jim Darcy PTO Dale G. & Susan Johnson in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Kanter Kallman Foundation Ron Lee Beth & Warren McCullough in memory of Joseph McCullough Mediterranean Grill Joan Bird & Max Milton Carol & Wayne Montgomery Moore Appraisals, Inc. Helen & Tom Morrison Morrison-Maierle, Inc. Dianne Nickman Marcia & Pat Patton Mark Pomerleau & Alison Paul Bob & Toni Person Rick Pyfer Robert Peccia & Associates Staples Dennis & Joan Taylor US Bank Windbag Saloon

Adventure Dogs Elizabeth Baker Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Sara S Berg Big Dill Birds & Beasleys Peter Blitzer Kim & Gavin Blocker Sarah A. Bond Boulder Elementary Activities Fund Ali Bovingdon Beki Brandborg Richard Breijo Broadwater School Jan Brown Marie & Kent Brown Bryant School Parent Alliance Bullman’s Wood Fired Pizza Elizabeth & Erik Burke Susan & Charles Butler, Jr Dave & Janet Campana Ross W. Cannon Mike & Colleen Casey Central School Parent Council Cheddar’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese Chili O’Brien’s Catering Clancy School District Rachel Copeland Penny & Jack Copps Cottonwood School Dawn Cowan Jean A. Davis Delta Kappa Gamma Kelly Downing-Keil Bruce A Duenkler Pamela & Stanley Duensing East Helena Student Activity Fund Tom & Kay Ellerhoff Allison Elliott Chip Erdmann Fifth Generation, Inc. First Lutheran Church William Flanary Fred Flanders Tom Flowers Four Georgians’ Parent Council Bob Fox Agnes Frankino Terry Gauthier Ann Gilbert Leila Goldes Kay & Edward Gray Great Ape Crepes Jill Griffin Sara Groves Amy Hall Rev. Joseph D. Harrington Ann Harris Hawthorne School Parent Council

$500 TO $999

$100 TO $499

Helena Area Christian Home Educators Helena Area Community Foundation Helena Christian School Helena Hawaiian Ice Helena Music Teachers Assoc Marlene Herrmann in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Merry Fahrman & Morgan Hulett IBM Matching Grants Program Ike’s Shave & Cream, LLC Intermountain Gordon Jackson Lynn James Jefferson School Parent Council Mary Irish Johnson Mechille & Pete Johnson Charlene Kallestad Sarah Karasch Christine Kaufmann Barbara D Kenny Kessler School Parent Council C. Korenbrot Jo Lasich Sidney & Karen Lebahn Shirley Leck Leatrice Lily Mark Mattioli & Lisa Lovell Mekell Lybbert Beverly Magley Virginia Markell Annina & Kilmer McCully in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Shari McDonald Jacqueline McKenna Carol McKerrow in memory of Mary Jane Davidson in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Terry Meade Donald & Mary Meek Andrew & Teri Michel Alyson Mike Montana City School PTA Joyce & Ronald Mow in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt John & Gwynn Mundinger Joseph Munzenrider Dana & Jonathan Nehring Mary Noel Timothy O’Brien Papa Joes LLC Parents for Smith School Lezlie Pearce-Hopper Pennies On The Go Isabel & AJ Pomerleau Power Townsend Kathy & Gene Prendergast Robert Psurny Judy & Tom Rolfe Rossiter Parent Council Continued on page 80

www.helenasymphony.org

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DONORS

Continued from page 79

Ryland K M Foote Memorial Fund Kathy & Ted Schiffman Darien Scott Thea Lou Seese Opal Winebrenner & Mike Shields John & Luanne Smith Sodexo Timothy Speyer St. Andrew School Karin Steenberg Sugar Fairies David & Lori Swenson Norma Tirrell Townsend Elementary School Tom & Scottie Trebon Peggy Trenk Tropical Paradise Jim Tucker Leslie & Kurt Valiton Erin Vang Patrick Volesky Shirley J. Warehime Warren School PTO Cathy Barker & Dick Weaver Barbara Wetherill Ann Williams Wolf Creek School District No. 13

FRIEND

UP TO $99 Marika Adamek Linda Ahlschwede in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Mary Beth Allan in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Amazon Smile Foundation Karen & Bonner Armstrong Annette Baird Beth Barry Leroy Beeby

Jane Benson Leeann & John Berry The Boeing Company Gift Match Carol & Richard Bondy Glenda & Stan Bradshaw Laura Brayko Ellen & Richard Bush Joni Carlton Joann Clark Isaiah Cech Marj Clark Tim Clark Deanna Clearman Tim Coleman Connie Conley Jannis Conselyea Phyllis Cottle Rachel Cottrell Ann & David Desch Ken Knudson & Christine Deveny Rebecca H Donaldson Len Eckel Elliston School District #27 Matthew Enns Donald Erpenbach Barry & H. Louise Ferst Mary Ann & Dan Fiehrer in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Marylis Filipovich Nicholas Ford Stephen Garrison Sandy & Reginald Goodwin Colleen Grass Vicky Gregori James Greytak Barbara Ann & Thomas Grimm in memory of Dr. Vern Tolstedt Brent Gruvman Dr. M.P. & Kathleen Hamill Deborah A. & Roy Hansmann Jasyn & John Harrington

Bonnie & Arthur Howell Scott Kall Sharlene & Kenneth Kolb Geni Laden Andree Larose Leah Lewis Kathleen & Michael Manion Ruth Ann Massey Carole Massman D. P. & Cheryl. J. McKenty Kay McOmber L.M. Minich Richard Misplon Michael O’Neil Renee Olsen Robert & Tasha Personette Becky Powell Karen Reese Nels Sanddal Tiffany Sauer Thomas J Schneider Patricia Seiler Sandy Shull Robert Silbering Tedra & Don Skaar Laurie Stetler Robert Sturdevant David Morey & Janet Tatz Marty & Richard Thieltges Shirley I Thomas Donna Torgerson Sara Toubman Trinity Parents Assoc.

Gregory Van Horssen Joseph Smits Van Oyen John Weida in memory of Matt Dale Nancy & William Wells Gregg & Wendy Wheeler Russell Wrigg Duane & Sue Wright

Because of your dedication, the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale’s long-standing tradition of passionate music-making and innovative programming has become a source of pride, a cultural priority, and a transformative force in the Helena region.

Your donation helps you and makes a meaningful impact on the Symphony’s educational and artistic programming.

TO DONATE: www.helenasymphony.org 80

Helena Symphony Season 65

BENEFIT CONCERT SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 2020 $150 Per Person / Limited Seating - Reserve Your Place!

This event is unlike any other and seating is limited to 500 people, so get your name on the reserved list now! Exquisite food, picturesque views from the estate of acclaimed European actors Nick Wilder and Christine Mayn, and the music-making of the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale. This is an elegant, formal, red-carpet affair. Look for details throughout the year!

www.helenasymphony.org

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Helena Symphony Season 65

Official

THE

RESTAURANT OF THE

We are proud to support and serve the Helena community.

www.helenasymphony.org 833 Great Northern Blvd | 495.0677 | silverstarsteakco.com

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Intrepid Credit Union proudly sponsors

BANKING. LENDING. GUIDANCE.

(406) 443-5400

Intrepidcu.org

Federally Insured by NCUA. Photo: Wandering Albatross Photography