MC
Debut Michael Fabiano, tenor John Churchwell, piano
Photo by Arielle Doneson
PROGRAM A Director’s Choice Series Event Thursday, May 23, 2013 • 8PM Jackson Hall
There will be one intermission. We express our deepest appreciation to Barbara K. Jackson for her individual support of this and so many other performances during this 10th Anniversary Mondavi Center season.
Questa o quella from Rigoletto
Verdi
Four Songs to Poems by Victor Hugo S’il est un charmant gazon Oh! Quand je dors Comment, disaient-ils Enfant, si j’etais roi
Liszt
Zueignung Cäcilie
Strauss
Tutto parea sorridere … Si: de’ corsari il fulmine from Il Corsaro
Verdi
Intermission Sponsored by Anderson Family Catering & BBQ
Nè pouvant réprimer … Adieu donc, vains objets from Hérodiade
Massenet
La vie antérieure Chanson Triste Phidylé
Duparc
L’ultima canzone L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra
Tosti
Ecco la casa ... Torna ai felici dì from Le Villi
Puccini
Program is subject to change. The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices. Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.
Program Notes Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) opens on a party scene in the palace of the libertine Duke of Mantua, who declares that he takes his pleasure where he finds it in the aria Questa o quella (“This one or that one”). The first song Franz Liszt (1811–1886) wrote was a lullaby in 1839 for his four-year-old daughter, Blandine. Later that year he set three sonnets by Petrarch, which also served as the germs for three movements in the second volume of his Années de Pèlerinage (“Years of Pilgrimage”). The 82 songs that came to comprise his output in this genre over the next 44 years reflect the dazzling cosmopolitanism of his life: 58 are in German, fourteen in French, five in Italian, three in Hungarian, and one each in Russian and English. As with the Petrarch sonnets, he arranged some two dozen of his songs for piano, and orchestrated eight of them. The genre proved to be a congenial one for Liszt’s lyrical and poetic gifts, and his best songs present a distillation of the finest qualities of his unique genius. Liszt’s friend Victor Hugo included the poem S’il est un charmant gazon (“If There Be a Lovely Lawn”) in his 1834 collection Les Chants du Crépuscule (“Songs at Twilight”), and Liszt made a vernal setting of it in 1844. Enfant, si j’étais roi (“My Child, If I Were King,” from Les Feuilles d’automne [“Autumn Leaves,” 1829]) and Oh! quand je dors (“Oh, While I Sleep,” from Les Rayons et les Ombres [“Rays and Shadows,” 1840]) also date from about 1844, when Liszt’s standing as the musical darling of Paris was at its height. Comment, disaient-ils (1842, “‘How,’ They Asked”), based on a poem from Hugo’s 1840 collection Les Rayons et les Ombres, creates a charming dialogue between the anxious enquiries of the young lovers and the soothing replies of their sweethearts. The great tradition of the 19th-century German Lied came to its end with the songs of Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Though he wrote songs throughout his long life—his first piece, penned at age six, was a Christmas carol; his last was the magnificent Four Last Songs—he composed most of his Lieder before he turned from the orchestral genres to opera at the beginning of the 20th century. Much of the inspiration for song composition during his early years came from his wife, Pauline de Ahna, an excellent singer who had performed at Bayreuth and taken part shortly before they were married in the premiere of her fiancé’s first opera, Guntram. The best of Strauss’ songs are imbued with a soaring lyricism, a textural and harmonic richness, and a sensitivity to the text that place them among the most beautiful and enduring works of their type. Hermann von Gilm zu Rosenegg (1812-1864) was an Austrian civil servant who wrote religious polemics and lyrical poetry as avocations. Strauss’ first published collection of songs—Op. 10 of 1885—was the Acht Gedichte aus “Letzte Blätter” von Hermann Gilm (“Eight Songs from the ‘Last Leaves’ of Hermann Gilm”). The opening song of Op. 10, Zueignung (“Dedication”), helped established Strauss’ reputation as a Lieder composer and has remained one of his most frequently performed vocal pieces. Strauss included a setting of Cäcilie by the German poet, drama critic and literary journal publisher Heinrich Hart (1855–1906)
in his Op. 27, a set of four songs he wrote as a wedding gift for Pauline. Verdi’s Il Corsaro, based on Byron’s poem The Corsair, is set on a Greek island in the Aegean from which Corrado, leader of the pirates of the opera’s title, launches raids on his victims. In Tutto parea sorridere (“Everything seemed to smile”), Corrado laments the happy days of his youth and his current exile from society. After receiving a report about a Turkish enemy, he rallies his forces for an attack in the aria’s second section—Si: de’ corsari il fulmine (“Yes; the pirates’ thunderbolt I myself intend to wield”). Hérodiade, based on Flaubert’s novella, treats the ancient story of the Roman tetrarch Herod and his lust for his step-daughter Salome, the child of his second wife, the opera’s titular Herodias. In the version by Jules Massenet (1842–1912), Salome has fallen into a chaste love with John the Baptist, who prophesies the advent of the Messiah (and trouble for the Roman occupiers). Herod condemns John to death both for his subversive political activities and for the love he has inspired in Salome that has fixed her resolve to thwart the tetrarch’s advances. In the aria Nè pouvant réprimer ... Adieu donc, vains objets (“Since they could not repress the power of Thy Truth, their impotent rage has struck at Thy prophet ... Farewell, Then, Vain Things”), John, in prison at the beginning of Act IV, takes leave of his life and his mission, and of “that child”—Salome—who has aroused affection in him. Troubled in spirit and in health and sufficiently self-critical to destroy much of what he composed, Henri Duparc (1848–1933) left a tiny musical legacy to posterity: two tone poems (Lénore and Aux étoiles), a suite of waltzes for orchestra, a half-dozen pieces for piano, a cello sonata, one vocal duet, a motet for three voices, a few arrangements of organ works by Bach and Franck, and sixteen songs. He is remembered almost entirely for his handful of songs, but what songs they are—exquisite, fluid, precisely inflected musical wrappings of voluptuously beautiful verse that count among the greatest contributions to the French vocal repertory. La vie antérieure (1884, “The Former Life”), the last of Duparc’s songs, sets a verse from Charles Baudelaire’s notoriously sensual Les Fleurs du Mal (“Flowers of Evil”), six of whose poems had been banned from further distribution as “offensive to religion and public morality” immediately upon the collection’s publication in 1857. Duparc’s music traces the emotional arc of the poem, from its austere opening and its mounting passion fueled by memory to its ultimate weary regret, echoed in a poignant piano postlude. Chanson triste, one of Duparc’s earliest songs, sets a poem by Henri Cazalis (1840–1909), whose interest in Orientalism lent his writings an exotic sensuality highly favored in Second Empire France. The nobility, restraint and unruffled spirit of Phidylé, composed in 1882 and dedicated to Duparc’s fellow composer Ernest Chausson, perfectly match for the poem by Charles Marie Leconte de Lisle (1818-1894), the Parnassian poet who sought to embody exactly such qualities in his verses. Paolo Tosti (1846–1916), singing teacher to royalty and song composer to drawing rooms and recital stages across Europe and
America, created some of the most enduring musical mementos of the Victorian era. Born in 1846 in Oranto, on the Adriatic coast south of Pescara, Tosti was sent to the other side of the Italian boot when he was twelve to study violin and composition at the Naples Conservatory. His talent and dedication sufficiently impressed his principal composition teacher, Saverio Mercadante, to be taken on as his assistant, but ill health from overwork sent Tosti back home in 1869. During his convalescence in Oranto, he played organ and directed the choir at the local 12th-century cathedral and started writing songs, for which response was strong but publication was difficult. To better his fortunes, he moved to Rome, where the celebrated pianist, conductor and teacher Giovanni Sgambati invited him to sing his music at one of his recitals. Crown Princess Margherita of Savoy attended the event, was duly impressed with the young Tosti, and hired him as her singing teacher. In 1875, Tosti visited London for the first time, and returned there every spring until he settled permanently in the city in 1880, when he was appointed singing teacher to the royal family. In 1888, he married an Englishwoman, Bertha
Pierson; in 1906, he became a British citizen; and in 1908, he was knighted by King Edward VIII. He retired to Italy in 1912, and died in Rome four years later. Tosti’s many songs, in Italian, French and English, remain among the beloved items in the singer’s repertory. The story of Le Villi by Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) takes place in the Black Forest of Germany. Roberto, engaged to Anna, has inherited a large fortune from an elderly aunt and must go to Mainz to claim it. He leaves for the city, promising to return and marry Anna but succumbs to a life of debauchery on his travels. Anna, forgotten, dies of heartbreak. After her death, she is joined by the Villi (“Wilis,” the witches of German legend) to exact revenge upon her faithless lover. Roberto is pursued by the Villi as he again approaches Anna’s house and sings of his fear and remorse in the dramatic aria Torna ai felici dì (“My anguished thought returns to those happy days”) before the witches tempt him into a furious dance from which he dies of exhaustion. ©2013 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
text and translations
Verdi: Questa o quella from Rigoletto Text: Francesco Maria Piave Questa o quella per me pari sono a quant’altre d’intorno mi vedo, del mio core l’impero non cedo meglio ad una che ad altra beltà. La costoro avvenenza è qual dono di che il fato ne infiora la vita; s’oggi questa mi torna gradita, forse un’altra doman lo sarà. La costanza, tiranna del core, detestiamo qual morbo crudele; sol chi vuole si serbi fedele; non v’ha amor se non v’è libertà. De’ mariti il geloso furore, degli amanti le smanie derido, anco d’Argo i cent’occhi disfido, se mi punge una qualche beltà.
This one or that one? They all seem alike to me when I see such beauty around me. But I give my heart no more to one beauty than to another. If today one smiles on me graciously, tomorrow it will be another! I hate tyrannous constancy of heart. It is cruel. Let him who wishes to be faithful; he wants not love who wants not liberty. Ignore the husband’s jealous anger, and the lover’s derided fury. Yes, even were the hundred eyes of Argus to frown on me, I’d not stop if I saw a pleasing beauty!
Liszt: Four Songs S’il est un charmant gazon Text: Victor Hugo S’il est un charmant gazon Que le ciel arrose, Où brille en toute saison Quelque fleur éclose, Où l’on cueille à pleine main Lys, chèvre-feuille et jasmin, J’en veux faire le chemin Où ton pied se pose!
If there be a lovely lawn Watered by the sky, Where each new season Blossoming, flowers spring up, Where lily, woodbine and jasmine Can be gathered liberally, I would strew the way with them For your feet to tread!
S’il est un rêve d’amour, Parfumé de rose, Où l’on trouve chaque jour Quelque douce chose, Un rêve que Dieu bénit, Où l’âme à l’âme s’unit, Oh! j’en veux faire le nid Où ton coeur se pose!
If there be a dream of love With the scent of roses, Where each day may be found Some sweet new delight, A dream blessed by the Lord Where soul unites with soul, Oh, I shall make of it the nest Where your heart will rest.
Oh! quand je dors Text: Victor Hugo Oh! quand je dors, viens auprès de ma couche, Comme à Pétrarque apparaissait Laura, Et qu’en passant ton haleine me touche ... Soudain ma bouche S’entr’ouvrira.
Oh, while I sleep come to my bedside, as Laura appeared to Petrarch, and in passing let your breath touch me ... all at once my lips will smile.
Sur mon front morne où peut-etre s’achève Un songe noir qui trop longtemps dura, Que ton regard comme un astre s’élève ... Et soudain mon réve Rayonnera!
On my somber brow, where perhaps there is ending a dismal dream that has lasted too long, let your face rise like a star ... all at once my dream will glow!
Puis sur ma lèvre où voltige une flamme Eclair d’amour que Dieu méme épura. Pose un baiser et d’ange deviens femme ...
Then on my lips, where a flame flutters, a flash of love purified by God himself, place a kiss, and be transformed from angel to woman ...
Soudain mon âme S’éveillera.
all at once my soul will awaken.
Comment, disaient-ils Text: Victor Hugo Comment, disaient-ils, Avec nos nacelles, Fuir les alguazils? Ramez, disaient-elles.
“How,” they asked, “in our small craft can we escape the law?” “You must row,” the girls replied.
Comment, disaient-ils, Oublier querelles, Misère et périls? Dormez, disaient-elles.
“How,” they asked, “can we forget quarrels, griefs and perils?” “You must sleep!” the girls replied.
Comment, disaient-ils, Enchanter les belles Sans philtres subtils? Aimez, disaient-elles.
“How,” they asked, “can we enchant the fair without rare potions?” “You must love!” the girls replied.
Enfant, si j’étais roi Text: Victor Hugo Enfant, si j’étais roi, je donnerais l’empire Et mon char et mon sceptre et mon peuple à genoux, Et ma couronne d’or et mes bains de porphyre Et mes flottes à qui la mer ne peut suffire Pour un regard de vous!
My child, if I were king I would surrender empires, my chariot and my sceptre and my subjects, I’d give my crown of gold, my baths of porphyry and my ships that the sea cannot hold, all to gain one look from you!
Si j’étais Dieu, la terre et l’air avec les ondes Les anges, les démons courbés devant ma loi, Et le profond chaos aux entrailles fécondes. L’éternité, l’espace et les cieux et les mondes Pour un baiser de toi!
If I were God, I’d forfeit earth, air and ocean, the angels, the demons bowed before my decree, and the darkness of profound Chaos, eternity, space, the heavens and worlds to win one kiss from you!
Strauss: Two Songs Zueignung (“Dedication”), Op. 10, No. 1 Text: Hermann von Gilm zu Rosenegg Ja, du weisst es, teure Seele, Dass ich fern von dir mich quäle, Liebe macht die Herzen krank, Habe Dank.
Yes, you know it, dearest soul, How I suffer far from you, Love makes the heart sick, Have thanks.
Einst hielt ich, der Freiheit Zecher, Hoch den Amethysten-Becher, Und du segnetest den Trank, Habe Dank.
Once I, drinker of freedom, Held high the amethyst beaker, And you blessed the drink, Have thanks.
Und beschworst darin die Bösen, Bis ich, was ich nie gewesen, Heilig, heilig an’s Herz dir sank, Habe Dank.
And you exorcised the evils in it, Until I, as I had never been before, Blessed, blessed sank upon your heart, Have thanks.
Cäcilie (Cecily), Op. 27, No. 2 Text: Heinrich Hart Wenn du es wüsstest, Was träumen heisst von brennenden Küssen, Von Wandern und Ruhen mit der Geliebten, Aug in Auge, Und kosend und plaudernd, Wenn du es wüsstest, Du neigtest dein Herz! Wenn du es wüsstest, Was bangen heisst in einsamen Nächten, Umschauert vom Sturm, da niemand tröstet Milden Mundes die kampfmüde Seele, Wenn du es wüsstest, Du kämest zu mir. Wenn du es wüsstest, Was leben heisst, umhaucht von der Gottheit Weltschaffendem Atem, Zu schweben empor, lichtgetragen, Zu seligen Höhn, Wenn du es wüsstest, Du lebtest mit mir!
If you only knew what it’s like to dream of burning kisses, of wandering and resting with one’s beloved, eye turned to eye, and cuddling and chatting, if you only knew, you would incline your heart [to me]! If you only knew what it’s like to feel dread on lonely nights, surrounded by a raging storm, while no one comforts with a mild voice your struggle-weary soul, if you only knew, you would come to me. If you only knew what it’s like to live, surrounded by God’s world-creating breath, to float up, carried by the light, to blessed heights, if you only knew, then you would live with me!
Verdi: Tutto parea sorridere ... Si: de’ corsari il fulmine from Il Corsaro Text: Francesco Maria Piave Tutto parea sorridere all’amor mio premiero: L’aura, la luce, l’etere e l’universo intero; ma un fato inesorabile ogni mio ben rapi, più non vedrò risorgere dell’innocenza i dì.
Everything seemed to smile upon my first youthful love. The breeze, the sunlight, the sky, and the whole universe. But an inexorable fate stole all my happiness away. Nevermore shall I see the days of innocence return.
Si. Si: de’ corsari il fulmine vibrar disegno io stesso; dal braccio nostro oppresso il Musulman cadrà. All’armi, all’armi e intrepidi cadiam, cadiam sull’empia Luna. Qual possa in noi s’aduna il perfido vedrà.
Yes. Yes; the pirates’ thunderbolt I myself intend to wield. Crushed by our might the Mussulman shall fall. To arms, to arms; and fearlessly let us fall upon the impious Crescent. The power that we can muster the treacherous foe shall see.
All’armi, all’armi, all’armi!
To arms, to arms, to arms!
Massenet: Nè pouvant réprimer ... Adieu donc, vains objets from Hériodade Text: Paul Milliet and Henri Grémont
Nè pouvant réprimer les élans de la foi, Leur impuissante rage a frappé ton prophète. Seigneur! ta volonté soit faite, Je me repose en toi!
Since they could not repress the power of Thy Truth, their impotent rage has struck at Thy prophet, O Lord! Thy will be done. I trust in Thee!
Adieu donc, vains objets Qui nous charment sur terre. Salut! Salut! Premiers rayons de l’immortalité! L’infini m’appelle et m’éclaire; Je meurs pour la justice et pour la liberté! Je ne regrette rien de ma prison d’argile, Fuyant l’humanité, Je vais calme et tranquille, M’envelopper d’éternité! Je ne regrette rien, Et pourtant ... ô faiblesse! Je songe à cette enfant. Je songe à cette enfant Dont les traits radieux Sont toujors présents à mes yeux, Souvenir qui m’oppresse! Souvenir qui m’oppresse toujours ... Je songe à cette enfant! Seigneur! si je suis ton fils, Seigneur! si je suis ton fils, Dis-moi pourquoi, Dis-moi pourquoi, Tu souffres que l’amour Vienne ébranler ma foi? Seigneur! si je suis ton fils! Si je suis ton fils! O Seigneur! O Seigneur!
Farewell, then, vain things of earthly charm. Hail! Hail! first rays of immortality. The infinite calls me, and lights my way. I die for justice and for liberty! I do not regret this prison of clay, for when I leave this humanity to find calm and tranquility, I shall be clothed in eternity. I do not regret anything, yet, such is my weakness, I dream of that child. I dream of that child whose radiant features are present to my eyes. Her memory weighs upon me. Her memory weighs upon me always ... Ever do I dream of her! O Lord! I am your son, O Lord! I am your son, Tell me why, Tell me why, Why do you permit love to come to me and disturb my faith? O Lord! Yes, I am your son! Yes, I am your son! O Lord! O Lord!
Duparc: Three Songs Chanson triste Text: Jean Lahor Dans ton coeur dort un clair de lune, Un doux clair de lune d’été, Et pour fuir la vie importune, Je me noierai dans ta clarté. J’oublierai les douleurs passées, Mon amour, quand tu berceras Mon triste coeur et mes pensées Dans le calme aimant de tes bras. Tu prendras ma tête malade, Oh! quelquefois, sur tes genoux, Et lui diras une ballade Qui semblera parler de nous; Et dans tes yeux pleins de tristesse, Dans tes yeux alors je boirai Tant de baisers et de tendresses Que peut-être je guérirai.
In your heart moonlight sleeps, A gentle summer moonlight. And to escape this troublesome life I shall drown myself in your radiance. I shall forget the past sorrows, My love, when you cradle My sad heart and my thoughts In the loving peacefulness of your arms! You will take my aching head, Oh!, sometimes upon your knees, And you will recite a ballad That will seem to speak of us, And in your eyes full of sorrows, In your eyes then I shall drink So many kisses and tender caresses That, perhaps I shall be healed.
Phidylé Text: Leconte de Lisle L’herbe est molle au sommeil sous les frais peupliers, Aux pentes des sources moussues Qui, dans les prés en fleur germant par milles issues, Se perdent sous les noirs halliers.
The grass is soft for sleep beneath the cool poplars, On the banks of the mossy springs That flow in flowering meadows from a thousand sources, And vanish beneath dark thickets.
Repose, O phidle! Midid sur les feuillages Rayonne, et t’inviteau sommeil. Pare le tréfle et le thym, seules, en plein soleil, Chantent les abeilles volages.
Rest, O Phidylé! Noon on the leaves Is gleaming, inviting you to sleep. By the clover and thyme, alone, in the bright sunlight, The fickle bees are humming.
Un chaud parfum circule au détour des sentiers; La rouge fleur des blé s’incline; Et les oiseaux, rasant de l’aile la colline, Cherchent l’ombre des églantiers.
A warm fragrance floats about the winding paths, The red cornflower tilts; The red birds, skimming the hillside with their wings, Seek the shade of the eglantine.
Mais quand l’Astre, incliné sur sa courbe éclatante, Verra ses ardeurs s’apaiser, Que ton plus beau sourire et ton meilleur baiser Me récompensent de l’attenéte!
But when the sun, low on its dazzling curve, Sees it brilliance wane, Let your loveliest smile and finest kiss Reward me for my waiting!
La vie antérieure (“The Former Life”) Text: Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) from Les Fleurs du Mal J’ai longtemps habité sous de vastes portiques Que les soleils marins teignaient de mille feux, Et que leurs grands piliers, droits et majestueux, Rendaient pareils, le soir, aux grottes basaltiques.
For a long time I lived beneath the immense porticoes That the sea-suns dyed with a thousand rays, And whose great columns, erect and majestic, At night seemed just like basalt grottoes.
Les houles, en roulant les images des cieux, Mêlaient d’une façon solennelle et mystique Les tout puissants accords de leur riche musique Aux couleurs du couchant reflété par mes yeux.
The rolling waves tossing the celestial images Blended in a solemn and mystic way The all-powerful chords of their rich music Colored like the sunset reflected in my eyes.
C’est là, c’est là que j’ai vécu dans les voluptés calmes Au milieu de l’azur, des vagues, des splendeurs, Et des esclaves nus tout imprégnés d’odeurs
It is there, there that I lived in tranquil luxury In the midst of the azure, the waves and the wonders, And the nude slaves imbued with fragrance
Qui me rafraîchissaient le front avec des palmes, Et dont l’unique soin était d’approfondir Le secret douloureux qui me faisait languir.
Who refreshed my brow with palm leaves, And whose sole purpose was to understand in depth the agonizing secret that made me suffer.
Tosti: Two Songs L’ultima canzone (“The Last Song”) Text: Francesco Cimmino
M’han detto che domani, Nina, vi fate sposa, ed io vi canto la serenata! Là, nei deserti piani, là, ne la valle ombrosa, oh quante volte a voi l’ho ricantata: “Foglia di rosa, o fiore d’amaranto, se ti fai sposa, io ti sto sempre accanto.” Domani avrete intorno feste sorrisi e fiori, nè penserete ai nostri vecchi amori. Ma sempre, notte e giorno, piena di passione verrà gemendo a voi la mia canzone: “Foglia di menta, o fiore di granato, Nina, rammenta i baci che t’ho dato!”
They told me that tomorrow, Nina, you are getting married, and still I serenade you! There, in the deserted plains, there in the shady valleys, Oh, how many times I sang it to you: “Rose leaf, o amaranth flower, if you get married, I will always stay beside you.” Tomorrow you will have festive smiles and flowers all around, not thinking of our former loves. Night and day, full of passion, my song will come moaning to you: “Mint leaf, o deep-red flower, Nina, remember the kisses that I have given you!”
L’alba sepàra dalla luce l’ombra Text: Gabriele D’Annunzio
L’alba sepàra dalla luce l’ombra, E la mia voluttà dal mio desire. O dolce stelle, è l’ora di morire. Un più divino amor dal ciel vi sgombra.
The dawn divides the darkness from the light, And my sensual pleasure from my desire, O sweet stars, the hour of death is now at hand. A love more holy sweeps you from the skies.
Pupille ardenti, O voi senza ritorno Stelle tristi, spegnetevi incorrotte! Morir debbo. Veder non voglio il giorno, Per amor del mio sogno e della notte.
Gleaming eyes, O you who’ll ne’er return, sad stars, snuff out your uncorrupted light! I must die, I do not want to see the day, For love of my own dream and of the night.
Chiudimi, O Notte, nel tuo sen materno, Mentre la terra pallida s’irrora. Ma che dal sangue mio nasca l’aurora E dal sogno mio breve il sole eterno!
Envelop me, O Night in your maternal breast, While the pale earth bathes itself in dew; But let the dawn rise from my blood And from my brief dream the eternal sun!
Puccini: Ecco la casa ... Torna ai felici dì from Le Villi Text: Ferdinando Fontana Ecco la casa. Dio, che orrenda notte! Strane voci m’inseguon. Le Villi—evvia! Son fole! No, delle Villi me non perseguita la vendetta fatal! Tu sol m’insegui, rimorso! Vipera dal veleno infernal!
Here is her house. O God, what a horrid night! Weird voices pursue me. The Wilis—away with them! They are imaginings! No, the fatal vendetta of the Wilis does not pursue me! Thou alone, remorse, dost plague me, viper of the poison of Hell!
Torna ai felici dì dolente il mio pensier, ridean del maggio i fior, fioria l’amor, fioria per me l’amor. Or tutto si coprì di lugubre mister, ed io non ho nel cor che tristezza e terror!
My anguished thought returns to those happy days when May was gay with flowers and love blossomed for me. Then everything was blackened by lugubrious mysteries, and now in my heart there is naught but sadness and terror!
Michael Fabiano Of Michael Fabiano’s recent performance as Oronte in Verdi’s I Lombardi Alla Prima Crociata, with Opera Orchestra of New York, The New York Times wrote, “What everyone who attended a concert by the Opera Orchestra of New York at Avery Fisher Hall on Monday night seemed to be thinking when the show was over might have been summarized in a Twitter post: ‘Michael Fabiano OMG.’ The sentiment was evident whenever that tenor opened his mouth, to judge by the prolonged ovations and shouts that followed.” The 2013–14 season brings with it a variety of concerts and new productions for Fabiano. He returns to the Opéra National de Paris – Opéra Bastille for performances as Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, sings the Verdi Requiem with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and in a special concert with the San Francisco Opera, performs the role of Alfred in a new production of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at the Metropolitan Opera, sings the title role in a new production of Gounod’s Faust at the Nederlandse Opera and makes his Glyndebourne debut as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. He will also perform two concerts in Washington, D.C. — a recital at the Kennedy Center and a performance of Verdi’s Il Corsaro with Washington Concert Opera. Fabiano ushered in the 2012–13 season with his return to the Metropolitan Opera for performances as Cassio in Otello. He made his debuts at the Seattle Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa as Rodolfo in La Bohème, a role he also performed at the Dresden Semperoper. Fabiano made his debuts at the Casals Festival and with the Oslo Philharmonic in the Verdi Requiem, and will make his San Francisco Symphony debut in two Beethoven concerts: the first will feature the song cycle An die ferne Geliebte, and the second, the Missa Solemnis under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. He created a sensation singing Oronte in Opera Orchestra of New York’s concert performance of Verdi’s I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata in Avery Fisher Hall, will perform in recital at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, and this summer will debut at the Santa Fe Opera as Alfredo in La Traviata. Fabiano recently made a highly acclaimed American recital debut as part of the distinguished Harriman-Jewell Series in Kansas City, MO. In the course of the 2011–12 season, Fabiano made his debuts at the San Francisco Opera as Gennaro in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, the Teatro Real as Christian in Alfano’sCyrano de Bergerac, Los Angeles Philharmonic in the world premiere performances of the “Prologue” to Shostakovich’s opera Orango (under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen), The Dream of Gerontius with the Wiener Symphoniker, Grant Park Music Festival (VerdiRequiem), and Rigoletto at Florida Grand Opera. He returned to the Dresden Semperoper for performances in Rigoletto, and sang in a staged performance of the Verdi Requiem at Oper Köln. Fabiano debuted with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival and at the Stern Grove Festival with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in showcases of arias and duets. Additional performances of distinction include: his debuts at the Opéra National de Paris as Cassio in Otello, the Asociacíon Bilbaina de Amigos de la Ópera, and Vancouver Opera as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Deutsche Oper Berlin as Rodolfo in La Bohème, Dresden Semperoper as the Duke in Rigoletto, Gennaro in English National Opera’s premiere production of Lucrezia Borgia (which was broadcast in the first-ever, live 3D simulcast of an opera), Metropolitan Opera debut as Raffaele in Verdi’s Stiffelio, London debut at ENO as the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Traviata at the Teatro San Carlo, Respighi’s La Fiammaat the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, La Scala debut as Rinuccio in Gianni
Schicchi, the title role in Stravinsky’s Mavra at the Greek National Opera, performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, and Orchestre National Bordeaux, and the soloist for “O Holy Night” during the nationally televised midnight mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Christmas Day. Fabiano is the winner of numerous competitions, most notably Grand Prize Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Grand Prize winner from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, First Place winner in the Loren Zachary Competition, and First Prize winner of the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition He is a graduate of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. John Churchwell One of the leading collaborative pianists of his generation, John Churchwell enjoys a career on the concert stage as well as in the nation’s leading opera houses. In August 2011, Churchwell was named Head of Music for San Francisco Opera. For the past fourteen years Churchwell has been an assistant conductor for both the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera. In that time he has assisted on more than 95 productions and has collaborated with some of the world’s leading conductors including James Levine, Nello Santi, Nicola Luisotti, James Conlon, Donald Runnicles, Sir Charles Mackerras, Marco Armilliato, and Fabio Luisi. A champion of American music, Churchwell has participated in the world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. In recent seasons, Churchwell has led musical preparation for the world premieres of the Christopher Theofanidi’s opera Heart of a Soldier, as well as the Philip Glass opera Appomattox and the Stewart Wallace/Amy Tan collaboration, The Bonsetter’s Daughter, all for San Francisco Opera. From 2005 – 2008, Churchwell was the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. On the recital stage, Churchwell has partnered some of today’s most sought-after vocalists including Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Diana Damrau, Frederica von Stade, Leah Crocetto, Dawn Upshaw, Carol Vaness, David Pittsinger, Patricia Schuman and Jill Grove. This season, appearances include San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall with tenor Michael Fabiano and the Hollywood Bowl for Prairie Home Companion with soprano Ellie Dehn. In addition to song recitals, Churchwell is an active chamber musician and has appeared regularly with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Churchwell spends his summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, where he has been a member of the voice and piano faculty since 2000. While there, in addition to chamber music performances and public master classes, Churchwell is instrumental in the training of young singers and apprentice coaches. A native of Knoxville, TN, Churchwell studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University where he earned a bachelor of music in piano and a bachelor of arts in French, respectively. Churchwell continued his studies at the University of Minnesota where he earned a Master of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Accompanying. Churchwell studied song literature at the Banff Centre for the Arts and remains the only pianist to be invited for three summers as a Tanglewood Fellow. Churchwell is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.