COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, TAYLOR MARTIN, and MARY LOUISE BURKE, directors
COLORADO CHILDREN’S CHORALE, EMILY CRILE, artistic director
Friday, April 4, 2025 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 1:00pm
Boettcher Concert Hall
HAYDN Symphony No. 96, in D major, “The Miracle”
I. Adagio – Allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuet: Allegretto
IV. Vivace
— INTERMISSION —
ORFF Carmina burana
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi “Fortune, Empress of the World”
I. Primo vere “In Springtime”
Uf dem Anger “On the Green”
II. In taberna “In the Tavern”
III. Cour d’amours “Court of Love”
Blanziflor et Helena “Blanchefleur and Helena”
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi
CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 45 MINUTES INCLUDING A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION.
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY
Friday’s concert is sponsored by KpMG saturday’s concert is sponsored by Liberty GLobaL
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
KEN-DAVID MASUR, conductor
Hailed as “fearless, bold, and a life-force” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and “a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma” (Leipzig Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur is celebrating his sixth season as Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony’s Civic Orchestra.
Masur’s tenure in Milwaukee has been notable for innovative thematic programming, including a festival celebrating the music of the 1930s, when the Bradley Symphony Center was built; the Water Festival, which highlighted local community partners whose work centers on water conservation and education; and last season’s inaugural city-wide Bach Festival, celebrating the abiding appeal of J.S. Bach’s music in an ever-changing world. He has also instituted a multi-season artistin-residence program, and he has led highly-acclaimed performances of major choral works, including a semi-staged production of Peer Gynt. This season, which celebrates the eternal interplay between words and music, he continues an artist residency with bass-baritone Dashon Burton and conducts Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. In Chicago, Masur leads the Civic Orchestra, the premiere training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony, in a variety of programs including an annual Bach Marathon.
In the summer of 2024, Masur made his debut at the Oregon Bach Festival and returned to the Tanglewood Festival, where he conducted the Boston Symphony both in a John Williams film night and in a program honoring the BSO’s longtime music director Seiji Ozawa. This season also features return appearances with the Louisville Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony and the Omaha Symphony, and in September, Masur makes his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic. The following month, he makes his subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony in a program featuring soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Masur has conducted distinguished orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, National and San Francisco Symphonies, l’Orchestre National de France, Minnesota Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Norway’s Kristiansand Symphony and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He has also made regular appearances at Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Grant Park, and international festivals including Verbier. Previously, Masur was Associate Conductor of the Boston Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Munich Symphony, Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony, and Resident Conductor of the San Antonio Symphony.
Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has conducted orchestras and led masterclasses at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan Chamber Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and The Juilliard School, where he led the Juilliard Orchestra last season.
Masur is passionate about contemporary music and has conducted and commissioned dozens of new works, many of which have premiered at the Chelsea Music Festival, an annual summer festival in New York City founded and directed by Masur and his wife, pianist Melinda Lee Masur. The Festival, which celebrated its 15th Anniversary in 2024, has been praised by The
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
New York Times as a “gem of a series” and by TimeOutNY as an “impressive addition to New York’s cultural ecosystem.”
Masur and his family are proud to call Milwaukee their home and enjoy exploring all the riches of the Third Coast.
CELENA SHAFER, soprano
After two summers as an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera, the career of Soprano Celena Shafer was launched to critical raves as Ismene in Mozart’s Mitridate, Re di Ponto. Anne Midgette in the New York Times wrote, “It takes the debutante Celena Shafer, an alumna of the apprentice program here, to show how it should be done, singing the Oriental princess Ismene with flair, vocal balance and great cadenzas.” Since that breakthrough debut, Ms. Shafer has garnered acclaim for her silvery voice, fearlessly committed acting and phenomenal technique. She spends much of her time on the concert stage and has appeared with the orchestras in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles with leading conductors such as Christoph von Dohnanyi, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Labadie, Robert Spano, Nicholas McGegan, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson and Sir Andrew Davis.
Recent highlights include returns to the Pacific Symphony for the Mozart Requiem and debuts with the Utah Festival Opera as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute and as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana. She performed all-Bernstein programs with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Pacific Symphony, and the Grand Rapids Symphony all led by Carl St. Clair; the Britten War Requiem with the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Nashville Symphony and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.
Since first appearing with the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera as a high school student, Ms. Shafer has performed operatic roles there including The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Musetta in La Boheme, Constanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Gilda in Rigoletto, Norina in Don Pasquale, Lisette in La Rondine, Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Adele in Die Fledermaus
Concert repertoire with the USUO has included the Mozart Mass in c minor, Brahms German Requiem, the Bach Magnificat, Vivaldi Gloria, Poulenc Gloria and several concerts of chamber music with conductors such as Bernard Labadie, Raymond Leppard, and former music director Keith Lockhart. She was the 2014/2015 season Artist-in-Residence and has sung a New Year’s Eve Gala, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Mahler Symphonies Nos. 2, 4, and 8, and the Mighty Five tour through Utah’s state parks, with led by then music director Thierry Fischer. She returns in the 2023/2024 season for Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and Marie in Act II of Wozzeck led by David Robertson.
Elsewhere Ms. Shafer’s operatic highlights have included Johanna in Sweeney Todd for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Nanetta in Falstaff with the Los Angeles Opera, both with Bryn Terfel; Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Aithra in Die ägyptische Helena with the American Symphony Orchestra recorded for Telarc; Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Concertgebouw; and Gilda in Rigoletto with the Welsh National Opera. She has returned to the Santa Fe Opera for productions of Mozart’s Lucio Silla, Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict, and Britten’s Albert Herring.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
She completed her undergraduate at the University of Utah and received a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
BRIAN GIEBLER, tenor
Praised for his “lovely tone and deep expressivity” by The New York Times, GRAMMY® nominated tenor Brian Giebler radiates “shine and clarity” (Opera News) in every phrase using “his high-placed tenor with great skill” (Opera Magazine). His debut solo album a lad’s love (Bridge Records, 2020) garnered high praise from significant industry publications including Gramophone, Opera News (Critics Choice), and San Francisco Classical Voice, debuted on the Billboard charts, and earned him his first GRAMMY® Award nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
Highlights of Mr. Giebler’s 2024/25 season include debuts with the Colorado Symphony and Austin Symphony (Orff Carmina Burana), Handel Messiah with the Asheville Symphony, a concert version of Handel Theodora with Ars Lyrica Houston, and return engagements with Voices of Ascension (Evangelist in Bach St. Matthew Passion), Princeton Pro Musica (Haydn Creation), and as Matthew Shepard with Conspirare in Craig Hella Johnsons Considering Matthew Shepard.
“The sweetness of Giebler’s impressive high tenor” and his “expressive and elegant phrasing” (Cleveland Classical) have been heard in diverse roles such as Apollo in Handel Semele with The English Concert and The Clarion Choir in an international tour under Harry Bicket at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), the Barbican (London), and Carnegie Hall (New York); as Adam in REV 23 at the Prototype Festival (dir. James Darrah; cond. Daniela Candillari); as Aeneas in Purcell Dido and Aeneas with Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, and in the comedic role of Arnalta in Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea with Boston Baroque. Recent highlights include Desmerest Circé and Caccini Alcina with Boston Early Music Festival under Stephen Stubbs and Paul O’Dette, Bach B Minor Mass at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York (Kent Tritle) and Clarion Music Society (Steven Fox), Orff Carmina Burana with the Milwaukee and Virginia Symphony Orchestras, a tour of the Ravinia and Caramoor Festivals singing Monteverdi with Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell, Haydn Creation with Santa Fe Pro Musica, and with Mark Morris Dance Group to sing the choreographer’s iconic version of Handel L’Allegro, il Penseroso at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Erik Satie Socrate at Cal Performances.
He has performed Stravinsky with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst; Evangelist in Bach St. Matthew Passion (Trinity Wall St.) and St. John Passion (Voices of Ascension); Mozart at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center; Mendelssohn Elijah with Baltimore Choral Arts; and Bach Cantatas with the Grand Rapids Symphony and Handel & Haydn Society under Harry Christophers. Regularly engaged for Handel Messiah, he has performed the work with Music of the Baroque and Nicholas Kraemer (available on recording), internationally in South Korea with the Seoul Metropolitan Chorus, and with the Charlotte, Rhode Island, Memphis, and Virginia Symphonies, as well as at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York. Mr. Giebler sang and recorded the role of Iff the Water Genie in Wuorinen Haroun and the Sea of Stories with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and made his debut in France with Ensemble Correspondances under Sébastien Daucé and in Germany with Boston Early Music Festival in Charpentier Les Plaisirs and de Lalande Les Fontaines.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
ELLIOT MADORE, baritone
Hailed by the New York Times for his “robust singing” and Opera News for his “exquisite vocal beauty,” GRAMMY Award winning Canadian baritone Elliot Madore has established himself as an international artist in demand at the leading opera houses and orchestras of the world. In the 2024/25 season Mr. Madore makes his role debut at the title role in Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet, with Jacques Lacombe conducting Alain Gauthier’s production at Opéra de Montreal and a return to his long standing collaboration with the Boston Symphony to sing Frank and Fritz in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt conducted by music director Andris Nelsons. Additional announced engagements include his signature Carmina Burana with Colorado Symphony conducted by Ken-David Masur, a double bill of Carmina Burana and Michael Tilson Thomas’ Tilke Songs with the Louisville Orchestra, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Reno Philharmonic.
Highlights of previous seasons at the Metropolitan Opera include performances of Mercutio in a new production of Roméo et Juliette which was broadcast live in HD, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Schaunard in La bohème, as Lysander in Jeremy Sam’s Baroque pasticcio The Enchanted Island, and Novice’s Friend in Billy Budd. Mr. Madore made his European operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival singing Ramiro in L’heure espagnole and Le chat and L’horloge comtoise in a new production of L’enfant et les sortilèges, and returned to the company later to sing the title role in Don Giovanni. He has also been seen in a return to Dutch National Opera for the European debut of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West as Ramón, in his house debut in the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s new opera Julius Caesar with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, in his role debut as Figaro in Manitoba Opera’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, as the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia and Florida Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and with the Tanglewood Festival, and as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and with the Tanglewood Festival. Additional roles include Anthony in Sweeney Todd and Ramón in the world premiere of Girls of the Golden West with San Francisco Opera, Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd and Germano in La scala di seta with Opernhaus Zürich, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Santa Fe Opera, his Salzburg Festival debut as the Japanese Envoy in concert performances of Stravinsky’s Le rossignol, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Kansas City Opera, his role debut as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Sieji Ozawa Music Academy in Japan, and his Dutch National Opera debut as Prince Hérisson de Porc-Epic in Chabrier’s L’étoile which was video recorded.
Mr. Madore was part of the Grammy Award recording from the Saito Kinen Festival as Ramiro in L’heure espagnole and Le chat and L’horloge comtoise in L’enfant et les sortilèges, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
Honors and awards include being named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a recipient of the 2010 George London Award from the George London Foundation, a winner of the Palm Beach Vocal Competition, and a recipient of the ARIAS Emerging Young Artist Award from Opera Canada. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Madore currently resides duly in Toronto, Canada and Zürich, Switzerland.
PHOTO: CYRILL MATTER
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
TAYLOR MARTIN, director designate, Colorado Symphony Chorus
Taylor Martin is Director Designate and Conductor for the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Artistic Director of ELUS Vocal Ensemble. In 2019 Taylor made his debut with the Colorado Symphony conducting their staged version of Handel’s Messiah, titled Messiah: Awakening. Now in his tenth season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus, he has frequently taken the podium during the holiday season for productions of A Colorado Christmas and Messiah. Taylor has prepared the Chorus for productions with the Colorado Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony, and he recently conducted a concert tour of Austria featuring works for chorus and organ, leading Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Salzburg Domorchester. Known for his musical versatility, Taylor has prepared choruses for Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, Al Green, and Josh Groban, among other critically acclaimed artists. Now in his eighth season with ELUS Vocal Ensemble, Taylor has led performances of great a cappella repertoire through imaginative programming of new music and major works, such as David Lang’s the little match girl passion and Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem to considerable acclaim.
MARY LOUISE BURKE,
associate director and conductor, Colorado Symphony
Chorus
Mary Louise Burke is in her 31st season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus. In addition to assisting Chorus Director Duain Wolfe for many years, she has also prepared the chorus for various Colorado Symphony pops concerts and special projects, including Too Hot to Handel. She is the Creative Director of the Symphony’s A Colorado Christmas concerts. In the summer of 2022, she conducted the Symphony chorus on their concert tour of Austria. She has worked as the Associate Director of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, participating in hundreds of concerts and dozens of the Chorale’s regional, national and international tours. She was also Vocal Director of the Children’s Chorale, where she provided specialized vocal coaching and opera preparation. With an expertise in vocal technique, Burke frequently conducts seminars in vocal and choral techniques for area church and community choirs. She is the Vocal Advisor at Montview Presbyterian Church and has taught classes in Find Your Authentic Voice at the University of Denver. She has a Doctorate in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado.
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS
The Colorado Symphony’s 2024/25 Season marks the 41st year of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe, our chorus has earned a reputation as one of the finest symphonic choruses in the United States. This outstanding chorus of volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous concerts each year, performing the great Masterworks, as well as pops concerts, movies and special projects, all to repeated critical acclaim.
Additionally, the Chorus has been featured annually at the Bravo!Vail Music Festival, performing with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra or Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of notable conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jaap van Zweden, Alan Gilbert, Fabio Luisi, Hans Graf, as well as 25 years with the Aspen Music Festival.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
In 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the chorus, Duain Wolfe conducted the chorus on a concert tour of Europe, presenting the Verdi REQUIEM in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl and Prague; in 2016 the chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg and Munich featuring the Fauré Requiem. In the summer of 2022, the Chorus toured Austria, performing to great acclaim in Vienna, Graz and Salzburg.
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS
Duain Wolfe, Founding Director and Conductor Laureate
Taylor Martin, Director Designate and Conductor
Mary Louise Burke, Associate Director and Conductor
Jared Joseph, Assistant Conductor
Hsiao-Ling Lin and ShaoChun Tsai, Pianists
David Rosen, Chorus Manager
Barbara Porter, Associate Manager
Eric Israelson, Chorus Manager Emeritus
SOPRANO
Meredith Anderson
Lottie Andrews
Lori Ascani
Brianna Bettis
Jude Blum
Susan Brown
Jeremy Burns
Emily Burr
Denelda Causey
Ruth Coberly
Sarah Coberly
Suzanne Collins
Angie Collums
Kerry Harrold Cote
Claudia Dakkouri
Julia Damore
April Day
Mary Dobreff
Emily Eck
Kate Emerich
Gracie Ewert
Madalyn Farquhar
Lisa Fultz
Andria Gaskill
Jenifer Digby Gile
Lori C. Gill
Susan Graber
Rachel Harston
Jackie Havens
Alaina Headrick
Elizabeth Hedrick-Collins
Erin Hittle
Elizabeth Hott
Angela Hupp
Lauren Kennedy
Lindsey Kermgard
Meghan Kinnischtzke
Leanne Lang
Catherine Look
Anne Maupin
Shannon McAleb
Erin Montigne
Wendy Moraskie
Jeannette O’Nan
Kimberly Lord Pflug
Barbara Porter
Lori A. Ropa
Roberta Sladovnik
Syd Timme
Susan von Roedern
Marcia Walker
Alison Wall
Karen Wuertz
Cara Young
Joan Zisler
ALTO
Liz Arthur
Priscilla Adams
Brenda Berganza
Mary Boyle Thayer
Charlotte Braud-Kern
Michelle Brown
Cass Chatfield
Clair Tannenbaum
Clauson
Jayne Conrad
Martha Cox
Janie Darone
Debbie Davies
Barbara Deck
Valerie Dutcher
Michelle Fronzaglia
Sharon Gayley
Daniela Golden
Gabriella Groom
Pat Guittar
Sheri Haxton
Kaia Hoopes
Wendy Ho-Schnell
Hansi Hoskins
Brandy Jackson
Olivia Isaac
Christine Kaminske
Naryoung Annette
Kim
Annie Kolstad
Andrea LeBaron
Juliet Levy
Carole A. London
Tinsley Long
Joanna K.
Maltzahn
Susan McWaters
Annélise Nelson
Kristen Nordenholz
Christine Nyholm
Sheri Owens
Jill Parsons
Syder Peltier
Elizabeth Scarselli
Jennifer Pringle
Donneve S. Rae
Leanne Rehme
Kathi Rudolph
Melanie Stevenson
Deanna Thaler
Clara Tiggelaar
Kim Trubetskoy
Pat Virtue
Benita Wandel
Beth York
TENOR
Kevan Angel
Gary Babcock
Ryan Bowman
Jim Carlson
Dusty Davies
Nicholas Dietrich
Jack Dinkel
Roger Fueher
John Gale
Frank Gordon Jr.
Forrest Guittar
David Hodel
Sami Ibrahim
James Jensen
Curt Jordan
Ken Kolm
Sean Lund-Brown
Tom Milligan
Richard Moraskie
Garvis J. Muesing
Tim Nicholas
Dallas Rehberg
Tyler Richardson
David Rosen
Andrew Seamans
Evan Secrist
Philip (P.J.) Stohlmann
Daniel Thompson
Hannis Thompson
Max Witherspoon
Kenneth Zimmerman
BASS
John Adams
Grant Carlton
Bob Friedlander
Tim Griffin
Chris Grossman
Colin Hall
Nic Hammerberg
Doug Hesse
David Highbaugh
Leonard Hunt
Terry Jackson
Tom Jirak
John Jones
Jared Joseph
Matthew Kersten-Gray
Jakson McDaniel
Nalin Mehta
Matthew Molberg
Greg Morrison
Eugene Nuccio
John Phillips
Ben Pilcher
Tom Potter
Jacob Pullen
Ken Quarles
Joshua Richards
Adam Scoville
Russ Skillings
Matthew Smedberg
Riley Somo
Matt Steele
Wil Swanson
Mike West
Lu Wu
Jeffrey Zax
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
COLORADO CHILDREN’S CHORALE
Since 1974 the Colorado Children’s Chorale has brought its artistry and charm to audiences throughout the world. With a diverse repertoire ranging from fully staged opera and musical theater to standard choral compositions in classical, folk, and popular traditions, the Chorale performs with an innovative stage presentation and a unique theatrical spirit. In recognition of its artistic quality, the Chorale was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the prestigious El Pomar Award for Excellence in Arts and Humanities. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Emily Crile and Executive Director Meg Steitz, the Colorado Children’s Chorale annually trains 400 members between the ages of 7 and 14 from all ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds representing more than 180 schools in the Denver metro area and beyond. Since its founding, the Chorale has sung countless performances with some of the world’s finest performing arts organizations, performed for numerous dignitaries, and appeared in television and radio broadcasts. The Performance Program includes a series of self-produced concerts, numerous performances with other Colorado arts organizations and touring around the world. This season the Chorale presents Merry and Bright and Where Dreams Fly in Boettcher Concert Hall, as well as So Many Voices, Performing Small Miracles, and Spring Fling Sing! in venues across the metro area. Chorale children will also take to the stage in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Central City Opera, Colorado Christmas and Fellowship of the Ring with the Colorado Symphony, and La bohéme with Opera Colorado.
Emily Crile, Artistic Director, exhibits her passion and enthusiasm for choral music through developing and conducting singers of all ages. In her 25th season with the Colorado Children’s Chorale, she now serves as the Artistic Director conducting Tour Choir and overseeing all aspects of the 50-year-old professional children’s choral organization. During her tenure with the Chorale, she has worked with all choir levels, established Legacy, the young alumni ensemble, prepared children for appearances with the Colorado Symphony, Central City Opera, Opera Colorado, and Colorado Ballet, and toured throughout Australia, China, Costa Rica, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. With a commitment to equitable access for high quality music education, she crafted, led, and administered School Partnership and Community Choir programs across the Denver Metro area and earned a certification in Facilitating Effective DEI Discussions from Dena Samuels Consulting.
Emily is the Past President of the Colorado American Choral Directors Association and is an active choral clinician and presenter throughout the United States. Prior to joining the Chorale in 2000, she served as an Assistant Conductor with the Northern Iowa Children’s Choir. She holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Bachelor of Music (Choral Education) from the University of Northern Iowa.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
COLORADO CHILDREN’S CHORALE
Emily Crile, Artistic Director
Libby Cotten, Associate Conductor
Victoria Bailey, Assistant Conductor
Jared Joseph, Assistant Conductor
Tre Appleton
Keaton Bau
Maddi Burm
Reilly Butler
Jade Calkins
Annon Camero
Hale Camero
Cordelia Cheever
Nelle Collier
Kameron Covill
Anika Dande
Terra Darnell
Savannah Davenport
Tessa Ditterline
Eli Eastment
Camilla Franklin
Elliot Gee
Frank Gomez
Olivia Gramlich
Portia Hansen
Willow Hartman
Iola Higdon
Ethan Horner
Mayura Iyengar
Norma Jackson
Addie Jewell
Deeksha Kaza
Lyssa Klein
Vivi Kowalski
Sam Kraus
Jane Lanoha
Brooks Larson
Evan Lewis
Selisse Maceo
Kade Matsumoto
Carly Mehmen
Cadence Moore
Aliyah Morales
Christy Mulryan
Miranda Murillo Durango
Abby Musser
Nicolaus Nagle
Gwen Nicholas
Aiana Ochoa
Parker Olson
Cameron Onan
Alex Osaka
McKenna Pardieck
Meg Politte
Emmy Pouliot
Riley Powers
Beckett Rathbun
Molly Reagan-Wilson
Grayson Riek
Monroe Rippe
Elijah Rosen
Rocco Rowekamp
Gabriel Salaz
Juliette Schneider
Clara Seigle
Mae Shamos
Henning Shook
Joshua Taylor
Katie Tkachenko
Gavin Ulmer
Karsten Visser
Elizabeth Von Stroh
Madeline Walker
Davina Wang
Emersyn Wheeler
Conor Winburn
Jonah Winburn
Bailey Winn
Charles Wisser
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
JO SEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
Symphony No. 96 in D major, “Miracle”
Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732 in Rohrau, Austria, and died on May 31, 1809 in Vienna. He composed the “Miracle” Symphony soon after arriving for his first visit to England on New Year’s Day 1791. Haydn directed the work’s premiere at one of Salomon’s Hanover Square concerts in March or April, perhaps at the first program of the series, on March 11th. The score calls for flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns and trumpets in pairs, timpani and strings. Duration is about 20 minutes. The last performance by the orchestra was January 23-25, 2009, with Douglas Boyd, conducting.
Joseph Haydn was the best-known composer in Europe when he landed in England on New Year’s Day 1791, and his debut in London, on Friday, March 11th, was eagerly anticipated. The program was printed in the Public Advertiser several days before the event: an overture by Rosetti, concertos for oboe and violin, an orchestral work by Koželuch, several songs and arias; a new Haydn symphony would begin the second half of the program, allowing for the seating of latecomers. Despite the flurry of documentary evidence surrounding Haydn’s London eighteenmonth residency, it is uncertain exactly which of his symphonies was given at the March 11th concert: the printed program identifies the piece ambiguously as simply a “new Grand Overture,” giving no details about its key or movements. Haydn only wrote two such works that winter in London — Symphonies No. 95 (C minor) and No. 96 (D major). The Symphony No. 95 was not performed until April. Many scholars believe that the Symphony No. 96 was premiered at Haydn’s first London concert, but the noted authority H.C. Robbins Landon says that the program featured the older Symphony No. 92, written in 1788 or 1789 and known as the “Oxford” ever since the composer chose it for performance during the ceremony at which he was given an honorary degree by that university in July 1791.
Another mystery attached to the Symphony No. 96 concerns its well-known but totally erroneous sobriquet, “The Miracle.” According to the story, a large chandelier crashed to the floor during a concert at which the work was heard, but the audience, having left its seats to press toward the stage and get a better view of the famous composer, miraculously escaped injury. The incident did not happen during the 1791 season, which rules out its association with the Symphony No. 96. The only mention of anything of a similar nature appeared in the press in connection with the concert of February 2, 1795, when the Symphony No. 102 was premiered, but even that report now enjoys little credence. Georg August Griesinger asked Haydn about the incident when he interviewed him in Vienna in 1805 in preparation for writing his biography of the composer, and was told, “I know nothing of that.” This “miracle,” like most, seems to be a fable, spawned, in this case, by the enormous attraction of the British public to their distinguished visitor.
The Symphony No. 96 opens with a slow, stately introduction whose surprisingly wideranging harmonies presage the heightened expression of encroaching Romanticism. A tiny oboe cadenza (did Beethoven recall this passage when he was writing the first movement of his Fifth Symphony?) serves as the bridge to the main body of the movement. As in many of Haydn’s mature symphonies, the movement’s sonata structure is built almost entirely from the motives comprising the main theme, and does not include a strongly contrasting secondary theme. In the development section, Haydn perpetrated one of his favorites ruses, when he indicated a long silence from which emerges the main theme — in the wrong key! The music chugs on for several measures, pauses hesitantly on an inconclusive violin scale, and then happily dashes off in the proper tonality to begin the formal recapitulation. Another surprise awaits in the closing measures, when Haydn inserted some startling minor-mode measures, played at full volume, derived from the slow introduction that opened the movement.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
The first portion of the Andante is based on a graceful Rococo melody announced by the violins. The music turns to a more serious, almost tragic expression in its contrapuntal central section, but the theme and the lighter mood of the opening return before the movement arrives at a harmony usually used to announce the solo cadenza of a concerto. Haydn thereafter continued with an imaginative concerted passage for, first, solo strings and then solo winds before a short coda recalling the outline of the principal theme closes the movement. The third movement balances the rustic, full-orchestra vigor of the Menuetto with the lilting, Ländler-like charm of the oboe solo in the central trio. Haydn recommended that the finale, a witty rondo, be played “as pianissimo as possible and the tempo very quick.” As the music unfolds, the teasing main theme pops up regularly in the violins. They tempt the flute to join in the merriment, who does so with a wink, a moment’s hesitation, and a sense of playfulness and good humor that is unmatched by the music of any other composer. “A lack of appreciation for Haydn,” wrote Bernard Jacobson, “is a species of the inability to enjoy the good things in life.”
CARL ORFF (1895-1982)
Carmina Burana, Cantiones profanae for Chorus, Children’s Chorus, Soprano, Tenor and Baritone soloists, and Orchestra
Carl Orff was born on July 10, 1895 in Munich, and died there on March 29, 1982. He composed Carmina Burana in 1935-1936, and Bertil Wetzelberger conducted the premiere, at the Frankfurt Opera House on December 8, 1937. The score calls for two piccolos, three flutes, three oboes, English horn, E-flat, two B-flat and bass clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, celesta, two pianos and strings. Duration is about 65 minutes. The last performance by the orchestra was May 24-26, 2019, conducted by Brett Mitchell.
About thirty miles south of Munich, in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, is the abbey of Benediktbeuren. In 1803, a 13th-century codex was discovered among its holdings that contains some 200 secular poems that give a vivid, earthy portrait of Medieval life. Many of these poems, attacking the defects of the Church, satirizing contemporary manners and morals, criticizing the omnipotence of money, and praising the sensual joys of food, drink and physical love, were written by an amorphous band known as “Goliards.” These wandering scholars and ecclesiastics, who were often esteemed teachers and recipients of courtly patronage, filled their worldly verses with images of self-indulgence that were probably as much literary license as biographical fact. The language they used was a heady mixture of Latin, old German and old French. Some paleographic musical notation appended to a few of the poems indicates that they were sung, but it is today so obscure as to be indecipherable. This manuscript was published in 1847 by Johann Andreas Schmeller under the title, Carmina Burana (“Songs of Beuren”), “carmina” being the plural of the Latin word for song, “carmen.”
Carl Orff encountered these lusty lyrics for the first time in the 1930s, and he was immediately struck by their theatrical potential. Like Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson in the United States, Orff at that time was searching for a simpler, more direct musical expression that could immediately affect listeners. Orff’s view, however, was more Teutonically philosophical than that of the Americans, who were seeking a music for the common man, one related to the everyday world. Orff sought to create a musical idiom that would serve as a means of drawing listeners away from their daily experiences and closer to the realization of oneness with the universe. In the words of the composer’s biographer Andreas Liess, “Orff’s spiritual form is molded by the superimposition of a high intellect on a primitive creative instinct,” thus establishing a tension between the rational (intellect) and the irrational (instinct). The artistic presentation of the deep-seated psychological self to the thinking person allows an exploration
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
of the regions of being that have been overlaid by accumulated layers of civilization. To portray the connection between the physical and spiritual spheres, Orff turned to the theater. His theater, however, was hardly the conventional one. Orff’s modern vision entailed stripping away not only the richly Romantic musical language of traditional opera, but also eliminating its elaborate stagecraft, costumes and scenery, so that it was reduced to just its essential elements of production. Orff’s reform even went so far as to question the validity of any works written before 1935, including his own, to express the state of modern man, and he told his publisher to destroy all his music (i.e., Orff’s) which “unfortunately” had been printed. The first piece that embodied Orff’s new outlook was Carmina Burana.
Though Carmina Burana is most frequently heard in the concert hall, Orff insisted that it was intended to be staged, and that the music was only one of its constituent parts. “I have never been concerned with music as such, but rather with music as ‘spiritual discussion,’ ” he wrote. “Music is the servant of the word, trying not to disturb, but to emphasize and underline.” He felt that this objective was best achieved in the theater, but Carmina Burana still has a stunning impact even without its visual element. Its effect arises from the monumental simplicity of the musical style by which Orff sought to depict the primitive, instinctive side of mankind. Gone are the long, intricate forms of traditional German symphonic music, the opulent homogeneity of the Romantic orchestra, the rich textures of the 19th-century masters. They are replaced by a structural simplicity and a sinewy muscularity that is driven by an almost primeval rhythmic energy. “The simpler and more reduced to essentials a statement is, the more immediate and profound its effect,” wrote Orff. It is precisely through this enforced simplicity that Orff intended to draw listeners to their instinctual awareness of “oneness with the universe.” Whether he succeeded as philosopher is debatable. Hanspeter Krellmann wrote in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, “The four aspects of Orff’s musical theater [tragedy of archetypes, visionary embodiment of metaphysical ideas, bizarre fantasy, and physical exuberance] are usually intertwined; and it is apparent from the works that Orff’s main concern is not with the exposition of human nature in tragedy, nor with whimsical fancy, nor with the statement of supernatural truths, nor with joyous exultation. His intention seems to be to create a spectacle.” So what then is Carmina Burana: a set of ribald songs? a Medieval morality play? a philosophical tract? Perhaps it is all of these. But more than anything, it is one of the most invigorating, entertaining, easily heard and memorable musical creations of the 20th century.
Orff chose 24 poems from the Carmina Burana to include in his work. Since the 13th-century music for them was unknown, all of their settings are original with him. The work is disposed in three large sections with prologue and epilogue. The three principal divisions — Primo Vere (“Springtime”), In Taberna (“In the Tavern”) and Cour d’Amours (“Court of Love”) — sing the libidinous songs of youth, joy and love. However, the prologue and epilogue (using the same verses and music) that frame these pleasurable accounts warn against unbridled enjoyment. “The wheel of fortune turns; dishonored I fall from grace and another is raised on high,” caution the words of Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (“Fortune, Empress of the World”), the chorus that stands like pillars of eternal verity at the entrance and exit of this Medieval world. They are the ancient poet’s reminder that mortality is the human lot, that the turning of the same Wheel of Fortune that brings sensual pleasure may also grind that joy to dust. It is this bald juxtaposition of antitheses — the most rustic human pleasures with the sternest of cosmic admonitions — coupled with Orff’s elemental musical idiom that gives Carmina Burana its dynamic theatricality. The work opens with the chorus Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi, depicting the terrible revolution of the Wheel of Fate through a powerful repeated rhythmic figure that grows inexorably to a stunning climax. After a brief morality tale (Fortune plango vulnera — “I lament the wounds that fortune deals”), the Springtime section begins. Its songs and dances are filled with the
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
sylvan brightness and optimistic expectancy appropriate to the annual rebirth of the earth and the spirit. The next section, In Taberna (“In the Tavern”), is given over wholly to the men’s voices. Along with a hearty drinking song are heard two satirical stories: Olim lacus colueram (“Once in lakes I made my home”) — one of the most fiendishly difficult pieces in the tenor repertory — and Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis (“I am the abbot of Cucany”). The third division, Cour d’Amours (“Court of Love”), leaves far behind the rowdy revels of the tavern to enter a refined, seductive world of sensual pleasure. The music is limpid, gentle and enticing, and marks the first appearance of the soprano soloist. The lovers’ urgent entreaties grow in ardor, with insistent encouragement from the chorus, until submission is won in the most rapturous moment in the score, Dulcissime (“Sweetest Boy”). The grand paean to the loving couple (Blanzifor et Helena) is cut short by the intervention of imperious fate, as the opening chorus (Fortuna), like the turning of the great wheel, comes around once again to close this mighty work.
FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI (Fortune, Empress of the World)
1. O fortuna Chorus
O fortuna, O fortune!
velut luna
Like the moon statu variabilis, everchanging, semper crescis rising first aut decrescis; then declining; vita detestabilis hateful life nunc obdurat treats us badly et tunc curat then with kindness, ludo mentis aciem, making sport with our desires, egestatem, causing power potestatem and poverty alike dissolvit ut glaciem. to melt like ice.
Sors immanis
Dread destiny et inanis, and empty fate, rota tu volubilis, an ever turning wheel, status malus, who make adversity vana salus and fickle health semper dissolubilis, alike turn to nothing, obumbrata in the dark et velata and secretly michi quoque niteris; you work against me; nunc per ludum how through your trickery dorsum nudum my naked back fero tui sceleris. is turned to you unarmed.
Sors salutis
Good fortune et virtutis and strength michi nunc contraria, now are turned from me, est affectus Affection et defectus and defeat semper in angaria. are always on duty.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Hac in hora
Come now, sine mora pluck the strings corde pulsum tangite; without delay; quod per sortem and since by fate sternit fortem, the strong are overthrown, mecum omnes plangite! weep ye all with me.
2. Fortune plango vulnera
Chorus
Fortune plango vulnera
I lament the wounds that fortune deals stillantibus ocellis, with tear-filled eyes, quod sua michi munera for returning to the attack subtrahit rebellis. she takes her gifts from me. Verum est, quod legitur It is true fronte capillata, as they say, sed plerumque sequitur the well-thatched pate occasio calvata. may soonest lose its hair.
In fortune solio
Once on fortune’s throne sederam elatus, I sat exalted, prosperitatis vario crowned with a wreath flore coronatus; of prosperity’s flowers. quicquid enim florui But from my happy,
felix et beatus, flower-decked paradise nunc a summo corrui I was struck down gloria privatus. and stripped of all my glory.
Fortune rota volvitur:
The wheel of fortune turns; descendo minoratus; dishonored I fall from grace alter in altum tollitur; and another is raised on high. nimis exaltatus Raised to over-dizzy heights of power rex sedet in vertice — the king sits in majesty — caveat ruinam! but let him beware of his downfall! Nam sub axe legimus For ’neath the axle of fortune’s wheel Hecubam reginam. behold Queen Hecuba.
I. PRIMO VERE (Springtime)
3. Veris leta facies
Chorus
Veris leta facies
The joyous face of spring mundo propinatur, is presented to the world; hiemalis acies winter’s army victa iam fugatur, is conquered and put to flight. in vestitu vario In colorful dress Flora principatur, Flora is arrayed, nemorum dulcisono and the woods are sweet que canto celebratur. with birdsong in her praise.
Flore fusus gremio
Reclining in Flora’s lap Phebus novo more Phoebus again risum dat, hoc vario laughs merrily, iam stipatur flore. covered with many-colored flowers.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Zephyrus nectareo
Zephyr breathes around spirans in odore; the scented fragrance; certatim pro bravio eagerly striving for the prize, curramus in amore. let us compete in love.
Cytharizat cantico
Trilling her song dulcis Philomena, sweet Philomel is heard, flore rident vario and smiling with flowers prata iam serena; the peaceful meadows lie; salit cetus avium a flock of wild birds silve per amena, rises from the woods; chorus promit virginum the chorus of maidens iam gaudia millena. brings a thousand joys.
4. Omnia sol temperat
Baritone
Omnia sol temperat
All things are tempered by the sun purus et subtilis, so pure and fine. novo mundo reserat In a new world are revealed faciem Aprilis; the beauties of April; ad amorem properat to thoughts of love animus herilis, the mind of man is turned, et iocundis imperat and in pleasure’s haunts deus puerilis. the youthful God holds sway.
Rerum tanta novitas
Nature’s great renewal in solemni vere in solemn spring et veris auctoritas and spring’s example
iubet nos gaudere;
bid us rejoice; vias prebet solitas, they charge us keep to well-worn paths, et in tuo vere and in your springtime fides est et probitas there is virtue and honesty tuum retinere. in being constant to your lover.
Ama me fideliter! Love me truly! Fidem meam nota: Remember my constancy. de corde totaliter With all my heart et ex mente tota and all my mind sum presentialiter I am with you absens in remota. even when far away. Quisquis amat taliter, Whoever knows such love volvitur in rota. knows the torture of the wheel.
5. Ecce gratum
Chorus
Ecce gratum
Behold the welcome, et optatum long-awaited spring, ver reducit gaudia, which brings back pleasure purpuratum and with crimson flowers floret pratum, adorns the fields. sol serenat omnia. The sun brings peace to all around. Iamiam cedant tristia! Away with sadness!
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Estas redit,
Summer returns, nunc recedit and now departs Hyemis sevitia. cruel winter.
Iam liquescit
Melt away et decrescit and disappear grando, nix et cetera; hail, ice and snow; bruma fugit, the mists flee, et iam sugit and spring is fed ver estatis ubera; at summer’s breast. illi mens est misera, Wretched is the man qui nec vivit, who neither lives nec lascivit, nor lusts sub estatis dextera. under summer’s spell.
Gloriantur
They taste delight et letantur and honeyed sweetness in melle dulcedinis, who strive for qui conantur, and gain ut untantur Cupid’s reward. premio Cupidinis; Let us submit simus jussu Cypridis to Venus’ rule, gloriantes and joyful et letantes and proud pares esse Paridis. be equal to Paris.
UF DEM ANGER (On the Green)
6. Tanz (Dance) Orchestra
7. Floret silva Chorus
Floret silva nobilis
The noble forest floribus et foliis. Is decked with flowers and leaves. Ubi est antiquus Where is my old, meus amicus? my long-lost lover? Hinc equitavit, He rode away on his horse. eia, quis me amabit? Alas, who will love me now?
Floret silva undique,
The forest all around is in flower, nach mime gesellen ist mir we. I long for my lover. Gruonet der walt allenthalben, The forest all around is in flower, was ist min geselle alse lange? whence is my lover gone? Der ist geriten hinnen, He rode away on his horse. owi, wer sol mich minnen? Alas, who will love me now?
8. Chramer, gip die varwe mir Chorus
Chramer, gip die varwe mir,
Salesman, give me colored paint die min wengel roete, to paint my cheeks so crimson red, damit ich die jungen man that I may make these bold young men, an ir dank der minnenliebe noete. whether they will or not, love me. Seht mich an, Look at me,
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
jungen man! young men all! Lat mich iu gevallen! Am I not well pleasing?
Minnet, tugentliche man,
Love, all you right-thinking men, minnecliche frouwen! women worthy to be loved! Minne tuot iu hoch gemuot Love shall raise your spirits high unde lat iuch in hohlen eren schouwen. and put a spring into your step. Seht mich an, etc. Look at me, etc.
Wol dir, werit, das du bist
Hail to thee, O world that art also freudenriche! in joy so rich and plenteous! Ich wil dir sin undertan I will ever be in thy debt durch din liebe immer sicherliche. surely for thy goodness’ sake! Seht mich an, etc. Look at me, etc.
9. Reie (Round Dance)
Chorus
Swaz hie gat umbe,
They who here go dancing round daz sint allez megede, are young maidens all die wellent an man who will go without a man alle disen sumer gan. this whole summer long.
Chume, chum, geselle min
Chorus
Chume, chum, geselle min,
Come, come, dear heart of mine, ih enbite harte din. I so long have waited for thee.
Suzer rosenvarwer munt,
Sweetest rosy colored mouth, chum un mache mich gesunt. come and make me well again.
Swaz hie gat umbe
Chorus
Swaz hie gat umbe, etc.
They who here go dancing round, etc.
10. Were diu werlt alle min
Chorus
Were diu werlt alle min
If the whole world were but mine von deme mere unze an den Rin, from the sea right to the Rhine, des wolt ih mih darben, gladly I’d pass it by daz diu chünegin von Engellant if the Queen of England fair lege an minen armen. in my arms did lie.
II. IN
TABERNA (In the Tavern)
11. Estuans interius
Baritone
Estuans interius
Seething inside ira vehementi with boiling rage, in amaritudine in bitterness loquor mee menti: I talk to myself. factus de materia, Made of matter, cinis elementi, risen from dust,
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
similis sum folio,
I am like a leaf de quo ludunt venti. tossed in play by the winds.
Cum sit enim proprium
But whereas it befits viro sapienti a wise man supra petram ponere to build his house sedem fundamenti, on a rock, stultus ego comparor I, poor fool, fluvio labenti, am like a meandering river, sub eodem tramite never keeping nunquam permanenti. to the same path. Feror ego veluti I drift along sine nauta navis, like a pilotless ship ut per vias aeris or like an aimless bird, vaga fertur avis; carried at random through the air. non me tenent vincula, No chains hold me captive, non me tenet clavis, no lock holds me fast; quero mihi similes, I am looking for those like me, et adiungor pravis. and I joined the depraved. Mihi cordis gravitas The burdens of the heart res videtur gravis; seem to weigh me down; iocus est amabilis jesting is pleasant dulciorque favis; and sweeter than the honeycomb. quicquid Venus imperat, Whatever Venus commands labor est suavis, is pleasant toil; que nunquam in cordibus she never dwells habitat ignavis. in craven hearts.
Via lata gradior
On the broad path I wend my way more iuventutis, as is youth’s wont, inplicor et vitiis, I am caught up in vice immemor virtutis, and forgetful of virtue, voluptatis avidus caring more for voluptuous pleasure magis quam salutis, than for my health; mortuus in anima dead in spirit, curam gero cutis. I think only of my skin.
12. Olim lacus colueram
Tenor and Chorus
Olim lacus colueram,
Once in lakes I made my home, olim pulcher extiteram — once I dwelt in beauty — dum cignus ego fueram. that was when I was a swan. Miser, miser! Alas, poor me! Modo niger Now I am black et ustus fortiter! and roasted to a turn!
Girat, regirat garcifer;
On the spit I turn and turn, me rogus urit fortiter: the fire roasts me through; propinat me nunc dapifer. now I am presented at the feast. Miser, miser! etc. Alas, poor me! etc.
Nunc in scutella iaceo,
Now in a serving dish I lie et volitare nequeo, and can no longer fly; dentes frendentes video. gnashing teeth confront me. Miser, miser! etc. Alas, poor me! etc.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
13. Ego sum abbas
Baritone and Chorus
Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis,
I am the abbot of Cucany, et consilium meum est cum bibulis, and I like to drink with my friends. et in secta Decii voluntas mea est, I belong from choice to the sect of Decius, et qui mane me quesierit in taberna, and whoever meets me in the morning at the tavern post vesperam nudus egredietur, by evening has lost his clothes, et sic denudatus veste clamabit: and thus stripped of his clothes cries out: Wafna, wafna! Wafna, wafna!
Quid fecisti sors turpissima? What hast thou done, oh, wicked fate? Nostre vite gaudia All the pleasures of this life abstulisti omnia! thus to take away! Wafna, wafna! Wafna, wafna! Ha, ha! Ha, ha!
14. In taberna quando sumus Chorus
In taberna quando sumus,
When we are in the tavern non curamus quid sit humus, we spare no thought for the grave, sed ad ludum properamus, but rush to the gaming tables cui semper insudamus. where we always sweat and strain. Quid agatur in taberna, What goes on in the tavern, ubi nummus est pincerna, where a coin gets you a drink — hoc est opus ut queratur, if this is what you would know, si quid loquar, audiatur. then listen to what I say.
Quidam ludunt, quidam bibunt,
Some men gamble, some men drink, quidam indiscrete vivunt. some indulge in indiscretions. Sed in ludo qui morantur, But of those who stay to gamble, ex his quidam denudantur, some lose their clothes, quidam ibi vestiuntur, some win new clothes, quidam saccis induuntur. while others put on sack cloth. Ibi nullus timet mortem, There no one is afraid of death, sed pro Bacho mittunt sortem. but for Bacchus plays at games of chance.
Primo pro nummata vini;
First the dice are thrown for wine; ex hac bibunt libertini, this the libertines drink. semel bibunt pro captivis, Once they drink to prisoners, post hec bibunt ter pro vivis, then three times to the living, quater pro Christianis cunctis, four times to all Christians, quinquies pro fidelibus defunctis, five to the faithful departed, sexies pro sororibus vanis, six times to the dissolute sisters, septies pro militibus silvanis. seven to the bush-rangers.
Octies pro fratribus perversis,
Eight times to the delinquent brothers, nonies pro monachis dispersis, nine to the dispersed monks, decies pro navigantibus, ten times to the navigators, undecies pro discordantibus, eleven to those at war, duodecies pro penitentibus, twelve to the penitent, tredecies pro iter angentibus. thirteen to travelers. Tam pro papa quam pro rege They drink to the Pope and king alike, bibunt omnes sine lege. all drink without restraint.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Bibit hera, bibit herus,
The mistress drinks, the master drinks, bibit miles, bibit clerus, the soldier drinks, the man of God, bibit ille, bibit illa, this man drinks, this woman drinks, bibit servus cum ancilla, the manservant with the serving maid, bibit velox, bibit piger, the quick man drinks, the sluggard drinks, bibit albus, bibit niger, the white man and the black man drink, bibit constans, bibit vagus, the steady man drinks, the wanderer drinks, bibit rudus, bibit magus. the simpleton drinks, the wiseman drinks.
Bibit pauper et egrotus,
The poor man drinks, the sick man drinks, bibit exul et ignotus, the exile drinks and the unknown, bibit puer, bibit canus, the boy drinks, the old man drinks, bibit presul et decanus, the bishop drinks and the deacon, bibit soror, bibit frater, sister drinks and brother drinks, bibit anus, bibit mater; the old crone drinks, the mother drinks, bibit ista, bibit ille, this one drinks, that one drinks, bibunt centum, bibunt mille. a hundred drink, a thousand drink.
Parum sexcente nummate
Six hundred coins are not enough durant, cum immoderate when all these drink too much, bibunt omnes sine meta. and without restraint. Quamvis bibant mente leta,
Although they drink cheerfully, sic nos rodunt omnes gentes, many people censure us, et sic erimus egentes. and we shall always be short of money. Qui nos rodunt confundantur May our cries be confounded et cum iustis non scribantur. and never be numbered among the just.
III. COUR D’AMOURS (Court of Love)
15. Amor volat undique
Chorus and Soprano
Amor volat undique,
Love flies everywhere captus est libidine. and is seized by desire. Iuvenes, iuvencule Young men and women coniunguntur merito. are matched together. Siqua sine socio, If a girl lacks a partner, caret omni gaudio; she misses all the fun; tenet noctis infirma in the depths sub intimo of her heart cordis in custodia: is darkest night: fit res amarissima. it is a bitter fate.
16. Dies, nox et omnia Baritone
Dies, nox et omnia
Day, night and all the world mihi sunt contraria, are against me, virginum, colloquia the sound of maidens’ voices me fay planszer, makes me weep. oy suvenz suspirer, I often hear sighing, plu me fay temer. and it makes me more afraid.
O sodales, ludite,
O friends, be merry, vos qui scitis dicite, say what you will, michi mesto parcite, but have mercy on me, a sad man,
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
grand ey dolur,
for great is my sorrow, attamen consulite yet give me counsel per voster honur. for the sake of your honor.
Tua pulchra facies,
Your lovely face me fey planszer milies, makes me weep a thousand tears pectus habet glacies, because your heart is of ice, a remender but I would be restored statim vivus fierem at once to life per un baser. by one single kiss.
17. Stetit puella
Soprano
Stetit puella
There stood a young girl rufa tunica; in a red tunic; si quis eam tetigit, if anyone touched her, tunica crepuit. the tunic rustled. Eia, eia. Heigho, heigho.
Stetit puella,
There stood a girl tamquam rosula; fair as a rose; facie splenduit, her face was radiant, os eius floruit. her mouth like a flower. Eia, eia. Heigho, heigho.
18. Circa mea pectora
Baritone and Chorus
Circa mea pectora
My breast multa sunt suspiria is filled with sighing de tua pulchritudine, for your loveliness, que me ledunt misere. and I suffer grievously. Manda liet, Manda liet, manda liet, manda liet, min geselle my sweetheart chumet niet. comes not.
Tui lucent oculi
Your eyes shine sicut solis radii, like sunlight, sicut splendor fulguris like the splendor of lightning lucem donat tenebris. in the night. Manda liet, etc. Manda liet, etc.
Vellut deus, vellent dii
May God grant, may the gods permit quod mente proposui: the plan I have in mind: ut eius virginea to undo the bonds reserassem vincula. of her virginity. Manda liet, etc. Manda liet, etc.
19. Si puer cum puellula
Chorus and Baritone
Si puer cum puellula
If a boy and a girl moraretur in cellula, linger together, felix coniunctio. happy is their union.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Amore sucrescente, Increasing love pariter e medio leaves tedious avulso procul tedio, good sense far behind, fit ludus ineffabilis and inexpressible pleasure fills membris, lacertis, labiis. their limbs, their arms, their lips.
20. Veni, veni, venias Chorus
Veni, veni, venias,
Come, come, pray come, ne me mori facias, do not let me die, hyrca, hyrca, nazaza hyrca, hyrca, nazaza, trillirivos ... trillirivos ...
Pulchra tibi facies,
Lovely is your face, oculorum acies, the glance of your eyes, capillorum series, the braids of your hair, oh, quam clara species! oh, how beautiful you are! Rosa rubicundior, Redder than the rose, lilio candidior, whiter than the lily, omnibus formosior, comelier than all the rest; semper in te glorior! always I shall glory in you.
21. In trutina Soprano
In trutina mentis dubia
In the scales fluctuant contraria of my wavering indecision lascivus amor et pudicitia. physical love and chastity are weighed. Sed eligo quod video, But I choose what I see, collum iugo prebeo: I bow my head in submission ad iugum tamen suave transeo. and take on the yoke which is after all sweet.
22. Tempus est iocundum Soprano, Baritone and Chorus
Tempus est iocundum,
Pleasant is the season, O virgines; O maidens; modo conguadete, now rejoice together, vos iuvenes. young men. Oh, oh, oh, Oh, oh, oh, totus floreo, I blossom, iam amore virginali now with pure love totus ardeo, I am on fire! novus, novus amor This love is new, new, est, quo pereo. of which I perish.
Mea me confortat
My love brings me comfort promissio, when she promises, mea me deportat but makes me distraught negatio. with her refusal. Oh, oh, etc. Oh, oh, etc.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Tempore brumali
In winter time vir patiens, the man is lazy, animo vernali in the spring he will turn lasciviens. amorous. Oh, oh, etc. Oh, oh, etc.
Mea mecum ludit
My chastity virginitas, teases me, mea me detrudit but my innocence simplicitas. holds me back! Oh, oh, etc. Oh, oh, etc.
Veni, domicella,
Come, my darling, cum gaudio, come with joy, veni, veni, pulchra, come, my beauty, iam, pereo. for already I die! Oh, oh, etc. Oh, oh, etc.
23. Dulcissime Soprano
Dulcissime, Sweetest boy, ah, totam tibi subdo me! ah, I give my all to you!
BLANZIFLOR ET HELENA (Blanziflor and Helena)
24. Ave formosissima Chorus
Ave formosissima,
Hail to thee, most lovely, gemma pretiosa, most precious jewel, ave decus virginum, hail pride of virgins, virgo gloriosa, most glorious virgin! ave mundi luminar, Hail, light of the world, ave mundi rosa, hail, rose of the world! Blanziflor et Helena, Blanziflor and Helena, Venus generosa. noble Venus, hail!
FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI (Fortune, Empress of the World)
25. O fortuna Chorus
O fortuna, O fortune! velut luna, etc. Like the moon, etc.
APR 25-27 FRI-SAT 7:30 | SUN 1:00
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with Gabriela Montero
