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Historical Performance
Spring 2017
WHAT’S INSIDE Message from the Board President and Executive Director
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Board of Directors and Staff
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About the Music Director About the Orchestra About the Chorale
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Pre-concert Talk Preview
SFCM BAROQUE ENSEMBLE Corey Jamason and Elisabeth Reed directors Baroque Opera Handel: Atalanta Handel’s charming, pastoral opera Atalanta will be presented in a concert version by the Baroque Ensemble. March 11 and 12 Baroque Concerto Competition Winners Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition Winners are presented as well as Telemann’s joyful celebration of folk music in his Ouverture des nations anciens et modernes, known as Les Nations. April 15
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FACULTY RECITAL Program 14 Baroque Chamber Music About the Artists Elizabeth Blumenstock baroque violin 16 and their Instruments 22 The Players Reed Elisabeth baroque cello Corey Jamason Program Notes harpsichord 24 with Tekla Cunningham ’01 baroque violin Notes on 2the Libretto 28 March Libretto 30 MASTER CLASSES
Re-cap Rameau 40 Sponsored by American Bach Soloists Donor Recognition Tekla Cunningham ’01 baroque violin 44 February 6 Featured Musician 54 Steven Lehning violone March 13 Jeffrey Thomas conductor April 10
Historical Performance & Opera Program Collaboration Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (fully-staged production) April 28 and 30 800.899.SFCM | sfcm.edu PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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Dr. Ross E. Armstrong September 14, 1954 - August 29, 2017
It is with enormous sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Ross E. Armstrong after a lengthy battle with cancer. Ross served on Philharmonia’s Board of Directors for 13 years, six of them as President. A natural leader, Ross led the organization from strength to strength. His unparalleled brilliance and kindness were known to all, and he dedicated so much of his life to PBO. Under Ross’s thoughtful leadership, PBO grew from the Bay Area’s best-kept secret to an ensemble increasingly in demand at the national and international level. Ross was very proud of his board of directors and all they had accomplished. Ross’s vision for the organization and hard work would forever change the course of this orchestra. Ross championed every major artistic project and hoped to live long enough to experience PBO’s production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire. He made it to a rehearsal and two performances last April, and nothing made him happier. Over the years, Ross wrote program notes and translated libretti for PBO and interviewed many guest scholars and artists at our pre-concert lectures. An accomplished pianist with an encyclopedic knowledge of Baroque music, Ross was a scholar in his own right. He approached each concert with joy and with a goal to learn something new. He attended every donor event and greeted each person as if he’d known them for years. His authenticity and graciousness were unparalleled—he was the consummate host and gentleman. As a patron of the arts, he knew precisely
what made PBO entirely unique and often contributed ideas on marketing and fundraising. He introduced countless friends to the organization and took incredible pride in hosting the annual Gala, attending dinners at Nic’s, and joining the orchestra on every tour. He loved fundraising because he cared so much. It was always easy for him to ask others to support Philharmonia because he believed there was nothing else quite like it. He knew every instrumentalist and vocalist by name and was passionate about vocal music. While his knowledge of Baroque music was vast, he particularly loved Handel operas and oratorios. Ross’s musical tastes were also broad, and it gave him great pleasure to see that PBO was introducing new music into the repertoire. Ross was also very pleased when PBO announced, just a few months ago, its Jews & Music Initiative because the music reminded him of his late husband Jonas (Jay) K. Stern. Ross gave of himself in every way, and PBO was the better for it. His was a life well lived in spite of illness—and his legacy will live forever in our music-making. That is what he wanted. Ross felt strongly that Philharmonia must continue to be strong and innovative and to move forward with purpose and passion. For all of us in the Philharmonia family, this is an especially painful loss. Ross’s warmth, good humor and his knowledge and passion for music and the arts, were— and will remain—a wonderful inspiration for us all. —Courtney Beck, Executive Director
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FROM the PRESIDENT and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Welcome to another season of powerful, inspiring, and enjoyable music from Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale! It is going to be a season of savoring familiar works, embracing favorite composers, and discovering “new music for old instruments” as we showcase the work of contemporary female composer Sally Beamish in this opening concert. We are stepping outside our usual repertoire, and we are betting that you are going to be moved by what you hear and see. In my 33 years as a subscriber, my nine years on the board, and now in my new role as Board President, I continually marvel at Philharmonia’s evolution as an orchestra and chorale. Never satisfied with just repeating the well-known works of the “Baroque and beyond” library, our artistic and administrative team reach beyond the traditional to the surprising. Last year it was our highly acclaimed, fully-staged Rameau opera, Le Temple de la Gloire which brought national recognition. This season, it will be the U.S. Premiere of a co-commission with London’s Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (tonight’s The Judas Passion), and a series of captivating concerts with guest artists Steven Isserlis, Richard Egarr, and Avery Amereau. Additionally, our PBO SESSIONS concerts, our Jews & Music programming, and our new partnership with Juilliard415 will enrich this lively 2017/18 season. The legacy Philharmonia received from my predecessor, the late Ross Armstrong, is solid, significant and brilliant. To the very end, he was involved in the vision and offered his wise and tempered advice. I shall miss him greatly, but I am confident that the many gifts that Ross gave us will resonate throughout this season and in those yet to come.
Kay Sprinkel Grace President Dear Friends, It’s hard to believe the 37th season is upon us—welcome! It is always a joy when our Philharmonia family comes together for the first concerts of the season. It’s the perfect family reunion filled with incredible music and warm companionship. I know you will find the season rich with musical experiences curated by Nic. And because we are a family, I must also share with you my deep sadness at the passing of our beloved Board President Dr. Ross E. Armstrong. He was a friend to PBO and to so many of us here in the concert hall. You will find his tribute on page 5 of this program book. I go forward with Ross in my heart, and take comfort in knowing that we will continue his legacy under Kay’s exceptional leadership. Ross was a planner and he knew that Kay would carry us into the future with strength, passion, and a shared love of this music and this caring family. I am humbly yours and extend my deepest gratitude,
Courtney Beck Executive Director
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
BOARD of DIRECTORS and STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
STAFF
Officers Kay Sprinkel Grace, President David Low, Vice President Mark Perry, Vice President David Gross, Secretary Donna Williams, Treasurer
Artistic Nicholas McGegan, Music Director The Waverley Fund Conductor’s Podium Bruce Lamott, Chorale Director Robert and Laura Cory Chorale Director
Members Courtney Beck, ex-officio Adam Arthur Bier Martin Cohn Marie Bertillion Collins Nicolas Elsishans Charlotte Gaylord Peter Hibbard Steven John Anne Katz Brian Kincaid Martine Kraus William Lokke Michael Marmor Fred Matteson Nicholas McGegan, ex-officio Rebecca Moyle Sondra Schlesinger Jason Snyder Paul Sugarman Douglas Tanner
Administrative Courtney Beck, Executive Director Katie Lynn Baker, Patron Experience and Development Associate Myles K. Glancy, Director of Concert Production Lisa Grodin, Director of Education Naren Larson, Box Office & IT Manager Jeffrey D. Phillips, Artistic Administrator Dianne Provenzano, Director of Marketing & Public Relations Heli Roiha, Bookkeeper CJ Ru, Annual Fund Manager Andrea Sáenz, Development & Events Manager William Skeen, Orchestra Librarian Paul Swatek, Director of Finance
Past Board Presidents Dr. Ross E. Armstrong (2013-2017) Paul Sugarman (2008-2012) Martin Cohn (2005-2008) Nancy Kivelson (2002-2005) Fred Matteson (2000-2002) Christine Pallatto (1999-2000) Sherry Bartolucci (1997-1999) Grace Hoagland (1995-1997) Richard D. Maltzman (1993-1995) Dexter B. Dawes (1991-1993) Ann W. Vander Ende (1989-1991) Marie Bertillion Collins (1988-1989) Henry Mayer (1984-1988) Peter Strykers, MD (1982-1984)
Concert Production David v.R. Bowles (Swineshead Productions), Audio Engineer Hiro Matsuo, Stage Manager E. J. Chavez, Stage Equipment Coordinator Thomas Malone, Keyboard Technician Phaedra Strecher, Program Book Designer Frank Wing, Concert Photographer
CONTACT US Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale 414 Mason Street, Suite 606 San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 252-1288 info@philharmonia.org | philharmonia.org facebook.com/philharmoniabaroque twitter.com/philharmoniabar
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Nicholas McGegan Waverley Fund Music Director As he embarks on his fourth decade on the podium, Nicholas McGegan—long hailed as “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent) and “an expert in 18th-century style” (The New Yorker)—is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. Last season marked his 31st year as music director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, and he is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony. Best known as a baroque and classical specialist, McGegan’s approach—intelligent, infused with joy, and never dogmatic—has led to appearances with many of the world’s major orchestras. At home in opera houses, McGegan shone new light on close to twenty Handel operas as the Artistic Director and conductor at the Göttingen Handel Festival for 20 years (1991-2001) and the Mozart canon as Principal Guest Conductor at Scottish Opera in the 1990s. His 2016/17 appearances included the Los Angeles Philharmonic (his 20th anniversary at the Hollywood Bowl); two programs with Pasadena Symphony; Baltimore, St. Louis, and Toronto Symphonies; Calgary Philharmonic; Handel and Haydn Society; Aspen Music Festival; and the Cleveland Orchestra/Blossom Music Festival. Highlights of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s season under McGegan included a fully-staged production of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire, Handel’s oratorio Joshua, and programs with guest soloists Robert Levin (fortepiano) and Yulia Van Doren (soprano). In addition, McGegan and PBO revived Scarlatti’s La Gloria di Primavera at Tanglewood and Yale’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. McGegan served a residency
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as the Christoph Wolff Distinguished Visiting Scholar. He also conducted the all-Mozart semi-final round of the 2017 Van Cliburn Piano Competition. Overseas, McGegan appeared with Cappella Savaria at the Esterházy Palace in Fertod, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. McGegan’s prodigious discography features nine releases on Philharmonia Baroque’s label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions (PBP), including the 2011 GRAMMY® Awardnominated recording of Haydn Symphonies nos. 88, 101, and 104. Their latest release features the first-ever recording of the newly rediscovered 300-year-old work La Gloria di Primavera by Alessandro Scarlatti, recorded live at the U.S. premiere. McGegan has also recorded extensively with Capella Savaria, most recently releasing albums of Haydn and Joseph Martin Kraus. English-born Nicholas McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to music overseas.” Most recently, McGegan was invited to join the board of Early Music America. Other awards include the Halle Handel Prize; the Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony (Germany); the Medal of Honour of the City of Göttingen, and a declaration of Nicholas McGegan Day, by the Mayor of San Francisco, in recognition of his work with Philharmonia Baroque. In 2013, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Music. Visit Nicholas McGegan on the web at www.nicholasmcgegan.com.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
Photo by Dennis Letbetter
“McGegan also brings to the podium a plenitude of energy, as well as a sense of true joy in the music as he and his instrumentalist colleagues bring it to life…” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
Photo by Suzanne Karp
Under the musical direction of Nicholas McGegan for over 31 years, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) is recognized as America’s leading historically-informed ensemble. Using authentic instruments and stylistic conventions of the Baroque to early-Romantic periods, the Orchestra engages audiences through performance, tours, recordings, commissions, and education of the highest standard. Founded in the Bay Area 37 years ago, the ensemble is the largest of its kind in the United States. PBO’s musicians are among the best in the country and serve on the faculties of Juilliard and Harvard, among others. The Orchestra performs an annual subscription season in four venues throughout the Bay Area and has its own professional chorus, the Philharmonia Chorale. It welcomes eminent guest artists such as mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, countertenor David Daniels, mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter, fortepianist Emanuel Ax, and maestro Richard Egarr. The Orchestra enjoys numerous collaborations, including a regular partnership with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and appears regularly at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tanglewood, Weill Hall at the Green Music Center, and Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University. Among the most recorded orchestras in the world, PBO boasts a discography of over 40 recordings and launched its own label on which it has released nine recordings, including a coveted archival performance of mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson singing Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, and received a GRAMMY® nomination for a recording of Haydn symphonies. The Orchestra recently
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released its modern North American premiere of Alessandro Scarlatti’s La Gloria di Primavera to coincide with its May 2016 tour. PBO commissioned its first work, a one-act opera To Hell and Back, by acclaimed composer Jake Heggie, in 2006. A second commissioned work, Red, Red Rose by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, had its world premiere at Walt Disney Concert Hall in May 2016.In April 2017, PBO performed the modern-day premiere of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire. The fully-staged opera included an international cast of singers and dancers and enjoyed sold out audiences and critical acclaim from around the world. Philharmonia’s upcoming 2017/18 season includes a brilliantly curated mix of programming by Nicholas McGegan that includes the U.S. Premiere of The Judas Passion—a co-commission between PBO and London’s Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. PBO will also present Handel’s rarely performed Joseph and his Brethren and welcome back renowned guest artists Steven Isserlis and Richard Egarr. Finally, PBO will introduce the Bay Area to star mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau in the season finale. Between concerts, the Orchestra can be heard regularly on the Bay Area’s Classical KDFC. PBO maintains a suite of highly-regarded education programs, including its In-School Programs and the well-received Mobile Mentors program that focuses on ensemble coaching. Our new partnership with the Juilliard School’s J415 ensemble will bring these passionate students to San Francisco for coaching and a very special performance with members of the Orchestra in October.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
ABOUT BRUCE LAMOTT and the CHORALE Bruce Lamott has been Director of the Philharmonia Chorale since 1997 and also serves as Philharmonia’s Scholar-in-Residence. He first performed with the Orchestra in 1989 as continuo harpsichordist for Handel’s Giustino. In his 30-year tenure with the Carmel Bach Festival, he served as a harpsichordist, lecturer, choral director, and conductor of the Mission Candlelight Concerts. As the founding director of the Sacramento Symphony Chorus, he conducted annual choral concerts of major symphonic choral works and prepared the Symphony Chorus for their subscription season. Lamott received a bachelor’s degree from Lewis and Clark College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in musicology from Stanford. His teaching career began on the musicology faculty at UC Davis, where he directed the Early Music Ensemble. He recently retired from San Francisco University High School, where he has directed the choir and orchestra and taught Western Civilization for 36 years. As a professor of music history at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 2001, Dr. Lamott specializes in the vocal and instrumental repertoire of the 18th century. He teaches continuo-playing for the coach-accompanists in the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and lectures for the Opera and Opera Guild’s education programs.
Photo by Frank Wing
PHILHARMONIA CHORALE
Critically acclaimed for its brilliant sound, robust energy, and sensitive delivery of the text, the Philharmonia Chorale was formed to provide a vocal complement whose fluency in the stylistic language of the Baroque period matched that of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Founded in 1995 by John Butt, a Baroque keyboardist and one of the world’s leading Bach scholars, the 24 members of the Chorale are professional singers with distinguished solo and ensemble experience. Chorale members appear regularly with organizations such as the San Francisco Symphony, Carmel Bach Festival, and American Bach Soloists, and are guest soloists with most of the area’s symphonic and choral organizations. They appear in roles with regional opera companies and have been members and founders of some of the country’s premiere vocal ensembles, including Chanticleer, the Dale Warland Singers, and Theatre of Voices. The Chorale’s repertoire has included nine Handel oratorios, Bach’s St. John Passion and Christmas Oratorio, and Mozart’s C Minor Mass. Most recently, the Chorale performed in PBO’s production of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire. The Chorale has appeared with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, at New York City’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange Country. The Chorale appears on the Orchestra’s recordings of Arne’s Alfred, Scarlatti’s Cecilian Vespers, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Scarlatti’s La Gloria di Primavera.
Bruce Lamott
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PRELUDES
PRE-CONCERT TALKS
Join us forty-five minutes prior to your concert for a lively and informative discussion about the performance.
Sally Beamish’s The Judas Passion, a riveting reimagining of the millennia-old story of the Passion of the Christ, also reexamines the complexities of forgiveness and brings new ideas to the traditional compositional framework of the Passion. Chorale Director and Scholar-in-Residence Bruce Lamott sits down with composer Sally Beamish to discuss these reimagined concepts and how she illustrates them in her work. Beamish also shares her musical inspirations, particularly Scottish traditional music, and the way these musical styles influenced her writing of The Judas Passion.
Bruce Lamott
Wednesday, October 4, 6:45 pm Bing Concert Hall, Stanford Friday, October 6, 7:15 pm Herbst Theatre, San Francisco Saturday, October 7, 7:15 pm First Congregational Church, Berkeley Sunday, October 8, 3:15 pm First Congregational Church, Berkeley
Sally Beamish
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
Nicholas McGegan conductor
Sally Beamish Composer David Harsent Librettist
Mary Bevan soprano Brenden Gunnell tenor Roderick Williams baritone
Philharmonia Chorale, Bruce Lamott director
TELEMANN Tafelmusik, Suite No. 1 in E minor BEAMISH/HARSENT The Judas Passion U.S. Premiere
Dr. Ross E. Armstrong 37th Season
Nicholas McGegan, conductor PROGRAM Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)
Tafelmusik, Suite No. 1 in E minor, TWV 55:e1
Ouverture: Lentement-Vite Rejouissance Rondeau Loure Passepied Air un peu vivement Gigue
INTERMISSION Music by Sally Beamish (b. 1956)
The Judas Passion
with libretto by David Harsent (b. 1942) I.
THE RECKONING: JUDAS & THE SANHEDRIN
II.
THE LAST SUPPER
III.
WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?
IV.
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN
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BETRAYAL
VI.
CHRIST STANDS BEFORE CAIAPHAS
VII.
CHRIST STANDS BEFORE PILATE
VIII.
TO GOLGOTHA AND THE FIELD OF BLOOD
North American premiere Co-commissioned by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ Mary Bevan, soprano
Mary Magdalene
Brenden Gunnell, tenor Judas Roderick Williams, baritone Jesus
Heidi Waterman, alto/Chad Runyon, baritone God/Devil James Monios, bass Peter Kevin Gibbs, tenor Caiaphas David Kurtenbach, tenor Paul Boyce, bass Philharmonia Chorale
1st Thief 2nd Thief Chorus I/II
Bruce Lamott, director
Wednesday, October 4, 7:30 PM Friday, October 6, 8:00 PM
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
Saturday, October 7, 8:00 PM
First Congregational Church of Berkeley*
Sunday, October 8, 4:00 PM
First Congregational Church of Berkeley* * NOTE: These performances are being recorded.
Length of performance is approximately two hours. There will be a 20 minute intermission. Latecomers will be seated during suitable intervals in the program. The use of cameras or recording devices of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please turn off any noisemakers before the performance begins.
These performances are made possible in part by generous support from:
David Low & Dominique Lahaussois
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FEATURED ARTISTS The English soprano Mary Bevan trained at the Royal Academy Opera, and read Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic at Trinity College, Cambridge. She is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. She is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music.
MARY BEVAN SOPRANO
Mary Bevan is praised by Opera for her “dramatic wit and vocal control” in stand-out performances on opera and concert platforms. Recent operatic highlights include Elvira in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri at Garsington Opera, the title role in Rossi’s Orpheus for the Royal Opera House, as well as her critically acclaimed Susanna in W.A. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Despina in W.A. Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado at English National Opera. She also created the role of Lila in the world premiere of David Bruce’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter co-commissioned by The Opera Group, Opera North, and Royal Opera House. As a Harewood Artist at the English National Opera (ENO), her appearances included Second Niece in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, Papagena in W.A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Rebecca in the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys. Much in demand on the concert platform, Mary Bevan recently performed Silandra in Cesti’s Orontea with La Nuova Musica, Bellezza in Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno and J.S. Bach’s Cantatas with Dunedin Consort (Director: John Butt), Baroque programs with the Academy of Ancient Music and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, a George Frideric Handel Residency week with Emmanuelle Haïm at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) with the Britten Sinfonia, J.S. Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245) with the King’s College Choir, Cambridge, and W.A. Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Southbank Sinfonia. Other orchestral repertoire includes B. Britten’s Les Illuminations with the English Chamber Orchestra, G.F. Handel’s Messiah with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and English Chamber Orchestra; J.S. Bach’s B minor Mass (BWV 232) with Ludus Baroque. She has also appeared at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival and Spitalfields Festival. In recital, Bevan has sung at the Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, Leeds Lieder Festival, Danube Music Festival, St John’s Smith Square and Rhinegold LIVE. Mary Bevan began the 2016-2017 season by returning to the English National Opera as Zerlina in Richard Jones’ new production of W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, under Mark Wigglesworth. She made her role debut as Merab in Barrie Kosky’s production of G.F. Handel’s Saul last season for the Adelaide Festival, and performed Richard Ayres’ In the Alps with Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra. In recital, she appeared with the Myrthen Ensemble at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musée d’Orsay, and Wigmore Hall, and recorded a solo album with accompanist Joseph Middleton for Signum. Mary Bevan can be heard in such recent recordings as Handel in Italy with London Early Opera for Signum Records, G.F. Handel’s The Triumph of Time and Truth and Ode for St Cecilia’s Day with Ludus Baroque for Delphian Records, J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) with Dunedin Consort, and F. Mendelssohn’s complete songs with Malcolm Martineau for Champs Hill Records. She also appeared in David Starkey’s Music & Monarchy on BBC4. She currently lives in London.◄
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Brenden Patrick Gunnell is a young “Heldentenor” who made his debut as Hüon de Bordeaux in a new production of Oberon at the Opera Festival of the Munich State Opera this summer under Ivor Bolton.
BRENDEN GUNNELL TENOR
Future opera engagements include Maler (Berg’s Lulu) with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; Hüon (Weber’s Oberon) with Bavarian State Opera, Munich State Opera, and the Cologne Opera; Erik (The Flying Dutchman) with Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Loge (Das Rheingold) with Goteborgs Operan; and David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) with China National Centre in Beijing. Future concerts include Liszt’s Faust Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra (Anthonio Pappano); Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius at the Rheingan Musik Festival with the Hamburger Symphoniker (Jeffrey Tate), Frank Martin’s Golgotha in Basel and in the Tonhalle Zürich, Sally Beamish’s The Judas Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in London and with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale in San Francisco; Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied with RAI Torino (James Conlon), Mendelssohn’s Paulus at the Tonhalle Zürich, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra (Gabriel Feltz); and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius at the Klangvokal Festival Dortmund. Recently he had an outstanding success in the title role of Peter Grimes at the Saarbruck State Theatre. He sang Jimmy Mahoney in Mahagonny at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Teatro La Fenice. He made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in summer 2015 in Mozart’s Abduction From the Seraglio in a new production by David McVicar. This production has been invited for a concert to the BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall and has been released on DVD in summer 2016. The role of Jenik in The Bartered Bride Brenden Gunnell sang at Opera North in Leeds, Königssohn in Humperdinck’s Königskinder at the Semperoper Dresden, and Laça in Jenufa at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Born in 1983 and raised in Michigan, he received his Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2006. In Europe, he continued his study with KS Brigitte Fassbaender and since 2012 he is a student of Heroic Tenor Robert Gambill. ◄
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FEATURED ARTISTS Roderick Williams encompasses a wide repertoire, from Baroque to contemporary music, in the opera house, on the concert platform and in recital. He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses. He has also sung world premieres of operas by, among others, David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michael van der Aa, Robert Saxton, and Alexander Knaifel.
RODERICK WILLIAMS BARITONE
Roderick Williams has sung concert repertoire with all the BBC orchestras, and many other ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Abroad he has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Russian National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Bach Collegium Japan, amongst others. His many festival appearances include the BBC Proms (including the Last Night in 2014), Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, and Melbourne. Recent opera engagements include Oronte in Charpentier’s Medée, Don Alfonso/Così fan Tutte and Pollux /Castor and Pollux for English National Opera, Toby Kramer in Van der Aa’s Sunken Garden in the Netherlands, Lyon, and London, Van der Aa’s After Life at Melbourne State Theatre, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly for the Nederlandse Reisopera, the title roles of Eugene Onegin for Garsington Opera and Billy Budd for Opera North. Recent and future concert engagements include concerts with the Tonkünstler Orchester at the Musikverein, Cincinnati Symphony, Music of the Baroque Chicago, Virginia Arts Festival, BBC Proms, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, as well as many recitals and concerts in the UK and worldwide. He is also an accomplished recital artist who can be heard at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, LSO St Luke’s, the Perth Concert Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, London Song Festival, the Musikverein, Vienna, and appears regularly on Radio 3 both as a performer and a presenter. In 2017/18 he will perform all three Schubert Cycles at the Wigmore Hall. His numerous recordings include Vaughan Williams, Berkeley and Britten operas for Chandos and an extensive repertoire of English song with pianist Iain Burnside for Naxos. Roderick Williams is also a composer and has had works premiered at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room, and live on national radio. He was Artistic Director of Leeds Lieder in April 2016 and won the RPS Singer award in May 2016. He was awarded an OBE in June 2017. ◄
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
Born in London in 1956, Sally Beamish initially trained as a viola player at the Royal Northern College of Music before moving to Scotland in 1990 to develop her career as a composer. Her music embraces many influences, particularly jazz and Scottish traditional music, in a catalogue boasting over 200 compositions including solo, duo, chamber, orchestra, vocal, choral, ballet, and opera works. Her music has been broadcast and performed extensively around the world with notable soloists including Håkan Hardenberger, John Harle, Branford Marsalis, Tabea Zimmermann, James Crabb, Dame Evelyn Glennie, and Colin Currie, amongst others. Celtic themes are often present in Beamish’s music. One such piece, Reed Stanzas, for the Elias Quartet, received its premiere at the 2011 BBC Proms and won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award. Flodden, written for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the eponymous battle, was premiered in September 2013 and shortlisted for both a Royal Philharmonic Society and a BASCA British Composer Award. Spinal Chords, one of the PRS 20x12 Olympic commissions, with text by The Times journalist Melanie Reid, toured the UK in 2014 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and narrator Juliet Stevenson. The composer has also appeared several times as narrator.
SALLY BEAMISH COMPOSER
2016 marked Beamish’s 60th birthday and included two works as part of Shakespeare 400: a full-length ballet of The Tempest for Birmingham Royal Ballet and Houston Ballet, with choreographer David Bintley, and A Shakespeare Masque with Poet Laureate, Dame Carol Ann Duffy, for Ex Cathedra. She completed three piano concertos with the first, Hill Stanzas for Ronald Brautigam, receiving its world premiere with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta in March 2016. The second, Cauldron of the Speckled Seas, premiered in December 2016 with Martin Roscoe and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard. The third, City Stanzas, premiered in January 2017 with soloist Jonathan Biss and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Mischa Santora in Minnesota. Merula Perpetua, for violist Lise Berthaud and pianist David Saudubray, was premiered in a BBC Chamber Prom in August 2016. The work was written in memory of Beamish’s friend and mentor, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. West Wind, a song cycle with a text by P.B. Shelley, was premiered by tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Anna Tilbrook at the Wigmore Hall in June 2016. The Little Mermaid was written for The Northern Ballet with choreographer David Nixon and will receive an 8-month U.K. tour, premiering in September 2017. Beamish is currently resident composer at Ryedale and Trondheim Festivals for 2017. She co-directs the annual St. Magnus Festival Composers’ Course in Orkney with composer Alasdair Nicolson, and was recently made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Her music is published by Edition Peters and Norsk Musikforlag. ◄
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FEATURED ARTISTS
DAVID HARSENT LIBRETTIST
David Harsent (1942) is a British poet and librettist. He has published eleven volumes of poetry. Legion won the Forward Prize for best collection 2005; Night (2011) was triple short-listed in the UK and won the Griffin International Poetry Prize. His most recent collection, Fire Songs, won the 2014 T.S. Eliot Prize. Other awards include two Arts Council Bursaries, a Society of Authors Award, The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award, and a Cholmondeley Award. Sprinting from the Graveyard, (1997), Harsent’s versions of poems written under siege by the Bosnian poet Goran Simic, were adapted to opera, to radio and to television. In Secret, his English versions of the Greek poet Yannis Ritsos, was published in 2012. Harsent is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2013, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Roehampton where he is now Professor of Creative Writing. Harsent has collaborated with a number of composers, though most often with Harrison Birtwistle. The New York Times described Birtwistle and Harsent as “a team creating alchemy.” Their operas— and other collaborations—have taken themes from folklore and mythology: Gawain (1991), for example, and The Minotaur (2008), as well as the chamber operas The Corridor (2010) and The Cure (2015). Birtwistle/Harsent collaborations have been performed at the Royal Opera House in London, BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival, The Concertgebouw, The London South Bank Centre, The Salzburg Festival, Carnegie Hall, and the Holland Festival. ◄
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MusicSources For 31 years, MusicSources has presented the world’s finest harpsichordists, using beautiful historic keyboards from our collection. Join us for our splendid season of 2017–2018. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2017 – 5:00 PM
Gilbert Martinez, JungHae Kim, and Andrew Canepa, harpsichord, virginals, and organ For My Ladye Nevell: Music of William Byrd
MusicSources’ “Artists in Residence” explore the music of one of Elizabethan England’s greatest composers, William Byrd (c. 1543– 1623). Several instruments from the MusicSources collection will be showcased in a program of selections from My Ladye Nevells Booke of Virginal Music. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2017 – 5:00 PM
Egon Mihajlovic (Berlin), harpsichord The Magnificent Mr. Handel
Egon Mihajlovic returns to MusicSources with passionate renditions of Handel’s “8 Great Suites.” He will be performing on instruments in the MusicSources collection, including the “Golden Harpsichord,” a gift of Bruce Wetmore (1946–2014), who was a lifelong advocate of Handel’s music. A special guest will join Egon Mihajlovic for a rousing selection for two harpsichords of Handel’s “Water Music.” FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2018 – 8:00 PM
Ketil Haugsand (Norway), harpsichord In the French Manner
MusicSources is pleased to present the esteemed harpsichordist Ketil Haugsand. One of the outstanding harpsichordists of his generation and a true heir of the tradition of Gustav Leonhardt, Maestro Haugsand will perform music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Louis Marchand. FUTURE CONCERTS FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2018 – 8:00 PM
Paolo Pandolfo (Italy), viola da gamba and Friends Paris 1689: Music of Couperin and Marais SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2018 – 5:00 PM
Jean-Luc Ho (France), harpsichord Henry Purcell and Friends
SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2018 – 5:00 PM
Trio Ignacio: Katherine Heater, Anthony Martin, and Adaiha MacAdam-Somer Early Keyboard Trios with Harpsichord FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2018 – 8:00 PM
Jean Rondeau (France), harpsichord Le Vertigo
All concerts are at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman Street, Berkeley, CA email: info@musicsources.org phone: (510) 528-1685
www.MusicSources.org PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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THE PLAYERS and THEIR INSTRUMENTS OCTOBER 2017 Philharmonia’s musicians perform on historically accurate instruments. Below each player’s name is information about his or her instrument’s maker and origin.
VIOLIN
DOUBLE BASS
Lisa Weiss, concertmaster
Kristin Zoernig *
Anonymous, London, England; after Testore Egon & Joan von Kaschnitz Concertmaster Chair
Joseph Wrent, Rotterdam, Holland, 1648
Jolianne von Einem
FLUTE
Rowland Ross, Guildford, England, 1979; after A. Stradivari
Lisa Grodin Paulo Antonio Testore, Contrada, Larga di Milano, Italy, 1736
Katherine Kyme Carlo Antonio Testore, Milan, Italy, 1720
Maxine Nemerovski Timothy Johnson, Bloomington, Indiana, 1999; after A. Stradivari
Noah Strick † Celia Bridges, Cologne, Germany, 1988
Stephen Schultz [principal for Telemann] Martin Wenner, Singen, Germany, 2012; after Carlo Palanca, c. 1750
Janet See [principal for Beamish] Martin Wenner, Singen, Germany, 2012; after Carlo Palanca, c. 1740
HORN R. J. Kelley * Richard Seraphinoff, Bloomington, Indiana; 2006; after J. C. Hofmaster; London, England, c. 1740
Paul Avril
VIOLA
Richard Seraphinoff, Bloomington, Indiana, 2006; after J. W. Haas, Nuremberg, Germany, c. 1720
Ellie Nishi * Anonymous, Germany, 18th Century
Maria Ionia Caswell Anonymous, Mittenwald, Germany, c. 1800
TRUMPET John Thiessen * Rainer Egger, Basel, Switzerland, 2003; after Johann Leonhard Ehe III, Nuremberg, Germany, 1748
VIOLONCELLO William Skeen * Gianbattista Grancino, Milan, Italy, 1725
Fred Holmgren Fred Holmgren, Massachusetts, 2005; after Johann Leonhard Ehe III
Paul Hale Joseph Grubaugh & Sigrun Seifert, Petaluma, California, 1988; after A. Stradivari Osher Cello Chair Endowment
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PERCUSSION
HARPSICHORD
Todd Manley
Hanneke van Proosdij
Crotales, Mark Tree, Judas Chime, Drums, Tubular Bells, Tom-toms, Triangle, Cymbals, Bass Drums, Whip, and Hammers.
John Phillips, Berkeley, 1993; Italian harpsichord after 18th century Florentine prototypes Generously lent by John Phillips Dr. Ross E. Armstrong Keyboard Fund
LUTE
ORGAN
Adam Cockerham Mel Wong, San Francisco, California, 2013; after Tieffenbrucher
Hanneke van Proosdij Gerrit C. Klop, Holland, 1990 * Principal †Principal 2nd Violin
PHILHARMONIA CHORALE Generously endowed by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale Community Fund for Choral Music
BRUCE LAMOTT, chorale director Robert & Laura Cory Chorale Director Chair
ALTO
TENOR
BASS
Natasha Hoehn
Kevin Gibbs
Paul Boyce
Katherine McKee
Corey Head
James Monios
Heidi Waterman
David Kurtenbach
Chad Runyon
Jacque Wilson
Jonathan Smucker
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PROGRAM NOTES
TELEMANN: TAFELMUSIK, SUITE NO. 1 IN E MINOR BRUCE LAMOTT
Much better known in his lifetime than either Handel or J.S. Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was a prolific composer and publisher with an international reputation. Posterity, however, was less kind to his works than those of the other two giants of the Baroque period because of the very characteristics that make them appealing today: elegant simplicity and immediacy of expression. As we commemorate the 250th anniversary of his death with one of the best of his 3000 or so compositions, we also acknowledge that modern audiences now recognize his rightful place in the pantheon of Baroque music. As Kantor (music director) of the cosmopolitan Hanseatic city-state of Hamburg for the last 46 years of his life, his duties included providing music for five churches and civic events, instructing choirboys in singing and music theory, directing the Hamburg Opera (from 1721-38), and directing the collegium musicum in a series of public concerts. An entrepreneur in an era without copyright, he started his own publishing house, printing not only his own works, but also theoretical treatises and the first German music periodical, Der getreuer Musikmeister (The Faithful Music-master). Telemann published three sets of Tafelmusik (Table Music) in 1733 for over two hundred subscribers, including Handel (who, true to form, borrowed some of his themes for his own works). Meant for public consumption and not the entertainment of an absolute monarch, these works reflect Telemann’s interest in reaching a wide audience with various degrees of difficulty. Each set consisted of a suite, quartet, concerto, trio sonata, solo sonata, and an ensemble finale, or Conclusion. This is not dinner music of the Muzak sort but rather a sampler plate of French confections in the galant style. The E Minor Suite is built on the concerto principle, in which two transverse flutes and two solo violins emerge as soloists from the texture of the string ensemble (tutti). The Ouverture begins and ends with the characteristic slow (Lentement), dotted rhythms of the French overture, but the sonority of the flutes playing in unison with the first violins lends an air of gentility rather than grandeur. While at first Telemann gives us a single unison line, leading us to expect the customary fugue in the faster movement (Vite), it quickly dissolves into a playful interchange of duelling pairs of flutes and solo violins.
Georg Philipp Telemann, by Valentin Daniel Preisler, 1750
Each of the following movements are cast in ternary (A-B-A) form, with the solo flutes and violins coming to the fore in the B section. The Rejouissance contrasts the bucolic with the elegant, with a folksy anapest rhythm (short-short-long) framing a genteel minuet. The Rondeau has the dance rhythm of the gavotte, with flutes suspended over the string ensemble. The Loure is like a gigue in slow motion, with a gently skipping rhythm; in the B section, violin and flute duets play sigh figures over running passages in the cello. The Passepied is a fast minuet whose momentum is abruptly halted by two syncopated (off-beat) chords that disrupt the otherwise playful tune. Movements entitled Air are the “wild cards” in any Baroque suite, indicating simply a designation of a form that is
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not derived from a dance. While the most familiar is the ethereal arabesque found in Bach’s Third Suite, Telemann’s Air bears no resemblance. It is lively (un peu vivement) and features a transparent texture of solo instruments, in which the second flute and solo violin are at times in league against the firsts. A French gigue completes the set of dances with bouncing leaps (sautillent) and rustic drones (pedal points) that return to the spirit of the Rejouissance. The Conclusion—which Telemann places after a quartet with flute and oboe, a double concerto for flute and violin, a flute concerto, a trio sonata for two violins and continuo, and solo sonatas for flute and continuo—confirms the pastoral tone of the opening suite, with the flutes playfully cavorting over sustained drones suggesting the bagpipe (musette) played by Arcadian shepherds.◄
Settings of the Passion story, once one of the central pillars of the musical repertoire, dwindled after a veritable glut in the eighteenth century. But in recent years they have flourished. Penderecki gave us his St Luke Passion in 1965, Arvo Pärt his Passio in 1982, and, more recently, James MacMillan completed his settings of the Gospels of St John and St Luke, with the Mark and Matthew Passions to follow in the coming years. Sally Beamish and David Harsent’s new setting, then, follows something of a new tradition—but theirs is a Passion with a difference. Commissioned by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, this Passion tells the other side of the story—that of Judas, “the betrayer.” And unlike more familiar portrayals which paint Judas as the story’s villain, in The Judas Passion Beamish and Harsent present Judas in a new light, asking: “Does Judas choose, or is he chosen, to betray Christ? What is unforgiveable? What motivates us to behave as we do, and to what extent do we all follow the callings of our own heart— or the callings of whatever voice we choose to name. God’s voice, or the Devil’s?” This is not the first time that Beamish has reflected upon the Passion narrative in music: her 1995 Viola Concerto explores the role of Peter and his denial of Christ as the subtext of its musical narrative. And Peter’s theme—“a descending, plaintive six-note motif”—makes itself heard in The Judas Passion too, notably when Peter denounces Christ for the third time (“I don’t know this man”). But the lament that follows this denunciation, with its stripped back orchestration—just harpsichord, double bass, lute and flutes—paints an evocative picture of the Baroque. It is one of several pivot points in this ultra-modern
BEAMISH: THE JUDAS PASSION (2017) JO KIRKBRIDE
The Arrest of Christ (Kiss of Judas); Giotto, c.1304
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PROGRAM NOTES yet ultra-historical work. Here is a twenty-first-century composer writing for instruments that are more than four hundred years old. The shadow of Bach—for so long synonymous with the Passion narrative—looms large in a score that is scattered with canons and fugues, recitatives and arias. But Beamish drills deeper too, summoning Chassidic chanting as the chorus recounts the events of the Last Supper, even offering fragments of imagined music from the temples of Jesus’ time. And yet... the harmonies are unmistakeably of the twenty-first century, the language is current, this is an ancient story—indeed, one of the most ancient of all stories—presented in a way that is all too reminiscent of our own modern times. Beamish’s Passion is not so much a biblical work as a human one. Judas is presented as an everyman—he is as relevant to us now as he was more than two millennia ago. When we hear the whispering crowds incite his name and watch as he is coerced into taking the thirty pieces of silver (“What will you take for him? What will you take? We need a reckoning”), it is impossible not feel sympathy for him. “If that’s your price,” Judas replies softly, unable to refuse, “then pay it.” In this version of events, Judas is a reluctant participant. “I do it because I must,” he says solemnly. And when each of Jesus’s disciples asks at the Last Supper, “Is it me?,” Judas does not speak. He knows his fate has already been sealed. “The man is already chosen” says a voice that is at once both God and the Devil. Here is another pivot—Judas has been chosen, but for good or for evil? In Beamish’s score, God and the Devil are interchangeable, they are sung by two voices always in rhythmic unison. “And the Devil went into Judas,” Mary exclaims in horror, “the Devil or God.” If Judas betrays Jesus, he will see Jesus sentenced to death. But in doing so, he will also see Jesus receive the promise of eternal life: “You will rid me of the man that clothes me.” Jesus tells him. “What you are here to do, go and do it now.” Jesus, like Judas, accepts his fate: both have a sacrifice to make.
The Capture of Christ (detail) Fresco in the Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi (128083)
Just as God and the Devil are shown here to be interchangeable, so the parallels between Jesus and Judas are brought to the fore. Vocally, Beamish has Judas sung by a tenor and Jesus by a baritone, but by writing many of their lines in a similar range, she draws attention to the qualities that the two share while also highlighting their “very different colours.” At times, Beamish goes a step further—Jesus and Judas are united in their thoughts. “My God, my God,” they sing together in unison as Jesus is crucified, “why have you forsaken me?” Theirs is a relationship that is intertwined and indivisible. If the story is a familiar one, then this is an alternative reading of it. A more sympathetic, more modern presentation of events. And key to the change of perspective is the inclusion of a female voice who, amidst all the drama and against the noise of the baying crowd, comments and narrates with quiet restraint. This is the voice of Mary Magdalene. In Bach’s Passions, Mary is not given her own role—instead, a series of arias for the female voice reflect the idea of the
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Pietà—the woman’s role as a grieving mother. Against the backdrop of an all-male chorus (who are, by turn, disciples, narrators, and members of the crowd), Harsent’s libretto gives Mary her voice, and although her tone is mournful, she does not present a picture of panic and desperation. Hers is the voice of reason, the reality check, the one who quietly recounts Jesus’s miracles even as those around him call blasphemy. And it is Mary who asks the “ultimate question:” If he can’t be saved, who can be saved? If he can’t be forgiven, who can be forgiven? The compassion and softness that give nuance to Harsent’s libretto are reflected in Beamish’s score, which focuses keenly on the unique and at times almost ethereal sound of the Baroque orchestra. The result, says Beamish, “is a transparent language... the glassy sound of the strings, and the lyrical beauty of the flutes; the open, sometimes raw, natural horns and trumpets suggesting ancient ritualistic brass and animal horns; and the delicate tracery of harpsichord and lute. From time to time, the soundworld is drawn together by the sustained tones of chamber organ.” As the work opens, we hear layers of gathering strings, their soft, “glassy” texture reverberating as though built from the echoes of something unseen and long past. This, too, is a pivot-point—as though the opening itself represents the transition from Bach to Beamish, from ancient to modern. The music, in Beamish’s own words “takes as a starting point fragments of Bach’s St Matthew Passion,” which are then worked into her own language with the use of “magic squares.” This compositional technique, which was often used by Beamish’s mentor, the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, allows everything from melody and harmony, to phrase length and dynamics to be dictated by a pre-conceived set of patterns. Thus, in The Judas Passion we hear actual echoes of Bach, but only ever as “fleeting glimpses,” transmuted into Beamish’s own voice. While such intricate procedures may not be readily audible, there are more obvious nods to modernity here too, notably in Beamish’s bold use of percussion, which incorporates hammers, whips and nails to depict with raw realism the brutality of Jesus’s persecution on the Cross. And at the heart of this percussion array is an altogether new instrument, the “Judas Chime,” comprising 30 “pieces of silver” and intended by Beamish as “a visual as well as an aural focus.” It provides a startling centrepiece—a reminder that at the heart of this devastating story is the spectre of greed and selfishness, a heap of unwanted money that is cast to the ground and abandoned at the height of Judas’ anguish, its monetary worth irrelevant. “My face on these coins,” Judas cries out in despair, “my name on them. For all time: my face, my name, his blood. No matter the gift, no matter the mystery... no matter that I did what I was chosen to do.” Whether Judas ever had a choice, whether God, the Devil, or the mob themselves are to blame, history will remember Judas’s actions as a betrayal, not as a sacrifice.
Judas Iscariot hangs himself, Willem Isaacsz. van Swanenburg, Petrus Scriverius, c. 1611
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PROGRAM NOTES
NOTES ON THE LIBRETTO DAVID HARSENT
Judas is the ur-betrayer, the worst of the worst. It’s enough to say, “You Judas…” for whoever offended you to know how strongly you feel. It’s an accusation so deep, so heartfelt, that it sets aside notions of forgiveness. But when considering acts of extremism, whatever their nature, we must look to motive. Why did Judas betray Christ? (Or, more pertinently perhaps, did Judas betray Christ?) The Gospels tell us that “the Devil went into Judas,” but that seems a vague, metaphorical account of motive, unless we are to take it that Judas was, in fact, seized and directed by the Devil, in which case it would be proper to ask in what way he was responsible for his actions. We might begin by looking more closely at the weight of guilt and moral opprobrium in the word “betray.” The Koine Greek word—paradidomi—that the King James scholars consistently give as “betray,” in fact means something like “deliver” or “hand over.” The handing over of Christ by Judas to the Sanhedrin, the second handing over of Christ by the Sanhedrin to the Romans, the insistence that he must be put to death in the face of Pilate’s (more than somewhat unlikely) reluctance, these are all stages in a narrative that leads to the salvific moment—the death of Christ on the cross— without which Humankind lies beyond redemption; and Judas’s role in that progression has to be part of our reckoning. It’s clear that he enabled the events that led to Christ’s sacrifice, but we have to wonder what he believed himself to be doing—what he took to be his purpose. Suppose, for a moment, that Judas knew his role but not its outcome: that in handing Christ over, he believed he was doing what he had been chosen to do. It’s worth remembering the passage from John’s Gospel that tells us: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son… Gave—handed over—delivered. The notion of Divine direction seems clearly evident in this, and in my libretto the voice that prompts Judas to his actions might be that of the Devil, might be that of God. And just as, if Judas was steered by the Devil’s hand, he can’t be held responsible for what he did, the same must apply if he was led by the hand of God. Christ himself told the Disciples “…some standing here shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Having heard this, was Judas expecting Jesus to reveal himself to the Sanhedrin, by some miraculous means, as the Son of God? Or was he, as has been suggested, a Zealot, a Jewish radical, who thought Jesus a false Messiah who had failed actively to oppose Roman rule, and was happy to deliver him to his fate? This latter theory—Judas as disaffected political agitator—seems problematic. When he saw what his actions had led to, he hanged himself. If Judas had knowingly brought Christ to the cross, what would have brought Judas to the tree?
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There is a Gospel of Judas, dated at 3 or 4 CE, a Gnostic text found in Middle Egypt around 1978 and finally published in 2006. It’s impossible, here, to describe and discuss this codex in detail, though I should mention that it doesn’t tell the story of Christ’s Passion. However, one line that struck me as central to the notion of Judas as enabler found its way into my libretto. There comes a moment when Jesus calls the Disciples to him and asks them to stand before him and hold his gaze. None of them can do this save Judas; whereupon Jesus tells Judas: “You are the best of them, for you will free me of the man who clothes me.” In the gospel accounts of the Easter story, Christ the Redeemer, the Risen Christ, Christ Pantocrator, is freed into His glory by the progression that takes Jesus from the last supper to the cross and, yes, Judas is the prime mover in that. I used the line from the Gospel of Judas to point up the possibility of Divine direction, to offer the notion that Judas was born to the task. If Christ is the Saviour of Humankind, Judas is our scapegoat. I was brought up a Baptist (I would not now describe myself as a Christian, though I no longer strive to refute the unknowable) and one of the many certainties in all that evangelical froth and fervour was that Judas was both loathsome and unredeemable. Take, for example, a moment described in the Gospel of John when, two days before the Passover feast (and so the Last Supper), Mary of Bethany anoints Christ with spikenard—a very costly oil. The Gospel of John tells us that Judas objected to this, saying that the spice could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Judas was the Disciples’ banker; he carried the money-bag. John states that Judas made this objection because he wanted the money for himself: that he intended to steal it; that he was a thief. This precedes the “betrayal:” earlier evidence of Judas’s culpability. Here we have the stereotype of the money-grubbing Jew and an Taking of Christ in the Garden; example (it seems likely) of what helped feed Christian anti-Semitism. It certainly informed Sunday School accounts of Judas as near-bestial Caravaggio, c. 1598 and normalized a bizarre canonical distinction between Jesus and the Disciples over here and “the Jews”—those who called for Christ to be crucified—over there. My purpose, in attempting to write Judas out of hell, is to set him before an audience and bring him to a new judgment. Someone both vile and justifiably despised: an agent of the Devil, or a man whose God-given task was to set in train an event that would be the salvation of Humankind? You decide.
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LIBRETTO Libretto by David Harsent THE RECKONING: JUDAS & THE SANHEDRIN
DEVIL/GOD: Yes, you are chosen for this. Do what they want.
CHORUS: Better that man had not been born
CHORUS (2): It was God who spoke to Judas...God, or else the Devil.
who sold his soul, who gave himself up to Satan, who bartered the Son of Man, who made a deal with darkness, whose tears went for nothing, whose love was all corruption. Ju-das Ju-das Ju-das Ju-das Ju-das… CHORUS (1): Judas...what will you take for him? What will you take to deliver him to us, to deliver him to justice, deliver the blasphemer? JUDAS: Nothing. I’ll do it because I must. DEVIL/GOD: Yes, because you must! Because you were chosen for this. CHORUS (2): It was the Devil who spoke to Judas...the Devil,
JUDAS: His hand on mine... CHORUS (1): We need an exchange, a settlement. You know how to strike a bargain. MARY: Judas the banker. Judas the paymaster… CHORUS (1): Judas...Judas… CHORUS (2): He shall grow up as a root out of dry ground despised of men and the least of them. A man of sorrows and acquainted with heartbreak. JUDAS: A man of sorrows and acquainted with heartbreak.
or it was God?
CHORUS (1): Ju-das...Ju-das...Ju-das…
CHORUS (1): We need a reckoning. What will you take?
What will you take for him?
JUDAS: Nothing. I do it because it fell to me.
JUDAS: His hand on mine.
How much for the blasphemer?
His hand on mine.
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CHORUS (1): What will you take?
I gave God’s word to the world as I gave it to you.
An honest trade: a contract.
I came to the world but I am not of the world.
Thirty pieces of silver—recompense
Where I go, I go alone. I will be lost, then found.
for a slave gored by a neighbour’s ox.
MARY: He broke bread, he poured wine.
Will you settle for that? Will you settle, Judas the Jew? DEVIL/GOD: The price of death, of life: Judas take it.
JESUS: ...this bread is my body: you must eat it.
JUDAS: If that’s your price, then pay it. CHORUS (1): So we’re agreed on that? We can deal on that? JUDAS: I do it because I must. His hand on mine.
THE LAST SUPPER CHORUS: In an upper room they sat together to eat, Jesus and those who followed him. He took a towel and tied it round his waist. He filled a bowl with water to wash their feet. CHORUS: Despised of men and least of them.
MARY/CHORUS: He said: this wine is my blood… JESUS: ...this wine is my blood: you must drink it. MARY: When they had eaten, when they had drunk, He said: MARY/JESUS: One of you will deliver me to death. SOLO VOICES FROM THE CHORUS: Is it me? DEVIL/GOD: He is chosen...the man is already chosen.
MARY: He washed the feet of the chosen. CHORUS: A man of sorrows and acquainted with heartbreak. JESUS: It is time...Soon I shall leave you.
MARY/CHORUS: He said: This bread is my body…
JESUS: Stand before me, each of you. Stand still, and look at me.
Judas...You are the best of them. You will rid me of the man who clothes me.
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LIBRETTO MARY: Jesus dipped bread in the oil and gave it to Judas. JESUS: This bread is my body. JUDAS: His hand on mine. MARY/CHORUS: And so he knew... JESUS: What you must do, do quickly. MARY: And the Devil went into Judas… CHORUS: The Devil took hold of Judas… MARY/CHORUS: The Devil or God. DEVIL/GOD: Deliver him. Hand him over. JUDAS: This voice is the voice of the Devil. DEVIL/GOD: Hand him over to them… JUDAS: This voice is the voice of God. DEVIL/GOD: ...to those who despise him… JUDAS: Voice of the Devil. DEVIL/GOD: ...to those who fear him.
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JUDAS: Voice of God. DEVIL/GOD: Deliver him to death… JUDAS: The Devil… DEVIL/GOD: ...deliver him to life. JUDAS: ...or God. JESUS: What you are chosen to do, go and do it now. MARY: Judas… CHORUS: Judas went out; and it was night.
WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? JESUS: What do people say of me? Who do they say I am? CHORUS: They say prophet. They say man of miracles. MARY: They say blasphemer and fool. They say lawbreaker. CHORUS: A man with a gift, a man with a devil. MARY: They say messiah, they say deceiver.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
CHORUS: They say rabbi, leader, healer…
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN
MARY: ...bringer of good news…
CHORUS: At Gethsemene, Jesus went aside to pray.
CHORUS: ...bringer of darkness…
JESUS: Should I suffer this?
MARY/CHORUS: ...man of light, man of sorrow.
Should I give myself over to this? CHORUS: He raised his hands to heaven. He shook.
JESUS: And what do you say?
His sweat fell to the ground and sweetened the dust.
CHORUS: Sometimes man, sometimes word;
He prayed: a man in pain, a man in fear.
Sometimes door, sometimes path.
JESUS: I do it because I must. I suffer because I must.
Sometimes bread, sometimes seed; Sometimes truth, sometimes grace.
I give myself over to death because I must.
PETER: I say you are Christ, Son of the Living God.
But the man who delivers me to this:
JESUS/CHORUS: Who must suffer and be killed
JUDAS: I do it because I must: because I’m chosen.
And come back from the dead.
better that man had not been born.
PETER: I will go with you—to prison or to death.
DEVIL/GOD: Because you are chosen; because it falls to you.
JESUS: Peter, this night you will betray me…
JESUS: I will be rid of the man who clothes me.
PETER: ...to prison…
JESUS/CHORUS: Not man, but spirit and grace;
JESUS: ...at cockcrow you will deny me… PETER: …or to death!
not man, but pathway; not man, but sacrifice. JESUS: Who will die to live, as I must?
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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LIBRETTO Who will find me dead and living, find me man and ghost, find me as I was and find me changed? JESUS/CHORUS: Who will believe this? Who will fasten to this? Who will preach this? JESUS: Not man, but spirit and grace;
JUDAS: Who have you come for? VOICE FROM THE CHORUS (3): Jesus of Nazareth. JESUS: Here I am. MARY: Who have you come for?
not man, but pathway; not man, but sacrifice.
VOICE FROM THE CHORUS (4): Jesus of Nazareth.
MARY: They came for him with torches and swords.
JESUS: Here I am.
CHORUS: Ju-das, Ju-das, Ju-das…
JUDAS: Jesus of Nazareth. Here he is. Take him.
JESUS: Judas…
BETRAYAL
CHORUS: Ju-das, Ju-das, Ju-das…
CHORUS: Peter followed; the others fled. Jesus was taken before Caiaphas and the temple priests.
JESUS: Judas…
Peter stood in the courtyard.
JESUS: ...with a kiss, of course, how else but with a kiss?
MARY: You came here with him—
A woman saw him and said:
MARY: How else but with a kiss? JESUS: Who have you come for? VOICE FROM THE CHORUS (2): Jesus of Nazareth. JESUS: Here I am.
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the man they accuse. You’re one of them. CHORUS: Another woman said, Yes—you were with him… MARY: ...you came here with the Nazarene. PETER: He is nothing to me. Who is he? Who do you mean?
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
CHORUS: Others said, You’re a Galilean…
CHORUS: He said I will destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.
MARY: ...you know the man, you were with him at Gethsemane.
He said I am King of the Jews. He said I am the Son of God. He said I can forgive sins.
PETER: No! You’re wrong. I don’t know him.
He said no man comes to the Father except by me.
MARY: The man they call the Christ…
Trickster, blasphemer, magician, miracle-maker. CAIAPHAS: What miracles?
CHORUS: ...miracle-worker, magician,
MARY: His shadow on the water, then the man.
blasphemer, holy fool, lawbreaker, a man with a gift, a man with a devil.
The storm died round him. The boat settled in the calm…
PETER: Listen to me—I don’t know who he is;
JUDAS: ...and what do you think I am, he asked, if not decoy,
I don’t know this man. MARY/CHORUS: The cock crowed.
if not storm-light, if not lure, if not dream-stock, if not black to your white?
MARY: Peter went out to the darkness and wept…
CHRIST STANDS BEFORE CAIAPHAS CHORUS: They brought him before Caiaphas… CAIAPHAS: Is this the man? JUDAS: Jesus of Nazareth. Here he is. CAIAPHAS: What is said against him?
CHORUS: Blasphemy! MARY: Spittle and clay on the eyes of the cureless blind… JUDAS: ...they laughed as the world returned. CHORUS: Blasphemy! MARY: A woman with an issue of blood twelve years.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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LIBRETTO She stooped and caught his hem, finger and thumb…
CAIAPHAS: Are you the Son of God?
JUDAS: Mary of seven devils—he turned them out
JESUS: You want me to say I am. I say I am.
from each of the seven portals…
CAIAPHAS/CHORUS: Blasphemy!
MARY: ...she bled and laughed and wept.
JESUS: Caiaphas, you will see me in my glory...
CHORUS: Blasphemy!
CAIAPHAS/CHORUS: Blasphemy!
MARY: The man came out in his shroud
JESUS: ...but you will die in your sins.
laughing behind the gauze. The stench of the grave was on him: stench of death…
JUDAS: Sometimes man, sometimes word
JUDAS: ...a table was set for the feast;
Sometimes door, sometimes path..
the dead man sat down with the rest and ate his fill.
MARY/CHORUS: They blindfolded him. They beat him and spat on him.
CHORUS: Blasphemy! CAIAPHAS: Do you lay claim to this? Did you cure the blind,
CHORUS (1): If you’re a prophet prophesy who it is that strikes you, who it is that spits on you.
walk on water, raise a man from the dead? Did you do that? Are you a necromancer?
JUDAS: Sometimes bread, sometimes seed
MARY/CHORUS: Jesus was silent.
Sometimes truth, sometimes grace..
CAIAPHAS: Are you the Christ? JUDAS/CHORUS: Jesus was silent.
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CHORUS (2): He said: The Son of Man will be betrayed. He said: I will suffer and die. On the third day I will return from the dead.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
CHORUS (2): ...he preaches sin to the people…
JUDAS: He said: What you are here to do, go and do it now. He said:
CHORUS: Crucify him!
JUDAS/JESUS: You are the best of them, you will rid me of the man that clothes me.
CHRIST STANDS BEFORE PILATE MARY: He stood before Pilate, then, who asked: JUDAS: Are you the King of the Jews?
CHORUS: Barabbas! Barabbas!
Many have come to testify against you. CHORUS: Jesus was silent.
JUDAS: What evil has this man done? CHORUS: Crucify him!
MARY: Pilate said: You must answer them.
JUDAS: There is no fault in him.
CHORUS: Jesus was silent. MARY: Pilate went out to the crowd. He said:
CHORUS: Crucify him!
JUDAS: Are you the Son of God? Are you the Christ?
I can release Barabbas…
MARY: Pilate said: Many condemn you.
CHORUS (1): He’s a blasphemer, a rabble-rouser…
CHORUS: Crucify him!
MARY: Pilate said: I can release him to you, or
JESUS: You say this.
JUDAS: This man has done nothing wrong.
CHORUS (2): ...he offends against our law and yours…
CHORUS: Barabbas! Barabbas! Barabbas! JUDAS: I wash my hands of this… CHORUS: Crucify him...crucify him… JUDAS: I cleanse myself of this.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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LIBRETTO TO GOLGOTHA AND TO THE FIELD OF BLOOD
CHORUS: See to that yourself.
CHORUS: The half-death, then. Roped and flogged.
Ju-das, Ju-das, Ju-das, Judas the Jew.
The flesh of his back near-flensed.
CHORUS: They came to Golgotha, hill of the skulls, a place
When they had done, they cut him down from the whipping-post and dressed him in purple… MARY/CHORUS: ...on his head a cap of thorns driven hard into the skin, scraping the bone, blood matting his hair… ...and the crossbeam hoisted to his shoulders… CHORUS: ...the Via Dolorosa… the Way of Sorrow...crippled by pain...he fell… women followed, weeping… JESUS/CHORUS: Women, weep for yourselves, weep
The money is yours, the guilt is yours:
of blood and screams, of men at work with ropes and winches and hammers and nails and flesh. They nailed him, then hauled him up. MARY/CHORUS (1): Women at the foot of the cross. CHORUS: Thieves crucified with him, one on either side. THIEF (1): Are you the Christ? Then save yourself and us. THIEF (2): He is the Christ.
the pain man will heap on man is limitless.
JUDAS/THIEF (2): Christ save me!
MARY: If they do these things in a green tree
MARY: Here at the foot of the cross.
what shall be done in the dry?
JUDAS: Here in the Field of Blood…
for your children, weep…
CHORUS: Ju-das...Ju-das...Ju-das...Ju-das… JUDAS: My face on these coins; my name on them. For all time: my face, my name, his blood. No matter the gift; no matter the mystery; no matter his hand on mine; no matter that I did what I was chosen to do.
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THIEF (2): We are sinners. He is the Christ. JUDAS/THIEF (2): Christ save me! JESUS: I will find you in Paradise… JUDAS/CHORUS: ...in the field of Blood…
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
MARY/CHORUS: ...at the foot of the cross…
JESUS: ...I commend my spirit.
MARY: Who cannot weep, come learn of me.
JUDAS: ...deliver me from hell.
CHORUS: The sky darkened—a dust-storm across the sun,
CHORUS: Unredeemable, hell-born, despised of men and the least of them -- Judas the Jew.
animals went to ground, birds broke on the wind. Then it was still. Then the wild lament: JESUS: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani… JESUS/JUDAS: My God...My God...why are you lost to me? JUDAS: I was called to sin-as-virtue, to virtue-as-sin. blood momney, innocent blood, field of blood -the impulse lay in me: dreams of darkness, voices out of darkness. Of course with a kiss: kiss of repentance, kiss of inexpressible sorrow. Better unborn...but I was born to this.
DEVIL/GOD: Chosen for this; born to this; his only purpose… MARY: If he can’t be saved, who can be saved? If he can’t be forgiven who can be forgiven? JESUS: It is finished. MARY/CHORUS: His death...our salvation...this and only this. DEVIL/GOD: Chosen for this: born to this: his only purpose…
What I did I was chosen to do.
CHORUS: The Hill of Skulls, the Field of Blood, the tree.
What I gave I was asked to give.
Everything written, everything known,
What I lost I was told to lose.
the mission, the sacrifice, voices of men, voices
My only purpose, his death and mine.
of angels, salvation, retribution, life in light
MARY/CHORUS: A man of sorrows… JUDAS: Christ come for me in hell. MARY/CHORUS: ...and acquainted with heartbreak. JESUS: Father, into your hands… JUDAS: Lord, find me in hell…
and death in darkness...this and only this: The Hill of Skulls, the Field of Blood, the tree. Everything written, everything known, the mission, the sacrifice, voices of men, voices of angels… MARY: Who cannot weep, come learn of me. END
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Photo by Frank Wing
Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire It was an undertaking as significant as it was glorious. In collaboration with Le Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, the New York Baroque Dance Company, and Cal Performances, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale mounted one of the most important artistic achievements of 2017— the modern-day world premiere of JeanPhilippe Rameau and Voltaire’s 1745 opera, Le Temple de la Gloire.
performance at the court of Louis XV. Allan Ullrich of the Financial Times noted that “scholarship and the performing arts collided with uncommon brilliance,” and Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle raved that “encountering it on stage at last was like watching a resplendently bedecked giant stirring to life.” Now that the giant has stirred, we look forward to its further adventures beyond the Bay Area.
Bay Area audiences were treated to three sumptuous performances in April 2017 at Zellerbach Hall in UC Berkeley. The production featured a full orchestra and chorale, seven principal singers and eight baroque dancers, spectacular sets and gorgeous costumes—all designed to evoke the regal splendor of the original 1745
This dream of Nic’s, 20 years in the making, was only made possible by his fellow dreamers. On behalf of Nic, Bruce, and everyone here at Philharmonia, we are incredibly grateful to the visionary supporters who made The Temple of Glory a reality. None of this would have been possible without the generosity of our friends.
Le Temple de la Gloire was made possible by generous support from Dr. Ross E. Armstrong David Low & Dominique Lahaussois The Waverley Fund Mark Perry & Melanie Peña PBO’s Board of Directors Videography graciously sponsored by Rebecca Moyle & Tyler Lange
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
WE ARE GRATEFUL for ADDITIONAL SUPPORT of LE TEMPLE DE LA GLOIRE from Kathleen & Martin Cohn Marie Bertillion Collins & Leonard Collins Nicolas Elsishans & Christopher Hayes Charlotte Gaylord & Barrie Cowan
Margaret & Edmond Kavounas
Frederick Matteson & Anne Davidson Barr
Brian M. Kincaid & Elizabeth C. Theil
Betty & Jack Schafer
Carlene Laughlin
Jean Shuler
William Lokke
Paul and Susan Sugarman Family Philanthropic Fund
Sondra & Milton Schlesinger
Silvija & Roger Hoag
The Marmor Foundation; Drs. Michael & Jane Marmor
Anonymous (3)
Patricia & Jivendra Kale
Maxine Risley
Linda E. Anderson
Elizabeth Kaplan
Mr. William Rosenthal
Mary & Roger Ashley
Anne & Jeffrey Katz
Ms. Carol Schaffer
Mr. Paul Baumann
Doug Kent
Kary Schulman
Carol & Peter Berkenkotter
Paula Kimper & Elaine Valby
Doug Schwalbe
Adam Arthur Bier & Rachel Bier Lem
Kathy & Bill Korbholz
Allene Sieling
Barbara Kosnar & Tom Goldman
Susanna & Dave Singer
Belle Bulwinkle & Michael Dukes Adrian Card & Peter Brodigan
Martine Kraus
Sherry & Judd Smith
Margaret Conkey & Lester Rowntree
Sukey Lilienthal & David Roe
Marie & Dick Smithousen
Tally Craig
Carolyn Lund
Robert Cronin & Anne Woodhouse
Harvey L. Lynch
Kate & David Gross
Peter & Jayne Davis Gina Earle & Thomas Schmidt
Elizabeth Velarde & Chris McCrum
Patrick Geddes & Ivy Lessner
Julius Moshinsky & Suzanne Renne
Kay Sprinkel Grace
Ms. Susan Murphy
Phil Grisier
Murrey Nelson
Bronwyn Hall
Ruth Nott
Christina & Kenneth Hecht
Susanne Hering & John Phillips
Margaret Heineman Harry Howe & Michèle Stone Gary W. Jennings & John D. Poynter Steve John & Jason Snyder
Carol & Douglas Tanner Donna Williams
Lawrence & Grace Smith
Stanislaus & Beatrice Ting Susan Maggay & Leon Tuan Christopher & Michael Mele-Wagner Mr. Michael Wyatt Susan & David Young Ann Gui & Glenn Zhu
Lynn & Olivier Pieron Katalin Rader Peter M. Ray Ray & Bill Riess PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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Photos by Frank Wing
JOIN THE PHILHARMONIA FAMILY! Your gift to Philharmonia’s Annual Fund not only makes possible our beautiful music and many curated programs, but also opens doors to exclusive rehearsals and performances as well as invitation-only receptions with Nic and the most beloved of guest artists, scholars, and resident musicians.
Tyler Lange, harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, and board member Rebecca Moyle
FRIENDS OF PHILHARMONIA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS CAMERATA $75 to $149 • Invitation for two to attend an Open Rehearsal • Advanced priority for single ticket purchases to PBO’s regular concert season $150 to $349 All of the above, plus: • Exclusive “Season Highlights” CD • Acknowledgment in the April 2018 program book $350 to $649 All of the above, plus: • Recognition in PBO’s program book for one fullyear season • 15% discount on PBO merchandise and CDs $650 to $1,499 All of the above, plus: • Invitation for two to attend the Premium Open Rehearsal, which includes a wine & hors d’oeuvres reception preceding the rehearsal COGNOSCENTI $1,500 to $2,999 All of the above, plus: • Invitation for two to attend PBO’s exclusive annual Cognoscenti Luncheon featuring a private concert & season sneak preview led by Nicholas McGegan AMATI $3,000 to $5,499 All of the above, plus: • Invitation to the PBO’s exclusive Amati Concert (formerly known as the Conductor’s Concert) including supper, private concert,
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dessert & mingling with guest artists at a unique venue ARCANGELI $5,500 to $9,999 All of the above, plus: • Invitation to a private post-concert party with guest artists GUARNERI $10,000 to $14,999 All of the above, plus: • Sponsorship or dedication of a single concert • Or sponsor a student from Juilliard’s J415/PBO partnership - NEW! • Exclusive access to annual Juilliard workshops and masterclasses, plus invitation to private reception with Juilliard students and PBO musicians • Invitation to a backstage meet-and-greet with guest artists & conductor • Signed CDs by guest artists & conductor CHRISTOFORI $15,000 to $24,999 All of the above plus: • Sponsorship of two season concerts - NEW! • Or sponsor a PBO musician for the season - NEW! • Invitation to intimate dinner and conversation with sponsored musician STRADIVERI $25,000 and above • Customized benefits designed to enhance your experience
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
CAMPAIGN for the 21st CENTURY DONORS
Philharmonia gratefully acknowledges the extraordinary generosity of lead contributors to its second major campaign in the years 2010 – 2015.
$1,000,000+ The Waverley Fund Nicholas McGegan Conductor’s Podium $500,000—$999,999 Anonymous (1) Dr. Ross E. Armstrong, Dr. Ross E. Armstrong Baroque Vocal Works Fund $250,000—$499,999 Zheng Cao Memorial Cello Chair Dr. Al Garren, Dr. Al Garren Violin Chair $100,000—$249,999 Kay Sprinkel Grace, Education & Innovation Circle David Low & Dominique Lahaussois, Touring Circle Drs. Jane & Michael Marmor, Michael F. and Jane B. Marmor Principal Clarinet Chair Elizabeth Anderson Mayer Chris McCrum & Elizabeth Velarde, Chorale Circle Mark Perry & Melanie Peña/Bill & Lee Perry, Education & Innovation Circle Susan & Paul Sugarman Family Philanthropic Fund, Guest Artists Circle Egon & Joan von Kaschnitz, Egon and Joan von Kaschnitz Concertmaster Chair $50,000—$99,999 Linda Brewer Kathleen & Martin Cohn, Touring Circle Nicolas Elsishans & Christopher Hayes Kate & David Gross Mrs. Jonathan B. Gifford Norman T. Larson Roy Levin & Jan Thomson Carol & Doug Tanner, Touring Circle
$25,000—$49,999 Quincy Bragg & Sarah Fitzgerald The Estate of Donald E. Casey The Estate of Philip J. Eisenberg Susan LeRoy & Michael Stewart Fred Matteson & Anne Davidson Barr Sondra & Milton Schlesinger Linda & Paul Swatek Donna M. Williams, Touring Circle $10,000—$24,999 Bonnie & Jim Bell Carol & Peter Berkenkotter Elizabeth, Kay & Mike Buckley Marie Bertillion Collins & Leonard Collins The Gray Family Foundation Nancy & Richard Heath Grace & Laurance Hoagland Margaret & Edmond Kavounas, Recording & Media Circle Kit & Hayne Leland William Lokke Betty & Jack Schafer William Quackenbush The Estate of Shirley Sarvis
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LEAVE A LEGACY AT PHILHARMONIA A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. — John Keats
“Music for a while shall all your cares beguile.” Yet even when you have no earthly cares left to alleviate, the gift of music can continue to inspire and comfort generations hence. Historically informed performance of music both preserves a thing of beauty and connects us with our common humanistic heritage through the centuries. We at Philharmonia take this responsibility of stewardship very seriously, even as we strive to bring you joy along the way.
HELP US ENSURE THE FUTURE OF THIS MUSIC WE LOVE. By designating PBO as a beneficiary in your estate plan, you enable us to take the necessary risks to forge our future. Your legacy gift creates the capacity to: •
rediscover rare gems, such as Handel’s Joseph and His Brethren
•
tackle ambitions as tremendous as Rameau’s Temple of Glory
•
explore new horizons with original commissions for period instruments
•
expand our audience through tours and alternative presentation formats like PBO SESSIONS
•
invest in education programs that nurture the next generation of musicians and music lovers
For more information on making a legacy gift, please visit philharmonia.org/legacy. To be included in the Laurette Goldberg Society if you’ve already named Philharmonia in your estate plan, please contact CJ Ru at (415) 252-1288 x311 or cjru@philharmonia.org.
BUILDING PHILHARMONIA’S FUTURE LAURETTE GOLDBERG SOCIETY
The Laurette Goldberg Society, named after the founder of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, honors those individuals who have named the Orchestra in their estate plans. Anonymous (2)
Gillian Kuehner & Norman Bookstein
The Estate of Dr. Ross E. Armstrong
The Estate of Elmira Lake
Corey & Tim Benjamin
Norman T. Larson
The Robert A. Birman Executive Director Chair
Clifford Leventhal
Linda Brewer
The Estate of Susan B. Levy
Donald Buhman & Wray Humphrey
William Lokke
William Bush
Dr. Terri McGinnis
The Estate of Donald E. Casey
The Estate of Mrs. A. P. Morse
David Challinor & Tami Laramie
Barbara & Nigel Renton
The Estate of Marie Mendenhall Cleasby
Maxine & James Risley
Kathleen & Martin Cohn
The Estate of Maxine Rosston
Marie Bertillion Collins & Leonard Collins
The Estate of Shirley Sarvis
Steven A.R. Edwards
Adrienne & Theodore Savetnick
The Phillip M. Eisenberg Trust
Sondra & Milton Schlesinger
Nicolas Elsishans & Christopher Hayes
The Estate of Carol Seitz
Dr. Harvey & Deana Freedman
Ross Smith
The Estate of Alper Garren
Robert Speer & John Wong
The Estate of Rudolf & Nellie Glauser
Linda & Paul Swatek
The Estate of Eva & James Goodwin
Claudine Torfs
Kay Sprinkel Grace
Anita L. Velazquez
Margaret Hegg
Lawrence K. Wallace & Portia H. Leet
Steve John & Jason Snyder
Mr. Theodore Weber, Jr.
The Estate of Marie Kieraldo
The Estate of Michael J. Weller
Kathy & Bill Korbholz
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LIFETIME BENEFACTORS Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale thanks the following visionary supporters whose cumulative giving totals $100,000 or more. Anonymous (2) The Estate of Dr. Ross E. Armstrong
The Estate of Susan B. Levy, in honor of Fred Sondheimer
Nicholas Bez
David Low & Dominique Lahaussois
Kathleen & Martin Cohn
The Marmor Foundation; Drs. Michael & Jane Marmor
Richard Colburn Marie Bertillion Collins & Leonard Collins Laura & Robert Cory Alper Garren Mona Geller Mrs. Jonathan B. Gifford John & Joan Goddard, The Goddard Foundation Kay Sprinkel Grace Kate & David Gross Christina & Kenneth Hecht
Frederick Matteson & Anne Davidson Barr Elizabeth Anderson Mayer Elizabeth Velarde & Chris McCrum Gladyne K. Mitchell Holbrook T. Mitchell Mark Perry & Melanie PeĂąa Maxine Rosston Sondra & Milton Schlesinger Jane & Jack Stuppin
Grace & Laurance Hoagland
Paul and Susan Sugarman Family Philanthropic Fund
Marie & Palmer Hotz
Linda & Paul Swatek
Brian M. Kincaid & Elizabeth C. Theil
Carol & Douglas Tanner
The Kivelstadt Family Trust
Claudine Torfs
Norman T. Larson
Joan & Egon von Kaschnitz
Kit & Hayne Leland
The Waverley Fund
John B. Levy
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
GIFTS TO THE ANNUAL FUND Philharmonia expresses its deepest appreciation to those individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies whose loyal support of the Annual Fund makes possible our extensive artistic and educational programs. Thank you for providing the Orchestra with the resources to bring its music to concert halls, classrooms, and communities throughout the Bay Area and beyond. We are truly grateful to the following donors, whose gifts were received between August 2016 – October 2017.
CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT GRANTS
PHILANTHROPY PARTNERS
$100,000 & above
Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund
$75,000 - $99,999
The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
$25,000 - $74,999
Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation The Bernard Osher Foundation
$10,000 - $24,999
Gaia Fund National Endowment for the Arts
$5,000 - $9,999
The Bob Ross Foundation
GIFTS IN KIND
CORPORATE PARTNERS Bailard, Inc.
MATCHING GIFTS
Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund Bloom Jewish Music Foundation California Community Foundation East Bay Community Foundation Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund Jewish Communal Fund Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund Jewish Community Foundation of the East Bay JP Morgan Chase Charitable Gift Fund Morgan Stanley Charitable Gift Fund Mutual of America Pasadena Community Foundation Ruppenthal Foundation for the Arts Silicon Valley Community Foundation Schwab Charitable Gift Fund The San Francisco Foundation Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program
Adobe Systems Incorporated Bank of the West Chevron Humankind Matching Gift Program IBM Corporation TPG Global
Norman Bookstein DLA Piper Four Seasons Hotel Frank Wing Photography Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Panoramic Interests RJ Muna Photography WineWise, Hiram Simon & Brian Greenwood
We gratefully acknowledge the support we receive from:
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WITH GRATITUDE CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ($50,000+) Anonymous (1) The Estate of Dr. Ross E. Armstrong✢ David Low & Dominique Lahaussois Gladyne K. Mitchell✢ Mark Perry & Melanie Peña The Estate of Maxine Rosston♦ The Waverley Fund✢ STRADIVARI ($25,000-$44,999) The Estate of Elmira Lake♦ CHRISTOFORI ($15,000-$24,999) Nancy & Richard Heath♦ Grace & Laurance Hoagland✢ Brian M. Kincaid & Elizabeth C. Theil✢ Norman T. Larson▲ Rebecca Moyle & Tyler Lange Claudine Torfs♦ GUARNERI ($10,000-$14,999) Nicolas Elsishans & Christopher Hayes The AAG Trust✢ Mrs. Jonathan B. Gifford✢ John & Joan Goddard, The Goddard Foundation▲ Kate & David Gross▲ Marie & Palmer Hotz▲ Eric Leve William Lokke✢ The Marmor Foundation; Drs. Michael & Jane Marmor♦ Elizabeth Anderson Mayer▲ Jean Shuler✢ ARCANGELI ($5,500-$9,999) Anonymous (1)
Carol & Peter Berkenkotter▲ Kathleen & Martin Cohn✢ Marie Bertillion Collins & Leonard Collins▲ Charlotte Gaylord & Barrie Cowan♦ Kay Sprinkel Grace✢ Christina & Kenneth Hecht▲ Anne & Jeffrey Katz Martine Kraus Paola & Richard Kulp✢ Carlene Laughlin Frederick Matteson & Anne Davidson Barr♦ David Morandi✢ Kathryn & Donley Parmentier✢ Leonilla & William Perry♦ Betty & Jack Schafer▲ Steve John & Jason Snyder Paul and Susan Sugarman Family Philanthropic Fund♦ Carol & Douglas Tanner♦ The TL Trust✢ Donna Williams AMATI ($3,000-$5,499) Anonymous (2) Corey & Tim Benjamin♦ Elizabeth, Kay & Mike Buckley▲ Annelle Clute✢ Jean-Marc Frailong & Richard Halton♦ Edith Gladstone♦ Lynn Gotchall♦ Silvija & Roger Hoag✢ Margaret & Edmond Kavounas♦ Sheila & Michael Lagios▲ Didier LeGall Kit & Hayne Leland✢ Jack Levin Heather Preston Maxine Risley▲ Howard Schachman♦ Jade & Chris Simonson✢ Linda & Paul Swatek▲
♦ - 10+ YEARS
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✢ - 20+ YEARS
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COGNOSCENTI ($1,500-$2,999) Anonymous (1) Kendall & Claire Allphin Mary & Roger Ashley✢ Ari & Kristin Baron♦ Darla & Richard Bastoni♦ Adam Arthur Bier & Rachel Bier Lem Marlene Bollhoffer✢ Sarah FitzGerald & Quincy Bragg♦ William Bush✢ Richard Caplin, M.D.✢ Kyra & Ken Carson♦ Glyde Cooper✢ Charles Crane♦ Corinne Cooley Derringer♦ John Drago♦ Catherine & D. Michael Enfield♦ The Rev’d Richard Fabian▲ Marta Falicov✢ The Stephen and Margaret Gill Family Foundation The Estate of Rudolf & Nellie Glauser♦ The Estate of James Goodwin✢ Brian Haley Margaret Hegg♦ Susanne Hering & John Phillips♦ Ian Hinchliffe & Marjorie Shapiro▲ Marguerite & Marc Kaufman♦ Emily Kenyon & David Lipsky Phyllis Koch Kathy & Bill Korbholz✢ Adair & William Langston▲ Tom Lee✢ Ellen & Barry Levine♦ Walter Augusta & Robert Levy Memorial Fund♦ Harvey L. Lynch C.R. Gus Manning & Rena Kirkpatrick✢ Joan Mansour
▲ - 30+ YEARS
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
WITH GRATITUDE Rod McChesney Willinda & Peter McCrea✢ Mary Anne Miller & James Suekama✢ Tina & Stephen Morris♦ Grace M. Parr♦ Stephen Pegors & Trista Berkovitz✢ Phillip Phythian & Ann Hardham✢ Catherine & Raymond Roberts✢ Michael Sack▲ Louise Adler Sampson✢ Adrienne & Theodore Savetnick✢ Reed Schmidt✢ Lawrence & Grace Smith✢ Ross Smith♦ Sylvia J. Spengler✢ Jonathan Stebbins & Jessica Donovan✢ Susan LeRoy Stewart & Michael Stewart✢ Barbara Tanaka✢ Muriel Waller♦ Mr. Theodore Weber, Jr.✢ Melanie & Ron Wilensky, Keyboard Sponsors Wendy & Mason Willrich▲ Elinor & Bruce Wilner✢ Cathe & Gavin Wright✢ Ann Gui & Glenn Zhu Jane Zuckert♦
CAMERATA ($650-$1,499) Anonymous (4) Frank Adams & Susan Bryan▲ Robert & Elaine Allen Family Foundation Carol Cosman & Robert Alter♦ Barbara Barkovich✢ Janet & Chris Bensick▲ Stephen Bischoff✢ Linda Blum Patricia Bradley▲ Ann & Winslow Briggs✢ Dr. Bruce & Susan Carter✢
Michael Colbruno♦ Joan & Edward Conger♦ Margaret Conkey & Lester Rowntree♦ The Ruth Crosby Fund✢ Peter & Jayne Davis Marvin Dennis Fred & Dinna Eisenhart Catherine & D. Michael Enfield♦ Jacqueline & Christian P. Erdman✢ Margaret Garms♦ Emily Gladstone Cole♦ Rob & Barbara Grant Bernice Greene✢ Ms. Dorothy D. Gregor Phil Grisier Joyce & Douglas Hamilton✢ Ann & Roy G. Hammonds, Jr✢ MacInnis-Heinle Trust A♦ Nina Hemenway & Chesley Herbert Susan & David Hodges♦ Susan & Ernst Hoyer Robert W. Jarman Gary W. Jennings & John D. Poynter Chrystal & James Kafka✢ Maureen & David Kennedy♦ Alice & Richard Kulka Robert Larson♦ Victoria & Richard Larson Laura Leibowitz Hollis Lenderking♦ Claire & Herbert Lindenberger✢ Angela Little▲ Carol Lokke✢ Carol & Hal Louchheim✢ Martha & Arthur Luehrmann♦ Francis Lundy✢ Joan & Roger Mann Suzanne & Stanley Mantell✢ Josephine Maxon♦ Garth McCune✢ Richard Meiss & Peter Rudy✢ Victoria & James Merchant,
in honor of Carol & Douglas Tanner Barbara & Thomas Metcalf♦ Helen & John Meyer Neanna & Allan Miles✢ Murrey Nelson Janet & Bill Nicholls✢ Brenda & James Nirenstein✢ Ms. Eleanor Forrest Nishi♦ Judith & Stuart Offer♦ Kirk Patterson♦ Mary & David Phillips♦ Jan Willem Prak & Karen Burtness Prak William Quackenbush♦ Helen & Dan Quinn✢ Barbara Rauhala Barbara & Nigel Renton✢ Angèle & Michael Rice Ray & Bill Riess✢ Sara & John Schram✢ Doug Schwalbe✢ David A. Shapiro, M.D. & Sharon L. Wheatley Susanna & Dave Singer Linda & Fred Sondheimer▲ Gayle & George Staehle✢ David Stein & Bill Stewart♦ Jo Ann Stewart & Judy Nelson✢ Sarah & Stephen Taber✢ Tricia Tanoury Claire Taylor & Charles G. Schulz♦ Alison JF Teeman & G. Michael Yovino-Young♦ Joseph & Donna Terdiman✢ Lava Thomas & Peter Danzig* Robert Thompson Dr. David L. White & Martha Truett✢ Ellen & Mike Turbow✢ Christopher & Michael MeleWagner✢ Ben & Beth Wegbreit♦ Beverly Zellick▲
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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WITH GRATITUDE CAMERATA ($350-$649) Anonymous (3) Li-Hsia Wang & Henry Abrons Gertraud Albert♦ R. Tyler Andersen & Diane Green✢ John Anderson & Jimmy Kansau Zachary Baker♦ Troy Barbee Nancy & Clayton Bavor♦ Mrs. Mary Baxter✢ Janice & William Belmont✢ Allen & Jacqueline Bertillion♦ Christel Bieri♦ Sheila Botein & David Oakes, M.D.♦ Prudence Breitrose✢ Melissa & Richard Bruins♦ Donald Buhman & Wray Humphrey Belle Bulwinkle & Michael Dukes Barbara & Lawrence Cahn♦ Lynne Carr Mike & Sandy Cleland Patricia Clemo & Robert Cooley✢ Sheri & George Clyde✢ Patricia & Peter Coffin▲ Michael Condie▲ Mr. Hugh J. Coughlin Jane Coulter♦ Peter Crabtree & Barbara Ann Beno✢ Robert Cronin & Anne Woodhouse▲ Janet Dafoe & Ronald Davis✢ Dr. & Mrs. Stanley Davis♦ Dexter & Jean Dawes✢ Diane de Forest* Jacqueline Desoer Jeanette & Peter Dunckel✢ Sylvia & Paul Emery▲ Jan & Ernst Epstein✢ Mary & Jurgen Exner♦
Mary Falvey♦ David Favrot & Kathi BrownFavrot Mary Ellen Fine✢ Jennifer Finger & Scott Bucey Jessena Finn✢ Cami & Ed Forhan Dr. Harvey & Deana Freedman✢ Julie & Jim Fulford♦ Jeanne & Frederick Gabali✢ Frances & Sidney Gage▲ Patrick Geddes & Ivy Lessner Douglas Giancoli♦ Ellen Solomon Ginsberg & David Ginsberg Jeanne & Tom Gnuse Dr. Anna Gonosova♦ Andrew Griffin Forrest Hainline Carol Handelman♦ Nancy & Nicholas Haritatos✢ William L. Hartrick♦ Margaret Heineman Elizabeth Hilpman & Byron Tucker, in honor of David Low & Dominique Lahaussois Janet & Robert Hines Harry Howe & Michèle Stone Andrea Julian✢ Daniel Katz & Lauren Bruce Julia Katz Nancy Hunt Kiesling♦ Dr. & Mrs. Kiraly♦ Susan Klee & David Stoloff✢ Barbara Koepsell♦ Barbara Kosnar & Tom Goldman James Leak Sukey Lilienthal & David Roe Carolyn & David Lougee✢ Dr. Karen Lovdahl Melainie Mansfield Sally Marshall Bruce McCoy♦ Elizabeth Velarde & Chris McCrum♦
♦ - 10+ YEARS
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✢ - 20+ YEARS
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Sandi & Norman McEachron✢ Kathleen McGreevy✢ Richard McKee Margaret McKinnon✢ Robert B. Mison Katherine & Bridger Mitchell♦ Charles & Honor Morehouse✢ Julius Moshinsky & Suzanne Renne▲ Kathleen Much & Stanley Peters✢ Rolf Muller✢ Alice Nadler♦ Mr. Joseph Newell & Dr. Eric Collier Jeanne Newman Victor Ninov Tes & Anders Norlin Joan Norton✢ Georgia Heid & Mary Belle O’Brien✢ David Perry Sandra & George Petty✢ Bernard Peuto Anastasia Polakis Linda O. Polsby✢ Diane Posnack Maureen & Donald Querio✢ Peter M. Ray✢ Carlene & Bruce Reeves✢ Anmarie Roache Kenneth Robin✢ Pam & Jim Robson♦ Nile Rowan & Gordon Peterson James Rytuba Paul J. Schmidt Fritzi Schoen♦ Michael & Susan Schwartz✢ Louise Shalit✢ David Shapiro & Scott Kenison Susan Sherman Allene Sieling Sherry & Judd Smith✢ Stephen Smoliar & Linda Dembo
▲ - 30+ YEARS
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
WITH GRATITUDE Scott Sochar♦ Emily Sparks & Vincent Fogle♦ Barbara Cohen & Richard M. Stanley Nancy Stanwood Ruth & Alan Tobey, Tobey Fund♦ Martha Doerr Toppin♦
Loekie & Johan Van Proosdij♦ Maura FitzGerald & Tom Walsh▲ Anne Warner & Charlotte Centeno Bill & Judy Botsford Warren✢ Ann & Thomas Watrous✢ Evelyn Wegienka♦
John & Marilyn Whitcher Mr. Michael Wyatt Gail & Peter Yessne♦ Susan & David Young Sarah Young♦ John Zimmermann & Diana Graham✢
EXPLORE the work of
SALLY BEAMISH BEAMISH: River Viola Concerto; Cello Concerto “River”; Tam Lin “Sally Beamish’s music has been underrepresented on CD for far too long. This superb release puts right that omission but it does much more than that: it provides first-rate performances of three of her most dramatic and personal compositions in excellent digital sound.” –Paul Conway, MusicWeb International
BEAMISH: Orchestral Works “Both Sally Beamish’s concertos here...have literary backgrounds, and her music seems to be at its most potent and vivid when it takes on a descriptive or extra-musical dimension. The three movements of the Violin Concerto relate directly to three passages in a most unlikely source...yet paradoxically the music does not rely on any knowledge of that source for its powerful effect” –The Guardian
Available at the PBO Boutique in the lobby.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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FEATURED MUSICIAN
MARIA CASWELL VIOLA
Q: What instrument do you play with PBO? A: Viola, around 1800, Anonymous Mittenwald Violin 1725 Antoni Rief. Q: How many years have you been performing with PBO? A: 35 years, since before the beginning. Q: What has been your favorite performance with PBO, and why? A: It’s not possible to pick a favorite. The very first official concert on Feb 4, 1982, was immensely exciting. I really love to play the Handel oratorios and operas, and I really loved playing Le Temple de la Gloire this past April (2017). I love the vocal soloists we get to work with, especially Dominique Labelle, who has been amazing to watch over the years just get better and better. She is definitely a part of our PBO family. Q: Tell us about your other hobbies and interests... A: I live in Sonoma County on part of an old ranch, and I do a fair amount of jelly and jam making. We also have two silly goats, just pets, not for milk. When I have time I like to piece quilts. Q: Where did you study music and who was your most influential instructor? A: I studied at the New England Conservatory of Music with Masuko Ushioda. There was an early music department there, unusual at the time. Despite being forbidden to play baroque violin for several years, my friends in early music were my biggest influence. Q: What is the “most-played” piece of music in your playlist? A: It changes all the time.
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PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
and
QA
Q: What makes you laugh?
A: Absurdity, good witticisms. Lots of things.
Q: What is your guilty pleasure? A: Potato chips.
Q: Do you have kids or pets? A: I have three kids, all of whom were babysat by other players’ children at one time or another. They are all out of the house, one married with baby, one wanders the world till starting work at Google, one just starting at the Veterinary Medicine School at UC Davis. I have two cats, one large, mellow, fluffy and a good hunter, one tiny, yowly short hair. I have two goats, one a La Mancha, the other an Alpine dairy goat who is not currently a dairy goat. Q: Favorite Food: A: Burritos. Maybe. Q: Favorite Books: A: Again, too numerous to list. I like books by Patrick O’Brien, Myles na Gopaleen, Kage Baker, Terry Pratchett, Anthony Trollope, Georgette Heyer, Roger Zelazny, etc. Q: Favorite Films: A: Groundhog Day, 50/50, Galaxy Quest, whatever. Q: What are your hidden talents (other than being a great musician)?
Q: What are you addicted to? A: Tea. Q: Where would you go if you could go anywhere? A: Wherever my friends and family live. Q: Who inspires you? A: The colleague who inspired me the most was Michelle Burr, our long time bass player. She inspired me both musically and personally. I guess I get inspiration from all over, particularly from friends. Q: Why do you love PBO? A: PBO has been my work family for nearly all my adult life. The excitement we all felt playing this music as we thought it might have been heard has always been a joy. I have known my colleagues through marriages, children, breakups, deaths, children’s triumphs, and just good times. We are always excited to play music together, and really believe in our mission. And, Nic has brought incredible musicianship, delight, and fun to the process. <
A: Goats follow me around when I go on walks.
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
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Winter Gala 2018
Join us for Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s most exciting and important fundraising event of the year—the 2018 Annual Winter Gala!
honoring acclaimed countertenor
David
Daniels Friday, February 23, 2018 Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco
This year we honor DAVID DANIELS, the world’s preeminent countertenor, who will join forces with Music Director Nicholas McGegan and members of the Orchestra to regale us with a special showcase of Handel arias on the composer’s birthday. The evening also includes: •
Silent and live auction featuring one-of-a-kind items
•
Cocktail reception and an exquisite threecourse dinner
•
Festive after-party with delectable desserts
For further information and tickets, please visit philharmonia.org/gala.
LE MONDE GALANTE Nicolas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players welcome
Juilliard415 Sunday, October 29, 4:00 pm Koret Auditorium De Young Museum, San Francisco Nic and the Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players join the students from Juilliard’s elite period instrument ensemble, J415, to explore the world of Baroque music with a tour of works by Leclair, Gluck, Avison, Scarlatti, Telemann, Rameau and others. Hear works inspired by the music of Baroque France, Spain, Scotland, the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and China in this musical excursion.
Tickets: $25 Call the PBO Box Office Mon-Fri, 9-5 pm • (415) 295-1900 or order online at philharmonia.org
voices of music
Handel’s Messiah in Grace Cathedral JEFFREY THOMAS music director
WEDNESDAY ~ THURSDAY ~ FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 15, 16, 2016 at 7:30 P.M. 2017-2018 CONCERT SEASON
messiahingrace.org
november 30 -december 3 : bach, biber & geminiani january 19-21 : an evening in paris march 2-4 : leonardo da vinci, a musical odyssey
(415) 621-7900
tickets available at www.voicesofmusic.org or call 415.260.4687
BRAVO! DLA Piper Piper DLA proudly supports supports proudly Philharmonia Baroque Baroque Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra &&Chorale Chorale duringtheir their magnificent magnificent 2016/17 during 2017/18season. season.
555 Mission Street Suite 2400 | San Francisco, California | dlapiper.com
HANDEL’S MESSIAH IN GRACE CATHEDRAL
December 13–15 2017
BACH’S SAINT JOHN PASSION February 23–26 2018
Our 29th Season of
MUSICAL MASTERWORKS OF THE BAROQUE that have taken their places in the hearts of music lovers for all time
MONTEVERDI’S VESPERS OF 1610 April 6–9 2018
WILLIAM SHARP SINGS BACH IN THE CHAPEL OF GRACE May 4 2018
BACH’S ORCHESTRAL SUITES May 11–14 2018
americanbach.org
CHANTICLEER ~ celebrating 40 years as an orchestra of voices ~
2017/18 Season Heart of a Soldier September 16-24, 2017 A Chanticleer Christmas December 10-23, 2017 Saints Alive March 10-April 8, 2018 Then and There, Here and Now June 9-16, 2018
Tickets & Information available at www.chanticleer.org