OKC PHIL program magazine 2015-2016 edition 3

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WELCOME

T W E N T Y - S E V E N T H

S E A S O N

RENATE WIGGIN, President Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, Inc. Welcome! As we enter the Philharmonic’s 27th season, we look forward to another exciting program Maestro Joel Levine has prepared for both the Classics and Pops series. Small wonder there is so much enthusiasm and dedication among the musicians, staff and volunteers. I am therefore truly honored to serve the Board of Directors this year. Excellence, relevance and fiscal responsibility are the Phil’s core values and we hope this season will in every way exemplify them.

What you experience on stage today represents only part of the Phil’s activities. Our outreach program centers on introducing the importance of music to children in the public school classrooms and the Discovery Concert Series aimed at younger audiences but attended by all age groups. We could not accomplish any of this without the generosity and loyalty of our patrons, donors, the Associate Board and the Orchestra League.

Please know how grateful we are to each and every one of you. As audience members and donors you are vital to the Philharmonic’s health and success as one of the crown jewels of Oklahoma City’s cultural life. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy your evening with the Philharmonic.

JULIA HUNT, President Oklahoma City Orchestra League, Inc. As the Oklahoma City Philharmonic begins its 27th concert season, the Oklahoma City Orchestra League is proud of the part it plays in the cultural legacy provided to our community by this outstanding orchestra!

Through our partnership with the Phil, the League brings a variety of educational programs to Oklahoma City’s children and adults as well as state wide instrumental competitions.

The League’s Symphony Show House is the crown jewel of the spring season in Oklahoma City. Funds generated by the Symphony Show House represent the largest portion of our annual gift to the Phil.

The OCOL is proud to announce that a new and exciting annual event will premier in October. The Maestro’s Ball promises to be an unforgettable evening with pre-concert dining and entertainment and following the concert, a lavish party of dancing and more entertainment surprises!

On behalf of the Orchestra League, I’d like to express gratitude to Maestro Joel Levine and the outstanding musicians who bring the gift of music to us each season!

JENNI FOSBENNER, President Associate Board Welcome to the 27th season of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. It is an honor and privilege to serve as the President of the Philharmonic’s Associate Board.

The Associate Board is looking forward to bringing the orchestra to the next generation thru Overture. We are excited to join familiar faces and new ones as we enjoy an unforgettable line-up of concerts, pre- and post-show parties, volunteer opportunities and special networking events.

The Philharmonic is one of the many things that makes this community great. I hope you enjoy this evening’s concert and are inspired by the incredible performance of the Philharmonic. Join us for the opportunity to meet new people and expand your appreciation of orchestral music. You won’t be disappointed!

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www.okcphilharmonic.org

MUSIC DIRECTOR

T W E N T Y - S E V E N T H

S E A S O N

JOEL LEVINE Beginning his twenty-seventh season leading the Philharmonic, Joel Levine is the longest serving music director in our City’s history. Including his tenure with the Oklahoma Symphony, Maestro Levine is enjoying his thirty-seventh year on the podium at Civic Center Music Hall. Under his leadership, the orchestra has appeared on international, national and local television broadcasts and released several recordings. Maestro Levine’s reputation for exceptional musical collaboration has enabled the Philharmonic to present one of the country’s most distinguished series of world-renowned guest artists. He has collaborated with many of the greatest performing artists of our time and has been called a “remarkable musician and visionary” by Yo-Yo Ma. For three decades, Maestro Levine has conducted many of the city’s historic programs including “Porgy and Bess” with the legendary Cab Calloway, the Paris Opera Ballet starring Rudolf Nureyev, “Rodeo” for Ballet Oklahoma under the direction of Agnes DeMille, the Philharmonic’s 100th anniversary production of “La Boheme,” the State of Oklahoma’s official Centennial Celebration, and the National Memorial Service following the Oklahoma City bombing. He has also conducted Young People’s programs around the State for thousands of children, twenty-five OKC productions of “The Nutcracker” since 1980, and led programs featuring Oklahoma’s celebrated native stars including Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Jimmy Webb, Patti Page, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O’Hara, Megan Mullally, Sandi Patty, and Leona Mitchell.

He has received international recognition for performances reflecting many different styles in the classical repertoire.

His program of Schubert and Schumann symphonies with Germany’s Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra led the reviewer to write: “Joel Levine proved that he is an absolute master of his profession; the audience honored this impressive performance with much applause.” Engagements in the great European capitols include concerts with the Czech National Symphony in Prague’s Dvorˆák Hall, and the Symphony Orchestra of Portugal in Lisbon. Other international invitations have included orchestras in Spain, Israel, Belgrade, Bucharest, and an appearance with the Mexico City Philharmonic.

Maestro Levine has conducted many of America’s major ensembles including three seasons with The National Symphony

Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the orchestras of St. Louis, Detroit, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Seattle, Denver, Nashville and New Orleans. The national press has praised his performances: “the orchestra played with clarity and energy” (Los Angeles Times), “fine musicianship” (Washington Post), “Levine brings the needed sheen and rhythmic verve to the music” (Minneapolis Star), “Levine drew a crisp, bold and tonally lustrous account of the varied score from the orchestra and full-throated chorus” (Houston Post). His Detroit Symphony performances received “four stars” — the highest rating from the Detroit News.

Known for his work with major artists in the world of classical dance, he has conducted for three of the greatest male dancers: Rudolf Nureyev, Edward Villella, and Peter Martins. For the Kansas City Ballet, he collaborated with famed choreographer, Alvin Ailey and conducted the first contemporary performance of a “lost” Balanchine ballet, “Divertimento.”

Maestro Levine’s résumé includes collaborations with many of the immortal names of jazz, musical theater, film and television. Several of his recordings with Mexico’s Xalapa Symphony Orchestra are in international release and have been broadcast on the BBC. Maestro Levine has taken an active role in the cultural life of Oklahoma City since he arrived in 1976 as music director for Lyric Theatre. He worked actively for the passage of MAPS 1 and played a key role in the renovation of our hall. For his work as a founder of the Orchestra, he received The Governor’s Arts Award (1989), was named Oklahoma Musician Of The Year (1991), is a 2008 “Treasures of Tomorrow” honoree of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, received the 2014 Stanley Draper Award for his contributions to downtown Oklahoma City, and has received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Oklahoma City University.

“Joel Levine proved that he is an absolute master of his profession...”

— Havelstadt Brandenburg

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E. L. & THELMA GAYLORD FOUNDATION PRESENTS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2015 This concert features familiar music from Native inspirations to Western trail rides and more. Come dressed in your favorite western wear!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2016 In addition to orchestral arrangements, this concert features the evolution of the African American influence in America, including Blues, Jazz, Gospel and rap. Join us for a celebration of this uniquely American Music!

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2016 A classic for all generations, get to know all the sounds of the instruments in the orchestra as you follow the story of Peter and the Wolf, plus a few surprises with other forest friends, that are sure to please. www.okcphilharmonic.org

Shiloh Morning Inn Bed & Breakfast ­

A Romantic Country Getaway www.shilohmorning.com 2179 Ponderosa Rd • Ardmore, OK 73401

888-554-7674

OKLAHOMA PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY, INC.

P R O V I D I N G

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O R C H E S T R A L

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THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers

Lifetime Directors

Renate Wiggin President

Jane B. Harlow Patrick Alexander

Debbie Fleming President Elect

Directors

Teresa Cooper Vice President Louise Churchill Treasurer Gary Allison Secretary John Higginbotham Immediate Past President

Steve Agee Zonia Armstrong Edward Barth Cathy Busey Elliot Chambers Robert Clements Joseph Fleckinger Jenni Fosbenner Ryan Free Kirk Hammons Brent Hart Patricia Horn Dr. Sonja Hughes

Julia Hunt Michael E. Joseph Kathy Kerr Brad Krieger David McLaughlin Becky Ross Roten Melissa Scaramucci John Shelton Jeff Starling Doug Stussi Glenna Tanenbaum Donita Thomas Cheryl Brashear White

Honorary Directors Josephine Freede Mary Nichols Dick Sias

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Katie Barrick Education Coordinator

Simone Laday Customer Service

Chris Stinchcomb Concert Operations and P.R. Coordinator

Tara Burnett Development Coordinator

Kris Markes General Manager

Eddie Walker Executive Director

Pam Glyckherr Planned Giving Director

Jennifer Owens Development Director

Susan Webb Marketing & P.R. Director

Daniel Hardt Finance Director

Ulises Serrano Customer Service

Liz Ussery Customer Service

Stephen Howard Database/Records Manager

Judy Smedley Administrative Assistant

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Classical KUCO 90.1 Garman Productions Heritage Press

Reynolds Ford Ryan Audio Services, LLC. The Skirvin Hotel

Stubble Creative Inc. Tuxedo Junction

THE OKLAHOMA PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY, INC. 428 W. California Ave., Ste 210 • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 Tickets: 405-842-5387 • Administration: 405-232-7575 • Fax: 405-232-4353 • www.okcphilharmonic.org

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OKLAHOMA CITY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE, INC. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Julia Hunt Polly Worthington President Programs VP

Lisa Reed OCOL Executive Director, Ex-Officio

Cinda Lafferty Rachael Geiger Governance VP & Secretary Membership VP

Eddie Walker Executive Director, Oklahoma City Philharmonic (Ex-Officio, Advisory)

Judy Moore Yvette Fleckinger Financial VP & Treasurer Ways & Means VP Deanna Pendleton Past President & Chairman, Ex-Officio

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sarah Sagran Budget & Finance Chair Carol McCoy Competitions Chair Linda Rowland-Woody Education Chair

Judy Austin Randy Buttram Jean Hartsuck Cheryl Hudak Penny McCaleb Debbie Minter Mike Palmer

Pat Sholar Sam Sims Glenna Tanenbaum Wendi Wilson

Iva Fleck Priscilla Braun Susan Robinson Minna Hall Yvette Fleckinger June Parry Jean Hartsuck Grace Ryan Judy Austin LaDonna Meinders Dixie Jensen Lois Salmeron

Glenna Tanenbaum Debbie McKinney Anna McMillin Sue Francis Peggy Lunde Cathy Wallace Sharon Shelton Rhonda White Cindy Raby Debbie Minter Deanna Pendleton

PAST PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL Mary Ruth Ferguson Katherine Kirk Janelle Everest Lael Treat Josephine Freede Jane Harlow Jane Rodgers Joyce Bishop Ann Taylor Lil Ross Sandra Meyers Mona Preuss

ORCHESTRA LEAGUE OFFICE 3815 N. Santa Fe Ave., Ste. 105 • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73118 Phone: 405-601-4245 • Fax: 405-601-4278 Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. • E-mail: orchleag@coxinet.net Website: www.okcorchestraleague.org

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THE ORCHESTRA

T W E N T Y - S E V E N T H

S E A S O N

JOEL LEVINE, Music Director and Conductor EDDIE WALKER, Executive Director

FIRST VIOLIN

Gregory Lee, Concertmaster Gertrude Kennedy Chair Marat Gabdullin, Associate Concertmaster Densi Rushing, Assistant Concertmaster Sam Formicola Hong Zhu Beth Sievers James Thomson Megan McClendon Deborah McDonald Janet Gorton Sophia Ro TBA Ai-Wei Chang Lu Deng

SECOND VIOLIN

Katrin Stamatis, Principal McCasland Foundation Chair Catherine Reaves Michael Reaves Principal Emeritus Brenda Wagner Angelica Pereira Mary Joan Johnston Sarah Brown Laura Young Sarah McKiddy TBA Lois Fees June McCoy

VIOLA

Royce McLarry, Principal Mark Neumann Joseph Guevara Kelli Ingels Steve Waddell Joseph Young Donna Cain Brian Frew Shaohong Yuan Derek Mosloff

CELLO

Jonathan Ruck, Principal Orchestra League Chair Tomasz Zieba, Associate Principal Meredith Blecha-Wells Valorie Tatge Emily Stoops Jim Shelley Angelika Machnik-Jones Jean Statham Dorothy Hays Rob Bradshaw

BASS

George Speed, Principal Anthony Stoops, Co-Principal Larry Moore Parvin Smith Mark Osborn Jesus Villarreal Christine Craddock Kara Koehn

FLUTE

Valerie Watts, Principal Parthena Owens Nancy Stizza-Ortega

PICCOLO

Nancy Stizza-Ortega

OBOE

Lisa Harvey-Reed, Principal Dan Schwartz Katherine McLemore

ENGLISH HORN Dan Schwartz

CLARINET

BASSOON

Rod Ackmann, Principal James Brewer Barre Griffith Larry Reed

CONTRABASSOON Barre Griffith

HORN

Kate Pritchett, Principal G. Rainey Williams Chair Nancy Halliday TBD Frank Goforth

TRUMPET

Karl Sievers, Principal Jay Wilkinson Michael Anderson

TROMBONE

John Allen, Principal Philip Martinson Noel Seals, Bass Trombone

TUBA

Ted Cox, Principal

PERCUSSION

David Steffens, Principal Stuart Langsam Roger Owens

TIMPANI

Lance Drege, Principal

HARP

Gaye LeBlanc, Principal

Bradford Behn, Principal Tara Heitz James Meiller

PIANO

BASS/E-FLAT CLARINET

PERSONNEL MANAGER/LIBRARIAN

James Meiller

Peggy Payne, Principal Michael Helt

PRODUCTION MANAGER Leroy Newman

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PLANNED GIVING

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NCORE SOCIETY

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The Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, Inc. is honored to recognize its Encore Society members — visionary thinkers who have provided for the future of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic through their estate plans.

Anonymous (3)

John and Caroline Linehan

Steven C. Agee, Ph.D.

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin C. Lunde, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick B. Alexander

Mrs. Jackie Marron

Gary and Jan Allison

Mr. and Mrs. John McCaleb

Dr. Jay Jacquelyn Bass

Jean and David McLaughlin

Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Clements

R.M. (Mickey) McVay

Thomas and Rita Dearmon

Robert B. Milsten

Dr. and Mrs. James D. Dixson

W. Cheryl Moore

Paul Fleming

Carl Andrew Rath

Hugh Gibson

Berta Faye Rex

Pam and Gary Glyckherr

Mr. and Mrs. William J. Ross

Carey and Gayle Goad

Drs. Lois and John Salmeron

Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Gowman

Mr. and Mrs. William F. Shdeed

Carol M. Hall

Richard L. Sias

Ms. Olivia Hanson

Doug and Susie Stussi

Jane B. Harlow

Larry and Leah Westmoreland

Dr. and Mrs. James Hartsuck

Mrs. Martha V. Williams

Mr. and Mrs. Michael E. Joseph

Mr. John S. Williams

Joel Levine

Mr. and Mrs. Don T. Zachritz

THANK YOU The Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, Inc. is grateful for the support of caring patrons who want to pass on a legacy of extraordinary music to future generations. You can join this special group of music enthusiasts by including a gift for the OKC Philharmonic’s future in your own will or estate plan. For more information on how to become an Encore Society member, contact the Development Office at (405) 231-0146 or pam@okcphilharmonic.org.

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NICHOLS HILLS PLAZA 63RD & N. WESTERN RMEYERSOKC.COM

405.842.1478

GIFTS TO THE PHILHARMONIC The Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the commitment and generosity of individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies that support our mission. To help us provide inspiration and joy to the community through performances and education programs, please contact the Philharmonic’s Development Office at (405) 232-7575.

This Annual Fund recognition reflects the 2015-2016 season. Contributions of $100 and above are listed through January 20, 2016.

If your name has been misspelled or omitted, please accept our apologies and inform us of the error by calling the phone number listed above. Thank you for your generous support!

CORPORATIONS, FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT Express their generous commitment to the community.

UNDERWRITER $40,000 & Above Allied Arts Foundation Anschutz Family Foundation/ The Oklahoman Media Company The Chickasaw Nation Devon Energy Corporation Inasmuch Foundation Kirkpatrick Foundation Inc. Oklahoma Arts Council Oklahoma City Orchestra League, Inc. The Oklahoman The Skirvin Hilton Hotel

Tri-State Industrial Group, LLC Tyler Media Co./Magic 104.1FM and KOMA W&W Steel, LLC Williams Companies Wilshire Charitable Foundation

Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic Paycom Testers, Inc. Wells Fargo

GOLD SPONSORS $5,000 - $9,999

Flips Restaurant, Inc. The Fred Jones Family Foundation Norick Investment Company RealTime Layout Solutions, LLP

The Crawley Family Foundation Garman Productions Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC The Metro Restaurant

PLATINUM SPONSORS $10,000 - $39,999

SILVER SPONSORS $3,000 - $4,999

405 Magazine Ad Astra Foundation American Energy Partners American Fidelity Foundation BancFirst Bank of Oklahoma The Boeing Company E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation Express Employment Professionals HSPG and Associates, PC Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Mathis Brothers Furniture Co., Inc. MidFirst Bank OGE Energy Corp.

Presbyterian Health Foundation

Clements Foods Foundation Globe Life and Accident Insurance Gordon P. and Ann G. Getty Foundation Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company Linn Energy, LLC OK Gazette The Friday

BRONZE SPONSORS $1,750 - $2,999 Anthony Flooring Systems Inc. The Black Chronicle

GOLD PARTNERS $1,250 - $1,749

SILVER PARTNERS $750 - $1,249 Charles M. Zeeck, CPM M-D Building Products, Inc.

BRONZE PARTNERS $300 - $749 The Kerr Foundation, Inc. The Reserve Petroleum Company

BUSINESS MEMBERS $100 - $299 Special Thanks to: E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Foundation Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation

MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES AND FOUNDATIONS Double the impact of an individual’s gift.

American Fidelity Corporation Bank of America Matching Gifts Program

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Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation ExxonMobil Foundation

Inasmuch Foundation

GIFTS TO THE PHILHARMONIC MAESTRO SOCIETY Providing leadership support.

Guarantor $10,000 and above

Benefactor $5,000 - $9,999

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Evans, II The Freede Family John and Claudia Holliman Aubrey K. McClendon and Katie McClendon Jean and David McLaughlin Mary D. Nichols Nancy and George Records Mr. and Mrs. John Richels Mr. Richard L. Sias

Steven C. Agee, Ph.D. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick B. Alexander Mrs. Ann S. Alspaugh Mrs. Betty D. Bellis-Mankin Marilyn and Bill Boettger Priscilla and Jordan Braun Molly and Jim Crawley Mr. and Mrs. Douglas R. Cummings

INDIVIDUALS

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Mr. and Mrs. John A. Frost Mrs. Jane B. Harlow Mr. Albert Lang Mr. Wendell E. Miles Ms. Veronica L. Pastel and Mr. Robert B. Egelston Mr. H.E. Rainbolt Mr. and Mrs. Douglas J. Stussi Mr. and Mrs. Richard Tanenbaum Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Wiggin

MAESTRO SOCIETY

Providing essential support for the Annual Fund.

Patron $3,000 - $4,999 Lawrence H. & Ronna C. Davis Mrs. Carlene Edwards Mrs. Bonnie B. Hefner Mrs. Ruby C. Petty Ms. Kathleen J Weidley Mr. and Mrs. Richard Young

Sustainer $1,750 - $2,999 Dr. and Mrs. Dewayne Andrews Dr. and Mrs. L. Joe Bradley Mr. and Mrs. Russal Brawley Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Brown Phil and Cathy Busey William I. and Louise Churchill Mrs. Teresa Cooper Mr. and Mrs. David C. DeLana Mr. and Mrs. Sidney G. Dunagan Mrs. Patty Empie Mr. and Mrs. George Faulk Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Fleckinger Paul and Debbie Fleming Mr. Jerry A. Gilbert Mr. and Mrs. Carey Don Goad Mr. G. Curtis Harris Dr. and Mrs. James M. Hartsuck Mrs. Janice Singer Jankowsky and Mr. Joseph S. Jankowsky

Tom and Cindy Janssen Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Joseph Terry and Kathy Kerr Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Levy, Jr. Cindy and Johnny McCharen Dr. and Mrs. Patrick McKee Mr. and Mrs. Herman Meinders Mr. Robert B. Milsten Ms. Annie Moreau Mr. J. Edward Oliver Mr. and Mrs. William G. Paul Dr. Joseph H. Phillips Mr. and Mrs. Jerry W. Plant Drs. Gary and Mary Porter Mr. and Mrs. Ray H. Potts Mr. Joshua Powell Kathryn and Robert Prescott Mr. and Mrs. Steven Raybourn Mrs. Don F. Rhinehart Mr. and Mrs. William J. Ross Mr. Donald Rowlett Lance and Cindy Ruffel Mr. and Mrs. Patrick J. Ryan Drs. Lois and John Salmeron Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sanchez Mrs. Sally B. Saunders Ms. Jeanne Hoffman Smith Ms. Jane Smythe Mr. and Mrs. John E. Stonecipher Mr. & Mrs. Frederick K. Thompson William P. Tunell, M.D. Mr. and Mrs. James P. Walker

Ron and Janie Walker John and Lou Waller Mr. Tom L. Ward Mrs. Martha V. Williams Mrs. Anne Workman Mrs. Carol Wright

Associate $1,250 - $1,749 Mrs. Richard E. Adams, Jr. Mr. Barry Anderson Dr. and Mrs. John C. Andrus Mr. J. Edward Barth Dr. and Mrs. William L. Beasley Dr. John E. Beavers Mr. and Mrs. William Beck Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Benham Howard K. Berry, Jr. and Denise Berry Dr. and Mrs. Philip C. Bird Ms. Pamela Bloustine MAJ. GEN. William P. Bowden, Rt. Mr. and Mrs. Del Boyles Ms. Betty Bridwell Mr. and Mrs. Randy Buttram Bruce and Deann Campbell J. Christopher and Ruth Carey Dr. John M. Carey Dr. and Mrs. Charles W. Cathey Mr. and Mrs. Elliot Chambers Mrs. Anita Clark-Ashley and Mr. Charles Ashley CONTINUED ON PAGE 62

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GRIEG’S PIANO CONCERTO March 5, 2016 8:00 P.M.

CONCERT PREVIEW SCHEDULE

CLASSICS JON NAKAMATSU, PIANO JOEL LEVINE, CONDUCTOR

MARCH 5, 2016:: Jon Nakamatsu, Piano A native of California, Mr. Nakamatsu came to international attention in 1997 when he was named Gold Medalist of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the only American to have achieved this distinction since 1981. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in German Studies and a master’s degree in Education.

APRIL 2, 2016:: Judith Willoughby, Professor of Conducting and Choral Music Education, Oklahoma City University, and Artistic Director, Canterbury Youth Choruses As a guest conductor, conference headliner and clinician, Professor Willoughby has led choruses and orchestras in the world’s major concert halls in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia, Russia, China and Hong Kong. Her interest in public policy’s intersection with arts education and performance has resulted in her continuing service on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and its partner agencies.

PROKOFIEV ...................... Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100

Andante Allegro marcato Adagio Allegro giocoso

INTERMISSION

GRIEG .............................. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 Allegro molto moderato Adagio Allegro moderato molto e marcato—Quasi presto— Andante maestoso

Jon Nakamatsu, piano

MAY 14, 2016:: Joel Levine, Music Director, OKC Philharmonic Leading the Philharmonic in its 27th Season, founding music director Joel Levine continues to orchestrate passion in our community. Maestro Levine’s reputation for sensitive musical accompaniment has enabled the PHIL to present one of the country’s most distinguished series of world-renowned guest artists.

THIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

MRS. JANE HARLOW

Listen to a broadcast of this performance on KUCO 90.1 FM on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 8 pm and Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 8 am on “Performance Oklahoma”. Simultaneous internet streaming is also available during the broadcast.

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JON NAKAMATSU The distinguished American pianist Jon Nakamatsu, known internationally for the panache and elegance of his solo, concerto, and chamber performances, has become a favorite with audiences throughout the world. As a prolific recording artist, Mr. Nakamatsu has set to disc numerous seminal performances on the harmonia mundi label. In his review of Mr. Nakamatsu’s recent performance of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2, Daniel J. Kushner writes in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: “Nakamatsu evinced brilliant musicianship. His tone and articulation sparkled and shimmered, while his use of dynamics and energy brought out the lifeblood of each and every phrase.” (May 1, 2015).

During the 2015/16 season, Mr. Nakamatsu joined the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for performances of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in October 2015 and returned to the Cape Cod Symphony in September 2015 for the world premiere performances of Grammy-winning composer Gordon Goodwin’s double concerto The Single Step, written for Mr. Nakamatsu and his longtime artistic partner, clarinetist Jon Manasse. Also this season, Mr. Nakamatsu performed Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody in the Reno Philharmonic’s season opening concerts and joins Florida’s Atlantic Classical Orchestra for Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in March 2016.

Further orchestral appearances include the Meridian Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Stockton Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Las Cruces Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, and the San Jose and Mission Chamber Orchestras. Both as a solo recitalist and as part of the Manasse-Nakamatsu duo, Mr. Nakamatsu performed in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Hawaii, and other American cities.

Mr. Nakamatsu’s busy summer 2015 season included appearances at New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Chautauqua Music Festival, and the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, where he is coartistic director together with Mr. Manasse. During the 2014/15 season, Mr. Nakamatsu appeared with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, Symphonia Syracuse, and the Rochester Philharmonic. He joined the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet for performances of Ludwig Thuille’s Wind Quintet in Austin, TX, Santa Fe, NM, and in Charlottesville, VA, and in January he was heard in Phoenix, AZ and in San Jose, CA with the Jupiter String Quartet in the Brahms Piano Quintet. Mr. Nakamatsu also continued his celebrated collaboration with clarinetist Jon Manasse for a series of concerts across the United States throughout the season. As a solo recitalist, Mr. Nakamatsu appeared in recitals across California and at the Sanibel Music Festival. In February 2015, he joined the jury of the Ninth U.S. International Chopin Competition in Miami.

Mr. Nakamatsu has been an active guest soloist with leading orchestras throughout his career; among them the orchestras of Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Rochester, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Berlin, Milan, and Tokyo. He has collaborated with such esteemed conductors as James Conlon, Philippe Entremont, Marek Janowski, Raymond Leppard, Gerard Schwarz, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Michael Tilson Thomas and Osmo Vänskä. His numerous summer engagements have included appearances at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, Vail, Wolftrap, and Britt

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festivals. In 1999, Mr. Nakamatsu performed at the White House at the special invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton.

Among the many chamber ensembles with which Mr. Nakamatsu has collaborated are the Brentano, Jupiter, Miami, Tokyo, Prazak, St. Lawrence, and Ying String Quartets. He also tours frequently with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet and in 2008 debuted on the Philharmonic’s chamber music series performing with the Quintet and members of the orchestra. In 2008, the Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo released its first CD (Brahms Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano) which received the highest praise from The New York Times Classical Music Editor James R. Oestreich, who named it a “Best of the Year” choice for 2008. In addition to their joint concert performances Mr. Nakamatsu and Mr. Manasse serve as Artistic Directors of the esteemed Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, founded by pianist Samuel Sanders in 1979.

Mr. Nakamatsu records exclusively for harmonia mundi USA, and has released twelve critically acclaimed CDs to date. Notable releases include Mr. Nakamatsu’s first collaboration with Jon Manasse with Brahms’ Op. 120 Sonatas; an all-Gershwin recording with Jeff Tyzik and the Rochester Philharmonic featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F which rose to number three on Billboard’s classical music charts; and a recently released trio disc of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Weber with Mr. Manasse and cellist Clive Greensmith, which has elicited brilliant reviews from The New York Times (“Mr. Nakamatsu’s fleet-fingered clarity enhancing the vivacious outer movements and all three playing with deep expression in the Adagio”), Gramophone (“a most enjoyable disc, beautifully played and recorded, with the three players joining together to make a perfect ensemble”), and Audiophile Edition (“Every once in a while a disc comes along so good that I would award it six stars if my editor allowed such things”).

A high school teacher of German with no formal conservatory training, Jon Nakamatsu’s electrifying performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto won him the Gold Medal at the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition amidst a field of experienced competition warriors. Mr. Nakamatsu had studied privately with the late Marina Derryberry from the age of six, and worked with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, son of the great pianist Artur Schnabel. He also studied composition and orchestration with Dr. Leonard Stein of the Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California, and pursued extensive studies in chamber music and musicology. Mr. Nakamatsu is a graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in German Studies and a master’s degree in Education.

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Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 Sergei Prokofiev First performance: 11/23/1969 Conductor: Guy Fraser Harrison Last Performance: 11/13/2004 Conductor: Joel Levine Born: either April 11 (old style)/23 (new style), as he claimed, or April 15/27 (according to his birth certificate), 1891, in Sontsovka, Ekaterinoslav district, Ukraine Died: March 5, 1953, in Moscow Work composed: Summer 1944, drawing on some material sketched in the preceding decade; the orchestration was completed that November Work premiered: January 13, 1945, with the composer directing the State Symphonic Orchestra of the U.S.S.R. in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets plus E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, tambourine, snare drum, woodblock, bass drum, tam-tam, and piano, harp, and strings

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Witness to the premiere Everyone who was anyone in Moscow’s musical community was present in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory for the premiere of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony in January 1945. The work was ardently anticipated, being his first new symphony in 16 years, and spirits were buoyed with the knowledge that the troops of the Red Army were just then embarking on their triumphant march into Nazi Germany. The eminent pianist Sviatoslav Richter, seated in the third row, offered this account: The Great Hall was illuminated, no doubt, the same way it always was, but when Prokofiev stood up, the light seemed to pour straight down on him from somewhere up above. He stood like a monument on a pedestal. And then, when Prokofiev had taken his place on the podium and silence reigned in the hall, artillery salvos suddenly thundered forth. His baton was raised. He waited, and began only after the cannons had stopped. There was something very significant in this, something symbolic. It was as if all of us—including Prokofiev—had reached some kind of shared turning point.

— JMK

am trying to write mine as compactly as possible: I’m crossing out even the slightest ‘wordiness’ with a merciless pencil.”

Prokofiev had already grasped the concept of “less is more,” and spareness, tautness, and carefully considered balance would remain hallmarks of his mature work.

Prokofiev’s seven symphonies cover a span of 36 years, from his First, the much-loved Classical Symphony, composed in 1916-17, through to his Seventh, his last major work, written in 1951-52. But his involvement with the genre was even longer than that—covering 50 years, in fact—since he had produced a Symphony in G major back in 1902 when he was an 11-year-old prodigy taking private composition lessons from Reinhold Glière. That piece was not published, and its interest today is principally historical. Neither did Prokofiev publish the Symphony in E minor that he wrote in 1908 during a summer vacation from his studies at St. Petersburg Conservatory. Already while working on that latter symphony Prokofiev was developing strong opinions about the genre, which he articulated in a letter to his friend and fellow composer Nikolai Miaskovsky: “What can be worse than a long symphony? In my opinion, a symphony should ideally last 20 minutes, or 30 maximum. I

That’s not to say that he was inflexible on the matter of symphonies ideally lasting only 20 minutes. His first official symphony, the Classical, comes in a few minutes shorter than that, but his Second and Third both run about 35 minutes; his Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth between 40 and 45 (with the Fifth being the longest of his symphonies); and his Seventh a bit more than a half hour. Nonetheless, Prokofiev could not be accused of “sprawl” as his symphonies unrolled. As he aged, he never lost his command of the compact.

World War II was in full swing while Prokofiev worked on this symphony, during the summer of 1944, but he was sheltered from the hostilities, living in an artists’ retreat 150 miles northeast of Moscow. “I regard the Fifth Symphony as the culmination of a long period of my creative life,” he wrote shortly after its premiere. “I conceived of it as glorifying the grandeur of the human spirit … praising the free and happy man—his strength, his generosity, and the purity of his soul.” The opening movement, which is somewhat slower than traditional symphonic first movements, does indeed convey a sense of

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grandeur and heroism, nowhere more than in the epic vision of its spectacular coda. A fast movement follows, so full of hilarity and satire as to become one of the composer’s most irrepressible scherzos. The third movement is a study in elegant lyricism, though not without tragic overtones; and the finale, after reminiscing about some material alluding to the first movement, pours forth with giddy high spirits and optimistic affirmation.

Public curiosity ran high when this work was introduced.

Prokofiev wrote that his Fifth Symphony was “very important not only for the musical material that went into it, but also because I was returning to the symphonic form after a break of 16 years.” It was moreover, the first symphony he had written since moving back to his native land following his years as an expatriate from 1918 to 1936, and it was accordingly viewed as his first properly Soviet symphony. It scored a huge success at its premiere, on an all-Prokofiev program that also included the Classical Symphony and Peter and the Wolf. Its wide-ranging but overwhelmingly optimistist spirit combined with the circumstances of wartime patriotism to create a perfect storm of enthusiasm on Soviet stages, and it wasted no time whipping up similar excitement in the United States.

On November 19, 1945, a week after Serge Koussevitzky led the Boston Symphony in the American premiere, Prokofiev’s picture graced the cover of Time magazine. The accompanying profile of him quoted Koussevitzky’s assessment: “[The Fifth Symphony is] the greatest musical event in many, many years.

The greatest since Brahms and Tchaikovsky! It is magnificent!

It is yesterday, it is today, it is tomorrow.”

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 Edvard Grieg

tion in his catalogue, but even its very protracted creation testifies to its composer’s difficulty coming to terms with large-scale structure.

First performance: 11/23/1939 Piano: Alec Templeton Last Performance: 2/5/2011 Piano: Sergio Monteiro

He was certainly trained in the textbooks forms, since he left his native Norway to study from 1858 to 1862 at the Leipzig Conservatory, a destination for many international music students of the time and a sturdy source of traditional learning when it came to musical fundamentals and composition. His piano teacher during his upper-class years there was a certain Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, who had been a friend of Mendelssohn’s and Schumann’s and who instilled in Grieg a particular passion for the music of the latter. Grieg heard Clara Schumann perform her husband’s Piano Concerto and for decades he continued to cite that concert as a deeply affecting musical experience. In a 1903 article in The Century magazine, he wrote of that concerto: “Inspired from beginning to end, it stands unparalleled in music literature and astonishes us as much by its originality as by its noble disdaining of an ‘extravert, virtuoso style.’

It is beloved by all, played by many, played well by few, and comprehended in accordance with its basic ideas by still fewer—indeed, perhaps by just one person—his wife.’ In an article published in 1905 by the American journal The Independent, Grieg recalled that he was so captivated by that

Born: June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway Died: September 4, 1907, in Bergen Work composed: Begun in June 1868 and provisionally completed in early 1869; revised substantially in 1872, 1882, 1890, and 1895 Work premiered: April 3, 1869, with Edmund Neupert as soloist and Holger Simon Paulli conducting the Orchestra of the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark Instrumentation: In its final version, played here CK, two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings, in addition to the solo piano

Edvard Grieg was not at his most comfortable when writing in large classical forms. His Four Symphonic Dances are as close as he came to a proper symphony (apart from a very early student exercise) and he composed only five sonatas (one for piano, one for cello, three for violin) and two string quartets (of which the first, a student work, is lost; of a third string quartet he finished only two movements). Grieg’s ultra-popular Piano Concerto therefore stands as an excep-

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PROGRAM NOTES piece that he traded the only manuscript of his early string quartet (which he considered mediocre) in order to acquire a copy of the Schumann score: One day a fellow student who admired my creative efforts led me into temptation. He had a complete score of Schumann’s piano concerto, which he had written out himself, and which at that time had not yet been published except for a piano reduction and separate orchestral parts. “If you will give me your quartet,” he said one day, “I will give you the score of Schumann’s concerto.” I could not resist the offer. I still think with secret dread about the fact that my abortive early work very likely still exists somewhere in one of the countries of southern Europe.

Possibly Grieg was embroidering his tale, or at least had his chronology off, since shortly after he returned to Bergen as a newly minted conservatory graduate he rented a performance space in which to present a concert that included his own String Quartet in D minor, the piece to which he referred. (He was certainly correct about the availability of the Schumann Concerto, though; it was not published in score until September 1862, four months after Grieg had returned to Norway.) In any case, his reminiscence accurately suggests his infatuation with the music of Schumann and, specifically, of Schumann’s Piano Concerto. It is perfectly normal for audience members hearing Grieg’s Piano Concerto to remark on how very much it reminds them of Schumann’s Piano Concerto—in both cases in the key of A minor, in both cases representing the composer’s only entry in the genre. The similarities continue at the level of specifics: both begin with a wallop from the orchestra and a descending flourish from the piano, leading to the hushed enunciation of the principal theme by the orchestra (stressing woodwinds) … and on and on.

And yet, it would not be accurate to characterize Grieg’s Concerto as a mere parody of Schumann’s. Without trying to hide his admiration of its model, Grieg produced a work of very considerable originality, displaying the uniqueness of its composer’s own voice, nowhere more than in the folk-inflected finale, the details of which were admired

by Liszt and Tchaikovsky. Liszt in particular offered Grieg some advice about orchestral scoring; and although Grieg adopted some of those suggestions, he ended up weeding out most of them as he returned to revise this concerto over nearly three decades.

Grieg’s Fingerprint Grieg’s Piano Concerto opens with a crescendo roll on the timpani that leads to a forceful A-minor chord from the orchestra and then a flourish from the piano that descends through several octaves, repeating its motif seven times as it cascades downwards. The three-note melodic germ behind this is widely viewed as Grieg’s melodic fingerprint, the falling interval connecting the tonic to the fifth below by way of the seventh—“doti-sol” for the solfeggists among us. This motif plays a prominent role in Norwegian folk music, and it certainly was part of Grieg’s musical DNA, showing up—sometimes in the foreground, sometimes not—in a great many of his compositions.

— JMK

JAMES M. KELLER James M. Keller is Program Annotator of the New York Philharmonic (The Leni and Peter May Chair) and the San Francisco Symphony, and is the author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press), which is now also available as an e-book and an Oxford paperback.

Portions of these notes originally appeared in the program books of the San Francisco Symphony and UBS-Verbier Youth Orchestra (Prokofiev; ©James M. Keller) and the New York Philharmonic (Grieg; ©New York Philharmonic), and are used with permission.

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KRISTIN CHENOWETH MARCH 18-19, 2016 8:00 P.M.

POPS JOEL LEVINE, CONDUCTOR

Kristin Chenoweth IN CONCERT

SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FROM THE STAGE NO INTERMISSION

This concert is generously presented by:

A special Thank You to Bo Taylor Catering for providing musicians’ catering services.

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KRISTIN CHENOWETH Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth, takes the lead in a career that spans film, television, voiceover and stage, effortlessly.

She received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on the ABC series Pushing Daisies (Pushing Daisies was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award for “Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.”) Chenoweth lit up the stage of McKinley High as a former student who returned to town with more than the baggage from her flight, on Fox’s hit comedy, Glee. In her role as Glee’s quirky ex-songstress, April Rhodes, she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a People’s Choice Award in the category of “Favorite TV Guest Star.” Though Kristin has often come into our living rooms on hit shows such as The West Wing (where she starred as Annabeth Schott), she may be most remembered by Broadway lovers everywhere for her origination of the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, which earned her a Tony Award Nomination, and her Tony-winning performance in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, for which she stole the show and many hearts in the process. In June 2015, Chenoweth co-hosted the Tony Awards alongside Alan Cummings. In July 2015, Kristin received the coveted star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of live performances on stage or in theatre.

Chenoweth recently made her return back to Broadway, playing the glamorous film star, Lily Garland, in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s On the Twentieth Century, which has received rave reviews. Kristin’s performance earned her the following awards: Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award. She has also earned nominations for the following awards: Tony Award in the category “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical” and a Drama League Award. Earlier this year, she co-starred in the Universal film The Boy Next Door, alongside Jennifer Lopez. She was also seen in the film A Bet’s A Bet (International title: The Opposite Sex.) She’s completed production on the indie teen drama entitled Hard

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Sell. In July 2015, Chenoweth was seen in the Disney Channel’s live-action original movie Descendants, where she played the classic Sleeping Beauty villain Maleficent. Disney’s Descendants became the #5 cable TV movie in history with 12.2 million viewers in its premiere and released a hit soundtrack, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and peaked at #1 on the iTunes album chart. Chenoweth recently returned to the big screen where she voiced the role of Fifi, Snoopy’s beloved French poodle in The Peanuts Movie which was released in theaters in November 2015. She also guest-starred as herself in a recent episode of The Muppets on ABC. Chenoweth’s dream of designing her own collection came to fruition, and much success, in December 2015 when her exclusive modern fashion jewelry collection for HSN became available for purchase on www.hsn.com. Each piece of the collection tells a unique story that is representative of her life story and passions. Chenoweth will return to HSN in Spring 2016.

In 2014, Chenoweth starred as a poisonous frog named Gabi in the hit animated film Rio 2. She also reprised her nominated role in the 100th episode of Glee. In May 2014, she returned to the famed Carnegie Hall; her first solo-concert at Carnegie Hall was in 2004. On stage, she performed songs from her album, Some Lessons Learned, as well as some of her most memorable songs from Broadway’s Wicked, Promises Promises, and TV’s Glee. She performed “An Evening With…” show at London’s grade one listed and highly prestigious concert hall the Royal Albert Hall, in which she received a record-breaking standing ovation. She was featured in the Star-Spangled Spectacular: Bicentennial of our National Anthem, a concert special honoring the 200th anniversary of our national anthem, in Baltimore, Maryland. The event was televised live on PBS as part of the network’s Great Performances series.

Chenoweth hosted the PBS Arts Fall Festival, which featured classic Broadway hits, music from around the country and theatre performances. The festival included her own concert

performance, Kristin Chenoweth: Coming Home, where she performed a career-spanning concert in her hometown of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The concert was released as a live CD and DVD, and aired as a PBS television special Thanksgiving weekend 2014.

A veteran of the concert stage, Kristin has performed to sold-out crowds in concert halls across the globe. In 2013, she made her Australian national touring debut, headlining the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and performing at the famed Sydney Opera House. She made national headlines with her stunning renditions of Hollywood’s most beloved songs from classic films, when she performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Kristin was also inducted into the Hollywood Bowl’s Hall of Fame. In 2013, Kristin also performed at The Allen Room in New York’s acclaimed Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, with her show - Kristin Chenoweth: The Dames of Broadway… All of ‘Em!!!, which also aired on PBS. Kristin is currently performing concert dates across the country.

Kristin is also a passionate supporter of charities which dedicate their time and efforts to helping those in need, such as: the Kristin Chenoweth Art & Education Fund, The Red Cross, Broadway Cares EFA, The Point Foundation, ASTEP, breast cancer awareness, adoption advocacy and organizations supporting animal welfare.

Chenoweth earned a Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater and a Master’s degree in Opera Performance from Oklahoma City University. She was also presented with Honorary Doctorate degrees from both the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and her alma mater, Oklahoma City University. Kristin is an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Additional concert highlights include: Los Angeles solo debut at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a solo concert at The Metropolitan Opera House – and the third theater star ever to present a solo concert at the MET, an evening at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, the Washington National Opera’s 50th Anniversary Gala with Placido Domingo, a solo concert at Sam Mendes’ acclaimed Donmar Warehouse as part of the Divas at Donmar series, and collaborations with renowned symphonies, including - The New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.

In addition to her starring roles on stage and screen, in 2009, Kristin also wrote an upliftingly candid, comedic chronicle of her life so far, in, A Little Bit Wicked, which was released

by Simon & Schuster, and debuted on The New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Seller List.

It’s no secret that Kristin wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her love of theater, which was the catalyst for her charity partnership with the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center (BA PAC) Foundation in her home town in Oklahoma. The Kristin Chenoweth Theater at the BA PAC, renamed in 2012 to celebrate its biggest advocate, supporter and celebrated role model to aspiring hometown performers, welcomes internationally acclaimed concert artists and Broadway productions, provides educational outreach and master classes with touring artists, after-school and summer arts institutes, scholarship programs, community enrichment and opportunities for students to travel and perform on a national level.

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OKLAHOMA PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY, INC. ASSOCIATE BOARD

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA April 2, 2016 8:00 P.M.

CLASSICS SARAH COBURN, SOPRANO JOEL LEVINE, CONDUCTOR

Jenni Fosbenner President Cheryl White Past President Dwayne Webb VP of Events Matt Bell Treasurer Kevin Learned Secretary

ROSSINI................ La Cenerentola Overture MOZART................ Don Giovanni: Or sai chi l’onore * GOUNOD............... Romeo et Juliette: Je veux vivre (Juliet’s Waltz Song) VERDI .................. Aïda: Triumphal March and Ballet Music

Robyn Berko Katie Cunningham

VERDI................... La Traviata: È strano!... Ah, fors’è lui; Sempre libera

Sarah Coburn, soprano

INTERMISSION

Laura Cunningham Jason Dunnington Allison Goodman Christopher Lloyd Jennifer Mathew Lisa Perry Patrick Randall Marti Ribeiro

BEETHOVEN.......... Leonore Overture No. 3, op. 72b BELLINI................ I Puritani: Qui la voce….Vien, diletto (Mad Scene) * MASCAGNI............ Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo GOUNOD............... Romeo et Juliette: Amour, ranime mon courage (Poison Aria) *

Sarah Coburn, soprano

*First performance on this series

Jessica Robbins Michael Thomas Cyndi Tran

THIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

Ashley Wilemon

Listen to a broadcast of this performance on KUCO 90.1 FM on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 8 pm and Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 8 am on “Performance Oklahoma”. Simultaneous internet streaming is also available during the broadcast.

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SARAH COBURN American soprano Sarah Coburn is captivating international audiences with her “precision placement, mercury speed, and a gorgeous liquid gold tone, gilded by a thrilling top and bottom register” (The Globe and Mail). Following her performances as Lucie de Lammermoor at Glimmerglass Opera, the New York Observer noted “she turns out to have qualities that have made legends out of so many of her predecessors, from Adelina Patti to Maria Callas: stage charisma, a thrilling upper register and, crucially, a fearlessness about abandoning herself to opera’s most abandoned heroine … this is a palpably exciting voice … Ms. Coburn is a budding prima donna of exceptional promise.”

Having been seen most recently as Zerbinetta in Seattle Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Sarah Coburn’s 2015-2016 season features a return performance with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and an appearance with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Next season will include a return to Seattle Opera.

In the 2014-2015 season, the soprano joined Arizona Opera, as Gilda in Rigoletto, and returned to Tulsa Opera as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Seattle Opera as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and appeared with the Handel & Haydn Society as soloist for Elijah.

Ms. Coburn’s 2012-13 performances included Amina in La sonnambula with the Wiener Staatsoper, Marie in La fille du régiment with Tulsa Opera, a gala performance for the Cincinnati Opera and a concert with the Moscow Philharmonic.

She concluded the season with Cincinnati Opera as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier.

Ms. Coburn’s engagements for 2011-12 included the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Washington National Opera, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with both Tulsa Opera and Boston Lyric Opera, appearing in an opera gala with the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, in an evening of opera highlights with Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Messiah with Handel & Haydn Society at Boston Symphony Hall. Her engagements in 2010-11 included her debuts with Wiener Staatsoper as Amina in La sonnambula and Opéra de Montréal as Gilda in Rigoletto, as well as reengagements to sing Gilda with both Los Angeles Opera and Cincinnati Opera, and Rosina with Seattle Opera. She also appeared with Los Angeles Opera to perform Handel’s “L’allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato” and sang in recital through the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Recent highlights include performing the role of Princess Yue-Yang in the world premiere production of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Placido Domingo, which she returned the following season to reprise in the production’s revival; Asteria in Tamerlano and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Los Angeles Opera;

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Rosina with Florida Grand Opera; the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Tulsa Opera; Gilda in Rigoletto with Welsh National Opera; Asteria in Tamerlano with Washington National Opera; Vittoria in Pedrotti’s Tutti in maschera at Wexford Festival Opera, Euridice in Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington at the Handel & Haydn Society, and Gilda with Portland Opera. She also appeared as soloist in Messiah with both the Seattle Symphony Orchestra,and the Philadelphia Orchestra, in Carmina Burana with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, in concert with Bryn Terfel in Florida Grand Opera’s Superstar Series, and in recital with Lawrence Brownlee for the Vocal Arts Society.

Ms. Coburn’s many successes performing bel canto repertoire include Elvira in I puritani with Washington Concert Opera, the title role in Lakmé with Tulsa Opera, the title role in Lucie de Lammermoor with both Cincinnati Opera and Glimmerglass Opera, the title role in Linda di Chamounix at the Caramoor Festival, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Glimmerglass Opera, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Utah Opera, and Norina in Don Pasquale with Florida Grand Opera. Ms. Coburn created the role of Kitty in the world premiere of Anna Karenina at Florida Grand Opera, later reprising the role with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Ms. Coburn has also appeared as Adele in Die Fledermaus with both Seattle Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera and Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Cincinnati Opera, and both Sandrina in La finta giardiniera and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Florida Grand Opera.

On the concert stage, Ms. Coburn has sung Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Seattle Symphony as well as Carmina Burana with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. Sarah Coburn is a winner of the 2004 George London Foundation Awards, a 2004 recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, a 2004 Jensen Foundation Award Winner, a 2003 Liederkranz Foundation Award Winner, a 2002 Opera Index Career Grant recipient, and was a National Grand Finalist in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

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Overture to La Cenerentola Gioachino Rossini First performance: 11/23/1975 Conductor: Ainslee Cox Last Performance: 10/13/2000 Conductor: Joel Levine Born: February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, Italy Died: November 13, 1868, in Paris, France Work composed: 1816, as the Overture to La gazzetta Work premiered: September 26, 1816, at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples, at the premiere of La gazzetta Instrumentation: Two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, trombone, timpani, bass drum, and strings

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A Mania for Borrowing Rossini pillaged his own back-catalogue with extravagance and impunity. Two of the famous portions of La Cenerentola were lifted from previously existing operas he had written. The Overture had already been used for his comic opera La gazzetta (as discussed in the program note), and the most famous vocal showpiece in La Cenerentola had also seen previous service: the title character’s brilliant concluding scena, “Nacqui l’affanno e al pianto … Non più mesta,” was adapted from music that had been originally written for Count Almaviva to sing in the finale of Il barbiere di Siviglia.

— JMK

(December). La Cenerentola occupied the composer for all of three weeks, and it was unveiled within days of its completion at the Teatro Valle in Rome. In fact, it was not entirely by Rossini at that point; three of its 16 principal numbers and all of its recitatives were supplied by other hands, although Rossini later replaced all those sections with original music.

In 1863, Gioachino Rossini concluded the postscript to his Petite Messe solennelle with a little prayer: “Thou knowest, O Lord, that I was born to write opera buffa. Rather little skill, a bit of heart, and that’s all. So be Thou blessed and admit me to Paradise.” Rossini knew himself well. By then 71 years old and on the verge of his 17th birthday—the fact that he was born on February 29 brought him untold delight—he had written a handful of thoroughly serious operas on topics tragical, historical, and Biblical; but there was no doubting that his most towering achievement had been as one of music’s greatest comedians—as a composer of opera buffa. Writing great comedy, of course, is far from easy. Rossini was one of the greatest masters of the art, and by the end of an evening enmeshed with any of Rossini’s comic operas, one is likely to feel five pounds lighter and certain that the world is not so hopeless after all.

The “comic drama” La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant) was one of four Rossini operas unveiled in 1817, the others being the “melodrama” La gazza laddra (The Thieving Magpie, premiered in May) and the “dramas” Armida (November) and Adelaide di Borgogna

Its overture was a hand-me-down. Rossini had composed it the preceding autumn for his two act operatic comedy La gazzetta (The Newspaper), after Goldoni’s play Il matrimonio per concorso (Marriage by Competition). Even Rossini’s devoted admirer Stendhal, author of such acclaimed novels as The Charterhouse of Parma and The Red and the Black, could make only passing reference to La gazzetta in his gushing Life of Rossini: it was, he said (in toto), “an insignificant little opera buffa, which succeeded only moderately.” In La gazzetta, Rossini had also borrowed liberally from some of his earlier scores, but the overture was new or at least largely new; musicologists have floated the possibility that the middle melody of its Allegro section may have been lifted from a still earlier Rossini overture (since lost), for the opera buffa L’equivoco stravagante (The Curious Error) of 1811, in which (to quote the Rossini biographer Herbert Weinstock) “one of two rivals for a girl’s hand convinces the other that she is a castrato in disguise.” While the rest of La gazzetta languishes largely ignored, the overture has achieved considerable fame in its recycled context as the Overture to La Cenerentola, which remains one of the most popular Rossini entries in the operatic canon.

Self-borrowing was business as usual for Rossini. Another famous Rossini overture that made the rounds is what audiences today know as the Overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). Pressed for time (he apparently wrote Il barbiere di Siviglia in only 13 days), he lifted the overture he had written two years earlier for his opera seria Aureliano in Palmira, which in the meantime he had also pressed into service to open his historical opera Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra (Elizabeth, Queen of England). The fact that CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

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essentially the same piece could serve to introduce an opera seria, an opera buffa, and a historical tragic opera speaks to the adaptability of Rossini’s basic style to a variety of dramatic situations.

Although La Cenerentola was received with ambivalence at its opening, audiences warmed to it quickly. In its first decade it received notable productions all over Italy as well as in Barcelona, London, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Buenos Aires, and (in 1826) New York—and in 1844, it became the first opera ever performed in Australia.

“Or sai chi l’onore,” from Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadè Mozart First Performance On This Series Born: January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria Died: December 5, 1791, in Vienna Work composed: 1787 Work premiered: October 29, 1787, at the National Theatre in Prague, with Teresa Saporiti as Donna Anna Instrumentation: Two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings, in addition to the solo soprano

Mozart moved from his native Salzburg to Vienna in 1781, and during his decade there, concluded by his untimely death, he unveiled substantially all of his greatest masterpieces, including the sublime trilogy of comic-opera collaborations with the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte: Le nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790).

The middle one, Don Giovanni, received its premiere not in Vienna, but rather in Prague, whose musical population appreciated Mozart’s exceptional talent more enthusiastically than did the citizenry of Vienna. The opera was a huge success, and Mozart soon readied it for its introduction in Vienna, with some alterations.

Its creators called it a dramma giocosa—a “jocular drama”— with the “drama” reference underscoring the serious, quite un-funny aspects of what is a comedy only on its exterior.

Don Giovanni, the dissolute Spanish nobleman, is abusive to his long-suffering servant and dismissive of the women he obsessively seduces. He has kept very busy with the latter occupation. His servant, who keeps a catalogue of Giovanni’s carnal escapades, tallies that prior to the curtain going up there have been 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, and 1003 in Spain, yielding a grand total of 2065. It seems that Giovanni’s most recent conquest (or rape, depending on whom you believe) was Donna Anna.

It was a bungled business in which Anna’s father surprised Giovanni in the act, whereupon Giovanni ran him through with his sword. Assisted by her wimpy but golden-voiced boyfriend and another of Giovanni’s castaways (Donna Elvira), Anna spends the rest of the opera seeking revenge and trying to prevent him from consummating his designs on a peasant girl on whom he has honed his attention. In the end, it’s Anna’s murdered father who gets Giovanni, appearing as a memorial statue of himself and dragging the dissolute murderer down to the underworld.

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Already in 1783, just when he met Da Ponte for the first time, Mozart wrote to his father back in Salzburg to share his ideas about his operatic aspirations. His thoughts focused not on a scenario but rather on the dramatic structure of what he envisioned as seven roles, and particularly the female roles: “The most essential ingredient is this: it has to be, on the whole, very Comical; and, if possible, include two equally good female roles; one would have to be a Seria, the other a Mezzo Carattere—but in quality—both roles would have to be absolutely equal. The third female character can be entirely buffa, and so could the male parts.” It was in Don Giovanni that the composer came closest to the theoretical ideal he outlined. There are eight characters instead of seven, though one of them, Anna’s father the Commendatore, is a post-mortem part, sung through the mouthpiece of a monument.

Although all the opera’s parts are rewarding, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira—the “two equally good female roles”— seem at the top of the cast in musical terms. Of the two, Donna Anna is the one who hews most closely to the opera seria type, whereas period audiences would have seen Donna Elvira as the mezzo carattere role (part tragic, part comic). Anna’s character is the more complex and, at least for us moderns, the more psychologically credible. She gives full vent to her passion when explaining the situation to her boyfriend, Don Ottavio—or at least the situation as she chooses to represent it: that Don Giovanni tried to rape her and then murdered her father. In her Act I aria “Or sai, chi l’onore” she enlists the aid of Ottavio in seeking revenge.

This is the music of a proud woman wronged—and of a soprano with 14 high A’s in her arsenal—and there is no question that she will be avenged before the opera is up.

PROGRAM NOTES The Librettist Speaks In his highly entertaining Memoirs, Lorenzo da Ponte recalled the rocky road Don Giovanni traveled in its early years: I had not seen the performance of Don Giovanni in Prague, but Mozart informed me at once of its wonderful reception …. The Emperor [Joseph, in Vienna] summoned me, and showering me with gracious words of praise made me a gift of another hundred sequins, and told me how very much he wanted to see Don Giovanni. … It was produced— and need I say it? DON GIOVANNI DID NOT PLEASE. Everyone except Mozart was sure it lacked something or other. So a few additions were made, a few arias were changed, and again we exposed it on stage—And Don Giovanni did not please. And what did the Emperor have to say about it? “The opera is divine: it is quite probably even lovelier than Figaro, but it is no meat for the teeth of my Viennese.” I relayed this saying to Mozart, who answered without upsetting himself, “Let us give them time to chew on it.” He was right. On his advice, I contrived to have the opera repeated frequently. At each performance the applause grew, and bit by bit even the gentlefolk of Vienna with their bad teeth could enjoy its savor and appreciate its beauty, and considered Don Giovanni one of the loveliest operas to be performed in any theatre.

five. Gounod inherited both of his parents’ talents, and for some years it seemed a toss-up whether he would pursue a career in the visual or the musical arts—or, indeed, if he might enter the priesthood. Fortunately, he received a firm musical education: private lessons in harmony and counterpoint from the distinguished Antonín Reicha followed by a rigorous course of study of the Paris Conservatoire. The seal of approval for any aspiring composition student at the Conservatoire was winning the Prix de Rome in music, and this Gounod did in 1839. The artist Dominique Ingres observed that Gounod might just as easily have won a Prix de Rome in fine arts, so adept had he grown in that area.

— JMK

“Je veux vivre” (Juliet’s Waltz Song), from Roméo et Juliette “Amour, ranime mon courage” (Poison Aria), from Roméo et Juliette Charles Gounod First Performance On This Series Born: June 18, 1818, in Paris, France Died: October 18, 1893, in St. Cloud, just outside Paris Work composed: 1867 Work premiered: April 27, 1867, at the Théatre Lyrique (Place du Châtelet) in Paris, with Marie Caroline Carvalho as Juliette Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, harp, and strings, in addition to the solo soprano

Charles Gounod was born into a family that was preternaturally inclined toward the arts. His father was a painter and engraver—the third generation of his lineage to follow that profession—and his mother was an accomplished pianist who supported the family by giving music lessons after Gounod’s father died prematurely, when Charles was only

At some point he fell into the orbit of the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, who seems to have been connected to simply everybody in Parisian musical life. Impressed by Gounod’s talent, she secured a commission for him from the Paris Opéra for his first opera, Sapho, in which she sang the title role, and that served as a stepping-stone to further theatrical projects and ultimately the great operas for which he is principally remembered today: Faust and Roméo et Juliette. His correspondence first made mention of an opera based on Shakespeare’s tragedy in late 1864, and the libretto-writing team of Jules Barbier and Michel Carré (who had previously produced the text for his Faust) sprung into action, sticking pretty closely to the original tale of “starcrossed lovers” and “two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona.” The composition occupied Gounod from 1865 to 1867, and his conception of the piece evolved considerably as he worked. He initially intended for it to be an opéra comique, which in France at that time implied not a comical opera but rather an opera with spoken dialogue; but when the piece was already in rehearsal, apparently under pressure from his publisher, he quickly added fully composed passages where the dialogue stood.

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Even more major alterations took place as opening night approached. The production was directed by Léon Carvalho, head of the Théâtre Lyrique, and his wife, soprano Marie Caroline Miolon-Carvalho, was cast as Juliette. During rehearsals, it became clear that she was not up to the task of delivering the critical scene in Act IV in which Juliette takes a potion (provided by Friar Laurence) that will make her appear dead. (The point of this is that Juliette is on the verge of being married off by her family to a suitor she does not love. Friar Laurence’s idea is that her family, thinking her dead, will bear her to the tomb, where she will reawaken and be reunited with her beloved Romeo; but it doesn’t quite work out as planned.) It was a long and demanding scene that comprised an opening recitative, then a tripartite episode in which Juliette contemplates the potion, and finally a cabaletta, “Amour ranime mon courage,” a so-called grand air of heroic mien, in which she affirms her courage and downs the philter. Out it went, leaving Juliette to drop “apparently” dead at her wedding itself. The grand air does not appear in the early published editions of the score but is often restored in productions today.

Cutting the heroine’s big scene meant that something else had to be added to make up for it. Thus was born “Je veux vivre” (a.k.a. Juliet’s Waltz Song), an ariette (as Gounod labeled it) that he added very late in the process near the top of Act I. This was the sort of music Mme. Miolon-Carvalho was born to sing—cheerful, sparkling, and rich in roulades.

Ironically, it would become the most famous excerpt of the opera with which Gounod scored the most spectacular opening-night success of his career.

Triumphal March and Ballet from Aida First performance: 5/6/1995 Conductor: Joel Levine Last Performance: 4/3/2004 Conductor: Joel Levine

“È strano! ... Ah, fors’è lui; Sempre libera,” from La traviata First performance: 10/29/1944 SOPRANO: Eleanor Steber Last Performance: 1/13/1959 SOPRANO: Mary Costa

Giuseppe Verdi Born: October 9 or 10, 1813 (he was baptized on the 11th), in Roncole, near Busseto, Italy Died: January 27, 1901, in Milan, Italy Works composed: Aida in 1870-71; La traviata in 1852-5 Works premiered: Aida December 24, 1871, at the Cairo Opera House, with Giovanni Bottesini conducting; La traviata on March 6, 1853, at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy, with soprano Fanny Salvini-Donatelli in the role of Violetta Instrumentation: The selection from Aida is for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets and six “Egyptian trumpets” (often reduced to two in orchestral performances, as

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here), three trombones, cimbasso (in modern orchestras the part is usually played by tuba), timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, and strings; the scene from La traviata calls for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones cimbasso (tuba), harp, and strings, in addition to the solo soprano.

Giuseppe Verdi was born in 1813, the same year as Richard Wagner, at the end of the cluster of composers who define musical Romanticism: Hector Berlioz (born in 1803), Felix Mendelssohn (1809), Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann (both 1810), and Franz Liszt (1811). Where Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt made their biggest impact in instrumental music, Verdi and Wagner showed where Romanticism might lead on the operatic stage. (Berlioz forged in both directions.) Verdi and Wagner were were rather late bloomers compared to the figures who preceded them, and accordingly they didn’t begin to make their marks in any unmistakable way until somewhat later, in the 1840s and, especially, the 1850s and beyond.

Of Verdi’s 27 or so operas—an exact count is elusive, as he re-wrote some so extensively that you may choose to count them either once or twice, as you please—the first 16 are rarely seen on stage; Nabucco, Macbeth, and Luisa Miller are probably the best known of that group, though excerpts from others have become famous. Beginning with Rigoletto, in 1851, Verdi produced little but greatness: opera companies today would scarcely know what to do without the mature Verdi line-up, which includes such evergreen favorites as Il trovatore, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlos, Aida, Otello, and Falstaff.

He came of age in an operatic world dominated by the stage works of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini, proto-Romantic composers whose well-known esthetic of bel canto, a viewpoint about singing that generally stressed extended melodic

PROGRAM NOTES lines over momentary dramatic incident, had maintained Italy’s international operatic prominence. Verdi’s early operas clearly prolong the bel canto ideals, and that grounding surely continued to inform his music until the end of his long career. But already by the mid-to-late 1840s his voice was becoming recognized as distinct from his predecessors. Throughout his maturity as a composer, Verdi experimented with how to adapt the basic, inherited materials of Italian opera to ever-more-intense dramatic purpose. An important part of the process involved the orchestra, whether by searching for ever-more-effective ways to integrate the vocal and instrumental writing in his operas or by achieving more convincing, thoroughly symphonic statements in those portions of his operas that are given over entirely to the orchestra.

In May 1852, Verdi signed a contact with the Teatro La Fenice, the principal opera house of Venice, for a new opera, and he spent several months casting about for a topic with his librettist, Francesco Maria Piave. In October, they found their subject: a Parisian courtesan suffering from consumption (tuberculosis) abjures her heartfelt love so as not to ruin the honor of her boyfriend’s respectable family—and his sister’s possibility of marriage. The tale had recently been told in a novel and then adapted for the stage as La dame aux camélias (The Lady of the Camellias)

by Alexandre Dumas, fils. It was an ill-kept secret that his work was based on the brief life of Marie Duplessis, who had enchanted a parade of deep-pocketed lovers before she expired in 1847, at the age of 23. Amore e morte they intended to call it: Love and Death. As they worked on the opera, the name morphed into La traviata (The Wayward Woman). In Violetta’s scena at the end of Act I—the contemplative “È strano! ... Ah, fors’è lui” leading to the defiant “Sempre libera”—our heroine muses on the possibility that she might actually love Alfredo, whom she has just met, but then reaffirms her commitment to a life unfettered—though even in this last section, a musical phrase associated with Alfredo continues to haunt her.

Aida followed nearly two decades later. During those years, Verdi had grown to dominate Italian opera completely. In fact, most opera-lovers today would be hard pressed even to name any of his numerous opera-composer contemporaries apart from Arrigo Boito and Amilcare Ponchielli—and both of those ran far, far behind the leader. He did not enjoy the energy he had possessed earlier in his career, and he was finding it harder to locate stimulating librettos and easier to reject commissions that were offered. He turned down an invitation to write a hymn for the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, even though the world’s attention would be trained on that event. But in early 1870, he read a scenario by an archeologist that intrigued him: a fictional story, set in ancient in Egypt, about Radamès, an Egyptian war hero, and Aida, the Ethiopian slave girl who loves him.

It inspired Verdi to action and the result was Aida. It was supposed to inaugurate the new Cairo Opera House, but

the Franco-Prussian War caused delays in transporting the sets and costumes, which were built in Paris. The theatre opened instead with a production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, and the premiere of Aida followed at the end of the house’s second season. The piece quickly became an international hit, and it has been renowned ever since for its grandeur. Its opulence peaks in Act II, Scene 2. Radamès, returning home to Egypt after vanquishing the Ethiopians, is welcomed with the Triumphal March, which in operatic productions usually involves an impressive parade of supernumeraries and sometimes an assortment of large mammals, up to and including elephants. This gives way to a ballet sequence, which prolongs the celebratory spirit.

Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b Ludwig Van Beethoven First performance: 3/28/1939 Conductor: Victor Alessandro Last Performance: 1/12/2008 Conductor: Joel Levine Born: December 16, 1770 (probably, since he was baptized on the 17th), in Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria Work composed: In 1806, for the first revision of Beethoven’s opera Leonore, later transformed into Fidelio; this overture draws on musical material drafted as early as 1804.

Work premiered: March 29, 1806, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings

Despite false starts on numerous stage works, the only opera Beethoven managed to sink his talons into and carry through to completion—and another completion, and yet another after that—was the work he unveiled in 1805 under the title Leonore and transformed by fits and starts into what is CONTINUED ON PAGE 42

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known today as Fidelio. In the years immediately following the French Revolution, theatrical plots involving political oppression, daring rescues, and the triumph of humanitarianism grew popular in many European countries. The author Jean-Nicolas Bouilly had recently scored a success with his libretto for Les deux journées, a “rescue opera” set by Luigi Cherubini (whose music Beethoven greatly admired); and when an opportunity to set a different Bouilly libretto came Beethoven’s way, the composer pounced, enlisting his friend Joseph Sonnleithner to adapt Bouilly’s text while translating it into German.

What Can Go Wrong, Will The most dramatic moment in the Leonore Overture No. 3 surely arrives with the offstage trumpet calls—or maybe not so surely. Fritz Spiegl, in his entertaining volume Music Through the Looking Glass, described inopportune scenarios: The most famous offstage story is probably apocryphal, and concerns the trumpeter who had rehearsed in the ideal spot for the Leonore trumpet calls, just inside the stage-door—only to be forcibly restrained by the door-keeper at the performance: “You can’t play that thing in here; there’s a concert going on inside!” On two other occasions things went wrong in the same piece. Once the trumpet call failed to materialize at all, as the player had got lost in the labyrinthine corridors of the hall on the way to his place. In the other performance, the offstage player’s location was quite different at the performance from the one agreed earlier. “Why didn’t you play where you were before?” asked the conductor. “I’m sorry, but there was somebody in it.”

— JMK

The plot involves a marriage rendered rocky not by spousal squabbling but rather by the imposition of ominous political forces from the outside. Florestan has been unjustly imprisoned by Don Pizarro (a nobleman in 18th-century Spain) but his devoted wife, Leonore, manages to get a job in the prison disguised as a boy (in which semblance she calls herself “Fidelio”). Don Pizarro decides to execute Florestan before the imminent arrival of a virtuous prison-inspection team, but “Fidelio” intercedes and holds him at bay with a pistol until the good guys arrive—at which point Leonore (shedding her disguise) and Florestan are reunited in their marriage and Don Pizarro’s goose is cooked.

Leonore was not well received at its 1805 premiere and its run ended after three performances. There were extenuating circumstances: Napoleon’s troops had just marched in to occupy Vienna, and most of the city’s aristocratic

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class—which is to say the opera-going public—had fled to the countryside. Beethoven immediately set about revising the piece, and on March 29, 1806, he introduced a truncated and restructured version of Leonore. This fared little better, and its run was cut short by an argument between the composer and the theatre’s management. When plans surfaced to revive the work in 1814, Beethoven effected still further alterations and renamed the opera Fidelio. Finally the opera met with success, and it is in that final form that we almost always find it produced today.

Each of these versions sported a different overture.

(Beethoven even composed a fourth overture, known today as the Leonore Overture No. 1, for a performance that was planned for Prague in 1807 but ended up not taking place.)

The Leonore Overture No. 3 introduced the 1806 incarnation.

It was never a part of Fidelio (meaning the final version of the opera), where it was replaced by the so-called Fidelio Overture, but it still maintains a place in many modern performances thanks to the longstanding though not universal tradition of inserting it between the two scenes of the opera’s second act.

The Leonore Overture No. 3 is a sturdy work of about 13 minutes’ duration divided into three general sections. The Adagio introduction opens with an attention-getting chord and then a descending C-major scale that, oddly, comes to rest on F-sharp (a harmonic interloper in that scale); and then the music goes ranging through a series of distant tonalities. Cherubini complained that he could never tell what key this opening was really in—which, of course, was precisely the point, as it was intended to suggest the confusion of Florestan in his dark cell. A foretaste of the plot continues in the spirited Allegro section; its heroic theme and its tense development lead to the famous offstage trumpet fanfares—harbingers of the arriving prison inspectors. After a review of various themes, Beethoven lets loose a triumphant Presto. Of the four overtures Beethoven wrote for his only completed opera, this was perhaps the least suited to its job, since it tends to overwhelm the action that immediately follows it. But from a strictly musical standpoint it is the most compelling, and it encapsulates the quintessential Beethoven trait of groping through confusion before breaking into victory.

“Qui la voce …Vien, diletto” (Mad Scene), from I puritani Bellini First Performance On This Series Born: Born: November 3, 1801, in Catania, Sicily Died: September 23, 1835, in Puteaux, just outside Paris, France Work composed: 1834 Work premiered: January 24, 1835, at the Théâtre Italien in Paris, with Giulia Grisi singing the role of Elvira Instrumentation: Flute and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings, in addition to the solo soprano

PROGRAM NOTES masters of theatrical music. From London he proceeded to Paris, where Il pirata and I Capuleti e i Montecchi again drew resounding applause. Paris agreed with him. He grew friendly with Rossini, who was now living there in retirement, and he was welcomed into the city’s leading artistic salons. In early 1834, he signed a contract to compose a new opera for the Théâtre Italien in Paris, having by then enjoyed what he termed “a year of real, solid rest.” It would be his final composition. He died in Paris, eight months after the work’s premiere, of what the autopsy termed “an acute inflammation of the large intestine, complicated by an abscess of the liver.”

When Bellini embarked on I puritani he was 32 years old and had nine operas to his credit, all of which had been produced relatively soon after he had completed them.

More of them had been successful than not. He had risen quickly through the ranks of the opera industry, buoyed by the advantage of having been born into a musical family—his father and grandfather were both composers—and equipped with a thorough education at the Real Collegio di Musica in Naples, from which he graduated in 1825. The conservatory’s curriculum stressed a style of Neapolitan opera that had by then run its course, a style typified by the operas of Domenico Cimarosa (who died the year Bellini was born) and Giovanni Paisiello (more recently deceased, in 1816).

In 1827, he moved to Milan, and within a few years his operas Il pirata and La straniera had confirmed his popularity among opera-lovers in that demanding city. Bellini used his success wisely. At a time when composers were known to produce as many as a half-dozen operas per year, Bellini decided to limit his output to a single opera annually, and he usually managed to stick to that goal. He accordingly demanded exceptionally high fees to support this balance of supply and demand. In recent years, the highest fee for an Italian opera commission had been the 5000 francs the Teatro La Fenice had paid Rossini for his Semiramide in 1823. With the 4000 francs La Scala tendered for La straniera (1829), Bellini was within striking distance of the record, and with La sonnambula (1831) he passed it, earning a fee of 10,000 francs. “My style is now heard in the most important theatres … and with the greatest enthusiasm,” he wrote in March 1830.

In 1833, he traveled from his native Italy to London, where his operas Il pirata, Norma, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi scored big successes at the King’s Theatre and La sonnambula was a hit at the Drury Lane. By this time he was acknowledged internationally as one of the greatest

A fellow Italian in Paris, Count Carlo Pepoli, wrote the libretto based on a play that had been recently introduced in Paris, Têtes Rondes et Cavaliers (Roundheads and Cavaliers), by Jacques-Arsène Acelot and Xavier-Boniface Saintine, both of whom are largely forgotten today. Set in the time of the English Civil War of the mid-17th century, the plot focuses on Arturo, a partisan of the Roundhead faction, who is set to marry the Puritan girl Elvira. However, when he learns that the queen he supports is being held prisoner, he runs off to help her escape. Elvira merely thinks that he has run off to be with another woman, and she accordingly bids adieu to her sanity. This is how we encounter her in Act II, wandering about with disheveled hair and wrapping herself in garlands of flowers. Her scene has all the hallmarks of bel canto style, filled as it is with sustained lines and demanding coloratura. In her hallucinations she imagines that she hears Arturo’s voice and then that she sees him. But fear not: in the next (and final) act, still insane and now roaming in a wooded garden, she actually does hear Arturo’s voice.

She follows the sound and, when they finally encounter each other, she is so shocked that she regains her senses and everything is set aright.

Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana Pietro Mascagni Only performance on this series: 10/6/2007 Conductor: Joel Levine Born: December 7, 1863, in Livorno, Italy Died: August 2, 1945, in Rome, Italy Work composed: The music presented here first took the form of a piano composition completed on October 26, 1888; the opera Cavalleria rusticana was composed from December 1888 to May 1889.

Work premiered: May 17, 1890, at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, with Leopoldo Mugnone conducting Instrumentation: Flute and two piccolos, oboe, two clarinets, two harps, organ, and strings

With Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana we collide with verismo, a term attached to some of the most popular operas in the entire repertoire. Verismo translates literally as “Realism,” although its implications may differ somewhat from what Realism implies as a general literary term. (Some use the English adjectival cognate “verist” to underscore the distinction.) It emerged in Italian literary circles in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

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1870s, rather as an outgrowth of French naturalism (the novels of Zola, for example), and it tended to stress lowerclass, distinctly regional settings and characters, often speaking in vernacular accents, swept up in ignominious situations brought about by personal irresponsibility and questionable societal pressures. One of the leading writers of verismo was the Sicilian author Giovanni Verga, whose most enduring creation was the play Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry), which he developed in 1884 out of a short story he had penned four years earlier.

In June 1888, the Milan-based publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced the second installment of a competition he had founded, soliciting one-act operas by young Italian composers. Mascagni met the competition requirements: he was Italian—a native of Livorno—and he was 25 years old. He had also completed study (though not a degree) at the Milan Conservatory, where he took composition lessons from Ponchielli and shared an apartment with Giacomo Puccini.

He had served as a conductor for touring opera companies and in 1886 had gotten married and settled down as a music teacher in Apulia, since a baby was on the way and he needed a steady income. He had been struggling with his tragic opera Guglielmo Ratcliff since 1882, but he interrupted work on it when news arrived of Sonzogno’s competition.

Verga’s Cavalleria rusticana struck him as a good choice for an operatic setting: it was already structured as a single act, it was relatively hot off the press, its esthetic propensities were very up to date, and it was dramatic as all get-out.

Mascagni put a pair of librettists on the case, and by December they presented him with the libretto that would occupy him for the next five months. Sensing he had something important on his hands, Mascagni sent part of his score to Puccini, who forwarded it to the man who was by then

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his own publisher, the eminent Giulio Ricordi, possibly the most influential person in musical Italy. Ricordi didn’t find much of interest in it and rejected it. Sonzogno and his advisers felt differently. Mascagni’s new opera took first prize in their competition and was immediately scheduled for a production in the spring of 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. It scored an immense success and by the end of 1891 it was hailed in productions throughout Italy and in no fewer than 21 foreign music capitals—including stagings in Swedish, Hungarian, German, Czech, Russian, Rumanian, Lettish, Slovenian, Danish, English, Dutch, and Spanish. Thus was launched Mascagni’s career, though in his dozen further operas he would never duplicate the touchstone magic of Cavalleria rusticana. The success of this work also ignited enthusiasm for verismo opera, which would not only dominate Italian opera for a couple of decades but would also give rise to progeny in France, Germany, the Czech Lands, and elsewhere. Sonzogno became the premiere publisher of verismo works, and Ricordi was left to ponder his misjudgment, though at least he could console himself with having Puccini in his stable.

The opera has a tight and bloodstained plot, with all of the action unrolling on Easter Sunday morning outside a church on a village square in Sicily, most of it while Mass is going on. The opera’s famous, hymn-like orchestral Intermezzo provides a brief respite at the point where the angry tension among the lovers is approaching the boiling point. In fact, this music was originally written as a piano piece a couple of months before Mascagni leapt into the composition of the opera itself, and the composer orchestrated it to be part of the opera’s score. The Intermezzo became an instant standalone hit and has remained one ever since.

JAMES M. KELLER James M. Keller is Program Annotator of the New York Philharmonic (The Leni and Peter May Chair) and the San Francisco Symphony, and is the author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press), which is now also available as an e-book and an Oxford paperback.

The Beethoven and Mascagni notes originally appeared in the program books of the New York Philharmonic (©New York Philharmonic); other notes, ©James M. Keller

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CLASSIC FM RADIO HITS MAY 6-7, 2016 8:00 P.M.

POPS JACK EVERLY, CONDUCTOR

S TA R R I N G

Julian Decker

N’Kenge

Ron Remke

Melissa Schott

Josh Turner

This concert is generously sponsored by:

A special Thank You to Bo Taylor Catering for providing musicians’ catering services.

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arr. EVERLY........................................................................... Prelude To A Decade ANDERSSON, ANDERSSON, ULVAEUS..................................... ABBA arr. REINEKE JOHN/arr. BARTON................................................................ Tiny Dancer/Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me SIMON................................................................................... Graceland SIMON/arr. BARTON............................................................... The Sound Of Silence SIMON/arr. BARKER............................................................... Bridge Over Troubled Water ANDERSON-LOPEZ, LOPEZ/arr. RICKETTS.............................. Let It Go LENNON/arr. EVERLY............................................................. Imagine arr. BARKER/orch. BARTON................................................... Valli And The Dolls

INTERMISSION

arr. EVERLY........................................................................... Prelude To Another Decade COHEN................................................................................... Hallelujah DIAMOND/arr. BARTON.......................................................... Sweet Caroline LAMM/arr. EVERLY................................................................. Chicago Medley WILLIAMS/arr. RUNYAN......................................................... Happy PERREN, FEKARIS/arr. ANTHONY........................................... I Will Survive MARKS, ANKA/arr. BARTON................................................... My Way/I Gotta Be Me LENNON, MCCARTNEY/arr. BARKER ...................................... The Beatles Medley

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JACK EVERLY Jack Everly is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and appears regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. Maestro Everly will conduct over 90 performances in more than 20 North American cities this season.

As Music Director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, Maestro Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra in these patriotic celebrations on the National Mall. These concerts attract hundreds of thousands attendees on the lawn and the broadcasts reach millions of viewers and are some of the very highest rated programming on PBS television.

Mr. Everly is also the Music Director of Duke Energy Yuletide Celebration, now a 30-year tradition. He led the ISO in its first Pops recording, “Yuletide Celebration, Volume One,” that included three of his own orchestrations some of his other recordings include “In The Presence” featuring the Czech Philharmonic and Daniel Rodriguez, Sandi Patty’s “Broadway Stories,” the soundtrack to Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures Of Jule Styne.”

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as Music Director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

In 1998, Jack Everly created the Symphonic Pops Consortium, serving as Music Director. The Consortium, based in Indianapolis, produces new theatrical pops programs, including tonight‘s production Classic FM: Decades of Radio Hits. In the past 17 years, more than 275 performances of SPC programs have taken place across the U.S. and Canada.

Maestro Everly, a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, is a recipient of the 2015 Indiana Historical Society Living Legends Award and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana. He is a proud resident of the Indianapolis community for over 14 years and when not on the podium you can find Maestro Everly at home with his family which includes Max the wonder dog.

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JULIAN DECKER Julian Decker is currently making his Broadway debut in Les Misérables at the Imperial Theatre. A recent graduate of The University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), he appeared in the West and East Coast premieres of Disney Theatricals’ The Hunchback Of Notre Dame appearing

at many performances as Quasimodo. Julian got his start at The Muny in St. Louis where he was played Hugo Peabody in Bye Bye Birdie and appeared in Hello Dolly; Singin’ In The Rain and Les Misérables.

N’KENGE NY Post called N’Kenge “Electrifying” in the role of Mary Wells that she originated in Broadway’s Smash Hit Motown: The Musical. Berry Gordy describes N’Kenge as “the most versatile artist I know”.

N’Kenge made her Broadway debut in Sondheim on Sondheim singing alongside Vanessa Williams, Barbara Cook, Tom Wopat and Norm Lewis. N’Kenge was seen in 2015 as a presenter at the 58th Annual NY Emmy Awards. She had the honor to sing at the White House for President Bill Clinton and for the Commander-in-Chief Ball for President Obama. She starred in London’s West End at the Theatre Royal in a tribute to the late great Ray Charles, and has done solo engagements in New York at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as the Library of Congress in Washington, DC which was broadcast worldwide by NPR. This energetic, well-rounded singer was recently nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of the leading roles in both the Elton John/Tim Rice Musi-

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cal “Aida” and in Marion Caffey’s “3 Mo Divas” by the Helen Hayes Awards and the ariZoni Theater Awards. N’Kenge starred in the Michael Jackson Tribute Show World Tour and is consistently seen as a soloist in pop programs with Pops Maestro Jack Everly with the Indianapolis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra among others around the globe.

N’Kenge is currently working on a new album. Not new to the recording experience; she released her first solo album “Red Souvenir” while still completing her graduate studies at The Juilliard School. She now has the opportunity to share her music once again with this move and expand her brand to the masses. In anticipation of her album, Burt Bacharach says “N’Kenge is an amazing talent that needs to be heard”.

Excited about being a writer and co-producer on this upcoming album, she is also a producer and is already cast as Queen Ti in the highly anticipated Broadway Bound Show Akhenaten: The Musical.

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RON REMKE Ron Remke is currently performing in the largest spectacle on the Las Vegas strip, “Jubilee!”. He was a featured soloist with the renowned 12 Irish Tenors and is a guest artist with symphonies throughout the United States and Canada. He is also a sought after performer on the high seas and has had the privilege of visiting over 80 countries. Select credits include, “Lead Tenor” in The Producers (Westchester Broadway Theater, Pioneer Theater), “Hugo” in Aspects of Love, Captain Tarnitz in The Student Prince (Media Theater), Dance

Captain of Kiss Me, Kate (US National Tour) and appearances at The Fulton Opera House, Marriott Lincolnshire, The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Struther’s Library Theater and Cortland Repertory among others. He has also worked with Sesame Street and Nickelodeon as a voice-over character artist and is the voice of “Juan” in Sonia Monzano’s (Maria from Sesame St.) “No Dog Allowed!”. His full symphonic CD entitled “Broadway Classics” is available on iTunes and on his website, www.ronremke.com.

MELISSA SCHOTT Melissa Schott is thrilled to be performing once again with Maestro Jack Everly! A featured singer/dancer in Cirque du Soleil’s Original Company of Banana Shpeel, choreographed

by Jared Grimes and directed by David Shiner, she performed at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, Chicago’s own Chicago Theatre and Toronto’s Canon Theatre. She was also with the National Company of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Judy Understudy), choreographed by three-time Tony Award-nominee Randy Skinner and directed by Tony Awardwinner Walter Bobbie. Regionally, she has appeared in 42nd

Street (Peggy), Always…Patsy Cline (Patsy), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie) and MTI’s Broadway Jr. recordings of Pirates of Penzance (Ruth), Willy Wonka (Violet and Mrs. Gloop) and Into The Woods (Witch). Melissa enjoys her roles as choreographer for Music K-8 Magazine and Director of Dance Connection. She happily shares her time between New York City and the Indianapolis area with her husband, Aaron, and their Yorkie family! For more information, visit melissaschott.com.

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JOSH TURNER Indianapolis native Josh Turner is a 2015 graduate of Butler University with a BA in Music. Josh’s YouTube channel has garnered over eleven million views, and his performance of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” earned him an appearance on

ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Josh performs solo and with groups all over the country, in spaces ranging from bars to concert halls. In his spare time, Josh enjoys making a pot of tea and playing bluegrass.

Co-Produced along with Symphonic Pops Consortium The Symphonic Pops Consortium mission is to conceive, create and produce high quality, innovative, symphonic Pops concerts by uniting a group of symphony orchestras and combining their resources. The Symphonic Pops Consortium is comprised of the Indianapolis (managing partner), Detroit, Milwaukee, National, and Seattle Symphony Orchestras.

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Music Director: Producer: Production Management: Costume Designer:

Jack Everly Ty A. Johnson Brandy Rodgers Clare M. Henkel

OKLAHOMA CITY PHILHARMONIC FOUNDATION PROVIDING LEADERSHIP AND ANNUAL SUPPORT The Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation was established to provide leadership and endowment expertise to help ensure a stable financial base for orchestral music and musical excellence in Oklahoma City for generations to come.

Distributions from the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation provide a meaningful and secure source of annual income for the Philharmonic’s operations, continually confirming the importance of endowment in an organization’s long-range planning and overall success.

Current officers and directors of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation are: OFFICERS Michael E. Joseph President Jean Ann Hartsuck Vice President Douglas J. Stussi Treasurer Penny M. McCaleb Secretary DIRECTORS Steven C. Agee Patrick B. Alexander J. Edward Barth L. Joe Bradley Teresa Cooper Douglas R. Cummings T.A. Dearmon Paul Dudman Thomas J. Enis Misha Gorkuscha Jane B. Harlow Harrison Levy, Jr. Duke R. Ligon Michael J. Milligan Patrick J. Ryan Richard L. Sias Richard Tannenbaum

A PHILHARMONIC GALA May 14, 2016 8:00 P.M.

CLASSICS JOEL LEVINE, CONDUCTOR

CHABRIER ............................ España WALTON ................................ Crown Imperial BERNSTEIN............................ Symphonic Dances from West Side Story Prologue (Allegro moderato) “Somewhere” (Adagio) Scherzo (Vivace leggiero) Mambo (Presto) Cha-Cha (Andantino con grazia) Meeting Scene (Meno mosso) “Cool,” Fugue (Allegretto) Rumble (Molto allegro) Finale (Adagio)

(No pauses between sections)

Intermission

MUSORGSKY (arr. Ravel) ...... Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade Gnomus (Gnome) Promenade Il vecchio castello (The Old Castle) Promenade Tuileries Bydlo (Polish Ox-cart) Promenade Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques (Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks) Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle (Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle) imoges: Le Marché (Marketplace at Limoges) Catacombae: Sepulcrum Romanum (Catacombs: Roman Burial Place) (attacca) Con mortuis in lingua mortua (With the Dead in a Dead Language) La Cabane sur des pattes de poules (Baba-Yaga) (The Hut on Chicken

Feet: Baba-Yaga) La Grande porte de Kiev (The Great Gate at Kiev) THIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

Listen to a broadcast of this performance on KUCO 90.1 FM on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 8 pm and Saturday, June 18, 2016 at 8 am on “Performance Oklahoma”. Simultaneous internet streaming is also available during the broadcast.

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España Emmanuel Chabrier First performance: 3/25/1947 Conductor: Victor Alessandro Last Performance: 1/10/2004 Conductor: Ransom Wilson Born: January 18, 1841, in Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, France Died: September 13, 1894, in Paris, France Work composed: 1883 Work premiered: November 4, 1883, at the Théâtre du Château d’Eau in Paris, with Charles Lamoureux (its dedicatee) conducting the orchestra of the Société des Nouveaux Concerts Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, two trumpets and two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, two harps, and strings

Emmanuel Chabrier was one of the most beloved figures in French musical circles of the latter half of the 19th century—indeed, in all artistic circles of that time and place.

His musical talent had surfaced early; he began piano lessons at the age of six, composed a set of dances two years later, and started attracting widespread attention as a child-prodigy pianist when he was nine. In 1856, his family moved to Paris, where as a young man Chabrier befriended numerous cutting-edge artists—writers and painters as well as musicians. His poet-friends included such notables (or notables-to-be) as José María de Heredia, Catulle Mendès, Villiers de l’Isle Adam, and Paul Verlaine (with whom he collaborated on two operettas) Édouard Manet painted his portrait twice and Chabrier, in turn, performed regularly at that artist’s Thursday salons and fortuitously purchased several of his canvases. (When, following his death, Chabrier’s art collection was auctioned at Hôtel Druout, the catalogue revealed that his collection included seven Manets, six Monets, three Renoirs, two Sisleys, and

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a Cézanne—and that was just the oils!) His ability at the keyboard earned him entrée to the leading Parisian musical salons, where he was warmly embraced by the likes of Fauré, Chausson, d’Indy (who found him “open to every tender affection and exquisite in every way”), and Duparc (on whose suggestion Chabrier explored, and was deeply impressed by, the music of Wagner). During the 1870s, his own home became a center of musical life. He and his wife often counted Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Lecoq, and Messager among their guests.

Following his early burst of attention he failed to achieve much of a career as a pianist, and not just because he had small hands. His playing was said to exude unusual freshness and rowdy excitement, but the musical establishment’s movers and shakers often squirmed when listening to playing that had not undergone the inhibiting influence of the Paris Conservatoire. “I shall never forget the day when, in the offices of his publishers, Chabrier consented to play for me,” wrote one astonished observer who witnessed the composer play a keyboard reduction of his famous symphonic rhapsody España. “The keys groaned, the strings twanged, the pedals bounced, the woodwork cracked while, with a smile on his lips, his eyes sparkling and with beads of perspiration on his forehead, the master, like an infuriated bull, let loose into the arena, attacked the instrument madly, with arms and elbows flying.

It was both comic and sublime.”

In 1882, he traveled to Spain for vacation, and during his six months there he jotted down numerous musical fragments that he heard. That November, he wrote from Granada to his publishers: “Every evening we go to the café-concerts where the Malaguenas, the Soledas, the Sapateado, and the Peteneras are sung. … At Malaga, the dancing became so intense that I was compelled to usher my wife away …. I can’t write about it, but I will remember it and will describe it to you. I have no need to tell you I have noted down many things: the Tango, a kind of dance in which the women imitate the pitching of a ship is the only dance in double time; all the others are in 3/4 (Seville) or in 3/8 (Malaga and Cadiz).”

The following year, after Chabrier had returned home to Paris, several of these fragments made their way into his España, which became by far his most popular concert work. It scored an immense success at its premiere, with the audience demanding that it be encored, and it made Chabrier famous overnight. He quickly adapted his orchestral original into a version for piano four-hands, and other arrangers produced transcriptions for many further instrumental combinations, including an ambitious one for two pianos, eight-hands. Many Perry Como fans may not have realized that this was the source of the melody for that singer’s 1954 hit “Hot Diggety (Dog Ziggety Boom).”

Chabrier, given as he was to unbridled good spirits, probably would have been amused rather than offended by that quite nonsensical adaptation.

PROGRAM NOTES Critical Acclaim The premiere of España earned nearly unanimous praise from the Parisian music critics. Typical was the response of Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray, writing in Le Ménéstrel: M[onsieur] Emmanuel Chabrier, whose orchestral fantasy España has just had such a decisive and legitimate success at the Nouveaux Concerts, belongs to that school of pioneer composers who copy Nature and are above all concerned to respect the truth.

In listening to España, one feels that he has been profoundly impressed by the popular songs and dances of Spain. … The way in which M. Chabrier has developed these themes of popular origin and inspiration effectively conveys the moods—now lively and impetuous, vociferous, and stirring, or again full of languor and voluptuousness—so characteristic of Spanish song. The composer has invested them with the rich trappings of modern instrumentation, but without in any way depriving them of their primitive color and popular accents. ... Before leaving Spain, M. Chabrier was wise to lay in a good provision of sunlight, which he must have been pleased, on his return, to find on his compositional palette.

Fast on its heels came his massive, politically charged cantata Belshazzar’s Feast (1930-31, to an Osbert Sitwell libretto drawn in part from the Bible). These are the works of Walton that a music-lover is most likely to encounter in the concert hall or on recordings, along with his coronation marches Crown Imperial (1937) and Orb and Sceptre (1953).

His two symphonies continue to elude repertoire status, inexplicably, but his concertos for violin, for viola, and for cello do maintain respected, if not overly visited, places in the repertoire of string soloists. Aficionados of theatre and cinema may expand that list thanks to his scores for 14 films, of which the most notable were three Shakespeare classics featuring Laurence Olivier: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955).

— JMK

Crown Imperial William Walton First Performance On This Series Born: March 29, 1902, in Oldham, Lancashire, England Died: March 8, 1983, in Ischia, Italy Work composed: 1937, revised in 1953 Work premiered: May 12, 1937, in Westminster Abbey, London, with Adrian Boult conducting the Coronation Orchestra Instrumentation: Three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, tenor drum, glockenspiel, wood stick, triangle, crash cymbals, suspended cymbal, tubular bell, gong, organ (optional), harp, and strings

William Walton grew up in a poor but music-loving family, spent six years as a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral (Oxford), and ended up studying at Oxford University, where he failed to complete a degree. He grew close to the eccentric and well-to-do Sitwell siblings—Sacheverell, Osbert, and Edith—who provided lodging and financial support for a decade, not to mention entrée to useful cultural circles. His first composition to make any impact was a collaboration with Edith Sitwell: his enduringly popular Façade (1922-29), an amusing, dadaist cycle of short movements for speaker and chamber ensemble, all reflecting the overarching influence of neo-Classical Stravinsky.

The succession of the British monarchy following the death of George V in 1936 was complicated (see sidebar), with Edward VIII abdicating in order to marry the woman he loved and the crown instead going to his brother, George VI. Once the nature of the 1937 coronation came into focus, Ernest Bullock (Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey) and Henry Walford Davies (Master of the King’s Music) sprung into action to put together a musical component for the service, which would involve a handful of leading choirs and an orchestra (called the Coronation Orchestra) made up of members of London’s top orchestras, conducted by Adrian Boult. The musical organizers wanted the entire span of English musical history from Tudor times to the present to be represented, and this was accomplished through the programming of at least 18 pieces spread through the ceremony, from plainchant and early choral works (by Tye, Byrd, and Purcell), through classics from the 18th and 19th centuries (including Handel’s Zadok the Priest, a mainstay of coronation celebrations), to three newly composed pieces: Walford Davies’ own Confortare (Be strong and play the Man), Vaughan Williams’ Festival Te Deum, and Walton’s Crown Imperial: A Coronation March.

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This was the first coronation to which the public was privy in real time, as it was broadcast in its entirety on the radio.

The BBC Television Service, which had begun operating the preceding November, was not allowed to beam images from the coronation service itself, but it did cover the outdoor processions in what would go into the annals as its first outdoor transmission. The Daily Mail sensed the impact this made: “When the King and Queen appeared the picture was so vivid that one felt that this magical television is going to be one of the greatest of all modern inventions.”

Walton borrowed his title from a line by William Dunbar, a Scottish poet of the late 15th and early 16th centuries— his “In Honor of the City of London,” which includes the quatrain: “Empresse of townes, exalt in honour;/In beawtie beryng the crone imperiall;/Swete paradise precelling in pleasure:/London, thow art the floure of Cities all.” There is no mistaking that Walton’s intent was to compose something akin to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 1, which had been so madly successful when it was introduced, in 1901, that it was quickly fitted out with words and was embraced as a near national anthem under the title “Land of Hope and Glory.” Even Elgar never managed to score a similar triumph with another piece in that mold; although he persevered through five Pomp and Circumstance marches, only the first remained popular. In the optimist, formal grandeur of Crown Imperial, Walton came close, his broad and dignified Trio section being very much analogous to the corresponding expanse of Elgar’s march. The parallel extended to the tempo markings of the two pieces. Elgar had marked his piece Nobilmente (“With Nobility”); Walton conveyed something of the same idea by marking his Allegro reale (“Royal Allegro”).

conga drum, police whistle, vibraphone, chime, woodblock, triangle, glockenspiel, tom-tom, guiro, maracas, finger cymbals, tambourine, harp, piano, celesta, and strings

As early as 1949, Leonard Bernstein and his friends Jerome Robbins (the choreographer) and Arthur Laurents (the librettist) batted around the idea of creating a musical retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set amid the tensions of rival social groups in modern New York City.

The project took a long time to find its eventual form. An early version tentatively titled East Side Story, involving the doomed love affair between a Jewish girl and a Catholic boy on New York’s Lower East Side, was altered to reflect the more up-to-date social issue of gang warfare. Much of the composition was carried out more-or-less concurrently with Bernstein’s work on his opera Candide. It was while working on these projects, in November 1956, that Bernstein was named joint principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic, an appointment that not only revivified a relationship that had been dormant for the preceding few years but also placed him in a position to succeed Dimitri Mitropoulos as the orchestra’s music director, an eventuality that would take place in September 1958.

Symphonic Dances from West Side Story Leonard Bernstein First performance: 1/12/1965 Conductor: Guy Fraser Harrison Last Performance: 11/8/2008 Conductor: Joel Levine Born: August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts Died: October 14, 1990, in New York City Work composed: The musical West Side Story was composed principally from Autumn 1955 through Summer 1957, and Bernstein assembled portions of the score into the Symphonic Dances in early 1961, overseeing the orchestration for this version as it was carried out by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal Work dedicated: The Symphonic Dances are dedicated “To Sid Ramin, in friendship.”

Work premiered: The musical itself on August 19, 1957, at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C; the Symphonic Dances on February 13, 1961, with Lukas Foss conducting the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, New York City, in a pension fund gala concert titled “A Valentine for Leonard Bernstein.”

Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets plus E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bongos, suspended cymbal, cymbals, tenor drum, snare drum, bass drum, four pitched drums, xylophone, trap set, three cowbells, timbales,

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As the production of West Side Story moved into the home stretch it was beset with several crises. Cheryl Crawford, the producer, got cold feet about what she termed “a show full of hatefulness and ugliness,” but her partner Roger Stevens jumped in to ensure that the project would continue; and the young Stephen Sondheim, who had been brought on as lyricist, snagged the interest of his friend Harold Prince to be involved as a producer. To everyone’s amazement, Robbins announced at the eleventh hour that he would rather spend his time directing than choreographing the show, thereby jeopardizing Prince’s participation; in the end, Robbins was persuaded to stay

PROGRAM NOTES A Guide to Symphonic Dances from West Side Story The late Jack Gottlieb, who for many years served as Bernstein’s amanuensis, provided this summary of the sections of the Symphonic Dances and how they relate to the action in the well-known musical: Prologue: The growing rivalry between two teenage gangs, the Jets and Sharks.

“Somewhere”: In a visionary dance sequence, the two gangs are united in friendship.

Scherzo: In the same dream, they break through the city walls, and suddenly find themselves in a world of space, air and sun.

Mambo: Reality again; competitive dance between the gangs.

Cha-Cha: The star-crossed lovers see each other for the first time and dance together.

Meeting Scene: Music accompanies their first spoken words.

“Cool” Fugue: An elaborate dance sequence in which the Jets practice controlling their hostility.

Rumble: Climactic gang battle during which the two gang leaders are killed.

Finale: Love music developing into a processional, which recalls, in tragic reality, the vision of “Somewhere.”

— JMK

on as choreographer and was granted an unusually long rehearsal period as an inducement.

On August 19, 1957, West Side Story opened in a try-out run in Washington, D.C., with a host of government luminaries in attendance. (During the intermission Bernstein ran into Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, who was in tears.) It proved a very firm hit when it reached Broadway, running for 772 performances, just short of two years. After that it embarked on a national tour and eventually made its way back to New York in 1960 for another 253 performances, after which it was released as a feature film in 1961. “The radioactive fallout from West Side Story must still be descending on Broadway this morning,” wrote Walter Kerr, critic of the Herald Tribune, in the wake of the opening in New York, and one might argue that his assumption remains true nearly six decades later. West Side Story stands as an essential, influential chapter in the history of American theatre, and its engrossing tale of young love against a background of spectacularly choreographed gang warfare has found a place at the core of Americans’ common culture.

In the opening weeks of 1961, Bernstein revisited his score for West Side Story and extracted nine sections to

assemble into what he called the Symphonic Dances. The impetus was a gala fundraising concert for the New York Philharmonic’s pension fund, to be held the evening before Valentine’s Day. The event was styled as an overt love-fest, celebrating not only his involvement with the orchestra up to that time but also the fact that he had agreed that month to a new contract that would ensure his presence for another seven years. In the interest of efficiency, Bernstein’s colleagues Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, who had just completed the orchestration of West Side Story for its film version, suggested appropriate sections of the score to Bernstein, who placed them not in the order in which they occur in the musical but instead in a new, uninterrupted sequence derived from a strictly musical rationale.

Two of the most popular favorites of the musical’s songs are found in the pages of the Symphonic Dances: “Somewhere” and “Maria” (in the Cha-Cha section), though not the also-beloved “America,” “One Hand, One Heart,” “I Feel Pretty,” or “Tonight.”

Pictures at an Exhibition Modest Musorgsky First performance: 2/26/1950 Conductor: Victor Alessandro Last Performance: 9/15/2007 Conductor: Joel Levine Born: March 9 (old style)/21 (new style), 1839, in Karevo, in the Pskov district of Russia Died: March 16/28, 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia Work composed: June 1874, as a set of piano pieces Version performed: The orchestration made between May and autumn 1922

by Maurice Ravel (born March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrenées, France; died December 28, 1937, in Paris) Work premiered: Ravel’s orchestration was premiered October 19, 1922, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting at the Paris Opéra Instrumentation: Three flutes (two doubling piccolos), three oboes (one doubling English horn), two clarinets and bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, snare drum, whip, ratchet, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, glockenspiel, orchestra bells, xylophone, two harps, celesta, and strings

Modest Musorgsky may have committed himself rather late to the profession of music, but he came to it with considerable background. As a child he had gained enough keyboard skill to perform a piano concerto by John Field when he was only nine. Before he finished preparatory school and veered into his military phase, he was familiar with a considerable range of mainstream European piano repertoire. An important strand of 19th-century piano music involved groups of miniatures gathered together into suites. Many of these collections were simply a succession of pieces that were musically unrelated, but in some cases composers went to lengths to integrate their assemblages by recalling musical motifs as the piece progressed. Schumann’s Carnaval is a famous example of the genre, and Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition takes a place in the same tradition, in its case employing a “Promenade” theme to provide continuity among the disparate movements.

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Tuileries gardens to the final diptych of Russian scenes: the macabre witch Baba-Yaga of folk legend and the glowing depiction of the Gate at Kiev, an architectural extravaganza designed to honor Tsar Alexander II but never constructed.

The recurring “Promenade” theme suggests the viewer strolling from one picture to the next. Musorgsky produced his score in a sprint of inspiration, apparently in the course of about twenty days. The final page of his manuscript is dated June 22, 1874, and on June 27 he signed off on all the score’s details and inscribed the work’s dedication to Stasov.

Maurice Ravel encountered Musorgsky’s piano suite in a cleaned-up version by Rimsky-Korsakov, the only one that was available at the time. He shared his enthusiasm with the conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who, ironically, was not familiar with this masterpiece of his Russian compatriot.

Koussevitzky commissioned Ravel to create an orchestral transcription of the suite, reserving exclusive performance rights for himself for some years, during which he conducted it often and ushered it into a niche of honor in the symphonic repertoire. A number of other orchestral versions have been produced over the years, including some that arguably capture a more authentically “Russian” sound, but it is Ravel’s against which all others are measured.

The piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition was inspired by a group of images by Victor Hartman, an architect and designer who, beginning in 1870, became one of Musorgsky’s closest friends and who died in the summer of 1873 at the age of 39. Musorgsky had dedicated to him the song “In the Corner” from his song cycle The Nursery and he welcomed Hartman’s input about his compositions, one result of which was his heeding Hartman’s advice to restore the Fountain Scene he had intended to cut from his opera Boris Godunov. In February and March 1874, a memorial exhibit was mounted at the Academy of Artists in St. Petersburg; it included Hartman’s architectural drawings as well as designs for craft pieces, jewelry, and so on—some four hundred pieces in all. Among the items on display, according to the critic Vladimir Stasov, were “lively, elegant sketches by a genre-painter, the majority depicting scenes, characters, and figures out of everyday life, captured in the middle of everything going on around them: on streets, and in churches, in Parisian catacombs and Polish monasteries, in Roman alleys and in villages around Limoges.”

We don’t know exactly when Musorgsky visited the exhibit or when he settled on the concept of creating musical equivalents to a number of the pictures. In 1903, Stasov claimed in a letter that it had actually been his idea, and that he had even suggested the topics of the movements, but there is no further evidence to corroborate his claim.

Only six of the relevant Hartman drawings have been ascertained beyond a doubt. Musorgsky’s other movements seem to be of specific images that have since strayed, or they may be composites of various pictures. The subjects of Musorgsky’s pieces range from the eeriness of a medieval Italian castle to the ebullience of children playing in the

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Ravel Makes Do When Maurice Ravel became acquainted with Musorgsky’s piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition, it was through the edition that Rimsky-Korsakov had published under the imprint of the Bessel Publishing Company in 1886, the only edition then in print. Ravel realized that it veered from Musorgsky’s original—by what extent he could not be sure—and he made efforts to lay his hands on something closer to the source.

On February 3, 1922, he wrote to his friend M.D. Calvocoressi, a critic who was deeply involved in Russian musical circles: “I was expecting a copy of Pictures at an Exhibition, in Musorgsky’s original edition.

Now, this minute I received a notice that it cannot be procured. Do you have one, and could you lend it to me for a while? Or do you know anyone who could do me this favor?” Calvocoressi regretted that he was unable to help.

It remained impossible to gain an accurate assessment of how much alteration Rimsky-Korsakov had effected until 1975, when the Soviet Union allowed a facsimile of Musorgsky’s manuscript to be published.

Now we know that Rimsky-Korsakov’s emendations were relatively minor, and that if Ravel had been successful in his quest for a “purer” edition, the musical text wouldn’t have been much different from what he already had.

— JMK

GIFTS TO THE PHILHARMONIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

INDIVIDUALS Providing essential support for the Annual Fund.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Clements Mr. Rodney Coate and Mr. Juan Camarena Nancy Coats and Charlie Ashley Mr. and Mrs. Jack H. Coleman Ms. Barbara Cooper Dr. Thomas Coniglione Mr. Jim Daniel Mr. and Mrs. Mike Darrah Mr. and Mrs. William E. Davis Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Dearmon Mrs. Lori Hatfield Dickinson Mr. Joel Dixon Mr. and Mrs. Joe Edwards Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Ellis Dr. and Mrs. Royice B. Everett Ms. Carolyn Frans Mr. and Mrs. Gerald L. Gamble Mr. and Mrs. Jason Garner Mrs. Linda Gardner Mr. Kelly George Mr. Jack Golsen Mr. and Mrs. Don Greiner Drs. Stephen and Pamela Hamilton Mr. and Mrs. Royce M. Hammons Mr. and Mrs. Jim Hatt Walt and Jean Hendrickson Mr. and Mrs. John D. Higginbotham Mr. Ivan Holt II Mr. and Mrs. Joe R. Homsey, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. J. Clifford Hudson Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Johnson Kim and Michael Joseph Mrs. Ruth Ann Kalbfleisch Mr. Dan Kennedy and Dr. Diana Kennedy Mrs. Lou Kerr Bishop and Mrs. Ed Konieczny Mr. and Mrs. Kristian Kos Dr. and Mrs. H. T. Kurkjian Mr. Owen Lafferty Mrs. Ruth S. Lampton Mr. Scott Davis and Mr. David Leader Dr. and Mrs. Jay E. Leemaster Drs. Jason and Julie Lees Mr. and Mrs. Duke R. Ligon Susan Mahaffey Mr. and Mrs. William Matthey Mr. and Mrs. John A. McCaleb Mr. Ron McCord Mr. and Mrs. Tom J. McDaniel Mr. Nathan McDonald Mr. Jeffrey McDougall Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth N. McKinney Mr. and Mrs. Bruce McLinn Mr. and Mrs. John P. McMillin Mr. and Mrs. K. T. Meade, Jr. Mrs. Valerie Merritt Mr. and Mrs. Stewart E. Meyers, Jr.

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Tom and Katherine Milam Chip and Michelle Mullens Dr. and Mrs. Gene L. Muse Mrs. Robert Z. Naifeh Bill and Tracy Nester Mr. and Mrs. Ronald J. Norick Mrs. Elissa Norwood Mr. Chip Oppenheim Mrs. Barbara Pirrong Mr. and Mrs. Kent Plaster Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Pringle Mrs. Ran Ricks Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Salyer Todd and Melissa Scaramucci Mr. Fred Schmitt Janet and Frank Seay Mr. and Mrs. John M. Seward Mr. and Mrs. William F. Shdeed Sharon and John Shelton Mr. and Mrs. Robert Shoemaker Drs. Paul and Amalia Silverstein Mr. and Mrs. Darryl G. Smette Dr. Richard V. and Jan Smith Dr. and Mrs. Brian E. Snell Mr. and Mrs. John S. Spaid Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Starling Mrs. Billie Thrash Ms. Betsy Timken Mrs. June Tucker Robert Varnum and Sharon Varnum, LCSW Mr. Robert Weiss Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth K. Wert Mr. John S. Williams Dr. Lorraine T. Wilson M. Blake and Nancy Yaffe Mr. and Mrs. Michael Young Mr. and Mrs. Ron Youtsey

Friend $750 - $1,249 Hugh G. and Sharon Adams Ms. Lois Albert Ms. Zonia Armstrong Mr. and Mrs. Van A. Barber Ms. Suzanne Baxter Mr. and Mrs. B. Billington Beals J. M. Belanger and Sarah Sagran Dr. and Mrs. William G. Bernhardt Mr. and Mrs. John Biggs Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Blumstein Don and Grace Boulton Carole and Deal Bowman Mr. and Mrs. Bob G. Bunce Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Calvert Joseph and Valerie Couch Ms. Barbara Crabtree

Dr. and Mrs. Anthony W. Czerwinski Dr. Nancy Dawson Tony and Pam Dela Vega Mr. and Mrs. Richard Dugger Doug and Tish Eason Ms. Anna Eischen Bruce and Joanne Ewing Dr. Thurma J. Fiegel John and Sue Francis Dr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Ganick Mr. and Mrs. Nick S. Gutierrez, Jr. ,M.D. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence K. Hellman Frank and Bette Jo Hill Mr. and Mrs. David D. Hunt, II Colonel and Mrs. Dean C. Jackson Mr. David R. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Drake Keith Ms. Claren Kidd Mr. and Mrs. Jerald Koehn Ms. Mary Jane Lawson Mr. Joel Levine Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lindsey Brad and Janet Marion Dr. Gary L. Massad J. Thomas and Anita R. May Ms. Vickie McIlvoy Mr. and Mrs. Jere W. McKenny Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Milsten Dr. and Mrs. William L. Parry Mr. and Mrs. R. Curtis Phillips, Jr. Dr. Steven V. Richards Mrs. Linda Kennedy Rosser and Mr. Ronald McDaniel Carl and Deborah Rubenstein Dr. and Mrs. Olaseinde Sawyerr Ms. Madeline E. Schooley Mr. and Mrs. Don Sherman Rick and Amanda Smith Mr. Frank J. Sonleitner Teresa Stephenson Dr. and Mrs. James B. Stewart Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Stott Mr. and Mrs. Dale Toetz Mrs. Dorothy J. Turk Mrs. Donna Vogel Larry L. and Leah A. Westmoreland Dr. James B. Wise Denver and Yvonne Woolsey Jim and June Young Mr. and Mrs. Don T. Zachritz

Partner $300 - $749 Dr. Gillian Air John and Nancy Alsup Tom and Fran Ayres Ms. Sherry K. Barton

Ms. Karen J. Beckman Jackie and Jerry Bendorf Mrs. Mary C. Blanton Mr. and Mrs. David G. Bryant Mrs. Katherine Bushnell Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Buxton Ms. Janice B. Carmack Mr. and Mrs. Earl J. Cheek Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ciardi Mrs. Victoria Cobb Ms. Carol Combs Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cunningham Dr. Shirley E. Dearborn Ms. Melinda Finley Mrs. Betty Foster Mr. & Mrs. Gary F. Fuller Mr. and Mrs. Keith G. Golden Melvin & Bobbie Gragg Mr. Herbert M. Graves Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Greenberg LTC and Mrs. Walter A. Greenwood George M. and Jo Hall Mr. Brent Hart and Mr. Matt Thomas Mr. Roger Farrell and Mrs. Trish Horn Lois and Roger Hornbrook Mrs. Lily R. Hummel Judy and Jerry Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Johnson L. M. Johnston, Ph.D. Greg and Mary Joan Johnston Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Karchmer Mr. Joe A. McKenzie Ronald L. and D. Yvonne Mercer Dorman and Sheryl Morsman Hattie B. Mullaly David Miller & Barbara Neas Larry and Deanna Pendleton Mike and Cathy Perri Mrs. Donald G. Preuss Gary and Tommie Rankin Dr. and Mrs. Laurance Reid Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon M. Reznik Shirley and Ben Shanker Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Specht Paula and Carl Stover Reta and Richard Strubhar Ms. Donita Thomas Mrs. Evelyn Margaret Tidholm Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Towell Mr. Curtis VanWyngarden Mr. and Mrs. Albert Weise Mr. and Mrs. John White Jim and Polly Worthington

Member $100 - $299 Dr. and Mrs. Henry M. Asin Mr. and Mrs. Earl Austin

GIFTS TO THE PHILHARMONIC SPECIAL GIFTS Mr. Paul D. Austin and Jane Ford Austin Judy Barnett Paul B. and Terry Bell Dr. Paul and Bonnie Benien Alan Booth and Debbie Kelly Harry S. and Elaine Boyd Rev. Thomas Boyer Dr. Reagan Bradford, Jr. Mrs. Betty L Brady Mrs. Carole S. Broughton Ms. Judith Butler Mrs. Jo Carol Cameron Ms. Kathryn Carey Mr. and Mrs. Jack Carpenter Dr. and Mrs. Don R. Carter Mr. Michael P. Cassidy Drs. Fong Chen and Helen Chiou Ms. Henrie Close Mr. and Mrs. John Crittenden Ms. Carol A. Davito Mr. James Dearner Mr. and Mrs. Sam Decker Mr. Jim T. Dennis Mr. James DeWarns Mr. W. Samuel Dykeman Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ehlers Ms. Elizabeth K. Eickman Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Epstein Mr. Sam Escobedo Irving and Sandy Faught Mike and Deb Felice Mr. and Mrs. Mead Ferguson Judge and Mrs. Stephen P. Friot Mr. Hugh Gibson Mr. and Mrs. M. Charles Gilbert Mr. and Mrs. Barry Golsen John and Judy Gorton Jesse and Jordan Gould Mr. Steven Graham and Ms. Vicky Leloie Kelly Mr. Bob Gregory Mr. and Mrs. John T. Greiner, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Barre Griffith Mr. and Mrs. John Gunter Mr. Allen K. Harris Mr. and Mrs. David Haskett Tom and Dorothy Hays Major and Mrs. John M. Heitz Mr. David C. Henderson Mr. Jerome A. Holmes Mrs. Julia Hunt Ms. Mary Lu Jarvis Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Johnson Ms. Young Y. Kim Edith and Michael Laird Mrs. Patricia Legako David and Lynne Levy

Bob and Kay Lewis Rosemary and Paul Lewis Roy and Sharon Love Mrs. Patricia Matthews Mrs. M. Geraldine Mayes Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. McAlister Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. McKown Lt. Col. Terry L. Mock Mr. L. E. Montgomery Mr. Cole Morgan Rudi Nollert and Mary Brodnax Ms. Sylvia Ochs Mr. Robert G. Oltmanns Mrs. Mildred B. Parsons Mr. and Mrs. Michael W. Penn Robert and Karen Petry Dr. and Mrs. Marvin D. Peyton Mr. William Powell Ms. Lisa Reed Tom and Fran Roach Dr. and Mrs. Michael Fred Robinson Ms. Carolyn Sandusky-Williams Hank and Anne Schank Ms. Gayle A. Scheirman Ms. Geraldine Schoelen Theresa Cunha and Kurt Schroeder Mr. and Mrs. A. Lee Segell Fred and Carolyn Selensky Mr. Robert R. Shaw Dr. and Mrs. Richard Shifrin Mr. and Mrs. Richard Shough Mr. Robert E. Simmons Mr. and Mrs. Lee Allan Smith Judy Smedley Jody and Pat Smith Mr. Jay Smith Ms. Kathleen Starrett Mrs. Joyce J Statton Mr. Keith Stelting Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Stice Dr. John Stuemky Ms. Xiao-Hong Sun and Mr. Xiaocong Peng Mrs. Ann Taylor Mr. and Mrs. Sammy Todd Juan and Elvia Vazquez LTC Ret. and Mrs. George B. Wallace Mr. and Mrs. Nate Webb Dr. and Mrs. D. A. Weigand Mr. and Mrs. Ted Wernick Mr. Don Wester Mrs. Matha A. Wilkerson Ms. Ghita Williams Ms. Lonnie F. Williams Mr. and Mrs. R. Deane Wymer Lillian Yoeckel Ruth and Stanley Youngheim

Honor loved ones, celebrate occasions, recognize achievements and support the Philharmonic’s mission.

In Memory of Victor Alessandro Mr. Hugh Gibson In Memory of Robert H. Brady Betty L. Brady In Memory of Martin and Gladys Brechbill Ms. Janice B. Carmack In Memory of Bill Broughton Mrs. Carole S. Broughton In Memory of William B. & Helen P Cleary Steven C. Agee, Ph.D. William I. and Louise Churchill Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Evans, II In Memory of James O. Edwards, Jr. Mrs. Carlene Edwards In Honor of Jane Harlow Dr. and Mrs. Roberts S. Ellis Mrs. Linda Kennedy Rosser and Mr. Ronald T. McDaniel In Honor of Miss Molly Haskett Mr. and Mrs. David Haskett In Memory of John and Suzanne Hebert Greg and Mary Joan Johnston In Memory of Jackson Cash Pam and Gary Glyckherr In Honor of Margaret and Drake Keith Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Cranford In Memory of Wendell Miles Mr. Joe Howell and Ms. Jennifer Owens In Honor of Barbara Paul The Kerr Foundation, Inc In Memory of Ila Belle Raby Ms. Judith Butler Mrs. Patricia Legako In Memory of Berta Faye Rex Mr. and Mrs. William F. Shdeed In Honor of Jeff and Nanette Shultz Ms. Elizabeth L. Shultz In Memory of Earl Statton Mrs. Joyce Statton In Memory of John A. “Jack” Taylor Mrs. Ann Taylor In Honor of Bart, Lola, Mart, and Ruth Woods John and Judy Gorton

ORCHESTRA LEAGUE UPDATE

“Without stringed instruments, the great heritage of symphonic and chamber music given us through the centuries will be lost,” said Merle Buttram, a professor of violin and co-founder of the first symphony orchestra in Oklahoma. To encourage more young people to study to be musicians, Frank and Merle Buttram created the Buttram String Awards through the Oklahoma City Orchestra League shortly after World War II. For over 60 years this lasting gift has produced a winner’s list of fine musicians.

Some thirty years later, Margaret and Drake Keith saw another opportunity in Central Oklahoma. “Young musicians had to wait until high school to compete in music competitions, but it was middle school where my students were dropping out,” says Margaret, a long-time Suzuki Violin teacher. “Could the chance to compete at an earlier age stimulate my kids to work hard and develop their talents?”

Margaret and Keith Drake established the Keith Competition—giving budding musicians the chance to compete starting in first grade. The competitions gave students a concrete goal to work towards and a measuring stick for their own readiness and abilities. Other donors followed suit. Mike and Wanda Gilliam, Mrs. William Abney, William H. Haire, and Herman and LaDonna Meinders endowed music competitions through the League until there were opportunities for young musicians of all ages.

Each year, six statewide competitions are held in February and the Winner’s Concert follows, open to the public. “There is no end to the ways in which these competitions are important to our community. It opens the door that enhances the development of children in ways that nothing else can. We have learned so much about the human brain and how music contributes to learning. Our Music Competition winners and their families are ambassadors for the state and the nation, representing Oklahoma and spreading the word about music education,” says Margaret.

Over the years, many competitors have gone on to become professional musicians. Carnegie Hall. Chicago Symphony Center. The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Stages on which every performer aspires to stand. Each one has been graced by winners of the Oklahoma City Orchestra League’s Music Competitions. According to the Keiths, the community is the true winner: “You will find many of the Music Competition winners among our city’s teachers, instructors and our own outstanding Oklahoma City Philharmonic, which means our gift of music has been given back to us many times over.”

For more information on the Oklahoma City Orchestra League’s Music Competitions, visit

www.okcorchestraleague.org.

Check out our twitter and facebook locations : www.twitter.com/orchestraleague I www.facebook.com/orchestraleague Contact us at: 405.601.4245 or Orchleag@coxinet.net

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Deborah Crabtree Fedder, LPC-LMFT Children, Adolescents, Couples and Adults

Crabtree Family Therapy Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marital and Family Therapist

11212 N. May Ave., Ste. 203 • Oklahoma City, OK 73120

405.323.9466

crabtreefamilytherapy@gmail.com crabtreefamilyther.wix.com/okcfamtherapy

teaching minds

and reaching hearts

HOUSE NOTES

RESTROOMS are conveniently located on all levels of the theater. Please ask your usher for guidance.

LATECOMERS and those who exit the theater during the performance will be seated at intermission or during the first convenient pause as determined by the management.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES must be turned off and put away before entering the theater (no calling, texting, photo or video use please). Cameras, recording devices and food are not permitted inside the theater.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES: Bottled water is permitted in the theater at the Classics Series concerts. Beverages are permitted in the theater at the Pops Series concerts however bringing coffee into the theater is discouraged due to the aroma. Snacks, drinks and desserts are available at the Civic Center CafĂŠ and snack bar on the main floor.

SMOKING in the Civic Center Music Hall is prohibited. The Oklahoma City Philharmonic promotes a fragrance-free environment for the convenience of our patrons.

FIRE EXITS are located on all levels and marked accordingly. Please note the nearest exit for use in case of an emergency.

ELEVATORS are located at the south end of the atrium of the Civic Center Music Hall.

CHILDREN of all ages are welcome at the Philharmonic Discovery Family Series and Holiday Pops performances; however, in consideration of the patrons, musicians and artists, those under five years of age will not be admitted to evening Classics and Pops concerts unless otherwise noted.

BOOSTER SEATS for children are available in the Civic Center event office. Please inquire at the ticket office.

COLLEGE STUDENT RUSH TICKETS are $5 each and available with a college or university I.D. and email address at the box office 30 minute prior to the start of each Philharmonic performance. Tickets are offered based on availability only and seats are located throughout the theater.

VIDEO MONITORS are located in the lobby for your convenience.

WHEELCHAIR AVAILABLE SEATING: Persons using wheelchairs or with walking and climbing difficulties will be accommodated when possible. Those wishing to use the designated wheelchair sections may purchase the wheelchair space and a companion seat. Please inform the Philharmonic Ticket Office staff of your need when ordering tickets so that you may be served promptly and appropriately.

Please request the assistance of hall ushers to access wheelchair seating.

LOST & FOUND is located in the Civic Center Office (405-297-2584) weekdays 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

PHILHARMONIC TICKET OFFICE may be contacted by calling 405-TIC-KETS (405-842-5387) or you can visit the Philharmonic Ticket Office located on the second floor of the McAlpine Center at 428 W. California in Suite 210. The Philharmonic Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and concert Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Ticket Office at the Civic Center Music Hall (405-297-2264) will be open 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on performance evenings.

CONCERT NIGHT PHONE: Call 405-842-5387 CIVIC CENTER TICKET OFFICE hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., weekdays.

Programs and Artists are subject to change without notification.