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OPENING NIGHT: RENÉE FLEMING

© Decca/Andrew Eccles

CONCERT PROGRAM

Maurice RavelAlborada del gracioso

ShéhérazadeI. Asie (Asia)

II. La flûte enchantée (The enchanted flute)

III. L’indifférent (The indifferent one)

Intermission

Gioachino RossiniOverture to La scala di seta

Giacomo Puccini“Sì, mi chiamano Mimì” from La bohème

Francesco Paolo Tosti/orch. Alberto Vindrola“Aprile”

Stefano Donaudy“O del mio amato ben”

Ruggero Leoncavallo “Mattinata”

William Walton/arr. Christopher Palmer“Touch her soft lips and part” from Henry V: A Shakespeare Scenario

Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein IISelections from The King and I“I Whistle a Happy Tune” (orch. Robert R. Bennett)

“Something Wonderful” (orch. Johnny Green)

“Shall We Dance?” (orch. Robert R. Bennett)

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

7:00pm

Peter Oundjianconductor

Renée Flemingsoprano

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Like much of the orchestral music by Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), Alborada del gracioso

began life as a piano piece—the fourth in the

five-movement suite Miroirs, completed in

1905. Meaning “The Jester’s Morning Serenade”,

Ravel’s later transcription for orchestra clearly

illustrates his life-long love for Spanish music,

with the simulation of strumming guitars and

lively dance rhythms. After the rousing opening,

the solo bassoon takes up a melancholic song,

before the whirl of the dance returns to close.

Shéhérazade by Ravel is a three-song cycle

composed in 1903. The title character is the

legendary narrator of The Arabian Nights or

One Thousand and One Nights, who tells

fascinating cliffhanger stories to her evil sultan

husband every night, thus avoiding the fate of

death that his previous wives have suffered. The

poems were by Tristan Klingsor, the pen name of

Wagner-loving Léon Leclère, a French musician,

painter, and poet, and a good friend of Ravel’s.

Klingsor was more interested in the rhythms of

the words than the rhymes, an aspect that Ravel

picked up on, providing the songs with a certain

freedom of speech-like rhythms and natural

inflections. Musically, Ravel used scales and

harmonies evoking the elegance and restraint of

Asian music that was very popular in France at

the time. The three songs grow in intensity, from

the richness of Asie to the lyricism of La flûte

enchantée, to the sensuality of L’ indifférent.

THE DETAILS

Peter OundjianMusic Director

Opening night! A great new season! And the wonderful Renée Fleming joins us for this dazzling and delightful evening! What better way to start such a scintillating evening than with Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso, a brilliant showpiece for the whole orchestra. Renée then joins us for Ravel’s gorgeous interpretation of the Scheherazade story—exotic, elegant, and ravishingly beautiful. The second half opens with Rossini’s Overture to La scala di seta, a joyful romp from one of the composer’s most amusing comedies. Then Renée takes over the stage to bring us a cornucopia of delights. First, a group of Italian favourites—from one of Puccini’s most famous arias, through an intimate song by Tosti, to a concert aria by Donaudy, beloved of so many great singers, and closing with Leoncavallo’s well-known “Mattinata”. Walton’s song from Henry V changes the pace to slow and sensual. And finally, the showstoppers—selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s timeless favourite, The King and I. What a wonderful way to start another season of exceptional music-making and celebration!

For texts and translations,

please turn to pages 11 to 14.

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La bohème by Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) is often among the top five operas of the world’s

most popular operas from year to year. Since

the première in 1896, music lovers have flocked

to the work’s impulsive passion, humanity, and

warmth, not to mention the memorable music.

At the end of Act I, the two lovers, Rodolfo and

Mimi, become acquainted as they search in

the darkness for her lost apartment key. After

Rodolfo tells her a bit about himself and admits

his love for her, he asks Mimi to tell her own

story, which she does in the beautiful aria,

“Sì, mi chiamano Mimi.”

Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846–1916) never

composed an opera, but is loved by opera

singers as the composer who created many

Italian popular songs for the nineteenth-century

salon. Adored in England where he lived and

was knighted in 1908, a publisher once offered

Tosti 10,000 lire apiece, if he could write a

minimum of four songs per year. “Aprile”, one of

his best-loved, praises the return of spring and

the season of love.

Although the 1812 opera La scala di seta

(The Silken Ladder) by Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) is rarely staged today, the Overture

is a popular concert item. The plot of the opera

deals with a secret marriage and the ensuing

confusion and comedic escapades, while the

title refers to the silken ladder the husband must

secretly scale every night to his wife’s bedroom.

This overture is one of the first to employ the

“Rossini crescendo”, a clever and effective trick

developed by Rossini that increases drama,

tension, and anticipation by slowly increasing

volume from soft to loud.

Stefano Donaudy (1879–1925) composed six

operas, as well as piano pieces, chamber and

orchestral music, but today his fame rests almost

entirely on a collection of thirty-six Arie di stile

antico, or “Arias in the ancient style”, published

in 1918. Of these, “O del mio amato ben” has

been popular with several generations of singers,

including Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Luciano

Pavarotti, Arleen Auger, Sumi Jo, Andrea Bocelli,

and Renée Fleming.

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THE DETAILS

Sir William Walton (1902–1983) composed

music for many movies, the most famous being

the three Shakespeare films he scored for the

legendary British actor and director Sir Laurence

Olivier: Richard III, Hamlet, and Henry V. Olivier,

who produced, adapted, directed, and starred in

the 1944 Henry V, loved and admired the score

by Walton and believed that the film’s overall

success owed much to the composer. For most

of it, Walton combined quasi-medieval music

with twentieth-century styles, but the excerpt,

“Touch her Soft Lips and Part”, was apparently

based on an actual medieval English dance.

The King and I by the team of composer

Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and librettist

Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960) was based

on a true story of the relationship and love

of a widowed British governess and the King

of Siam in the 1860s. The musical premièred

successfully on Broadway in 1951, but is perhaps

best known for the 1956 film starring Deborah

Kerr as the governess, and Yul Brynner as the

Siamese king—a role with which he became

closely identified. “I Whistle a Happy Tune” is

heard shortly after the curtain rises on Act I.

The governess Anna instructs her young son

not to be afraid as they arrive in the kingdom to

serve the monarch. Later in Act I, in “Something

Wonderful”, Lady Thiang, the king’s head wife (of

many), tries to persuade Anna to accept the king

as he is, despite his faults. In Act II, Anna and the

king have a disagreement over the meaning and

value of love, and after the king expresses his

perspective, Anna explains some of the western

customs of courtship in “Shall We Dance?” The

king then demands that she teach him to dance

and they experience a love for each other that

can never properly be expressed.

Program notes by Rick Phillips, a Toronto

writer, teacher, lecturer, and music tour host.

soundadvice.com

“Mattinata” or “Morning Serenade” by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919) was apparently the first

song ever composed expressly to be recorded

by the British HMV Gramophone Company.

Dedicated to and recorded by the great tenor

Enrico Caruso in 1904, with the composer at the

piano, it continues to be a perennial favourite of

singers and audiences alike.

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THE ARTISTSPeter Oundjianconductor

A dynamic presence in the conducting world,

Toronto-born conductor Peter Oundjian is renowned for

his probing musicality, collaborative spirit, and engaging

personality. Oundjian’s appointment as Music Director of

the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2004 reinvigorated

the Orchestra with numerous recordings, tours, and

acclaimed innovative programming as well as extensive audience growth, thereby

significantly strengthening the ensemble’s presence in the world. In 2014, he led the

TSO on a tour of Europe which included a sold-out performance at Amsterdam’s

Concertgebouw and the first performance of a North American orchestra at

Reykjavik’s Harpa Hall.

Oundjian was appointed Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

(RSNO) in 2012. Under his baton, the orchestra has enjoyed several successful tours

including one to China, and has continued its relationship with Chandos Records.

Last season, Oundjian and the RSNO opened the Edinburgh Festival with the

innovative Harmonium Project to great critical and audience acclaim.

Few conductors bring such musicianship and engagement to the world’s great

podiums—from Berlin, Amsterdam, and Tel Aviv, to New York, Chicago, and Sydney.

He has also appeared at some of the great annual gatherings of music and music-

lovers: from the BBC Proms and the Prague Spring Festival, to the Edinburgh Festival

and The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Mozart Festival where he was Artistic Director from

2003 to 2005.

Oundjian was Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from

2006 to 2010 and Artistic Director of the Caramoor International Music Festival

in New York between 1997 and 2007. Since 1981, he has been a visiting professor

at the Yale School of Music, and was awarded the university’s Sanford Medal for

distinguished service to music in 2013.

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Renée FlemingsopranoRenée Fleming made her TSO début in February, 1996.

Renée Fleming is one of the most acclaimed singers

of our time. In 2013, President Obama awarded her

America’s highest honour for an artist, the National Medal

of Arts. She brought her voice to a vast new audience

in 2014, as the first classical artist ever to sing the US

national anthem at the Super Bowl. Winner of the 2013 GRAMMY® Award (her fourth)

for Best Classical Vocal Solo, Renée has sung for momentous occasions, from the

Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth

II at Buckingham Palace. A ground-breaking distinction came in 2008, when Renée

became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo

headline an opening night gala.

Renée’s recent tour schedule has included concerts in London, Paris, Vienna,

Stockholm, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Sydney, and San Francisco. This season, she will be

seen as the Marschallin in a new production of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at

the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera. She has hosted a wide

variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in

HD series, and Live from Lincoln Center.

Nominated for fourteen GRAMMY® Awards, Renée has recorded everything from

complete operas and song recitals to jazz, indie rock, and the movie soundtrack of

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Among her numerous awards are

the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit,

Sweden’s Polar Prize, and France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. In 2016, Renée

was appointed Artistic Advisor for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

In 2010, she was named the first-ever Creative Consultant at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

For more information, please visit reneefleming.com

THE ARTISTS