Please note that this reduced programme does not include descriptive notes for the pieces being performed. To buy a full programme for £2, please visit the Barbican foyers before the concert. Joyce DiDonato Artist Spotlight Camille Claudel: Into the Fire Tue 14 Apr 2015 7.30pm, Milton Court Concert Hall Debussy String Quartet Hahn Venezia interval 20 minutes Jake Heggie Camille Claudel: Into the Fire (European premiere) Joyce DiDonato mezzo-soprano Brentano String Quartet Jake Heggie piano Post-concert conversation Edward Seckerson will host a post-concert conversation with Joyce DiDonato and Jake Heggie on stage following the performance, including the opportunity for audience Q&A. Part of Barbican Presents 2014–15 Camille Claudel: Into the Fire received its premiere at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco on February 4, 2012. It is lovingly dedicated ‘To Joyce DiDonato and in Celebration of the Alexander String Quartet’s 30th Anniversary.’ The work was commissioned by San Francisco Performances and generously underwritten by a gift from Linda and Stuart Nelson. The Barbican gratefully acknowledges the support of John Murray towards the Joyce DiDonato Artist Spotlight Programme produced by Harriet Smith; printed by Mandatum Ink; advertising by Cabbell (tel. 020 3603 7930) Confectionery and merchandise including organic ice cream, quality chocolate, nuts and nibbles are available from the sales points in our foyers. 1 Please turn off watch alarms, phones, pagers etc. during the performance. Taking photographs, capturing images or using recording devices during a performance is strictly prohibited. If anything limits your enjoyment please let us know during your visit. Additional feedback can be given online, as well as via feedback forms or the pods located around the foyers. Reynaldo Hahn (1875–1947) Venezia (1901) No 1, Sopra l’acqua indormenzada Coi pensieri malinconici No te star a tormentar: Vien con mi, montemo in gondola, Andaremo fora in mar. Passaremo i porti e l’isole Che circonda la cità: El sol more senza nuvole E la luna spuntarà. Over the tranquil waters Let not melancholy thoughts distress you: come with me, let us climb into our gondola and make for the open sea. We will go past harbours and islands which surround the city, and the sun will sink in a cloudless sky and the moon will rise. Oh! che festa, oh! che spetacolo, Che presenta sta laguna, Quando tuto xe silenzio, Quando sluse in ciel la luna; E spandendo i cavei morbidi Sopra l’acqua indormenzada, La se specie, la se cocola, Come dona inamorada! Oh what fun, oh what a sight is the lagoon when all is silent and the moon climbs in the sky; and spreading its soft hair over the tranquil waters, it admires its own reflection like a woman in love. Tira zo quel velo e scòndite, Che la vedo comparir! Se l’arriva a descoverzarte, La se pol ingelosir! Sta baveta, che te zogola Fra i caveli imbovolai, No xe turbia de la polvere De le rode a dei cavai. Vien! Draw your veil about you and hide, for I see the moon appearing and if it catches a glimpse of you it will grow jealous! This light breeze, playing gently with your ruffled tresses, bears no trace of the dust raised by cartwheels and horses. Come! Se in conchigli ai Greci Venere Se sognava un altro di, Forse visto i aveva in gondola Una zogia come ti, Ti xe bela, ti xe zovene, Ti xe fresca come un fior; Vien per tuti la so lagrime; Ridiadesso e fa l’amor! If in other days Venus seemed to the Greeks to have risen from a shell, perhaps it was because they had seen a beauty like you in a gondola. You are lovely, young and fresh as a flower. Tears will come soon enough, so now is the time for laughter and for love. 2 Pietro Pagello (1807–98) No 2, La barcheta La note è bela, Fa presto, o Nineta, Andemo in barcheta I freschi a ciapar! A Toni g’ho dito Ch’el felze el ne cave Per goder sta bava Che supia dal mar. Ah! The little boat The night is beautiful. Make haste, Nineta, let us take to our boat and enjoy the evening breeze. I have asked Toni to remove the canopy so that we can feel the zephyr blowing in from the sea; Ah! Che gusto contarsela Soleti in laguna, E al chiaro de luna What bliss it is to exchange sweet nothings alone on the lagoon, and by moonlight to be borne along in our boat! You can lay aside your fan, my dear, for the breezes will vie with each other to refresh you. Ah! Se gh’è tra de lori Chi tropo indiscreto Volesse dal pèto EI velo strapar, No bada a ste frotole, Soleti za semo E Toni el so’ remo, Lè a tento a menar. Ah! If among them there should be one so indiscreet as to try to lift the veil shielding your breast, pay no heed to its nonsense, for we are all alone and Toni is much too intent on plying his oar, Ah! Texts Sentirse a vogar! Ti pol de la ventola Far senza, o mia cara, Chè zefiri a gara Te vol sventolar. Ah! Pietro Buratti (1772–1832) No 3, L’avertimento No corè, puti, smaniosi tanto Drio quel incanto Che Nana g’ha Xe tuto amabile Ve acordo, in ela, La xe una stela Cascade qua Ma … ma … la Nana cocola G’ha el cuor tigrà. The warning Do not rush so eagerly, lads, after the charms of the lovely Nana. All is enchantment in her, I grant you; she is like a star fallen to earth, but … but … that lovely Nana has the heart of a tiger! L’ocio xe vivo Color del cielo, Oro el cavelo Balsamo el fià; Ghe sponta in viso Do’ rose intate. Invidia al late Quel sen ghe fa Ma … Her eye is lively and heavenly blue; her hair is spun gold and her breath a balm; roses glow in her cheeks, her breasts are whiter than milk, but … Ogni ochiadina Che la ve daga, Da qualche piaga Voda no va! Col so’ granelo De furbaria La cortesia Missiar la sa … Ma … Every glance she darts at you carries its own sweet poison! Nor is guile ever absent from her gentle manner but … 3 Pietro Buratti No 4, La biondina in gondoleta La biondina in gondoleta L’altra sera g’ho menà: Dal piacer la povereta, La s’ha in bota indormenzà. La dormiva su sto brazzo, Mi ogni tanto la svegiava, Ma la barca che ninava La tornava a indormenzar. The blonde girl in the gondola The other night I took my blonde out in the gondola: her pleasure was such that she instantly fell asleep. She slept in my arms and I woke her from time to time, but the rocking of the boat soon lulled her to sleep again. Gera in cielo mezza sconta Fra le nuvole la luna, Gera in calma la laguna, Gera il vento bonazzà. Una sola bavesela Sventola va i so’ caveli, E faceva che dai veli Sconto el sento fusse più. The moon peeped out from behind the clouds; the lagoon lay becalmed. the wind was drowsy. Just the suspicion of a breeze gently played with her hair and lifted the veils which shrouded her breast. Contemplando fisso fisso Le fatezze del mio ben, Quel viseto cussi slisso. Quela boca a quel bel sen; Me sentiva drento in peto Una smania, un missiamento, Una spezie de contento Che no so come spiegar! As I gazed intently at my love’s features, her little face so smooth, that mouth, and that lovely breast; I felt in my heart a longing, a desire, a kind of bliss which I cannot describe! M’ho stufà po’, finalmente, De sto tanto so’ dormir, E g’ho fato da insolente, No m’ho avuto da pentir; Perchè, oh Dio, che bele cosse Che g’ho dito, a che g’ho fato! No, mai più tanto beato Ai mii zorni no son stà. But at last I had enough of her long slumbers and so I acted cheekily, nor did I have to repent it; for, God what wonderful things I said, what lovely things I did! Never again was I to be so happy in all my life! 4 Antonio Lamberti (1845–1926) No 5, Che pecà! Te recordistu, Nina, quei ani Che ti geri el mio solo pensier? Che tormento, che rabie, che afani! Mai un’ora de vero piacer! Per fortuna quel tempo xe andà. Che pecà! What a shame! Do you remember those years, Nina, when you were my one and only thought? What torment, what rage, what anguish! Never an hour of untroubled joy! Luckily that time is gone. But what a shame! Ne vedeva che per i to’ oci, No g’aveva altro ben che el to’ ben … Che schempiezzi! che gusti batoci, Oh, ma adesso so tor quel che vien; No me scaldo po’ tanto el figà. Che pecà! I saw only through your eyes; I knew no happiness but in you … What foolishness, what silly behaviour; oh, but now I take all as it comes and no longer get agitated. But what a shame! Ti xe bela, me pur fi xe dona, Qualche neo lo conosso anca in ti; You are lovely, and yet you are woman, no longer perfection incarnate; when your smile is bestowed on another, I too can find solace elsewhere. Blessed be one’s own freedom! But what a shame! Te voi ben, ma no filo caligo, Me ne indormo de tanta virtù. Magno a bevo, so star co’ l’amigo E me ingrasse ogni zorno de più. Son un omo che sa quel che ’l fa … Che pecà! I still love you, but without all that torment, and am weary of all that virtue. I eat, drink, and enjoy my friends, and grow fatter with every day. I am a man who knows what he’s about … But what a shame! Care gondole de la laguna Voghè pur, che ve lasso vogar! Quando in cielo vien fora la luna, Vago in leto a me meto a ronfar, Senza gnanca pensarghe al passà! Che pecà! Lovely gondolas on the lagoon row past, I’ll hold you back! When the moon appears in the sky I’ll take to my bed and snore without a thought for the past! But what a shame! Texts Co ti ridi co un’altra persona, Me diverto co un’altra anca mi. Benedeta la so’ libertà. Che pecà! Francesco dall’Ongaro (1808–73) No 6, La primavera Giacinti e violete Fa in tera Baosète. Che gusto! che giubilo! L’inverno è scampà! La Neve è svania, La brina è finia, Xe tepida I’aria, El sol chiapa fià. Spring Hyacinths and violets deck the earth. What pleasure, what bliss; winter has fled. The snow has melted, the frost is over, the air is warm and the sun is gaining strength. Amici, fa ciera! Xe qua primavera! Me ’l dise quel nuvolo … Senti! senti el ton! Ohimé! che sta idea EI cuor me ricrea, E tuto desmentego Quel fredo baron! Friends, be of good cheer, Spring is here! I know it by that cloud … Hark, hark to the thunder! Oh, how the thought delights my heart, the dreary cold is now forgotten! Ancora un meseto, E el rusignoleto, Col canto, ne sgiozzolo, Sul’anima el miel. Stagion deliziosa! Ti vien cola rosa, Ti parti col giglio, Fior degno del ciel! Just one more month and the nightingale’s song will pour its honey on my soul. Oh delightful season, you arrive bearing roses and depart with the lilies, flowers worthy of heaven! Alvise Cicogna (1791–1863) Translations by Laura Sarti; reproduced with kind permission from Hyperion Records 5 interval 20 minutes Jake Heggie (born 1961) Camille Claudel: Into the Fire No 1, Rodin Last night, I went to sleep completely naked. I pretended you were holding me But I woke alone again Everything burned away In the cruel morning light. Was I dreaming that you loved me Though you left me far behind? Someone’s there Hidden in the shadows You don’t want me to see You don’t want me to find In the clay I search with my fingers To uncover something true Rodin! Rodin! Was there ever a time You wanted me to find you? There’s a secret I have traced In your eyes, your brow, your hair. Others think they see you But, we both know, you’re not there. In the clay I search with my fingers To uncover something true Rodin! Rodin! Was there ever a time You wanted me to find you? 6 Rodin? Rodin? No 2, La valse The light of day will fade And shadows will descend No breath can last forever No heartbreak truly mend Again, again … Console my eyes with beauty Allow me to forget That every dance of love Is mingled with regret Take me One step closer One step back One step spins One step hovers Take me! Take me to the place for unrepentant lovers! Is it in the spirit? Is it in the flesh? Where do I abide? Console Oh, console my eyes with beauty Allow me to forget That every dance of love Is mingled with regret … Texts No 3, Shakuntala No 4, La petite châtelaine ‘Shakuntala! Shakuntala!’ Hello, my little one, La petite châtelaine He called my name in a whisper He called my name in a cry Before I was a mother Before I met the king Before he made his promise Before I wore his ring Before I was forgotten Abandoned and ignored Before I was denied All that I adored I did not know who I was. ‘Shakuntala! Shakuntala!’ After he had learned the truth After all his tears Begging my forgiveness After wasting many years Wishing to reclaim me Kneeling at my feet He reaches to embrace me Will the circle again be complete? I lean and let him hold me His lips familiar yet estranged I forgive him utterly But in doing so have I changed? Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am? They say I leave at night By the window of my tower Hanging from a red umbrella With which I set fire to the forest Hello, my little one, La petite châtelaine Do you know who I am? Or the land you come from? Where the earth is stained … I did as he said and returned you to clay. Oh, how could I bleed such a blessing away? Now I’m forever alone With my children of stone. La petite châtelaine Can you hear my voice? The voice of your mother? ‘Shakuntala! Shakuntala!’ 7 I hear your whispers Your cries Oh, I want to take you back, my love, But who I was has died! No 5, The Gossips What is in my hands? What is in my head? So many ideas, my mind aches. So many ideas, the earth quakes! No 7, Epilogue: Jessie Lipscomb visits Camille Claudel, Montdevergues Asylum, 1929 Thank you for coming. I thought everyone had forgotten. Thank you for remembering me. People at a table listen to a prayer. Three men on a high cart laugh and go to mass. A woman crouches on a bench and cries all alone. What does she know? Does she know three people sit behind a screen and whisper? What is the secret suspended in the air? I know. I know. Four children? Beautiful … beautiful … Off to Italy? Beautiful … beautiful … You will have wonderful things to eat there. Here they are trying to poison me. (I see that they don’t. I cook for myself.) Thank you for remembering me. The halo rusts. The light is dim. Into the fire! Is it him? Is it him? Is it him? Do you remember our studio in Paris? Everything moving. Two young women, so many ideas. Look at me now! Oh, Jessie … Every dream I ever had was of movement. Touching. Breathing. Reaching. Hovering. Something always about to change … A photograph? Just me and you. Yes. I understand. I must be very still. Thank you for remembering me. Gene Scheer (born 1958) 8 No 6, L’âge mûr (instrumental) Jake Heggie Jake Heggie is the American composer of the operas Moby-Dick (libretto by Gene Scheer), Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), Three Decembers (Scheer), The End of the Affair (Heather McDonald), Out of Darkness – A Holocaust Triptych (Scheer), To Hell and Back (Scheer), At the Statue of Venus (McNally) and The Radio Hour: A Choral Opera (Scheer). He is currently at work on two new operas: Great Scott (McNally) for the Dallas Opera in 2015, and one based on It’s A Wonderful Life (Scheer) for Houston Grand Opera next year. He has also composed more than 250 art songs, as well as concertos, chamber music and choral and orchestral works, including his recent Ahab Symphony. His operas have been produced on five continents. Dead Man Walking has received more than 40 productions worldwide since its San Francisco Opera premiere in 2000 and has been recorded live twice (on Erato and Virgin Classics). Moby-Dick has received six international productions since its 2010 premiere at the Dallas Opera and was televised nationally in 2013. It received its US east coast premiere at the Kennedy Center in February last year, given by Washington National Opera; a production from the San Francisco Opera has been released on DVD (EuroArts). It is A Guggenheim Fellow, Jake Heggie served for three years as a mentor for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative. He is also a frequent guest artist and lecturer at universities and conservatories, including Boston University, Bucknell, Cornell, the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, University of North Texas, University of Colorado, USC’s Thornton School and Vanderbilt University, as well as at festivals such as SongFest at the Colburn School, Ravinia Festival, and VISI in Vancouver. Jake Heggie frequently collaborates as composer and pianist with some of the world’s leading singers, including sopranos Kiri Te Kanawa and Renée Fleming; mezzo-sopranos Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham and Frederica von Stade; Broadway stars Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald; tenors William Burden, Stephen Costello and Jay Hunter Morris; and baritones Nathan Gunn, Morgan Smith and Bryn Terfel. Directors who have championed his work include Leonard Foglia, Joe Mantello and Jack O’Brien. All of his major opera premieres have been led by Patrick Summers; he has also worked closely with conductors John DeMain, Joseph Mechavich and Nicole Paiement. In addition to two new operas, other forthcoming pieces include The Work At Hand: Symphonic Songs for mezzo Jamie Barton and cellist Anne Martindale Williams (Carnegie Hall and the Pittsburgh Symphony); new songs for Susan Graham (Vocal Arts DC); a new orchestration of the song-cycle Camille Claudel: Into the Fire for mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and the Berkeley Symphony conducted by Joana Carneiro; and Stop This Day And Night With Me for The King’s Singers. 9 Art & Clarity also the subject of a book by Robert Wallace titled Heggie & Scheer’s Moby-Dick – A Grand Opera for the 21st Century (UNT Press). About the composer About the composer About the performers Pari Dukovic Aspen, in addition to appearing at the 2013 Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato mezzo-soprano Winner of the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, Kansas-born Joyce DiDonato captivates audiences and critics alike across the globe, and has been described by The New Yorker as ‘perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation’. She has garnered considerable acclaim as both a performer and a fierce advocate for the arts, gaining international prominence in operas by Rossini, Handel and Mozart, as well as through her wide-ranging, award-winning discography. Her signature parts include the bel canto roles of Rossini. 10 Much in demand in the concert hall and as a recitalist, she holds residencies this season at New York’s Carnegie Hall and here at the Barbican Centre. Recently she completed an acclaimed recital tour of South America, and has appeared in concert and recital in Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Toulouse, Mexico City and In the opera house she appeared last season as Cendrillon at the Liceu, Barcelona; Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) at the Lyric Opera, Chicago; Angelina (La Cenerentola) at the Metropolitan Opera; and took the title-role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Highlights this season include Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) in her native Kansas City; Elena (La donna del lago) at the Metropolitan Opera; Maria Stuarda in Barcelona; the title-role in Alcina with The English Concert here at the Barbican; and Marguerite (La damnation de Faust) with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. She is an exclusive recording artist with Erato/ Warner Classics and her most recent recording is Stella di Napoli. Her Grammy-Awardwinning recording Diva Divo comprises arias by male and female characters, celebrating the rich dramatic world of the mezzo-soprano. The following recording, Drama Queens, was equally well received, both on disc and on several international tours. A retrospective of her first 10 years of recordings entitled ReJoyce! was released last year. Other honours include Gramophone‘s Artist of the Year and Recital of the Year awards, a German ECHO Klassik Award as Female Singer of the Year, and an induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame. Brentano String Quartet Brentano String Quartet Mark Steinberg, Serena Canin violin Misha Amory viola Nina Maria Lee violoncello Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano Quartet has been singled out for its technical polish, musical insight and stylistic elegance. It rapidly made its mark, winning the first Cleveland Quartet Award, the 1995 Naumburg Chamber Music Award, the 10th Annual Martin E Segal Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Award for the most outstanding debut in 1997. It became the first quartet-in-residence at Princeton University in 1999, and served as quartet-in-residence at New York University from 1995. In the same year it was chosen by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to participate in the inaugural season of About the performers The quartet performs extensively, both in North America, where it is based, and in Europe, Japan and Australia. It also appears at international festivals including Edinburgh, Bath, Divonne-les-Bains, Kuhmo, Salzburg Mozartwoche and many others. Enjoying an especially close relationship with Mitsuko Uchida, the quartet regularly appears with her in the USA, Europe and Japan. Other prestigious artists with whom it has worked include Jessye Norman and Richard Goode. Past seasons have included appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Stuttgart Liederhalle, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Sydney Opera House, as well as in Cologne, Hamburg, Basle, Geneva, Madrid and Copenhagen. It has also performed at festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Festival de Fayence, Aspen Festival, Salt Bay Chamber Festival, Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte. This year the quartet appears frequently in Europe as well as in New York (Carnegie Hall), Detroit, San Francisco and Pittsburgh with artists including Joyce DiDonato, Vijay Iyer, Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Jonathan Biss. The quartet’s eclectic repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to 20th- and 21st-century composers including Elliott Carter, György 11 Peter Schaaf ‘Chamber Music Society Two’ – a programme designed for outstanding emerging artists and chamber musicians. Kurtág, Milton Babbitt, Chou Wen-Chung, Charles Wuorinen, Bruce Adolphe, Steven Mackey, Jake Heggie and Jonathan Dawe. To commemorate its 10th anniversary, the quartet commissioned 10 composers to write a piece inspired by and to be interwoven with excerpts from Bach’s The Art of Fugue. The quartet has also worked with the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark Strand, commissioning poetry from him to accompany pieces by Haydn and Webern. For a project entitled Fragments the musicians combined incomplete works by composers such as Mozart, Schubert, Bach and Shostakovich with contemporary compositions by Sofia Gubaidulina and Bruce Adolphe. The Brentano Quartet’s recordings include works by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Steven Mackey. The quartet also performed in the film A Late Quartet (featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christopher Walken). Last year the Brentano became Quartetin-Residence at the Yale School of Music, succeeding the Tokyo Quartet. The quartet is named after Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s ‘Immortal Beloved’. Barbican Classical Music Podcasts 12 Stream or download our Barbican Classical Music Podcasts for an exclusive interview with Joyce, in which the mezzo talks about the entire Artist Spotlight and the musical influences that have shaped her passion for performing. Available on iTunes, Soundcloud and the Barbican website Renée Fleming Artist Spotlight A season-long celebration of ‘America’s reigning diva’ (Washington Post) barbican.org.uk Renee Fleming © Decca Andrew Eccles 5 Feb–6 Apr 2016 Classical Music 2015–16 Academy of Ancient Music Bach Collegium Japan BBC Symphony Orchestra Britten Sinfonia Cecilia Bartoli & Rolando Villazón Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Gustavo Dudamel London Symphony Orchestra Los Angeles Philharmonic Maxim Vengerov Murray Perahia Renée Fleming Riccardo Chailly Sir Simon Rattle barbican.org.uk