Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra

Charles Jones Evans, Music Director/Conductor presents
An Evening at the Opera featuring:

Sunday, March 11, 2012 4:00 p.m.
Hathaway Auditorium, UAPB Campus

Excerpts from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) K. 620 (1791)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Final Scene from Act I of Tosca (1900)

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

"Bacchanale" from Samson et Dalilah (1877)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

INTERMISSION

Prelude and Bridal Chorus from Act III of Lohengrin (1850)

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Triumphal March and Ballet (Act II Finale) from Aida (1871)

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

From Carmen (1875):

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Additional solos:

Notes on the Program by Dr. Richard E. Rodda

Excerpts from Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") K. 620

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Composed in 1791.
Premiered on September 30, 1791 in Vienna, conducted by the composer.

MozartEarly in 1791, Mozart was deeply in debt, troubled by the disinclination of the Viennese public to embrace his recent music and concert appearances, and suffering seriously from the kidney failure that would take his life before the year was out. So when Emanuel Schickaneder, a slightly shady actor and theater entrepreneur, suggested in May that they collaborate on a new opera that was sure to be a hit, the composer jumped at the chance.

The Viennese public was especially fond at that time of comic pieces with Oriental or fantastic settings, and Schickaneder had achieved a fine success soon after he had arrived in town in 1789 with the "magic opera" Oberon by composer Paul Wranitzky and librettist Carl Ludwig Giesecke.

For a sequel he proposed to write the libretto for a Singspiel called Die Zauberflöte — The Magic Flute — a comic musical with spoken dialogue based on Liebeskind's story Lulu from Wieland's 1786 collection of Oriental fairy-tales called Dschinnistan, for which Mozart would provide the music.

Mozart threw himself into composing the music for The Magic Flute in May and June. Most of the composition was completed by July, when he received two more commissions — one for an opera seria on Metastasio's old text La Clemenza di Tito, to commemorate the coronation in Prague of the new Emperor, Leopold II, as King of Bohemia; the other, a mysterious order for a Requiem Mass, the work that was to cast such an ominous pall over Mozart's last months.

prague-1791As Tito was needed for performance on September 6th, he had to begin the music immediately, and was still composing the score when he and Constanze left for Prague in mid-August, only three weeks after she had given birth to Franz Xaver. When they returned to Vienna a month later, Mozart began the final preparations for the premiere of The Magic Flute, which included composing the Overture, always the last part of his operas to be written.

The full score was finished on September 28th, and the premiere given successfully on September 30th. The Overture to The Magic Flute is one of the supreme orchestral works of the 18th century. Rich in sonority, concise in construction, profligate in melodic invention and masterful in harmonic surety, it balances the seemingly polar opposites of the opera — profundity and comedy — with surpassing ease and conviction.

drop cap the slow introduction opens with the triple chords associated with the solemn ceremonies of the priests, the Overture's only thematic borrowing from the opera. The Allegro is built on a tune of opera buffa jocularity treated, most remarkably, as a fugue. The complementary theme, initiated by the flute, is characterized by its sensuous ascending chromatic scales.

The balance of the Overture follows the traditional sonata-allegro form, with the triple chords of the priests reiterated to mark the beginning of the development section.

As the opera opens, Prince Tamino is pursued by a serpent while hunting in a wild, mountainous region, and falls unconscious. The Three Ladies, attendants to the Queen of the Night, kill the serpent and rush away to inform their mistress.

When Tamino awakens, the Three Ladies return and give him a portrait of the Queen's daughter, Pamina, with whom he expresses his immediate delight in the aria Dies Bildniss ist bezaubernd schön ("This Likeness is Enchantingly Lovely"). Tamino, as part of his trials to secure entry into the Temple of Wisdom, has taken a vow of temporary silence.

Pamina, his betrothed, does not know of his pledge, and takes his silence as a rejection of her love. In her aria Ach, ich fühl's, she tells of her despondency and her belief that only death can bring her peace. All is revealed to her later, however, and the lovers are joyously reunited.

Act I Finale from Tosca

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Composed in 1896-1899.
Premiered on January 14, 1900 in Rome.

pucinniTosca is set in Rome, during two days in June 1800. The title character, the opera singer Florio Tosca, is in love with Mario Cavaradossi, a painter and a supporter of a republican movement against royalist oppression.

Tosca arrives at the church of Sant' Andrea della Valle in Rome to arrange a meeting that evening with Cavaradossi, who is at work on a picture of Mary Magdalene that he has based on the face of the lovely woman who comes frequently to pray at the side chapel. Tosca and Cavaradossi sing of their love until she recognizes the face of the Marchesa Attavanti in his Mary Magdalene.

napoleonTosca accuses him of infidelity, but he convinces her of his faithfulness, and they leave separately. The Sacristan arrives with a report that royalist forces have defeated Napoleon's republican troops at Marengo. A special Te Deum will be sung immediately at Sant' Andrea, and the choristers and congregation hurriedly assemble.

Their preparations are abruptly broken off by the arrival of Baron Scarpia, the treacherous chief of Rome's police, who has come searching for an escaped prisoner. He enters the side chapel and emerges with the Marchesa Attavanti's fan, which was mistakenly left behind.

drop cap tosca returns, looking for Cavaradossi. In the finale of Act I (Tosca? Che non mi veda — "Tosca? She must not see me"), Scarpia, enflamed with lust for Tosca and set on destroying Cavaradossi both for his republicanism and his love of the singer, incites her jealousy by showing her the Marchesa's fan and suggesting that the painter has left for a tryst.

Tosca turns to the painting, declares that the Marchesa will not have her Mario that day, and runs off to surprise the supposedly guilty pair. Scarpia calls after her (Va, Tosca — "Go, Tosca") and then joins the brilliant Te Deum that closes Act I, but as an aside vows to satisfy his lust for the singer: Tosca, mi fai dimenticare Iddio! — "Tosca, you make me forget God!"

Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila

Camille Saint-Saëns
(1835-1921) Composed in 1867-1874.
Premiered on December 2, 1877 in Weimar, conducted by Eduard Lassen.

saint-saensThe story of Samson et Dalila is set in Gaza, Palestine about 1150 B.C. The mighty Samson, leader of the Hebrews during their bondage to the Philistines, kills Abimelech, Satrap of Gaza, in a scuffle. The Philistine High Priest urges vengeance upon the Hebrews, but the Philistines are themselves dispersed by the Hebrews.

Dalila emerges from the Philistine temple bearing garlands for the victorious Hebrews, and approaches Samson. Bewitched by her beauty, Samson prays to heaven to be able to resist her temptations. He cannot, and is lured to Dalila's house, where she uses her wiles to discover that his hair is the source of his strength. She shears his locks, leaving him powerless, and he is seized by the Philistine soldiers with whom she has been plotting his capture.

samsonThe next scene shows Samson, his eyes plucked out, chained to the wheel in a Philistine mill. The opera's final tableau is set in the Temple of Dagon, where the Philistines are celebrating their suppression of the rebellious Hebrews. Samson, mocked by the Philistines and particularly Dalila, is led in by a child. Realizing that he is chained to the main pillars supporting the temple roof, he prays for a brief return of his former strength.

His prayer is answered, and he topples the pillars, burying himself and his enemies. The Bacchanale accompanies the ballet depicting the revels in the temple of Dagon at the beginning of Act III.

With its hints of exotic Hebrew chants and the sensual rhythms and harmonies of Middle Eastern music, it is both seductive and frenzied, one of the most brilliant and exciting instrumental scenes in all of French opera.

Prelude to Act III and Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Composed in 1845-1848.
Premiered on August 28, 1850 in Weimar, conducted by Franz Liszt.

richard wagnerWagner based his libretto for Lohengrin on two 13th-century German sources — a poem by the knight Wolfram von Eschenbach (who appears as a character in Tannhäuser) and The Knight of the Swan by the Minnesinger (the German counterparts of the French troubadours) Conrad von Würzburg. In the opera, Lohengrin, son of Parsifal and a Knight of the Holy Grail, appears in 10th-century Antwerp to defend Elsa against a false accusation of murder.

She is absolved of the charge, and Lohengrin consents to wed her on the condition that she does not inquire about his name or his past. After a magnificent marriage ceremony (the source of the familiar Wedding March — "Here Comes the Bride"), she asks the forbidden questions. Lohengrin reveals his name and his sacred mission to find the sacred chalice lost after it was used at the Last Supper, but leaves Elsa, who expires of her grief.

drop cap the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin is a brief burst of sunlight that serves as a foil to the pervasive seriousness of the work. It portrays the joy and expectation of Elsa and Lohengrin on the eve of their wedding, and in the opera house it leads without pause into the familiar Bridal Chorus.

The Prelude is in a compact three-part form, beginning and ending with a jubilant, leaping theme in the low instruments that is heard nowhere else in the opera. The solo oboe begins the more lyrical and subdued center section, which is loosely based on phrases of Elsa's music from Act II.

The Bridal Chorus accompanies Lohengrin and Elsa to their wedding chamber following their marriage in the cathedral of 10th-century Antwerp.

Act II Finale (Triumphal March and Ballet Music) from Aida

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Composed in 1870.
Premiered on December 24, 1871 in Cairo, Egypt.

VERDIAida, Verdi's grandest spectacle and one of the most popular operas ever written, was intended to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal and the Cairo Grand Opera House in 1869. The premiere was delayed for almost two years, however, not only because of Verdi's stringent demands on himself, his librettist and the producers, but also because the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 made it impossible to ship the sumptuous costumes and sets to Cairo from Paris, where they were constructed.

DROP The plot was based on a story by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette Bey, who sent his idea to Camille du Locle, manager of the Paris Opéra Comique, to determine if it could be turned into a stage work. Du Locle devised a scenario from Bey's plot and sent it to Verdi, with whom he had a close personal and professional relationship. Verdi demurred at first, but he was eventually convinced to undertake the project and worked with his usual speed and vigor until the opera was completed.

Terrified of sea voyages, he refused to attend the brilliant premiere in Cairo on Christmas Eve 1871, but supervised Aida's first Italian performances at Milan's La Scala six weeks later.

Act II closes with a spectacular scene that includes the grand Triumphal March (Gloria all'Egitto — "Glory to Egypt"), whose noble strains and majestic gait so inspired the Egyptian authorities that it was adopted as the national hymn of that country soon after the premiere, and the ballet music that accompanies a colorful dance by the captured Ethiopians as part of the procession before the Egyptian King.

Excerpts from Carmen

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Composed in 1872-1875.
Premiered on March 3, 1875 in Paris, conducted by Adolphe Deloffre.

BizetCarmen, Prosper Mérimée's earthy novella of 1845, was an unlikely subject for Georges Bizet to have chosen for representation at the Opéra-Comique, whose bourgeois works had accustomed the theater's audiences to lighthearted, happy-ending stories disposed in breezy musical numbers separated by spoken dialogue. Heroism, tragedy and recitative were reserved for the hallowed environs of the Paris Opéra.

Even though Bizet and his librettists, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, smoothed the edges of the story and the characters (Carmen was little more than a raw prostitute in Mérimée's novella), critics and audience were bemused by the tragic progression of its plot, the depth of its characterization, the lubriciousness of its emotions, and the cumulative power of its impact at the opera's premiere on March 3, 1875.

Though Carmen did not initially achieve the success Bizet had hoped for, neither was it the fiasco that some legends later made of it. It was retained in the Opéra-Comique repertory, and given 35 times before the end of the 1875 season and thirteen the next, though Bizet died in Paris exactly three months after the premiere, knowing little of the opera's success.

Carmen then was produced to much acclaim across Europe and in America (first at New York's Academy of Music on October 23, 1878), and by the time that it was revived at the Opéra-Comique, in 1883, the original spoken dialogue had been replaced with composed recitatives by the New Orleans-born composer Ernest Guiraud. Carmen was invariably performed in this through-composed version until Bizet's original score again came to light in the 1960s.

1939 WPA Carmen posterThe lure of Carmen continues unabated. Carmen is probably the most frequently performed opera in the world, having reached its 3,000th performance in Paris alone within a half-century of its premiere in 1875. In America, Carmen is one of the "operatic A-B-C's," the three most popular works at the Metropolitan Opera — Aida and La Bohème complete the triumvirate. It has been recorded some three-dozen times, more than any other opera save Rigoletto (according to Alan Blyth's compendious book about Opera on Record), and it was the third opera to be recorded complete, when Emmy Destinn created the title role (in German!) in 1908, preceded only by Aida (1906) and I Pagliacci (1907).

In addition to its innumerable stage presentations, three unusual versions of the opera have appeared during the last two decades:

The Prelude to Act I and the Aragonaise (Entr'acte to Act IV) frame the opera's tragic tale. At the beginning of Act II, Carmen and her Gypsy friends are entertaining themselves at a tavern on the outskirts of Seville. Shouts from off-stage greet the arrival of the celebrated toreador Escamillo, who offers a rousing song in praise of bullfighting when he enters the tavern.

The opera's tragic denouement in Act IV, set in front of Seville's arena on the day of the bullfight, is preceded by the choruses A dos cuartos ("Tuppence a Piece"), in which vendors offer their wares to the crowd, and Les voici ("Here they are!"), which accompanies the brilliant procession of toreadors, chulos, banderilleros and picadors as they enter the square.