The Experience of Carmina Burana: Four family members on stage!!

The following post is from chorus manager Amy Adams, who was onstage for Carmina Burana, alongside her three children, Margaret Boggs, William Boggs, and Jane Boggs. These are her words about what the experience was like:

I have been the chorus manager for the Eugene Symphony for many years. I have formed lasting friendships in the community of choral singers. They all enthusiastically sign up for a chance to perform large choral works with our wonderful orchestra and particularly to benefit from the vocal instruction of Sharon Paul, chorus director. At various points over the years when I was expecting each of my three children, I found myself standing with the second sopranos, "great with child" and facing down a row of french horn bells (two pregnancies I sang during Mahler concerts and one pregnancy I sang during a Beethoven concert).

This season, circumstances provided an irresistible opportunity to my family: an invitation by choral director Peter Robb (who prepares the childrens' chorus) to all three of my children to sing in the Symphony's performance of Carmina Burana. They all began working on the music in rehearsals at a local church, in a resonant, spacious sanctuary - and after each rehearsal I heard Margaret (age 8), William (age 10) and Jane (age 15) piping the strange and lovely little "Amor volat undique" in the car.

Nothing I can say can adequately convey the enormous impact this performance had on my family: the shattering proximity of percussion; Margaret's thrill of being introduced to the soprano; walking toward the stage within arms' reach of my elegant and poised teenager; the night we got home so late after dress rehearsal, but stood in the kitchen talking about "The Man With Four Drums" (timpanist Sean Wagoner) and the seriously impressive vocal soloists; the tidal wave of applause that included my three and myself and swept us up together in musical satisfaction and joy.

Thank you, Eugene Symphony, for giving us this memory to treasure all our lives!

-- Amy Adams, Chorus Manager for the Eugene Symphony

Eugene Symphony Executive Director Scott Freck's Thoughts on Carmina Burana

I’ve been looking forward to our April 18 performance of Carl Orff’s epic Carmina Burana all season, as it is one of the great spectacles in all of music, and an awful lot of fun to produce.  It has a little bit of everything – a big orchestra with interesting instrumentation, a full chorus of more than 150 singers, a children’s chorus, and three solo vocalists: a soprano, a tenor and a baritone.

These three soloists play particularly important roles in the arc of the piece as a whole, even though their “stage time” (so to speak) isn’t all that long.  Indeed, in the case of the tenor, there is a grand total of about four minutes of singing, but it’s weird and wonderful and utterly memorable.  More on that in a bit.

The baritone is called upon the most during the course of Carmina, and he has a half-dozen notable solos, including one called “Ego Sum Abbas” in which he sings that as the Abbot of Cockaigne, he will beat everybody gambling at dice games in the tavern after Vespers.  For this performance, our baritone is Jason McKinney, whom I know very well from six or so productions at my previous orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, where I hired him to sing everything from Holiday Pops concerts to a part in a Mozart opera to this very role in Carmina last May 2012. 

The soprano is next busiest, with four or five major moments mostly toward the end of the piece, including one that is truly jaw-dropping.  In “Dulcissime” just a few minutes before the end, she must leap in two notes from an A just above middle C to a high B, more than an octave away, all with no accompaniment to back her up…it’s like a high-wire act without a net.  Our soprano is Brenda Rae, who spends much of her year in Germany singing at the Frankfurt Opera.

Finally, right in the middle of the piece is the tenor’s big moment, “Olim lacus colueram” which depicts a swan being slowly roasted over a fire on a spit.  Yes, you guessed it, the tenor IS the swan, singing of how he used to live on lakes but now is about to be eaten.  Musically, it is somehow chilling and comic at the same time, but it requires a tenor with incredible vocal control and high range – his part reaches to a D an octave and a whole step above middle C, a place where only the bravest tenors dare visit.  Our intrepid soloist is Vale Rideout, who has an armful of opera credits and a live recording of Carmina with the New Jersey Symphony to his name.  We look forward to welcoming him and the other two guest soloists to Eugene!

Swan Maidens to Dance Prior to Eugene Symphony Concert

The Eugene Symphony is always looking for innovative ways to bring music to more people! Next week, we're partnering with the Eugene Ballet to present an historical overview of Tchaikovsky’s luminous ballet, Swan Lake. The talk includes a slide presentation as well as a short performance of the Dance of the Cygnets (Little Swans). Toni Pimble, artistic director of the Eugene Ballet, will give the presentation. Four ballerinas in full costume—Emma McGirr, Suzanne Haag, Victoria Harvey, and Sara Stockwell—will perform.

 

The free event, part of the Symphony's Sound Perspectives series, begins at 7 p.m. in The Studio of the Hult Center. One hour later, the Eugene Symphony concert, Swan Lake, features Tchaikovsky’s Suite from this iconic work. 

Much fun was had during concert week activities!

Our concert week activities began with an outstanding vocal master class with Christine Brewer for University of Oregon music majors! Each participant, including Alishia Piper, Tori Helppie, Emily Hopkins, and Katherine Curtis, gave a lovely performance and it was amazing to hear their artistic interpretations become refined during their short time working with Ms. Brewer. Thank you to Laura Avery for sponsoring the Laura Avery Visiting Masters program!

Pictured above: Milagro Vargas, Christine Brewer, Katherine Curtis, Emily Hopkins, Karen Esquivel, Alishia Piper, Laura Avery, Tori Helppie, and Eric Mentzel.

 

 

On Wednesday, Christine Brewer joined Maestro Rachev for our Guild Concert Preview to discuss Strauss's Four Last Songs. Excitement grew among our audience members as they learned more about the beautiful piece and Ms. Brewer's interpretation of it. Maestro Rachev concluded the preview with an enlightening discussion about Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.

 

 

Our final concert week activity featured a waltz lesson, given by Linda and Edward Staver of Staver DanceSport, to educate audience members about that night's performance of Ravel's La valse. Needless to say, we all had a great time! Thank you, Linda and Edward! Part of the Sound Perspectives series.

 

New education programs are off to a great start!

The Eugene Symphony Education Department's two pilot programs for the 2012-13 season began with a bang past week!

Volunteers helped kick off Symphonic Adventures, an in-school music program for third grade classrooms, by teaching our professionally designed lesson plans to eager students in the 4J, Bethel, and Springfield school districts. Below you'll see our fabulous volunteer, Diane Livermore, teaching rhythm at Howard Elementary.

Each lesson plan is followed by a performance by a Eugene Symphony musician or chamber group. This month's featured musician is percussionist Brian Scott, who is featured in a video at the beginning and end of each lesson. We have received overwhelmingly positive responses about Brian and the students feel like they're meeting a celebrity!


Link Up, a program designed by Carnegie Hall, also began this past week with Annalisa Morton and Kristen Halay teaching third through fifth graders in 4J and Springfield afterschool programs. In collaboration with Willamalane Parks and Recreation Center and 4J's BEST program, students in Chavez, River Road, Thurston, and Page Elementary Schools are learning how to play recorder and will perform on-stage with the Eugene Symphony for our November 13 & 14 youth concerts. What an opportunity!

 

Kristen Halay teaching Link Up to River Road Elementary School students.

 

 



Dun, dun, dun, dunnnnn!

A regular on the world’s greatest concert and opera stages, Metropolitan Opera star Christine Brewer joins the Eugene Symphony on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 8 p.m. at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Music Director Danail Rachev conducts Brewer in a program that also includes Ravel’s La valse and a work known and loved the world over, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

 

A global star with a reputation as a “superlative Strauss singer” (The New York Times), Brewer’s range, golden tone, boundless power and control make her a favorite of the stage as well as a sought-after recording artist. With a vocal technique once described “as refreshingly unfussy as her personality” (The Financial Times), Brewer breaks the mold of the traditional opera diva in countless ways. She freely admits to fibbing about her fried chicken, tearing up during Toy Story 3, hosting a boisterous, annual Hootenanny in her small-town Illinois backyard each summer, and entertaining dreams of running for the Senate.

On October 18, Brewer performs Four Last Songs, Strauss’s musical epitaph, which premiered a year after the composer’s death. Three of the songs are based on Herman Hesse poems and set in a mini-cycle from spring to autumn and on to sleep (the initial work opens at twilight).  Though the soaring melodies ruminate on parting and death—Strauss was 83 when he composed the works—the full orchestra’s accompaniment infuses the work with a profound serenity.

The evening concludes with Beethoven's powerful Symphony No. 5. With its universally recognized opening four notes, the work has endured as one of the world's most popular pieces of music since its Vienna premiere (conducted by the composer himself) in 1808.

Beethoven Symphony No. 5 is sponsored by Hilton Eugene and Conference Center.   Tickets are available through the Hult Center box office (541-682-5000) or online at eugenesymphony.org.

Rhapsody in Blue... in Photos!

Last night's Rhapsody in Blue concert, in my opinion, was phenomenal. There was such an electric energy in the hall! The lobby was very full and bustling a full 40 minutes before the concert. Wonderful!

Aren't the new lights in the Hult Center Lobby gorgeous?

Here's what a difference ten minutes can make...

Before the doors open:

After the doors open (facing the opposite direction):

 And a few minutes later, the concert began!

After Eugene Symphony Association Board President Dunny Sorensen gave some opening remarks (thank you Dunny-- you were great!), the concert kicked into full gear with an Opening Night tradition: The Orchestra playing the Star Spangled Banner!  The crowd jumped to their feet and SANG VERY LOUDLY! Truly, the volume of the crowd was quite spectacular-- Who wants to try out for chorus membership?

After the next piece, Bernstein's Overture to Candide, pianist Jon Nakamatsu took the stage. He and the Eugene Symphony amazed the crowd with the Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. Phenomenal and beautiful!

After intermission, Jon Nakamatsu returned to the piano with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue!  Michael Anderson, Eugene Symphony's Principal Clarinet, worked wonders with his instrument in the piece. Well done, Michael! You were brilliant!

Within seconds after the last note in Rhapsody in Blue, the crowd stood up and there was thunderous applause (and lots of whooping, hollers, and whistles!). Our audience is so fabulous. Jon Nakamatsu commented on the power of the audience response-- he was quite impressed with our wonderful patrons!

It's not a great photo because the lights were still dim, but you can see-- everyone was standing!!

After the piano was removed, the Symphony played a lesser-known piece: De Falla's Suite from The Three-Cornered Hat. Music Director and Conductor Danail Rachev awed the crowd with a boisterous and charming background about the ballet of The Three-Cornered Hat. When we get the copy of last night's concert, we'll have to transcribe that history and post it here-- I'd argue it was one of the  most memorable and wonderful pieces a conductor has ever discussed on our stage!  The piece itself was stunning, going from flamenco-like pieces to teasing interludes. Very well done, and you could tell our orchestra was excited to play the piece.

After the concert, Jon Nakamatsu signed CDs out in the lobby. Thank you to all who stopped to say hello and/or to get his autograph. He was really quite taken with our hall, patrons, and enthusiasm, as you can tell in this photo (!!):

Thank you, Jon Nakamatsu! Come back soon!

As for the rest of you, we hope you come back soon and see us TOMORROW, Saturday 22, 2012, for An Evening with John Williams! More information on that EXCITING concert can be found by clicking HERE. 

And remember: October's concert isn't that far off!! Thank you for a great night, Eugene!

- Jessika Kaiser, Marketing Manager, Eugene Symphony Association