About the Concert

When Johannes Brahms advised his student Gustav Jenner to first recite a poem like an actor before setting it to music, he had in mind the style of theatrical speech common at the time. Richard Wagner, too, wished for singers to begin by speaking the texts when rehearsing his operas, and only later to learn the vocal lines. Arnold Schönberg even attempted to notate theatrical speech using a system developed by Engelbert Humperdinck.

Today, more than 100 years later, this form of theatrical speech is hardly in use and often no longer familiar. While an actor such as Attila Hörbiger was still able to perform Jedermann at Salzburg’s Cathedral Square without technical amplification, actors today are increasingly miked in theatrical productions. The aesthetic reference for stage speech has shifted toward film and television—something both performers and audiences have long grown accustomed to. This evening aims to make tangible just how closely recitation and singing were once connected on stage.

Georg Nigl, baritone
Nicholas Ofczarek & August Diehl, recitation
Alexander Gergelyfi, piano
Markus Edelmann, dramaturgy

Christiane Karg, soprano
Andrew von Oeyen, piano

Johann Sebastian Bach: Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079: Ricercar a 6 (arr. Anton Webern)
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
San Francisco Symphony

Anja Mittermüller, mezzo-soprano
Richard Fu, piano

Lieder by Franz Schubert, Gabriel Fauré, Henri Duparc, Richard Strauss,
and Siete canciones populares españolas by Manuel de Falla

Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D Major, op. 123

Lina Johnson, soprano
Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano
Martin Platz, tenor
Manuel Walser, baritone

Jordi Savall, conductor
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya
Le Concert des Nations

Giacomo Puccini: La Bohème

Corina Koller, Mimì
Ekaterina Solunya, Musetta
Pavel Petrov, Rodolfo
Nikita Ivasechko, Marcello
Ivan Oreščanin, Schaunard
Daeho Kim, Colline
Markus Butter, Benoît
Wilfried Zelinka, Alcindoro
Martin Fournier, Parpignol
Majkend Hasa, Zöllner
Gihwang Yoon, Sergeant der Zollwache

Johannes Braun, musical direction
Tobias Ribitzki, stage direction
Stefan Rieckhoff, stage & costume design
Sebastian Alphons, lighting design
Christin Hagemann, dramaturgy
Johannes Köhler, chorus master
Andrea Fournier, Singschul'

Grazer Philharmoniker | Chor der Oper Graz | Singschul' der Oper Graz

John Adams: Doctor Atomic

Simon Keenlyside, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer
Clive Bayley, Edward Teller
Brenton Ryan, Robert Wilson
Marlis Petersen, Kitty Oppenheimer
Natalie Lewis, Pasqualita
Gábor Bretz, General Leslie Groves
Jarrett Ott, Frank Hubbard
Kevin Conners, Captain James Nolan

Gemma New, musical direction
Claus Guth, direction
Michael Levine, stage settings
Ursula Kudrna, costumes
Urs Schönebaum, light design
rocafilm, video
Sven Eckhoff, sounddesign
Sommer Ulrickson, choreography
Christoph Heil, choir master
Saskia Kruse & Yvonne Gebauer, dramaturgy
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor

Anja Mittermüller, mezzo-soprano
Richard Fu, piano

Lieder by Franz Schubert, Gabriel Fauré, Henri Duparc, Richard Strauss,
and Siete canciones populares españolas by Manuel de Falla

Gioachino Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims

Martina Russomanno, Corinna
Salome Jicia, Madame Cortese
Sabine Devieilhe, La Comtesse de Folleville
Teresa Iervolino, La Marquise Melibea
Maxime Mironov, Le Comte de Libenskof
Jack Swanson, Le Chevalier Belfiore
Michael Mofidian, Lord Sidney
Georgiy Derbas-Richter, Don Alvaro
Michele Govi, Le Baron de Trombonok
Nicola Alaimo, Don Profondo
Jared Mac Werlein, Don Prudenzio
Mi Young Kim, Maddalena
Magali Duceau, Modestina
Louis Zaitoun, Don Luigino
José Pazos, Gelsomino / Zefirino
Rodrigo Garcia, Antonio
Fanny Soyer, Delia

Jader Bignamini, conductor
Laurent Pelly, stage director & costumes
Massimo Troncanetti, stage
Marco Giusti, light
Mark Biggins, chorus master
Chœur du Grand Théâtre de Genève
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Johann Sebastian Bach: Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079: Ricercar a 6 (arr. Anton Webern)
Gustav Mahler: Five Songs on Poems by Friedrich Rückert (Five Rückert Songs)
Arnold Schönberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2 in E-flat minor, Op. 38
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 7 in B minor ("Unfinished")

Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Andrè Schuen, baritone
NHK Symphony Orchestra