Frederica von Stade - Recital
Frederica Von Stade will make her exclusive Los Angeles appearance this season in a recital of 20th century French and American works. She is well-known to audiences and critics as one of the world’s most-beloved mezzo-sopranos. She will be accompanied by celebrated composer and pianist Jake Heggie, the composer of the acclaimed operas: "Dead Man Walking," "The End of the Affair," the lyric drama "To Hell and Back," and the musical scene, "At the Statue of Venus."
In February of 2008 Frederica von Stade starred in the World Premiere of Jake Heggie's chamber opera "Last Acts" at Houston Grand Opera.
PROGRAM
Roses
- I am Rose NED ROREM (B. 1923)
- Les Roses d’Ispahan GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924)
- Heidenröslein FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
- Die erwachte Rose RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949)
- La Vie en Rose LOUIS GUGLIEMI (1916-1991) AND EDITH PIAF (1915-1963)
Paris
- Voyage à Paris FRANÇOIS POULENC (1899-1963)
- Early in the Morning ROREM
- FROM Les Jardins de Paris DANIEL SCHMITT (B. 1929) AND MARC BERTHOMIEU (1906-1991)
- Jardin d’Albert Kahn
- Bois de Boulogne
Religion
- A Prayer to St. Catherine VIRGIL THOMSON (1896-1989)
- Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
- Priez pour paix POULENC
Intermission
Children
- Little Horses COPLAND
- Arrorro ALBERTO GINASTERA (1916-1983)
- Noel des Enfants CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
- Les Anges Musiciens POULENC
- Don’t Say a Word (Dead Man Walking) HEGGIE
Shady Ladies
- Habanera GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875)
- Nicolette MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
- Amor WILLIAM BOLCOM (B. 1938)
Moi
- Send in the Clowns (A Little Night Music) STEPHEN SONDHEIM (B. 1930)
- I Cain’t Say No (Oklahoma!) OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN (1895-1960)
- I Am Easily Assimilated (Candide) LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Program is subject to change.
Frederica von Stade - Mezzo-Soprano
Described by the New York Times as "one of America's finest artists and singers," Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world's most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname "Flicka," the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for three decades.
Miss von Stade's career has taken her to the stages of the world's great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In January 2000, the company celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut with a new production of The Merry Widow specifically for her, and in 1995, as a celebration of her 25th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera created for her a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. In addition, Miss von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. She is invited regularly by the finest conductors, among them Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, to appear in concert with the world's leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington's National Symphony, and the Orchestra of La Scala.
With impressive versatility, she has effortlessly traversed an ever-broadening spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations. A noted bel canto specialist, she excelled as the heroines of Rossini's La cenerentola and Il barbiere di Siviglia and Bellini's La sonnambula. She is an unmatched stylist in the French repertoire: a delectable Mignon or Périchole, a regal Marguerite in Berlioz' La damnation de Faust, and, in one critic's words, "the Mélisande of one's dreams." Her elegant figure and keen imagination have made her the world's favorite interpreter of the great trouser roles, from Strauss' Octavian and Composer to Mozart's Sesto, Idamante and - magically, indelibly - Cherubino. Miss von Stade's artistry has inspired the revival of neglected works such as Massenet's Cherubin, Thomas' Mignon, Rameau's Dardanus, and Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria. Her ability as a singing actress has allowed her to portray wonderful works in operetta and musical theater including the title role in The Merry Widow and Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. Her repertoire is continually expanding with the works of contemporary composers. She created the role of Tina in Dallas Opera's world premiere production of Dominick Argento's The Aspern Papers (a work written for her) as well as the role of Madame de Merteuil in the Conrad Susa's Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, both for San Francisco Opera.
Frederica von Stade continues to create compelling new stage portrayals. In 2005, Los Angeles audiences saw her first-ever performances of the title role in La Grand Duchesse de Gerolstein in a new production directed by famed movie director Garry Marshall for Los Angeles Opera. Later that season, she gave her first performances as Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Houston Grand Opera.
Frederica von Stade's orchestral repertoire is equally broad, embracing works from the Baroque to those of today's composers. She has garnered critical and popular acclaim in her vast French repertoire as one of the world's finest interpreters of Ravel's Shéhérazade, Berlioz's Les nuits d'été, and Canteloube's Les chants d'Auvergne as well as the orchestrated songs of Debussy and Duparc. She is continually in demand for the symphonic works of the great Austrian and German composers including Mozart and Mahler, as well as the new works of American composers.
It was the American composer Richard Danielpour who in 1998 helped Frederica von Stade to realize an artistic and personal dream when he wrote Elegies. The work, scored for orchestra, mezzo-soprano and baritone, is a tribute to Miss von Stade's father, Charles von Stade, who was killed in the final days of World War II, and is based on the text of letters Mr. von Stade sent to his wife during the war. It is through these letters that Frederica von Stade came to know her father, who died two months before her birth. In January 1998 the Jacksonville Symphony, led by Roger Nierenberg, offered the world premiere of Elegies with performances in Florida and in New York's Carnegie Hall. Elegies is available on SONY Classical and has been performed throughout North America and Europe.
Unparalleled in her artistry as a recitalist, Miss von Stade combines her expressive vocalism and exceptional musicianship with a rare gift for communication, enriching audiences throughout the world. Here, too, her repertoire encompasses a rich variety, from the classical style of Mozart and Haydn to the popular songs of Broadway's greatest musicals; from Italian "Arie antiche" to the songs of contemporary composers - who compose especially for her - such as Dominick Argento and Jake Heggie. She continues to explore new music and recently brought a program of the songs of Pauline Viardot to London’s Wigmore Hall and the Théâtre Musical de Paris.
She has made over seventy recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy's Premio della Critica Discografica, and "Best of the Year" citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. She has enjoyed the distinction of holding simultaneously the first and second places on national sales charts for Angel/EMI's Show Boat and Telarc's The Sound of Music.
Miss von Stade appears regularly on television, through numerous PBS and other broadcasts. In 2002 she was seen on national television in a concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as part of the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. In 2001 she participated in the opening of Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts performing in a concert together with Sir Elton John, Andre Watts, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other highlights of recent television appearances include a gala concert with the San Francisco Symphony to open the 1998-99 season at New York's Carnegie Hall and a "Live from Lincoln Center" television event opening the 1999 season of the Mostly Mozart Festival, both broadcast throughout North America. She can be seen in "Live from the Met" performances as Cherubino, Hansel, and Idamante, and through PBS broadcasts of her celebration of the art of American song with Thomas Hampson, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw and Jerry Hadley in a program at New York's Town Hall titled "I Hear America Singing," as well as a program with Tyne Daly which included arias, art songs and popular crossover material. Also seen on PBS were a holiday special, "Christmas with Flicka," shot on location in Salzburg, "A Carnegie Hall Christmas" with Kathleen Battle, and an evening of operatic and musical theater selections with Samuel Ramey and Jerry Hadley titled "Flicka and Friends." Her recent portrayals in Dangerous Liaisons and The Aspern Papers were broadcast throughout North America. She can also be seen in the Unitel film of the classic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production of La cenerentola.
Frederica von Stade is the holder of honorary doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice), the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes School of Music. In 1998 Miss von Stade was awarded France's highest honor in the Arts when she was appointed as an officer of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts.
Jake Heggie - Piano
Jake Heggie is the composer of the acclaimed operas Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), The End of the Affair (libretto by Heather McDonald, Leonard Foglia and Jake Heggie), the lyric drama To Hell and Back (libretto by Gene Scheer), and the musical scene At the Statue of Venus (libretto by Terrence McNally). The recipient of a 2005/06 Guggenheim Fellowship, he has also composed more than 200 songs, as well as concerti, orchestral works and chamber music. His songs, song cycles and operas are championed internationally by singers including Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham, Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Kristin Clayton, Kristine Jepson, Joyce DiDonato, Joyce Castle, Zheng Cao, and Bryn Terfel. He has collaborated extensively with conductors Patrick Summers, Nicholas McGegan, John DeMain, Michael Morgan, and director Leonard Foglia.
Upcoming commissions include a music theater work for the Metropolitan Opera in association with Lincoln Center Theater; a three-person music theater work featuring Frederica von Stade for Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera (libretto by Gene Scheer); a major new opera for Dallas Opera and San Francisco Opera (libretto by Terrence McNally); a new song for mezzo Joyce DiDonato to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Merola Opera Program; duets for women for the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival; and For a Look or a Touch, a song cycle for baritone, narrator and chamber ensemble about the persecution of homosexuals during the holocaust, commissioned by Seattle’s Music of Remembrance (texts by Gene Scheer, based on interviews in the documentary film Paragraph 175).
In 2007, Dead Man Walking is scheduled to receive more than 50 performances. Heggie’s operas have been performed at the San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, State Opera of South Australia, Cincinnati Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Opera Pacific, Calgary Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Madison Opera, Baltimore Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre. Dead Man Walking recently received its European Premiere in Dresden at the SemperOper in a new production by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Future productions of the operas are scheduled for Malmö Opera (Scandinavian Premiere), Vienna’s Klangbogen Festival, Sydney, and Kansas City Lyric Opera. An award-winning PBS documentary titled And Then One Night: The Making of Dead Man Walking, has been telecast internationally, and both operas have received live broadcasts on National Public Radio.
He has been resident composer for the San Francisco Opera, EOS Orchestra, Vail Valley Music Festival, and the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, and has given lectures and master classes for singers and composers at universities and conservatories that include the Cincinnati Conservatory, NYU, Bucknell University, DePauw University, and UCLA, to name a few. He has also been a guest artist at SongFest in Malibu, the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival, and the Grandin Festival in Cincinnati.
Among the composer’s numerous commissions are works for the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera (co-commissioned by Madison Opera and Opera Pacific), Metropolitan Opera with Lincoln Center Theater, Opera Colorado, Ravinia Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Chanticleer, Harmida Trio, Camerata Pacifica, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, University of Kansas at Lawrence, University of Connecticut at Storrs, Music of Remembrance, Pacifica Chorale, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Music Accord ad individual commissions from singers Frederica von Stade, Jennifer Larmore, Brian Asawa, Bryn Terfel and Robert Orth.
Jake Heggie was born in West Palm Beach, FL, in 1961. From the age of two he was raised in Ohio and California. His first composition teacher was the late Ernst Bacon, with whom he studied in Orinda, CA from 1977 to 1979. After two years of study in Paris, he went to UCLA where he studied piano with the late Johana Harris and composition with Roger Bourland, Paul DesMarais and the late David Raksin. He has made his home in San Francisco since 1993.
