|
Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8:00pm
Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 2:30pm
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
Mary Dunleavy, soprano
Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano
Sponsored by: M&T Bank
Click on Ticket Icon
and use Quick Buy menu on the right side of the page or
Call (716) 885-5000
Program Information
MAHLER - Symphony No.2 "Resurrection"
To close her 10th Anniversary season as the music director, JoAnn Falletta leads the orchestra, soloists and chorus in Mahler's magnificent Symphony No.2 – "The Resurrection"— a work in which faith triumphs over doubt, where the burdens of the world are eclipsed by an exalted reach to the heavens. Scored in five movements as a symbolic tone poem, this performance features soprano Brenda Harris, mezzo-soprano Stacey Rishoi and the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus.
Artist Profiles
Brenda Harris has appeared in leading roles with opera companies and orchestras throughout the world. In North America, she has been heard at the Metropolitan Opera (Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito), The Washington Opera (title role in Agrippina and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), Washington Concert Opera (title role in Roberto Devereux), Minnesota Opera (title roles in Norma, Ermione, Armida and Semiramide, and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito), New York City Opera (title role in Handel's Agrippina, Donna Anna), Austin Lyric Opera (Chrysothemis in Elektra and Katarina in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Atlanta Opera (Desdemona in Otello, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro), Michigan Opera Theatre (Norma and Countess), Arizona Opera (Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth), Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Countess), Opera Pacific (Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus and Donna Anna), and Utah Opera (title role in Ariadne auf Naxos).
The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, an independent non-profit organization, appears at various locations throughout Western New York including Artpark, Lancaster Opera House, and the Chautauqua Institution. The Chorus performs frequently with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, appearing in the Classics and Pops concert series. To reflect its close association with the Orchestra, the Chorus formally changed its name to Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus (BPC) in 1992.
In celebration of its 50th anniversary season, the Chorus commissioned Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Dominick Argento to write a new choral work, Te Deum, which was premiered by the Chorus and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1988. In 1999 the Chorus presented the world premiere of Peace Requiem by Persis Vehar. In December 2000 the BPC was featured on National Public Radio in a performance of Handel's Messiah with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of JoAnn Falletta. Other performances also conducted by Maestro Falletta have included Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. For the past six seasons the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and the BPO have co-sponsored a concert at Kleinhans Music Hall that featured major choral works: Bach's B Minor Mass, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Haydn's The Creation, and Mozart's Mass in C Minor. This year's co-present concert will be The Defiant Requiem --Verdi at Terezin, a concert drama that juxtaposes the story of the performances of Verdi's Requiem at the Nazi camp at Terezin with the music of the Requiem.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus Chamber Singers is a group of 20-28 singers drawn from the full chorus. The Chamber Singers came into existence in 1995 so that the BPC could perform additional repertoire, and in venues that were not suitable for the full ensemble. Membership varies according to the style of music and the number of singers needed.
|
