LEOS JANÁCEK (1854-1928)
The Cunning Little Vixen (Czech: Príhody Lisky Bystrousky, literally The Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears) (1923)
Leos Janácek drew the story for his touching opera about Vixen Sharp-Ears from a serialized commentary written by Rudolf Tesnohlídek on humorous drawings by Stanislav Lolek. The illustrated tale appeared in the Czech newspaper Lidové noviny in 1920. After conferring with the author (who had turned the story into a novel) Janácek wrote his own libretto, transforming the original comic cartoon into a philosophical reflection on the circle of life and demonstrating his deep love of nature. Unlike his tragic operas, Jenufa and Ká'a Kabanová, Vixen is told in a folk-like style full of stylistic innovations. Janácek took the principal incidents from Tesnohlídek and Lolek’s comic strip and connected them into the narrative of the opera. We see in this beloved work a paean to Mother Nature and the natural order of things—even including the death of the Vixen—a death the composer invented. Elements of his own life also found their way into the story. Janácek saw himself in the role of the Forester and Kamila Stösslová as the Vixen and the Gypsy girl Terynka. He had fallen into unrequited love with the much younger woman, who would become the muse for his beautiful late works. Balancing realism and symbolism in his juxtaposition of the animal and human worlds, Janácek creates a fantastical musical language for the forest. (He even undertook a study of animals and notated their calls and noises.) His menagerie includes the Vixen who is transformed from a naughty cub to Mrs. Fox and fierce mother of her brood, and critters of many other kinds; humans, too, are part of the life-and-death cycle of nature. Janácek once wrote that he had composed Vixen “for the sake of the forest and the sadness of old age,” and at his request, the final scene from the opera was performed at his funeral.

In September 2009 Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the first native New Yorker to hold the post.

For his inaugural season he introduced a number of new initiatives: the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, held by Magnus Lindberg, and Artist-in-Residence, first held by Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's new-music series. In the 2009–10 season he led the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi. He also took the Philharmonic to nine cities on the EUROPE / WINTER 2010 tour in January–February 2010, and is conducting world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009–10 season, Mr. Gilbert became the first person to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that includes coaching, conducting, and hosting performance master classes.

Highlights of Mr. Gilbert's 2008–09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson's The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the Philharmonic's Concerts in the Parks and Free Indoor Concerts, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and performances at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In June 2008 Mr. Gilbert was named conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, following his final concert as its chief conductor and artistic advisor. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra since 2004, and he has conducted other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; and the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich's Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of the Santa Fe Opera.

Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School. From 1995 to 1997 he was the assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams's Doctor Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award, and his recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 received top honors from the Chicago Tribune and Gramophone magazine. On May 15, 2010, The Curtis Institute of Music awarded Mr. Gilbert an Honorary Doctor of Music degree.

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DOUGLAS FITCH, director and designer, born in 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Doug Fitch has worked in media ranging from architecture and opera to puppetry and edible art (he did, after all, attend La Varenne—École de Cuisine in Paris.). As a child he developed an interest in puppetry, and, inspired by his father’s participation in community theater, he and a brother began putting on their own shows. During fourth grade he enrolled in a college-level puppetry class along with his mother, who wanted to learn about doll-making. Fast forward a few years…Doug Fitch’s work in concert-theater rekindled his fascination with puppetry and inspired, for example, a miniature theater filmed-live-and-projected above the stage in Avery Fisher Hall for the Philharmonic’s A Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky in 2005. He was always lured by “a world where anything can become anything else, where absurd juxtapositions surprise and delight, where deep seriousness about art is infused with an equally profound sense of play,” the Boston Globe noted. But, before you can create magic in the hall, there are logistics to be worked out. “Like the question of limited space on stage, not shining lights into musicians’ eyes, sightlines for the audience, etc. Still, every dilemma offers a golden opportunity.” Doug Fitch’s approach to storytelling and visualizing music usually involves lights and projections—“but no smoke and mirrors,” he adds. “I prefer ‘obvious magic’—the kind you could do yourself.” The Cunning Little Vixen has a especially appealing dimension for the designer, because it transports the audience into the world of the forest (that time-honored metaphor for the realm of the subconscious, where anything can happen). It’s obvious that Doug Fitch connects deeply with the opera. “I love the idea of taking a childlike world seriously; Vixen’s music is so sophisticated, so beautiful, while still conveying a sense of wonder in how it unfolds the world to your senses.”

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ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN, soprano, born 1974 in Zahle, Lebanon
Isabel Bayrakdarian wasn’t expecting to become an internationally renowned soprano. Though her family wasn’t seriously musical, everyone learned to play the piano and sang in the church choir. She had been encouraged (including by her first voice teacher) to pursue a safer path of medicine or engineering. But in her final year at university, while writing her thesis, she won the Metropolitan National Auditions. And everything changed. “The decision to abandon the prospects of a career where few female engineers make it, and take a leap of faith into the strange new world of music was actually very easy! I didn’t want to be 45 years old and living with regret for not having taken the risk!” At the Auditions, where the other nine winners were deciding what to sing and wear at the final concert, “I was getting a barrage of faxes from the University of Toronto Faculty of Engineering asking for experiment results, thesis status reports, and test deadlines, and I had to worry about what to sing and what to wear.” Among her many roles, she loves singing the Vixen for its lush romantic vocal line, and because it offers her “the chance to be impish, sexy, ferocious, and tender, all at the same time. And there’s the vixen’s nuanced character development from innocent cub, to rebellious teenager, on to awkward young vixen falling in love for the first time, to wife, and finally to mother….There are even adorable insects and reptiles and cubs running around on stage—so it’s a perfect opera for the whole family!” Isabel Bayrakdarian is married to pianist/recital partner Serouj Kradjan, and they have a young son, Ari. Recently she launched Tango Notturno on iTunes and won a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical with the Canadian band Delerium. She can also be heard on the Grammy-winning soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

“A soprano voice that combines lyricism with remarkable dramatic instincts.” Time

“She sings luxuriantly and passionately, with a richly pulsing mezzo quality in her lower and middle registers and a ringing fullness on top.” Opera News

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ALAN OPIE, baritone, born in 1945 in Redruth, Cornwall, UK
Baritone Alan Opie finds it impossible to say when he discovered his voice. Growing up in Truro, Cornwall, his talents were nourished by a musical family. His parents sang in local choirs, and he and his two brothers were encouraged to learn musical instruments. As a boy, he, too, sang in church and local concerts, until his voice “slid over a period of a couple of years to a light baritone level.” After auditioning for a choral exhibition at one of the Cambridge Colleges he began to sing in the College Chapel Choir for the six services per week in which the choir took part. After Cambridge, he applied to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and soon became involved in the Opera Course, followed by a post graduate year at the London Opera Centre. And that’s when he “entered the big wide world,” including joining the English National Opera (formerly Sadler’s Wells Opera). Today, he is a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, La Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and English National Opera, where he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his performance of Falstaff. In Cunning Little Vixen he performs the role of the Forester, singing “some of the most beautiful and heartwarming music in the repertoire. One can completely accept the mixture of forest animals, played by humans, alongside the more conventional roles,” and adding that “this opera is one of the most life affirming works of art that I know.”

“His account … can rank with the finest this near-operatic soliloquy has received and his overall contribution lacked for nothing in authority and insight.” classicalsource.com

“Alan Opie made a magnificent contribution, deeply expressive and rapturously resonant, every word and pitch made significant.” classicalsource.com

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MARIE LENORMAND, mezzo-soprano, born in 1972 in Ancenis, France
Marie Lenormand makes her Philharmonic debut as the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen, a role she covered while singing the part of Lapák, the Dog in a Japanese production conducted by Seiji Ozawa. “I had the chance to rehearse the Fox at that time, and I must say, it is my favorite role. In this ‘pants role with paws’, for example, I sing an extraordinary love duet with the Vixen—it’s a sort of dance of seduction where I bring her a rabbit to impress her.” Marie Lenormand loves the characters of Janáček’s libretto, who, despite their beautiful simplicity, “really shed light upon the human condition, on the cycle of life. And, of course, I love the music; though it is complex rhythmically and harmonically, once you have it in your body it is truly amazing to sing.” The mezzo-soprano comes from a family in western France who placed great value on their children’s musical education. She and her two brothers always sang together and, to this day, play—of all things—ukuleles. “They make anything sound charming and a little old-fashioned.” Marie Lenormand doesn’t remember exactly when she realized she had a “Voice.” “I was always the little bird in the family. I would sing on car trips with the family, though if my parents asked me to sing at family get-togethers, I was shy and ran and hid.” As is the case with all international stars, Marie Lenormand is on the road most of the year. But in her free time she enjoys relaxing by knitting “very long scarves” and with the craft of papercutting. “I learned it when I was singing Vixen in Japan. I cut out dozens of foxes and other animals to offer to my colleagues in the production as opening night gifts. It’s a tradition in the world of opera.”

“Lenormand lit up the stage … one of the evening’s many highlights.” Cincinnati Enquirer

“Lenormand, with her rock-solid technique, wrapped her red-burgundy mezzo securely around Penelope’s inner sufferings.” Chicago Tribune

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KEITH JAMESON, tenor, born in 1967 in Greenwood, South Carolina
Like many singers, Keith Jameson started singing in church and school choirs, but discovered his talent when, at age 15, he was cast as the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His choir director suggested he take singing lessons, and for two years he regularly traveled two hours to study voice at Furman University. His only exposure to opera in his teens was a live Aida performance and Dialogues of the Carmelites on television, “I was blown away by the experience,” he recalls. Though he had planned to pursue a career in art and architecture, he eventually enrolled at Furman’s opera and theater programs and graduated with a BA in vocal performance. He went on to the Eastman School of Music and received an MA in conducting and a PhD in musical arts in vocal performance and literature. “I prefer singing over conducting—for now anyway. I love creating characters, becoming different people, and acting.” Keith Jameson is especially fond of modern opera and taking part in their premieres, because “I enjoy the idea of creating a brand-new character that’s never existed before.” His plate is rather full these days with learning nine new roles. “When learning a new part, I always give myself a few months to research the piece, the language, the meaning of the text, the music.” Though he saw Vixen at City Opera, these Philharmonic performances as the Schoolmaster and the Mosquito are his first in a Janáček opera. He recently appeared as the smuggler Remendado in the Met’s Carmen, broadcast live in HD around the world, and he particularly enjoyed having his parents travel from Greenwood to New York to see him in the concluding performance of the opera. “They have been a constant source of support and encouragement in my career.”

“Keith Jameson’s Monostatos was a standout, comically malevolent and cleanly sung.” Opera News

“…a thousand-watt smile, commendably clear diction and lovely lyric singing” Opera News

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