RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Elektra (1909)
Though Der Rosenkavalier is probably Richard Strauss’s most beloved and most widely-performed opera, it was two earlier shocking one-acters that made his name fodder for the tabloids and ignited international scandals: Salome in 1905 and Elektra in 1909. Both title characters are young women, obsessed with getting what they want and then paying for it: Salome gets—and kisses—the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter and is crushed to death by the palace guards; and the hysterical Elektra gets revenge for the death of her father Agamemnon and then lurches into madness in a bizarre “waltz macabre.” No one could carry off such unspeakable tales of horror better than Richard Strauss. Elektra pushes the envelope of opera in its re-telling of Sophocles’ Greek tragedy. The chilling but fascinating score for Elektra was set upon a libretto by the great Austrian poet and playwright, Hugo von Hofmannsthal—the first of six collaborations. The story of the dysfunctional family is simple to relate. Elektra’s mother Klytämnestra and her lover Aegisth have killed Agamemnon, father of Elektra and Chrysothemis. Elektra, living like a haunted wild beast among filth, mourns, laments, and wails over the death of her beloved father (her aria calling his name shakes the rafters) and longs for atonement. She hopes to convince her weak-willed sister to act with her in a plot against Klytämnestra—the mother you love to hate—whose demanding, nightmare-haunted role is a magnificent vehicle for veteran mezzos. When her brother Orest returns to Mycenae, Elektra, thinking him dead, doesn’t at first realize who the stranger is. But in the ecstatic “recognition scene” she gradually realizes that he is her brother and the longed-for avenger of the crime. In the chilling off-stage killing of the adulterous, murderous Klytämnestra and Aegisth justice is at last carried out—to the demented joy of Elektra. As if dancing on their graves, the avenged Elektra performs a hysterical dance of victory and collapses. Strauss calls for super-human voices that can cut through a huge orchestral curtain of sound, and for an orchestra that makes noise—loud noise—along with music. In a well-known anecdote about the Elektra rehearsals, Strauss admonished the conductor “Louder, louder the orchestra; I can still hear Frau Heink [the Klytämnestra].” The singer summed up the experience of Elektra: “I will never sing the role again. It was frightful. We were a set of mad women… There is nothing beyond ‘Elektra’.”

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere–NewYork Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; and he conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series — a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in February 2008 — the first performance there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world. Other recent tours have included Asia 2008 — to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in the fall of 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world’s operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993–2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972–82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965–71). He is an honorary member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. On February 17, 2009, he will be named a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the government of France.

A second-generation American, born in Paris, Mr. Maazel was raised and educated in the United States. He took his first violin lesson at age five, and first conducting lesson at seven. Between ages 9 and 15 he conducted most of the major American orchestras. In 1953 he made his European conducting debut in Catania, Italy.

Mr. Maazel is also an accomplished composer. His opera, 1984, received its world premiere on May 3, 2005, at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was revived in the 2007–08 season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and has been released on DVD by Decca.

American born soprano Deborah Polaski (Elektra) has appeared in operas by Wagner and R. Strauss, in addition to Beethoven’s Fidelio, Berg’s Wozzeck (as Marie), Berlioz’s Les Troyens (as Didon and Cassandre), and Janáček’s Jenůfa (as Kostelnicka Buryjovka). The title role in Strauss’s Elektra has been a focal point of her career for many years, as she has performed it with many major conductors, orchestras, and stage directors, and has made complete recordings of the work, both with Semyon Bychkov and with Daniel Barenboim. Other recordings include Wolf-Ferrari’s Sly, and Wagner’s Ring (excerpts), Die Walküre (excerpts), Lohengrin, and Tristan und Isolde (excerpts). Between 1988 and 1998, she sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in more performances than any other soprano in the history of the post-war Bayreuth Festival. Ms. Polaski has also dedicated herself to the recital repertoire, performing in halls across Europe, including at the Berlin Staatsoper with Daniel Barenboim at the piano, which has been released on a CD with her accompanist, Charles Spencer. Her 2008–09 season includes appearances as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde at the Berlin Staatsoper, and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre at the Hamburg Staatsoper; concerts with the Berlin Staatskapelle led by Mr. Barenboim with the Berlin Philharmonia and the Konzerthaus Berlin; and concert performances of Elektra with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon, and the Bavarian and Berlin Staatsoper as Elektra. She is making her New York Philharmonic debut in these concerts.

Soprano Anne Schwanewilms (Chrysothemis) was born into a musical family in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, but studied gardening before training as a singer with the German bass, Hans Sotin, in Cologne. She learned her craft between 1991 and 1996 as a member of the Cologne Opera Ensemble, and began as a mezzo-soprano, singing, among other roles, Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Ten years ago it became clear that her voice was settling into a soprano. Her first soprano role was as Gutrune in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, for the 1996 Bayreuth Festival Ring cycle, and she quickly came to specialize in the German Romantic soprano repertory, appearing at Glyndebourne in the title role of Weber’s Euryanthe (2002) and, under Simon Rattle, as Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo (2003) and Senta in Wagner’s Die fliegende Holländer. In 2002 she was named Singer of the Year by the German magazine, Opernwelt. As her voice was becoming lighter, she decided to concentrate on the lyrical heroines of Richard Strauss, one of whom, Chrysothemis in Elektra, she had already performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. She sang in Strauss’s late comedy, Die Liebe der Danae, in Dresden in 2005, and performed her first Marschallin in R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, in January 2006. She will add Strauss’s Arabella to her repertory in 2009 and has begun a long-term exploration of the huge, rich repertory of Strauss songs, both with piano and orchestra. Ms. Schwanewilms, who has performed with numerous orchestras, is making her New York Philharmonic debut in these concerts.

Soprano Jane Henschel (Clytemnestra) was born in Wisconsin, studied at the University of Southern California, and subsequently moved to Germany. In concert she has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Radio France, and Philadelphia Orchestra. Her recordings include Krasa’s Verlobung im Traum (Decca), Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (Philips Classics); Albeniz’s Merlin with Plácido Domingo, which won a 2001 Grammy Award, and Albéniz’s Henry Clifford (both for Decca); Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (EMI/Virgin), which received a 2003 Gramophone Award; and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony (EMI). Her numerous operatic roles include Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress at the Glyndebourne, Saito Kinen, and Salzburg festivals; Brangäne in Wagner’s Walküre for the Los Angeles Opera and the Paris Opéra; the Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly; Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites in Amsterdam; Kostelnicka Buryjovka in Janáček’s Jenůfa under Ozawa in Japan; and the Kabanicka in Janáček’s Katya Kabanova at the Salzburg Festival. It is The Nurse in R. Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten that has become her signature role, and which she has sung in Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and at The Metropolitan Opera. These concert performances of Elektra represent her New York Philharmonic debut.

Baritone Julian Tovey (Orestes) made his debut at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in May 2008 as Winston in Lorin Maazel’s opera, 1984. Other recent roles include Donner in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with De Vlaamse Opera conducted by Gustav Kuhn at the Tiroler Festspiele, and in David McVicar’s new production in Strasbourg; and Bonze in Anthony Minghella’s new production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly for English National Opera. Other engagements include appearances as Count Almaviva in John Cox’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at Garsington Opera; Second Nazarene in R. Strauss’s Salome in David McVicar’s new production at the Royal Opera House; Amfortas in Wagner’s Parsifal in concert in Edinburgh; and Captain/Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Tovey has appeared throughout Europe and in Japan in concert. Recent appearances include Brahms’s German Requiem with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Orff’s Carmina burana with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; the world premiere of Derek Bermel’s Natural Selection with Ensemble 10-10 in the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the North Netherlands Orchestra. Mr. Tovey studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and St. Andrews University, and trained at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he was a Wingate Scholar, and at the Britten-Pears School. He won first prize in the Wagner Society of Great Britain Bayreuth Bursary Competition. This is his New York Philharmonic debut.

Canadian tenor Richard Margison (Aegisthus) has performed in many of the world’s leading opera houses including The Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Sydney Opera, and Netherlands Opera. In the 2008–09 season he will make his role debut as Aegisthus in R. Strauss’s Elektra with the Seattle Opera; reprise one of his signature roles as Riccardo in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera with the Hamburg Staatsoper; performs in concert with the Kingston Symphony; and appears with the Manitoba Opera as Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore and in the Calgary Opera’s production of R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Future seasons include returns to The Metropolitan Opera and Vancouver Opera. He will make his role debut as Walther von Stolzing in a major new production of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted by James Levine for the Cincinnati Opera, in June 2010. In the 2007–08 season Mr. Margison made his debut at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala as O’Brien in Lorin Maazel’s 1984, a role he originated at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2005. He has also appeared with numerous orchestras. His recordings include an all-Verdi CD for CBC Records; Beethoven’s Fidelio with Christine Brewer (Chandos); Lanza (Warner Music); Verdi’s Don Carlo with the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus (Philips); Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; and a solo album of French and Italian arias (CBC Records).

Mezzo-Soprano Renée Tatum is currently a first-year member of The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Program, as well as alumna of The 2009 San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship and 2008 Merola Opera Program, where she performed the role of Nancy in Britten’s Albert Herring. Recent engagements have included: Emilia in Verdi’s Otello, Inez in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Slave in R. Strauss’s Salome, and Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata, all with the San Francisco Opera. Other engagements in the 2008–09 season have included: Maddalena from Verdi’s Rigoletto in The Richard Tucker Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, Klytämnestra’s Train Bearer in R. Strauss’s Elektra with the New York Philharmonic, The Secretary in Menotti’s The Consul with Chautauqua Opera, covering Jocasta in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen with New Orleans Opera, and Omar in Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer, with The Juilliard Opera Center. She is also a two-time recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. A regional finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Tatum holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and California State University Fullerton, as well as an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. Upcoming engagements include Mere Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites with the Juilliard Opera Center, Dritte Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, with Santa Fe Opera, Inez in Il Trovatore with The Metropolitan Opera, and Flosshilde and Welgunde in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen with San Francisco Opera.

Tenor Ryan MacPherson (Young Servant) has appeared with the New York City Opera as Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan Tutte and as Anathol in Barber’s Vanessa, and is a recent recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Award honoring his contribution as a young artist to New York City Opera. He recently added the role of Don José in Bizet’s Carmen to his repertoire, with performances with Opera Memphis, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, and at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. He made his company debut at the Opera National de Paris (Bastille) as the Vision of a Young Man in R. Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, and also performed Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine with Sarasota Opera and Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Utah Symphony and Opera. Upcoming roles include Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème with Lyric Opera Productions in Dublin; Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with Florentine Opera; the title role in Bernstein’s Candide with Toledo Opera; and Ferrando in Così fan Tutte with Portland Opera. Other notable appearances include roles in the concert productions of Zemlinsky’s Der ferne Klang and The Wreckers by Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) with the American Symphony Orchestra. Mr. MacPherson made his Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center debuts creating the role of Meriwether Lewis in Michael Ching’s opera, Corps of Discovery. His oratorio engagements have included Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore and Requiem, and Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day and Messiah. This is his New York Philharmonic debut.

Soprano Helen Huse Ralston (Overseer) recently performed the role of Ortlinde in the critically acclaimed new production of Wagner’s Die Walküre under the direction of Zubin Mehta at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain, and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Florence, Italy. She made her New York City recital debut at the Liederkranz Society in March 2006. Recent performances include R. Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Newark Symphony, Newark, Delaware; Leonora in a concert performance of Verdi’s Il trovatore with the Delaware Valley Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Handel’s Messiah. On the operatic stage Ms. Ralston appeared as La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with Opera Delaware, where she also understudied the title role of Turandot. Other performances include the role of Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera with the Delaware Valley Opera Company of Philadelphia; and Isolde in excerpts from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with both the Newark Symphony. Ms. Ralston attended the University of Maryland, graduating cum laude with a bachelor of arts in visual and performing arts and a master of music degree in vocal performance. She was a recipient of the Homer Ulrich Award in Solo Performance upon completion of her graduate work and received both a Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Vocal Performance and the Award for Achievement in Music Performance upon completing her undergraduate studies. She is making her New York Philharmonic debut.

Mezzo-soprano Janice Meyerson (First Maid) made her professional debut as Brangäne in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with The Philadelphia Orchestra led by Leonard Bernstein, and has since appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and the Boston National, New Orleans, and American symphony orchestras. In 2007–08 Miss Meyerson was heard in the title role in Bizet’s Carmen at the Teatro Solís in Montevideo, Uruguay; as the Prioress in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Kentucky Opera in Louisville; and at the Kennedy Center with the Washington National Opera in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer. Other appearances have included leading roles with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Frankfurt Opera, New York City Opera (including the title role in Carmen), Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, L’Opéra de Montréal, and at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. In 2007 Ms. Meyerson returned to the Washington National Opera for Janáček’s Jenůfa, and sang Madame Raquin in the New York premiere of Tobias Picker’s Thérèse Raquin with DiCapo Opera. Recent seasons have included an appearance as contralto soloist with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra in Shostakovich’s From Jewish Folk Poetry at the Bard Music Festival, where she also appeared in 2005–06 as soloist in the orchestral version of Copland’s Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson. She last performed with the New York Philharmonic in 1983 in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah, conducted by Larry Newland.

Illinois native mezzo-soprano Stephanie Chigas (Second Maid) has performed with the Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and at the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland. In the 2007–08 season she appeared as Flora in Verdi’s La traviata and Albine in Massenet’s Thaïs with Boston Lyric Opera; and as Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with Sinfonia da Camera. She covered the role of Leda in Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur at New York City Opera. Her concert performances at Carnegie Hall have included Duruflé’s Requiem, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem. She has also performed Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody and Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, at Boston’s Symphony Hall with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Chigas is the winner of the 2005 George London Foundation Competition and is the 2004 recipient of the Stephen Shrestinian Award for Excellence awarded through the Boston Lyric Opera. She was a 2003 National Semi-Finalist for The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Second-Place Winner in the New England Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2005. She is making her New York Philharmonic debut.

Mezzo-soprano Linda Pavelka (Third Maid) began her career in Israel where she performed major roles with the New Israeli Opera Company. She made her debut as Giulietta in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, followed by Siebel in Gounod’s Faust, and Lena in the world premiere of Josef Tal’s Josef, all directed by David Alden. She went on to sing Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte; Miss Jessel in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw; Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin; Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Brigitte Fassbaender; and Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, directed by Dario Fo. She toured Spain and the United States with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah, under the baton of Lawrence Foster, culminating with an engagement at Carnegie Hall. Recently, she made her debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang at Avery Fisher Hall. She has appeared with Seattle Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and has sung numerous roles with the Vienna Staatsoper and Volksoper. In concert she has appeared throughout Israel, Canada, France, the United States, Germany, Austria, Spain, Finland, and Japan, and has been a soloist with every major orchestra in Israel. She performed with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. With the Israel Chamber Orchestra she performed with Michel Corboz and with Asher Fisch singing Falla’s El amor brujo, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été. In France, Ms. Pavelka’s first major appearance was with the Orchestre de Paris, in the leading role of Philipe Manoury’s La Nuit de sortilège. This is her New York Philharmonic debut.

Bombay-born American soprano Priti Gandhi (Fourth Maid) made her role debut in 2008 with the Caramoor Music Festival as Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Also in 2008, she made her New York City Opera debut as Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen, and will appear as Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème and as the Second Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes with San Diego Opera. Other roles have included Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Prague); the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola in Dayton, Ohio, and San Diego, California; and Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Austin, Texas. She made her Los Angeles Opera debut in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with Audra McDonald and Patti Lupone. In opera houses abroad, Ms. Gandhi recently performed in Wagner’s Die Walküre, led by Christoph Eschenbach, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, and will participate in Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in a production that stars Juan Diego Flores. Ms. Gandhi was a finalist in the 2000 International Antonín Dvořák Competition of the Czech Republic. In the U.S., she was a Western Regional Finalist of the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as first-place winner in the 1997 Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition. This is her New York Philharmonic debut.

Soprano Julianne Borg (Fifth Maid) sang Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen with New York City Opera (NYCO) last fall in her seventh season with the company. Other roles with NYCO have included Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Beth in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, Serpetta in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, Ygraine in Dukas’s Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, and Cleone in Rossini’s Ermione. Internationally, Ms. Borg has sung Flaminia in Haydn’s Il mondo della luna at Opera de Nice, France; Mimi in La bohème with the Tokyo City Opera; and First Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes in Toulouse, France. She has also been a soloist in the Mozart Requiem, Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4, Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Poulenc’s Gloria, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Orff’s Carmina burana, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and The Creation. Ms. Borg made her professional opera debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music playing the roles of Virtù and Valetto in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. She created the role of Lucy in the premiere of Stephen Paulus’s opera, The Woman at Otowi Crossing at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Ms. Borg last appeared with the New York Philharmonic in June 2007 in Hindemith’s one-act opera, Sancta Susanna, conducted by Riccardo Muti.

New York Choral Artists, a professional chorus founded and directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, has been heard with the New York Philharmonic in recent seasons performing repertoire ranging from Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time to Mozart’s Requiem. Among the memorable collaborations with the New York Philharmonic was the concert on September 20, 2001, of Brahms’s A German Requiem, commemorating the events of September 11. The chorus opened the Philharmonic’s 2002–03 subscription season performing the world premiere of John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic with Lincoln Center’s Great Performers. Other highlights of include participation in the 1995 New York Philharmonic concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, and a televised performance of the 1986 Statue of Liberty Concert in Central Park. The chorus performed Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonic in March 2006, conducted by Lorin Maazel, and in the October 5–6, 2006, and February 2009 Philharmonic concert performances of Ravel’s one-act opera, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, also conducted by Mr. Maazel.

Find additional upcoming performances with New York Choral Artists