PETER LIEBERSON (born in 1946)
The World in Flower (2007)
Among Peter Lieberson’s teachers were the renowned composers Milton Babbitt and Charles Wuorinen, but in 1974 he met Chogyam Trungpa, a Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist master, who sparked his interest in Eastern cultures and inspired works that dealt with Eastern subjects. The World in Flower for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic three years ago, was to be the last of a series of works about enlightened rulers from the East, and was to focus on Emperor Shotoku Taishi, the man who brought Buddhism to Japan. Himself a Buddhist, Peter Lieberson originally envisioned the cantata as a showcase for his late wife mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, but her untimely death in July 2006 brought about a change of focus. “The World in Flower you will hear at these concerts is a completely different piece from the one first envisioned,” says the composer. He completed the score, written for chorus, mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, and orchestra in early in 2007. “I chose the texts myself. They are wide-ranging and include “I Live My Life in Widening Circles,’ by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke; texts by shamans, and mystics like Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mechtild of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete; excerpts from Rumi, the Odes of Solomon, and Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman; Oceana by Pablo Neruda; and a final excerpt of selected prayers from the Navajo.” Peter Lieberson explains how such diverse provenances of the words being sung (in English translation) came together for him: “Despite the differences in language these texts hold very similar views. At this time in particular when there is so much intolerance, they embody similarities in spiritual realizations from many traditions. I chose the texts for these reasons and more, for their profound understanding and sympathy for humanity, as well as for their passion and exuberance for this mysterious human life.” Steven Stucky who is hosting a Hear and Now program in connection with The World in Flower states: “Peter Lieberson writes some of the most beautiful music in the world today. … Something special happens when people encounter him and his music.” His contributions to today’s classical repertoire were recently recognized when he received the University of Louisville’s prestigious 2008 Grawemeyer Award for his orchestral song cycle Neruda Songs, composed for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 1, “Titan” (1888)
“These emotions became so powerful in me that they gushed forth like an impetuous torrent…At a single blow, all the floodgates were opened within me! …I must get out and breathe air deeply again. For six weeks I have scarcely left my worktable!” So wrote Gustav Mahler to a friend after he completed his “Symphonic Poem in Two Parts.” But the reception was less than favorable, and five years later he revised it, now calling it a Symphony, and giving it the title “Titan,” after a novel by Jean Paul. Though he provided a “program” for his heart-stopping masterpiece, he later rejected the notion of words being necessary to understand his music. “As long as my experience can be summed up in words, I write no music about it; my need to express myself musically—symphonically—begins where dark feelings hold sway, at the door that leads to the other world—the world where things are no longer separated by time and space.” But when the new version was premiered in 1894, he still had difficulties gaining acceptance: “My symphony was received with furious opposition by some and with wholehearted approval by others.” When it was finally published in 1898, the only programmatic description left appeared above the first line of the score: “like a sound of nature.” Mahler led the U.S. premiere of his “Titan” symphony shortly after beginning his two-year tenure as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1909 to 1911). Things to listen for on this epic journey include quotations from Mahler’s song cycle the Songs of a Wayfarer and the tune “Bruder Martin,” aka “Frère Jacques,” sounding eerie as performed in the upper register of the string bass, with a steady undercurrent provided by the timpani. The composer created a remarkable work—one so big, that it requires augmented orchestral forces. And hang on when seven horns—their bells turned up—proclaim the breathtaking, jubilant finale.

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.

Learn More about Alan Gilbert

JOYCE DI DONATO
Mezzo-soprano, born in 1969 Prairie Village, Kansas
Critics are left searching for superlatives when it comes to describing mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato’s voice, which she has lent to numerous operatic roles and performances with orchestras around the globe. She has rapidly developed a worldwide following in opera, concert, and recital appearances, claiming a position among the most exciting performing artists of her generation and regularly demonstrating the ability to breathe emotional life into the characters of her wide-ranging repertoire. She grew up in a suburb of Wichita, Kansas, the sixth of seven children of a close-knit Irish-American family. She sang in choir and musicals in high school, dreaming of being a backup singer for Billy Joel. She told National Public Radio that as a teen she would lock herself in her room, windows open, and put on Jesus Christ Superstar or Barbra Streisand albums and scream at the top of her lungs, “hoping to be discovered.” She discovered the thrill of opera in her junior year and has never looked back. When she took part in Santa Fe Opera’s apprenticeship program in 1995 she was honored as the Outstanding Apprentice Artist. In 2000 she received the prestigious ARIA award, which annually recognizes American vocal artists of exceptional ability and undeniable promise. But the crowning glory was receiving the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Award, given to an American singer for outstanding leading roles at the Met. Her repertoire spans the spectrum from Mozart to Machover. A passionate evangelist for contemporary opera, her roles have included Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at New York City Opera; and, at Houston Grand Opera, Meg in Little Women (broadcast on PBS) and Katerina Maslova in Tod Machover’s epic Resurrection, both of which were recorded. She commented to NPR that the goal of opera singers should be to have an absolutely flawless technique at their command—which the American system provides very well; but should also attain what European opera houses are known for—“the blood and guts of opera… an emotional rollercoaster… rocking the house and raising the roof.” This combination is what she strives for in her work. In addition to her operatic work, Joyce DiDonato also has sung in concert with Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Orchestre National de Paris, among others, and has previously appeared with the New York Philharmonic. Her extensive discography includes the music of Handel, Rossini, and Berlioz, and DVDs of Handel’s Hercules and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Among her non-musical interests is baseball, and she confesses to being an avid fan of the Kansas City Royals.

“Elegant, unaffected and enchanting” (Opera News)

“She simply stood there—then opened her mouth and, seemingly without preparation, began to spin out a golden, utterly perfect melodic line. For those few minutes, time seemed to stop.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

RUSSELL BRAUN, baritone, born in 1965 in Frankfurt, Germany
Thrilling, manic, glorious, superbly sung, rich, powerful, elegant, soft-grained, and spine-tingling are but a few of the epithets the media has used to describe Canadian opera sensation Russell Braun. In concert, opera, and recital, the international stages of the world are his—whether it be the Metropolitan Opera in New York, l'Opéra de Paris, the State Opera in Vienna, the Lyric Opera in Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Salzburg, or the Glyndebourne Festival.

In much demand as a concert artist, the past few seasons have seen Mr. Braun appear at the BBC Proms in Fauré's Requiem, the Salzburg Festival in Schubert's Mass in G, the Tanglewood Festival in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, with the St. Louis Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, in L'Enfance du Christ with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, in Elijah with the Minnesota Orchestra, and in the Duruflé Requiem with Les Violons du Roy in Québec City.

“Braun's elegant, soft-grained timbre and meticulous handling of verbal and musical detail were a joy to hear.” (Opera News)

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