Something Old,
Something New,
Something Borrowed,
Something….else!
Faculty Voice Recital
Donald Hartmann
bass-baritone
Ināra Zandmane
piano
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
7:30 pm
Recital Hall
Program
I.
Two Scenes from Giulio Cesare George Frederick Handel
Dall'ondoso periglio...Aure per pieta 1685 - 1759
Quel torrente
II.
Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121 Johannes Brahms
I. Denn es gehet dem Menschen 1833 - 1897
II. Ich wandte mich
III. O, Tod
IV. Wenn ich mit Menschen
III.
Chanson Gaillardes Francis Poulenc
La Maîtresse Volage 1899 - 1963
Chanson à boire
Madrigal
Invocation aux Parques
Sérénade
La belle jeunesse
IV.
Horn Concerto #4 music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rondo: Ill Wind 1756 - 1791
(Flanders and Swann)
Program Notes and Translations
George Frederick Handel composed over 40 operas, or musical
dramas, between 1705 and 1741 in various genres. Of particular
importance from this period is Giulio Cesare (1724), which contains one of
Handel's most expansive and powerful scores. The music of this opera,
and humane characterizations found in this work, has made it one of the
most frequently revived Handel operas during the 20th and 21st
centuries.
In 1966, New York City Opera under the musical direction of Julius
Rudel, mounted a new production of Julius Caesar featuring the
American bass, Norman Triegle as Caesar and Beverly Sills as Cleopatra.
What was to have been a "breakthrough" production for Treigle, ended
up as a triumph for Miss Sills. In short, she became an overnight
sensation in the role.
Today, with the rise of countertenors such as David Daniels and
Bejun Mehta, the role of Caesar is no longer cast using a bass voice. The
two selections presented this evening are from the 1966 version as heard
in the City Opera production.
George Frederick Handel:
Giulio Cesare
Act II
Dall'ondoso periglio...Aure, deh, per
pietà
Recitativo
Dall'ondoso periglio
Salvo mi porta al lido
Il mio propizio fato.
Qui la celeste parca
Non tronca ancor lo stame alla mia vita!
Ma dove andrò?
E chi mi porge aita?
Ove son le mie schiere?
Ove son le legioni,
Che tante mie vittorie il varco apriro?
Solo in quest'erme arene
Al monarca del monto errar conviene?
Aria
Aure, deh, per pietà
Spirate al petto mio,
Per dar conforto, oh Dio!
Al mio dolor.
Dite: dov'è, che fà,
L'idolo del mio sen,
L'amato e dolce ben
Di questo cor.
Julius Caesar
From the peril of the waves
I have been brought safely to shore
By propitious fate.
The Fate in heaven above
Is not yet pleased to cut my life's thread!
But where shall I go?
And who will assist me?
Where are my shattered troops?
Where are the legions which paved the
way
For many victories?
Is the ruler of the world reduced to
wander
These deserted shores alone?
Breezes, ah, for pity
Waft over my breast
And give comfort, oh God,
To my suffering.
Tell me: where is she, and how is she,
The idol of my senses,
The beloved sweet treasure
Of my heart?
Recit.
Ma d'ogni intorno i'veggio
Sparse d'arme e d'estinti
L'infortunate arene,
Segno d'infausto annunzio alfin sarà.
Aria
Aure, deh, per pietà, ecc.
Act III
Quel torrente
Quel torrente che cade dal monte,
Tutto atterra, ch'incontro lo stà!
But on every side I see
The unhappy shores
Strewn with corpses and weapons
Which foreshadow a desperate end.
Breezes, ah, for pity, etc.
The torrent that floods down the
mountain
Levels everything that stands in its way.
In his book, The Concert Song Companion, Charles Osborne writes:
The last group of solo songs, written by Brahms in the final year of his life, is the
magnificent cycle, Vier ernste Gesänge, composed on gloomy Biblical
texts…These four songs of doubt and despair are among the composer’s greatest
and most powerful utterances in song. Everyone is entitled to his or her own
opinion. The text can be interpreted as being “gloomy” as they can
project a pessimistic view of the human condition. However, they can
also be rather cathartic.
The Vier ernste Gesänge have been an important addition to my vocal
repertoire for many years. I first performed these songs on my Graduate
Recital in 1983 with Dr. Lawrence Hart, former Dean of the School of
Music, as my accompanist. Whenever I return to them in preparation for
any performance, I become more aware of the profound meaning of the
text and how these words taken from the scriptures, are so beautifully
set to music. In many ways, these songs will always be a “work in
progress.”
Johannes Brahms:
Vier Ernste Gesänge
I. Ecclesiastes 3: 19-22
Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh;
Wie dies stirbt, so stirbt er auch;
Und haben alle einerlei Odem;
Und der Mensch hat nichts mehr denn das
Vieh:
Denn es ist alles eitel.
Es fährt alles an einen Ort;
Es ist alles von Staub gemacht,
Und wird wieder zu Staub.
Wer weiss, ob der Geist des Menschen
Aufwärts fahre,
Four Serious Songs
For that which befalls the sons of men
befall beasts
as the one dies, so dies the other;
yea, they have all one breath;
so that a man hath no preeminence above
a beast;
for all is vanity.
All go unto one place;
all are of dust
and will return to dust.
Who knows that the spirit of man
goes upwards,
Und der Odem des Viehes unterwärts unter
die Erde fahre?
Darum sahe ich, dass nichts bessers ist,
Denn dass der Mensch fröhlich sei in seiner
Arbeit,
Denn das ist sein Teil.
Denn wer will ihn dahin bringen,
Dass er sehe, was nach ihm geschehen wird?
II. Ecclesiastes 4: 1-3
Ich wandte mich und sahe an
Alle, die Unrecht leiden unter der Sonne;
Und siehe, da waren Tränen derer,
Die Unrecht litten und hatten keinen
Tröster,
Und die ihnen Unrecht täten waren zu
mächtig, Dass sie keinen Tröster haben
konnten.
Da lobte ich die Toten,
Die schon gestorben waren
Mehr als die Lebendigen,
Die noch das Leben hatten,
Und der noch nicht ist,
Ist besser als alle beide,
Und des Bösen nicht inne wird,
Das unter der Sonne geschiet.
III. Ecclesiastes 41: 1-2
O Tod, wie bitter bist du,
Wenn an dich gedenket ein Mensch,
Der gut Tage und genug hat
Und ohne Sorge lebet;
Und dem es wohl geht in allen Dingen
Und noch wohl essen mag!
O Tod, wie better bist du.
O Tod, wie wohl tust du dem Düftigen,
Der da schwach und alt ist,
Der in allen Sorgen steckt,
Und nichts Bessers zu hoffen
Noch zu erwarten hat!
O Tod, wie wohl tust du.
IV. Corinthians 13: 1-3, 12-13
Wenn ich mit Menschen und mit
Engelszungen redete,
Und hätte der Liebe nicht,
So wär ich ein tönend Erz,
Oder eine klingende Schelle.
Und wenn ich weissagen könnte
Und wüsste alle Geheimnisse
Und alle erkenntnis,
Und häte allen Glauben, also
and that the spirit of the beasts goes
under the Earth?
Wherefore I perceive that there is
nothing better,
Than that a man should rejoice in his
own works; For that is his portion.
For who shall bring him to see what shall
be after him?
I returned, and considered
All the oppressions that are done under
the sun;
And behold the tears of such
As were oppressed, and they had no
comforter;
And on the side of their oppressors there
was power; but they had no comforter.
Wherefore I praised the dead
which are already dead
more than the living
which are yet alive.
Yea, better is he than both , which has not
yet been,
who hast not seen the evil work
that is done under the sun.
O, death, how bitter you are,
In the thoughts of a man
who has good days, enough
and a sorrow-free life
and who is fortunate in all things,
and still pleased to eat well!
O, death, how bitter you are.
O death, how well you serve him who is
in need
Who is feeble and old,
and is burdened by all sorrows,
and has nothing better to hope for
or to expect;
O death, how well you serve.
Though I speak with the tongues of men
and of angels
and have not love,
I am become as sounding brass,
Or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy,
and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge;
and though I have all faith,
Dass ich Berge versetzte,
Und hätte der Liebe nicht,
So wäre ich nichts.
Und wenn ich alle meine Habe den Armen
gäbe,
Und liesse meinen Leib brennen,
Und hätte der Liebe nicht,
So wäre mir's nichts nütze.
Wir sehen jetzt durch einen Spiegel
In einen dunkeln Worte;
Dann aber von Angesicht zu Angesichte.
Jetzt erkenne ich's stückweise,
Dann aber werd ich's erkennen,
Gleich wie ich erkennent bin.
Nun aber bleibet Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe,
Diese drei;
Aber die Liebe ist die grösseste unter ihnen.
so that I could remove mountains,
and have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to
feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not love,
it profit me nothing.
For now we see through a glass,
darkly;
but then face to face.
Now I know in part;
but then I shall know
even as also I am known.
And now abides faith, hope, love,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
In 1926, when Heugel published the Chansons Gaillardes (Ribald
Songs), Poulenc was already a popular composer. He remarked, "I am
fond of this collection where I tried to show that outright obscenity can
adapt itself to music." The texts were found in an anthology of songs of
the seventeenth century. These songs include sardonic comments on
fidelity, frenzied praises to wine, and the pleasures of the bed. Ribald,
indeed!
Chansons Gaillardes:
Francis Poulenc
La Maîtresse volage
Ma maîtresse est volage,
Mon rival est heureux;
S'il a son pucelage,
C'est qu'elle en avait deux.
Et vogue la galère,
Tant qu'elle pourra voguer.
Chanson à boire
Les rois d'Egypte et de Syrie,
Voulaient qu'on embaumât leurs corps,
Pour durer plus longtemps morts.
Quelle folie!
Buvons donc selon notre envie,
Il faut boire et reboire encore.
Buvons donc toute notre vie,
Embaumons-nous avant la mort.
Embaumons-nous;
Que ce baume est doux.
Ribald Songs
The Fickle Mistress
My mistress is fickle,
My rival is happy:
If he got her virginity,
It's because she had two.
And come what may,
As long as she can sail.
Drinking Song
The kings of Egypt and Syria
Wanted their bodies to be embalmed
So as to last, longer, dead.
What folly!
Let us drink then according to our desire,
We should drink and drink again.
Let us drink then all our life,
Let us embalm ourselves before death.
Let us embalm ourselves,
For the balm is sweet!
Madrigal
Vous êtes belle come un ange,
Douce comme un petit mouton;
Il n'est point de coeur, Jeanneton,
Qui sous votre loi ne se range.
Mais une fille sans têtons
Est une perdrix sans orange.
Invocation aux Parques
Je jure, tant que je vivrai,
De vous aimer, Sylvie.
Parques, qui dans vos mains tenez
Le fil de notre vie,
Allongez, tant que vous pourrez,
Le mien, je vous en prie.
Sérénade
Avec une si belle main,
Que servent tant de charmes,
Que vous devez du Dieu malin,
Bien manier les armes!
Et quand cet Enfant est chagrin
Bien essuyer ses larmes. La, la, la...
La Belle Jeunesse
Il faut s'aimer toujours
Et ne s'épouser guère.
Il faut faire l'amour
Sans curé ni notaire.
Cessez, messieurs, d'être épouseurs,
Ne visez qu'aux tirelires,
Ne visez qu'aux tourelours,
Cessez, messieurs, d'être épouseurs,
Ne visez qu'aux coeurs
Cessez, messieurs, d'être épouseurs,
Holà messieurs, ne visez plus qu'aux coeurs.
Pourquoi se marier,
Quand les femmes des autres
Ne se font pas prier
Pour devenir les nôtres.
Quand leurs ardeurs,
Quand leurs faveurs,
Cherchent nos tirelires,
Cherchent nos tourelours,
Cherchent nos coeurs.
Madrigal
You are as beautiful as an angel,
Sweet as a little lamb;
There is not a heart, Jeanette,
Who doesn't submit to your charms.
But a girl without tits
Is as a partridge without orange.
Invoking the Fates
I swear, as long as I live,
To love you Sylvie;
Fates, who in your hands holds
The thread of our life,
Elongate, as long as you can,
Mine, I pray to you.
Serenade
With a hand so beautiful,
That offers so many charms,
That you should, you devil you,
Handle a weapon well!
And when that infant is sad,
Wipe well her tears. La, la, la...
Beautiful Youth
We used to only love each other
And hardly ever marry.
We must make love
Without priest and notary.
Stop, sirs, to be marrying men!
Aim only for the ti-ri-li-res;
Aim only for the tou-re-lours.
Stop being married men!
Stop aiming only for the hearts.
Put an end to, sirs, no longer aim for the
heart.
Why marry,
when the wives of other men
will stop praying
to become ours.
When their ardors,
when their favors,
search our ti-ri-li-res
search our tou-re-lours,
search our hearts.
Ill Wind
The British duo Flanders and Swann were the actor and singer Michael
Flanders (1922–1975) and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald
Swann (1923–1994), who collaborated in writing and performing comic
songs.
Between 1956 and 1967 they performed some of their songs in their long-running
two-man revues, At the Drop of the Hat and At the Drop of Another
Hat.
As the story goes...
Michael Flanders: It has long been my earnest wish to improve the standard of
the music we have in these shows of ours -
Donald Swann: Thank you very much!
Michael Flanders: Not at all my dear chap - nothing personal... - you know
that nobody has a higher opinion of your work than you do yourself. I simply
meant we should have some more good music; and to this end I have been
practicing the horn, or French horn, as they call it, or German horn, as the
French call it, not to be confused with the cor anglais.
It's a marvelous instrument. I took it up because I very much wanted to play the
music of Mozart, in particular his wonderful horn concerto in E-flat, Köchel
rating 495, which he wrote at the age of about 18 months.
I practiced very hard, against considerable opposition, I may say, and I had
hoped this evening to give you the very first performance of the last movement,
the Rondo Allegro Vivace. Owing to curious circumstances as yet unexplained I
am not able to do this. I can only tell you why...
Performers
Donald Hartmann has been described as possessing a, “big, rich voice
with an amazing timbre;” interpretative abilities as "hearty and
dramatic;" vocal resonance as "ringing," "sepulchral," "richly focused;"
and "the rubberiest face since Jim 'Hey Vern' Varney." Having performed
in over 125 operatic productions, in over 50 operas singing over
60 different roles, he is a commanding leading man and “one of the best
character singers on any opera stage anywhere" (Opera News).
Engagements have included appearances with Opéra de Montreal,
Madison Opera ,Toledo Opera, Opera Carolina, Michigan Opera
Theater, Nashville Opera, Piedmont Opera, and as Dr. Bartolo in both Le
Nozze di Figaro and Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Delaware. In April
2009, he created the role of Howard in the world premiere of Libby
Larsen’s most recent opera, Picnic. In fall 2010, Donald Hartmann sang
the Sacristan in Tosca with the newly formed North Carolina Opera in
Raleigh, as well as the Speaker in Greensboro Opera’s production of Die
Zauberflöte. He will be making a return to both opera companies in
productions of Carmen and La Boheme in 2011. A concert recitalist and
oratorio soloist, Donald Hartmann has sung with the renowned Detroit
Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Symphony #9 with New Mexico
Symphony, the Verdi Requiem with the Eastern Philharmonic, Peabody
Symphony, Plymouth Symphony, and a benefit performance conducted
by Neeme Järvi. Other engagements include the Mozart Requiem with
the Greensboro Symphony, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra;
Brahms’ A German Requiem; Duruflé Requiem; Handel’s
Messiah; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and The Seasons. Donald received
his BM in Piano Performance, and MM in Vocal Performance from
UNCG and the DMA from the University of Oklahoma, graduating with
Honors. He is a Professor of Voice in the Department of Performance
Studies.
Born in the capital of Latvia, Riga, Ināra Zandmane started to play piano
at the age of six. Ms. Zandmane holds BM and MM from Latvian
Academy of Music, MM in piano performance from Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale, and DMA in piano performance from the
University of Missouri at Kansas City. She has been the staff accompanist
at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro since 2003, performing
up to fifty recitals per year. Ms. Zandmane is frequently invited to serve
as an official accompanist at national competitions and conferences,
among them the North American Saxophone Alliance conference and the
MTNA National competition since 2004. Ms. Zandmane has been
presented in solo recitals in St. Paul, Kansas City, Cleveland, St. Louis,
and New York, as well as in many Republics of former Soviet Union. In
April 2000, she was invited to perform at the Glenn Gould Studio in
Toronto. Ināra Zandmane has appeared as a soloist with the Latvian
National Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony, Latvian Academy of Music
Student Orchestra, SIU Symphony, and UMKC Conservatory Symphony
and Chamber orchestras. She has performed with various chamber
ensembles at the International Chamber Music Festivals in Riga, Vilnius,
Tallinn, Helsinki (Finland), and Norrtelje (Sweden). Ms. Zandmane has
collaborated with such musicians as Martin Storey, Paul Coletti,
Branford Marsalis, Michel Debost, Kelly Burke, Steven Stusek, and Susan
Fancher. For a few last years, Ināra Zandmane has worked together with
Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. She has given Latvian premieres of his
two latest piano pieces, Landscapes of the Burnt-out Earth and The
Spring Music, and recorded the first of them on the Conifer Classics
label. Solo recordings include the piano works by Maurice Ravel,
recorded together with her husband, Vincent van Gelder, and the
complete Sonatas for piano by Alexander Scriabin. She also can be heard
on various chamber music CDs.
