Dvořák: Stabat Mater North Carolina Master Chorale Alfred E. Sturgis, Music Director Danielle Talamantes, Soprano  Charlotte Daw Paulsen, Mezzo‐soprano Wade Henderson, Tenor  Kerry Wilkerson, Bass Symphony Orchestra Sunday, April 12 at 3pm Meymandi Concert Hall, Duke Energy Center Program Stabat Mater Program Notes Stabat Mater, Op. 58 Antonin Dvořák At his death, Antonin Dvořák was internationally acknowledged as the greatest composer of the late Romantic period. He had introduced the Western world to the genres of the Czech cantata and oratorio and had generally popularized Czech music. Scion of a small town butchers and innkeepers, Dvořák had a long, steep climb to such prominence. Despite his acknowledged childhood talent playing violin at village dances, lack of money and connections prevented him from receiving a proper musical education. His local teacher finally convinced the elder Dvořák to allow his son to move to Prague to study. But for four years at the Prague Organ School, followed by years of drudge labor in dance bands and opera orchestras (playing viola), he continued to turn out chamber works, minor orchestral pieces and operas that remained unpublished. In 1874, Dvořák applied for, and won five times in a row, an Austrian State scholarship for impoverished musicians. On the jury for his second application was Johannes Brahms, who enthusiastically promoted the not‐so‐young composer’s music and recommended him to his own publisher, Simrock. Meanwhile, Dvořák had married Anna Chernakova, the younger sister of the woman he really loved, Josefina. (This bait‐and‐switch maneuver seems to have been common for composers, including Mozart and Haydn.) But in 1875, just as his career as a Antonin Dvořák (1841‐1904) composer was finally on its way, his daughter Josefa died two days after her birth. Less than two years later, her one‐year‐old sister, Ruzena, was dead of phosphorous poisoning, and a month later his first‐
born three‐year‐old son, Otokar, succumbed to smallpox. After Josefa’s death, he began work on a setting of the Stabat Mater for piano and chorus, although not necessarily as a result of his daughter’s death, as is commonly believed. He even submitted the score with his third application for the Austrian State scholarship. It was only after the triple calamity that he revisited the work, orchestrating it and adding three movements to the original seven. It is significant that it is listed as Op. 58, attesting to Dvořák’s assiduous, but heretofore thankless, efforts to be recognized as a professional composer. With the premiere in 1880 and publication by Simrock came the launch of Dvořák’s international reputation. By 1883, the Stabat Mater had been performed in England – home of the grand civic choral society – to such acclaim that Dvořák was invited to London to conduct the work the following year. The composer wrote of the performance in Royal Albert Hall: “But I must briefly mention the size of the orchestra and the choir. Please, don’t be alarmed! There are 250 sopranos, 160 altos, 180 tenors, and 250 basses; the orchestral sections were also impressive: 24 first violins, 20 second violins, 16 violas, 16 cellos, 16 double basses. The impact of such a strong ensemble was indeed exhilarating.” Thereafter, all of Dvořák’s large choral works – plus the Seventh Symphony – were commissioned in England. The Stabat Mater, a meditation on the sorrows of Mary at the cross, was written in the thirteenth century probably by Jacopone di Todi. The poem illustrates the changes in Latin during the Middle Ages when metric prosody and rhyme reflected the popular vernacular poetry. There are 21 verses of which Dvořák set 20 to music. The verses consist of three lines of trochaic tetrameter with an AAB rhyme scheme. Throughout the work, Dvořák combined more than one verse into a single movement, often changing the music or the vocal forces to indicate the change from verse to verse. Dvořák’s Stabat Mater is extremely emotional, even operatic, perhaps reflecting the composer’s 13 years in the orchestra of the Provincial Theatre in Prague. His setting comprises a religious and emotional journey parallel to the poem. The first eight verses give a heart‐rending description of Mary as she watches her son die on the cross. At verse nine, however, “Eia Artist Biographies Danielle Talamantes, Soprano “It’s not often that a fortunate operagoer witnesses the birth of a star!,” noted of Soprano Danielle Talamantes’ recent role début as Violetta in La traviata. Talamantes makes an exciting return to The Metropolitan Opera as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, and return to the National Philharmonic for both Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem and Exsultate Jubilate, which she will also perform with the City Choir of Washington. Other upcoming engagements include a turn as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Cedar Rapids Opera and a “Canciones Españolas” concert at The Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. Highlights from recent seasons include a début at Avery Fisher Hall as the soprano soloist in Bob Chilcott’s Requiem, the soprano lead in a world première production of Janice Hamer’s Lost Childhood with the National Philharmonic in Washington D.C., Elijah with the Blacksburg Master Chorale, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the City Choir of Washington, and a début of the role of Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème with Capital City Symphony. Recent opera engagements also include the roles of Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with the Baltimore Mater fons amoris” (Alas, mother, source of love), the poet begins to speak of himself as if participating in the terrible event and even sharing Jesus’ suffering. By the final four verses, “Inflammatus et accensus” (Fired and excited), the poet prays that his vicarious experience might render him worthy of salvation on the Day of Judgment. The long orchestral introduction is characterized by a repeated five‐note chromatically descending motive – long been recognized in Western music as a symbol of lamentation – which is taken up by the chorus. This initial movement also employs a rising sequence, which returns in the final movement to symbolize salvation and give some unity to the entire oratorio. After the second movement, the music gradually becomes more animated and less chromatic until Dvořák actually begins to occasionally employ the major mode. Program notes by: Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn wordprosmusic.com Symphony Orchestra and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Opera on the James. Other performed roles include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Micäela in Carmen, Alexandra in Regina, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. An accomplished recitalist, Talamantes has been a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Chorale & Orchestra, Oratorio Society of Virginia, Nashville Symphony, Choralis and Baltimore Choral Arts Society. She made her Carnegie Hall début in a sold‐out recital in 2007. Ms. Talamantes has been awarded first‐prize in several prestigious opera competitions, including: the Irene Dalis Opera San Jose Competition; Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus Competition; XII Concurso de Trujillo; International Lotte Lehman Cybersing Competition; NATS Artist Award; and the Vocal Arts Society Discovery Series competition. In addition, she has garnered honors and awards in vocal competitions with the National Opera Association, Liederkranz Foundation, Seoul International Music Competition, Licia Albanese‐Puccini Foundation, Giulio Gari Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Plácido Domingo's Operalia and Thomas Quasthoff’s Das Lied. Charlotte Daw Paulsen, Mezzo‐soprano Charlotte Daw Paulsen, mezzo‐soprano, possesses a voice described as unusually rich and complex. She received critical acclaim in the New York Times: in Rossini’s ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’ “The real star, along with the chorus, was Charlotte Daw Paulsen a mezzo‐
soprano with real contralto gravity and power in her lower register, in the Aguns Dei, her performance grew dramatic in the best sense and utterly gripping.” Recent performances include: Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with Oratorio Society of New York, Beethoven’s 9th with Nashville Symphony, Mahler’s 8th in Carnegie Hall, Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with Louisiana Philharmonic, and Verdi’s Requiem with Virginia Symphony, and Costa Rica Symphony. Previously she performed the contralto role in Elijah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Missa Solemnis of Beethoven with Questra Sinfonica de Mineria, Judas Maccabaeus with Berkshire Choral Festival, Aida with Greater Bridgeport Symphony, and Brahms Alto Rhapsody. She is frequently invited to perform works in depth of emotional expression, such as the United States premieres of Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater, The Armed Man a Mass for Peace, Bards of Wales, and Gloria; as‐
well‐as New York City’s’ premier of Et la vie l’emporte by Frank Martin with I Cantori. Known as a fine interpreter of Oratorio, she was hailed for her performance in Messiah as “an intense performer, with an unusual and distinctive voice, compelling and enormous in its lower register.” Charlotte Daw Paulsen born in Philadelphia holds degrees from: The Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University: Temple University: and West Chester University, as well as honors from Salzburg Mozarteum, Zurich International Opera Studio, Tanglewood Festival, and Opera Music Theater International. Wade Henderson, Tenor Tenor Wade Henderson appears frequently on local stages in opera, concert and choral settings. He is known for his “strong, vibrant tenor voice” (Classical Voice of North Carolina) as well as for his facility with a wide variety of musical styles. In opera, Wade’s accomplishments include critically acclaimed performances of Madama Butterfly (Lt. Pinkerton), Pagliacci (Canio), and the world premiere of J. Mark Scearce’s A Tree – A Rock – A Cloud (Old Man); the title role in L’amico Fritz; and supporting parts in Salome, il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Carmen, Aida and Tristan und Isolde. As a concert soloist, Wade’s recent engagements include performances of Bach’s Magnificat and St. John Passion, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Beethoven’s Symphony #9, Missa Solemnis, and Mass in C, Berlioz’s Te Deum, Britten’s St. Nicolas cantata and Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Dvorak’s Requiem, Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light, Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War (Paukenmesse), Honegger’s King David, Mahler’s Das klagende Lied, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul, Mozart’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s All‐Night Vigil (Vespers), Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Salieri’s Requiem, J. Mark Scearce’s Anima Mundi and Mourning Songs, Stravinsky’s Les Noces (The Wedding), Tippett’s A Child of Our Time and the world premiere of Scearce’s String Quartet #2 “Atlantis” with the renowned Borromeo Quartet. Wade is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied French Horn and voice. Kerry Wilkerson, Bass Kerry Wilkerson is a current member of and Enlisted Director for the United States Army Chorus. With over 20 years experience as a military musician he has performed in many of the most prestigious concert halls throughout the United States and Canada. In addition to his many military‐related performances, Kerry is well known to Washington, DC audiences through his solo recitals and regular guest appearances with community‐based choruses and orchestras. Also an accomplished conductor, he serves as Assistant Director of Music Ministries at Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA, where he oversees a growing music ministry for teenagers; to include a Youth Orchestra & Chorus which he conducts. He has served as choral director at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, VA, and as an adjunct professor of voice at George Mason University; teaching voice majors at the undergraduate and graduate level.