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Marin Alsop Conducts Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Program of Bernstein and Beethoven Tonight

By: Nov. 21, 2014
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In a program that continues the 2014-2015 season theme of spirituality in music, Music Director Marin Alsop pays tribute to her mentor Leonard Bernstein. Maestra Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in a concert featuring the works of both Bernstein and Beethoven, tonight, November 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 23 at 3 p.m at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, November 22 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore.

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Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah" are accompanied by Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, the last work Bernstein conducted before his death in 1990. Joining Marin Alsop and the BSO will be members of the Cathedral Choral Society, the BSO's first-ever collaboration with the Washington, D.C.-based choir. Jennifer Johnson Cano performs the mezzo-soprano solos in the Bernstein symphony. Please see below for complete program details.

Chichester Psalms was Bernstein's first composition after his 1963 Third Symphony ("Kaddish"). While both works have a chorus singing texts in Hebrew, the Kaddish Symphony has been described as a work often at the edge of despair, while Chichester Psalms is joyous and at times serene. Musically, Chichester Psalms is true to Bernstein's personal style - jazzy and contemporary, yet accessible. Bernstein characterized this work as "popular in feeling," with "an old-fashioned sweetness, along with its more violent moments."

With Bernstein's Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah," he not only established himself as a major American symphonist, but also began a musical and dramatic exploration of a theme of faith that would continue to inspire many of his major works. "The work I have been writing all my life," he said in 1977, "is about the struggle that is born of the crisis of our century - a crisis of faith." While his Symphony No. 1 offers only consolation and not a solution to this crisis, Bernstein's creative journey led him to a profound conclusion - that "a renewal of faith in modern times requires a return to innocence...and a fundamental belief in our common humanity." These performances of the Symphony No. 1 will be recorded for later release on the Naxos label, and is made possible in part through the generosity of Sandra Levi Gerstung & the Hecht Levi Foundation and Arnold & Diane Polinger.

In what turned out to be his final performance, Leonard Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. He was noted by John Rockwell in The New York Times to have conducted the Seventh Symphony "with a special mastery. Those who had seen and heard Bernstein perform innumerable times over the years will never forget the sovereign authority of that interpretation, grave and noble, yet passionate." He also noted that, "One also remembers [Bernstein's] look of gasping, pained exhaustion as he walked effortfully toward the wings after accepting the ovations of the audience. He was very ill, as his agonized expression telegraphed."

Marin Alsop, conductor
Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene, a music director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that "music has the power to change lives." She is recognized across the world for her innovative approach to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages.

Marin Alsop made history with her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra. Her success as the BSO's music director has garnered national and international attention for her innovative programming and artistry. Her success was recognized when, in 2013, her tenure was extended to the 2020-2021 season.

Alsop took up the post of principal conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in 2012, and became music director in July 2013. There, she steers the orchestra in its artistic and creative programming, recording ventures and its education and outreach activities. She also holds the title of conductor emeritus at the Bournemouth Symphony in the United Kingdom, where she served as the principal conductor from 2002-2008.

In the summer of 2013, Maestra Alsop served her 22nd season as music director of the acclaimed Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California. In September 2013, she made history as the first female conductor of the BBC's Last Night of the Proms in London. When Musical America named Maestra Alsop the 2009 Conductor of the Year, they commented, "[Marin Alsop] connects to the public as few conductors today can."

Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano
Jennifer Johnson Cano is a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant and George London Winner who joined The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera in 2008 and made her Met debut in 2009-2010. As First Prize winner of the 2009 Young Concert Artist International Auditions, she has given recital debuts with husband Christopher Cano in New York at Carnegie Hall, in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center, in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center.

Over the last two seasons, Ms. Cano has debuted as Meg Page in Falstaff, Bersi in Andrea Chenier, Marguerite in Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, The Sharp Eared Fox in Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen with Franz Welser-Möst and Diana in La Calisto. Her 2014-2015 season includes Hansel, Nicklausse and Mercedes with The Metropolitan Opera, Donna Elvira with Boston Lyric Opera, Mahler II with the Utah Symphony, Beethoven's Ninth with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a return to the Baltimore Symphony with Marin Alsop for Leonard Bernstein's Jeremiah Symphony, which will also be recorded live for Naxos.

Cathedral Choral Society
The Cathedral Choral Society is the resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral. The 130-voice chorus is the oldest choral group in Washington, having been founded in 1941 by Paul Callaway who served as music director until 1984. Since 1985, J. Reilly Lewis has conducted the Society in musical masterpieces from plainsong to the classics to contemporary works. Since its founding, the Cathedral Choral Society has presented numerous world premieres, many of them commissioned by the Society, and has maintained a tradition of showcasing both promising young soloists and internationally known artists.

In recent years, the Choral Society has appeared numerous times at the Kennedy Center with the Washington Ballet in performances of Orff's Carmina Burana, in performances sponsored by Washington Performing Arts and with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO).

COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS
Bernstein and Beethoven
Friday, November 21, 2014 at 8 p.m. - Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (JMSH)
Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 8 p.m. - The Music Center at Strathmore
Sunday, November 23, 2014 at 3 p.m. - JMSH

Marin Alsop, conductor
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano
Cathedral Choral Society

Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
Bernstein: Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah"
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7



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