DAVID KRAUSS, TRUMPET David Krauss joined The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2001and occupies theBeth W. and Gary A. Glynn endowed chair. He has has performedwith James Levine in the MET chamber series at Carnegie Hall and has appeared as guest principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. A native of Long Island, New York, he earned both Bachelor andMaster of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and studied Wynton Marsalis,William Vacchiano, Chris Gekker and James Pandolfi. Prior to joining the Met, heperformed with a variety of ensembles in and around New York City including Orchestraof St. Luke’s, The New Jersey Symphony, and on several Broadway shows. He coproduced three recordings, including the Metropolitan Opera Brass’s self titled debut album and the subsequent “Waltzes, Songs & Festive Scenes” and “Sacrae Symphoniae”, as part of which he was praised by the American Record Guide for his “singing tone which is luxurious and inviting.” He is currently trumpet professor at the Mason Gross School of Arts, Rutgers University and teaches trumpet in the pre college division of The Juilliard School. In the summertime, he is the head brass coach and trumpet teacher at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. David lives in Manhattan with his wife Kristen and their four children Noah, Eli, Margot, and Ava.

ROMAN RABINOVICH, PIANO The eloquent pianist Roman Rabinovich has been highly lauded by The New York Times, BBC Music Magazine, the San Francisco Classical Voice and others. He has performed throughout Europe and the United States in venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre in New York, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, and the Terrace Theater of Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Rabinovich has participated in festivals including Marlboro, Lucerne, Davos, Prague Spring, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. An avid chamber musician, he is also a regular guest at ChamberFest Cleveland. Rabinovich has earned critical praise for his explorations of the piano music of Haydn. At the 2018 Bath Festival, he presented a 10-recital 42-sonata series, earning praise in The Sunday Times. Prior to that, in 2016 as artist in Residence at the Lammermuir Festival in Scotland, he performed 25 Haydn sonatas in 5 days, and over two seasons, in 2016 and 2017, he performed all Haydn’s sonatas in Tel Aviv. In May 2020 Rabinovich will perform two recitals comprising of Haydn and contemporary works at the 92nd Y in New York and three programs dedicated to Haydn at the Wigmore Hall. Dubbed “a true polymath, in the Renaissance sense of the word” (Seen & Heard International, 2016), Rabinovich is also a composer and visual artist. Rabinovich’s 2019-20 engagements include concerto appearances with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Sir Roger Norrington, Meiningen Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Glacier Symphony and solo recitals highlights include International Piano Series at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Ruhr Piano Festival, Liszt Academy, Union College and ProMusica Detroit. The last two seasons saw Rabinovich’s critically acclaimed concerto debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington, as well as with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the NFM Leopoldinum and Szczecin Philharmonic in Europe, and the Seattle Symphony, the Sarasota Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, the Sinfonia Boca Raton and James Judd in the US. Solo recitals appearances include Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Walter Reade Theatre, the Houston Society for the Performing Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society, Vancouver Recital Society, Chopin Society in St Paul, MN, the Philip Lorenz Piano Series in Fresno, the Janáček May International Music Festival.and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. As a chamber musician Rabinovich appeared with violinist Liza Ferschtman in, among others, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus and the BeethovenHaus Bonn. Roman Rabinovich made his Israel Philharmonic debut under the baton of Zubin Mehta at age 10. He was a top prizewinner at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 2008, while in 2015, he was selected by Sir András Schiff as one of three pianists for the inaugural “Building Bridges” series, created to highlight young pianists of unusual promise. Born in Tashkent, Rabinovich immigrated to Israel with his family in 1994, beginning his studies there with Irena Vishnevitsky and Arie Vardi; he went on to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Seymour Lipkin, and earned his Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School where he studied with Robert McDonald.

STELLA CHEN, VIOLIN Stella Chen Violin 2023 Young Artist of the Year, Gramophone Awards Praised for her “silken grace” and “brilliant command” (The Strad), American violinist Stella Chen first gained international recognition as the winner of the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition. Her critically acclaimed debut album Stella x Schubert, released in 2023 on Apple Music’s Platoon label, earned her the Young Artist of the Year title at the Gramophone Awards. Chen has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia in concerto, recital, and chamber music settings. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Her performances have taken her to some of the world’s most iconic venues, including the Vienna Musikverein, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Berlin Philharmonie. She appears frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, both in New York and on tour. Highlights of Chen’s 2025–26 season include concerto debuts with the Vancouver Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and Antwerp Symphony orchestras, and an American tour with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, including a performance at Carnegie Hall. She appears in recital and chamber music performances at La Jolla Music Society, Chamber Music San Francisco, and leads a residency at San Francisco Conservatory. A dedicated chamber musician, Chen has been featured at festivals including the Kronberg Academy, Moritzburg Festival, Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, Rockport, and Sarasota Music Festival, where she returned as faculty in 2025. Chen is the inaugural recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, where she was mentored and inspired by Robert Levin. Her teachers and mentors have included Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, Li Lin, and Catherine Cho. She received her doctorate from the Juilliard School, where she was recently appointed to the College Division String Faculty. She also serves as Visiting Assistant Professor at the Shenandoah Conservatory and is on the faculty of the Nume Festival and Academy in Cortona, Italy. Chen performs on the “General Kyd” 1720 Stradivarius, generously on loan from Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. 2025-26 season / 342 words. Not to be altered without permission. Intermusica represents Stella Chen worldwide as part of Intermusica New York Martin Wittenberg, Director, Intermusica New York +1 (719) 200-6426, mwittenberg@intermusica.com Emma Cayeux, Assistant Artist Manager, Intermusica New York +1 (646) 298 2826, ecayeux@intermusica.com Jessica Barra, Artist Manager +44 7827 028 792, jbarra@intermusica.com https://intermusica.co.uk/artist/stella-chen

MIDGE WOOLSEY, NARRATOR Midge Woolsey has proudly served the tristate community as a broadcaster for over 30 years. Since joining WQXR in 1993, she has been the Weekend Music host and more recently the Weekday Evening host. As a host on public television’s flagship station Thirteen/WNET she has introduced such specials as Andrea Bocelli’s Emmy nominated Statue of Liberty Concert, The Three Tenors with James Levine live from Paris, and the landmark twenty-four hour event, PBS Millennium 2000. She has also hosted numerous fundraising events, including Josh Groban in Concert and Pavarotti in Central Park. Behind the scenes, Woolsey worked with Jac Venza on Great Performances, the award-winning PBS series of international music, dance and drama programs. She also served as production executive for award-winning producer David Grubin, working with him on several acclaimed historical documentaries for the PBS series American Experience and on the poetry series The Language of Life with Bill Moyers. Woolsey has degrees in theater and music, and has served as a director, performer and choreographer in more than 100 productions with various regional opera and musical theater companies.

November 15, 2015 – Jeremy Denk, piano; Stefan Jackiw, violin JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, op. 100 November 15, 2015 – Jeremy Denk, piano; Stefan Jackiw, violin Brahms composed the A major Violin Sonata during the summer of 1886 in idyllic Hofstetten, Switzerland. That summer he eagerly anticipated the visit of Hermine Spies, the young contralto for whom he wrote many of his late songs. He noted that the Sonata’s second theme quotes one of the songs he wrote with her in mind, “Wie Melodien zieht es mir” (As if melodies were moving), op. 105, no. 1. Commentators have also linked “Komm bald” (Come soon), op. 97, no. 6, with this movement and found references in the finale to two other Opus 105 songs, “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer” (My slumber grows more and more peaceful)—which climaxes with the words, “Komm’, O komme bald ”—and “Auf dem Kirchhofe” (In the churchyard). Brahms’s friend Elisabet von Herzogenberg was moved to characterize the entire A major Sonata as “a caress.” As was his custom, Brahms himself participated in the premiere of the Sonata on December 2, 1886, with violinist Joseph Hellmesberger, leader of the Hellmesberger Quartet and enthusiastic supporter of the composer. The performance occurred a little over a week after Brahms had accompanied Hermine in her Viennese debut recital. The first movement breathes the kind of lyricism associated with Brahms’s songs whether or not one hears the specific allusions. It is the second theme in this sonata form that recalls his lovely “Wie Melodien,” borrowing the first phrase only, which Brahms varies rhythmically and gives a new continuation. The tune reappears in the recapitulation and furnishes the violin’s last utterance to close the coda. The second movement combines a slow movement and scherzo in alternating sections, in a manner similar to the middle movement of the F major Quintet. Each returning section brings a subtle variation of its former appearance. Brahms marked the finale “Allegretto grazioso quasi Andante” in order to achieve a non-hurried, graceful atmosphere. The climactic phrase “Come, o come soon” (from “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer”) can be detected in the rondo theme. The first contrasting episode introduces a haze of arpeggiated chords rather than a “tune” before the rondo refrain returns, but the second episode sounds more traditionally songful. A variation of the first theme returns in the coda, extended by warm double stops in the home key. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

WESTON SPROTT, TROMBONE Weston Sprott was appointed to the position of second trombone of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the spring of 2005. He began his musical training in his hometown of Spring, TX. Mr. Sprott attended Indiana University before completing his Bachelor of Music degree at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His primary teachers include Michael Warny (Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras), Carl Lenthe (former Principal Trombone, Bavarian State Opera and Bamberg Symphony) and Nitzan Haroz (Principal Trombone-Philadelphia Orchestra). While a student at Curtis, Mr. Sprott held the positions of Principal Trombone in the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra (Philadelphia) and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He was the founding member of the Texas Trombone Octet, a group that won the Emory Remington competition and was featured in concert at the International Trombone Festival in Helsinki, Finland. Mr. Sprott has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Hot Springs Music Festival, The American Wind Symphony Orchestra, and The Sphinx Symphony (Detroit). He has also performed with the St. Barts Music Festival and the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society. Mr. Sprott has worked under the baton of many of the world’s great conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Andre Previn and numerous others. Mr. Sprott was recently featured in the documentary film “A Wayfarer’s Journey:Listening to Mahler” with actor Richard Dreyfuss and actress Kathleen Chalfant. He was also a performer in the film “Rittenhouse Square” under the direction of Robert Downey, a documentary that played in major film festivals throughout the United States to critical acclaim. In September 2007, Mr. Sprott made his Carnegie Hall solo debut performing Lars Erik-Larsson’s Concertino in Weill Recital Hall at the invitation of the Bulgarian Consulate. Other engagements have led to performances with gospel and jazz artists such as Branford Marsalis, Take 6 and Donnie McClurkin. Performances and interviews with Mr. Sprott have been seen and heard on PBS’ Great Performances, NPR’s Performance Today, and Sirius Satellite Radio. In demand as a soloist and masterclass clinician, Mr. Sprott has been a featured guest artist at several of America’s leading conservatories and universities. He is currently on the faculty of Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, and he previously served on the faculty of The New School University, a division of the Mannes School of Music in New York City. Weston Sprott is an artist/clinician for the Edwards Instrument Company. He performs exclusively on Edwards trombones and Doug Elliott mouthpieces.

JULIE GUNN, PIANO Julie is a music director, vocal coach, and song arranger, and she is passionate about songs and singers. She designs and performs song recitals, and has appeared on many prestigious series over the last several years, including the Carnegie Hall Pure Voice Series, Lincoln Center Great Performers, Londonís Queen Elizabeth Hall, Brussels Theatre de la Monnaie, the 92nd Street Y, University of Chicago Presents, San Francisco Performances, Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Oberlin College, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Scheduled for the upcoming year are recitals at Dominican University, Torontoís Roy Thompson Hall, and cabaret performances in Orange County, Sun Valley, and the Allerton Barn Festival. In 2008 she had the privilege of playing a private recital for members of the United States Supreme Court. Julie Gunn also enjoys teaching and training the younger generation, and in her faculty appointment at the UI, she works with both singers and pianists. She has served on the music staff at the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Program, Wolf Trap Opera, St. Louis Opera Theatre, Southern Methodist University, Opera North, Theaterworks, Chicago Opera Theater, and Illinois Opera Theater, and given master classes at universities and young artists’ programs all over the United States, including the Ryan Young Artists’ Program, Houston Grand Opera Studio, and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Dr. Gunn is a leader in the promotion of American arts. She works diligently as an advocate for local arts organizations in her home community in the development of projects ranging from constructing arts buildings to establishing patron groups. On a national level, she solicits and programs the work of emerging and established American songwriters on recitals, and is proud to have been the music director of her husband Nathan Gunn’s solo disc, Just before Sunrise, recently released by Sony/BMG records, which included arrangements of songs by Gene Scheer, Ben Moore, Joe Thalken, Billy Joel, Sting, and Charles Ives. Her arrangements of traditional American songs have been programmed by orchestras throughout the country. She seeks to encourage young composers by strengthening their relationships with singers and pianists, and by providing them with more established composers as mentors. Julie Gunn lives in Champaign with her husband and five children.

ORION WEISS, PIANO One of the most sought-after soloists in his generation of young American musicians, the pianist Orion Weiss has performed with the major American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him worldwide acclaim. The 2015-16 season will see Orion performing with the Iceland Symphony, among others, and in collaborative projects including those with the Pacifica Quartet and with Cho-Liang Lin and the New Orford String Quartet in a performance of the Chausson Concerto for piano, violin, and string quartet. The 2014-15 season featured Orion’s third performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as a North American tour with the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theater in an enhanced piano recital of Debussy’s La Boîte à Joujoux. In 2015 Naxos released his recording of Christopher Rouse’s Seeing – a major commission Orion debuted with the Albany Symphony – and in 2012 he released a recital album of Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Bartok. That same year he also spearheaded a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with his longtime collaborators the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta. The 2013-14 season featured Orion with orchestras around North America, including the Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Vancouver Symphonies, and the 2012-13 season saw Weiss in repeat engagements with the Baltimore Symphony and New World Symphony. Named the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year in September 2010, in the summer of 2011 Weiss made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as a last-minute replacement for Leon Fleisher. In recent seasons, he has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and in duo summer concerts with the New York Philharmonic at both Lincoln Center and the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Itzhak Perlman. Also known for his affinity and enthusiasm for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with his wife, the pianist Anna Polonsky, the violinists James Ehnes and Arnaud Sussman, and cellist Julie Albers, as well as ensembles including the Pacifica Quartet. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Weiss has appeared across the U.S. at venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival, Sheldon Concert Hall, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Chamber Music Northwest, the Bard Music Festival, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, and Spivey Hall. He won the 2005 William Petschek Recital Award at Juilliard, and made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall that April. Also in 2005 he made his European debut in a recital at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He was a member of the Chamber Music Society Two program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2002-2004, which included his appearance in the opening concert of the Society’s 2002-2003 season at Alice Tully Hall performing Ravel’s La Valse with pianist Shai Wosner. Weiss’s impressive list of awards includes the Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Gina Bachauer Scholarship at the Juilliard School and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship. A native of Lyndhurst, OH, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly, Daniel Shapiro, Sergei Babayan, Kathryn Brown, and Edith Reed. In February of 1999, Weiss made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In March 1999, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.

September 26, 2021: Paul Neubauer, viola; Arnaud Sussmann, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Sihao He, cello; Joel Noyes, cello; David J. Grossman, bass; Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051 September 26, 2021: Paul Neubauer, viola; Arnaud Sussmann, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Sihao He, cello; Joel Noyes, cello; David J. Grossman, bass; Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord In March 1719, when Bach was in Berlin to collect the new harpsichord made for Cöthen by court instrument maker Michael Mietke, he had occasion to play for Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg. The meeting spurred an invitation from the Margrave for Bach to send him some compositions. The works that he sent probably originated in Weimar even before Bach’s move to Cöthen in 1717, but it took yet another two years for him to complete, compile, and submit his “Six concerts avec plusieurs instruments” (Six concertos with several instruments). He dedicated the 1721 manuscript to the Margrave, saying: As I had a couple of years ago the pleasure of appearing before Your Royal Highness . . . and as I noticed then that Your Highness took some pleasure in the small talents that Heaven has given me for Music, and as in taking leave of Your Royal Highness, Your Highness deigned to honor me with the command to send Your Highness some pieces of my composition: I have then in accordance with Your Highness’s most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present Concertos, which I have adapted to several instruments. No record exists of the Margrave of Brandenburg ever using the scores, ever sending Bach a fee, or ever thanking him. Legend has it that a lack of acknowledgment may have stemmed from the Margrave’s instrumental resources not matching those of Cöthen or Weimar, thus rendering the pieces unperformable at his establishment. It is certainly true that Bach used unprecedented and different scoring in each of the individual works, treating the collection like an “Art of the Concerto Grosso” and thus was not aiming to match any specific establishment’s resources. The manuscript eventually became the property of the state library in Berlin, remaining unpublished until the Bach revival in the nineteenth century. In 1880 Philipp Spitta, Bach’s famous biographer, coined the term “Brandenburg Concertos,” which has been used ever since for the beloved works. Bach empoyed the simple yet flexible plan for the eighteenth-century concerto grosso developed by Torelli and Corelli, standardized by Vivaldi—a small solo group (the concertino) alternating with the full ensemble (ripieno or tutti), typically in three movements: fast, slow, fast. The Brandenburg Concertos offer a wide spectrum of innovative instrumental schemes and combinations and a great variety in treatment of form. Nos. 1, 3, and 6 use instrumental forces that are fairly balance in number, with No. 1 containing some violino piccolo solos and No. 6 featuring two violas. Nos. 2, 4 and 5 contrast a small concertino with a large ripieno throughout, with different instruments featured in each case. In the Sixth Concerto Bach uses only strings and continuo, as in the Third. In this case, however, he creates a new atmosphere of somewhat darker colors by dispensing with violins. (Could Brahms have been following his lead in his A major Serenade?) The concertino is made up of two violas (originally viole da braccio), two violas da gamba (now usually played on cello), and cello. The solo violas provide an especially mellow sound that contributes to this Concerto’s unique sonority. Perhaps the most striking feature of the work, other than scoring, is the incredible contrapuntal writing in the first movement. The violas enter in canon separated by a time interval of only two sixteenth notes. The second movement is a poignant Adagio ma non troppo, followed by the energetic final movement in da capo form (A-B-A), made lively by syncopations and a bubbly mood of optimism. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

ISABEL LEONARD, MEZZO-SOPRANO Highly acclaimed for her “passionate intensity and remarkable vocal beauty,” Isabel Leonard continues to thrill audiences both at home in the United States and internationally. She is the recipient of the prestigious 2013 Richard Tucker Award from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. In the 2013–2014 season, Isabel Leonard returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Doraballa in Così fan tutte under James Levine, which was also an HD broadcast in the spring of 2014. Ms. Leonard makes her highly-awaited debuts at the San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, both as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. She also debuts at the Dallas Opera as Rosina. In concert, she will appear alongside other opera luminaries at Carnegie Hall’s Marilyn Horne Song Celebration and with Nathan and Julie Gunn at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Metropolitan Opera audiences recently heard Ms. Leonard in two important role debuts during the 2012–2013 season: Miranda in Ades’s The Tempest and as Blanche in John Dexter’s ground-breaking production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. She also appeared in the English version of The Barber of Seville, which was broadcast internationally in HD. Last season also brought another important role and company debut as Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Canadian Opera Company. In recital, Ms. Leonard was featured in her Zankel Hall recital debut at Carnegie Hall. She also appeared at the University of Notre Dame, Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, San Francisco Performances, and at Atlanta’s Spivey Hall to rave reviews. She debuted Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra under Edo de Waart and closed the season in Japan at the Saito Kinen Festival, where she performed the title role in L’enfant et les sortilèges and Concepcion in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole with Seiji Ozawa conducting. In recent seasons, Ms. Leonard has appeared as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, all at the Metropolitan Opera; as Sesto in Laurent Pelly’s production of Giulio Cesare at Opéra National de Paris with Emmanuel Haim conducting and as Cherubino; the Glyndebourne Festival as Cherubino in the new Michael Grandage production of Le Nozze di Figaro; and the Vienna State Opera as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. She made a sensational role debut as Ruggiero in the new David Alden production of Handel’s Alcina at Opera National de Bordeaux and her interpretation of Costanza in the Peter Sellars production of Vivaldi’s Griselda at the Santa Fe Opera was met with the highest critical and audience acclaim. Other notable engagements have included the title role in Offenbach’s La Périchole at Opéra National de Bordeaux, where she also made her European and professional stage debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Cherubino at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and Dorabella in a new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival directed by Claus Guth, which was telecast live internationally. Ms. Leonard made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette conducted by Plácido Domingo. This production was recorded for DVD release and broadcast live in HD. She has appeared as Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Colorado; in the title role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Fort Worth Opera; as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Chicago Opera Theater; as Cherubino in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera; and made her professional U.S. opera debut as Stéphano in Atlanta Opera’s production of Roméo et Juliette. Ms. Leonard made her New York Philharmonic debut in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges conducted by Lorin Maazel, and her American orchestral debut in The Three-Cornered Hat with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival under Gustavo Dudamel. Other concert engagements include Mozart’s “Ch’io mi scordi di te?” with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, de Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas with Gustavo Dudamel, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. with the St. Louis Symphony, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette under Valery Gergiev, both with the Chicago Symphony, Cherubino in a concert version of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with James Conlon in her debut at the Cincinnati May Festival. Ms. Leonard is in constant demand as a recitalist, having made her first coast-to-coast recital tour in the 2007–08 season in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Fort Worth and ending with her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall. She has appeared as a guest soloist in the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s 75th Birthday Gala in Carnegie Hall and was featured in a solo recital as part of the Foundation’s On Wings of Song series in New York City. Ms. Leonard has also performed with soprano Barbara Bonney in recital at Alice Tully Hall presented by the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Ms. Leonard is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards which include the Beverly Sills Award (2011), the Richard Gold Award of the Shoshana Foundation (2007), a Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Award (2006), the William Schuman Graduation Prize of the Juilliard School (2006), the Makiko Narumi Prize of the Juilliard School (2005), the Marilyn Horne Foundation Award of the Music Academy of the West (2005), and was a winner of the Giulio Gari Competition (2005). Isabel Leonard is a native New Yorker and received both her Bachelor and Masters of Music at The Juilliard School.

PAUL HOLMES MORTON, THEORBO, BAROQUE GUITAR, BANJO Paul Holmes Morton Theorbo, Baroque guitar, banjo Paul Holmes Morton performs with Ruckus, The Chivalrous Crickets, and the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. His recent recordings include Majel Connery's Orphea , Emi Ferguson's Amour Cruel , and Arcangelo's Circle with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. An active performer and recording artist, he specializes in repertoire ranging from historical rediscoveries to his own original compositions.

arr. Emilio Pujol/Miguel Llobet November 2, 2014 – Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Sharon Isbin, guitar MANUEL DE FALLA (1876-1946) Siete canciones populares españolas arr. Emilio Pujol/Miguel Llobet November 2, 2014 – Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Sharon Isbin, guitar In 1907 Spanish composer Manuel de Falla went to Paris, where he formed friendships with Debussy, Dukas, and Ravel that greatly influenced his career. At the time of the Paris production of his opera La vida breve in the winter of 1913–14, a Spanish singer in the cast asked Falla for advice about which Spanish songs she should include on a Paris recital. He decided to arrange some Spanish songs himself using his own system of harmony, which he had just tried out for the harmonization of a Greek folk song that had been requested by a Greek singing teacher. This system stemmed from Falla’s study of Louis Lucas’s L’acoustique nouvelle , a mid-nineteenth-century treatise that he had picked up as a young man in Madrid at an open-air book stall, and which was to influence his later style profoundly. It consisted of deriving harmonies from the natural resonance of a fundamental tone, that is, its harmonics, then using these harmonics as new fundamental tones. Though Falla never lost sight of traditional harmony he claimed that this system, which anticipated harmonic theories of the twentieth century, revolutionized his entire conception of harmony. He completed the Siete canciones (from which various instrumental arrangements were made, often titled Suite populaire espagnole ) in Paris before the outbreak of World War I forced him to return to Madrid in 1914. He did not permit the singer who had sought his advice to perform them on a Spanish-themed program in Paris because of a bad experience he himself had had performing on a similar Spanish program. They were first performed by Luisa Vela (who had just sung in the Madrid premiere of La vida breve ) accompanied by the composer in Madrid on January 14, 1915. The first Paris performance was delayed until May 1920. The songs are dedicated to Madame Ida Godebski, a great friend of Falla; Cipa and Ida Godebski’s famous salon in Paris was a gathering place for many other composers and writers including Roussel, Stravinsky, Ravel, Gide, Valéry, and Cocteau. Falla chose to set seven folk songs from various regions of Spain. García Matos, in his detailed study of Falla’s sources in the Madrid periodical Música in 1953, found that the first and third songs closely follow the folk sources as to the tunes and texts, the second and sixth songs were retouched slightly, the seventh was modified slightly and expanded, the fifth reworked considerably, and the fourth was probably created from a combination of sources. The plaintive “El paño moruno” (The Moorish Cloth) comes from the province of Murcia; Falla later characterized the Murcian miller in Three-Cornered Hat by employing the first fours bars of the song’s bass line. The lively “Seguidilla murciana” takes up a popular Murcian dance form. Its original piano accompaniment imitates a guitar playing in punteado (plucked-sting) style—returned in this arrangement to the instrument of its inspiration. “Asturiana” moves the listener to the North of Spain for a peaceful lament. The passionate “Jota” takes the name of one of the most widely known Spanish song and dance forms, associated with the region of Aragon. Falla employs the characteristic alternation of sections of rapid accompaniment in 3/8 meter with those in a slower tempo for the voice. “Nana” is a lullaby, which Falla said he heard as a child from “his mother’s lips before he was old enough to think.” The tune stems from Andalusia, and as such differs from other Spanish cradle songs because, according to the composer, much Andalusian vocal music originated in India. The geographical origin of the “Canción” is uncertain, although Falla followed the popular theme fairly faithfully according to Matos. At the end a canon between the voice and the accompaniment provides textural interest. The last song, “Polo,” of Andalusian origin, reflects the flamenco or Gypsy world. The original piano accompaniment again evokes the guitar’s punteado style—again returned to its source of inspiration—and the accents represent palmadas (hand-clapping) of the spectators. The songs have been performed far and wide in all manner of arrangements. Ernesto Halffter, student and friend of Falla, orchestrated the accompaniment, and subsequent adaptations have appeared for various instruments taking the vocal part, as well as transcriptions of the piano accompaniment for guitar—here adapted by Miguel Llobet from the version by Emilio Pujol. © Jane Vial Jaffe Texts and Translations Siete canciones populares españolas El paño moruno Al paño fino en la tienda una mancha le cayó por menos precio se vende, porque perdió su valor ¡Ay! Seguidilla murciana Cualquiera que el tejado tenga de vidrio no debe tirar piedras al del vecino. Arrieros semos; ¡puede que en el camino nos encontremos! Por tu mucha inconstancia yo te comparo con peseta que corre de mano en mano; que al fin se borra y creyéndola falsa ¡nadie la toma Asturiana Por ver si me consolaba, arriméme a un pino verde; por verme llorar lloraba. ¡Y el pino, como era verde, por verme llorar lloraba! Jota Dicen que no nos’queremos porque no nos ven hablar; a tu corazón y al mío se lo pueden preguntar. Ya me despido de ti, de tu casa y tu ventana; y aunque no quiera tu madre, adiós, niña, hasta mañana. Aunque no quiera tu madre . . . Nana Duérmete, niño, duerme, duerme, mi alma, duérmete, lucerito de la mañana. Nanita, nana, duémete, lucerito de la mañana. Canción Por triadores, tus ojos, voy a enterrarlos; no sabes lo que cuesta (“Del aire . .”), niña, el mirarlos. (“Madre, a la orilla . . .”) Dicen que no me quieres, ya me has querido . . . váyase lo ganado (“Del aire . . .”) por lo perdido. (“Madre, a la orilla . . .”) Polo Guardo un “ay” Guardo una pena en mi pecho Ay! Que a nadie se la diré! Malhaya el amor, malhaya! Ay! Y quien me lo dió a entender! Ay! Seven Popular Spanish Songs The Moorish Cloth On the fine cloth in the shop there fell a stain; it sells at a cheaper price, for it has lost its worth. Ay! Seguidilla from Murcia Whoever has a roof that is made of glass ought not to throw stones at that of his neighbor. We are the muleteers; perhaps on the road we’ll meet! For your great inconstancy I would compare you to a peseta that passes from hand to hand; which finally gets worn down and, believing it false, no one will take it! From Asturia To see if it would console me I lay under a green pine; it wept to see me weeping. And the pine, because it was green wept to see me weeping! Jota They say we’re not in love because they don’t see us speak; they ought to question instead both your heart and mine. I take my leave of you, of your house and your window; and though your mother forbids it, farewell, sweetheart, till tomorrow. Though your mother forbids it . . Lullaby Go to sleep, child, to sleep, to sleep, my dearest, go to sleep, little star of the morning. Lullay, lullaby, go to sleep, little star of the morning. Song Since your eyes are traitors I’ll bury them; you know not what it costs (“Del aire . . .”), my child, to look at them. (“Madre, a la orilla . . .”) They say you don’t love me, but you loved me once . . . you are the winner (“Del aire . . .”) for having lost me. Polo Ah! I keep a…Ah! I hold a pain in my breast, Ah! that to no one will I tell! Wretched is love, wretched, Ah! And he who gave it to me to understand! Ah! Return to Parlance Program Notes