He hosted “The Greatest Wagner Concert Ever!” Last summer, two of her guest vocalists sang arias in her All Her Wagner program, which included excerpts from the 19th-century German composer’s famous operas.
It’s an interesting concept, and one that certainly made some Bay Area Wagner fans happy. Thomas Conlin, the internationally known and Grammy Award-winning conductor behind the concert, has decided to stage another thematic showcase of the renowned composer’s catalog. This time I named it Tchaikovsky. “Tchaikovsky’s Lovers Beyond the Stars”.
Pair of excerpts and orchestral works from the Russian composer’s opera Eugene Onegin, Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture and Francesa da Rimini: Symphonic Fantasia after Dante, concert by Tchaikovsky, Conlin The Vallejo Festival Orchestra, led by Vallejo, will perform at the Empress Theater in Vallejo on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
In addition to the full orchestra, the concert will feature a pair of opera stars, soprano Sarah Tucker and baritone Michael Adams, under the auspices of the Vallejo Center for the Arts.
Conlin, a Washington DC native who lives in Napa, responded to a series of questions via email earlier this week. I personally like this format, which many museums find very appealing, such as Renoir’s retrospectives and Picasso’s middle period. ”
Tchaikovsky, composer of “Swan Lake,” “The Nutcracker,” and “1812 Overture,” has been called “the most popular Russian composer of all time,” and his lofty status is attributed to the composer’s melodic music. , said that it depends on heartfelt melodies, rich and warm. Harmonies, colorful orchestrations, “all of which evoke a deep emotional response.”
“Onegin” is the 145-year-old chestnut, famous for his psychologically penetrating, emotionally affecting, and naturally conversational musical scores.
Based on Russian poet Pushkin’s poetic novel of the same name, it tells the story of an almost emotionless and heartless metropolitan man unhappy in the bourgeois countryside around a young woman named Tatiana.
Act 1, The Letter Scene, is best known for writing a long love letter to Onegin, a stranger she has just met. Tucker steps into the spotlight to deliver her one of opera’s classic arias as music. Be lyrical and introspective.
Other scenes, according to Conlin, include another meeting between the two. In the final scene, Onegin returns, declares his love for her and begs her for her forgiveness. ”But Tatyana married and she told him that she would not betray her husband.
Throughout, Tchaikovsky, as in nearly all compositions, is a master of orchestration and melody, the humming part of a song, and the other important elements of music: rhythm, timbre, and harmony. has proven many times. and structure.
Tucker’s resume includes performances in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Dallas, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Virginia, Utah, Dallas, Richmond, Lexington, Dayton, the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, the Crystal Cathedral in Orange, California, and New York. will be City Ballet at Lincoln Center.
In her debut as Fiordilisi last season in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” with the San Diego Opera, Conlin was described by Opera News as “outstanding” for her “impeccable pitch and phrasing.” Tucker was also a semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Opera News praised Adams as “beautiful, evenly produced, and brandishing a well-ripened sound.”
Adams, who sang the title role in “Eugene Onegin” with Seattle Opera, last season performed Sharpless in “Madame Butterfly” with Dallas Opera and Countess in “The Marriage of Figaro” with Austin Opera. She has since returned to her home state of Texas to perform. Recently she has sung at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Utah Opera, Grand Theater Liceu, Grand Theater Geneva, Omaha Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Knoxville Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. He has received notable awards, including winning the William Matthäus Sullivan Music Foundation in 2018 and first prize at the Gerda Lisner International Vocal Competition in 2015.
Tchaikovsky’s musical setting for ‘Francesca da Rimini’, taken from Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’, states, ‘These events, like Onegin, end tragically, so the stars cross over. It fits in nicely with the sweethearts theme,” Conlin said. West from Virginia He earned a PhD in Humanities from Wesleyan University and a PhD in Music from the University of Charleston.
“Francesca da Rimini” is in E minor, about 25 minutes long, and is the composer’s response to the story of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, who lost their souls in hell because of adultery. The music starts out dark and turns turbulent and grim, but a quiet love theme unfolds along the way. return and finish.
In B minor, Romeo and Juliet, about 20 minutes long, the music ranges from the sweet expression of the bittersweet love between young lovers, to the rapid progression of frenzied sounds, to the musical picture of gang violence and strife. . Between the Capulet and Montague families.
Art is not necessarily separate from current national and global issues, but interestingly, although Tchaikovsky was born in Russia, his paternal family hails from Ukraine. by today’s Russians. On April 2, 2022, a Russian missile terrorized the city of Kremenchuk, the birthplace of Tchaikovsky’s great-grandfather Cossack Fedor his Chaika. Tchaikovsky, along with the ancestors of many composers, fought against Russia and other empires seeking control of Ukrainian territory. he added.
Conlin nevertheless said, “Although there is no doubt that he is a quintessentially Russian composer, consistent with the current situation in Ukraine, I would like to point out that Tchaikovsky’s ancestry is Ukrainian. Art is more important than politics. I am in no way trying to make a political statement, as I firmly believe it will take precedence.”
His resume shows that he is a frequent guest conductor with opera, ballet and symphony orchestras on five continents. Most recently Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and across the United States.
Grammy?
Conlin conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra on a recording of George Crumb’s “Star Child,” which won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. A significant ongoing recording project and one of his most successful artistically. ”
In addition, Conlin’s 1968 performance of Mozart’s opera Lucio Silla in Baltimore as a student at Johns Hopkins University included former opera impresario Lotfi Mansouri and opera luminaries and singer Beverly. It indicates the first use of projected translations or supertitles, unlike those of Sills claims to have devised them.
Conlin said, “No classical music season around the world can be imagined without the works of Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich and others, who have entered the list of great and important Russian composers.” Ilyich Tchaikovsky is today considered the quintessential Russian composer everywhere: What would Christmas be like in America without the ballet performance of The Nutcracker that dominates theaters during the holiday season? Who can imagine Christmas shopping without Dance of the Sugar Fairies, or his 4th of July open-air concert without the stirring 1812 Overture?”
if you goVallejo Festival Orchestra “Tchaikovsky’s Lovers Beyond the Stars” 7:30 pm Saturday Empress Theater 330 Virginia Street, Vallejo Tickets: $29 to $97 www.empresstheatre.org(707) 552-2400
