January 23, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … As the Symphony’s month-long Beethoven Festival continues, Music Director Carlos Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony present the first Classical Series Concert of the Festival featuring Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and incidental music to “Egmont” with narrator Scott Coopwood and soprano Anna Christy on Feb. 21, 22 and 23 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance on Feb. 24 at Salem’s Smith Auditorium. Media support provided by The Oregonian.
Under Kalmar’s baton, the Symphony’s performance of Beethoven’s most famous symphony, and arguably one of the most familiar symphonies of all time, continues to showcase Kalmar’s precise, creative and sophisticated interpretation of Classical repertoire. This giant of symphonic literature is paired with Beethoven’s complete incidental music to Goethe’s play, “Egmont,” of which the best-known music is Beethoven’s Overture, a mainstay of symphonic concert programming. Kalmar continues his yearlong commitment to reach out to audiences, and will be available to sign programs in the lobby after each performance; he will also give the pre-concert lecture with KBPS host Shaun Yu before Saturday night’s performance.
The concert begins with Beethoven’s complete
music for Goethe’s tragic play “Egmont,” featuring
lyric soprano Anna Christy and narration by Coopwood,
which chronicles the repression and subjugation of
the Netherlands to Spain’s tyrannical Duke of
Alva. Beethoven, whose tastes and nature predisposed
him toward an interest in the themes of rebellion against
oppression, was commissioned in 1809 by the Vienna
Burgtheater to write music to accompany Goethe’s
play; Beethoven’s music is in nine different
sections, of which the Overture is the most known. “What’s
very special here is the inclusion of an actor, who
will lead us through Goethe’s “Egmont”
together with the incidental music,” Kalmar explained.
After intermission, Kalmar and the Symphony unveil their distinctive take on Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor. Beethoven wrote of the opening of the first movement, which contains the most recognizable rhythm in all classical music: “Thus Fate knocks at the door.” This rhythm permeates all four movements and serves as the essential idea that unifies the entire symphony. Scholar and critic Edward Downes has noted, “Like Beethoven himself, this Fifth Symphony is music of concentrated energy, struggle and triumph. In its emotional high voltage, it is an intensely forward-looking work, embodying one of the most powerful musical trends of the following hundred years.”
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Pre-concert Talks: KBPS host Shaun Yu and Music director Carlos Kalmar will lead a discussion one hour before the concert of the works to be performed. Media support for “Pre-Concert Talks” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Saturday: Music Director Carlos Kalmar will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Salem’s Smith Auditorium. Tickets range in price from $17 to $76 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Scott Coopwood just finished his eleventh show at Portland Center Stage playing Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice.” Other roles include the title role in “Hamlet,” Orlando in “As You Like It,” Marley in “A Christmas Carol,” Trigorin in “The Seagull” and Straker in last season’s “Man and Superman.” Coopwood’s other roles include the title role in “Macbeth,” Benedick, Don John and Dogberry in “Much Ado About Nothing,” Angelo in “Measure for Measure,” Terry Meighan in the professional world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ “Fugitive Kind,” Charles in “Saint Florence,” Carl in “Lonely Planet” and Mercutio in “Romeo and Juliet.” He has also appeared regionally with Portland Center Stage, The Utah Shakespearean Festival, Arizona Theatre Company, The Marin Theatre Company, The Marin Shakespeare Company, the Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Center REP and Borderlands Theatre. Scott is also proud to work locally with The Haven Project.
The young soprano Anna Christy has earned rave reviews for her performances of lyric-coloratura roles. Her performances of Blonde in “The Abduction from the Seraglio” have been unanimously lauded by critics: “Anna Christy’s Blonde is a delight of feisty energy and sweet, sharp vocalism” (Press-Telegram - Opera Pacific) and “Anna Christy managed to steal the show. Her energy on stage, effective use of movement and a glittering, expressive coloratura voice combined to make her performance close to perfect.” (Observer-Dispatch, Utica – Glimmerglass Opera). Of her performance of Marie in “La Fille du regiment” the Columbus Dispatch exclaimed, “In sum, the young singer has that gift that can only be bestowed from above: star quality.”
In the 2003-04 season Ms. Christy makes her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Angel More in “The Mother of Us All.” She also returns to New York City Opera as Yum-Yum in “The Mikado,” sings her first performances of the title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor” with Opera Omaha, appears with Kentucky Opera as Despina in “Cosí fan tutte” and sings Olympia in “The Tales of Hoffmann” with Central City Opera. Her numerous concert engagements in the 2003-04 season include works by Mozart and Strauss in a New Year's Eve concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Bach Cantata No. 152, “Christmas Cantata” with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Schütz’s “The Christmas Story” with Eos Orchestra, Beethoven’s “Egmont” with the Oregon Symphony, the Dew Fairy and Sandman in concert performances of “Hänsel and Gretel” with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Poulenc “Gloria” and Mozart’s “Exsultate, jubilate” at Arizona State University, solo recitals in Japan and an appearance with the New York Festival of Song in Paul Bowles’ “Picnic Cantata.” In the 2004-05 season Ms. Christy makes her debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Muffin in the world premiere of “A Wedding” (music by William Bolcom, directed by Robert Altman).
In the summer of 2003 Ms. Christy made her Santa Fe Opera debut as Jiang Ching II in the world premiere of “Madame Mao” (music by Bright Sheng, libretto by Colin Graham). Ms. Christy’s engagements in the 2002-03 season included Zerlina in “Don Giovanni” with Los Angeles Opera, Blonde in “The Abduction from the Seraglio” with Opera Pacific, Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with Nashville Opera, Queen of the Night in “The Magic Flute” with Orlando Opera, Mrs. Nordstrom in “A Little Night Music” with New York City Opera, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Eos Orchestra and “Messiah” with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra.
In the 2001-02 season, Anna Christy sang Annabelle in “The Glass Blowers,” Zerlina in “Don Giovanni,” Yum-Yum in “The Mikado” and Papagena in “Die Zauberflöte” with New York City Opera. Ms. Christy also sang Marie in “La Fille du regiment” in a return to Opera Columbus after having sung Adele in “Die Fledermaus.” In the summer of 2002 Ms. Christy sang Tytania in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with Central City Opera.
Anna Christy is the recipient of Wolf Trap's 2000 Shouse Debut Artist Award, where she sang roles including Tytania and Zerlina, recitals with Steven Blier, and “Carmina Burana” with the National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Christy is a winner of a 2002 Sullivan Foundation Grant and a 2002 Richard F. Gold Grant.
