concert programme - Early Music Society of the Islands

30 T H SEASON
J.S. Bach
Christmas Oratorio
Cantatas 1, 3 and 6
S
A collaboration between
EMSI, Early Music Vancouver
and Seattle's Pacific MusicWorks
Saturday 20 December 2014 at 8pm
Alix Goolden Hall
Victoria Conservatory of Music
2014-15 OPERATING GRANTS
Stephen Stubbs, music director, lute, harpsichord
VOCAL SOLOISTS
Teresa Wakim, soprano
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
Zachary Finkelstein, tenor
Sumner Thompson, baritone
VOCAL RIPIENISTS
Jane Long, Catherine Webster, soprano
Joshua Haberman, Sarra Sharif, alto
Orrin Doyle, David Hendrix, tenor
Ryan Bede, Thomas Thompson, bass
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Tekla Cunningham, concertmaster
Christi Meyers, Linda Melsted, Paul Luchkow, violin I
Chloe Meyers, principal violin II
Brandon Vance, Adam Lamotte, Arthur Neele, violin II
Elly Winer, principal viola
Joanna Hood, viola
David Morris, principal cello
Juliana Soltis, cello
Natalie Mackie, violone
Stephen Swanson, double bass
Janet See, Soile Stratkauskas, flute
Debra Nagy, Curtis Foster, oboe
Katrina Russell, bassoon
Kris Kwapis, Bruno Lourensetto, Tom Pfotenhauer, trumpet
Mark Goodenberger, timpani
Michael Jarvis, organ
CONCERT SPONSORS
PRODUCTION SPONSOR
EMSI SEASON SPONSORS
J.S. Bach
Christmas Oratorio
Cantatas 1, 3 and 6
A collaboration between EMSI,
Early Music Vancouver
and Seattle's Pacific MusicWorks
S
Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248
Weihnachts-Oratorium 1
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, BWV 248
Weihnachts-Oratorium 3
INTERMISSION
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068
Overture
Air
Gavotte I
Gavotte II
Bourée
Gigue
Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben, BWV 248
Weihnachts-Oratorium 6
Texts and Translations
S
might be assessed with Mary, his betrothed
wife, who was pregnant. And while they
were there, the time came for her to
give birth.
Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage
Weihnachts-Oratorium I
1. Chorus
3. Recitative (alto)
Jauchzet, frohlocket! auf, preiset die Tage,
Rühmet, was heute der Höchste getan!
Lasset das Zagen, verbannet die Klage,
Stimmet voll Jauchzen und Fröhlichkeit an!
Dienet dem Höchsten mit herrlichen Chören,
Lasst uns den Namen des Herrschers verehren!
Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam,
Nun wird der Held aus Davids Stamm
Zum Trost, zum Heil der Erden
Einmal geboren werden.
Nun wird der Stern aus Jakob scheinen,
Sein Strahl bricht schon hervor.
Auf, Zion, und verlasse nun das Weinen,
Dein Wohl steigt hoch empor!
Shout for joy, exult, rise up, glorify the day,
Praise what today the highest has done!
Abandon hesitation, banish lamentation,
Begin to sing with rejoicing and exaltation!
Serve the highest with glorious choirs,
Let us honour the name of our ruler!
Now my dearest bridegroom,
now the hero from the race of David
for the consolation and salvation of the Earth
shall at last be born.
Now the star that comes from Jacob shall shine,
its rays already burst forth.
Rise up, Zion, and abandon your weeping,
your well-being climbs aloft!
2. Recitative: Evangelist (tenor)
Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit, dass ein Gebot
von dem Kaiser Augusto ausging, dass alle Welt
geschätzet würde. Und jedermann ging, dass er
sich schätzen ließe, ein jeglicher in seine Stadt.
Da machte sich auch auf Joseph aus Galiläa, aus
der Stadt Nazareth, in das jüdische Land zur
Stadt David, die da heißet Bethlehem;
darum, dass er von dem Hause und Geschlechte
David war: auf dass er sich schätzen ließe mit
Maria, seinem vertrauten Weibe, die war
schwanger. Und als sie daselbst waren,
kam die Zeit, dass sie gebären sollte.
4. Aria (alto)
Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben,
Den Schönsten, den Liebsten bald bei dir
zu sehn!
Deine Wangen Müssen heut viel
schöner prangen,
Eile, den Bräutigam sehnlichst zu lieben!
Make yourself ready, Zion, with tender desires
to see with you soon him who is most beautiful,
most dear!
Your cheeks must today be far more
beautifully resplendent,
hasten, to love your bridegroom with the
greatest longing!
It happened at that time that an order went
out from Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be assessed. And everyone went,
so that he might be assessed, each to his own
city. Joseph went up out of Galilee from the city
of Nazareth, into the land of Judah to the city
of David which is called Bethlehem; for he was
of the house and race of David: so that he
4
Und seinen lieben Engeln gleich.
So will er selbst als Mensch geboren werden.
Kyrieleis!
5. Choral
Wie soll ich dich empfangen
Und wie begegn’ ich dir?
O aller Welt Verlangen,
O meiner Seelen Zier!
O Jesu, Jesu, setze
Mir selbst die Fackel bei,
Damit, was dich ergötze,
Mir kund und wissend sei!
He has come on Earth in poverty
Who will rightly extol the love
that our Saviour cherishes for us?
So that he may have mercy on us,
Indeed, who is able to realise
and make us rich in heaven
how he is moved by human suffering?
And like his beloved angels,
the highest’s son came into the world
because its salvation pleases him so well
that he himself is willing to be born as a man.
Lord, have mercy!
How should I receive you
And how should I meet you?
O longing of the whole world
O adornment of my soul!
O Jesus, Jesus,
Place yourself your lamp by me
So that what gives you delight
I may know and understand!
8. Aria (bass)
Großer Herr, o starker König,
Liebster Heiland, o wie wenig
Achtest du der Erden Pracht!
Der die ganze Welt erhält,
Ihre Pracht und Zier erschaffen,
Muss in harten Krippen schlafen.
6. Recitative: Evangelist
Und sie gebar ihren ersten Sohn und
wickelte ihn in Windeln und legte ihn in eine
Krippen, denn sie hatten sonst keinen Raum in
der Herberge.
Great Lord, O mighty king,
dearest saviour, O how little
you regard earthly splendour.
He who maintains the whole world
and created its glory and adornment
must sleep in a hard crib.
And she gave birth to her first son and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid
him in a manger for they had otherwise no
room in the inn.
7. Choral and Recitative (bass)
9. Choral
Er ist auf Erden kommen arm,
Wer will die Liebe recht erhöhn,
Die unser Heiland vor uns hegt?
Dass er unser sich erbarm,
Ja, wer vermag es einzusehen,
Wie ihn der Menschen Leid bewegt?
Und in dem Himmel mache reich,
Des Höchsten Sohn kömmt in die Welt,
Weil ihm ihr Heil so wohl gefällt,
Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein,
Mach dir ein rein sanft Bettelein,
Zu ruhn in meines Herzens Schrein,
Dass ich nimmer vergesse dein!
Ah little Jesus dear to my heart,
Make for yourself a clean, soft bed,
To rest in the shrine of my heart
So that I may never forget you!
5
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen
Weihnachts-Oratorium III
He has consoled his people,
He has redeemed his Israel,
sent help out of Zion
and ended our suffering.
See, shepherds, this is what he has done;
Go, this is what you will find!
1. Chorus
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen,
Lass dir die matten Gesänge gefallen,
Wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen,
Wenn wir dir itzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen,
Weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
5. Choral
Dies hat er alles uns getan,
Sein groß Lieb zu zeigen an;
Des freu sich alle Christenheit
Und dank ihm des in Ewigkeit.
Kyrieleis!
Ruler of heaven, hear our inarticulate speech,
let our faint songs please you,
when your Zion exalts you with psalms!
Hear the exultant praise of our hearts,
as we show our reverence for you
since our welfare is made sure!
All this he has done for us to show
his great love; for this reason let all
the Christian world rejoice
and thank him for this in eternity.
Lord have mercy!
2. Recitative: Evangelist
Und da die Engel von ihnen gen Himmel fuhren,
sprachen die Hirten untereinander:
6. Aria (soprano, bass)
Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen
Tröstet uns und macht uns frei.
Deine holde Gunst und Liebe,
Deine wundersamen Triebe
Machen deine Vatertreu
Wieder neu.
And as the angels went from them to heaven
the shepherds said to one another:
3. Chorus
Die Hirten:
Lasset uns nun gehen gen Bethlehem und
die Geschichte sehen, die da geschehen ist,
die uns der Herr kundgetan hat.
Lord, your compassion, your mercy
console us and make us free.
Your gracious favour and love,
your wondrous desires
make the love you have for us as a father
again new.
Shepherds:
Let us now go to Bethlehem
and see the event that has happened there,
which the Lord has made known to us.
7. Recitative: Evangelist
Und sie kamen eilend und funden beide,
Mariam und Joseph, dazu das Kind in
der Krippe liegen. Da sie es aber gesehen
hatten, breiteten sie das Wort aus, welches
zu ihnen von diesem Kind gesaget war.
Und alle, für die es kam, wunderten sich
der Rede, die ihnen die Hirten gesaget
hatten. Maria aber behielt alle diese
Worte und bewegte sie in ihrem Herzen.
4. Recitative (bass)
Er hat sein Volk getröst’,
Er hat sein Israel erlöst,
Die Hülf aus Zion hergesendet
Und unser Leid geendet.
Seht, Hirten, dies hat er getan;
Geht, dieses trefft ihr an!
6
And they came in haste and found both,
Mary and Joseph and with them the child
lying in the manger. But when they had seen
this they spread the word that had been
spoken to them about this child, and all those
to whom it came wondered at the speech
which the shepherds had told to them.
Mary however kept all these words
and thought over them in her heart.
I shall diligently keep you in mind,
I shall for you live here,
To you I shall depart
With you I shall one day soar aloft
Full of joy beyond time
There in the other life.
11. Recitative: Evangelist
Und die Hirten kehrten wieder um,
preiseten und lobten Gott um alles,
das sie gesehen und gehöret hatten,
wie denn zu ihnen gesaget war.
8. Aria (alto)
Schließe, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder
Fest in deinem Glauben ein!
Lasse dies Wunder, die göttlichen Werke,
Immer zur Stärke
Deines schwachen Glaubens sein!
And the shepherds went back again,
glorified and praised God for
everything they had seen and heard,
as it had been said to them.
Enclose, my heart, this blessed wonder
firmly in your faith!
Let this wonder, this work of God,
always serve to strengthen
your weak faith!
12. Choral
9. Recitative (alto)
Seid froh dieweil, Dass euer Heil
Ist hie ein Gott und auch ein Mensch geboren,
Der, welcher ist Der Herr und Christ
In Davids Stadt, von vielen auserkoren.
Ja, ja, mein Herz soll es bewahren,
Was es an dieser holden Zeit
Zu seiner Seligkeit
Für sicheren Beweis erfahren.
Meanwhile be joyful that your salvation
Has been born here as both God and man,
He who is the Lord and Christ
In David’s city, chosen from many.
Yes, yes, my heart will keep
what at this gracious time
for its blessedness
it has learned as certain proof.
13. Chorus
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen,
Lass dir die matten Gesänge gefallen,
Wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen,
Wenn wir dir itzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen,
Weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
10. Choral
Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren,
Ich will dir Leben hier,
Dir will ich abfahren,
Mit dir will ich endlich schweben
Voller Freud Ohne Zeit
Dort im andern Leben.
Ruler of heaven, hear our inarticulate speech,
let our faint songs please you,
when your Zion exalts you with psalms!
Hear the exultant praise of our hearts,
as we show our reverence for you
since our welfare is made sure!
7
You cheat, you only seek the Lord to bring him down,
you use all your false cunning
to hunt after the saviour;
but he whose power no man can measure
still remains in safe hands.
Your heart, your false heart is already,
with all your treachery, by the son of the Highest,
whom you seek to cast down, very well-known.
Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben
Weihnachts-Oratorium VI
1. Chorus
Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben,
So gib, dass wir im festen Glauben
Nach deiner Macht und Hülfe sehn!
Wir wollen dir allein vertrauen,
So können wir den scharfen Klauen
Des Feindes unversehrt entgehn.
4. Aria (soprano)
Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen
Stürzt ohnmächtger Menschen Macht.
Hier wird alle Kraft verlacht!
Spricht der Höchste nur ein Wort,
Seiner Feinde Stolz zu enden,
O, so müssen sich sofort
Sterblicher Gedanken wenden.
Lord, when our arrogant enemies snort
with rage, then grant that we in firm faith
may look to your power and help!
We want to trust you alone,
then we can escape the sharp claws
of the enemy unhurt.
Just a wave of your hand
casts down the powerless strength of men.
Here all might is derided
if the highest speaks one word
to put an end to the pride of his enemies,
oh, then at once must
thoughts of mortals be changed.
2. Recitative: Evangelist, Herodes (bass)
Da berief Herodes die Weisen heimlich und erlernet
mit Fleiß von ihnen, wenn der Stern erschienen wäre?
Und weiset sie gen Bethlehem und sprach:
Ziehet hin und forschet fleißig nach dem Kindlein,
und wenn ihr’s findet, sagt mir’s wieder,
dass ich auch komme und es anbete.
5. Recitative: Evangelist
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly
and carefully learned from them when the
star had appeared. And he directed them to
Bethlehem and said:
Go there and enquire carefully about the little child,
and when you have found him come back and
tell me, so that I also may go and worship him.
Als sie nun den König gehöret hatten, zogen sie hin.
Und siehe, der Stern, den sie im Morgenlande
gesehen hatten, ging für ihnen hin, bis dass er kam
und stund oben über, da das Kindlein war. Da sie
den Stern sahen, wurden sie hoch erfreuet und
gingen in das Haus und funden das Kindlein mit
Maria, seiner Mutter, und fielen nieder und beteten
es an und täten ihre Schätze auf und schenkten ihm
Gold, Weihrauch und Myrrhen.
3. Recitative (soprano)
And when they had heard the King, they went away.
And see, the star, which they had seen in the East
went before them, until it came and stood over
the place where the little child was. When they
saw the star, they rejoiced greatly and went into the
house and found the child with Mary, his mother,
and they fell down and worshipped him and opened
their treasures and gave him gold, frankincense
and myrrh.
Du Falscher, suche nur den Herrn zu fällen,
Nimm alle falsche List,
Dem Heiland nachzustellen;
Der, dessen Kraft kein Mensch ermißt,
Bleibt doch in sichrer Hand.
Dein Herz, dein falsches Herz ist schon,
Nebst aller seiner List, des Höchsten Sohn,
Den du zu stürzen suchst, sehr wohl bekannt.
8
Sein Arm wird mich aus Lieb
Mit sanftmutsvollem Trieb
Und größter Zärtlichkeit umfassen;
Er soll mein Bräutigam verbleiben,
Ich will ihm Brust und Herz verschreiben.
Ich weiß gewiss, er liebet mich,
Mein Herz liebt ihn auch inniglich
Und wird ihn ewig ehren.
Was könnte mich nun für ein Feind
Bei solchem Glück versehren!
Du, Jesu, bist und bleibst mein Freund;
Und werd ich ängstlich zu dir flehn:
Herr, hilf!, so lass mich Hülfe sehn!
6. Choral
Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier,
O Jesulein, mein Leben;
Ich komme, bring und schenke dir,
Was du mir hast gegeben.
Nimm hin! es ist mein Geist und Sinn,
Herz, Seel und Mut, nimm alles hin,
Und lass dirs wohlgefallen!
I stand here at your crib
O Little Jesus, my life;
I come, bring and give you
What you have given to me.
Take it! It is my spirit and mind,
Heart, soul and courage, take it all
And may it be pleasing to you!
Go then! It is enough that my treasure does not
depart from here, He stays here by me,
I will not let him leave me.
His arm out of love
with desire full of gentleness
and with great tenderness will embrace me;
He will remain my bridegroom,
I will dedicate my heart and prayers to him.
I know for certain that He loves me,
my heart also loves him ardently
and will always honour him.
What sort of enemy could now
do me harm when I am so fortunate!
You, Jesus, are and remain my friend,
and if I beg you anxiously
“Lord, help!”, then let me see your help!
7. Recitative: Evangelist
Und Gott befahl ihnen im Traum, dass sie sich
nicht sollten wieder zu Herodes lenken, und zogen
durch einen andern Weg wieder in ihr Land.
And God ordered them in a dream that they
should not return to Herod. And so they departed
by another way back to their own country.
8. Recitative (tenor)
So geht! Genug, mein Schatz geht nicht von hier,
Er bleibet da bei mir,
Ich will ihn auch nicht von mir lassen.
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What will the terror of hell do now,
what will the world and send do for us
since we rest in the hands of Jesus?
9. Aria (tenor)
Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken;
Was könnt ihr mir für Furcht erwecken?
Mein Schatz, mein Hort ist hier bei mir.
Ihr mögt euch noch so grimmig stellen,
Droht nur, mich ganz und gar zu fällen,
Doch seht! mein Heiland wohnet hier.
11. Choral
Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen
An eurer Feinde Schar,
Denn Christus hat zerbrochen,
Was euch zuwider war.
Tod, Teufel, Sünd und Hölle
Sind ganz und gar geschwächt;
Bei Gott hat seine Stelle
Das menschliche Geschlecht.
Now, you arrogant enemies may try to scare me.
What sort of fear can you arouse in me?
My treasure, my refuge, is here with me
though you may appear ever so fierce
and threatened to cast me down once and for all
yet see! My saviour lives here.
Now you are well avenged
On the host of your enemies;
Christ has broken in pieces
What was against you.
Death, Devil, Sin and hell
Are weakened once and for all;
With God is the place
For the human race.
10. Recitative
(soprano, alto, tenor, bass)
Was will der Höllen Schrecken nun,
Was will uns Welt und Sünde tun,
Da wir in Jesu Händen ruhn?
S
EMSI wishes to thank…
The Volunteer Ushers at Alix Goolden Performance Hall
The EMSI Volunteer Guild 2014–15
Mary Scobie who designs the EMSI brochure, ads, posters and programmes
David Strand who maintains the EMSI website
Visit our website at www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca
10
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Programme Notes
S
“Jauchzet! frohlocket!” (“Shout for joy! exult!”) The
center of Leipzig hummed with anticipation in the
third week of December 1734, with the sounds of
Christmas rehearsals seeping out of the two Lutheran
churches where Johann Sebastian Bach was preparing
to launch a new, ambitious composition that would
premiere over thirteen days, structured so that the
congregations of his churches would return day after
day to hear each next installment of this massive
work: The Christmas Oratorio, a magnificent festival
of six cantatas, composed for six feast days across the
two weeks of Christmas liturgy, starting on Christmas
Day and concluding on Epiphany, January 6.
The anticipation of new music for Christmas in
1734 was heightened by the annual disappearance
of cantata performances in Bach’s churches during
the four Sundays of Advent, a musical silence
that emphasized the quiet, reflective nature of the
penitential season leading to the Christmas liturgy,
similar to the season of Lent prior to Easter. The
Christmas Oratorio would be a particularly rich feast
after this musical fast, with an emphasis on the bright
instrumentation Bach associated with festivals—
and in fact, Bach based the Christmas Oratorio on
celebratory cantatas he had written for the royal
family of Dresden the preceding year.
Indeed, the instrumentation of those 1733
royal cantatas, reinvented with sacred texts as the
Christmas Oratorio, was typical of the festive
orchestration associated with pieces such as Bach’s
earlier Brandenburg Concertos—along with flutes
and oboes, adding trumpets and timpani for a
brilliant sound. This Christmas Oratorio gives us a
window into Bach’s other major position in Leipzig,
as the director of the city’s Collegium Musicum, for
which he prepared weekly Friday evening concerts
at Gottfried Zimmermann’s coffeehouse, just north
of his two churches. There, he had access to virtuoso
instrumentalists from the university; the music that
eventually became the Christmas Oratorio initially
was presented with those instrumentalists in the
coffeehouse in Autumn 1733.
You will hear the clear reference to the earlier
royal cantatas in the opening measures of the
Christmas Oratorio: the original 1733 text had
ordered: “Tönet, ihr Pauken!” (“Sound, you drums!”),
and was echoed immediately by a timpani solo that
indeed answered the command by playing the melody
back to the singers. For the 1734 Christmas Oratorio,
Bach changed the words to “Jauchzet! frohlocket!”
(“Shout for joy! exult!”), and the same echo emanates
from the timpani, a reference his musicians and any
keenly observant audience member would recognize.
It is a dramatic yet charming statement and dialogue
that highlights the importance of the elaborate
instrumentation Bach has chosen for these secular
and sacred celebrations.
By commingling six cantatas to create an oratorio,
Bach was stretching the German adaptation of the
Italian oratorio, which had evolved over the past
century in Italy as a non-staged musical drama
based on Biblical stories, using the aria, recitative,
and ensemble styles of Baroque opera to create
sacred works that were primarily performed during
Lent, when operas were not presented. In Protestant
Germany, the concept of a musical Biblical drama
often found expression as a Historia, a musical
narrative, particularly about the Passion of Christ,
and less frequently, about Christmas and Easter.
But the Italian and German oratorios were intended
to be performed in a single evening, whereas Bach
reconceived the idea of an oratorio to stretch through
the entire Christmas season.
To fully appreciate the Christmas Oratorio, we
need to explore the context in which it was presented:
morning and afternoon in the two churches where
Bach served as music director, the Thomaskirche (St.
Thomas Church) and the Nicolaikirche (St. Nicholas
Church). He was in his eleventh year at Leipzig by
1734, and had written three annual cycles of cantatas
for performance in his churches during his first three
years at Leipzig, between 1723 and 1725, so his cantata
cycles had been in circulation for almost a decade.
Composing a major new cycle for the 1734 Christmas
season led him to the multi-day musical event,
revealing Biblical stories over six Christmas feast days:
the first three days of Christmas on December 25, 26,
27; the Sunday before the New Year; then the liturgies
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for January 1 and 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. The six
cantatas of the Christmas Oratorio musically depict
these stories, across two weeks: 1. The birth of Christ;
2. The annunciation to the shepherds; 3. The shepherds
marveling at Mary and the child; 4. The circumcision
of Christ; 5. The realization by Herod that a new King
had been born; and 6. Herod sending the three wise
men to find this child.
Bach even had a libretto printed for the thousands
of congregants, so they could read along with the
performances and arrive at a deeper appreciation
of the Nativity panorama. Bach himself peppered
the opening of his libretto with excited punctuation
for the holiday, opening with “Jauchzet! frohlocket!
auf!” While Bach’s congregations heard the musical
drama progress over time, in this concert we will
hear the three parts (1, 3, and 6) that anchor the
entire oratorio, the cantatas for December 25, 27, and
January 6. Bach did not just connect the cantatas via
the narrative; he also connected them musically, with
an overarching key scheme and recurring music; the
chorale you hear early in the first cantata recurs as the
final movement of the entire oratorio.
The three cantatas you will hear this evening
are the three cantatas within the oratorio that are
centered in the key of D major, with the internal
movements progressing through related keys. Each
of these three cantatas provides a sense of arrival
by beginning and ending in D major. For Bach’s
congregations, hearing the key structure throughout
two weeks was probably not a focus, but in terms
of the architecture of the piece, Bach provides a
superb overall musical structure by stating the key on
December 25 and closing with it on January 6.
Each of the three cantatas you will hear this
evening has a structure typical of Bach’s church
cantatas: chorale movements for the choir, solo arias
reflecting on the religious themes, and recitative
sections, with nine to thirteen movements within each
cantata. What distinguishes this Christmas Oratorio
is the use of a narrator, the Evangelist, who narrates
the Christmas story by singing the Nativity sections
of the New Testament books of Luke and Matthew.
In the first cantata you will hear, for December 25,
the first movement surges forward with the timpani,
trumpets, and chorus, but the second and sixth
movements austerely proceed with solo recitative that
presents Luke 2:1-7, the same text the congregation
would hear read as the Gospel following the cantata
performance. In the final cantata, Bach gave the
Evangelist the text of Matthew 2:7-12, the Gospel
for Epiphany, telling the story of Herod sending the
wise men to find Jesus, who are warned in a dream
not to report back to Herod, thus concluding the
Christmas story on January 6 by assuring the safety of
the holy family.
The surrounding aria and chorale movements
provide reflection and reinforcement of the narrative,
offering exquisite counterpoint and depth to the
Christmas story. In the next few years, Bach would also
write oratorios for Easter and the Ascension of Christ,
but neither of those are on the scale of this complex
Christmas Oratorio, which stands apart as one of his
most ambitious compositions. Anyone interested in
further exploring the complexity of Bach’s life, works,
and recent discoveries might want to explore the
Harvard scholar Christoph Wolff’s Johann Sebastian
Bach: A Learned Musician (2001), which was a finalist
for the Pulitzer Prize in biography in 2001 and is an
approachable yet intensive exploration of Bach.
JoAnn Taricani, University of Washington
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2014–15 Concert Season
SPECIAL EVENT
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8 pm Saturday 7 March 2015
Oak Bay United Church
◆
Kristian Bezuidenhout fortepiano
Mozart Piano Sonatas South Africa/UK
The Northwest Baroque Masterworks Project
Bezuidenhout’s interpretation of Mozart has
caused a sensation at the world’s major early music
festivals. Come and find out why. The reigning
superstar of the fortepiano brings to the keyboard
masterpieces of Mozart an unprecedented flair
and freedom.
3pm Sunday 15 FEBRUARY 2015
Alix Goolden Hall
Pacific Baroque Orchestra
Vancouver Cantata Singers
Alexander Weimann, music director
8 pm Saturday 28 March 2015
VANCOUVER
◆
Alix Goolden Hall
Jeffrey Thompson tenor
La Rêveuse France
Henry Lawes: Songs of an English Cavalier
Handel: Theodora
A collaboration with the EMSI, Early Music
Vancouver and the Seattle Early Music Guild
Henry Lawes lived through the troubled times of
17th-century England. He was acknowledged in his
day as one of the finest composers for the voice.
With his extended vocal ranges, expressive melodies,
vibrant dissonances and the high poetic quality of
his texts, Lawes is a subtle painter of the melancholy
of his age.
Featuring some of Handel’s most glorious music,
Theodora depicts the self-sacrificial love between a
Christian virgin and a Roman imperial bodyguard.
It serves as a timeless parable of spiritual resistance
to tyranny and an indictment of persecution.
Performed by 28 instrumentalists, 40 singers, and
five international soloists.
8 pm Saturday 25 April 2015
◆
Alix Goolden Hall
VocaMe Germany
Hildegard of Bingen: Songs and Visions
“Handel doesn’t miss a trick in creating spectacular
choral effects; neither did music director Alexander
Weimann in bringing them to life with theatrical
cunning and an all-embracing sense of joy”
Mystic, poet, saint, visionary, Doctor of the Church:
Hildegard was many things, but perhaps above all
she was a composer of inspired music. This
internationally acclaimed ensemble transports
audiences back to the 12th century and makes it
possible to share Hildegard’s ecstasy.
THE VANCOUVER SUN
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The Artists
Teresa Wakim, soprano
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Charpentier’s Les Plaisirs de Versailles, Handel’s Alcina,
and Mendelssohn’s Son and Stranger.
Plans this season include Bach cantatas with
San Francisco Symphony, Brahms’ Requiem with
the Omaha Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the
Alabama Symphony, and the Exsultate Jubilate with
New World Symphony. Future operatic projects
include roles of Fortuna and Giunone in Monteverdi’s
Il Ritorno d’Ulisse with Boston Baroque, and the role
of Zima in Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes with Bourbon
Baroque. In addition, she will be a featured artist
at the Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Opera
Gala, reprising her roles in Acis and Galatea, Dido and
Aeneas, and Acteon.
With a prolific discography, she has been featured
as soloist on four Grammy-nominated albums with
the Boston Early Music Festival and Seraphic Fire. She
can also be heard on numerous discs with Blue Heron,
Handel & Haydn Society, Apollo’s Fire, and others.
With “a gorgeous, profoundly expressive instrument,”
“a bejeweled lyric soprano with an exquisite top
register,” and as “a marvel of perfect intonation and
pure tone,” American soprano Teresa Wakim is
perhaps best-known as “a fine baroque stylist.”
Upon completion of her studies at the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music and Boston University’s
College of Fine Arts, she became a Choral Scholar
with BU’s illustrious Marsh Chapel Choir, was
soon named a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at
Emmanuel Music in Boston, and then won First
Prize in the International Soloist Competition for
Early Music in Brunnenthal, Austria. The last
several seasons have seen her make solo debuts at
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Boston
Symphony Hall, Grand Théâtre de Provence,
Severance Hall in Cleveland, and Walt Disney
Concert Hall in LA.
Recent concerts have included Bach’s Wedding
Cantata Weichet nur betrübte Schatten and
Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer with The Cleveland
Orchestra, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and St. John
Passion with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra,
Messiah with the Charlotte, Tucson and San Antonio
Symphonies, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and Handel’s
Jephtha with the Handel & Haydn Society, and
Haydn’s Creation with New Bedford Symphony.
Although praised for her performances of Brahms
and Mozart, as well as new music, Wakim’s affinity
for the Baroque has brought her much success. She
enjoys working with many of North America’s best
period ensembles, including the Handel & Haydn
Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Baroque,
Dallas Bach Society, Pacific MusicWorks, Handel
Choir of Baltimore, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra,
Apollo’s Fire, Bourbon Baroque, and Tragicomedia.
Work on the operatic stage includes roles in
Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Rameau’s Les Indes
Galantes, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Purcell’s Dido and
Aeneas, Lully’s Psyché, Mozart’s The Magic Flute,
Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, Charpentier’s
Acteon, Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants,
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó
has become highly sought after in both North America
and Europe as an artist of supreme musicianship and
stagecraft. The Chicago Tribune exclaimed “Krisztina
Szabó stole her every scene with her powerful,
mahogany voice and deeply poignant immersion in
the empress’ plight” after her performance of Ottavia
in L’Incoronazione di Poppea. She made her Lincoln
Center début as Dorabella in Così fan Tutte at the
Mostly Mozart Festival where she was praised in the
New York Times for being “clear, strong, stately and
an endearingly vulnerable Dorabella.”
Krisztina Szabó sings frequently at the Canadian
Opera Company and has been seen in diverse roles,
such as Idamante (Idomeneo), Musetta (La bohème),
The Double-Offered in the Time Before (The
Handmaid’s Tale), and Nancy (Albert Herring). She is
a frequent performer of recital, concert, and chamber
repertoire. She has appeared as a soloist with the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra (Mozart’s Mass in C
Minor), the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (Beethoven’s
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Missa Solemnis and Mendelssohn’s Elijiah), the
Elora Festival Orchestra (Verdi’s Requiem), and
the Oregon Symphony (Mozart’s Requiem). Ms.
Szabó has appeared on television featured in CBC’s
“Opening Night” in concert with the Canadian
Opera Company. On film, she can be seen as
Zerlina with Dimitri Hvorostovsky in Don Giovanni
Revealed: Leporello’s Revenge, and she can be heard
as the voice of Leanne in the new opera movie
Burnt Toast.
Ms. Szabó finished her postgraduate studies at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London,
England, after completing her undergraduate degree
at the University of Western Ontario studying
with Darryl Edwards, with whom she continues to
study. She has been the recipient of the Emerging
Artist grant from Canada Council and was recently
honoured by her home town of Mississauga with
a star on the Music Walk of Fame in its
inaugural year.
Zachary Finkelstein, tenor
In the five years since Zachary Finkelstein left his
political consulting career, he has performed as a
soloist at Carnegie Hall, Sadler’s Wells, Lincoln
Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Benaroya
Hall and the New York City Center. Recently hailed
by Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times
as a “compelling tenor,” American-Canadian Zach
Finkelstein made his New York City Opera debut in
April 2013 as Mambre in Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto, a
production dubbed by Tommasini as one of the Top
10 classical events of 2013.
Earlier this year, Zach made his debut with the
Seattle Symphony as tenor soloist in the Mozart’s
Requiem with Ludovic Morlot conducting. He also
sang Damon onstage with the Mark Morris Dance
Group in its production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea:
the world premiere of this choreographed work was
held at Berkeley, CA, followed by the Handel and
Haydn Society’s east coast premiere in Boston,
14.VictoriaEarlyMusicAd1 14-12-11 10:19 AM Page 1
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MA and performances at Lincoln Center for the
Mostly Mozart Festival.
Recently, Zach recorded his first album with the
internationally renowned Berliner Philharmoniker’s
Scharoun Ensemble in Germany—the new music
composition “Threshold” for tenor and orchestra, by
Prix-de-Rome winner and fellow Tanglewood
alumnus Jesse Jones.
In 2013-2014 Zach toured Satie’s monodrama
Socrates—“beautifully sung”, according to the Daily
Telegraph and “impeccably done” by the Seattle Times
—and The Muir in London and Seattle with the Mark
Morris Dance Group. Other 2013-2014 engagements
included his Chicago debut with Nicholas Kraemer’s
“Music of the Baroque”; Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater with
the Art of Time Ensemble in Toronto; Handel’s Messiah
with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony; Mozart’s
Mass in C Minor at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall with the
Northwest Chamber Chorus; Mozart’s Requiem with
the Seattle Chamber Singers; and Mozart’s Coronation
Mass with the Ottawa Choral Society.
Zach has performed opera excerpts on CBC’s
“Saturday Afternoon at the Opera” as well as
Toronto’s Classical 96.3 FM. John Terauds, music
critic for the Toronto Star, recently profiled Zach as
one of Toronto’s great tenors on MusicalToronto.org.
In their summer 2013 issue, Opera Canada profiled
Zach as an “Artist On Stage” and has reviewed him
previously as a “lovely light tenor.” He holds an
Artist Diploma (Voice) from the Royal Conservatory
of Music’s Glenn Gould School in Toronto and a
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science from
McGill University.
Sumner Thompson, baritone
Praised for his “elegant style” (Boston Globe),
Sumner Thompson is one of today’s most soughtafter young baritones. His appearances on the
operatic stage include roles in productions from
Boston to Copenhagen, including the Boston Early
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December 2 - 20, 2014 at Oak Bay
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Music Festival’s productions of Conradi’s Ariadne
and Lully’s Psyché, and several European tours
with Contemporary Opera Denmark as Orfeo in
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. He has performed across
North America as a soloist with Concerto Palatino,
Tafelmusik, Apollo’s Fire, Les Boreades de Montréal,
Les Voix Baroques, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the
King’s Noyse, Mercury Baroque, and the symphonies
of Charlotte, Memphis, and Phoenix. Highlights
include Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri with Les
Voix Baroques and Houston’s Mercury Baroque,
Mozart’s Requiem at St. Thomas Church in New
York City, a tour of Japan with Joshua Rifkin and the
Cambridge Concentus, and a return to the Carmel
Bach Festival.
Festival operas, and the Festival’s recordings of
Conradi’s Ariadne, Lully’s Thesee, and Psyché were
nominated for Grammy awards in 2005, 2007, and
2009 respectively.
In 2007 Stephen established his new production
company, Pacific MusicWorks, based in Seattle
reflecting his lifelong interest in both early music and
contemporary performance.
Pacific MusicWorks’ productions have included
performances of the Monteverdi Vespers, described
in the press as “utterly thrilling” and “of a quality
you are unlikely to encounter anywhere else in the
world.” This season brings a special collaboration with
the Seattle Symphony in the form of “the Passions
Project” in which the Symphony will present the
St. Matthew Passion, and Pacific MusicWorks will
present its first performances of the St. John Passion.
In addition to his ongoing commitments to
Pacific MusicWorks and the Boston Early Music
Festival, Stephen has recently appeared in Handel’s
Giulio Cesare and Gluck’s Orfeo in Bilbao, Mozart’s
Magic Flute and Così fan Tutte for the Hawaii
Performing Arts Festival. He made his debut with the
Edmonton Symphony performing Handel’s Messiah
in 2012, and conducted Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
in Denver.
His extensive discography as conductor and solo
lutenist include well over one hundred CDs, many of
which have received international acclaim and awards.
In 2013, Stephen was appointed Senior Artist in
Residence at the University of Washington’s School of
Music. His first major production there was Handel’s
Semele in May 2014.
Stephen Stubbs, music director, lute, harpsichord
After a thirty-year career in Europe, Stephen
Stubbs returned to his native Seattle in 2006
as one of the world’s most respected lutenists,
conductors, and music educators. Before his return,
he was based in Bremen, Germany, where he was
Professor at the Hochschule für Künste. In 1987 he
founded the ensemble Tragicomedia, which toured
throughout Europe, Japan and the United States,
as well as recording numerous CDs. Tragicomedia
has been the continuo team for the Boston Early
Music Festival since 1997. Stephen is the Festival’s
permanent artistic co-director along with his long
time colleague Paul O’Dette. Stephen and Paul are
also the musical directors of all Boston Early Music
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Supporting the Society
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Make a Donation
The Early Music Society of the Islands relies on
individual donations, memberships and grants to
sustain its operations each year. Your donation will
help to present concerts featuring internationally
renowned artists and to promote interest and
appreciation of early music in the community.
help the Fund grow. These operating grants will
assist in presenting artists that would otherwise be
unaffordable, and to ensure the long-term sustainability
of the Society. Tax receipts will be provided.
Ways to Donate
ONLINE To make a secure online donation
by Visa, MasterCard or AmEx, visit:
www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca
Early Music Endowment Fund, Victoria Foundation,
Suite #109–645, Fort Street Victoria, BC V8W 1G2
You can contribute directly to this Fund in three ways:
MAIL By sending a cheque to:
ONLINE Donate online by Visa, MasterCard,
AmEx at the Victoria Foundation’s Web site:
http://www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca/web/give/ways
Click on “give now” to go to CanadaHelps, select
“Donate Now” and choose “Early Music Endowment
Fund” from the drop-down list.
MAIL Please send cheque payable to EMSI to:
EMSI Donations c/o McPherson Box Office,
#3 Centennial Square, Victoria BC V8W 1P5
THROUGH UNITED WAY OR EMPLOYEE
CAMPAIGNS If your employer participates in
BEQUESTS OR GIFTS OF SECURITIES
the United Way or other employee campaigns,
you can support the Early Music Society of the
Islands by writing in the gift on your pledge
card. Our charitable registration number is
11889-0367-RR0001.
Bequests or gifts of life insurance or securities may
be arranged through the Victoria Foundation. For
more information, visit www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca
or phone the Foundation at (250) 381–5532.
To discuss donation options, please leave a message
at the Society’s voice mailbox: (250) 882–5958 or
email us at [email protected].
Tax receipts are issued for all donations of $10
and over.
BUSINESS SPONSORS The Society welcomes business
sponsorships and will provide appropriate public
acknowledgement of such support.
Sponsorships
PRIVATE SPONSORS The Artistic Director would
be pleased to offer guidance and information relating
to large gifts for a special purpose or to support a
specific concert.
Donate for the Future
The Early Music Endowment Fund is owned and
managed on our behalf by the Victoria Foundation.
Each year, part of the investment income is given as
a grant to EMSI, and the balance is re-invested to
Please contact us at:
[email protected]
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Thank you for your generosity in supporting
early music on southern Vancouver Island
www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca
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PHONE
250-882-5058