February 20, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … The love, music and madness that flourished among three of the 19th century’s musical luminaries will be explored by guest conductor Paul Mann and the Oregon Symphony in “Love Triangle,” the final Front Row Center concert of the 2003-04 season, featuring baritone Ian Greenlaw and soprano Joanna Mongiardo on March 19 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The Front Row Center series is sponsored by Bridgeport BrewPub and Southwest Airlines.
Mann, who appears regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra, describes the relationship between Brahms and the Schumanns as “one of the supreme love stories in the history of music. Clara Schumann was one of the most remarkable women of the nineteenth century, and a great artist in her own right, who also had the good fortune to love and be loved by two of the greatest composers of all time.” The passionate story of their relationship contains many of the classic elements of tragedy, especially love and loss.
Mann and the Symphony will play excerpts from Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major and Symphony No. 2 in C major, as well as Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor and his Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, with Mann at the piano, while singers Greenlaw and Mongiardo will perform lieder by all three composers. Greenlaw, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Theater Manager in “Les Mamelles de Tiresias” under James Levine, will sing selections from Robert Schumann’s “Liederkreis,” Brahms’ “Vier Gesänge” and “Vier Lieder” and Clara Schumann’s Three Songs, Op. 12. Mongiardo, winner of the 2003 Sullivan Award and a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, will perform excerpts from Robert Schumann’s “Myrthen” and Clara Schumann’s Three Songs, Op. 12. Both singers will be accompanied by Mann at the piano.
Mann adds, “In addition to telling their story, we’ll also be exploring one especially fascinating aspect of the music. Both Schumann and Brahms encrypted many of their most famous works with references to Clara, disguising her name in musical tones. By discovering how they did this we can uncover a whole new layer of hidden meanings and personal allusions…I hope that by examining how Clara inspired them we will hear their much-loved music with renewed insight and admiration.”
This performance is scheduled for Friday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $14 to $50 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.
Since winning the 1998 Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, Paul Mann has emerged as one of the finest conductors of the younger generation, conducting many major orchestras in the UK, USA, Europe, Russia, Japan, Australia and South America.
Born on Tyneside, England, in 1965, he was educated at Chetham’s School of Music and at the University of York, studying piano with Denis Matthews. After early positions at Northern Ballet Theatre, and at the Royal Northern College of Music, he held two assistant conductorships in the UK, first with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1996, and then with the London Symphony Orchestra from 1998. In Bournemouth, he conducted more than eighty concerts, covering a huge repertoire and working with many major soloists. He made his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra in June 1999, and has continued to appear regularly with the orchestra, both in concert and the recording studio.
Other recent engagements have included concerts with the Hallé Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony, Manchester Camerata, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, City of London Sinfonia, St Petersburg Philharmonic, National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Odense Symphony, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He recently also assisted Belohlavek at Glyndebourne (Jenufa), and has established a regular guest conductorship with the New York City Ballet. He has recorded with the BBC Scottish Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, for such labels as Decca and Warner Classics.
During 1999 he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in the Duke Ellington Centenary Concert at the Barbican which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Later that season he brought together the London Symphony Orchestra and the legendary rock band Deep Purple in two widely acclaimed performances of keyboard player Jon Lord’s “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” at the Royal Albert Hall. The live video and CD of the concert have become international best sellers. A subsequent tour of this project saw more than 40 concerts in South America, Mexico, Japan and throughout Europe.
Engagements this year have included the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, London Mozart Players, Queensland Orchestra, New Mexico Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet, whilst later this season he will return to the City of Birmingham Symphony, Odense Symphony and Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Norwegian Opera and Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. He returns to the Australia twice this season for extended tours with the Queensland Orchestra and West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
Baritone Ian Greenlaw is quickly gaining a reputation as one of today’s new up and coming baritones.
He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Theater Manager in “Les Mamelles de Tiresias” with James Levine in a performance that was broadcast internationally. He has since appeared at the Met in “Andrea Chenier,” “Sly” and “Ariadne auf Naxos” and next season returns for “The Merry Widow.” Other opera engagements have included Demetrius in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Central City Opera, Guglielmo in “Così fan tutte” at the Chicago Opera Theatre, Dr. Falke in “Die Fledermaus” at the Michigan Opera Theatre, the title role in school matinee performances of “Don Giovanni” with the Dallas Opera and Guglielmo and Procolo in Donizetti’s “Viva La Mamma (Le Convenienze Ed Inconvenienze)” at Wolf Trap Opera.
An alumnus of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists in Chicago, Mr. Greenlaw has appeared at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Figaro in student performances of “Il barbiere di Siviglia,” the title role in “Don Giovanni,” and Edgar in a staged reading of Michael John LaChiusa’s “Enigma Variations.” Before entering the LOCAA, he spent two years as a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Center, where he performed the roles of Lorenzo in “I Capuleti e i Montecchi,” Enrico in “Lucia di Lammermoor,” and the title role in “Eugene Onegin.” Other credits with Pittsburgh Opera include “Andrea Chenier” and “Roméo et Juliette.” On the concert platform, he has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Festival of Song, and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Mr. Greenlaw’s concert engagements have included the baritone soloist in Rodrigo’s “Auscencias de Dulcinea” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, “Pelleas et Melisande” with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra, a concert with the New York Festival of Song, “Carmina Burana” with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, with the Carolina Ballet in staged performances of Britten’s “War Requiem” with the Dayton Philharmonic, and Judas in Massenet’s “Marie-Magdeleine” as part of New York’s St. Ignatius Loyola’s concert series, Sacred Music in a Sacred Place.
A native of St. Charles, Missouri, Mr. Greenlaw received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and his Master of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the winner of the 2002 Richard Tucker Career Grant, the 2001 Sara Tucker Study Grant and is a first place winner of the Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actor Competition.
The versatile soprano Joanna Mongiardo received praise for her performance as Juliette with Madison Opera. A 2003 Sullivan Award Recipient, Mongiardo is a 2001 national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She is also a winner of the Liederkranz Foundation Award, the Opera Index Voice Competition and the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Competition. A native of Wellesley, Mass., Mongiardo has a Masters Degree in music from Yale University.
Mongiardo has appeared with the Caramoor Festival as Adina in “L’elisir d’amore,” with the New York City Opera as Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and at the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera as Adele in “Die Fledermaus” and First Lady in “The Magic Flute.” She was recently seen as Adele with the National Chorale, as Maria in “West Side Story” with the Pasadena Pops, as Yum Yum in “Mikado” with the Boston Academy of Music, as Gretel in Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” with Concord Orchestra and as Annabel Balch in the New York premiere of Stephen Paulus’ “Summer” with the Center for Contemporary Opera.
At Mongiardo’s Carnegie Hall debut in March of 2003 she sang Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music” with the Oratorio Society of New York. She has also sung “Carmina Burana” with the Detroit, Illinois, Lincoln, Chattanooga and Youngstown Symphonies as well as at the New Hampshire Music Festival.
During the 2003-2004 season, she appears as Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro” with Portland Opera and Knoxville Opera, as Paquette in “Candide” with Opera Pacific and as the title role in Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” with Madison Opera. In concert, Mongiardo appears with the San Diego Symphony in the California premiere of Julian Wachner’s “Regina Coeli” and Carlyle Sharpe’s “Proud Music of the Storm” and with the National Chorale in “Carmina Burana.”
