March 10, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore sings Mahler’s “Rückert Lieder” in an Oregon Symphony Classical concert led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar that also features music of Schwantner and Haydn on April 8 and 9 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The April 8 concert is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank. Media support is provided by The Oregonian. Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Classical series.
This concert is built around the concept of time and the universality of human emotional experiences encapsulated in Mahler’s “Rückert Lieder.” Larmore, whose singing was described by The Guardian as a “combination of thrilling abandon, perfect control and dramatic exactitude,” received the insignia of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the government of France in 2002. She performs seven of Mahler’s songs, in which he broke new ground by scoring them for orchestral, rather than piano, accompaniment. “This music is as deep as Mahler can get,” says Kalmar. “At times it is even heartbreaking.”
Also featured in this concert is the Symphony’s premiere of American composer Joseph Schwantner’s 1979 Pulitzer prize-winning work, “Aftertones of Infinity.” “The very title is a paradox, combining as it does the notion of infinity with the notion of afterness,” explains Artistic Administrator Charles Calmer. “It alternates passages of suspended animation with others where the rapid succession of chords and the onslaught of dynamic percussion create a poetic illusion, but only an illusion of movement.”
Building on the concept of time and universality, these concerts will also include Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony, so named because of the ticking of the accompaniment in its second movement, and Josef Strauss’ “Music of the Spheres” Waltz.
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: Music Director Carlos Kalmar and KBPS host Shaun Yu 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 KINK fm102.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $20 to $85 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Customer Service 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 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Discounted tickets for groups of eight or more are available through the Group Sales hotline at (503) 416-6380. 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.
Jennifer Larmore’s operatic début in 1986 as Sesto in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” in France marked the start of a brilliant international career in which operas of Rossini, Bellini, Mozart and Handel have come to figure prominently. She has appeared in her signature role Rosina from “Il barbiere di Siviglia” to extraordinary acclaim in Paris, Amsterdam, Bonn, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Bilbao, Milan, Vienna and London. It was this role that she chose for her Metropolitan Opera début in 1995. Larmore was first heard at La Scala in “Le Comte Ory,” later returning for “L’Enfant et les sortileges” and “Il barbiere di Siviglia.” She has appeared as Romeo in “I Capuleti e I Montecchi” in Lisbon, Geneva, Paris and New York. Adding yet another Rossini heroine to her repertoire, Larmore sang Isabella in “L’italiana in Algeri”to equal success in Torino, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Vienna, New York and Paris. She made her Salzburg Festival début in 1993 as Dorabella in “Così fan tutte” and her debut as Charlotte in Massenet’s “Werther” at the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna in 2000. She returns to the Metropolitan Opera this season for the world premiere of “An American Tragedy.”
Larmore is equally at home on the concert stage with a wide-ranging repertory extending from Handel’s “Messiah” and Vivaldi’s “Magnificat” to Rossini’s “Stabat Mater” and Mahler’s “Rückertlieder,” which she has sung not only at the Vienna Musikverein with Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic, but also at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with Donald Runnicles. She gave her debut with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Kurt Masur with Mahler’s “Lied von der Erde,” which she has also sung with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and Andreas Delfs. Larmore’s Prague Spring Festival debut under Marco Guidarini was a wildly successful event.
In 2003 Larmore was honored by the French Government with the insignia of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of her outstanding contribution to classical music. Earlier this year, she was honored by her alma mater of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey when they invited her to give the Commencement address, a recital, and presented her with a doctor of music degree.
