February 9, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE OREGON SYMPHONY IN MARCH:
THE CALENDAR GLITTERS WITH RARE GEMS, WELL-DONE

(PORTLAND, Ore.) – One thing’s for certain about the Oregon Symphony’s Classical calendar for March: Audiences leaving the concert hall will legitimately be able to say, “Well, I’ve never heard that before!” The March line-up features only two programs -- five compositions in all – and four of the five are Oregon Symphony premieres. The fifth? That would be opera composer Gioachino Rossini’s theatrical Stabat Mater, which the orchestra has performed before, in fact … but only once – way back in 1925. Complete details follow:

SATURDAY-MONDAY, MAR. 6-8:
A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME PORTLAND PERFORMANCE FOR ROSSINI’S STABAT MATER

• When and Where: Three performances, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 6 and 7, and 8 p.m. Monday, Mar. 8; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, with Music Director Carlos Kalmar on the podium, joined by the Portland Symphonic Choir and soloists Amber Wagner, soprano; Eve Gigliotti, mezzo-soprano; Brendan Tuohy, tenor; and Ben Wager, bass.

• The Program:
• Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 6, “The Little C major”
• Gioachino Rossini: Stabat Mater

• Tickets: $15 to $100; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.  

• What’s So Special About These Concerts:
• The program features a little-known symphony by Franz Schubert – Symphony No. 6, known as “The Little C major” – which has never before been performed at a regular Oregon Symphony concert, paired here with a grand choral work, Gioachino Rossini’s Stabat Mater, which the Oregon Symphony hasn’t presented since it premiered the piece in April of 1925.
• The Stabat Mater, based on a 13th century liturgical text, is a reflection on the suffering endured by the mother of Jesus at his crucifixion. Through the centuries a number of composers have taken turns setting it to music – Palestrina, Pergolesi and Haydn among them.
• Rossini’s hour-long version, completed in 1841, is a musical hybrid: part traditional liturgical music, studded throughout with the sort of theatrical arias one might expect from one of Italian opera’s leading figures. Even composer Richard Wagner once complained, ironically, that Rossini’s version was “too theatrical.”
• The Stabat Mater – with four vocal soloists and the Portland Symphonic Choir joining the orchestra on stage – is the only large-scale choral work on the Oregon Symphony’s Classical concert calendar this season.

SUNDAY, MAR. 14:
M*A*S*H’S DAVID OGDEN STIERS NARRATES A THEATRICAL RARITY

• When and Where: One performance only, a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Mar. 14; Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

• The Performers: The Oregon Symphony, led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar, with actor and narrator David Ogden Stiers.

• The Program:
• Frederic Delius: Irmelin Prelude
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6
• Richard Strauss: Suite from Le bourgeois gentilhomme

• Tickets: $15 to $100; at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office, 923 SW Washington St., in downtown Portland. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343 during the same hours, at the concert hall box office starting two hours before the performance, or online at any time from the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org.  

• What’s So Special About This Concert:
• It’s premiere night for the orchestra. All three works on the program will be performed for the first time ever by the Oregon Symphony at these concerts.
• English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony, composed in the mid-1940s, premiered to critical and audience acclaim and is widely viewed today as his crowning achievement in the symphonic genre.
• The second half of the concert features Richard Strauss’ 1920 Suite from Le bourgeois gentilhomme, based on a 17th century comedy by Molière.
• Joining the orchestra for Le bourgeois gentilhomme is the veteran Broadway, movie and TV actor David Ogden Stiers, who the audience will instantly recognize, no doubt, from his best-known role: Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III in the hit sitcom M*A*S*H in the 1970s and ‘80s. Here he serves as narrator in addition to playing multiple character roles.
• Stiers is no stranger to the concert hall. Among his current duties is that of associate conductor for Oregon’s Newport Symphony.
• Unlike most Oregon Symphony Classical concerts in Portland, this one has only a single matinee performance.

###

CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org