“Opera and More: Wagner and Gál”
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | 7:30 PM | $5-50
Kenneth Woods & Peter Davison will give a pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM
Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place, Boulder
Brennen Guillory
- GÁL Symphony No. 4 (U.S. premiere)
- WAGNER Die Walküre, Act I (arranged for chamber orchestra by Francis Griffin)
Kenneth Woods, conductor
Gustav Andreassen, Hunding
Brennen Guillory, Siegmund
Stacey Rishoi, Sieglinde
Hannah Porter Occeña, flute
Daniel Silver, clarinet
Zachary DePue, violin
Parry Karp, cello
Colorado MahlerFest Chamber Orchestra
“I saw the world end.” Richard Wagner
Inspired by a vision of the fall of the gods, Wagner embarked on writing one of music’s most gigantic and powerful creations, the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Premiering in 1870, Die Walküre, is the second opera in the cycle. This performance of Act I will be immediate and visceral.
Mahler saw Wagner conduct once, a performance of Lohengrin with the Vienna State Opera in 1876. At age 16, Mahler did not have the courage to approach Wagner despite seeing him backstage. Mahler adored the senior composer’s music, becoming a renowned Wagner conductor and programming Die Walküre numerous times throughout his career. The size and proportions of Wagner’s orchestra, as well as that of Bruckner, certainly influenced Mahler’s own compositions.
Hans Gál
Austrian composer Hans Gál attended Mahler’s rehearsals in Vienna as a boy. He had a long and successful career; his second opera, Die heilige Ente (The Sacred Duck), was given it’s premiere by George Szell. In more recent times, Gál is all but forgotten. With the Nazi invasion of Mainz he was dismissed from his post and performance and publication of his works in Germany were prohibited. He fled to London but, in 1940 was eventually interned for five months as an “enemy alien.” He settled in Edinburgh where he taught at the University of Edinburgh from 1945 until retiring in 1960. In this role, he taught Thea Musgrave whose Phoenix Rising will be performed on Sunday.
Gál’s fourth and final symphony is scored for chamber orchestra and akin to a concerto grosso. This performance will feature Festival Artists Zachary DePue, Parry Karp, Hannah Porter Occeña, and Daniel Silver as soloists. The music exhibits Gál’s trademark pastoral and lyrical style, yet inwardly this is music of intense rigor and deep concentration.
What to Expect
Mountain View United Methodist is a beautiful building located in the Frasier Meadows neighborhood. There is plenty of free parking in the lot on the west side of the building and the surrounding surface streets. The main doors are on the west side of the building just south of the sanctuary (and north of the school wing). You’ll enter there and make your way through a spacious lobby to the sanctuary. The church holds about 200 people with chairs on the main floor and pews in the balcony.
As the opening performance of the festival, feel free to dress up but, as always, this is Boulder and casual is always in fashion. Based on the experience of our first opera performance last year, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, we expect this performance to sell out. The sound in the balcony is very nice, perhaps preferable, but the sight lines are not as advantageous. Arrive early to get a seat on the floor.