NICHOLAS PHAN Tenor with ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET … · The quartet recently returned as faculty to the Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, ... Spain, Portugal,

presents…

NICHOLAS PHAN | Tenor with ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET

Zakarias Grafilo | Violin Paul Yarbrough | ViolaFrederick Lifsitz | Violin Sandy Wilson | Cello

ROBERT GREENBERG | LecturerRHOSLYN JONES | SopranoRENÉE RAPIER | Mezzo-SopranoROBERT MOLLICONE | PianoSaturday, April 7, 2018 | 3pmHerbst Theatre

FRENCH SONG AND THE BELLE ÉPOQUEDEBUSSY Clair de Lune from Quatre Chansons de Jeunesse

FAURÉ Selections from La bonne chanson I. Une sainte en son aurèole II. Puisque l’aube grandit III. La lune blanche luit dans les bois IV. J’allais par des chemins perfides VII. Donc, ce sera par un jour

DEBUSSY Trois mélodies de Paul Verlaine I. La mer est plus belles II. Le son du cor s’afflige III. L’échelonnement des haies

INTERMISSION

Settings from Fêtes galantes I. Clair de lune (from Fêtes galantes I) II. Pantomime (from Quatre Chansons de Jeunesse) III. Les ingénues (from Fêtes Galantes II) IV. Fantoches (from Fêtes galantes I) V. Le faune (from Fêtes galantes II) VI. Mandoline VII. En sourdine (from Fêtes galantes I) VIII. Colloque sentimental (from Fêtes galantes II)

Clair de lune from Suite Bergamasque (piano)

Hamburg Steinway Model D, Pro Piano, San Francisco.

2 | For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545

ARTIST PROFILES

Nicholas Phan, the Alexander String Quartet and Robert Green-berg are Artists-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances. Mr. Phan makes his SF Performances’ recital debut on April 12. Starting in 1994, the Quartet joined with Mr. Greenberg to present the Saturday Morning Series exploring string quartet literature; the Quartet also has appeared on SF Performances’ mainstage Chamber Series many times. Rhoslyn Jones and Renée Rapier join SF Performances for the first time today. Robert Mollicone appeared with mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton in 2015 and has also performed several times on the Salon Series.

American tenor Nicholas Phan continues to distinguish him-self as one of the most compelling tenors performing today.

Highlights of his 2017–18 season include his debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and the Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo for Britten’s War Requi-em with Marin Alsop; and returns to the Chamber Music So-ciety of Lincoln Center, Philharmonia Baroque, the Philadel-phia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony for Schubert’s Mass in E-flat with Riccardo Muti, and the Toronto Symphony for performances as the title role in Bernstein’s Candide. He also serves as artistic director of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago’s Collaborative Works Festival and guest Artistic Di-rector of the Laguna Beach Music Festival.

Mr. Phan has appeared with many of the leading orches-tras in North America and Europe, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Ange-les Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and Royal Philharmonic. Mr. Phan’s many opera credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence,

Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Frankfurt Opera. In both recital and chamber concerts, he has been pre-

sented by Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Met-ropolitan Museum of Art, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, At-lanta’s Spivey Hall, Boston’s Celebrity Series, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Phan’s most recent solo album, Gods and Monsters, was re-leased on Avie Records in January 2017 and was nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo. His first three solo albums, A Painted Tale, Still Fall the Rain and Win-ter Words, made many “best of” lists, including those of the New York Times, New Yorker, Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe. Phan’s growing discography also includes a Grammy-nominat-ed recording of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony, the opera L’Olimpiade with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Scarlatti’s La gloria di Primavera with Phil-harmonia Baroque, Bach’s St. John Passion (in which he sings both the Evangelist as well as the tenor arias) with Apollo’s Fire, and the world premiere recordings of two orchestral song cycles: The Old Burying Ground by Evan Chambers and Elliott Carter’s A Sunbeam’s Architecture. Mr. Phan’s next album, Illu-minations, a collection of songs by Debussy, Fauré, and Britten will be released in April 2018.

Having celebrated its 35th Anniversary in 2016, the Alex-ander String Quartet has performed in the major music capi-tals of five continents, securing its standing among the world’s premier ensembles. Widely admired for its interpretations of Beethoven, Mozart, and Shostakovich, the quartet’s recordings of the Beethoven cycle (twice), Bartók, and Shostakovich cycle have won international critical acclaim. The quartet has also es-tablished itself as an important advocate of new music through over 30 commissions from such composers as Jake Heggie, Cindy Cox, Augusta Read Thomas, Robert Greenberg, Martin Bresnick, Cesar Cano, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Wayne Peter-son. A new work by Tarik O’Regan, commissioned for the Alex-ander by the Boise Chamber Music Series, had its premiere in October 2016, and a work for quintet from Samuel Carl Adams is planned for premiere in early 2019 with pianist Joyce Yang.

The Alexander String Quartet is a major artistic presence in its home base of San Francisco, serving since 1989 as En-semble-in-Residence of San Francisco Performances and Di-rectors of San Francisco State University’s Morrison Cham-

For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545 | 3

ber Music Center in the College of Liberal and Creative Arts.The Alexander String Quartet’s annual calendar of con-

certs includes engagements at major halls throughout North America and Europe. The quartet has appeared at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City; Jordan Hall in Boston; the Library of Congress and Dumbarton Oaks in Washington; and chamber music societies and universities across the North American con-tinent. The quartet recently returned as faculty to the Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, a nexus of their early career. Recent overseas tours have brought them to the U.K., the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, Ger-many, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Greece, the Re-public of Georgia, Argentina, Panama, and the Philippines. Their recent return and tour of Poland for the Beethoven Eas-ter Festival has been beautifully captured in the new (2017) documentary film, Con Moto.

Among the eminent musicians with whom the Alexander String Quartet has collaborated are pianists Joyce Yang, Roger Woodward, Anne-Marie McDermott, Menachem Pressler, Marc-André Hamelin, and Jeremy Menuhin; clarinetists Joan Enric Lluna, David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman, and Eli Eban; soprano Elly Ameling; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato; vio-linist Midori; cellists Lynn Harrell, Sadao Harada, and David Requiro; and jazz greats Branford Marsalis, David Sanchez, and Andrew Speight. The quartet has worked with many com-posers including Aaron Copland, George Crumb, and Elliott Carter, and has long enjoyed a close relationship with compos-er-lecturer Robert Greenberg, performing numerous lecture-concerts with him annually.

The Alexander String Quartet added considerably to its distinguished and wide-ranging discography over the past decade, now recording exclusively for the FoghornClassics label. There were three major releases in the 2013–2014 season: The combined string quartet cycles of Bartók and Kodály (“If ever an album had “Grammy nominee” writ-ten on its front cover, this is it.” —Audiophile Audition); the string quintets and sextets of Brahms with Toby Appel and David Requiro (“a uniquely detailed, transparent warmth” —Strings Magazine); and the Schumann and Brahms piano quintets with Joyce Yang (“passionate, soulful readings of two pinnacles of the chamber repertory” —The New York Times). Their recording of music of Gershwin and Kern was released in the summer of 2012, following the spring 2012 re-cording of the clarinet quintet of Brahms and a new quintet from César Cano, in collaboration with Joan Enric Lluna, as well as a disc in collaboration with the San Francisco Cho-ral Artists. An album of works by Cindy Cox was released in 2015. Their recordings of Mozart’s “Prussian” Quartets and Piano Quartets with Joyce Yang will be released in the late spring of 2018.

The Alexander’s 2009 ForghornClassics release of the complete Beethoven cycle was described by Music Web Inter-national as performances “uncompromising in power, inten-sity and spiritual depth,” while Strings Magazine described the set as “a landmark journey through the greatest of all quartet cycles.” In fall 2017, Foghorn released a high resolu-tion remastered version of their acclaimed recording of the complete Shostakovich quartets. The label released a three-CD set (Homage) of the Mozart quartets dedicated to Haydn

in 2004. A recording of the complete quartets of Pulitzer prize-winning San Francisco composer, Wayne Peterson, was released in the spring of 2008. BMG Classics released the quartet’s first recording of Beethoven cycle on its Arte Nova label to tremendous critical acclaim in 1999.

The Alexander String Quartet was formed in New York City in 1981 and captured international attention as the first American quartet to win the London International String Quartet Competition in 1985. The quartet has received hon-orary degrees from Allegheny College and Saint Lawrence University, and Presidential medals from Baruch College (CUNY). The Alexander plays on a matched set of instruments made in San Francisco by Francis Kuttner (born in Washing-ton, D.C., 1951). This year marks the 30th anniversary of these instruments, known as the Ellen M. Egger quartet.

Dr. Robert Greenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1954 and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1978. He received a B.A. in Music, magna cum laude, from Prince-ton University in 1976. His principal teachers at Prince ton were Edward Cone, Daniel Werts, and Carlton Gamer in com-position; Claudio Spies and Paul Lansky in analysis; and Jer-ry Kuderna in piano. In 1984, Dr. Greenberg received a Ph.D. in Music Composition, with distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley, where his principal teachers were Andrew Imbrie and Olly Wilson in composition and Richard Felciano in analysis.

Dr. Greenberg has composed more than 50 works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles. Per-formances of his works have taken place across the United States, England, Ireland, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands, where his Child’s Play for String Quartet was performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Dr. Greenberg has received numerous honors, includ-ing three Nicola de Lorenzo Composition Prizes and three Meet The Composer grants. He has received commissions from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Alexander String Quartet, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Strata Ensemble, San Fran-cisco Performances, and the XTET ensemble. Dr. Greenberg


is a board member and an artistic director of Composers, Inc., a composers’ collective and production organization based in San Francisco. His music is published by Fallen Leaf Press and CPP/Belwin and is recorded on the Innova label. Dr. Greenberg is a Steinway Artist.

Dr. Greenberg has performed, taught, and lectured ex-tensively across North America and Europe. He is currently Music Historian-in-Residence with San Francisco Perfor-mances, where he has lectured and performed since 1994. He has served on the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley; California State University, East Bay; the Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business; and the San Francisco Conser-vatory of Music, where he chaired the Department of Music History and Literature from 1989 to 2001 and served as the director of the Adult Extension Division from 1991 to 1996.

Dr. Greenberg has lectured for some of the most presti-gious musical and arts organizations in the United States, including the San Francisco Symphony (where for 10 years he was host and lecturer for the Symphony’s nationally acclaimed Discovery Series), the Chautauqua Institution (where he was the Everett Scholar-in-Residence during the 2006 season), the Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Van Cliburn Foundation, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Hart-ford Symphony Orchestra, Villa Montalvo, Music@Menlo, the University of British Columbia (where he was the Dal Grauer Lecturer in September 2006), and Philadelphia’s Col-lege of Physicians (where he was the Behrend Lecturer in 2017).

In addition, Dr. Greenberg is a sought-after lecturer for busi-nesses and business schools and has spoken for such diverse organizations as S. C. Johnson, Canadian Pacific, Deutsche Bank, the University of California/Haas School of Business Executive Seminar, the University of California Berkeley/Goldman School of Public Policy, Agdar Leadership Confer-ence, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School Publishing, Kaiser Permanente, the Strategos Institute, Quintiles Transnational, the Young Presi-dents’ Organization, the World Presidents’ Organization, and the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Dr. Greenberg has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Inc. magazine, the Times of London, the Los Angeles Times, The Christian Sci-ence Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the University of California alumni magazine, Princeton Alumni Weekly, and Diablo magazine.

For 15 years, Dr. Greenberg was the resident composer and music historian for NPR’s Weekend All Things Consid-ered and Weekend Edition, Sunday with Liane Hansen. His show Scandalous Overtures can be seen on ora.tv/shows.

In February 2003, Maine’s Bangor Daily News referred to Dr. Greenberg as the Elvis of music history and appre-ciation, an appraisal that has given him more pleasure than any other.

In May 1993, Dr. Greenberg recorded a forty-eight-lecture course entitled How to Listen to and Understand Great Music for the Teaching Company/Great Courses Program of Chan-tilly, Virginia. (This course was named in the January, 1996 edition of Inc. Magazine as one of “The Nine Leadership Classics You’ve Never Read.”) The Great Courses is the pre-

eminent producer of college level courses-on-media in the United States.

Dr. Greenberg’s other Great Courses include: Concert Masterworks; Bach and the High Baroque; The Symphonies of Beethoven; How to Listen to and Understand Opera; the Great Masters series; The Operas of Mozart; The Life and Operas of Ver-di; The Symphony; The Chamber Music of Mozart; Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas; The Concerto; Understanding the Fundamentals of Music; The String Quartets of Beethoven; The Music of Rich-ard Wagner; 30 Greatest Orchestral Works; 23 Greatest Solo Piano Works; Music as a Mirror of History; and The Great Mu-sic of the Twentieth Century (to be released in January, 2018). All of these courses will be available for download directly from Greenberg’s own website at robertgreenbergmusic.com starting in January 2018. He is very excited about this.

Canadian soprano Rhoslyn Jones is quickly becoming an important presence on both the concert and operatic stages of the world. Described as a “superb singer and artistic pres-ence,” Ms. Jones’ voice is “luscious, and her soul opens forth-rightly and generously to the audience.”

Hailed as “The delicious diva” by the 24 Hours New Vancou-ver, Ms. Jones captivated the audience with her “unforgetta-bly powerful voice” in her very first production of Le Nozze di Figaro. As the Countess, Rhoslyn Jones imparted “a grace and dignity that prevent[ed] her from descending into the mould of the stereotypical wronged woman, and [allowed] her to become a relatable individual for a modern audience. Jones is a joy to watch and reason alone to see the show.”

In recent seasons, Ms. Jones has appeared as the Count-ess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Santa Barbara, Musetta in La Boheme with Pittsburgh Opera, Tatyana in Eugene One-gin with Vancouver Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Chicago Opera Theater and the title role of Susannah with Arizona Opera. Ms. Jones also created the starring role of Julia Dent Grant in Phillip Glass’s world premiere of Appo-mattox with the San Francisco Opera opposite Dwayne Croft and Andrew Shore. She has also recently appeared with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Silicon Valley Symphony, So-noma State University Orchestra, and Anchorage Symphony.

She is the Director of the University of British Columbia Summer Vocal Workshop, a young artist-training program. Students come from all over the world to take lessons, coach, and perform in the program that has quickly grown into a major training program under her direction. She is also on the Vocal Faculty at Sonoma State University, as well as an Artist-in-Residence at the San Francisco School of the Arts.


Her students have been accepted into the best schools in the country, and have won various major competitions under her tutelage.

Originally from Aldergrove, B.C., Ms. Jones completed her Undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the University of British Columbia and her Diploma in Opera Performance at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She also attended the distinguished Summer Festival at Ravinia in 2008 and was a 2004 and 2005 participant in Merola Op-era Program, which led to her selection as an Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera from 2006–07.

American mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier brings her “dark, velvety mezzo and smoothly controlled, unfailingly eloquent phrasing to match” (Opera News) as well as a “razor-sharp fo-cus” (Bay Area Reporter) to the operatic stage.

In her 2016–17 season, Renée Rapier returns to the innova-tive San Francisco based Opera Parallèle as the Minskwoman in Jonathan Dove’s Flight. She then makes her LA Philhar-monic debut in John Adams’ Nixon in China conducted by the composer himself. Her summer will feature her role debut as Suzuki in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at both Opera The-atre of St. Louis and Seattle Opera followed by returns to her home company of San Francisco Opera.

Ms. Rapier’s 2015–16 season included a critically-acclaimed debut as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera San Jose as well as debuts with Seattle Opera in Maria Stuarda, Emerald City Opera in Florencia en el Amazonas. She also made return appear-ances with the San Francisco Symphony in scenes from Hump-erdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and with the San Francisco Opera as Mercédès in Calixto Bieito’s provocative production of Carmen.

In 2015, Ms. Rapier returned to LA Opera singing Cheru-bino in both Le Nozze di Figaro and John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, the latter of which producing a two-time Grammy winning recording. She also sang the title role in Jake Heggie’s Great Scott during its Cincinnati workshop, covering Joyce DiDonato at the piece’s Dallas premier.

Other recent engagements include a debut at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival as both the Page in Salome and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, her international debut as Olga in Eugene Onegin with the Seoul Philharmonic, Cornelia in Giulio Ce-sare with Wolf Trap Opera, and a debut with Opera San Anto-nio as Mrs. Fox in Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.

After receiving degrees in both voice and viola from the University of Northern Iowa, Ms. Rapier participated in sev-eral prominent training programs including Chautauqua Op-era and the Merola Opera Program. In 2011, she was chosen

to join LA Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program where she made her professional debut as Stephano in Roméo et Juliette under the baton of Plácido Domingo. Soon after, she joined the prestigious Adler Fellowship at the San Francisco Opera where she covered and sang a number of roles includ-ing Giovanna in Rigoletto and Meg Page in Falstaff.

Renée has received recognition from several notable com-petitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Coun-cil Auditions (national semi-finalist), Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition (first place), the Seoul International Mu-sic Competition (finalist), Plácido Domingo’s Operalia (semi-finalist) and the Brava! Opera Theater and James M. Collier Young Artist Program Vocal Competition (first place).

Recently acclaimed for his debut in Ariadne auf Naxos at Austin Opera, Robert Mollicone is a member of the music staff of San Francisco Opera, where he was assistant to Music Director Nicola Luisotti for the 2017–18 season; he is also a frequent guest at such companies as Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Utah Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Opera San Jose. He has also prepared productions with and assisted many of today’s leading conductors, including Jesús López-Cobos, Donald Runnicles, Stephen Lord, and Patrick Summers. These nearly 50 productions since 2010 span the breadth of the repertoire, including Ariadne auf Naxos, Tu-randot, La Cenerentola, Les Troyens, Der Ring des Nibelungen, La Finta Giardiniera, and Show Boat.

A commitment to the future of American opera led Molli-cone to work on the 25th anniversary production of Nixon in China as well as original productions Moby-Dick, Dolores Clai-borne and The Secret Garden. He also conducted performanc-es of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night and of the world premiere of Weiser’s Where Angels Fear to Tread at Op-era San Jose. Mollicone served as head coach/accompanist for the premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Great Scott at The Dallas Opera.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Mollicone collaborates frequently with both rising stars and veteran singers including Denyce Graves, Andrew Stenson, Joyce El-Khoury, Brian Jagde, Simon Estes, Ailyn Pérez, Nicholas Phan, and Jamie Barton. He made his Carnegie Hall debut alongside soprano Melody Moore in May 2016.

He is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellow-ship, as well as of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera. He holds a M. Mus. from Boston University, where he studied with Shiela Kibbe.


CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Claire de Lune from Quatre Chansons de Jeunesse (1884)

Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes I: Clair de Lune (“Moonlight”; 1869)

Votre âme est un paysage choisi Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques. Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune, Au calme clair de lune triste et beau, Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau, Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres.

GABRIEL FAURÉ

Selections from La bonne chanson (1891/1898)

I. Paul Verlaine, La bonne chanson (“The Good Song”): Une Sainte en son aureole (1870)

Une Sainte en son auréole, Une Châtelaine en sa tour, Tout ce que contient la parole Humaine de grâce et d’amour; La note d’or que fait entendre Un cor dans le lointain des bois, Mariée à la fierté tendre Des nobles Dames d’autrefois ; Avec cela le charme insigne D’un frais sourire triomphant Éclos dans des candeurs de cygne Et des rougeurs de femme-enfant; Des aspects nacrés, blancs et roses, Un doux accord patricien.Je vois, j’entends toutes ces choses Dans son nom Carlovingien

SONG TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

Please hold your applause until the end of each piece. Please turn pages quietly.

Your soul is like a painter’s landscape wherecharming masks in shepherd mummeriesare playing lutes and dancing with an airof being sad in their fantastic guise.

Even while they sing, all in a minor key,of love triumphant and life’s careless boom,they seem in doubt of their felicity,their song melts in the calm light of the moon,

the lovely melancholy light that setsthe little birds to dreaming in the treeand among the statues makes the jetsof slender fountains sob with ecstasy.

A saint within her halo, A lady in her tower, All that human speech contains Of grace and of love.

The golden note by which one hears The horn in the depths of the woods, Married to the tender pride Of the noble ladies of the past;

With this emblematic charm: A fresh, triumphant smile, Revealed with the candor of a swan And the blush of a woman-child,

Of pearly appearance, white and pink; A gentle aristocratic harmony. I see, I hear all these things In your Carolingian name.


II. Paul Verlaine, La bonne chanson: Puisque l’aube grandit, puisque voici l’aurore (1870)

Puisque l’aube grandit, puisque voici l’aurore, Puisque, après m’avoir fui longtemps, l’espoir veut bien Revoler devers moi qui l’appelle et l’implore, Puisque tout ce bonheur veut bien être le mien,

Je veux, guidé par vous, beaux yeux aux flammes douces,

Par toi conduit, ô main où tremblera ma main, Marcher droit, que ce soit par des sentiers de mousses Ou que rocs et cailloux encombrent le chemin;

Et comme, pour bercer les lenteurs de la route,

Je chanterai des airs ingénus, je me dis Qu’elle m’écoutera sans déplaisir sans doute; Et vraiment je ne veux pas d’autre Paradis.

III. Paul Verlaine, La bonne chanson: La lune blanche (1870)

La lune blanche Luit dans les bois; De chaque branche Part une voix Sous la ramée.

Ô bien aimée.

L’étang reflète, Profond miroir, La silhouette Du saule noir Où le vent pleure.

Rêvons, c’est l’heure.

Un vaste et tendre Apaisement Semble descendre Du firmament Que l’astre irise..

C’est l’heure exquise.

Since day is breaking, since dawn is here, Since, having long eluded me, hope may Fly back to me, who calls to it and implores it, Since all this happiness will certainly be mine,

I want, guided by you, [your] beautiful eyes [lit] by gentle flames, Led by you, in whose hand my trembling hand [rests], To march straight on, whether along trails of moss Or on tracks strewn with boulders and stones;

And just as I’ll comfort myself on the tediousness of the journey, By singing some innocent airs, I’ll tell myself That she will hear me without displeasure or doubt; And truly I want no other paradise.

The white moon shines in the woods. From each branch springs a voice beneath the arbor.

Oh my beloved.

Like a deep mirror the pond reflects the silhouette of the black willow where the wind weeps.

Let us dream! It is the hour.

A vast and tender calm seems to descend from a sky made iridescent by the moon.

It is the exquisite hour.

program continues on next page ->▸


IV. Paul Verlaine, La bonne chanson: J’allais par les chemins perfides (1870)

J’allais par les chemins perfides, Douloureusement incertain. Vos chères mains furent mes guides.

Si pâle à l’horizon lointain Luisait un faible espoir d’aurore;Votre regard fut le matin.

Nul bruit, sinon son pas sonore, N’encourageait le voyageur. Votre voix me dit: “Marche encore!”

Mon coeur craintif, mon sombre coeur Pleurait, seul, sur la triste voie; L’amour, délicieux vainqueur, Nous a réunis dans la joie.

VII. Paul Verlaine, La bonne chanson: Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été (1870)

Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été Le grand soleil, complice de ma joie, Fera, parmi le satin et la soie, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté;

Le ciel tout bleu, comme une haute tente, Frissonnera somptueux à longs plis Sur nos deux fronts [heureux] qu’auront pâlis L’émotion du bonheur et l’attente;

Et quand le soir viendra, l’air sera doux Qui se jouera, caressant, dans vos voiles, Et les regards paisibles des étoiles Bienveillamment souriront aux époux.

I was walking along treacherous paths, Painfully uncertain. Your dear hands were my guides.

So pale on the distant horizon Shone a faint hope of dawn; Your eyes were the morning.

No sound other than his ringing footstep Encouraged the voyager. Your voice said to me: “Walk on!”

My timid heart, my somber heart, Cried, alone, on the dreary road; Love, delightful conqueror, United us in joy.

And so, it shall be on a bright summer’s day: The great sun, complicit in my joy, Shall, amidst the satin and silk, Make your dear beauty more beauteous still;

The bluest sky, like a tall tent, Shall ripple in long creases Upon our two happy foreheads, white With happiness and anticipation;

And when the evening comes, the caressing breeze That plays in your veils shall be sweet, And the peaceful gazes of the stars Shall smile benevolently upon the lovers.


CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Trois mélodies de Paul Verlaine (1891)

I. Paul Verlaine, Sagesse (“Wisdom”): La mer est plus belle (1880)

La mer est plus belle Que les cathédrales, Nourrice fidèle, Berceuse de râles, La mer qui prie La Vierge Marie!

Elle a tous les dons Terribles et doux. J’entends ses pardons Gronder ses courroux. Cette immensité N’a rien d’entêté.

O! si patiente, Même quand méchante! Un souffle ami hante La vague, et nous chante : « Vous sans espérance, Mourez sans souffrance ! »

Et puis sous les cieux Qui s’y rient plus clairs, Elle a des airs bleus. Roses, gris et verts... Plus belle que tous, Meilleure que nous !

II. Paul Verlaine, Sagesse: Le son du cor s’afflige vers les bois (1880)

Le son du cor s’afflige vers les bois, D’une douleur on veut croire orpheline Qui vient mourir au bas de la colline, Parmi la [bise] errant en courts abois.

L’âme du loup pleure dans cette voix, Qui monte avec le soleil, qui décline D’une agonie on veut croire câline, Et qui ravit et qui navre à la fois.

Pour faire mieux cette plainte assoupie, La neige tombe à longs traits de charpie A travers le couchant sanguinolent,

Et l’air a l’air d’être un soupir d’automne, Tant il fait doux par ce soir monotone, Où se dorlote un paysage lent.

The sea is more beautiful Than cathedrals; Faithful nurse, Lullaby of death-rattles, The sea over which The Virgin Mary prays!

It has all qualities, Terrible and sweet. I hear it pardoning, its anger growling. This immensity Is indeterminate.

Oh! So patient, Even when naughty! A friendly breath haunts The wave, and sings to us: “You without hope, Die without suff’ring!”

And then under the skies Which scoff that they are brighter, It shows off its blue, Pink, grey, and green... More beautiful than anything, Better than we!

The sound of the horn is wailing near the woods with a sort of orphan-like grief which dies away at the foot of the hill where the north wind desperately roams.

The soul of the wolf is weeping in that voice which rises with the sun that sinks with an agony that seems somehow soothing and gives simultaneous delight and distress.

To enhance this drowsy lament the snow is falling as long strips of linen across the blood-red sunset,

and the air seems to be an autumn sigh, so gentle is this monotonous evening in which a slow landscape coddles itself.


III. Paul Verlaine, Sagesse: L’échelonnement des haies (1880)

L’échelonnement des haies Moutonne à l’infini, mer Claire dans le brouillard clair, Qui sent bon les jeunes baies.

Des arbres et des moulins Sont légers sur le vert tendre, Où vient s’ébattre et s’étendre L’agilité des poulains.

Dans ce vague d’un Dimanche, Voici se jouer aussi De grandes brebis, Aussi douces que leur laine blanche.

Tout à l’heure déferlait L’onde roulée en volutes, De cloches comme des flûtes Dans le ciel comme du lait.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Settings from Fêtes galantes (1891–1904)

I. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes I: Clair de Lune (“Moonlight”; 1869)

Votre âme est un paysage choisi Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques. Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune, Au calme clair de lune triste et beau, Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau, Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres.

Row upon row of hedges billow into the distance, like a pale sea in the clear mist which smells of good young bayberries.

Trees and windmills pose lightly on the delicate green of the grass where the nimble colts are frisking and stretching out.

Here in this Sunday dreaminess are sheep frolicking too - large ewes as gentle as their soft white wool.

A moment ago, like a scroll unfurling, a wave came rolling and breaking, a wave of flute-like bells in the milk-white sky.

Your soul is like a painter’s landscape wherecharming masks in shepherd mummeriesare playing lutes and dancing with an airof being sad in their fantastic guise.

Even while they sing, all in a minor key,of love triumphant and life’s careless boom,they seem in doubt of their felicity,their song melts in the calm light of the moon,

the lovely melancholy light that setsthe little birds to dreaming in the treeand among the statues makes the jetsof slender fountains sob with ecstasy.


II. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes II: Pantomime (1869)

Pierrot, qui n’a rien d’un Clitandre, Vide un flacon sans plus attendre, Et, pratique, entame un pâté.

Cassandre, au fond de l’avenue, Verse une larme méconnue Sur son neveu déshérité.

Ce faquin d’Arlequin combine L’enlèvement de Colombine Et pirouette quatre fois.

Colombine rêve, surprise De sentir un cœur dans la brise Et d’entendre en son cœur des voix.

III. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes II: Les Ingénus (“The Young Fools”; 1869)

Les hauts talons luttaient avec les longues jupes, En sorte que, selon le terrain et le vent, Parfois luisaient des bas de jambes, trop souventInterceptés—et nous aimions ce jeu de dupes.

Parfois aussi le dard d’un insecte jaloux Inquiétait le col des belles sous les branches, Et c’était des éclairs soudains de nuques blanches, Et ce régal comblait nos jeunes yeux de fous.

Le soir tombait, un soir équivoque d’automne: Les belles, se pendant rêveuses à nos bras, Dirent alors des mots si spécieux, tout bas, Que notre âme depuis ce temps tremble et s’étonne.

IV. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes I: Fantoches (“Marionettes”; 1869)

Scaramouche et Pulcinella, Qu’un mauvais dessein rassembla, Gesticulent noirs sous la lune,

Cependant l’excellent docteur Bolonais Cueille avec lenteur des simples Parmi l’herbe brune.

Lors sa fille, piquant minois, Sous la charmille, en tapinois, Se glisse demi-nue,

En quête de son beau pirate espagnol, Dont un [langoureux] rossignol Clame la détresse à tue-tête.

Pierrot, who is nothing like Clitandre, empties a bottle without ado, and, ever practical, cuts into a pâté.

Cassandre, at the end of the avenue, sheds a concealed tear for his disinherited nephew.

That impertinent Harlequin schemes the abduction of Columbine and whirls around four times.

Columbine dreams, surprised at feeling a heart in the breeze and at hearing voices in her heart.

High-heels were struggling with a full-length dress So that, between the wind and the terrain, At times a shining stocking would be seen,And gone too soon. We liked that foolishness.

Also, at times a jealous insect’s dart Bothered out beauties. Suddenly a white Nape flashed beneath the branches, and this sight Was a delicate feast for a young fool’s heart.

Evening fell, equivocal, dissembling, The women who hung dreaming on our arms Spoke in low voices, words that had such charms That ever since our stunned soul has been trembling.

Scaramouche and Pulcinella, brought together by some evil scheme gesticulate, black beneath the moon.

Meanwhile, the learned doctor from Bologna slowly gathers medicinal herbs in the brown grass.

Then his sassy-faced daughter sneaks underneath the arbor half-naked, in quest

Of her handsome Spanish pirate, whose distress a languorous nightingale deafeningly proclaims.


V. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes II: Le faune (“The Faun”; 1869)

Un vieux faune de terre cuite Rit au centre des boulingrins, Présageant sans doute une suite Mauvaise à ces instants sereins

Qui m’ont conduit et t’ont conduite, — Mélancoliques pelerins, —Jusqu’à cette heure dont la fuite Tournoie au son des tambourins.

VI. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes II: Mandoline (“Mandolin”; 1869)

Les donneurs de sérénades Et les belles écouteuses Échangent des propos fades Sous les ramures chanteuses.

C’est Tircis et c’est Aminte, Et c’est l’éternel Clitandre, Et c’est Damis qui pour mainte Cruelle [fait] maint vers tendre.

Leurs courtes vestes de soie, Leurs longues robes à queues, Leur élégance, leur joie Et leurs molles ombres bleues,

Tourbillonnent dans l’extase D’une lune rose et grise, Et la mandoline jase Parmi les frissons de brise.

An old faun made of terra-cotta stands laughing in the middle of the lawn doubtless predicting an unhappy sequel to these serene moments

which have brought you and me (a couple of melancholy pilgrims) to this brief transient hour which now is whirling away to the beat of little drums.

The givers of serenades And the lovely women who listen Exchange insipid words Under the singing branches.

There is Thyrsis and Amyntas And there’s the eternal Clytander, And there’s Damis who, for many a Heartless woman, wrote many a tender verse.

Their short silk coats, Their long dresses with trains, Their elegance, their joy And their soft blue shadows,

Whirl around in the ecstasy Of a pink and grey moon, And the mandolin prattles Among the shivers from the breeze.


VII. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes I: En Sourdine (“Muted”; 1869)

Calmes dans le demi-jour Que les branches hautes font, Pénétrons bien notre amour De ce silence profond.

Fondons nos âmes, nos cœurs Et nos sens extasiés, Parmi les vagues langueurs Des pins et des arbousiers.

Ferme tes yeux à demi, Croise tes bras sur ton sein, Et de ton cœur endormi Chasse à jamais tout dessein.

Laissons-nous persuader Au souffle berceur et doux Qui vient, à tes pieds, rider Les ondes des gazons roux.

Et quand, solennel, le soir Des chênes noirs tombera Voix de notre désespoir, Le rossignol chantera.

Calm in the half-day That the high branches make, Let us soak well our love In this profound silence.

Let us mingle our souls, our hearts And our ecstatic senses Among the vague langours Of the pines and the bushes.

Close your eyes halfway, Cross your arms on your breast, And from your sleeping heart Chase away forever all plans.

Let us abandon ourselves To the breeze, rocking and soft, Which comes to your feet to wrinkle The waves of auburn lawns.

And when, solemnly, the evening From the black oaks falls, The voice of our despair, The nightingale, will sing.

program continues on next page ->▸


VIII. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes II: Colloque sentimental (“Sentimental Conversation”; 1869)

Dans le vieux parc solitaire et glacé Deux formes ont tout à l’heure passé.

Leurs yeux sont morts et leur lèvres sont molles, Et l’on entend à peine leurs paroles.

Dans le vieux parc solitaire et glacé Deux spectres ont évoqué le passé.

—Te souvient-il de notre extase ancienne? —Pourquoi voulez-vous donc qu’il m’en souvienne?

—Ton cœur bat-il toujours à mon seul nom? Toujours vois-tu mon âme en rêve? —Non.

— Ah! Les beaux jours de bonheur indicible Où nous joignions nos bouches! —C’est possible.

—Qu’il était bleu, le ciel, et grand l’espoir! —L’espoir a fui, vaincu, vers le ciel noir.

Tels ils marchaient dans les avoines folles, Et la nuit seule entendit leurs paroles.

In the old park’s desolation and frost the paths of two ghostly figures have crossed.

Their eyes are dead and their lips slack and gray and one can scarcely hear the words they say.

In the old park’s desolation and frost two spectres have been evoking the past.

—“Do you recall our bliss of that September?” —“Why ever should you wish me to remember?”

—“Now when you hear my name does your heart-rate grow? Do you still see me in your dreams?” —“No.”

— “Ah, the enchantment of loving so dearly, those kisses that we shared!” —“Did we really?”

Skies were so blue and hopes so high, so proud! Defeated hope has fled in a somber cloud.

Thus did they walk in the wild grass swaying. Only the night heard the words they were saying.

Documents

NICHOLAS PHAN Tenor with ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET … · The quartet recently returned as faculty to the Yale School of Music’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, ... Spain, Portugal,