Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók

Aug 12 - 20.30 hrs
 RENE SOEBARJO OPERA HALL
 Jl. Kangkung Sawas Kav 72-333B
 Jagaraksasa, Jakarta Timor

 

Bluebeard's Castle (Hungarian: A kékszakállú herceg vára; literally: "the castle of the blue-bearded prince") is a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer. It lasts only a little over an hour and there are only two singing characters onstage: Bluebeard (Kékszakállú), and his new wife Judith (Judit); the two have just eloped and Judith is coming home to Bluebeard's castle for the first time.

Bluebeard's Castle was composed in 1911 (with modifications made in 1912 and a new ending added in 1917) and first performed on May 24, 1918 in Budapest. Universal published the vocal (1921) and full score (1925). The Boosey & Hawkes full score includes only the German and English singing translations while the Dover edition reproduces the Universal Edition Hungarian/German vocal score (with page numbers beginning at 1 instead of 5). A revision of the UE vocal score in 1963 added a new German translation but seems not to have corrected any errata.

Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) (Montreal Symphony Orchestra) is a symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with Montreal's Place des Arts as its home.

There have been a number of organizations with this name, including one formed in 1897, which lasted ten years, and another formed in 1930, which lasted eleven. The current ensemble, however, traces its roots back to 1934, when Wilfrid Pelletier formed an ensemble called Les Concerts Symphoniques. It changed to its current name in 1954. In the early 1960s, when the Orchestra was preparing to move to new facilities at Place des Arts, patron and prominent Montreal philanthropist, John Wilson McConnell, purchased the Laub-Petschnikoff Stradivarius violin of 1727 for Calvin Sieb, the Symphony's concertmaster.

Though it began touring and recording modestly in the 1960s and early 1970s under the batons of a young Zubin Mehta and Franz-Paul Decker, the MSO became a household name under the directorship of Charles Dutoit, who became music director in 1977 after the brief tenure and jolting departure of Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos. Dutoit struck up a friendship with a producer at London/Decca records named Ray Minshull, and a twenty-year collaboration was born. Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, Dutoit and the MSO released many well-received recordings and embarked on tours of North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. Most notable among this vast discography are the recordings of the French repertoire, especially the music of Maurice Ravel.

Kent Nagano

Nagano was born in Berkeley, California, while his parents were in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. He grew up in Morro Bay. He is Japanese American. He studied sociology and music at the University of California. After graduation he moved to San Francisco State University to study music. While there, he took composition courses from Grosvenor Cooper and Roger Nixon.

His first conducting job was with the Opera Company of Boston, where he was assistant conductor to Sarah Caldwell. In 1978, he became the conductor of the Berkeley Symphony, his first music directorship. In January 2007, it was announced that he will step down from this position in 2009. During his tenure in Berkeley, Nagano became a champion of the music of Olivier Messiaen and initiated a correspondence with him.

Nagano became the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in 2006 and of the Bavarian State Opera in 2006. His contract with the Bavarian State Opera does not allow him to be the music director of another opera company. He is also one of the Russian National Orchestra's Conductor Collegium.

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