For Immediate Release
Press Contacts: Larry Meehan lmeehan@bostonusa.com direct line for media: 617-867-8231; Stacy Shreffler, Media Relations & Tourism Sales Manager, direct line: 617-867-8203 / email: sshreffler@BostonUSA.com; Handel and Haydn Contact: Nina Berger, phone: (617) 971-9340 / email: ninajberger@hotmail.com
HANDEL AND
HAYDN SOCIETY
ANNOUNCES ITS 2008-2009 SEASON
“A Season of Celebration”
Featuring a
celebration of important musical anniversaries;
an outstanding roster of international conductors and soloists;
focus on composers Handel and Haydn and their enduring influence;
a free, outdoor performance of Haydn’s masterwork, The Creation, on
Boston ’s Esplanade
2008 ( Boston, MA ) —The Handel and Haydn Society has announced its
2008-2009 season, a season in which several important musical anniversaries
converge. Befitting the occasion, the Society presents a season-long celebration
and tribute to composers Henry Purcell ( 1659-1695),
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 -1809),
and Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). Running throughout is an exploration
of the Society’s namesakes, Handel and Haydn, and their enduring musical and
cultural influence.
The Society’s Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington and Principal
Conductor Grant Llewellyn are joined by a lineup of renowned conductors
who have shaped the field of historically informed performance. They will lead
the Handel and Haydn period orchestra and chorus in a wide variety of well-known
and rarely-heard Baroque and Classical masterworks. In keeping with the
Society’s choral tradition, the 2008-09 season also highlights these composers’
finest choral works, from Handel’s Coronation Anthems and
Messiah (in the Society’s 155th annual performance), to Haydn’s
apotheosis, The Creation.
Highlights of the Season
The 2008-09 season opens with the return of Harry Christophers, director
of The Sixteen, who has led two programs with the Society in the 2007-08
season. He will bring his expertise in choral and Baroque repertoire to a
program of Handel’s glorious Coronation Anthems, which Handel and
Haydn Society performed at its first-ever public concert in 1818, and which it
performed in Boston in honor of the 1976 bicentennial celebration.
The brilliance of Handel is further celebrated in the Society’s 155th annual
performances of Messiah, conducted by opera conductor Paul
Daniel and featuring four soloists well-known to
Boston audiences: soprano Kendra Colton, mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy,
tenor Brian Stucki and baritone Brett Polegato. It is also displayed in a
Baroque instrumental program featuring Handel’s famed Concerto Grosso
in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 6, led by young Canadian conductor Jean-Marie
Zeitouni. In addition, Grant Llewellyn conducts the world premiere
of “Fanfare for Voices” by Thomas Vignieri , a choral tribute to Handel
commissioned by the Society for the Handel anniversary. The Society presents
another important tribute in late February, this time to Purcell, with
innovative Baroque specialist Paul Goodwin, who takes a journey through
Europe with a theatrical performance centered on Purcell’s famous masque
from Dioclesian.
During the 2008-09 season, Handel and Haydn Society pays tribute to Franz Joseph
Haydn upon the 200th anniversary of his death, and explores the extraordinary
influence he had on his contemporaries and later generations of composers.
Richard Egarr , music director of the Academy of Ancient Music and a leading
figure in period performance, directs a November program of works by Mozart and
Beethoven that echo Haydn’s musical legacy.
Sir Roger Norrington leads two distinctive programs paying homage to
Haydn. In January 2009, he conducts a concert performance of Haydn’s
rarely-heard, glorious opera L’anima del filosofo (telling the story of
Orfeo and Euridice). Never before performed at Symphony Hall, this work features
moving arias, which will be performed by some of today’s finest young singers:
soprano Sarah Coburn, tenor Andrew Kennedy, and baritone
Christopher Maltman. In April, Norrington leads “ Dr. Haydn’s London
Academy ,” a program highlighting the range of compositions, from intimate
vocal works to major symphonies, that Haydn presented during his famed career in
London . Norrington and the Handel and Haydn Society orchestra will be joined by
Canadian soprano Nathalie Paulin , who made a radiant debut with the
Society in January 2008.
The season culminates on May 31, 2009, with an extraordinary event: a free,
outdoor performance on Boston ' s Esplanade of Haydn’s The Creation
, with Grant Llewellyn leading the Handel and Haydn Society
orchestra and chorus, and renowned soloists Elizabeth Watts, soprano;
Shawn Mathey , tenor; and Eric Owens, bass. The Handel and Haydn
Society gave the American premiere of this masterpiece in 1818; in recognition
of Haydn’s history and of its own, the Society offers this concert as a gift to
the city of Boston . The performance will be part of a worldwide event, in which
selected orchestras all over the world will perform The Creation on the same
day, the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death.
This outdoor concert will also cap off a yearlong series of performances in open
spaces that the Society will give in partnership with other cultural and
community organizations. Details of community and outreach events planned for
the 2009 Celebration will be announced late August 2008.
“The Best of the Old and the New”
In keeping with the Society’s mission, since 1815, of presenting “the best of
the old and the new,” the season also features the Society debuts of such rising
stars in the conducting world as Paul Goodwin and Jean-Marie Zeitouni
; and a mix of established and emerging soloists. Solo debuts include
soprano Gillian Keith and the Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts ,
performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on period violin. Boston-based
cellist Phoebe Carrai, a former member of the Handel and Haydn Society
orchestra now enjoying a solo career, returns as featured artist in the April
2009 Baroque program led by Zeitouni.
The Society’s renowned chorus is prominently featured throughout the season, a
reflection of the Society’s vocal tradition; also, members of the chorus will
perform solo roles in Purcell’s The Masque from Dioclesian ;
Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo (Orfeo); and a program of Bach’s
Christmas music, including Magnificat and a selection of cantatas,
led by Handel and Haydn Chorusmaster and Associate Conductor John Finney.
About the Handel and Haydn Society
A chorus and period-instrument orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society is an
internationally recognized leader in the field of historically informed
performance, using instruments and techniques available to composers in their
day. Founded in 1815, the Society is America ’s oldest continuously performing
arts organization and celebrates its 194th season in 2008-09. The Society’s
artistic team includes Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington, Principal
Conductor Grant Llewellyn, and Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood. Now in
its 23rd year, Handel and Haydn’s award-winning Educational Outreach Program
annually provides more than 10,000 elementary and high school students with
opportunities to learn about and perform classical music. The Vocal
Apprenticeship Program identifies and nurtures young vocal talent among
Greater-Boston-area children through its four youth choirs and the High School
Soloists Program.
Subscription Information
Now on sale, subscriptions ($45-$527) and may be purchased through the Handel
and Haydn Box Office: 1) by phone at 617-266-3605, 2) online at
www.handelandhaydn.org, or 3) in person at the Handel and Haydn office,
Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston (M-F 10am-6pm). Single
tickets go on sale in September 2008.
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY 2008-2009 SEASON IN BRIEF
CELEBRATE HANDEL!
Friday, October 3 at 8pm
Sunday, October 5 at 3pm
At Symphony Hall
Harry Christophers, conductor
Gillian Keith, soprano
Handel Coronation Anthems:
Let thy hand be strengthened
The King shall rejoice
My heart is inditing
Zadok the Priest
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (from
Solomon )
Selections from Jephtha and Ariodante
HAYDN’S LEGACY: MOZART AND BEETHOVEN
Friday, November 7 at 8pm
Sunday, November 9 at 3pm
At Symphony Hall
Richard Egarr, conductor & fortepiano
Mozart Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major, K. 16
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
Beethoven Creatures of Prometheus Overture
Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93
MESSIAH
Friday, December 5 at 7:30pm
Saturday, December 6 at 3pm
Sunday, December 7 at 3pm
At Symphony Hall
Paul Daniel, conductor
Kendra Colton, soprano
Paula Murrihy, mezzo soprano
Brian Stucki, tenor
Brett Polegato, baritone
Handel Messiah
A BACH CHRISTMAS
Friday, December 18 at 8pm
Sunday, December 21 at 3pm
At NEC’s Jordan Hall
John Finney, conductor
Bach Cantata No. 191, Gloria in excelsis Deo
Cantata No. 151, Sußser Trost, mein Jesus Kommt
Magnificat, BWV 243
HAYDN’S ORFEO
Friday, January 23 at 8pm
Sunday, January 25 at 3pm
At Symphony Hall
Sir Roger Norrington, conductor
Sarah Coburn, Euridice
Andrew Kennedy, Orfeo
Christopher Maltman, Creonte
Haydn L’anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice)
BAROQUE GRAND TOUR
Friday, February 27 at 8pm
Sunday, March 1 at 3pm
At Jordan Hall
Paul Goodwin, conductor
Couperin Concert dans le goût théâtrical
Purcell Funeral Sentences
Bach
Brandenburg Concerto, No. 3
Purcell The Masque from Dioclesian
ROMANTIC BRAHMS
March 20 at 8 pm
March 22 at 8 pm
At Symphony Hall
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Ilya Gringolts, violin
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64
Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor
Vignieri Fanfare for Voices (Tribute to Handel; World Premiere)
MUSIC AT FEVER PITCH
Friday, April 3 at 8pm at Old South Church
Sunday, April 5, at 3pm at NEC’s Jordan Hall
Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor
Phoebe Carrai, cello
Telemann Burlesque de Don Quixote
C.P.E. Bach Cello Concerto in A Major
Handel Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 6
Rebel Les Élémens
DOCTOR HAYDN 'S LONDON ACADEMY
Friday, April 24 at 8pm
Sunday, April 26 at 3pm
At Symphony Hall
Sir Roger Norrington, conductor
Nathalie Paulin, soprano
Haydn Symphony No. 99 in E-flat Major,
Cantata: Scena di Berenice for soprano and
orchestra
March for the Prince of Wales
English Songs: ' Sailor
' s Song' , ' Sympathy'
Adagio from Divertimento for nine instruments in F
Major
English Songs:
' She Never Told Her Love' & ' Fidelity
'
Symphony No. 92 in G Major, ' Oxford '
HAYDN: THE CREATION
Sunday, May 31 at 8pm
At Hatch Shell at the Esplanade, Boston
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Elizabeth Watts, soprano
Shawn Mathey, tenor
Eric Owens, bass
Haydn The Creation
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY 2008-09 SEASON ARTIST LIST
(As of February 12, 2008 – all programs and artists are subject to change)
CONDUCTORS
Sir Roger Norrington, artistic advisor
Grant Llewellyn, principal conductor
John Finney, chorusmaster and associate conductor
Harry Christophers
Richard Egarr*
Paul Daniel*
Paul Goodwin*
Jean-Marie Zeitouni*
VOCALISTS
Sarah Coburn, soprano*
Kendra Colton, soprano
Gillian Keith, soprano*
Andrew Kennedy, tenor*
Christopher Maltman, baritone*
Shawn Mathey, tenor*
Paul Murrihy, mezzo soprano
Eric Owens, bass*
Nathalie Paulin, soprano
Brett Polegato, baritone
Brian Stucki, tenor*
Elizabeth Watts, soprano
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Ilya Gringolts, violin*
Phoebe Carrai, cello
*Handel and Haydn Society debut