Cavorting . . . Carousing . . . Carmina!
Music Hall 8 pm
James Conlon conducting
May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, Director
May Festival Youth Chorus, James Bagwell, Director
Cincinnati Boychoir, Christopher Eanes, Director
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Rodrick Dixon, tenor
Stephen Powell, baritone
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Decades after Aida, Otello and the Requiem, Verdi completed his splendid Four Sacred Pieces. This evening’s performance features the two pieces for chorus with orchestra: “Stabat Mater,” a stirring portrait of Mary, and “Te Deum,” a hymn of thanksgiving and praise that was so meaningful to Verdi that he requested the score to be buried with him.
Carl Orff’s immensely popular Carmina Burana is a musical tour de force—a timeless, mystical collection of ancient texts set to primal rhythms and sensual melodies. The forceful “O Fortuna” movement is timeless—reserving a place in popular culture. It has been prominently featured in television commercials ranging from Gatorade to Old Spice, in countless movie trailers and film soundtracks, and even in Fox TV’s Glee during scenes between sparring teachers Will Schuester and Sue Sylvester.
7 pm Music Hall
Ronnita Nicole Miller, mezzo-soprano
Michael Chertock, piano
Free to concert ticketholders
French Flair
Music Hall 8 pm
Robert Porco conducting
May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, Director
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Ronnita Nicole Miller, mezzo-soprano
Yohan Yi, baritone
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
When critics suggested that his Gloria bordered on the sacrilegious, Poulenc replied, “While I wrote this piece, I had in mind those frescoes by Gozzoli where the angels stick out their tongues; and also some serious Benedictine monks I had one seen reveling in a game of football.” It is that very same mixture of solemnity and mischief that makes Poulenc’s Gloria a favorite of audiences everywhere.
Duruflé’s magnificent Requiem is his most famous work. In it, the composer blends the original chant melodies with colorful Romantic lyricism in a way that allows the text to emerge with an almost organ-like sonority.
7 pm Music Hall
Yohan Yi, bass-baritone
Michael Chertock, piano
Free to concert ticketholders
Sacred Sounds
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption 8 pm
May Festival Youth Chorus
May Festival Chorus
James Conlon conducting
James Bagwell conducting
May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, Director
May Festival Youth Chorus, James Bagwell, Director
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Hana Park, soprano
John Aler, tenor
Yohan Yi, bass
Members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
An evening of music that amplifies the splendor of this exquisite sacred space is in store for this annual May Festival sojourn to Covington’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.
The May Festival Youth Chorus, in their 26th season, the 16th under the direction of James Bagwell, begins the evening with works that reflect various musical styles and span the centuries.
James Conlon opens the May Festival Chorus portion of the evening with the remaining two a capella works from Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces.
Giacomo Carissimi is considered to be the “Father of the Oratorio” and Jephte is his greatest and most compelling masterpiece. Jephte imparts the Old Testament story in which Jephte promises God, in return for victory over his enemies, to sacrifice “whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me.” Tragedy strikes when Jephte’s only daughter is the first to greet him following his victory.
The 3 Beloved B’s
Music Hall 8 pm
James Conlon conducting
May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, Director
Nicole Cabell, soprano
John Relyea, baritone
William McGraw, bass
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Bach’s lively Cantata No. 192 opens the second weekend of the Festival. From the start, one is struck by the joyful, infectious melody, reminiscent of a rollicking dance.
Beethoven’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage was, like so many of his greatest works, based on texts by Goethe. The music richly captures the mood and emotion of sailors stranded on a windless sea. Then, just when all seems lost, the tension is dispelled with rolling gusts of triplets and joyous choral shouts that represent the welcome winds that will blow the sailors safely to port after all.
Of his German Requiem, Brahms once said he would gladly have left out “German” and substituted “Human”— rightly so, given the universal appeal of the piece. After the first performance of the Requiem, a listener said the work’s effect was “simply overpowering,” concluding that it “ranked among the loftiest music ever given to the world.”
7 pm Music Hall
Ekaterina Semenchuk, mezzo-soprano
Michael Chertock, piano
Free to concert ticketholders
Tchaikovsky Charms
Music Hall 8 pm
James Conlon conducting
May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, Director
May Festival Youth Chorus, James Bagwell, Director
Tatiana Pavlovskaya, soprano
Ekaterina Semenchuk, mezzo-soprano
John Relyea, baritone
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
An evening of May Festival premieres
celebrates the musical charms of
Tchaikovsky!
Known for his ability to write beautiful,
lush melodies, Tchaikovsky wrote some of
the most popular concert and theatrical
music in the classical repertoire. From the
pomp and circumstance of a Tsar’s
coronation to the high drama of opera to the
contemplative nature of church liturgy, his
rich harmonies have charmed listeners for
more than a century.
His famous love theme from Romeo and
Juliet is so iconic that it has been used in
many popular tv shows—from Sesame
Street to Scrubs.
7 pm Music Hall
John Aler, tenor
Michael Chertock, piano
Free to concert ticketholders
