The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School Present
A Concert Performance of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide in February 2015
Conducted by Jane Glover and Directed by David Paul
Featuring Singers from the Met Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and the Juilliard’s Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts with
Period-Instrument Ensemble, Juilliard415
Performances Take Place on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 and Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 8 PM; and Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 2 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater
New York, NY (August 25, 2014) The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School present a concert performance of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 and Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 8 PM; and Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 2 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Jane Glover conducts Juilliard415, the School’s period-instrument ensemble, and singers from the Met Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and from the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard. David Paul directs the performance. Casting will be announced at a later date.
Tickets at $40 for orchestra seating and $30 for mezzanine level will be available online at events.juilliard.edu or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. Box Office hours during the school year are Monday through Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
Gluck’s opera, set in three acts, was composed in 1771-73 and had its premiere on April 19, 1774 at the Paris Opera. The libretto is by Leblanc du Roullet after Jean Baptiste Racine’s tragedy Iphigénie (1674). Racine drew from the mythological story of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon and from Euripides’ tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis.
The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and The Juilliard School Partnership was announced in February 2008. The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program is under the leadership of Artistic Director James Levine and Executive Director Brian Zeger. Mr. Zeger also is artistic director of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard. This collaboration aims to use the resources of both institutions to identify and educate the finest young opera singers and collaborative pianists for careers in the world’s great opera houses.
This is the fifth collaboration between the Met Opera and Juilliard. Last season’s critically-acclaimed presentation was “A Concert of Comic Operas” with excerpts and scenes from operas by Berlioz, Donizetti, and Mozart, and Stravinsky’s rarely-performed one-act Mavra, conducted by James Levine and directed by Edward Berkeley. Previous co-presentations have included Mozart’s Così fan tutte, conducted by Alan Gilbert and directed by Stephen Wadsworth; a concert staging of Gluck’s Armide in 2012, conducted by Jane Glover and directed by Fabrizio Melano; and Stephen Wadsworth’s 2011 production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, conducted by James Levine.
Conductor Jane Glover has appeared with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Berlin Staatsoper, Royal Danish Opera, Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Australia, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and the Metropolitan Opera. A Mozart specialist, her core repertoire also includes Monteverdi, Handel, and Britten, but extends widely from the 17th to 21st centuries. In 2011, she conducted the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Kommilitonen!, a work co-commissioned by Juilliard and the Royal Academy of Music.Other conducting appearances have included Eugene Onegin and Ariodante at the Royal Academy of Music, Lucio Silla in Bordeaux, Poppea in Aspen, and The Magic Flute at the Met. In concert she has performed with all of the major orchestras in Britain and has appeared repeatedly at the BBC Proms, and in recent seasons, has conducted the San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (Carnegie Hall), Sydney Symphony, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London Mozart Players, and City of London Sinfonia, as well as the period orchestras, Philharmonia Baroque and the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston. Her many recordings include works by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Britten, and Walton with the London Mozart Players, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and BBC Singers. Most recently, she has released recordings of Haydn Masses and Handel’s Messiah. Her book, Mozart’s Women, was published to great acclaim in September 2005 and was listed for both the Samuel John Prize and the Whitbread Prize for Non-Fiction. Ms. Glover studied at the University of Oxford, where, after graduation, she completed her D. Phil. on 17th-century Venetian opera. She holds several honorary degrees, has a personal professorship at the University of London, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music. She was awarded a CBE in the 2003 New Year’s Honours.
German-American stage director David Paul has worked on operatic and theatrical stages throughout the United States and abroad. The New York Times hailed his recent production of Rossini’s one-act operas La cambiale di matrimonio and La scala di seta at The Juilliard School, praising its “irresistible energy and charm.” Highlights of Mr. Paul’s 2013-14 season included a return to Washington National Opera, where he helped develop An American Soldier, a new opera by David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo, whose world premiere he directed in June 2014. He directed a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at Westminster Choir College, several scenes and arias under the guidance of James Levine for the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists annual patron performance, and semi-staged performances of Donizetti’s Fille du Regiment for the CoOperative Program in Princeton. In September, Mr. Paul served as Juilliard’s envoy to Japan for the annual IFAC-Juilliard Prize, where he conducted several master classes at the New National Theatre Opera Palace and served as judge. He concluded his season at the Music Academy of the West, where he directed a new production of Carmen in celebration of Marilyn Horne’s 80th birthday. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Mr. Paul graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University. He serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School, the Met Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and Columbia University. Upcoming projects include Chekhov’s The Seagull at Columbia University, a film based on the music of Robert Schumann, and the development of a new play about tennis great Gottfried von Cramm.
About Juilliard415
Since its founding in 2009, Juilliard415, the School’s principal period-instrument ensemble, has made significant contributions to musical life in New York and beyond by bringing the major figures in the field of early music to lead performances of both rare and canonical works of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble, which takes its name from the pitch commonly accepted for the performance of Baroque music (A=415), performs a wide range of repertoire in a number of different guises, with as few as four or five players for intimate chamber music programs, to as many as 30 for major cornerstones of the repertoire. Among the many distinguished guests who have led Juilliard415 are renowned musicians such as William Christie, Ton Koopman, Harry Bicket, Nicholas McGegan, Christopher Hogwood, and Monica Huggett. In April 2011, the ensemble made its Carnegie Hall debut accompanying David Daniels and Dorothea Röschmann in a program of Handel arias, a concert that was cited as one of the 10 best of the season by the New York Times. A performance in 2012 of Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno under the baton of William Christie earned this same distinction.
The 2014-15 season in New Yorkbrings return visits from William Christie for Handel’s La resurrezione, Robert Mealy in a program of Italian Baroque music, Monica Huggett in an all-Beethoven program, and Jordi Savall leading a concert entitled “In the Charm of Nature.” Significant debuts include Kristian Bezuidenhout leading the orchestra from the fortepiano in music by Mozart, and the eminent British violinist Rachel Podger performing with the ensemble in an all-Vivaldi program. In a joint venture between the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and Juilliard’s Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, Jane Glover will conduct Juilliard415 in several performances of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide. The season will come to a close when Juilliard415 teams up with London’s Royal Academy of Music and Masaaki Suzuki for an all-Bach program that will be performed in New York, Boston, Leipzig, and London.
About the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program
Founded in 1980 by James Levine, the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, named after benefactors Mr. and Mrs. George Lindemann, has served as a training program for many well-known artists, including Stephanie Blythe, Dwayne Croft, Paul Groves, Nathan Gunn, Mariusz Kwiecién, Aprile Millo, Sondra Radvanovsky, and Dawn Upshaw. Participants receive a yearly stipend in addition to musical and language coaching with the Met’s artistic staff. Through the Juilliard partnership, the Met’s Lindemann Program and Juilliard Vocal Arts share some full-time faculty, guest faculty, master classes, and a host of other resources, offering a rich developmental environment to educate the next generation. Juilliard’s related educational courses are available to the young artists, and participants also have access to the extensive resources of Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace Library. Likewise, Juilliard students now enjoy access to master classes, dress rehearsals, and performances at the Met as a result of the new collaboration, enabling students at every level to take advantage of the world-class opera across the plaza. Juilliard students may participate as guest artists of Lindemann presentations, and Lindemann artists appear as guest artists at Juilliard performances, thus increasing the potential for performance opportunities for all participants. The Met’s Young Artist Development Program always has been open to participants with a variety of educational backgrounds from the United States and abroad. Auditions are held annually at the opera house. Participants take part in the program for a maximum of three years, with contracts renewed on an annual basis.
About the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard
Brian Zeger, Artistic Director
One of America’s most prestigious programs for educating singers, The Juilliard School’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degrees to advanced Artist Diploma programs in voice and opera studies, Juilliard provides frequent performance opportunities, featuring singers in its own recital halls, on Lincoln Center’s stages, and around New York City.
Juilliard graduates may be heard in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world; diverse alumni artists include well-known performers such as Leontyne Price, Renée Fleming, Simon Estes, Tatiana Troyanos, Shirley Verrett, and Risë Stevens. Recent alumni include Isabel Leonard, Susanna Phillips, Paul Appleby, and Sasha Cooke, among others.
Pianist BrianZeger has built a distinguished international performance career in addition to appearing as radio broadcaster, artistic administrator, and educator. In a career spanning more than two decades, Mr. Zeger has enjoyed collaborations with many of the world’s top artists and enjoys an active career as a chamber musician. Currently he is artistic director of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School and the executive director of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Development Program
