Monday
September 30, 2024
3:30 P.M.
KOPLEFF RECITAL HALL
Nabucco Overture (1841)
GIUSEPPE VERDI | 1813-1901
Jackson Allred, graduate assistant conductor
NABUCCO...
TRUE TO ITS BIBLICAL INSPIRATION, NABUCCO IS AN OPERA OF unapologetically epic proportions: rulers challenge their gods, love struggles against empire, and religious revelation goes hand in hand with divine retribution. Verdi’s inspired treatment of the Israelites’ enslavement and the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s dramatic conversion to Judaism captivated audiences, made the young composer famous, and gave voice to a simmering Italian nationalism that was soon to explode with incendiary force. The opera’s most famous number, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves “Va, pensiero,” became the unofficial anthem of the Italian independence movement, and the score is filled with musical ideas showing Verdi’s ability to innovate operatic convention in the service of character development and psychological depth. Foreshadowing his mature works, Nabucco shows us the young composer as he is beginning to understand the full scope and power of his artistic vision. - Notes from the Met
Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947)
SAMUEL BARBER | 1910-1981
Stephanie Morrera, graduate assistant conductor
Talise Trevigne, soprano
Samuel Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915," composed in 1947, is a profound setting of James Agee’s evocative text. This work offers a glimpse into the innocence and complexity of childhood through the lens of Agee’s autobiographical reflections from his work *A Death in the Family*.
Agee's poem vividly portrays a summer evening in Knoxville, capturing both the serenity of the rural setting and the overwhelming chaos of the city. The scene shifts from a tranquil, idyllic atmosphere to the jarring, disorganized sounds of the city, experienced through the eyes of a six-year-old child. The city’s noises— described as chaotic and intrusive—contrast sharply with the peaceful comfort of the home environment. The city sounds, which include the blaring of streetcars and the disarray of urban life, serve as a stark reminder of the larger, more confusing world beyond the child’s immediate, cozy surroundings.
This contrast highlights the child’s sense of security and contentment within the confines of home, juxtaposed against the unsettling and overwhelming nature of the city’s disarray. The chaotic urban backdrop is experienced viscerally, creating a sense of anxiety and confusion that amplifies the comfort and order found in the child’s domestic sphere.
Barber’s musical setting enhances these thematic contrasts through its lush orchestration and shifting dynamics. The music evokes the calm, pastoral quality of the home, with gentle melodies and warm harmonies. In contrast, the orchestration for the city scenes captures the turbulence and disorder, using dissonant textures and abrupt shifts to mirror the child’s emotional response to the chaotic urban environment.
The presence of Agee’s father is subtly interwoven into the poem's fabric. While not explicitly mentioned, the father’s comforting presence is implied through the stability and security of the home scene, providing a counterbalance to the unsettling city noise. This underlying sense of safety enriches the emotional depth of the narrative, reflecting the complex interplay between comfort and disquiet in the child’s experience.
"Knoxville: Summer of 1915" stands as a powerful example of how Barber’s music can bring to life the vivid contrasts in Agee’s text. Through its evocative portrayal of both serene and chaotic elements, Barber’s composition allows listeners to deeply engage with the nostalgic and multifaceted nature of Agee’s childhood memories.
Symphony no. 5 (1888)
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY | 1840-1993
I. Andante: Allegro con anima
IV. Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace
Tchaikovsky’s deeply felt nationalist sentiments bound him closely to his contemporaries in the twilight of Czarist Russia... Composed shortly after a long European tour, the Fifth Symphony is typical of the artistic balance Tchaikovsky struck; it is not explicitly nationalistic, but a distinctively Russian flavor pervades many of the themes. There is also a related, but deeper, artistic issue in the work. As musicologist Leon Plantinga points out, Tchaikovsky’s personal approach often conflicted with the strictures of his formal training: “He struggled ceaselessly with the opposed demands of formal traditions he had learned in the conservatory and his own predilection for an emotional and expressive progression of events corresponding to an unspoken program.”
- program notes from the LA Phil
PERSONNEL
Talise Trevigne
American soprano Talise Trevigne begins the 2019-20 Season in a return appearance with CBSO for Tippett’s A Child of our Time in performances in the UK and Germany conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Returning to the US she makes her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Kitty Hart (Sister Rose c) Dead Man Walking before traveling to Albany Symphony to sing Knoxville: Summer of 1915. She joins the Metropolitan Opera cast of Porgy & Bess and later in the season returns to the role of Mimi in La Boheme at Fort Worth Opera.
Dr. Tamara Dworetz
Tamara comes to Georgia State University with an impressive background working with professional, collegiate and youth orchestras. Professionally, she has conducted the Paris Mozart Orchestra, Boston Pops, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Amarillo Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Mankato Symphony. She was recently appointed the new Artistic Director & Conductor of the Georgia Philharmonic. Dworetz has also worked with world-class orchestras and conductors in Europe as Assistant Conductor – Orchestre de Paris with Klaus Mäkelä, Gürzenich Orchestre Cologne with François-Xavier Roth and the BBC Concert Orchestra with her late mentor, Bramwell Tovey. As an opera conductor, she has led the Dallas Opera Orchestra and served as Assistant Conductor for Indianapolis, Atlanta and Butler Center Operas.
Dr. Dworetz’s musical beginnings took place in the Atlanta public school system. After graduating from North Springs HS in Fulton County, Dr. Dworetz was Assistant Band Director at Alpharetta High School before serving as Director of Orchestras at Lakeside High School in Atlanta where she increased enrollment by 50% over 3 years. In addition to her public school teaching, she has guest-conducted the TMEA (Texas) All-State Philharmonic Orchestra, All-Northwest Honors Orchestra (students from 6 states), and will lead the 2024 Colorado All-State Symphony Orchestra and Georgia 11-12 All-State String Orchestra. She has also worked extensively with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Austin Youth Orchestra and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Last summer she served as an Assistant Conductor with the Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 (NYO2) which performed at Carnegie Hall and their first-ever tour (Dominican Republic); this summer she will return as a Resident Conductor, helping prepare both the NYO and NYO2 orchestras, and traveling with Marin Alsop and NYO on their South American tour. At the National Conference of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) she will serve as guest conductor for the National Teachers’ Orchestra in their partnership with the New Canon Project.
Dr. Dworetz was recently selected as 1 of 14 candidates from a worldwide pool in the 2022 La Maestra Conducting Competition and Academy for Women Conductors in Paris, France. She was the only US-born conductor selected for the competition and earned a spot as one of 6 semi-finalists. ‘Maestra’, a documentary directed by Maggie Contreras, features 5 conductors from the competition, including Tamara, and was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and highlighted on CBS National News as well as international film festivals.
Prior to her appointment at Georgia State, Dr. Dworetz served as the Music Director of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY) Orchestra and Concert Choir. She has led guest conducting residencies at the University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, SUNY Fredonia School of Music & Longy Conservatory at Bard College.
Dr. Dworetz holds degrees from Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Georgia and Boston University.
Jackson Allred
Graduate Orchestral Conducting Student
Jackson Allred is a conductor and composer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He serves as the Assistant Conducting Fellow for the Georgia Philharmonic and Assistant Conductor to the Georgia State University Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Tamara Dworetz. Additionally, he is the Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, working with William R. Langley, where he also served as Interim Manager.