Ravinia 2019, Issue 5, Week 9

7:30 PM MONDAY, JULY 29, 2019 MARTIN THEATRE MATTHIAS GOERNE, baritone DANIIL TRIFONOV, piano BERG Four Songs, op. 2 Aus ‘Dem Schmerz sein Recht’ Drei Lieder aus ‘Der Glühende’ Schlafend trägt man mich in mein Heimatland Nun ich der Riesen Stärksten überwand Warm die Lüfte SCHUMANN Dichterliebe Im wunderschönen Monat Mai Aus meinen Tränen sprießen Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’ Ich will meine Seele tauchen Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome Ich grolle nicht, und wenn das Herz auch bricht Und wüßten’s die Blumen, die kleinen Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet Allnächtlich im Traume seh’ ich dich Aus alten Märchen winkt es Die alten bösen Lieder WOLF Three Michelangelo Songs Wohl denk’ ich oft Alles endet, was entstehet Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht SHOSTAKOVICH Three songs from Suite on Verses by Michelangelo * 6. Dante 10. Death 9. Night BRAHMS Four Serious Songs Denn es gehet dem Menschen Ich wandte mich, und sahe an, alle O Tod, wie bitter bist du Wenn ich mit Menschen- und mit Engelzungen redete There will be no intermission in this program. * First performance at Ravinia Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Sponsor Pamela B. and Russ M. Strobel . ALBAN BERG (1885–1935) Four Songs, op. 2 The German Lied for solo voice and piano was Alban Berg’s favored creative medium in the first few years of the twentieth century, a peri- od when he wrote in a self-described “bungling manner.” Between 1900 and 1905, he brought approximately 90 songs into existence, most of which remain unpublished in manuscript form—according to the composer’s wishes—in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. This extensive collection allows several observations about Berg’s early artistic tastes. His refined lit- erary selections ranged widely from classic lyr- ics by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Rainer Rilke, and Friedrich Rückert to contemporary poems by Carl Busse, Gustav Falke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Karl Ernst Knodt. The melodic writing and predominantly syllabic text setting revealed a strong familiar- ity with the Lied tradition as it had developed from Franz Schubert to Hugo Wolf and Gus- tav Mahler. Harmonically, Berg employed a predominantly tonal language emboldened by occasional chromaticism and unconventional modulations. In the summer of 1908, Berg began a song col- lection that reflected, in microcosm, his rapid stylistic evolution from tonality to free atonality: the number of flats in the key signatures of the first three songs steadily increases (1, 6, and 7; many of these flats are negated by naturals in the music) followed by the complete absence of key signature in the final song. Though succinct—30, 18, 13, and 25 measures, respectively—these four songs occupied Berg for two years. Their uniformly slow tempos befit the poems, which turn from Romantic melancholy to Expression- ist mortality as the comfort of sleep and dreams (“Schlaffen” and “Träume”) give way to the spec- ter of death (“Sterben” or the verb form “stirb”). The first song, Aus ‘Dem Schmerz sein Recht’ , sets a poem by Christian Friedrich Hebbel (1813–63), known for writing historical tragedies as commentaries on contemporary morality, Alban and Helene Berg JULY 29 – AUGUST 4, 2019 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE 91