Juilliard Songfest. Songs of Charles Baudelaire

Transcription

1 Thursday Evening, December 4, 2014, at 8:00 The Juilliard School presents Juilliard Songfest Songs of Charles Baudelaire Christine Price, Soprano Virginie Verrez, Mezzo-Soprano Eric Jurenas, Countertenor Miles Mykkanen, Tenor Austin Smith, Actor Brian Zeger, Curator and Pianist Part One: On the World HENRI DUPARC ( ) L Invitation au voyage VIRGINIE VERREZ ERNEST CHAUSSON ( ) L Albatros ERIC JURENAS DARON ARIC HAGEN (b. 1961) Evening Twilight CHRISTINE PRICE ANDRÉ CAPLET ( ) La Cloche fêlée ERIC JURENAS HENRI DUPARC La Vie antérieure VIRGINIE VERREZ GABRIEL FAURÉ ( ) Chant d automne ERIC JURENAS ANDRÉ CAPLET La Mort des pauvres ERIC JURENAS CLAUDE DEBUSSY ( ) Harmonie du soir VIRGINIE VERREZ CLAUDE DEBUSSY Recueillement ERIC JURENAS Intermission Alice Tully Hall Please make certain your cellular phone, pager, or watch alarm is switched off.

2 Part Two: On Love ALEXANDER GRETCHANINOV ( ) L Invitation au voyage CHRISTINE PRICE GABRIEL FAURÉ Hymne, Op. 7, No. 2 MILES MYKKANEN CLAUDE DEBUSSY Le Jet d eau MILES MYKKANEN PAUL HINDEMITH ( ) Le Revenant CHRISTINE PRICE CLAUDE DEBUSSY La Mort des amants CHRISTINE PRICE ALEXANDER GRETCHANINOV Je t adore MILES MYKKANEN CLAUDE DEBUSSY Le Balcon VIRGINIE VERREZ The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not permitted in this auditorium. Information regarding gifts to the School may be obtained from the Juilliard School Development Office, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY ; (212) , ext. 278;

3 A Note from Brian Zeger The first three installments of this annual series were devoted to single composers: Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, and Benjamin Britten. This year s concert is focused on a single poet, Charles Baudelaire, looking at how eight different composers reacted to his visionary, uncompromising work. I ve been fascinated by Baudelaire s poetry since first encountering it as a teenager. Perhaps there s something about the adolescent brain that instinctively resonates with his angry, dark perspective on the world and his total surrender to the terrors of Eros. The other French poets I encountered at that time, Hugo, Lamartine, and Musset, seemed to belong to a much earlier epoch. Baudelaire seemed closer to modern writers like Ginsberg and Kerouac: his rebellious rejection of bourgeois society total and unflinching, his desire to escape into a parallel reality of erotic pleasure and narcotic withdrawal very familiar in 1970 s America. Imagine the magic of living together there, with all the time in the world for loving each other From L Invitation au voyage by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Richard Howard. Debussy s visionary settings of Baudelaire include a range of subject matter, from the romantic intimacies of Le Balcon and Le Jet d eau to the cosmic visions of Recueillement, which seem to reflect all of life in 14 lines. Debussy brings Wagnerian richness to his settings, especially in the densely contrapuntal piano writing. Henri Duparc s two settings are classics and are often performed. His uncanny knack for finding the precise sound world for each poem gets us to the heart of the text immediately. André Caplet brings a more modern sensibility to his two settings, both dark poems that elicit highly charged settings. Hindemith s Le Revenant is a whirling ghost story. American composer Daron Aric Hagen sets Evening Twilight sensitively, lending a timeless sense to Baudelaire s lines. I ve chosen two settings from the five Baudelaire poems that Gretchaninov composed. A student of Arensky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Gretchaninov emigrated from Russia to New York, where he died in His settings are Romantic and lush, with echoes of Tchaikovsky in Je t adore and unmistakable Wagnerian allusions in his grand and leisurely setting of L Invitation au voyage. It s no accident that this iconic poem introduces both halves of tonight s program, first, in Duparc s setting, as an invitation to consider matters of life and death, memory and introspection. When Gretchaninov s L Invitation introduces the second half we are invited to a world of languorous erotic dreams. Special thanks to our gifted coach for French language and music, Denise Massé, and to Emily Wells and the whole administrative team in Vocal Arts. Biggest thanks to the singers of the Marcus Institute for their dedication and imagination.

4 Texts and Translations From Les Fleurs du Mal CHARLES BAUDELAIRE All translations from the French by Richard Howard, reprinted with permission of David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc. ( 1982), except where indicated otherwise. L Invitation au voyage Mon enfant, ma sœur, Songe à la douceur D aller là-bas vivre ensemble, Aimer à loisir, Aimer et mourir Au pays qui te ressemble. Les soleils mouillés De ces ciels brouillés Pour mon esprit ont les charmes Si mystérieux De tes traîtres yeux, Brillant à travers leurs larmes. Là, tout n'est qu ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté. Vois sur ces canaux Dormir ces vaisseaux Dont l humeur est vagabonde; C est pour assouvir Ton moindre désir Qu ils viennent du bout du monde. Les soleils couchants Revêtent les champs, Les canaux, la ville entière, D hyacinthe et d'or; Le monde s endort Dans une chaude lumière! Là, tout n est qu ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté. Invitation to the Voyage Imagine the magic of living together there, with all the time in the world for loving each other, for loving and dying where even the landscape resembles you: the suns dissolved in overcast skies have the same mysterious charm for me as your wayward eyes through crystal tears, my sister, my child! All is order there, and elegance, Pleasure, peace, and opulence. On these still canals the freighters doze fitfully: their mood is for roving, and only to flatter a lover s fancy have they put in from the ends of the earth. By late afternoon the canals catch fire as sunset glorifies the town; the world turns to gold as it falls asleep in a fervent light. All is order there, and elegance, Pleasure, peace, and opulence.

5 L Albatros Souvent, pour s amuser, les hommes d équipage Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers, Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage, Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers. A peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches, Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux, Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux. Le Poëte est semblable au prince des nuées Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l archer; Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées, Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher. Le crépuscule du soir From Le Spleen de Paris Crépuscule, comme vous êtes doux et tendre! Les lueurs roses qui traînent encore à l horizon comme l agonie du jour sous L oppression victorieuse de sa nuit, Les feux des candélabres qui font des taches D un rouge opaque sur les dernières gloires du couchant, O nuit! ô rafraîchissantes ténèbres! La Cloche fêlée Il est amer et doux, pendant les nuits d hiver, D écouter, près du feu qui palpite et qui fume, Les souvenirs lointains lentement s élever Au bruit des carillons qui chantent dans la brume. Bienheureuse la cloche au gosier vigoureux Qui, malgré sa vieillesse, alerte et bien portante, Jette fidèlement son cri religieux, The Albatross Often, to pass the time on board, the crew will catch an albatross, one of those big birds which nonchalantly chaperone a ship across the bitter fathoms of the sea. Tied to the deck, this sovereign of space, as if embarrassed by its clumsiness, pitiably lets its great white wings drag at its sides like a pair of unshipped oars. The Poet is like this monarch of the clouds riding the storm above the marksman s range; exiled on the ground, hooted and jeered, he cannot walk because of his great wings. Evening Twilight Translation by Daron Aric Hagen Twilight, how gentle you are and how soft and tender. The rosy glow that still lingers on the horizon, like the last dying of the day under the conquering oppression of night; the flaring candle flames that stains with dull red the last glories of the sunset. O night! O refreshing darkness! The Cracked Bell Bitter, but sweet as well! on winter nights when embers whiten on the hearth, to hear faraway memories slowly surfacing, summoned by carillons chiming through the mist. Blessed be the rugged-throated bell, alert and tough for all its years, which tolls religiously the watches of the night

6 Ainsi qu un vieux soldat qui veille sous la tente! Moi, mon âme est fêlée, et lorsqu en ses ennuis Elle veut de ses chants peupler l air froid des nuits, Il arrive souvent que sa voix affaiblie Semble le râle épais d un blessé qu on oublie Au bord d un lac de sang, sous un grand tas de morts, Et qui meurt, sans bouger, dans d immenses efforts. La Vie antérieure J ai longtemps habité sous de vastes portiques Que les soleils marins teignaient de mille feux, Et que leurs grands piliers, droits et majestueux, Rendaient pareils, le soir, aux grottes basaltiques. Les houles, en roulant les images des cieux, Mêlaient d une façon solennelle et mystique Les tout puissants accords de leur riche musique Aux couleurs du couchant reflété par mes yeux C est là, c est là que j ai vécu dans les voluptés calmes Au milieu de l azur, des vagues, des splendeurs, Et des esclaves nus tout imprégnés d odeurs Qui me rafraîchissaient le front avec des palmes, Et dont l unique soin était d approfondir Le secret douloureux qui me faisait languir. like some old trooper standing sentinel! My soul is cracked, and when in its distress it tries to sing the chilly nights away, how often its enfeebled voice suggests the gasping of a wounded soldier left beside a lake of blood, who, pinned beneath a pile of dead men, struggles, stares, and dies. Previous Existence I lived a long time under vast porticoes whose splendors altered with the sea all day; by evening their majestic pillars turned, row after row, into tall basalt caves. Solemn and magical the waves rolled in bearing images of heaven on the swell, blending the sovereign music that they made with sunset colors mirrored in my eyes. There I lived, in a rapture of repose, amid the glories of that sky, that sea, and I had naked slaves, perfumed with musk, to fan me by the hour with rustling fronds, and their one study was to diagnose the secret torment which had sickened me.

7 Chant d'automne Bientôt nous plongerons dans les froides ténêbres, Adieu vive clarté de nos étés trop courts! J entends déjà tomber, avec un choc funèbre, Le bois retentissant sur le pavé des cours. J écoute en frémissant chaque bûche qui tombe; L échafaud qu on bâtit n a pas d écho plus sourd. Mon esprit est pareil à la tour qui succombe Sous les coups du bélier infatigable et lourd. Il me semble, bercé par ce choc monotone, Qu on cloue en grande hâte un cercueil quelque part! Pour qui? c était hier l été; voici l automne! Ce bruit mystérieux sonne comme un départ! J aime, de vos longs yeux, la lumière verdâtre. Douce beauté! mais aujourd hui tout m est amer! Et rien ni votre amour ni le boudoir, ni l âtre, Ne me vaut le soleil rayonnant sur la mer! La Mort des pauvres C est la Mort qui console, hélas! et qui fait vivre; C est le but de la vie, et c est le seul espoir Qui, comme un élixir, nous monte et nous enivre, Et nous donne le coeur de marcher jusqu au soir; A travers la tempête, et la neige, et le givre, C est la clarté vibrante à notre horizon noir; C est l auberge fameuse inscrite sur le livre, Où l on pourra manger, et dormir, et s asseoir Autumnal Soon cold shadows will close over us and summer s transitory gold be gone; I hear them chopping firewood in our court the dreary thud of logs on cobblestone. I listen trembling to that grim tattoo build a gallows, it would sound the same. My mind becomes a tower giving way under the impact of a battering-ram. Stunned by the strokes, I seem to hear, somewhere, a coffin hurriedly hammered shut for whom? Summer was yesterday; autumn is here! Strange how that sound rings out like a farewell. How sweet the greenish light of your long eyes! But even that turns bitter now, and nothing not love, the boudoir, nor its busy hearth can match the summer s radiance on the sea. The Death of the Poor What else consoles? It is the remedy and the preventive too, the one escape that like a stupefying draught of wine give us the heart to get through one more day; sure on the dim horizon shines one light that never fails, in spite of storm and cold the famous inn all guidebooks recommend where we can count on lodging for the Night.

8 C est un Ange qui tient dans ses doigts magnétiques Le sommeil et le don des rêves extatiques, Et qui refait le lit des gens pauvres et nus; C est la gloire des Dieux, c est le grenier mystique, C est la bourse du pauvre et sa patrie antique, C est le portique ouvert sur les Cieux inconnus! Harmonie du soir Voici venir les temps où vibrant sur sa tige, Chaque fleur s évapore ainsi qu un encensoir; Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l air du soir, Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige. Chaque fleur s évapore ainsi qu un encensoir, Le violon frémit comme un coeur qu on afflige, Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige, Le ciel est triste et beau comme un grand reposoir; Le violon frémit comme un coeur qu on afflige, Un coeur tendre, qui hait le néant vaste et noir! Le ciel est triste et beau comme un grand reposoir; Le soleil s est noyé dans son sang qui se fige. Un coeur tendre, qui hait le néant vaste et noir, Du passé lumineux recueille tout vestige. Le soleil s est noyé dans son sang qui se fige, Ton souvenir en moi luit comme un ostensoir. Recueillement Sois sage, ô ma Douleur, et tiens-toi plus tranquille; Tu réclamais le Soir: il descend, le voici: Une atmosphère obscure enveloppe la ville, Aux uns portant la paix, aux autres le souci. Angel of Death, in your transforming hands the straw we lie on turns softest down, our sleep is sound, our dreams are ecstasy! Here is the mystic granary of heaven, purse of the poor and our inheritance, the open gateway to the unknown God! Evening Harmony Now comes the time when swaying on its stem each flower offers incense to the night; phrases and fragrances circle in the dark languorous waltz that casts a lingering spell! Each flower offers incense to the night; the violin trembles like a heart betrayed languorous waltz that casts a lingering spell! A mournful altar ornaments the sky. The violin trembles like a heart betrayed, a tender heart unnerved by nothingness! A mournful altar ornaments the sky; the sun has smothered in its clotting blood. A tender heart unnerved by nothingness hoards every fragment of the radiant past. The sun has smothered in its clotting blood. In me your image like a monstrance glows. Meditation Behave, my Sorrow! let s have no more scenes. Evening s what you wanted Evening s here: a gradual darkness overtakes the town, bringing peace to some, to others pain.

9 Pendant que des mortels la multitude vile, Sous le fouet du Plaisir, ce bourreau sans merci, Va cueillir des remords dans la fête servile, Ma Douleur, donne-moi la main; viens par ici, Loin d eux. Vois se pencher les défuntes Années, Sur les balcons du ciel, en robes surannées. Surgir du fond des eaux le Regret souriant; Le Soleil moribond s endormir sous une arche; Et, comme un long linceul traînant à l Orient, Entends, ma chère, entends la douce Nuit qui marche. L Invitation au voyage Mon enfant, ma sœur, Songe à la douceur D aller là-bas vivre ensemble, Aimer à loisir, Aimer et mourir Au pays qui te ressemble. Les soleils mouillés De ces ciels brouillés Pour mon esprit ont les charmes Si mystérieux De tes traîtres yeux, Brillant à travers leurs larmes. Là, tout n est qu ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté. Des meubles luisants, Polis par les ans, Décoreraient notre chambre, Les plus rares fleurs Mêlant leurs odeurs Aux vagues senteurs de l'ambre Les riches plafonds, Les miroirs profonds, La splendeur orientale Tout y parlerait À l'âme en secret Sa douce langue natale. Now, while humanity racks up remorse in low distractions under Pleasure s lash, groveling for a ruthless master come away, my Sorrow, leave them! Give me your hand See how the dear departed dowdy years crowd the balconies of heaven, leaning down, while smiling out of the sea appears Regret; the Sun will die in its sleep beneath a bridge, and trailing westward like a winding-sheet listen, my dear how softly Night arrives. Invitation to the Voyage Imagine the magic of living together there, with all the time in the world for loving each other, for loving and dying where even the landscape resembles you: the suns dissolved in overcast skies have the same mysterious charm for me as your wayward eyes through crystal tears, my sister, my child! All is order there, and elegance, Pleasure, peace, and opulence. Furniture gleaming with the patina of time itself in the room we would share; the rarest flowers mingling aromas with amber s uncertain redolence; encrusted ceilings echoed in mirrors and Eastern splendor on the walls here all would whisper to the soul in secret her sweet mother tongue.

10 Là, tout n est qu ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté. Vois sur ces canaux Dormir ces vaisseaux Dont l'humeur est vagabonde; C est pour assouvir Ton moindre désir Qu ils viennent du bout du monde. Les soleils couchants Revêtent les champs, Les canaux, la ville entière, D hyacinthe et d'or; Le monde s'endort Dans une chaude lumière! Là, tout n est qu ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté. Hymne À la très chère, à la très belle, Qui remplit mon coeur de clarté, À l ange, à l idole immortelle, Salut en immortalité, Elle se répand dans ma vie, Comme un air imprégné de sel, Et dans mon âme inassouvie, Verse le goût de l Eternel. Comment, amor incorruptible, T exprimer avec vérité? Grain de musc, qui gîs invisible, Au fond de mon éternité? À la très chère, à la très-belle, Qui remplit mon coeur de clarté, À l ange, à l idole immortelle, Salut en immortalité! Le Jet d eau Tes beaux yeux sont las, pauvre amante! Reste longtemps, sans les rouvrir, Dans cette pose nonchalante All is order there, and elegance, Pleasure, peace, and opulence. On these still canals the freighters doze fitfully: their mood is for roving, and only to flatter a lover s fancy have they put in from the ends of the earth. By late afternoon the canals catch fire as sunset glorifies the town; the world turns to gold as it falls asleep in a fervent light. All is order there, and elegance, Pleasure, peace, and opulence. Hymn To Love in all her loveliness filling my heart with light, to the Angel, the Idol, the Muse, homage and endless praise! Who like a salt-wind from the sea suffuses life with joy and pours into my unslaked heart eternity s bouquet! Sachet forever fresh that scents this intimate retreat, forgotten censer smoking still in secret through the dark! To Love who by her favor grants my health and happiness, to the Angel, the Idol, the Muse, homage and endless praise! The Fountain Your eyes are tired, poor lover close them, then; lie still, just as you are in that casual pose where pleasure found you,

11 Où t a surprise le plaisir. Dans la cour le jet d eau qui jase Et ne se tait ni nuit ni jour, Entretient doucement l extase Où ce soir m a plongé l amour. La gerbe d eau qui berce Ses mille fleurs, Que la lune traverse De ses pâleurs, Tombe comme une averse De larges pleurs. Ainsi ton âme qu incendie L éclair brûlant des voluptés S élance, rapide et hardie, Vers les vastes cieux enchantés. Puis, elle s épanche, mourante, En un flot de triste langueur, Qui par une invisible pente Descend jusqu au fond de mon coeur. La gerbe d eau qui berce Ses mille fleurs, Que la lune traverse De ses pâleurs, Tombe comme une averse De larges pleurs. Ô toi, que la nuit rend si belle, Qu il m est doux, penché vers tes seins, D écouter la plainte éternelle Qui sanglote dans les bassins! Lune, eau sonore, nuit bénie, Arbres qui frissonnez autour, Votre pure mélancolie Est le miroir de mon amour. La gerbe d eau qui berce Ses mille fleurs, Que la lune traverse De ses pâleurs, Tombe comme une averse De larges pleurs. took you, let you go! Down in the courtyard the fountain whispers on never falling silent, day or night an echo of the ecstasy that was this evening s overwhelming gift of love. The wisp of water rises, wavers, reappears: a white bouquet whose flowers sway until the moon releases showers of bright tears. So it is with your soul that, set aglow and glorified by the flash of pleasure shared, surges swift and valiant to the skies that hale it to their vast enchanted height, then sinks back, dying in a slow descent of languor which by melancholy ways ebbs to the inmost center of my heart. The wisp of water rises, wavers, reappears: a white bouquet whose flowers sway until the moon releases showers of bright tears. Lover, whom the darkness so becomes that I rejoice to lie upon your breast and listen to the never-ending plaint which murmurs to itself in marble pools among the trees disheveled by the wind: moon, melodious water, marvelous night your sorrow is the mirror of my love! The wisp of water rises, wavers, reappears: a white bouquet whose flowers sway until the moon releases showers of bright tears.

12 Le Revenant Comme les anges à l œil fauve, Je reviendrai dans ton alcôve Et vers toi glisserai sans bruit Avec les ombres de la nuit; Et je te donnerai, ma brune, Des baisers froids comme la lune Et des caresses de serpent Autour d'une fosse rampant. Quand viendra le matin livide, Tu trouveras ma place vide, Où jusqu au soir il fera froid. Comme d autres par la tendresse, Sur ta vie et sur ta jeunesse, Moi, je veux régner par l effroi! La Mort des amants Nous aurons des lits pleins d odeurs légères, Des divans profonds comme des tombeaux, Et d étranges fleurs sur des étagères, Écloses pour nous sous des cieux plus beaux. Usant à l envi leurs chaleurs dernières, Nos deux coeurs seront deux vastes flambeaux, Qui réfléchiront leurs doubles lumières Dans nos deux esprits, ces miroirs jumeaux. Un soir fait de rose et de bleu mystique, Nous échangerons un éclair unique, Comme un long sanglot tout chargé d adieux; Et plus tard un ange, entr ouvrant les portes, Viendra ranimer, fidèle et joyeux, Les miroirs ternis et les flammes mortes. Je t adore Je t adore à l égal de la voute nocturne, O vase de tristesse, ô grande taciturne, Et t aime d autant plus, belle, que tu me fuis, Incubus Eyes glowing like an angel s I ll come back to your bed and reach for you from the shadows: you won t hear a thing. On your dark skin my kisses will be colder than moonlight: caresses of a snake crawling round an open grave. When the morning whitens you find no one beside you: the place cold all day. Others by fondness prevail over your life, your youth: I leave it to fear. The Death of Lovers We shall have richly scented beds couches deep as graves, and rare flowers on the shelves will bloom for us beneath a lovelier sky. Emulously spending their last warmth, our hearts will be as two torches reflecting their double fires in the twin mirrors of our minds. One evening, rose and mystic blue, we shall exchange a single glance, a long sigh heavy with farewells; and then an Angel, unlocking doors, will come, loyal and gay, to bring the tarnished mirrors back to life. Urn of Stilled Sorrows Urn of stilled sorrows, I worship you as if you were the dome of night itself, and all the more because you turn away

13 Et que tu me parais, ornement de mes nuits, Plus ironiquement accumuler les lieues Qui séparent mes bras des immensités bleues. Je m avance à l attaque, et je grimpe aux assauts, Comme après un cadavre un choeur de vermisseaux, Et je chéris, ô bête implacable et cruelle! Jusqu à cette froideur par où tu m es plus belle! Le Balcon Mère des souvenirs, maîtresse des maîtresses, Ô toi, tous mes plaisirs! ô toi, tous mes devoirs! Tu te rappelleras la beauté des caresses, La douceur du foyer et le charme des soirs, Mère des souvenirs, maîtresse des maîtresses. Les soirs illuminés par l ardeur du charbon, Et les soirs au balcon, voilés de vapeur rose. Que ton sein m était doux! Que ton cœur m était bon! Nous avons dit souvent d impérissables choses Les soirs illuminés par l ardeur du charbon. Que les soleils sont beaux par les chaudes soirées! Que l espace est profond! que le cœur est puissant! En me penchant vers toi, reine des adorées, Je croyais respirer le parfum de ton sang. Que les soleils sont beaux par les chaudes soirées! La nuit s'épaississait ainsi qu'une cloison, and seem, for setting off my darkness, more mockingly to magnify the space which bars me from those blue immensities. I lay my siege, advance to the attack like worms that congregate around a corpse, and prize that cold disdain, o cruel beast, which makes you even lovelier to me! The Balcony Translation by Rosemary Lloyd Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses All of my pleasures and all of my cares! You will recall the beauty of caresses, The sweetness of the hearth and the charm of the evening Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses. Those evenings lit by the glow of the coals, Those evenings on the balcony veiled in pink mists. How sweet your breast! How kind was your heart! How often we said things we will never forget, Those evenings lit by the glow of the coals. How beautiful the sun on those warm summer evenings! How vast then is space! How powerful the heart! In leaning toward you, queen of the adored, I felt I was breathing the scent of your blood. How beautiful the sun on those warm summer evenings! The nights would grow as thick as the partition wall

14 Et mes yeux dans le noir devinaient tes prunelles, Et je buvais ton souffle. Ô douceur, ô poison! Et tes pieds s'endormaient dans mes mains fraternelles, La nuit s épaississait ainsi qu une cloison. Je sais l art d'évoquer les minutes heureuses, Et revis mon passé blotti dans tes genoux. Car à quoi bon chercher tes beautés langoureuses Ailleurs qu en ton cher corps et qu en ton cœur si doux? Je sais l art d évoquer les minutes heureuses! Ces serments, ces parfums, ces baisers infinis. Renaîtront-ils d un gouffre interdit à nos sondes Comme montent au ciel les soleils rajeunis Après s être lavés au fond des mers profondes O serments! ô parfums! ô baisers infinis! And my eyes in the dark would seek out your eyes, And I drank in your breath, o sweetness, o poison! And your feet fell asleep in my brotherly hands. The nights would grow as thick as the partition wall. I know how to call up the moments of joy, See my past once again nestled in your knees. Where should one look for your languorous beauty If not in your dear body and in your sweet heart? I know how to call up the moments of joy. Those vows, those perfumes, those infinite kisses, Will they rise yet again from a gulf none may measure? As the rejuvenated sun rises again to the heavens After being washed in the depths of the deep seas? O vows! O perfumes! O infinite kisses! Meet the Artists Eric Jurenas Countertenor Eric Jurenas, from Annandale, Virginia, is a master of music student at The Juilliard School, where he studies with Robert C. White Jr. Mr. Jurenas is quickly making a name for himself in both the opera and concert repertoire. He has performed as a soloist with the Santa Fe Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Philadelphia, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, and the Colorado Bach Ensemble. This season s highlights include performances with American Bach Soloists (Handel s Messiah), Juilliard415 (Vivaldi cantatas), New Juilliard Ensemble, and Burlington Choral Society (Handel s Solomon). He recently performed in Michigan Opera Theatre s production of Handel s Giulio Cesare. He also covered David Daniels in the title role of Theodore Morrison s Oscar, commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera, and will do so again for Opera Philadelphia s 2015 production of the work. Mr. Jurenas receives support from a Johnny Desmond Scholarship in Voice, a John S. Zinsser Jr. Scholarship, and a Phyllis Joan Hoyland Memorial Scholarship in Voice. Please visit for updates.

15 CHRIS LO KRISTIN HOBERMAN Miles Mykkanen Tenor Miles Mykkanen, a native of Michigan, received his bachelor's degree and continues his graduate studies at Juilliard as a Toulmin Foundation Scholar studying with Cynthia Hoffmann. Mr. Mykkanen has appeared with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Wolf Trap Opera Company, the Franz-Schubert-Institut, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Caramoor Music Center, and the Kennedy Center. Recent roles include Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Gastone in La traviata, Il Contino Belfiore in Mozart s La finta giardiniera, and Florindo in Wolf-Ferrari s Le donne curiose. At Juilliard, Mr. Mykkanen participated in an internationally streamed master class with Renée Fleming. Mr. Mykkanen has frequently performed with the New York Festival of Song in Alice Tully Hall, the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Mykkanen was awarded the 2013 Joseph W. Polisi Prize for exemplifying the values of the artist as citizen. He is a recipient of Juilliard s Lucrezia Bori Grant for language studies. Christine Price Soprano Christine Price, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a first-year graduate student in voice at Juilliard, where she studies with Edith Wiens. Ms. Price made her Lincoln Center debut in November 2012 as the soloist in Mahler s Symphony No. 4 in Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, conducted by Adam Glaser. In 2010 she graduated in voice from the Juilliard MYRIAM VERREZ CHRISTINE JEAN CHAMBERS Pre-College Division and that same year sang at the dedication of the Mary Rodgers Guettel Pre-College Suite. In , Ms. Price sang the title role in the Manhattan School of Music s production of Cavalli s La Calisto and appeared in Side By Side by Sondheim with the American Musical Theater Ensemble directed by Carolyn Marlow. Ms. Price also sang the title role in the MSM Senior Opera production of Cavalli s La Doriclea in March Austin Smith Austin Smith, a recent graduate of Juilliard s Drama Division, hails from Chicago. His most recent Juilliard credits include Master Harold and the Boys, The Great God Pan, War, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet. He is honored to perform with such unbelievable singers tonight it is a truly rewarding experience. Thanks always to the big man upstairs, mom and dad, Amber, Avery, and Amaris. Virginie Verrez A native of France, mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez has performed the roles of Beatrice in Wolf-Ferrari s Le donne curiose and Zenobia in Handel s Radamisto at Juilliard. In 2014 Ms. Verrez made her Carnegie Hall debut in Bruckner s Te Deum and sang the role of Junon in Charpentier s Actéon, conducted by William Christie. She also played Lola in Mascagni s Cavalleria rusticana with Avignon Opera and Mercedes in Carmen with Wolf Trap Opera, and was the alto soloist in

16 JARED SLATER Beethoven s Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has also appeared in recitals in Baden bei Wien, Rhinebeck, and Dallas. She has been a prize winner in the Opera Index competition, the McCammon Competition, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, and the Art Song Preservation Society of New York Mary Trueman Vocal Arts Competition. Ms. Verrez is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School. Brian Zeger Widely recognized as one of today s leading collaborative pianists, Brian Zeger has performed with many of the world s greatest singers, including Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Piotr Beczala, Bryn Terfel, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves, and Adrianne Pieczonka in an extensive concert career that has taken him to the premier concert halls throughout the United States and abroad. Recent and upcoming engagements include a recital tour with Deborah Voigt, a collaboration with Susan Graham at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a recital as part of the Bard Music Festival s Schubert and his World series with tenor Paul Appleby, a recital at the Schubertiade Festival with Adrianne Pieczonka, and the Marilyn Horne Birthday Gala at Carnegie Hall with Ms. Graham. In addition to his distinguished concert career, he also serves as artistic director of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard and the executive director of the Metropolitan Opera s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. Mr. Zeger holds a bachelor s degree in English literature from Harvard College, a master s degree from Juilliard, and a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music.