Last updated: October 19, 2023
Program
GEORGES BIZET “Les Toréadors” from Carmen
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GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
“Ombra mai fu” from Xerxes
“To fleeting pleasures” from Samson
“Calm thou my soul … Convey me to some peaceful shore” from Alexander Balus
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GEORGES BIZET “Aragonaise” and “Séguedille” from Carmen
GABRIEL FAURÉ “Mandoline”, Op. 58, No. 1
REYNALDO HAHN (arr. Chason Goldschmitz) “L’heure exquise”
JULES MASSENET “Allons! … Adieu, notre petite table” from Manon
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INTERMISSION
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LEONARD BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide
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SAMUEL BARBER “Sure on This Shining Night”, Op. 13, No. 3
MARIA SCHNEIDER “Walking by Flashlight”
ANDRE PREVIN “I Want Magic” from A Streetcar Named Desire
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GODFREY RIDOUT Fall Fair
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ANDREW LIPPA “The Diva”
RICHARD RODGERS & OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II
“You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel
FREDERICK LOEWE & ALAN JAY LERNER
“I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady
Program Notes
Tonight’s concert showcases the beauty of the human voice through Renée Fleming’s remarkable talents in diverse repertoire ranging from opera to art song to musical theatre, spanning four centuries by composers from Europe and North America. After the brilliant and boisterous music of “Les Toreadors” from Carmen (1875) by Georges Bizet (1838–1875), Renée opens with a first set featuring arias from works by Georg Friedrich Haendel.
Living in London since 1712, Haendel (1685–1759) became a master at writing and producing Baroque Italian opera, which was all the rage in the city in the early 18th century. He composed just over 40 of them, many of them hugely successful, in part because he wrote music that showed off his singers to their best advantage—not just as technical virtuosos, but also their ability to sing beautifully and with deep feeling. Xerxes, his 39th opera, was a commercial flop, however, when it premiered in 1738; the audience didn’t know what to make of its unprecedented mixture of comic and dramatic aspects, including its opening aria “Ombra mai fu”, a tender ode sung by the Persian king to his beloved plane tree. Rediscovered in the 19th century, its simple grace makes it a favourite today.
When opera fell out of fashion with London audiences, Haendel created the oratorio—a dramatic work, usually based on Biblical sources, similar to opera but presented in concert form. Both Samson (1741) and Alexander Balus (1747) feature strong female characters demanding beautiful singing and exceptional acting skills. The elegant air “In fleeting pleasures” is a last-ditch effort by Dalila to make peace with her husband, the Judge of Israel Samson, whom she had betrayed to her people, the Philistines, and an enemy of the Israelites, by cutting his hair—the source of his supernatural strength. In the final song of this set, we meet Cleopatra, daughter of the Egyptian king Ptolemee, just after she received news that her husband, the Syrian king Alexander, and her father were both killed in war against Jonathan of the Maccabees. Now alone to face her fate, she commends herself to Isis to take her to some “peaceful shore”, poignantly borne by the orchestra’s detached accompaniment.
With the Spanish-flavoured dances of Bizet’s Carmen, we travel to late 19th-century France. This second set features songs by two masters of melodié (French art song): Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) and Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947). Both songs use words by Paul-Marie Verlaine, the Symbolist French poet known for his suggestive and sensuous texts. In “Mandoline”, from Fauré’s 1891 song cycle Cinq melodies de Venise, the accompaniment evokes the instrument’s delicately plucked strings as the narrator’s voice, singing of “gallant serenaders and their sweet listeners exchanging sweet nothings,” floats expansively above. Fluid chromatic harmonies underscore the sensual imagery of the final verse before the song concludes with a reprise of the first verse and the mandolin’s “jangles”. Sunny day gives way to the “exquisite hour” of nightfall in Hahn’s intimate song from his Sept chansons grises (1887–1890). Here, the accompaniment rolls along gently, allowing the voice to carry the delicate melody to sublime heights. The set concludes with an aria from one of French opera’s most popular and enduring works: Manon (1884) by Jules Massenet (1842–1912). In Act 2’s “Adieu, notre petite table”, we witness Manon wrestling with her emotions—between her honest love for the young chevalier Des Grieux and the prospect of a glamourous life of luxury with the nobleman De Brétigny. She chooses the latter but is overcome by melancholy at having to bid farewell to the modest dwelling she shared with her true love.
The sparkling overture from Leonard Bernstein’s (1918–1990) operetta Candide (1956) takes us across the Atlantic for Renée’s third set. We continue with two American modern art song gems, the first by Samuel Barber (1910–1981). “Sure on This Shining Night” is the third song in Barber’s collection Four Songs, from 1940, using texts by different authors—in this case, the untitled lyric from James Agee’s first published collection of poems, Permit Me Voyage. Against a pulsating backdrop, the voice and various instruments of the orchestra follow each other seamlessly with the phrases of the long melodic line. In “Walking by Flashlight” (2012), Maria Schneider (b. 1960) sets a poem by Ted Kooser, one of over 100 he had penned inspired by the morning walks he took alone or with his wife during his battle with cancer. Scheider’s serene music highlights, with emotional immediacy, the author’s touchingly witty appreciation of the natural world’s reaction to his flashlight. By contrast, in “I Want Magic,” Blanche DuBois, a role Renée premiered in Andre Previn’s (1929–2019) opera A Streetcar Named Desire (1995) based on Tennessee Williams’s play, orders Mitch not to turn the light on her, so to force her to face up to him about her sordid past. Awash in dreamy harmonies, she’d much rather live in the fantasy that she’s a wealthy southern belle than face the merciless glare of the reality of her situation.
Fall Fair (1961) by Canadian composer Godfrey Ridout (1918–1984) provides a picturesque interlude into the final set. Inspired by events he had attended in Lakefield, Ontario during the 1920s, it features a catchy “lopsided waltz” tune and a “hymn-y passage”, portraying, respectively, the hustle bustle of an autumn carnival and the surrounding bucolic beauty. Renée follows with “The Diva”, a rock-inflected original number from 2020 written by Andrew Lippa (b. 1964) for her. As the song’s protagonist, she reflects, with self-deprecating humour, on the extraordinary aspects of her life as a diva, as well as the ways in which she’s just like any of us. She closes the concert with two beloved show tunes, giving us Nettie Fowler’s tender message of comfort and encouragement from the musical Carousel (1945) and from My Fair Lady (1964), the celebratory elation of Eliza Doolittle in her breakthrough moment.
Program notes by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD
Artists
One of the most beloved and celebrated singers of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. At a White House ceremony in 2013, President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts, America’s highest honour for an individual artist. In May 2023, Renée was named a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health for the World Health Organization, and in June, it was announced that she would be awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor.
Winner of the 2023 Grammy Award (her fifth) for Best Classical Vocal Solo and honoured with the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Crystal Award at Davos, Renée is the only classical artist ever to sing The Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl (2014). As a musical statesman, Renée has sung at numerous prestigious occasions, from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to performances in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. In 2014, she sang in the televised concert at the Brandenburg Gate to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 2012, in a historic first, she sang on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee Concert for HM Queen Elizabeth II.
A ground-breaking distinction came in 2008 when Renée became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala. In January 2009, Renée was featured in the televised We Are One: The Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial for President Obama. She has also performed for the United States Supreme Court and, in 2009, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s “Velvet Revolution” at the invitation of Václav Havel.
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“A natural communicator, both on and off the podium” (The Telegraph), Alexander Shelley performs across six continents with the world’s finest orchestras and soloists.
With a conducting technique described as “immaculate” (Yorkshire Post) and a “precision, distinction and beauty of gesture not seen since Lorin Maazel” (Le Devoir), Shelley is known for the clarity and integrity of his interpretations and the creativity and vision of his programming. He has spearheaded over 40 major world premieres to date, including highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms symphonies, operas, ballets, and innovative multi-media productions.
Since 2015, he has served as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2023, he was appointed Artistic and Music Director of Artis–Naples in Florida, providing artistic leadership for the Naples Philharmonic and the entire multidisciplinary arts organization. The 2024–2025 season is Shelley’s inaugural season in this position. In addition to his other conducting roles, the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles’s Orange County announced Shelley’s appointment as its next Artistic and Music Director. The initial five-year term begins in the 2026–2027 season, with Shelley serving as Music Director-Designate from September 2025.
Additional 2024–2025 season highlights include performances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Seattle Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland). Shelley is a regular guest with some of the finest orchestras of Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australasia, including Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Helsinki, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malaysian, Oslo, Rotterdam and Stockholm philharmonic orchestras, and the Sao Paulo, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto, Munich, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand symphony orchestras.
In September 2015, Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the youngest in its history. The ensemble has since been praised as “an orchestra transformed ... hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen), and his programming is credited for turning the orchestra “almost overnight ... into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America” (Maclean’s). Together, they have undertaken major tours of Canada, Europe, and Carnegie Hall, where they premiered Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 13.
They have commissioned ground-breaking projects such as Life Reflected and Encount3rs, released multiple Juno-nominated albums and, most recently, responded to the pandemic and social justice issues of the era with the NACO Live and Undisrupted video series.
In August 2017, Shelley concluded his eight-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, a period hailed by press and audiences alike as a golden era for the orchestra.
Shelley’s operatic engagements have included The Merry Widow and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet (Royal Danish Opera), La bohème (Opera Lyra/National Arts Centre), Louis Riel (Canadian Opera Company/National Arts Centre), lolanta (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen), Così fan tutte (Opéra national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon), The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North), Tosca (Innsbruck), and both Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni in semi-staged productions at the NAC.
Winner of the ECHO Music Prize and the Deutsche Grunderpreis, Shelley was conferred with the Cross of the Federal Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in April 2023 in recognition of his services to music and culture.
Through his work as Founder and Artistic Director of the Schumann Camerata and their pioneering “440Hz” series in Dusseldorf, as founding Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s “Zukunftslabor” and through his regular tours leading the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, inspiring future generations of classical musicians and listeners has always been central to Shelley’s work.
He regularly gives informed and passionate pre- and post-concert talks on his programs, as well as numerous interviews and podcasts on the role of classical music in society. In Nuremberg alone, over nine years, he hosted over half a million people at the annual Klassik Open Air concert, Europe’s largest classical music event.
Born in London in October 1979 to celebrated concert pianists, Shelley studied cello and conducting in Germany and first gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition, with the press describing him as “the most exciting and gifted young conductor to have taken this highly prestigious award.”
The Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., ONL, LL.D. (hc).
Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra is praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary learning and engagement programs, and its unwavering support of Canadian creativity. The NAC Orchestra is based in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, and has grown into one of the country’s most acclaimed and dynamic ensembles since its founding in 1969. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, engaging communities from coast to coast to coast through inclusive programming, compelling storytelling, and innovative partnerships.
Since taking the helm in 2015, Shelley has shaped the Orchestra’s artistic vision, building on the legacy of his predecessor, Pinchas Zukerman, who led the ensemble for 16 seasons. Shelley’s influence extends beyond the NAC. He serves as Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK and Artistic and Music Director of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in the United States. In addition to his other conducting roles, the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles’s Orange County announced Shelley’s appointment as its next Artistic and Music Director. The initial five-year term begins in the 2026-2027 season, with Shelley serving as Music Director-Designate from September 2025. Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds and Principal Youth Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser complement Shelley’s leadership. In 2024, the Orchestra marked a new chapter with the appointment of Henry Kennedy as its first-ever Resident Conductor.
The Orchestra has a rich history of partnerships with renowned artists such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Jeremy Dutcher, Jan Lisiecki, Ray Chen, and Yeol Eum Son, underscoring its reputation as a destination for world-class talent. As one of the most accessible, inclusive and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
A hallmark of the NAC Orchestra is its national and international tours. The Orchestra has performed concerts in every Canadian province and territory and earned frequent invitations to perform abroad. These tours spotlight Canadian composers and artists, bringing their voices to stages across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.
Laurie began her stage management career with English Theatre and Jean Roberts’s company at the National Arts Centre. Since then, she has been honoured to work with NAC English Theatre, NAC Indigenous Theatre, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and NAC Popular Music and Variety. Laurie has been production stage manager for the Shaw Festival and Theatre Calgary and stage manager for, amongst others, the Arts Club Theatre Company, The Globe Theatre, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Mirvish Productions, the Stratford Festival, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Grand Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, and Neptune Theatre.
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