Event

Artist Recital Series: Gerald Finley, baritone and Michael McMahon, piano

Date, time, location

Date
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Time
8:00 pm EDT
Location

Finney Chapel

90 N. Professor St.
Oberlin, OH 44074

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Celebrated on concert stages and in opera halls throughout the world, Gerald Finley shines in a broad range of repertoire. His Oberlin engagement with pianist Michael McMahon will include works by Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff.

Order tickets by calling Oberlin’s Central Ticket Service at 1-800-371-0178 or online at www.oberlin.edu/arseries.

Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Goethe Lieder

   Neue Liebe, neues Leben, Op. 75, No. 2              

   Wonne der Wehmut, Op. 83, No. 1                                    

   Mit einem gemalten Band, Op. 83, No. 3

   Aus Goethes Faust, Op. 75, No. 3

 

Franz Schubert: Goethe Lieder 

   Prometheus, D. 674                                                        

   Geistes Gruss, D. 142                                                                    

   An den Mond, D. 296

   Rastlose Liebe, D. 138

   An Schwager Kronos, D. 369

   Schäfers Klagelied, D. 121

   Wanderers Nachtlied, D. 768

   Erlkönig, D. 328

 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romances 

   Don Juan's Serenade, Op. 38, No. 1                   

   Amid the Din of the Ball, Op. 38, No. 3                                

   None, but the Lonely Heart, Op. 6, No. 6 

   As Over the Burning Ashes, Op. 25, No. 2 

 

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Romances 

   Oh stay, my love, Op. 4, No. 1                              

   Silent Night, Op. 4, No. 3         

   Fate, Op. 21, No. 1

   On the Death of Linnet, Op. 21, No. 8 

   Christ is Risen, Op. 26, No. 6 

   Spring Waters, Op. 14, No.  11 

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Grammy-award winning Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley is a leading singer and dramatic interpreter of his generation, with acclaimed performances at the world’s major opera and concert venues and award-winning recordings on CD and DVD with major labels in a wide variety of repertoire. Mr Finley’s career is devoted to the wide range of vocal art, encompassing opera, orchestral and song, collaborating with the greatest orchestras and conductors of our time.

He began with the baritone roles of Mozart; his Don Giovanni and Count in Le nozze di Figaro have been heard live throughout the world and on DVD. Recent signature roles include Guillaume Tell, J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adam's Dr. Atomic, and Jaufré Rudel in Saariaho's L'amour de loin. He created Harry Heegan in Mark Anthony Turnage's The Silver Tassie.

In recent years, critical successes have been in the Wagner repertoire: as Hans Sachs at the Glyndebourne Festival and Opéra de Paris, as Amfortas in Parsifal at Royal Opera Covent Garden, and as Wolfram at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. His expanding repertoire includes a triumph as Verdi’s Falstaff at the Canadian Opera (for which he won a DORA Award), as a “peerless” Iago in Otello with Sir Colin Davis and the LSO (LSO Live), and in the title role in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell with Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Sir Antonio Pappano (EMI). His other important roles include Golaud, Eugene Onegin and Nick Shadow. In contemporary opera, Mr Finley has excelled in creating leading roles, most notably J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams’ Doctor Atomic (New York Met, ENO London, San Francisco, Chicago and Amsterdam), as Harry Heegan in Turnage’s The Silver Tassie at ENO, Howard K. Stern in Turnage’s Anna Nicole at Covent Garden and Jaufré Rudel in Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin for the much-acclaimed premieres in Santa Fe, Paris and Helsinki. He created the role of Mr Fox in Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr Fox at L.A. Opera. Concert appearances include the title role in Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero (New York Phil with Alan Gilbert and the BR SO) and Chou en Lai in Adams’ Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony at the BBC Proms conducted by the composer. His Arias in English CD on the Chandos label received the Canadian Juno Award for Best Album in Vocal Performance. In 2012, the DVD release of Doctor Atomic in which Gerald Finley appeared as J. Robert Oppenheimer was awarded the Grammy for ‘Best Opera Recording’.

Mr Finley’s concert work is a vital part of his flourishing career with recent appearances with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, a tour of Schoenberg’s A Survivor From Warsaw with Andris Nelsons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Wunderhorn Lieder with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Lutoslawski’s Les espaces du sommeil with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. A rediscovered version of Shostakovich’s “English Poets” was recorded by Mr Finley and the Helsinki Philharmonic on the Ondine label and received international critical acclaim, along with that composer’s orchestral cycle, Michelangelo Sonnets.  Modern day composers have written extensively for Mr. Finley and include Peter Lieberson (“Songs of Love and Sorrow” with the Boston Symphony), Mark Anthony Turnage (“When I woke” with the LPO and Vladimir Jurowski), Huw Watkins, Julian Philips, Kaija Saariaho (“True Fire” with the L.A Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel), and Einojuhani Rautavaara (“Rubáiyát” with the Helsinki Philharmonic).

As a celebrated song recitalist, he works regularly with pianist Julius Drake. Recent engagements include the Schubertiade, recitals throughout Europe, a residency at the Wigmore Hall, at New York’s Carnegie-Zankel Hall as part of a cross-US tour of Schubert’s Winterreise, and appearances at the festivals of Tanglewood and Ravinia in the US.

Mr Finley’s many solo recital CD releases have been devoted to songs of Barber, Britten, Ives, Ravel and Schumann’s song cycles “Dichterliebe” and “Liederkreis Op. 24 & 39”. With a continuing partnership with Julius Drake on the Hyperion label, all have been critically acclaimed, including an unprecedented three Gramophone Awards in the Solo Vocal category. Their release of Schubert’s Winterreise won a Canadian Juno Award in 2015, and recently they released “Bass songs by Liszt”. His recent “Orchestral songs by Sibelius” with the Bergen Philharmonic and Ed Gardner on the Chandos label, was nominated “Best Vocal Album” by Gramophone Magazine.

The 2016/17 season was an exciting one, beginning with performances at the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of William Tell, a role which he also performed in Munich later in the season. In December, Mr Finley performed a series of recitals accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano at the Berlin Philharnmonie, Barbican and Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden and the UK Premiere of True Fire by Kaija Saariaho with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican. At the ROH, Mr Finley undertook the role of Michonnet in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur. He then went on to perform Amfortas in Parsifal at the Vienna State Opera. He finished the season with a performance of Adams’ Doctor Atomic in London, Saariaho’s True Fire at the Elbphilharmonie and acclaimed recitals in Europe. He had critical success in the title role of Reimann’s Lear at the Salzburg Festival.

As part of his dedication to preserving and enhancing the singing tradition, he gives masterclasses throughout the world most recently at the Juilliard School of Music, and continues to work with the Jette Parker Young Artists’ Program at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and the Lindemann Program at the Met.

In 2017/18, his activity is exceptional. He opens the season at the Wigmore Hall with a recital with the pianist Julius Drake. He will then perform Mephistopheles in Berlioz’ Damnation de Faust with the London Symphony Orchestra in Sir Simon Rattle’s debut as Music Director, and then the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen at the Berlin Philharmonic (Sir Simon Rattle). Gerald will then return to the Metropolitan Opera to perform Athanaël in Thaïs, followed by the Finnish premiere of Saariaho’s True Fire with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In early 2018, he makes his role debut as Scarpia in Tosca at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and continues with performances of Schubert Songs with Daniel Harding and the Berlin Philharmonic and at the Festspielhaus Baden Baden where he will also perform Amfortas in Parsifal. Gerald concludes the season with a recital tour in North America.

Gerald Finley, born in Montreal, began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and completed his musical studies in the UK at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio. He is a Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music. In 2014 he climbed Kilimanjaro for the charity Help Musicians UK. In 2017 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and had previously been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. Mr Finley also features on a Canadian stamp celebrating Canadians in opera.

Photo credit: http://www.geraldfinley.com/

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Pianist Michael McMahon is the preferred partner to many of Canada’s finest singers.  He has performed frequently throughout Canada, Europe, Japan and the USA with singers such as Catherine Robbin, Karina Gauvin, Measha Brueggergosman, Gordan Bintner, Marianne Fiset, Lyne Fortin, Dominique Labelle, Wendy Nielsen, Maureen Forrester, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Joseph Kaiser, Nathan Berg, Brett Polegato, Philippe Sly, Daniel Taylor, Michael Schade, Russell Braun and Richard Margison.

Following his studies at McGill University in Montreal, Michael continued his musical education in Vienna at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, the Franz Schubert Institute, and in Salzburg at the Mozarteum.  During this time, he studied with such legendary artists as Erik Werba, Hans Hotter, Elly Ameling, Jörg Demus, and Kim Borg.

In addition to his active performing schedule, Michael McMahon is a Professor at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal.   As both a vocal coach and piano professor, he frequently gives masterclasses across Canada and has had long associations with l’Atelier lyrique de L’Opéra de Montréal, Opera Nuova, the Orford Arts Centre and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Additionally, Michael is a resident artist at the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria and the C.O.S.I Summer Opera program in Italy.

He can be heard on numerous broadcast recordings for the English and French networks of the CBC, as well as for the BBC, RBTF, Radio Suisse Romande, and Radio France. His recordings on the Marquis, CBC, Atma, and Analekta labels have met with critical acclaim, including Juno nominations and the Prix Opus.  Michael McMahon was honored with a Ruby Award by Opera Canada in 2012 for his contribution to music in Canada.

 

 

 

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