A Christmas Oratoriodec 9, 10

Minnesota OrchestraHelmuth Rilling, conductor

Julia Sophie Wagner, soprano | Lidia Vinyes-Curtis, mezzoNicholas Phan, tenor | Tyler Duncan, baritone

Minnesota Chorale, Kathy Saltzman Romey, artistic director

Holiday Concerts

Saturday, December 9, 2017, 8 pm Orchestra HallSunday, December 10, 2017, 2 pm Orchestra Hall

Johann Sebastian Bach Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 ca. 50Cantata I: On the First Day of the Festival of Christmas

(The Nativity)Cantata II: On the Second Day of the Festival of Christmas

(The Annunciation to the Shepherds)

Johann Sebastian Bach Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 ca. 30Cantata III: On the Third Day of the Festival of Christmas

(The Adoration of the Shepherds)

Text and translation appears in an insert; translation will also be projected as surtitles.

The performance on Sunday, December 10, will be broadcast live on stations of Classical Minnesota Public Radio,

including KSJN 99.5 FM in the Twin Cities.

I N T E R M I S S I O N ca. 20

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Artists dec 9, 10

Julia Sophie Wagner, soprano

Soprano Julia Sophie Wagner debutswith the Minnesota Orchestra in theseperformances. Known for specializing inthe vocal works of J. S. Bach, she hasworked closely with the great Bach specialist Helmuth Rilling for the pastdecade. She has also worked withrenowned orchestras including theLeipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, MunichChamber Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, RTVE Madrid, RAITorino and National Symphony Orchestra,as well as with leading Baroque ensembles.Her performance of Beethovens Missa Solemnis at the Kennedy Center wasvoted the number one Kennedy CenterEvent of 2014 by Washington Life Magazine. She has won several nationaland international competitions andearned scholarships from the DAAD (German Government) and the LeipzigOpera, where she has been featured inseveral productions. More: juliasophiewagner.de.

one-minute note

Bach: Christmas OratorioThe Christmas season of 173435 in Leipzig, Germany, included a multi-day unveiling of newly-composed music by Bach that we now knowas the Christmas Oratorio. Each of its six cantatas was designated for a specific day spanning Christmas and the Epiphany, and together the set forms the narrative of the birth of Christ through the arrival of the Wise Men. These concerts feature the first three cantatas. In the first, the orchestra, choir and soloists jubilantly celebrate the birth of Christ with regal chorale melodies and arias, punctuated by the addition of trumpets and drums. The second cantata, marking the Angels announcement to the shepherds, opens with a pastoral orchestralsinfoniathe only one of its kind that Bach includes in the oratorio. Elation is apparent in the third cantata as brilliant choruses and trumpet fanfares depict the shepherds adoration of the newborn King.

Helmuth Rilling, conductor

German conductor Helmuth Rilling, wholast appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra in April 2016 for performancesof Brahms German Requiem, is one ofthe worlds leading interpreters ofchoral-orchestral music. He has touredinternationally, collaborating with theworlds foremost orchestras, and he hasfounded numerous ensembles and musicfestivals including the Gchinger Kantorei,Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgartand Oregon Bach Festival. The first torecord Bachs complete cantatas, Rillingguided a project to record a 172-disccycle of Bachs entire compositional output. His extensive recording repertoire on television, radio and dischas been recognized with a GrammyAward and additional Grammy nominations. In 2015 he published abook about Handels Messiah that wasco-authored by Kathy Saltzman Romey,choral adviser to the Minnesota Orchestra. Among his many honors, hehas been awarded the Staufer GoldMedal, the Herbert von Karajan MusicPrize and the ECHO Klassik Award.More: opus3artists.com, helmuth-rilling.de.

Lidia Vinyes-Curtis,mezzo

Barcelona native Lidia Vinyes-Curtis,now making her Minnesota Orchestradebut, sings regularly on major concertand opera stages worldwide, fromMadrid and Paris to Moscow and HongKong. She has often been a soloistunder Helmuth Rillings direction sincethe 2013 Bachakademie Stuttgart.Other conductors she has worked withinclude Martin Gester, Kay Johannsen,Philippe Pierlot, Jordi Savall andSigiswald Kuijken. Her recent and upcoming engagements include singingBach repertoire at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and in Japan; a performance of Massenets Thasalongside Plcido Domingo at MadridsTeatro Real; and performances with theSpanish National Orchestra, BarcelonaSymphony Orchestra and BBC Orchestra, with which she is recordingGranados Goyescas for HarmoniaMundi. She began her musical studiesin violin, earning high honors at topconservatories in Spain and France, and later played violin professionally inBaroque orchestras. More:biamartists.com, lidiavinyescurtis.com.

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Artistsdec 9, 10

Tyler Duncan, baritone

Tyler Duncan, now in his first appear-ance with the Minnesota Orchestra, hasperformed on the concert stage withmany major orchestras worldwide, mostrecently debuting with Milwaukee Symphony and the Baroque ChamberOrchestra of Colorado.He has performed with the Metropolitan Operaas Yamadori in Madama Butterfly and asFiorello in The Barber of Seville. Otheropera engagements have included theAmerican Spoleto Festival, Pacific Operaand Greensboro Opera. His 2017-18 season includes recitals in Houston, NewYork and Montreal, return engagementswith the Toronto Symphony, TorontosTafelmusik and the Calgary Philharmonic,and debuts with Hartford Symphony, National Philharmonic and Ottawas National Arts Centre Orchestra. Hisrecordings include the title role in JohnBlows Venus and Adonis, Bachs St.Matthew Passion with Portland Baroque,Purcell works and Carissimis Jepthe withLes Voix Baroque, and a DVD of Messiahwith the Montreal Symphony. More:tylerduncan.ca.

Minnesota Chorale Kathy Saltzman Romey, artisticdirectorBarbara Brooks, accompanistand artistic advisor

The Minnesota Chorale, the MinnesotaOrchestras principal chorus since 2004,is now in its 23rd season under the leadership of Kathy Saltzman Romey.Founded in 1972, the Chorale is thestates preeminent symphonic chorus,performing regularly with both this Orchestra and the Saint Paul ChamberOrchestra. Among the Chorales initiativesare the acclaimed Bridges program, theMinneapolis Youth Chorus, Men in Musicfor high-school boys and InChoir foradults. More: mnchorale.org.

sopranoAlyssa BreeceDeborah CarbaughCathy Crosby-SchmidtMonica deCausmeakerLaurel DrevlowAngie EckelMichelle HayesHeather HoodAnika KildegaardAmy MadsonLinda NeumanSara PayneElizabeth Pemberton

altoSara BossKrista CostinCarol DiethelmSusan DruckTimothy FaatzLeanne KampfeMary MonsonErica PerlBarbara PrinceDebbie RichmanKathleen StuebnerJoanna Zawislak

tenorJames BallClaude CassagneRyan CogswellChris Crosby-SchmidtRich MaierDavid MennickeDavid NordliMike PettmanPatrick RomeyJake Thede

bassPeder BolstadDavid Goudzwaard-

VaughtSteven HodulikJoe KastnerSteven LandbyNathan OppedahlBob PeskinNathan Petersen-

KindemChad ShultisRoss Vander Weil

Nicholas Phan, tenor

American tenor Nicholas Phan, now making his Minnesota Orchestra debut,has appeared with many leading orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic,Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony,San Francisco Symphony, Los AngelesPhilharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra andBBC Symphony, among many others. Hisopera credits include appearances withthe Los Angeles Opera, Houston GrandOpera, Glyndebourne Opera, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Deutsche Oper amRhein and Frankfurt Opera. Highlights ofthe current season include a debut withthe Orquestra Sinfnica de So Paulo for Brittens War Requiem with Marin Alsop,and returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, PhilharmoniaBaroque, Philadelphia Orchestra, ChicagoSymphony and Toronto Symphony. Heserves as artistic director of CollaborativeArts Institute of Chicagos CollaborativeWorks Festival and guest artistic directorof the Laguna Beach Music Festival. Hismost recent solo album is Gods and Monsters, released on Avie Records lastJanuary. More: opus3artists.com,nicholas-phan.com.

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Johann Sebastian BachBorn: March 21, 1685,

Eisenach, GermanyDied: July 28, 1750,

Leipzig, Germany

Christmas Oratorio, BWV248, Cantatas I, II and IIIComposed: ca. 1734

n the 18th century, the town of Leipzig celebrated the birth ofJesus and the events surrounding it not with a single feast day,

but with a season of six special commemorations occurring between Christmas Day and the Feast of the Epiphany. Thesewere the birth of Jesus (December 25), the announcement to theshepherds by a host of angels (December 26), the adoration ofthe baby by the shepherds (December 27), the circumcision andnaming of Jesus (New Years Day), the coming of the Magi fromthe East to find the child born King of the Jews (the Sundayafter New Years Day), and finally the Magis worship with theirgifts (January 6). On each of these six days near the mid-1730s,Johann Sebastian Bachs congregation was filled with inspirationby a cantata that recounted one of these stories, commenting andreflecting upon the events and their meanings for the Christianindividual and community.

a unique oratorio for the seasonBachs Christmas Oratorio, completed around Christmastime of173