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Toronto Symphony with Ute Lemper and Hudson Shad, 10/4/08
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Carnegie Hall News
Back to Press Release List > 08/21/2008 - Toronto Symphony with Ute Lemper and Hudson Shad, 10/4/08
TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND MUSIC DIRECTOR PETER OUNDJIAN
PERFORM WORKS BY WEILL AND SHOSTAKOVICH
ON OCTOBER 4 AT 8:00 P.M. IN STERN AUDITORIUM/PERELMAN STAGE
Ute Lemper and Hudson Shad Featured Soloists
in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins
On Saturday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m., Carnegie Hall presents the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Music Director Peter Oundjian performing Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 ("The Year 1905") in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Cabaret sensation and German chanteuse Ute Lemper is joined by vocal group Hudson Shad for The Seven Deadly Sins, Weill’s last major collaboration with his longtime librettist Bertolt Brecht.
The Seven Deadly Sins, composed in 1933, is a satirical ballet chanté or "sung ballet" in nine scenes with music composed by Kurt Weill setting a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was premiered at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris in the same year it was composed, with choreography by George Balanchine. The Seven Deadly Sins tells the story of two sisters, Anna I (a cynical impresario with a practical sense and conscience) and Anna II (the emotional, impulsive, and artistic beauty). The cast also includes a male vocal quartet, commonly known as “The Family" who act as a Greek chorus. Both sisters set out from the banks of the Mississippi in Louisiana to find their fortune in the big city and seven of the nine scenes are devoted to the seven deadly sins, which are encountered in different American cities.
The Symphony No. 11 in G minor “The Year 1905” by Shostakovich was written in 1957 and premiered by the USSR Symphony Orchestra in the same year. The symphony was conceived as a popular piece and proved an instant success in Russia. The subtitle of the symphony refers to the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905.
Ute Lemper is known for her sophisticated repertoire of Berlin cabaret songs including the dark gems of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. She has dazzled audiences worldwide in musical theater roles in productions of Chicago, The Blue Angel, Peter Pan, Cats, and Cabaret. Ms. Lemper’s concert performances include songs of Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, as well as songs by English composer Michael Nyman with texts by Romanian Holocaust poet Paul Celan, and chansons by the poet Jacques Prévert. Ms. Lemper has numerous recordings to her credit including projects for CBS Records, Polydor, Decca, DRG, and EDEL Records. This concert marks Ms. Lemper’s third performance at Carnegie Hall. She most recently appeared with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2004. Last November, Ms. Lemper also performed Berlin cabaret songs at the Neue Galerie as part of Carnegie Hall’s Berlin in Lights festival.
Hudson Shad made their German debut in 1995 and were hailed as “the first equal heirs to the Comedian Harmonists” by Der Stern. In addition to popular music of Weimar Germany, they also sing classical lieder with orchestras, which led to their participation in the bicentennial Schubert celebration with the New York Philharmonic. Hudson Shad is known internationally for their interpretation of "The Family" in Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins. They have performed this work with many orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the San Fransisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, alongside distinguished singers such as Ute Lemper, Marianne Faithfull, Julia Migenes, Sheri Greenawald, and Angelina Reaux. Hudson Shad has two recordings of The Seven Deadly Sins, the first on Teldec with the New York Philharmonic and the second on EMI with Radio symphonie-orchester Wien and Marianne Faithfull. In 1998, they appeared in Kurt Weill's opera Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at the Salzburg Festival and, in 2000, their repertoire continued to expand with their solo debut of an all-Kurt Weill Abend at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, featuring Weill's music from Broadway shows. At the Macerata Festival in 2001, they premiered a fully staged version of Weill's The Lindbergh Flight and The Seven Deadly Sins directed by Hugo de Ana.
A dynamic presence in the orchestral world, Toronto Symphony Orchestra Music Director Peter Oundjian was appointed to this post in 2003. He also serves as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Oundjian has played a major role at the Caramoor International Music Festival for over a decade, serving as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor, and from 1998–2003 he was the Music Director of the Nieuw Sinfonietta in Amsterdam. Highlights of Mr. Oundjian’s 2008–2009 season include return visits to The Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco, St. Louis, Houston, and Colorado Symphonies as well as the Aspen Music Festival. He also returns to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as well as the Baltimore and Dallas Symphonies, among others. Born in Toronto, Mr. Oundjian attended the Royal College of Music in London, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for Most Distinguished Student and Stoutzker Prize for excellence in violin playing. He completed his violin training at the Juilliard School and, for 14 years, was the first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) was founded in 1922 by a group of Toronto musicians and Viennese-born conductor Luigi von Kunits. Von Kunits served as Music Director until his death in 1931 and, in the same year, Sir Ernest MacMillan was appointed the Orchestra's longest-standing Music Director (1931–1956). Since then, the TSO has had eight music directors: Walter Susskind, Seiji Ozawa, Karl Ancerl, Victor Feldbrill, Sir Andrew Davis (now Conductor Laureate), Gunther Herbig, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Peter Oundjian. The TSO has worked with many great international artists, including Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, Yo-Yo Ma, Evgeny Kissin, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, Karen Kain, and actor Christopher Plummer as well as composers Henri Dutilleux, R. Murray Schafer, and Sir Michael Tippett. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra serves the Toronto community with one of the largest music education outreach programs in Canada. Each year, they reach more than 100,000 young people in greater Toronto and Ontario with curriculum-based programs that are recognized throughout North America as leading examples of their kind.
Program Information
Saturday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Peter Oundjian, Music Director and Conductor
Ute Lemper, Vocalist
Hudson Shad
KURT WEILL The Seven Deadly Sins
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 103, "The Year 1905"
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
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