Dallas Symphony Orchestra Winter/Spring Highlights: Fabio Luisi Conducts Schmidt’s Book with Seven Seals, Brahms’s German Requiem, and Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre

Plus Jeremy Denk’s DSO Debut in World Premiere of Anna Clyne’s Piano Concerto

“Riveting, start to finish.” – Dallas Morning News on Fabio Luisi and the Dallas Symphony

(November 2023) — In his fourth season as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO), Grammy-winning conductor Fabio Luisi leads the orchestra in a series of monumental vocal offerings this winter and spring. Featured are the DSO debut of Franz Schmidt’s masterpiece oratorio, The Book with Seven Seals (March 1–3), a performance of Brahms’s immortal German Requiem (April 4–6), and the launch of the DSO’s ambitious Ring cycle-in-concert, a first in recent history for any U.S. orchestra, with two performances each of Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre (May 1–5). Other highlights of the DSO’s winter and spring include Jeremy Denk’s DSO debut with the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s Piano Concerto (March 28–30).

Wrapping up this banner season in June 2024, the DSO embarks on its first international tour in a decade with a two-week European tour visiting ten cities in Spain, Germany, Austria and Belgium (June 3–16). Luisi leads the orchestra in programs featuring Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and What Keeps Me Awake by former DSO composer-in-residence Angélica Negrón. Also of note, the orchestra will present the European premiere of composer-in-residence Sophia Jani’s new work, Flare, in her hometown of Munich, Germany. Soloists Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Thomas Hampson (baritone) and James Ehnes (violin) will be featured throughout the tour. DSO Ross Perot President & CEO Kim Noltemy elaborates:

“We are thrilled to bring the orchestra to Europe this summer and are eager to share the musical partnership of Fabio and the DSO with international audiences. Touring abroad puts the DSO in a unique position to not only reach new audiences, but also to elevate the city of Dallas’s position as a musical and cultural hub. We’re honored and proud to represent our wonderful city in this way.”

Luisi agrees:

“I am incredibly proud of the sound that we have developed here in Dallas over the past three years working together. We have put together an exhilarating program for our European tour that will showcase the orchestra’s artistic range, from the epic intensity of Mahler to the delicate dreaminess of Angélica Negrón’s What Keeps Me Awake, to exploratory sounds from rising star Sophia Jani. It will be a joy to share performances in these esteemed venues in Europe.”

Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera from 2011-17, Luisi is always particularly in his element conducting vocal music. In March, he conducts the DSO in a performance of Franz Schmidt’s stunning oratorio, The Book with Seven Seals – to be recorded live – commemorating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Schmidt wrote four symphonies, two operas and works for piano and organ, but his monumental achievement is this oratorio, of which Luisi is a longtime champion and has led performances around the world. Soloists are tenor Paul Appleby, bass Franz-Josef Selig, soprano Meghan Kasanders, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, tenor Matthew Pearce and bass-baritone Hadleigh Adams, along with the Dallas Symphony Chorus (March 1–3).

The following month, Luisi leads the DSO and Dallas Symphony Chorus in another large-scale vocal work: Brahms’s vocal magnum opus, A German Requiem, with soprano Golda Schultz, making her DSO debut, and baritone Matthias Goerne, a frequent DSO collaborator, as soloists (April 4–6). Currently in the midst of their project to record a complete cycle of Brahms’s four symphonies, Luisi and the DSO released Nos. 1 and 2 in September 2022, followed last month by Symphony No. 3, which was recorded at the Meyerson Center this past spring. All the recordings have been issued on the DSO’s in-house label, DSOLive, and are available now through all major digital retailers and on Spatial Audio from Apple Music Classical.

Under Luisi’s leadership, the DSO has also become notable for its commissions and performances of 21st-century music, and in March the orchestra presents the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s DSO-commissioned Piano Concerto, performed by soloist Jeremy Denk making his DSO debut (March 28–30). On the same program is Mahler’s towering Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor, marking Luisi’s first presentation of a full Mahler symphony with the DSO alone, after a special concert of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 with the musicians of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the DSO in 2021. The same symphony will be featured on three programs during the tour.

 

Ring Cycle

In May 2024, the DSO and Luisi will present opera-in-concert versions of the first two operas in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. With the remaining operas slated for the 2024–25 season, the DSO will become the first U.S. orchestra in recent history to present concert versions of the complete cycle. The project debuts on May 1, with Das Rheingold and Die Walküre premiering on consecutive nights. Bass-baritone Mark Delavan sings the role of Wotan, with soprano Sara Jakubiak and tenor Christopher Ventris – both making their DSO debuts – portraying Sieglinde and Siegmund respectively. The cycle continues in fall 2024 with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, followed by a week-long presentation of the full cycle. Luisi received his first Grammy Award for his leadership of the last two operas of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Metropolitan Opera when the Deutsche Grammophon DVD release of the full cycle, recorded live, was named Best Opera Recording of 2012. The conductor also led three complete Ring cycles at the Semperoper Dresden from 2006-2008. He says:

 

“The Ring cycle is one of the deepest and most complex musical works that has ever been written. It is all of humanity brought to the stage – family, love, sex, loss, consequences and the quest for power. Across the entirety of the story, with beautiful music and beautiful text guiding you, you are transformed at the end.”

 

The Ring cycle-in-concert is generously supported by Mercedes T. Bass, Joanne Bober, Diane and Hal Brierley, Joe Hubach and Colleen O’Connor, Holly and Tom Mayer, the Eugene McDermott Foundation, the Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation, Sarah Titus and Jean Ann Titus, and Kern and Marnie Wildenthal.

The DSO’s European tour is supported by the Linda and Mitch Hart Touring Fund.

High-resolution photos can be downloaded here.
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Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi, winter/spring 2023–24
Unless otherwise specified, all concerts take place at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX.

Feb 22–25
Karen Gomyo, violin
Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet (DSO debut)
Bradley Hunter Welch, organ
MAHLER: “Blumine” movement from Symphony No. 1 in D
Xi WANG: Year 2020: Concerto for Trumpet, Violin and Orchestra (world premiere of DSO commission)
SAINT-SAËNS: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ Symphony”

March 1–3
Paul Appleby, tenor (St. John the Divine)
Franz-Josef Selig, bass (The Voice of the Lord)
Meghan Kasanders, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Pearce, tenor
Hadleigh Adams, bass-baritone
Dallas Symphony Chorus
SCHMIDT: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book with Seven Seals)

March 28–30
Jeremy Denk, piano
Anna CLYNE: Piano Concerto (world premiere of DSO commission)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor

April 4–6
Golda Schultz, soprano (DSO debut)
Matthias Goerne, baritone
Dallas Symphony Chorus
BRAHMS: A German Requiem, Op. 45

May 1 & 4
WAGNER: Das Rheingold
Cast:
Mark Delavan, bass-baritone (Wotan)
Štefan Margita, tenor (Loge)
Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano (Fricka)
Ellie Dehn, soprano (Freia)
Jamez McCorkle, tenor (Froh)
Kyle Albertson, baritone (Donner)
Tamara Mumford, contralto (Erda)
Tómas Tómasson, baritone (Alberich)
Michael Laurenz, tenor (Mime)
Liang Li, bass (Fasolt)
Andrew Harris, bass (Fafner)
Valentina Farcas, soprano (Woglinde)
Annie Rosen, mezzo-soprano (Wellgunde)
Reneé Tatum, mezzo-soprano (Flosshilde)
Alberto Triola, stage director

May 2 & 5
WAGNER: Die Walküre
Cast:
Sara Jakubiak, soprano (Sieglinde)
Christopher Ventris, tenor (Siegmund)
Stephen Milling, bass (Hunding)
Mark Delavan, bass-baritone (Wotan)
Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano (Fricka)
Lise Lindstrom, soprano (Brünnhilde)
Marcy Stonikas, soprano (Gerhilde)
Miriam Clark, soprano (Ortlinde)
Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano (Waltraute)
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano (Schwertleite)
Kim-Lillian Strebel, soprano (Helmwige)
Sun-Ly Pierce, mezzo-soprano (Siegrune)
Reneé Tatum, mezzo-soprano (Grimgerde)
Melody Wilson, mezzo-soprano (Rossweisse)
Alberto Triola, stage director

June 3
Zaragoza, Spain
Auditorio del Palacio de Congresos
Angélica NEGRÓN: What Keeps Me Awake
WEILL: Four Walt Whitman Songs (with Thomas Hampson, baritone)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

June 4
Madrid, Spain
Auditorio Nacional de Música
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor (with James Ehnes, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”

June 5
Madrid, Spain
Auditorio Nacional de Música
Angélica NEGRÓN: What Keeps Me Awake
WEILL: Four Walt Whitman Songs (with Thomas Hampson, baritone)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

June 7
Frankfurt, Germany
Alte Oper Frankfurt
Angélica NEGRÓN: What Keeps Me Awake
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

June 8
Freiburg, Germany
Konzerthaus Freiburg
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor

June 9
Munich, Germany
Isarphilharmonie
Sophia JANI: Flare
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

June 11
Hamburg, Germany
Elbphilharmonie
Angélica NEGRÓN: What Keeps Me Awake
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

June 12
Vienna, Austria
Wiener Konzerthaus
Angélica NEGRÓN: What Keeps Me Awake
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”

June 14
Cologne, Germany
Kölner Philharmonie
Angélica NEGRÓN: What Keeps Me Awake
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

June 15
Essen, Germany
Philharmonie Essen Alfried-Krupp-Saal
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor

June 16
Brussels, Belgium
Bozar Music
John WILLIAMS: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor

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© 21C Media Group, November 2023