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Program Notes

Sunday, April 13, 2008, 3:00 PM

Addison-Penzak JCC, Los Gatos
Dr. Edward C. Harris, Conductor
Susan Powers, Lyric Soprano
Michael Taylor, Baritone

Overture to "Candide"

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), arranged by Walter Beeler

The son of a Russian immigrant, Leonard Bernstein began life in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He studied composition at Harvard, where he first met Aaron Copland. Their friendship was cemented in the early 1940s in the workshops at Tanglewood. Bernstein achieved instant conducting fame when, at the age of twenty-five, with sixteen hours notice, he conducted a broadcast of the New York Philharmonic Symphony after the scheduled guest conductor became suddenly ill. Bernstein wrote symphonies, ballets, an opera, a film score, works for violin and chorus with orchestra, four Broadway musicals and several smaller works for solo and chamber music groups. He divided his affections between traditional classical music and the jazz and Tin Pan Alley sound of popular America, incorporating elements of jazz in many of his compositions. William Schumann said of Bernstein: “He is an authentic American hero, a new breed of hero, an arts hero, showing that America does honor her artists.”

Candide was Bernstein’s third Broadway musical. It opened in New York in 1956 but it was not a commercial success. Adapted from Voltaire’s 18th-century satire on blind optimism, the story concerns a young man, Candide, who has been led by his tutor, Dr. Pangloss, to believe that everything is for the best “in this best of all possible worlds.” Candide journeys with his sweetheart Conegonde and Pangloss to Lisbon, Paris, Buenos Aires and the legendary El Dorado, only to discover reality in the forms of crime, atrocity and suffering. He returns to Venice with Conegonde, stripped of his idealism. This sparkling overture captures the frenetic activity of the operetta, with its twists and turns, along with Candide’s simple honesty.

South Pacific

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960), music by Richard Rodgers (1902-1979), compiled and transcribed by Eric Leidzen

Richard Rodgers was born on Long Island, New York, the son of a physician. A precocious child, he began picking out tunes on the piano at four and published his first song at 15. Rodgers credits his parents, both Broadway musical buffs, for his ability to thrive in the midst of a hectic show business career. Following the death of his first collaborator, Lorenz Hart, Rodgers teamed with Oscar Hammerstein to produce nine Broadway shows, including Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, Pal Joey, The King and I, Flower Drum Song and The Sound of Music.

South Pacific is based on the James Michener book, Tales of the South Pacific. It is set during World War II, and tells the story of the true love and deep prejudice of two Americans who fall in love with two island women. South Pacific is generally considered to be one of the greatest musicals in history. Several of its songs, including “Bali Ha’i,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger than Springtime” and “A Wonderful Guy” have become worldwide standards.

Gigi

Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986), music by Frederick Loewe (1901-1988), arranged by Robert Russell Bennett

The son of a famous Viennese operetta tenor, Frederick Loewe began to study piano when he was five. At thirteen, Loewe became the youngest pianist ever to appear as soloist with the Berlin Symphony. Composition also began early; during his early boyhood, he completed several musical numbers that were used in his father’s act in a variety theater. Loewe came to the United States in 1924 to further his career as a piano virtuoso. Unable to get a hearing from managers, he decided to give up serious music. Supporting himself for a while by playing piano in a Greenwich Village night club and working as a bus boy in a cafeteria, Loewe eventually adopted a nomadic lifestyle, wandering across the US, taking on any job that came along. He prospected for gold, punched cattle in Montana, worked as a riding instructor in New Hampshire, delivered mail by horseback, engaged in professional boxing bouts in Brooklyn, and played piano on cruise ships and in beer halls. He had some success in the 1930’s, when some of his songs made it into Broadway productions. A change of fortune came when he met Alan Jay Lerner in New York. Lerner was a Harvard graduate whose ambition was to write texts and lyrics for the Broadway theater. His meeting with Loewe brought him a composer with similar dreams of Broadway. Brigadoon was their first Broadway hit, later followed by Paint Your Wagon (1951), My Fair Lady (1956), Gigi (1957) and Camelot (1960).

Gigi tells the story of a teenage girl living in Paris at the turn of the 20th century who is being groomed as a courtesan by her grandmother and aunt. Before she is deemed ready for her social debut, she encounters the highly eligible bon vivant bachelor Gaston Lachaille, who becomes capitvated by the girl as she is transformed from a wild adolescent to a charmingly poised young lady. Gigi had a long and checkered career in its journey to the musical stage. It first appeared as a 1945 novel by Colette, which was adapted for the screen with Danièle Delorme in 1948. In 1951, Anita Loos adapted the novel for the stage, and the Broadway production starred Audrey Hepburn in her first major role. Seven years later, while My Fair Lady was in Philadelphia prior to its New York City opening, Alan Freed approached Lerner about a feature film musical adaptation. Although Loewe had vowed never to work in movies, he was charmed by the book and agreed to collaborate on the project. It proved to be a major critical and commercial success and the winner of nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The King and I

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960), music by Richard Rodgers (1902-1979), compiled and transcribed by Robert Russell Bennett

The King and I is based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. The plot comes from the story written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The story tells of the conflict and compassion between an English school teacher and the “uncivilized” king. The musical opened on Broadway in 1951 and was the sixth collaboration for the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It ran for 1,246 performances, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, among other awards. It spawned numerous revivals and a popular 1956 film version.

Symphonic Dances from “Fiddler on the Roof”

Words by Sheldon Harnick (b. 1924), music by Jerry Bock (b. 1928), arranged by Ira Hearshen

Fiddler on the Roof was originally entitled Tevye. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Milkman) and other tales by Sholem Aleichem which he wrote in Yiddish and published in 1894.The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters—each daughter’s choice of husband moves progressively further away from established customs—and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.

The musical’s title stems from a painting by Marc Chagall, one of many surreal paintings he created of Eastern European Jewish life, often including a fiddler. The Fiddler is a metaphor for survival, through tradition and joyfulness, in a life of uncertainty and imbalance. The original Broadway production of the show, which opened in 1964, was the first musical to surpass the 3,000 performance mark, and it held the record for longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run.

The Phantom of the Opera

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948), arranged by Warren Barker

Andrew Lloyd Webber was born in London, England, and received his education from Westminster School and Oxford University. He has managed to create one worldwide success after another during his career, and he is best known for his musicals Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), Evita (1976), Cats (1981), Starlight Express (1984) and Requiem (1985).

The Phantom of the Opera was first performed in London in 1986 and was the winner of both the Laurence Olivier Award and the Evening Standard Drama Award for the Best Musical of 1986. This Warren Barker arrangement recalls the intriguing events of the classic tale. The sweet “Think of Me” and “Angel of Music” are abruptly interrupted by “The Phantom of the Opera.” The love themes develop in “All I Ask Of You” and “The Point of No Return,” ending with the dramatic “The Music Of The Night.”

Selections from “Les Misérables”

Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg (b. 1944), arranged by Warren Barker

The musical Les Misérables was composed in 1980 by Claude-Michel Schönberg, with a libretto by Alain Boublil. Through-sung, it is perhaps the most famous of all French musicals and one of the most performed musicals worldwide. In 2006, the show celebrated its 21st anniversary and became the longest-running West End musical in history and is still running (though it has changed venues).

The musical is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Set in early to mid 19th Century France, it follows the intertwining stories of a cast of characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. The main characters are joined by an ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers and others. Among the most famous songs of this Tony award-winning musical are “Do You Hear the People Sing?,” “Master of the House,” and “On My Own.”

West Side Story

Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930), music by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), arranged by W. J. Duthoit

West Side Story is based loosely on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Set on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the musical explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The young protagonist, Anton (“Tony”), who belongs to the white gang, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the rival Puerto Rican gang. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theater. Bernstein’s score for the musical has become extremely popular; it includes “Maria,” “America,” “Somewhere,” “Tonight,” “I Feel Pretty,” “One Hand, One Heart” and “Cool.”