December 20, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore.…Music Director and Conductor James DePreist leads the Oregon Symphony in a performance of Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No. 11, rescheduled from last winter, in a concert that also will feature baritone Nathan Gunn singing Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder” on Jan. 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance on Jan. 21 at Willamette University’s Smith Auditorium in Salem. The Shostokovich Symphony will be recorded live by Delos International Classics; funding is made possible by the Gretchen Brooks Recording Fund. Media support for the concerts is provided by The Oregonian.
DePreist, known for his interpretations of Shostakovich, has also recorded this symphony with the Helsinki Philharmonic. This performance of Shostakovich’s eleventh symphony was originally scheduled for last January, but was postponed due to DePreist’s kidney surgery. DePreist’s connection with this work is so strong that he insisted on conducting it himself, and it was rescheduled for this series of concerts. The symphony, subtitled “The Year 1905,” commemorates a worker’s uprising in St. Petersburg, Russia, which occurred in that year and which subsequently triggered massive strikes and general turmoil throughout Russia.
Baritone Nathan Gunn is a rising young star in the world of opera, and has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie and at Covent Garden. His current roles include Harlequin in “Ariadne auf Naxos,” Guglielmo in “Cosi fan tutte,” the title role in “Billy Budd,” and Demetrius in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” His recent engagements include appearances at La Monnaie, Houston Grand Opera, the Opera National de Paris and the Glyndebourne Festival in Scotland. Gunn has also performed a number of concert and choral works, including Britten’s “War Requiem,” Handel’s “Messiah” and Brahms’ “Requiem.”
“Kindertotenlieder,” an orchestral song cycle set to poems
of Friedrich Rückert, was last performed by the Symphony fifty years
ago by DePreist’s aunt, the legendary contralto Marian Anderson.
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities
for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities
include:
Principal Horn John Cox will lead a discussion one hour before the concert of the works to be performed. Media support for “Pre-Concert Talks” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Conductor James DePreist will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
Audience members are invited to stay for a 15-20 minute panel discussion with Symphony staff and guest artists. Media support for “Sunday Post-Concert Discussion” is provided by KBPS Classical 89.9 FM.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance on Jan. 21 at Willamette University’s Smith Auditorium in Salem. Tickets range in price from $16 to $72 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Nathan Gunn is recognized as one of America’s most exciting young baritones. Last summer, Mr. Gunn was seen in the title role of Thomas’ “Hamlet” at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and as Marcello in a concert version of “La Bohème” at the Hollywood Bowl. This season he makes his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Harlekin in “Ariadne auf Naxos.” He also returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Anthony in “Sweeney Todd,” and to the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Guglielmo in “Cosi fan tutte.” Next summer he has plans to return to the Glyndebourne Festival.
Last season, Mr. Gunn made his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the title role of David McVicar’s critically acclaimed new production of “Billy Budd.” He also returned to the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie as Ramiro in “L’heure espagnol,” and the Metropolitan Opera as Demetrius in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Mr. Gunn’s appearance with Metropolitan Opera last season is just one in his continually growing relationship with the company. An alumnus of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he has sung Guglielmo in the House’s international radio broadcast of “Cosi fan tutte,” Morales in “Carmen,” Paris in “Romeo and Juliet,” the Novice's Friend in “Billy Budd,” Harlekin in “Ariadne auf Naxos” and Schaunard in “La Bohème.”
Other recent operatic engagements have included his debuts at the La Monnaie as Count Almaviva in “Le nozze di Figaro,” the Houston Grand Opera as Guglielmo, the Opera National de Paris as Prince Andrei in Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed production of Prokofiev’s “War and Peace” (which was televised and will be released on VHS/DVD), and the Seattle Opera as Papageno in “Die Zauberflöte.” He has also appeared as Claudio in “Beatrice and Benedict” and Harlekin in “Ariadne auf Naxos” with the Santa Fe Opera; Guglielmo with the Opera Company of Philadelphia; and Oreste in “Iphigenie en Tauride” and Tarquinius in “The Rape of Lucretia” with the Glimmerglass Opera, and Guglielmo at the Glyndebourne Festival.
Equally at home on the concert platform, Mr. Gunn will perform Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder” with the Oregon Symphony this season. Last season he sang the same piece with the Minnesota Orchestra. He also sang Britten’s “War Requiem,” with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler’s “Das Klagende Lied” with the Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Past concert engagements have included Handel’s “Messiah” with the Minnesota Orchestra, Brahms’ “Ein Deutches Requiem” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, David del Tredici’s world premiere of “The Spider and the Fly” with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic, the Bach B Minor Mass with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and at the Hollywood Bowl; and excerpts from Bernard Hermann’s opera “Wuthering Heights,” with the Eos Orchestra.
Mr. Gunn forged a strong relationship with the late Robert Shaw. He twice appeared with him at Carnegie Hall - both in his debut there as a soloist in the Brahms “Requiem” and in Haydn’s “Creation.” He also joined Maestro Shaw with the Minnesota and Cincinnatti Symphony Orchestras for Brahms’ “Requiem,” and was again chosen by Maestro Shaw for his European debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as the title role in Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” Mr. Gunn’s recordings with Maestro Shae include Bartók’s “Cantata Profana” and Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem” on the Telarc label, which won three Grammy’s in 1999 for Best Classical Album, Best Choral Performance, and Best Engineered Classical Recording. Mr. Gunn recently recorded the Brahms “Requiem” with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Robert Shaw English translation for the Telarc label.
Mr. Gunn’s first recital disc, “American Anthem,” is released on EMI and includes the works of exciting young American songwriters as well as traditional American folk songs. A frequent recitalist, Mr. Gunn was featured in John Wustman's seven-year series, “The Songs of Franz Schubert,” which concluded in 1997 on the 200th anniversary of Franz Schubert's birth and included performances of “Die Schöne Müllerin” and “Winterreise.” He has also been presented in recital by Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, the 92nd Street Y in New York, Cal Performances at Berkeley, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Vanderbilt University. Next season he has planned a series of recitals throughout the U.S.
Mr. Gunn received his Bachelor's Degree in Music from the University of Illinois, where he studied with Professor Emeritus William Miller and Professor John Wustman. The winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition in 1994, he has also been awarded the 1998 ARIA award, a 1997 Tucker Foundation Career Grant, the 1996 Marian Anderson Award, the Pope Foundation Music Award, the Kate Neil Kinley Award, the 1993 Collegiate MacAllister Award, and the St. Louis Symphony Young Artist Competition in 1992. He is currently a member of both the Lotte Lehmann Foundation Advisory board and the University of Illinois Advisory board.