(LYRCD 6010)
BEETHOVEN
SYMPHONY No. 9
in D Minor, Op. 125
Ama Deus Ensemble
Valentin Radu, Conductor
Tatyana Galitskaya, Soprano
Tatyana Rashkovsky, Mezzo-Soprano
Kenneth Garner, Tenor
Ed Bara, Bass
I. Allegro ma non troppo,
un poco maestoso
II. Molto vivace (Scherzo)
III. Adagio molto e cantabile
IV. Presto: O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Allegro assai: Freude, schöner
Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium
(from Schiller’s Ode to Joy)
PROGRAM NOTE
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 “Choral” is the last complete symphony
composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the Ninth Symphony is one
of the best-known works of the Western repertoire, considered both an icon and a
forefather of Romantic music, and one of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces. The
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composer struggled for more than ten years before completing the work, and turned to the
mighty Missa Solemnis while he considered his final symphony. Using voices in an
orchestral symphony had never been attempted before. Beethoven finally decided to
incorporate part of the Ode an die Freude (“Ode to Joy”), a poem by Friedrich Schiller,
with text sung by soloists and a chorus in the new symphony’s last movement. It is,
indeed, the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level
with instruments in a symphony, creating a work of a grand scope that sets the tone for
the Romantic symphonic form. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
TRACKS AND TIMINGS:
CD ONE (61:55)
Symphony No. 9
(“Choral”)
in D Minor, Op. 125
1 I. Allegro ma non troppo (13:19)
2 II. Molto vivace (Scherzo) (12:45)
3 III. Adagio molto e cantabile (13:19)
4 IV. Presto (5:54)
5 Recitative: “O Freunde” (9:58)
6 “Freude, schöner” (6:35)
CD TWO (36:10)
Die Ruinen von Athen
The Ruins of Athens
Op. 113
1 Overture (4:43)
2 Chorus: “Tochter des mächtigen Zeus” (3:01)
3 Duet: “Ohne Verschulden” (4:15)
4 Chorus: “Du hast in deines Ärmels” (2:22)
5 Turkish March (2:05)
6 Scene Music (1:53)
7 March/Chorus: “Schmu.ckt die Altäre” (6:07)
8 Recitative: “Mir reger Freude” (1:46)
9 Chorus: “Wir tragen” (2:24)
10 Aria/Chorus: “Will unser Genius “/”Er ist’s” (3:52)
11 Chorus: “Heil unserm König” (3:39)
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WORDS IN ENGLISH:
ODE TO JOY
O friends, no more these sounds!
Let us sing more cheerful songs,
more full of joy!
Joy, bright spark of divinity,
Daughter of Elysium,
Fire-inspired we tread Thy sanctuary.
Thy magic power re-unites
All that custom has divided,
All men become brothers
Under the sway of thy gentle wings.
Whoever has created an abiding friendship,
Or has won a true and loving wife,
All who can call at least one soul theirs,
Join in our song of praise;
But any who cannot
Must creep tearfully
Away from our circle.
All creatures drink of joy
At nature’s breast.
Just and unjust alike taste of her gift;
She gave us kisses and the fruit of the vine,
A tried friend to the end.
Even the worm can feel contentment,
And the cherub stands before God!
Gladly, like the heavenly bodies
Which he set on their courses
Through the splendour of the firmament;
Thus, brothers, you should run your race,
As a hero going to conquest. You millions,
I embrace you. This kiss is for all the world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.
Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your Creator?
Seek Him in the heavens;
Above the stars must He dwell.
WORDS IN GERMAN
ODE: “AN DIE FREUDE”
O Freunde, nicht diese töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen
und freudenvollere!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
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Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder,
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Bru.der,
Wo dein sanfter Flu.gel weilt.
Wem der große Wurf gelungen,
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund! Und wer’s nie gekonnt,
Der stehle weinend sich aus diesem Bund.
Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brusten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Kusse gab sie uns und Reben,
Einen Freund, gepruft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott!
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan,
Laufet, Bruder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen.
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Bru.der! Über’m Sternenzelt
Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr sturzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such’ ihn uber’m Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen.
RUINEN VON ATHEN/THE RUINS OF ATHENS
PROGRAM NOTE
In 1811, Beethoven was commissioned to write music to inaugurate a theatre
in the city of Pest—two brief masques, with texts by German poet August von
Kotzebue. The principal work was Die Ruinen von Athen, based on the poet’s
fanciful notion of Greek gods revisiting that city thousands of years after its
classical heyday, only to discover the glorious temples in ruins, thanks to
Roman and Turkish invasions. Minerva is joined by Mercury, who assures
her that the modern city of Pest—appropriate for the occasion—
has replaced ruined Athens as a center of high art and culture.
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Die Ruinen von Athen has really only been known for its delightful overture
and, of course, the brief Turkish March. Typical of the Singspiel and Nachspiel
of the early 19th century, the work is a series of short musical selections
interspersed with spoken dialogue— mostly long laments by the goddess
and contrived arguments of Mercury. It is Beethoven’s music which reveals
the work as the gem that it is. Following the Overture (TRACK 1), an unseen
chorus awakens Minerva, hailing her as the “Daughter of Mighty Zeus”
(TRACK 2). She is transported to Athens, and encounters a Greek man
and woman who lament their fate as slaves of the Turks, and the state to
which their masters have reduced their once proud land (TRACK 3).
This is interrupted by the approach of Turkish Dervishes (TRACK 4).
Next, menacing Turkish troops march across the stage to the best-known
tune in the score. Beethoven had used his “Turkish March” (TRACK 5) two
years earlier in a set of piano variations. Mercury tells the distraught
Minerva that learning and culture blossom only in the German woods
and on the shores of the Danube. He transports them to a town square in
Pest, where they meet a citizen who describes the good fortune of his
people—peaceful life and the blessings of nature and art under their
enlightened ruler. Maidens and priests enter to the strains of a cheerful march,
“Schmu.ckt die Altäre” (TRACK 7). A high priest sings of the noble aims of
the spiritual life, leading to a chorus of dedication (TRACKS 8-10). The final
number is an energetic chorus “Heil, unserm König!” saluting the Emperor (TRACK 11).
DIE RUINEN VON ATHEN, OP. 113
(The Ruins of Athens)
WORDS IN GERMAN
CHORUS
Die Ruinen von Athen
Tochter des mächtigen Zeus! erwache!
Sein Ruf ertönt!
Geschwunden sind die Jahre der Rache!
Er ist versöhnt!
SOPRANO/BASS DUET
Ohne Verschulden Knechtschaft dulden, harte Noth!
Alle Tage neue Plage um das bischen liebe Brot!
Von den Zweigen winkt der Feigen su.sse Frucht,
Nicht dem Knechte der sie pflegte,
Nur dem Herren, dem er flucht!
Hingegeben wilden Horden,
Tiefgebeugt in ihre Hand, ach!
Was ist aus die geworden,
Armes, armes Vaterland!
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CHORUS
Du hast in deines Ärmels Falten
Den Mond getragen, ihn gespalten.
Kaaba! Mahomet!
Du hast den strahlenden Borak bestiegen
Zum siebenten Himmel aufzufliegen,
Großer Prophet! Kaaba!
CHORUS
Schmuckt die Altäre!— Sie sind geschmu.ckt.
Streuet Weihrauch!— Er ist gestreut.
Pflu.cket Rosen!— Sie sind gepflu.ckt.
Harret der Kommenden!— Wir harren der Kommenden.
Seid bereit!— Wir sind bereit.
BASS SOLO (High Priest)
Mit reger Freude, die nie erkaltet,
empfangt das holde Schwesterpaar,
Denn wo mit hohem Ernst die Muse sittlich waltet,
Da opfert auch der Weise gem auf ihrem Altar.
Was, mit dem Schicksal kämpfend,
Grosse Seelen litten,
Das hat Melpomene uns warnend aufgestellt,
Indess Thalia, wachend u.ber die Sitten,
Zu ernsten Lehren muntern Spott gesellt.
Wohlthätig wirkt der Musen geistig Spiel,
Der Sterblichen Veredlung ist ihr Ziel.
CHORUS
Wir tragen empfängliche Herzen im Busen,
Wir geben uns willig der Täuschung hin!
Drum weilet gern, ihr holden Musen,
Bei einem Volke mit offenem Sinn.
BASS SOLO (High Priest)
Will unser Genius noch einen Wunsch gewähren,
Durch eines Volkes fromme Bitten bewegt,
O so erhebe zwischen diesen Altären
Sich noch ein dritter, der sein Bildnis trägt!
Es steh’ in seiner Kinder Mitte,
Erblicke sich geliebt, geehrt!
BASS SOLO AND CHORUS
Er ist’s! Wir sind erhört. O Vater Zeus!
Gewährt ist uns’re Bitte!
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Heil unserm König! Heil! Vernimm uns Gott!
Dankend schwören wir auf’s Neue
Alte ungarische Treue bis in den Tod!
WORDS IN ENGLISH
CHORUS
Daughter of Mighty Zeus! Awake!
Her name resounds!
The years of wrath are past!
We are reconciled!
SOPRANO/BASS DUET
To suffer slavery, though guiltless, is misery!
Every day new sorrow to get our scrap of bread!
On its branch shines the fig tree’s sweet fruit,
not for the slave that tended it
but for the cursed master!
The people oppressed,
bent low by his hand, ah —
what has befallen you,
my poor fatherland!
CHORUS
In the folds of your sleeves
you have carried the moon and shattered it.
Ka’abah! Muhammad!
You mounted the radiant Borakand,
flew up to seventh heaven,
great Prophet! Ka’abah!
CHORUS
Bedeck the altars!— They are bedecked.
Swing the censers.— They have been swung.
Gather roses!— They have been gathered.
Await the priestesses!— We await them.
Stand ready!— We stand ready.
BASS SOLO (High Priest)
With lively and ardent joy
welcome the two holy sisters,
for where the Muse gravely presides
we gladly sacrifice at her altar.
What great souls have suffered,
struggling with fate,
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Melpomene, as warning, sets before us;
while Thalia, keeping watch upon our ways,
instructs us by use of merry jests.
The Muses’ sport works to our benefit,
for mortals’ ennoblement is their goal.
CHORUS
We bear responsive hearts in our bosoms,
we give ourselves gladly to illusion!
Bide with us, ye holy Muses,
with a people of open mind.
BASS SOLO (High Priest)
If our guiding spirit will grant our wish,
stirred by the people’s pious desires,
then raise up between these two altars
yet a third, bearing His portrait!
Let it stand before his children
to be seen with love and honor!
BASS SOLO AND CHORUS
It is so! We have been heard. O Father Zeus!
granted is our desire!
CHORUS
Hail to our King! Hail! Hear us, God!
In thanks we swear anew
to old Hungarian royalty unto the death!
------------------------------------------------BIOGRAPHIES
VALENTIN RADU
Valentin Radu, Founder, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Ama Deus Ensemble,
Camerata Ama Deus (Chamber Orchestra) and Vox Renaissance Consort, has led
numerous orchestras and vocal ensembles in Europe and the U.S., including the
Hungarian National Philharmonic, Bucharest, Arad, Oradea Philharmonics, the Budapest
Chamber Orchestra and the Romania National Radio Orchestra. In 1996 he conducted the
Bucharest Philharmonic in Handel’s Messiah, and in 1997 led the Romanian National
Radio Orchestra in Handel’s Acis and Galatea (both English language premieres). He has
conducted Vox Ama Deus in various programs ranging from motets and madrigals to
authentically staged Renaissance operas performed on original instruments. Valentin
Radu and the Ama Deus Ensemble have recorded for a number of labels, featuring
such masterpieces as the Mozart and Verdi Requiems and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for
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Lyrichord; Handel’s Messiah, Acis and Galatea, Water Music and Royal Fireworks,
Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat and J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass and Magnificat. Their
discography also includes: A Baroque Christmas, A European Christmas, A Renaissance
Noel on the PolyGram label, and Glad Tidings, released on both the Warner label and
Sony Classics. Born in Romania, Valentin Radu began his music studies at age four. At
six he made his first concert debut. In 1973, at 16, he won the prestigious Rome Piano
Competition, and in 1979, the Saarbrucken Organ Competition. In1980, he won the silver
medal at the Bach International Competition in Leipzig. Maestro Radu holds Doctoral
and Masters degrees from the Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music degree from the
Bucharest Academy of Music. In 1976, he founded and conducted Juvenes Musici, a
chamber orchestra under the auspices of the Bucharest Philharmonic. In 1980 he founded
“The Juilliard Bach Players” chamber orchestra and initiated the “Bach at Juilliard”
concert series at New York’s Lincoln Center. In 1984 Valentin Radu was invited to
inaugurate and later (in 1985) make the first and only LP solo recording on the newly rebuilt organ of the Imperial Chapel of Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. The original
instrument, built in 1721, was the one on which Mozart himself performed during his 12
years as Vienna’s Court Musician.
In addition to being a classical music scholar and artist, Valentin Radu is equally
accomplished in jazz performance as a conductor and a solo performer. In December
1998, he conducted the 97-member Bucharest Philharmonic in a Gershwin Centennial
Gala concert, featuring the Rhapsody in Blue (Dan Grigore, soloist), An American in
Paris, and Porgy and Bess. In November 1999, Radu conducted the Arad Philharmonic in
a centennial concert featuring works by Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. Since
May 2000, Maestro Radu has conducted extraordinary jazz concerts in Bucharest, with
his “Sound” jazz group, featuring singer Teodora Enache and Romanian jazz legend
Johnny Raducanu. In May 1999, Radu participated in the historic visit to Romania of
Pope John Paul II. In September 2004, he was invited to be the sole performer at a special
U.N. gala in New Yorkhonoring the President of Romania. In December 1997, Radu was
awarded the Golden Apple by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. In
February 1999, the Romanian Music Critics’ Association named him “1998 Musician of
theYear.” In April of 2003, Radu was bestowedthe title of Honorary Citizen of the City
of Bucharest by the mayor of his native town,who is presently Romania’s President.
On December 20, 2005, Valentin Radu received the highest civil award of Romania:
The Grand Officer of the Order of Cultural Merit (Romanian equivalent of The French
Legion of Honor or British Knighthood), in recognition of his life achievement in the arts
and his efforts as “Cultural Ambassador” of Romania. Radu became the seventh, and
youngest, recipient of this most prestigious award in the history of Romania.
QUOTES ABOUT VALENTIN RADU:
“...conductor Valentin Radu approached the work with an awareness
of the tone painting, the drama and even theatricality of the writing…
He built relationships to challenge the mind and ear.”
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
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“Volcanic… A fine connoisseur of the Baroque.” DIE PRESSE, Vienna
“Radu conducted his singers with a sure hand…” THE NEW YORK TIMES
TATYANA GALITSKAYA
Soprano Tatyana Galitskaya received her musical education in Belarus. She graduated
from the Republican Arts College, studying choral conducting and continued
at the Belarus Academy of Music, studying vocal-choral literature with Professor Lubov
Kasporskaya. In 1996 she joined The State Chamber Chorus in Minsk, Belarus,
performing with this group as a soloist from1998-2002. During this time she toured
Poland, Germany, Norway and Luxembourg. Her solo repertoire includes works from the
Baroque and Classical periods such as Handel, Haydn and Schubert and the Verdi
Requiem (recorded for Lyrichord with Ama Deus Ensemble and Valentin Radu.)
Ms. Galitskaya also appeared as soprano soloist with Kapella Sonorus in Minsk and sang
in Mozart Requiem and Kozlovsky’s Requiem in France, Spain and Italy. In 2003
she sang the title role in Juditta by F. Legar with the Belarus State Musical Theater in
Minsk. Tatyana is equally at home in music theater, opera, chamber and folk music
styles. She arrived in the United States in 2004 and currently performs with the Ama
Deus Ensemble and The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, as well as singing solo
recitals in the Philadelphia area.
TATYANA RASHKOVSKY
Tatyana Rashkovsky, mezzo-soprano, was born in Moscow, where she received her
Bachelor of Music Degree at the Musical College of Moscow State Conservatory.
Her operatic debut, as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, was as a member of the Opera
Studio of the Moscow Conservatory. Arriving in the United States, she enrolled at the
University of Southern California where she performed the title role in Handel’s Giulio
Cesare, Cherubino in Figaro, and Conception in Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole. For the Los
Angeles Music Center Opera, she appeared in Strauss’ Electra with Leonie Rysanek, in I
Puritani with Placido Domingo conducting the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, in Cavalleria
rusticana with Casa Italiana, The Magic Flute with San Jose Opera, Die Fledermaus and
Rigoletto with Santa Barbara Grand Opera, and in Rigoletto with the Opera Company of
Philadelphia. Ms. Rashkovsky’s oratorio engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No.
2 with Santa Barbara Symphony and Handel’s Messiah with Delaware Valley Chorale.
She is a prize winner of numerous competitions including the Luciano Pavarotti
World Competition. She appears with the Ama Deus Ensemble on Lyrichord’s Dido and
Aeneas and the Verdi Requiem.
KENNETH GARNER
Oratorio tenor Kenneth Garner has been a member of the allprofessional
core of The Philadelphia Singers since 1977, and is a frequent soloist with The
Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Ama Deus Ensemble and The Philadelphia
Chamber Chorus and has also appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, The Bach
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Festival of Philadelphia, Choral Society of Montgomery County and other regional
performing arts organizations. He is an acclaimed interpreter of the music of
J. S. Bach, having performed solos in the Passions, B Minor Mass, Magnificat and many
of the cantatas. Mr. Garner also specializes in the oratorios of Handel, Haydn and both
Mozart and Verdi, whose Requiems he has recorded for Lyrichord with Vox Ama Deus.
Since January 1980, he has been tenor soloist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,
Philadelphia. Ken Garner has also appeared in over thirty operatic roles with The Opera
Company of Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Opera Theatre, Lake George Opera,
Chautauqua Opera Company, the Corfu International Festival and The Friends of
French Opera in New York City.
ED BARA
Ed Bara, bass, has performed in 14 countries in venues including Saint Stephen’s
Cathedral in Vienna, The National Cathedral in Washington D.C., Carnegie Hall and
Radio City Music Hall, NY, and the Basilica of SS Peter and Paul, The Academy of
Music, and with Vox Ama Deus at The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia. Mr. Bara’s opera
highlights include the principal bass roles in Don Giovanni, La bohème, The Tales of
Hoffmann, Rigoletto and Pirates of Penzance. He has been heard on the musical
theater stage in Oliver!, Camelot, Two by Two, among many others, totaling over
seventy roles of opera, theater, musical theater, and oratorio. His solo concert and
oratorio performances have been described as “...dark, rich, expressive
singing…powerful, but with enough grace as to understand every word.” The bassbaritone’s recordings including the Bach B Minor Mass, Mozart and Verdi
Requiems (for Lyrichord), Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Handel Messiah, and the Dvorak
Requiem. With his wife Jennifer, he is co-founder and director of an early music
performing ensemble specializing in feasts of the Renaissance.
CHORUS
SOPRANO: Laura Colleton, Kristen Conrad, Kimberly Cooper,
Teresa D’Amico, Leah Golub, Sharon Gray, Julie-Ann Green, Allison Hirschmann,
Darlene Kelsey, Bridget Libert, Susan Miller, Pamela Phelan, Andrea Smith, Clara
Thorne, Adeline Tompkins
ALTO: Claudia Becker, Bronwyn Fix-Keller, Susan Garrison, Fran Bjorneby-Kraemer,
MaryAnn Landmesser, Susan Mattison, Betty Prescod, Dianne Rotwitt, Sharon Voros,
Tommie Borton Warder, Meghan Williams, Ruth Williams
TENOR: Peter de Mets, Jerel Frey, Michael Go, Frank Henzel, Dennis Kalup, Paul
Marchesano, Robert Prater, Douglas Rowland, Franklin Zigman
BASS: James Abel, Michael Campbell, Gerald Escovitz, Timothy Gallen, Jacques
Gordon, Brian Middleton, Charles Riale, Daniel Schauble, Mateush Tenev,
Daniel Terrazas, John Wright, Matthew Zimnoch
ORCHESTRA
VIOLIN I: Thomas DiSarlo, Concertmaster
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Thomas Jackson, Linda Kistler,
Daniela Pierson, Lawrence Major
VIOLIN II: Robert Spates, Sergei Nuissl,
Cathleen Jeffcoat, Audrey Kress,
Claudia Pellegrini
VIOLA: Patricio Diaz, Jennifer Myer,
Geoffrey Baker, Lauren Alter
CELLO: Vivian Barton Dozor,
Anthony Pirollo, Jie Jin
BASS: Marc Seidenberg, Joanne Bates
FLUTE: Nicole Lambert, Joan Spark
PICCOLO: Christine Hansen
OBOE: Sarah Davol, Tara Harvey
CLARINET: Terry Guidetti, Rie Suzuki
BASSOON: Norman Spielberg,
Robert Grossman
CONTRABASSOON: Michael Pedrazzini
HORN: Paul Rosenberg, Daniel Wions,
Kathryn Mehrtens, Aleks Ozolins
TRUMPET: Elin Frazier, Daniel Orlock
TROMBONE: Brian Pastor, Michael Purdy,
David Cianci
TIMPANI: Randall Rudolph
PERCUSSION: Phillip O’Banion,
Jason Markzon, Ryan DiLisi
AMA DEUS ENSEMBLE
Valentin Radu, Artistic Director and Conductor
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CREDITS
Ama Deus Ensemble
Valentin Radu
Conductor
John Ostendorf, Producer
Stephen J. Epstein, Recording Engineer
Recorded Live in the Perelman Theater at
the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
April 25, 2008
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