CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Performers
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director and Conductor
Michelle DeYoung, Mezzo-Soprano
John Relyea, Bass
Program
TCHAIKOVSKY Selections from Swan Lake
BARTÓK Bluebeard's Castle
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating before intermission.Pre-Concert Talk
Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 PM in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean, The Juilliard School.At a Glance
Bartók’s searing one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle features just two singers—Bluebeard and his latest wife, Judith—in an intense psychodrama. The piece unfolds as the seven doors of Bluebeard’s castle open to reveal a series of horrors and sorrows endured by his previous wives. Judith would be well advised not to open the last door, but …
Bios
The Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for
its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations
of audiences, and admired for a legacy of imagination and innovation on and off the concert
stage. The orchestra is inspiring the future and transforming its rich tradition of
achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging--and
exceeding--that level, by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and
around the world.
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin's connection to the orchestra's musicians has been
praised by both concertgoers and critics since his inaugural season in 2012. Under his
leadership the orchestra returned to recording, with two celebrated CDs on the prestigious
Deutsche Grammophon label, continuing its history of recording success. The orchestra also
reaches thousands of listeners on the radio with weekly Sunday-afternoon broadcasts on
WRTI-FM.
Philadelphia is home, and the orchestra continues to discover new and inventive ways to
nurture its relationship with its loyal patrons at its home in the Kimmel Center, and also
with those who enjoy the orchestra's area performances at the Mann Center, Penn's Landing,
and other cultural, civic, and learning venues. The orchestra maintains a strong commitment
to collaborations with cultural and community organizations on a regional and national
level, all of which create greater access and engagement with classical music as an art
form.
The Philadelphia Orchestra serves as a catalyst for cultural activity across
Philadelphia's many communities, building an offstage presence as strong as its onstage
one. With Mr. Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated body of musicians, and one of the nation's richest
arts ecosystems, the orchestra has launched its HEAR initiative, a portfolio of integrated
initiatives that promotes Health, champions music Education, eliminates barriers to
Accessing the orchestra, and maximizes impact through Research. The orchestra's
award-winning Collaborative Learning programs engage more than 50,000 students, families,
and community members through programs such as PlayINs, Side-By-Sides, PopUP Concerts, free
Neighborhood Concerts, School Concerts, and residency work in Philadelphia and
abroad.
Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, The Philadelphia
Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the US. Having been the first
American orchestra to perform in China (at the request of President Nixon in 1973), the
ensemble today boasts a new partnership with Beijing's National Centre for the Performing
Arts and the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, and in 2017 will be the first-ever Western
orchestra to appear in Mongolia. The orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while
also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Vail. For more
information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit philorch.org.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now confirmed to lead The Philadelphia Orchestra
through the 2025-2026 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment.
Additionally, he becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera beginning with the
2021-2022 season. Yannick is an inspired leader of the orchestra. His intensely
collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm have been
heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him
"phenomenal," adding that under his baton, "the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings
and homogenous richness, has never sounded better." Highlights of his fifth season include
an exploration of American sounds, with works by Leonard Bernstein, Christopher Rouse,
Mason Bates, and Christopher Theofanidis; a Music of Paris festival; and the
continuation of a focus on opera and sacred vocal works, with Bartók's Bluebeard's
Castle and Mozart's C-Minor Mass.
Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of
the most thrilling talents of his generation. He has been music director of the Rotterdam
Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008, and artistic director and principal conductor of
Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. He was also principal guest conductor of the
London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances
with the world's most revered ensembles and has conducted critically acclaimed performances
at many of the leading opera houses.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under
his leadership, The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with two CDs on that
label. He continues fruitful recording relationships with the Rotterdam Philharmonic
Orchestra on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the
LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.
A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at
Montreal's Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo
Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster
Choir College. Among Yannick's honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of
Canada, Musical America's 2016 Artist of the Year, Canada's National Arts Centre
Award, the Prix Denise-Pelletier, and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec,
Curtis Institute of Music, and Westminster Choir College. To read Yannick's full bio,
please visit philorch.org/conductor.
Michelle DeYoung
Mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2012. She has
appeared with many of the world's leading ensembles, including the New York and Los Angeles
philharmonics; the Vienna and Royal philharmonic orchestras; the Boston, Chicago,
Pittsburgh, BBC, and São Paulo symphony orchestras; San Francisco Symphony; the Cleveland,
Minnesota, Royal Concertgebouw, MET, and Bavarian State orchestras; the MET Chamber
Ensemble; London's Philharmonia Orchestra; Orchestre de Paris; and Staatskapelle Berlin.
She has also appeared at the festivals of Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, Cincinnati, Saito
Kinen, Edinburgh, Salzburg, and Lucerne.
Ms. DeYoung has sung at many of the world's great opera houses, including the Metropolitan
Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Philadelphia,
Glimmerglass Opera, La Scala, Bayreuth Festival, Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera,
Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra de Nice, Theater Basel, and Tokyo
Opera. She was also named the 2015 Artist in Residence at Wolf Trap Opera. Her many
performances include the title roles in Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila and
Britten's The Rape of Lucretia; Fricka, Sieglinde, and Waltraute in Wagner's
Ring cycle; Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal; Venus in Wagner's
Tannhäuser; Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde; Eboli in Verdi's
Don Carlos; Amneris in Verdi's Aida; Marguerite in Berlioz's La
damnation de Faust; Dido in Berlioz's Les Troyens; Gertrude in Thomas's
Hamlet; and Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus rex. She also created the
role of the Shaman in Tan Dun's The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera.
Ms. DeYoung's recording of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder and Symphony No. 3 with
Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony was awarded the 2003 Grammy Award for
Best Classical Album. She also won 2001 Grammys for Best Classical Album and Best Opera
Recording for Les Troyens with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Her growing discography includes recordings of Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink. Her first solo disc was released on the EMI
label.
John Relyea
Canadian bass John Relyea has appeared in many of the world's most celebrated opera
houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera (where he is an alumnus of
the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera,
Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Vienna
State Opera, Theater an der Wien, Mariinsky Theatre, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
This season he returned to the Met for Rossini's Guillaume Tell and debuted at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. He has performed the
title roles in Verdi's Attila, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and Bartók's
Bluebeard's Castle; Zaccaria in Verdi's Nabucco; Bertram in Meyerbeer's
Robert le diable; Pagano in Verdi's I Lombardi; Raimondo in Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor; Colline in Puccini's La bohème; Don Alfonso in
Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia; Don Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di
Siviglia; and Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola.
Mr. Relyea made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1998. This season he appears in
concert with the New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, and the Dallas and NDR symphony
orchestras. He performs regularly with orchestras that include the Boston, Chicago,
Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Swedish Radio symphony orchestras; the Cleveland, Philharmonia,
and Scottish Chamber orchestras; and the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has also appeared at
the Tanglewood, Ravinia, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Mostly Mozart festivals, and at
the BBC Proms. In recital, he has been presented in Weill Recital Hall and at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wigmore Hall in London, the University Musical Society in Ann
Arbor, and on the University of Chicago Presents series.
Mr. Relyea's recordings include Verdi's Requiem (LSO Live); Mozart's Idomeneo
with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (EMI); Mahler's Symphony No.
8 with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI); and the
Metropolitan Opera's DVD presentations of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Bellini's I
puritani, Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Deutsche Grammophon), and
Verdi's Macbeth (Metropolitan Opera HD Live series). He is the winner of the 2009
Beverly Sills Award and the 2003 Richard Tucker Award.