Program

Amahl and the nocturnal guests
Introduction, March and Dance
The televisionopera Amahl and the nocturnal guests (Amahle and the visitors) was written in 1951 on commission from NBC.
It was the first time that a television station commissioned aopera from a composer and it was the first time that television experimented with color.
It is a fable-likeopera for which Menotti also wrote the libretto, designed to be aired on Christmas Eve.
It was such a great success that it was aired for several years on the same occasion.

Sebastian
Suite from the ballet
Menotti wrote the ballet Sebastian on his own subject in 1944.
It was the first time he tried his hand at the choreographic genre.
The action takes place to Venice in the 1600s and tells of Sebastian, a servant of two aristocratic sisters who want to prevent the relationship between their own brother and a courtesan with whom Sebastian himself is secretly in love.
To oppose the two sisters' fury, Sebastian does not hesitate to to sacrifice his own life by substituting himself for the wax statue that the wicked women had molded to image of the courtesan and which, once covered from a veil to she had taken away, became the means of directing them against the cruelest evils.
The Suite contains almost all the music of the ballet and consists of seven movements.

Amelia al ballo
Orchestral prelude
L'opera Amelia al ballo, to a libretto written in Italian by the composer himself, is the first major success of Menotti's American operatic career.
The composition of 'opera began during a stay to Vienna in 1936 and was completed the following year in the United States.
At the center of the story is the portrait of a young upper-class woman, bored and interested exclusively to attend to parties and balls. It is a'opera short, one-act play that makes the protagonist's story the emblem of spoiled bourgeois society.

Milan Symphony Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi

The Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, founded in 1993 from Vladimir Delman, has established itself from several years as one of the most relevant national symphonic ensembles, capable of tackling a repertoire that ranges from Bach to the cornerstones of nineteenth-century symphonism to twentieth-century music. The Orchestra's program schedule includes more than thirty symphonic programs each year, with a layout in which the classics are flanked from less usual pages, as well as some adjoining seasons, such as the "Crescendo in Musica" cycle, an important review for children and young people. From 1999 to 2005, Riccardo Chailly, now Honorary Conductor, served as Music Director.Vladimir Fedoseyev, from the current 2008/2009 season, is Principal Conductor; Wayne Marshall and Helmuth Rilling hold, in the 2008/2009 season, the role of Principal Guest Conductors; Maestro Rudolf Barshai, from many years connected with the Orchestra, has been Conductor Emeritus since the 2006-2007 season, a position held by Carlo Maria Giulini until his passing. Cornist Radovan Vlatkovic and pianist Simone Pedroni, on the other hand, have been present since the 2007/2008 season as Resident Artists.
From the 2009/2010 season, China's Xian Zhang will be Music Director, while Ruben Jais will hold the position of Resident Conductor.

Il 6 ottobre 1999 è stata inaugurata, con la Sinfonia n. 2 Resurrezione di Mahler diretta da Riccardo Chailly, la nuova sede stabile dell’Orchestra, l’Auditorium di Milano, che per le sue caratteristiche estetiche, tecnologiche e acustiche è considerata una della migliori sale da concerto italiane.
Altro elemento distintivo dell’Orchestra è la costituzione, nell’ottobre 1998, del Coro Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, guidato sino alla sua scomparsa dal Maestro Romano Gandolfi, prestigiosa figura della direzione corale che ha lavorato con i più grandi direttori d´orchestra e nei più importanti teatri lirici del mondo. Il Coro conta attualmente 100 elementi in grado di affrontare il grande repertorio lirico-sinfonico dal Barocco al Novecento.
Alcuni appuntamenti ricorrenti scandiscono il percorso musicale della Verdi: l’esecuzione del ciclo integrale delle Sinfonie di Mahler, l’annuale appuntamento con una delle grandi Passioni di Bach in prossimità delle festività pasquali e il concerto di capodanno con la Nona Sinfonia di Beethoven.
La Stagione 2008/2009 prevede, accanto ai concerti della tradizionale stagione sinfonica, un ciclo di musiche del Novecento a cura di Francesco Maria Colombo.
L’Orchestra è stata diretta tra gli altri da Riccardo Chailly, Georges Prêtre, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Rudolf Barshai, Claus Peter Flor, Christopher Hogwood, Helmuth Rilling, Peter Maag, Marko Letonja, Daniele Gatti, Roberto Abbado, Ivor Bolton, Kazushi Ono, Vladimir Jurowski, Yakov Kreizberg, Ulf Schirmer e Eiji Oue. Nella stagione 2005-2006 hanno debuttato con la Verdi Herbert Blomstedt e Krzysztof Penderecki, mentre nel 2006-2007 Leonard Slatkin, Vladimir Fedoseyev e Wayne Marshall. L’Orchestra ha collaborato inoltre con solisti come Martha Argerich, Mstislav Rostropovich, Vadim Repin, Lynn Harrell, Viktoria Mullova, Han-Na Chang, Sarah Chang, Midori, Alexander Kobrin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Nelson Freire, Salvatore Accardo, Mario Brunello, Alexander Toradze, Hilary Hahn e Radovan Vlatkovic.
Nell’aprile 2002 è stata costituita la Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. La Fondazione, cui hanno aderito la Banca Popolare di Milano, la RAS, la Regione Lombardia, la Provincia di Milano, il Comune di Milano, la Camera di Commercio di Milano e Pirelli RE, intende salvaguardare la tradizione che ha caratterizzato l’Orchestra sin dalla sua nascita, ovvero la presenza di tanti Soci aderenti che danno un’identità particolare a questa istituzione  musicale.
Oltre alla ricca Stagione sinfonica nella propria sede a Milano, l’Orchestra è invitata spesso in sale prestigiose in Italia e all’estero. Nel 2002 l’Orchestra è stata orchestra residente al Festival dei due Mondi di Spoleto e ha suonato in Francia, Spagna, Portogallo e Svizzera nella sua prima tournée europea. In giugno 2003 l’Orchestra diretta da Oleg Caetani si è esibita in Cile, Argentina e Brasile e in ottobre ha suonato nelle principali sale da concerto giapponesi in una tournée diretta da Riccardo Chailly con la partecipazione di Martha Argerich e del Coro Verdi diretto da Romano Gandolfi. A gennaio 2004 la Verdi, diretta da Riccardo Chailly, ha debuttato al Festival delle Canarie. Nell’estate 2004  è stata impegnata come orchestra residente al Festival delle Nazioni di Città di Castello. Nel gennaio 2005 l’Orchestra, guidata da Eiji Oue e con la partecipazione della violinista Hilary Hahn, ha effettuato una tournée in Germania e Francia, mentre nel maggio dello stesso anno, sotto la guida di Riccardo Chailly, è stata ospite in alcune delle maggiori città europee tra cui Francoforte, Vienna e Budapest. Da ricordare, infine, l’importante debutto alla 68esima edizione del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino nel maggio 2005.
Nel novembre 2006 l’Orchestra Verdi ha effettuato, per la prima volta nella storia italiana, una tournée su tutto il territorio nazionale, toccando ben undici città in circa 20 giorni, sotto la guida del Maestro Marko Letonja e con la partecipazione del pianista Benedetto Lupo.
Il 24 aprile 2008 l’Orchestra e il Coro della Verdi, diretti da Oleg Caetani, si sono esibiti in Sala Nervi (Vaticano) alla presenza di S.S. Benedetto XVI e del Presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano, in un concerto offerto dal Presidente della Repubblica per celebrare il III anniversario del Pontificato di Benedetto XVI.
Il 12 e 13 dicembre 2008 l´Orchestra Sinfonica e il Coro Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi sono stati invitati a Baku, Azerbaijan, nell´ambito del II Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival. Diretti dal Maestro Eugene Kohn, hanno eseguito la Messa da requiem per soli, coro e orchestra di Giuseppe Verdi e hanno preso parte all´Opera Gala "World Stars" eseguendo arie da opere di Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni e Bizet.
Il 30 aprile 2009, l’Orchestra e il Coro della Verdi, diretti dal nuovo direttore musicale Xian Zhang, si sono di nuovo esibiti in Sala Nervi (Vaticano) alla presenza di S.S. Benedetto XVI e del Presidente della Repubblica Giorgio Napolitano.
Sempre in aprile 2009, nell’ambito di uno scambio con l’Orchestra Sinfonica di Euskadi (paesi baschi), la Verdi, diretta da Oleg Caetani e con il pianista Simone Pedroni, si è recata in tournée a Bilbao, San Sebastiàn, Vitoria, Pamplona.

The Orchestra has developed an intense recording activity, recording more than 25 CDs, for the Decca, Emi, RCA, DG, and Arts labels. The first CD Verdi Heroines with Angela Georghiu won the 2000 Gramophone Award, the 2000 Classic FM People's Choice and Le Choc de l'Année 2000. The CD Verdi-Messa Solenne featuring the Chorus was nominated for the 2001 Gramophone Awards, while great public acclaim was achieved by Rossini Arias with Juan Diego Flórez, with whom the Orchestra also released Una furtiva lagrima. He recorded a CD of sacred arias with Plácido Domingo for Deutsche Grammophon, three CDs of rarities by Italian composers, Rossini Discoveries, Verdi Discoveries and, in 2004, Puccini Discoveries, conducted from Riccardo Chailly for Decca. Also for Decca, April 2005 saw the release of Orchestral Transcriptions by Luciano Berio, conducted by Riccardo Chailly. to September 2006, on the occasion of the centenary of Dmitry Šostakovič's birth, the Russian composer's complete Symphonies conducted from Oleg Caetani were released for the Arts label ("10/10 Highest Rating - Classics Today," "ffff - Télérama," "CD of the Month - Amadeus"), and the Symphonies from chamber conducted from Rudolf Barshai for the Brilliant Classics label.
In 2008 Orchestra and Coro Verdi recorded the CD Cielo e Mar for Deutsche Grammophon with Rolando Villazón, conductor Daniele Callegari; for the Universal Music label, Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano with the participation of Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Carlo Guelfi, conducted from Vjekoslav Sutej; for the DEAG Classics label, Verdissimo arie from operas by Giuseppe Verdi with soprano Lucia Aliberti, conductor Oleg Caetani; for the Sugar Music label, the CD Incanto with Andrea Bocelli, conductor Steven Mercurio was recently released.
Recently released is the CD Le mille e una notte, music by Victor De Sabata, conductor Francesco Maria Colombo (Universal Music).

James Conlon

One of the world's most distinguished conductors, he has conducted a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire with the most prestigious symphony orchestras in the United States and Europe. In addition to being music director of the Los Angeles Opera he is also music director of the Ravinia Festival (summer home of the Chicago Symphony Opera) and will celebrate his 30th season as music director of the Cincinnati May Festival, America's oldest choral festival. From 1995 to 2004 he was principal conductor of theOpera National in Paris, from 1989 to 2002 he was general music director of the city of Cologne, and from 1983 to 1991 music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He has conducted more than 250 performances at the New York Metropolitan. In the 2008-09 season at the Los Angeles Opera, Conlon conducted his first Wagner Ring in the United States, opening this season with L'Oro del Reno and La Valchiria. He is also pursuing, including with the outright debut of Walter Braunfels' company The Birds, the multi-year "Recovered Voices" project by which he seeks to bring to the Los Angeles stage Opera the music of composers who were victims of the Nazi regime. To this end, he has undertaken to include in the programs of both the Ravinia Festival and the Los Angeles Opera, the works of composers including Alexander von Zemlinsky, Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Kurt Weill, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Karl-Amadeus Hartmann, Erwin Schulhoff, and Ernest Krenek.
Conlon, has conducted Mozart's The Magic Flute , Puccini's Triptych directed by Woody Allen and William Friedkin, and Madama Butterfly produced from Robert Wilson.
Also devoted to teaching, Conlon continues his two-year residency at the Juilliard School, where he works with young artists at the school on a training project consisting of performances, symposia, and master classes. He will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and, as guest conductor, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the United States, as well as in Europe the NDR Sinfonie Orchester in Hamburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the National Philharmonic of Russia to Moscow.
Conlon has made numerous recordings for EMI, SONY Classical, ERATO, CAPRICCIO, and TELARC; participated in a DVD music column produced by DECCA; and appeared in several television series on PBS. In 2009 he also won two Grammy Awards, Best Classical Recording and Best Opera Album, for directing, with the Los Angeles production Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, by Kurt Weill on the EuroArts label.
Recent awards include the American Liszt Society's medal for his special performances of scores, the 2000 Galileo Prize for his contributions to music, peace and art to Florence, and the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Crystal Globe Award for his efforts to on behalf of composers killed by the Third Reicht. Conlon is one of the first five recipients of theOpera News Award given to him for brilliant achievements in conducting works and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Juilliard School. He received the Zemlinsky Prize and was appointed, in 1996, Officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government and, in 2004, was named "Commandeur." In 2002, James Conlon received France's highest honor, the Légion d'Honneur.

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