HEAD LINE BOLD CAPS 12 POINT, NO MORE ... - Lincoln Center

March 8, 2007
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LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS AT LINCOLN CENTER TO
FEATURE NEW YORK PREMIERES OF
THE TRISTAN PROJECT AND ESA-PEKKA SALONEN’S HELIX
Acclaimed Concert Production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with
Video Art from Bill Viola Given Two Complete Performances on May 2 and 5
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet Performs Ravel on April 29, and
Soprano Renée Fleming Sings Songs from “The Age of the Diva” on May 3
In April and May, Lincoln Center’s Great Performers presents the Los Angeles Philharmonic in
four concerts at Avery Fisher Hall that feature a new work from its music director Esa-Pekka
Salonen, performances by acclaimed guest soloists, and a contemporary take on a Wagner opera
classic. The Tristan Project, the multimedia arts experience designed around Tristan und Isolde,
receives its New York premiere with performances on Wednesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. and Saturday,
May 5 at 2 p.m. Wagner’s opera has been visually re-imagined for the 21 st century in this concert
production from celebrated video artist Bill Viola, artistic collaborator Peter Sellars, and Salonen,
who conducts the Philharmonic and a cast of outstanding singers, including soprano Christine
Brewer, tenor Alan Woodrow, bass John Relyea, and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.
Full cast and details are below. On April 12, the Philharmonic, Salonen, and cast begin a run of
The Tristan Project at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
The Philharmonic also performs two orchestral programs at Avery Fisher Hall during its New York
residency. On Sunday, April 29 at 3 p.m., it performs the New York premiere of Salonen’s Helix, a
frenetic, overture-like work that builds in rhythm even as musical phrases are elongated and which
Salonen imagines to take the form of an ever-narrowing spiral. Also, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet
is guest soloist for Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and the orchestra performs
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite. On Thursday, May 3 at 8 p.m., soprano Renée Fleming joins
Salonen and the orchestra for works by R. Strauss and Korngold from Fleming’s latest record,
Homage—The Age of the Diva, released in October 2006 on the Decca label.
Tickets are available at the Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Hall box offices, Broadway at 65th Street,
by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, or by visiting Lincoln Center’s website at
www.LincolnCenter.org.
Great Performers is sponsored by American Express.

In THE TRISTAN PROJECT, Wagner’s transcendent music combines with Viola’s extraordinary imagery—projected
onto a 30-foot screen and exploring the opera’s underlying themes of love, betrayal, transformation, rebirth, memory,
and time. Applying a contemporary artistic sensibility and the latest technology to Wagner’s high-Romantic
masterwork creates a modern-day version of the composer’s concept of the gesamtkunstwerk, or “total artwork,” a
19 th -century precursor to today’s multimedia art presentations.
“In a way,” Salonen says in the November 2006 issue of Playbill, “these are such stupid things to say. But if Wagner
were alive today, he would, of course, be working with video. The man was all about synthesis, and using the top
technological means of his time. Very obviously he would be manipulating an image on a computer.”
Viola, whose work—much like Wagner—regularly invokes the spiritual and the elemental forces of fire and water,
wasn’t too interested at first in the music of Wagner. “But then I went out and bought some CDs,” he says in Playbill.
“Peter Sellars turned me on to some good recordings—and once I really started to dive into it, I was deeply
impressed. Wagner was describing the movement of human consciousness, when the heart turns over in that
majestic and incredibly powerful human experience of love. He somehow gave a voice through sound to these
ineffable movements of the human soul and psyche. That’s something I’ve been trying to do with my camera.”
The imagery of The Tristan Project is sometimes specific to the opera’s setting—projected video of the ocean or a
forest taking the place of standard opera scenery—but more often it exists as metaphor for the emotions and
subconscious of the characters: from a water purification ritual between the two lovers to Tristan walking through fire
and Isolde walking on water. The work climaxes in the Act Three “Liebestod” with a stunning visual representation of
the ascension of the souls of the lovers—something Salonen acknowledges is usually difficult, if not impossible, to
depict powerfully on the stage.
“Now we have the means,” says Salonen, “to add a visual image to this that isn’t banal but is incredibly moving and
powerful. In a way, in the final scene of Tristan, Bill has done something that we all thought couldn’t be done.”
The Tristan Project premiered in a three-concert cycle by Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in December
2004 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, before having its fully staged version, directed by Peter Sellars, at the National
Opera Bastille in Paris in the spring of 2005. The upcoming performances of the work will be the original semistaged
concert performances.
Considered in its time one of the most complex operas ever written, Tristan und Isolde is an operatic masterpiece.
Wagner’s earliest sketches for the opera date from December 1856. He completed the prose poem for the opera—
updating the medieval tale of the fated lovers Tristan and Isolde—in 1857 and completed the composition of the
music between 1857 and 1859. After moving to Paris in 1859, Wagner attempted to secure a theater for the opera’s
premiere, but no opera house in Paris wanted to take it on. Finally, the Dresden Opera, impressed by the work’s
seemingly simple requirements (very little chorus, few principals, in three acts), decided to hold the premiere. After 77
rehearsals, the work was declared not performable and was abandoned by the company. The opera finally had its
premiere at the Munich Royal Court Theater in 1865 with an orchestra so large that seats in the front of the house
were removed to accommodate all of the musicians required. While the first audience was scandalized by the opera’s
erotic nature, Tristan has become one of the most influential works in Western musical literature.
Pianist JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET’s ongoing relationships with renowned symphony orchestras bring him to such
destinations as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Concertgebouw on a regular basis. An
exclusive recording artist for Decca with over 30 releases, Thibaudet’s most recent release, “Aria: Opera Without
Words,” stems from the pianist’s lifelong passion for opera and includes solo transcriptions of popular arias, including
many by Thibaudet himself. Other recordings have included the 2005 Oscar-nominated soundtrack of Universal
Pictures’ Pride and Prejudice, on which he was the featured soloist; Strauss’s Burleske with the Leipzig Gewandhaus
Orchestra in 2005; and the award-winning box-set “Satie: The Complete Solo Piano Music” and “Night Songs” with

soprano Renée Fleming. Thibaudet’s enthusiasm for jazz has also resulted in popular recordings including
“Reflections on Duke: Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays the music of Duke Ellington” and “Conversations with Bill Evans.”
Soprano RENÉE FLEMING’s artistry has inspired her instatement as a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the
French government (2005), as well as the “Renée Fleming Iris” (2004) and master chef Daniel Boulud’s dessert “La
Diva Renée” (1999). This season, Ms. Fleming appears in Eugene Onegin with the Metropolitan Opera, La Traviata
with the Los Angeles Opera (to be taped for DVD), Arabella with the Zürich Opera, and concert performances of
Thaïs at the Royal Opera House, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and at Châtelet, Paris. She
was the soloist for the opening night of the Boston Symphony and for the Toscanini concert combining the New York
Philharmonic and the Symphonica Toscanini at Avery Fisher Hall. A two-time Grammy winner, Ms. Fleming has been
an exclusive recording artist with Decca since 1995. Her newest CD, released in fall 2006, is entitled “Homage—The
Age of the Diva” and comprises rarely heard works associated with great singers of the past.
Soprano CHRISTINE BREWER’s (Isolde) appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked with her unique
timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the
great sopranos of history. Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde figures prominently in Brewer’s 2006-07 season: she began
the season with her first fully-staged Isolde at the San Francisco Opera under Donald Runnicles; has concert
performances with the Montreal Symphony; before finishing the season with The Tristan Project. Additional concert
performances include a tour of the Netherlands and Brussels with the Flanders Orchestra, Poulenc’s Gloria with the
BBC Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis, Britten’s War Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony and David Robertson,
and Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Symphonie and Florentine Tragedy at Ravinia with James Conlon. A devoted recitalist, Ms.
Brewer will offer recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The Kennedy Center in
Washington D.C., and in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Portland (Maine).
Tenor ALAN WOODROW (Tristan) has sung extensively with major opera houses around the world. He was
principal tenor for several years at English National Opera; his numerous roles there include Don José in Carmen,
Prince Andrei in Khovanschina, and the Captain in Wozzeck. Other credits include Sergei in Lady Macbeth of
Mtsensk at Teatro alla Scala, Paris-Opéra Bastille, and Frankfurt Opera, and the Emperor in Frau ohne Schatten at
Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Bayerische Staatsoper. Woodrow has sung the role of Siegfried
often: in Toulouse, Perth, Barcelona, Manaus, Madrid, Liège, and at Seattle Opera for his company debut in 2001.
Woodrow returned to Seattle later that year to sing the Prince in Dvorak’s Rusalka. His many roles since then have
included Guido Bardi in Zemlinsky’s Florentine Tragedy in Milan and Herod in Salome in Palermo. Future plans
include Tristan in Tristan und Isolde in Toulouse and Siegfried in Berlin.
Mezzo-soprano ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER (debuting in the role of Brangäne) is considered one of the finest singers
of her generation and is sought after by many of the major conductors, orchestras, opera and recording companies of
the world. Born in Sweden, her studies began in Stockholm and continued with Vera Rozsa at London's Guildhall.
She commenced her professional career as a principal member of the Basel Opera before she launched an
international career that has now spanned more than two decades. Von Otter enjoys an ongoing relationship with
New York's Metropolitan Opera and James Levine where she has over the years sung numerous performances of
Rosenkavalier, Clemenza di Tito, and Idomeneo as well as Pelléas et Melisande, marking her stage debut in the role.
An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, von Otter boasts an extensive discography, including a
number of award-winning recital, chamber, orchestral, and opera discs.
Bass-baritone JOHN RELYEA (Marke), winner of the 2003 Richard Tucker award, is rapidly establishing himself as
one of today's finest bass-baritones. This season, Mr. Relyea returns to the Vienna State Opera as Escamillo and as
the Four Villains in Les Contes d'Hoffman, and to the Met as Giorgio in I Puritani, Don Basilio in the new production
of Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Colline in La Bohème. Relyea has appeared in many of the world's finest opera houses
including the Metropolitan Opera; San Francisco Opera (where he is an alumnus of the Merola Opera Program and a
former Adler Fellow); Santa Fe Opera; Seattle Opera; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Paris Opera; Munich
State Opera; and the Vienna State Opera. On the concert stage this season, Mr. Releya appears with the London
Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony.

Bass-baritone JUKKA RASILAINEN (Kurwenal) studied in Rome with Tina Sciapini-Rella. While still a student, he
debuted as Leporello in Don Giovanni under the direction of Gian Carlo del Monaco. In the 1985-86 season, he
became a member of the Opera Studio Zurich. Between 1986 and 1993, he had a fixed contract as a bass-baritone
and heroic baritone with the Städtische Bühnen Dortmund and the Vereinigte Städtische Bühnen
Krefeld/Mönchengladbach. There he acquired a large repertoire, including Wozzeck (title role), Lucia di Lammermoor
(Raimondo), Falstaff (title role), Nabucco (title role), Salome (Jochanaan), and Tosca (Scarpia). In 1991, Rasilainen
debuted in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer in the title role. He then sang this part with great success in more than
12 productions at the Vienna State Opera, State Opera Unter Den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Saxon State
Opera Dresden, Tokyo, and Savonlinna.
Tenor THOMAS ROLF TRUHITTE (Melot) has received awards from the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. and
the Wagner Society of Northern California. Career highlights have included the title role in Parsifal with Genova
Opera; Don José in Carmen with Seattle Opera, Dayton Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera San Jose, Longview Opera,
and Sacramento Opera; the title role in Lohengrin at the Spoleto Festival; Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer with
Minnesota Opera; Froh in Das Rheingold with Seattle Opera and the Canadian Opera Company; as well as his
Heldentenor debut as Siegmund in Die Walküre, Tristan in Tristan und Isolde, and Florestan in Fidelio; at Virginia
Opera. An accomplished rock drummer, he holds degrees in theatre and music from Cal State Sacramento and
earned a first degree Black Belt in the art of Taekwondo Karate.
Tenor MICHAEL SLATTEREY (Sailor/Shepherd’s Voice) appears this season in the title role of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
at Glimmerglass, having sung the role last year under Emmanuelle Haïm at the Châtelet, Paris. He also makes his
debut at the Berliner Staatsoper in the Monteverdi Vespers and L'Orfeo. In addition to recordings of Handel's Saul,
Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne, Scarlatti's Cecilian Vespers, and others, his voice has been recorded for major
motion pictures, and he can currently be heard on TV as the operatic voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy. Upon
graduating from The Juilliard School, Slattery sang his first Mozart Requiem with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los
Angeles Philharmonic. Slattery appeared again with the Philharmonic last year in Philip Glass's Akhnaten under John
Adams.
Bass-baritone JINYOUNG JANG (Steersman) is a recent graduate of the Los Angeles Opera’s Artist in Residence
program. During his tenure there he performed several roles including Zuniga in Carmen, Colline in La Boheme, and
Frere Jean in Romeo et Juliette, and he been responsible for most of the bass roles including Ramphis and Il Re in
Aida, Doctor in Vanessa, Neptune in Idomeneo, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor. He
holds degrees and certificates from University of Southern California, University of Tennessee, Southern Methodist
University, and Seoul National University of Korea.
BILL VIOLA is widely recognized as one of the leading video artists on the international scene. For more than 30
years he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music
performances, and works for television broadcast. Viola’s video installations are total environments that envelop the
viewer in image and sound, employ state-of-the-art technologies, and are distinguished by their precision and direct
simplicity. His single channel videotapes have been broadcast and presented cinematically around the world, and
his writings have been published and anthologized for international readers. A recipient of the John T. and Catherine
D. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1989, and of the first Medienkunstpreis in 1993, Viola was invited to be a
Scholar-in-Residence at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles in 1998; later that year, he created a suite of
three new video pieces for the rock group Nine Inch Nails’ world tour. In 2001, he completed his most ambitious
project, Going Forth By Day, a five-part projected digital fresco cycle in high definition video, commissioned by the
Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin.
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, the 10 th conductor to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is now in his 15 th season as
Music Director. His current tenure is the second longest in the Philharmonic’s history. Salonen, who was born in
Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish
Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. In addition,
Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the

Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg,
William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Roger Reynolds, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven
Stucky, Tan Dun, and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of
music by Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berlioz, and Beethoven, and The Tristan Project. He and the
Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992.
In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank
Gehry. Since then, the Orchestra has reached new heights. The New York Times recently wrote: “In 2006, the Los
Angeles Philharmonic tops the list of America's premier orchestras and serves as a lesson in how to update an
august cultural institution without cheapening its work… At the center of this grand renovation is Esa-Pekka
Salonen… And if he can't be credited with every last stroke of the orchestra's good fortune (Disney Hall was on the
drawing board as far back as 1988), its innovative programming and revamped sound are fully his work."
PETER SELLARS has directed more than 100 productions, large and small, across America and abroad. A
graduate of Harvard University, he studied in Japan, China, and India before becoming Artistic Director of the Boston
Shakespeare Company. At 26 he was made Director of the American National Theater at the Kennedy Center in
Washington, D.C. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and was awarded the Erasmus Prize at
the Dutch Royal Palace for contributions to European culture. Sellars has collaborated with the Wooster Group, and
was featured in Jean-Luc Godard’s film of King Lear. He has also appeared on Bill Moyers’ A World of Ideas, Miami
Vice, and The Equalizer, has directed a rock video for Herbie Hancock, and has produced a series of radio episodes
for the Museum of Contemporary Art’s The Territory of Art series. His first feature film, The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez,
starred Joan Cusack, Peter Gallagher, Ron Vawter, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
The LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC has defined the concept of a 21 st -century orchestra with innovation and
exuberance under the dynamic leadership of Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director since 1992 and a distinguished
composer in his own right. Now in its 88 th season, the Philharmonic is recognized as one of the world’s outstanding
orchestras, and is received enthusiastically by audiences and critics alike. The New York Times wrote, “…in 2006,
[it] tops the list of America’s premier orchestras and serves as a lesson in how to update an august cultural institution
without cheapening its work.”
The Tristan Project is part of the “New Visions” series. “New Visions” is made possible in part by The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels
Foundation, Inc.
Major funding for the Opéra National de Paris production and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts presentation of “Tristan und
Isolde” has been provided by The Gregory and Regina Annenberg Weingarten Fund/American Friends of the Paris Opera & Ballet.
The Tristan Project is made possible in part by endowment support from the American Express New Works Fund.
This production of Tristan und Isolde was co-commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, and the Paris National Opera. The video was also co-produced by Bill Viola Studio, James Cohan Gallery, New
York, and Haunch of Venison Gallery, London.
The April 29 and May 3 performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic are part of the “Symphonic Masters” series. “Symphonic
Masters” is made possible in part by endowment support from UBS.
Great Performers is sponsored by American Express. Additional support is provided by Bruce Kovner, Rita E. and Gustave M.
Hauser, The Florence Gould Foundation, Movado, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., The Gregory and
Regina Annenberg Weingarten Fund/American Friends of the Paris Opera & Ballet, Continental Airlines, The Shubert
Foundation, The Norman & Rosita Winston Foundation, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, E. Nakamichi Foundation, Great
Performers Circle, Chairman’s Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center.
Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Additional corporate support is provided by The Bank of New York.

Endowment support is provided by:
American Express
UBS
Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.
WNBC/WNJU are Official Broadcast Partners of Lincoln Center, Inc.
Continental Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center, Inc.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of superb artistic programming, national
leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of over 400
events annually, LCPA’s programs include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out
of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Live From Lincoln Center.
Lincoln Center is committed to providing and improving accessibility for people with disabilities. For information, call the
Department of Programs and Services for People with Disabilities at (212) 875-5375.
Sunday, April 29, 2007 at 3 PM
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
SALONEN Helix (New York premiere)
RAVEL Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Tickets: $35, $56, $69
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at 6 PM
Avery Fisher Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Bill Viola, video artist
Peter Sellars, artistic collaborator
Christine Brewer, soprano (Isolde)
Alan Woodrow, tenor (Tristan)
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (Brangäne)
John Relyea, bass (Marke)
Jukka Rasilainen, baritone (Kurwenal)
Thomas Rolf Truhitte, tenor (Melot)
Michael Slatterey, tenor (Sailor/Shepherd’s Voice)
Jinyoung Jang (Steersman)
Mark Barton, lighting design
WAGNER Tristan und Isolde (complete)
Tickets: $175, $275
Great Performers Presents the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 8 PM
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Renée Fleming, soprano
STRAUSS Sextet, from Capriccio, Op. 85
STRAUSS “Wie umgibst du mich mit Frieden,” from Die Liebe der Danae, Op. 83
STRAUSS “Mein Elemer,” from Arabella, Op. 79
KORNGOLD “Ich ging zu ihm?,” from Das Wunder der Heliane, Op. 20
KORNGOLD Briefszene (“Ich soll ihn niemals”), from Die Kathrin, Op. 28
SIBELIUS Lemminkäinen Suite, Op. 22
Tickets: $35, $56, $69
Saturday, May 5, 2007 at 2 PM
Avery Fisher Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Bill Viola, video artist
Peter Sellars, artistic collaborator
Christine Brewer, soprano (Isolde)
Alan Woodrow, tenor (Tristan)
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (Brangäne)
John Relyea, bass (Marke)
Jukka Rasilainen, baritone (Kurwenal)
Thomas Rolf Truhitte, tenor (Melot)
Michael Slatterey, tenor (Sailor/Shepherd’s Voice)
Jinyoung Jang (Steersman)
Mark Barton, lighting design
WAGNER Tristan und Isolde (complete)
Tickets: $175, $275
Related event:
Friday, May 4, 2007 at 7 PM
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
A Tristan Project discussion with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bill Viola, and Kira Perov, moderated by John Schaefer
Free to Tristan Project ticket-holders
Ticket Information:
Tickets are available at the Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Hall box offices, Broadway at 65 th Street, by calling CenterCharge at
212-721-6500, or by visiting Lincoln Center’s website at www.LincolnCenter.org.
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