Happy birthday, Barbara Hendricks!

Wishing a very happy seventy-fifth birthday to the wonderful American soprano, Barbara Hendricks!

Hendricks has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a number of notable occasions — including the world premiere and recording of David Del Tredici's Final Alice under the baton of eighth music director Sir Georg Solti — between 1974 and 1985, all indicated below:

December 5, 6, and 7, 1974, Orchestra Hall
AMY D'un epace deploye (U.S. premiere)
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Anthony Paratore, piano
Joseph Paratore, piano
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Gilbert Amy, conductor
MOZART Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!, K. 418
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Sir Georg Solti, conductor

October 7, 8, and 9, 1976, Orchestra Hall
DEL TREDICI Final Alice (world premiere)
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Sir Georg Solti, conductor

March 3, 4, and 5, 1977, Orchestra Hall
March 7, 1977, Uihlein Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
DEBUSSY La Damoiselle élue
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Ellen Stanley, mezzo-soprano
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor

October 27 and 28, 1977, Orchestra Hall
October 31, 1977, Carnegie Hall
MAHLER Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major
Sir Georg Solti, conductor (October 27 and 28)
Margaret Hillis, conductor (October 31)
Christiane Eda-Pierre, soprano
Lucia Popp, soprano
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-soprano
Helen Watts, contralto
Kenneth Riegel, tenor
William Walker, baritone
Donald Gramm, bass
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus
Doreen Rao, director

October 26 and 27, 1979, Orchestra Hall
DEL TREDICI Final Alice
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
Recorded by London Records on October 27, 1979, and January 29, and 30, 1980, in Orchestra Hall. The recording was produced by James Mallinson; James Lock, John Dunkerley and Michael Mailes were the recording engineers. Most recently, the recording was re-released and included in the 108-CD set commemorating Solti's complete Chicago Symphony Orchestra discography, and it also was featured on a recent nationally syndicated CSO radio broadcast, here. Solti's marked score, used for the premiere, is now housed at Harvard University's Loeb Music Library, and two pages can be seen here.

December 19, 20, and 21, 1985, Orchestra Hall
STRAUSS Scenes from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59
Mechthild Gessendorf, soprano
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Ann Murray, mezzo-soprano
Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

Happy, happy birthday!

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