Happy birthday, Frederica von Stade!

Wishing a very happy 80th birthday to the fabulous American mezzo-soprano, Frederica von Stade!

Von Stade has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, at the Ravinia Festival and in Carnegie Hall, as follows.

May 1 and 2, 1981, Carnegie Hall
BERLIOZ The Damnation of Faust
Kenneth Riegel, tenor (May 1)
Peyo Garazzi, tenor (May 2)
José van Dam, baritone
Malcolm King, bass
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus
Doreen Rao, director
Sir Georg Solti, conductor

Solti also led performances of Berlioz’s work at Orchestra Hall in Chicago on April 23 and 25, 1981, prior to the Carnegie Hall performances. Unfortunately, von Stade had to cancel due to illness. She was replaced by Chicago Symphony Chorus member Mary Beth Stephen on April 23 and Claudine Carlson on April 25.

Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust was recorded by London in Medinah Temple on May 4, 5, 6, and 7, 1981. James Mallinson was the producer, and James Lock and Simon Eadon were sound engineers. The recording won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance (other than opera) from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

July 9, 1988, Ravinia Festival
BERLIOZ Romeo and Juliet
Philip Creech, tenor
John Cheek, bass
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
James Levine, conductor

July 14, 1996, Ravinia Festival
MOZART Ch’io mi scordi di te? . . . Non temer, amato bene (with Claude Frank, piano)
MAHLER Songs from Rückert Lieder and Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Semyon Bychkov, conductor

August 14, 1999, Ravinia Festival
MOZART Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio from La clemenza di Tito
LEHÁR Vilja and Lippen schweigen (with John Aler, tenor) from The Merry Widow
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor

July 8, 2000, Ravinia Festival
Selections from:
COPLAND Old American Songs
KERN Show Boat
OFFENBACH The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein
MOZART Don Giovanni
RODGERS Oklahoma! and South Pacific
SONDHEIM A Little Night Music
with Samuel Ramey, bass
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor

August 5 and 7, 2010, Ravinia Festival
MOZART Così fan tutte
Ana María Martínez, soprano
Ruxandra Donose, mezzo-soprano
Saimir Pirgu, tenor
Rodion Pogossov, baritone
Richard Stilwell, bass-baritone
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Duain Wolfe, director
James Conlon, conductor

Von Stade also gave two recitals in Orchestra Hall under the auspices of Symphony Center Presents:

May 5, 2000
FAURÉ Les roses d’Ispahan
FAURÉ Prison
FAURÉ Mandoline
FAURÉ Clair de lune
FAURÉ La fée aux chansons
SCHUMANN Frauenliebe und -leben
DEBUSSY Chansons de Bilitis
ROREM I am Rose
IVES Memories
HUNDLEY Sweet Suffolk Owl
BERNSTEIN Greeting from Arias and Barbarolles
THOMSON A Prayer to Saint Catherine
BOLCOM Amor
COPLAND The Little Horses
PASATIERI Vocal Modesty
MUSTO Litany
HOIBY The Serpent
Martin Katz, piano

October 28, 2007
ROREM I am Rose
FAURÉ Les roses d’Ispahan
SCHUBERT Heldenröslein
STRAUSS Die erwachte Rose
GUGLIELMI La vie en rose
ROUSSEL Joueurs de flûte
POULENC Voyage à Paris from Banalités
ROREM Early in the Morning
BERTHOMIEU Two Songs from Les jardins de Paris
TIFFANEL Fantasy on Weber’s Der Freischütz
THOMAS Connais-tu le pays? from Mignon
THOMAS Me voici dans son boudoir from Mignon
RAVEL La flûte enchantée from Shéhérazade
HEGGIE Primary Colors from The Deepest Desire
MARTIN Ballade for Flute and Piano
MARTIN Trois chants de Noël
Mathieu Dufour, flute
Peter Grunberg, piano

Happy, happy birthday!

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