The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

East Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

For the convenience of concertgoers, 

the Garden Cafe remains open for light refreshments

until 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development 

office at (202) 842-6450 or cirde@nga.gov for more information.

COVER: Grant Tyson Reynard, A Modern Opera, 1940, etching,

National Gallery ofArt, Washington, Reba and

Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams

The Seventy-second Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,971st Concert

New York Opera Society

performing

Max and Moritz

A Cartoon Opera in Seven Pranks

and

Supersize Girl

A Plastic Opera in Five Operations

December 15, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

East Building Auditorium

Admissionfree
Max and Moritz:

A Cartoon Opera in Seven Pranks

Commissioned by New York Opera Society

Music: Gisle Kverndokk 

Libretto: Oystein Wiik

CAST

Trouble John Tiranno

Max Carlos Feliciano

Moritz Gustavo Ahualli

Mrs. Cackle Juliana Rambaldi

Henny the Hen, Baguette Lady, Heli-Mom Sarah Pillow

Henriette the Hen, Mr. Guru, Mr. Cervello,

Belinda the Thai Tarantula Victor Benedetti

SYNOPSIS

Prologue: Max and Moritz meet up with Trouble

First Prank: Max and Moritz play a trick on Mrs. Cackle and her hens

Aria (Mrs. Cackle): “Oh, figlie! Morte, morte, finire cosi?”

Second Prank: Max and Moritz play a trick on the local guru

Aria (Max and Moritz and Mr. Guru): “Guruaria with Avalavalah”

Third Prank: Max and Moritz meet up with Heli-Mom and are

accused ofkilling Mrs. Cackle’s hens

Aria (Heli-Mom): “My Boys”

Fourth Prank: Max and Moritz meet Mr. Cervello, the shrink

Fifth Prank: Max and Moritz play a trick on the shrink

Duet: “Gunpowderduet with ‘Okeydoke Snoring’”

Sixth Prank: Max and Moritz meet up with Belinda, the Thai Tarantula

Seventh Prank: Guilty or not?

Aria (Trouble): “Troublesome Defense”

Aria and chorus: “The Rolls Royce Type of Boys”

INTERMISSION

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Supersize Girl:

A Plastic Opera in Five Operations

World Premiere Performance

Commissioned by New York Opera Society

Music: Gisle Kverndokk

Libretto: Oystein Wiilc

CAST

Amanda (a fourteen-year-old girl) Sarah Pillow

Albert (her Facebook friend) Carlos Feliciano 

The Man in the Mirror John Tiranno

Merlin (a plastic surgeon) Victor Benedetti

The mother Juliana Rambaldi 

The father Gustavo Ahualli

The three girlfriends (The good, the bad, and the ugly)

Gustavo Ahualli, Victor Benedetti, Carlos Feliciano

4

SYNOPSIS

Prologue: A chat between Amanda and her Facebook friend, Albert

Scene 1: Amanda talks to the Man in the Mirror

Scene 2: Amanda talks to her parents

Aria: “The Girl You Told Me I Would Be”

Scene 3: Walking along a street in New York, Amanda encounters

an old man in a dustbin (Merlin)

Aria (Merlin): “My One and Only Love”

Scene 4: Merlin makes Amanda taller

Scene 5: Amanda meets the Three Little Queens

Scene 6: Merlin changes Amanda’s nose

Scene 7: Merlin, the Three Little Queens, and Amanda’s

parents review Amanda’s results

Scene 8: Merlin changes Amanda’s bottom

Scene 9: Albert and Amanda finally meet

Aria (Amanda): What have I done?

Scene 10: Amanda meets Merlin one more time 

Duet and chorus: “My One and Only Love”

5
INSTRUMENTALISTS

(for both operas)

Elizabeth Young, conductor

Andrew Rehrig, flute

Kevin Gebo, trumpet

Danielle Cho, cello

Danielle Hahn, piano

STAFF

(for both operas)

Joachim Schamberger, director

Marcus Doshi, lighting designer for Max and Moritz

Robert Denton, lighting designer for Supersize Girl

Camille Assaf Doshi, costume designer

Alice Tavener, associate costume designer

Kerry Gibbons, assistant costume designer

Amanda Spooner, production stage manager

Jennifer Cho, executive director, New York Opera Society

This concert is made possible by generous grantsfrom the

Royal Norwegian Embassy

6

The Musicians

NEW YORK OPERA SOCIETY

Benefiting singers and audiences alike through timely productions that offer 

fresh, often provocative interpretations of contemporary and classical works,

New York Opera Society (nyos) annually tours a new production of an extant

work in international festivals abroad and features a contemporary opera

or new commission in the United States. In addition, it hosts a salon series

and an international artist-in-residence program, supports outreach in

underserved communities, and runs a training program, Les Jeunes Solistes.

nyos has been heard on several previous occasions at the National

Gallery of Art, including a showcase for young Norwegian singers (2008), a

Gershwin songfest in honor of From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester

Dale Collection (2009), and the world premiere of Max and Moritz (2010).

Other notable nyos performances have taken place at the Chicago Cultural

Center, the Embassy of Italy, and New York’s World Financial Center.

In its most recent seasons, nyos presented new productions of Falstaff

and Madama Butterfly for its annual festival in southern France and the

United States premiere of a contemporary Spanish opera, Las Horas vacias,

by Guggenheim fellow and Juilliard faculty member Ricardo Llorca. Since 

the beginning ofthe current season, nyos has been favorably reviewed in

gq and time magazines, Opera News, and the Washington Post, and has been

the subject of a pbs special report and a feature article in the Wall Street

Journal. Led by Executive Director Jennifer Cho and a board ofdirectors led

by philanthropist A.T. Nguyen, nyos offers special thanks to Det Norske

Komponistfond, the Norwegian Composer’s Union, Music Norway, and the

Dan and Gloria Bohan Foundation for their support in this production.

7
GISLE KVERNDOKK

One of Norway’s leading opera composers, Gisle Kverndokk wrote his first

opera when he was fifteen years old, a radio opera commissioned by the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Shortly thereafter he studied composition, conducting, flute, and piano at the Norwegian Academy of Music in

Oslo, where he received a master ofmusic degree in 1995, before continuing

his studies at the Juilliard School in New York. Kverndokk has been commissioned by a number of opera houses in Norway and Germany, and has had

notable success with two operas at the Norwegian National Opera—The

Fourth Watch ofthe Night (2005) and Around the World in Eighty Days (2010),

commissioned for the opening ofthe new opera house in Oslo.

0YSTEIN WIIK

In addition to his considerable output as a librettist, Oystein Wiik is a singer,

actor, and writer. A graduate ofthe State Academy ofTheater in Oslo, he

was employed at the Norwegian Theater from 1980 to 1988, where he played

lead roles in several major musical productions, including Tony in West Side

Story, the title role in Sweeney Todd, Rum Turn Tugger in Cats, and Theo in

Piaf. His 1988 performances ofJean Valjean in Les Miserables led to international acclaim when he repeated the role in London and Vienna. In 1991

Wiik released a solo album entitled Too Many Mornings: Songs by Sondheim.

More recent albums include Det erjul, Pavane, Stage, and West End Favoritter.

Wiik has acted in as well as written the lyrics for two ofhis four collaborations with composer Gisle Kverndokk. He played the male lead (Alberto 

Knox) in Sophie’s World and the title role in Vincent van Gogh.

JOACHIM SCHAMBERGER

A graduate ofthe Musikhochschule in Wurzburg, Germany, and the Merola

Opera Program ofthe San Francisco Opera, Joachim Schamberger works 

internationally as a stage director and virtual theater designer. His training

also includes studies in digital film production and 3-D animation at the New

York Film Academy. He has worked with young artists at the Brooklyn College

Conservatory, the International Institute ofVocal Arts in Italy, the Juilliard

School of Music in New York, and voiCExperience in Florida. This past season

he also served as the artistic director for Indianapolis Opera’s young artist

program. Recent productions include La Boheme for Connecticut Grand

Opera; Ariadne aufNaxos, Das Rheingold, and Tosca for Indianapolis Opera; 

Rigoletto and Sweeney Todd for Shreveport Opera; Martha and The Wizard of

Oz for the Landestheater Coburg in Germany; Falstajffor the Theatre Municipal in Castres, France; Die Zauberflote, Idomeneo, and The Rake’s Progress for 

the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel; Angelica/Schicchi, La

Rondine, and Lucia di Lammermoorfor Opera Tampa; and Cosifan tutte for the

Conservatory in Stony Brook, New York. Schamberger maintains a web site 

at www.joachimschamberger.com.

GUSTAVO AHUALLI

Baritone Gustavo Ahualli made his operatic debut in 1996 as Papageno in

Die Zauberflote at the Teatro San Martin in Tucuman, Argentina. Since then,

he has sung leading baritone roles in Carmen, Cosifan tutte, Don Carlo, Don

Pasquale, Eugene Onegin, La Boheme, La Favorita, La Traviata, Le Nozze di

Figaro, Lucia di Lammermoor, Pagliacci, and Turandot. Ahualli has recently

performed at Argentina’s Teatro Argentino de la Plata and Teatro San Martin,

Italy’s Teatro Lauro Rossi, Peru’s Teatro Segura, and Saint Louis’s Union

Avenue Opera Theatre as well as with the New Jersey Association ofVerismo

Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Wichita Grand Opera.

In demand as an oratorio soloist, Ahualli has sung Johann Sebastian

Bach’s Magnificat at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires; Beethoven’s Ninth

Symphony at Yankee Stadium; and Verdi’s Requiem at the Sacred Heart Basilica

in Newark, New Jersey. Now a resident ofthe United States, Ahualli was born

in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina. He began his musical training at age

seven with Hilda Deniflee, a student of Kodaly and Bartok. In 1998 Ahualli 

obtained the maestria de canto from the Institute Superior de Arte del Teatro

Colon. A bilingual cantor for the Sacred Heart Cathedral Basilica in Newark

and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, Ahualli won first prize in the

New Jersey Association ofVerismo Opera Competition in 2006.

9
VICTOR BENEDETTI

Winner of New York City Opera’s Debut Artist ofthe Year award for his

performance ofthe title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Victor Benedetti has

also sung the title role in Wozzeck with the Astoria Music Festival, Ford in

Falstaffwith Toledo Opera, Alfonso in La Favorita with Stadttheater Giessen,

and two roles— Scarpia in Tosca and Peter in Hansel and Gretel—with

Indianapolis Opera. With Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, 

he has appeared as Nardo in La Finta Giardiniera, Slim in OfMice and Men,

John Proctor in The Crucible, and John Sorel in The Consul. He received his

bachelor and master ofmusic degrees from Northwestern University and

launched his professional singing career with the Lyric Opera Center for 

American Artists of Lyric Opera ofChicago. More information about Victor

Benedetti is available at www.victorbenedetti.com

CARLOS FELICIANO

A native of Puerto Rico, tenor Carlos Feliciano completed a two-year resident

artist program with the Pittsburgh Opera and made his debut with the company as Messaggiero in Aida. Other roles Feliciano has sung in Pittsburgh

include the Philistine Messenger in Samson et Dalila and Pinkerton in

Madama Butterfly as well as Ernesto in Don Pasquale. He performed with the

Project Opera of Manhattan in The Rape ofLucretia as well as Die Zauberflote,

Le Nozze di Figaro, and II Barbiere di Siviglia. Making his European debut

in March 2007 with New York Opera Society in Castres, France, he returned

to Castres the following year to perform Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff. Feliciano

received a bachelor ofmusic degree from the Manhattan School of Music 

and completed his graduate work at the Juilliard School. He received first

place at the Five Towns Music and Arts Foundation Competition in 2006,

was a finalist for the Violetta DuPont Voice Competition in 2007, and has

also received a full-tuition scholarship from the Juilliard School as well as

scholarships from the Manhattan School of Music, the Assisi Music Festival,

and the Musical Arts Corporation of Puerto Rico.

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SARAH PILLOW

Soprano Sarah Pillow has built a unique career by drawing on her equal

expertise in jazz, classical, and early music. Her performance credits include

avant-garde projects at the Kitchen in New York City, The Marian Vespers of

1610 with the New York Collegium, and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Pillow

has toured more than thirty cities in the United States with both her jazz

quartet and her crossover project, Nuove Musiche. She is also the director

ofher own group, Galileo’s Daughters, and has eight recordings available 

ofboth jazz and early music repertoire. Recent performances have taken her

to British Columbia; Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Mumbai, India;

and New York City. More information about Sarah Pillow can be found at 

www.galileosdaughters.com and www.buckyballmusic.com.

JULIANA RAMBALDI

A national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions,

soprano Juliana Rambaldi has also won an aria Award and the George 

London Award. Beginning her career at the Lyric Opera Chicago Center for 

American Artists, she has performed many roles at Lyric Opera Chicago, 

including Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Marguerite in Faust, and Musetta

in La Boheme. In 2000 she received critical acclaim for creating the role of

Catherine in the world premiere ofWilliam Bolcom’s A Viewfrom the Bridge.

Her leading roles with other American opera companies include her New

York debut as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with New York City Opera; 

Sandrina in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera with Glimmerglass Opera; and

Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffman and Violetta in La Traviata with Houston

Grand Opera. Her extensive concert repertoire includes Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas

Brasileiras, OrfFs Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Exultate

Jubilate and Mass in C Minor, and Ferko’s Stabat Mater. In addition to her

operatic and concert work, Rambaldi is an accomplished actress, currently

to be seen as La Diva with Teatro ZinZanni, a circus/cabaret in Seattle.

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JOHN TIRANNO

Versatile American tenor John Tiranno’s recent opera engagements include

Alfredo in La Traviata with Granite State Opera, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Connecticut Grand Opera, and Belmonte in Die Entjuhrung aus

dem Serail with Concert Opera of Philadelphia. As a concert soloist, he has

appeared in performances of Mahler’s Symphony no. 8 (National Academy

Orchestra ofCanada), Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 and Haydn’s Creation

(Vermont Mozart Festival), and Handel’s Messiah with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. He has sung with the American Symphony Orchestra,

Boheme Opera, the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, the Discovery 

Orchestra, Lake George Opera, Light Opera of New York, Sarasota Opera,

and Teatro Grattacielo in New York City.

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Program Notes

In 1865 the German author Wilhelm Busch wrote and illustrated a book for 

children titled Max und Moritz— Line Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen (Max

and Moritz—A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks). The German title satirizes the

custom, prevalent since the eighteenth century, of giving a subtitle to novels 

and dramas by way of a didactic explanation for the existence ofthe work. The

darkly humorous tale in rhymed couplets exaggerates the pranks and punishments that are a universal feature ofthe life of active children. It was a popular

bedtime story in German-speaking households throughout the rest ofthe

nineteenth century and on into the twentieth century, when it was eventually 

translated into all ofthe European languages and became a pan-European

favorite. Max und Moritz has become a benchmark ofGerman culture and

even today it is as well known in German-speaking countries as the fairy tales

ofthe brothers Grimm. Students ofthe history of comic strips consider Max

und Moritz to have been the direct inspiration for the world’s longest-running

comic strip Katzenjammer Kids, which ran in American newspapers from

1912 to 1949 and is still in syndication.

The opera Max and Moritz: A Cartoon Opera in Seven Pranks is an adaptation ofthe mid-nineteenth-century story for modern times, developed by

librettist 0ystein Wiik and composer Gisle Kverndokk. The composer writes:

I discussed Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with an opera director 

once, and he said he always felt that Stravinsky had two influences 

in this work—the Mozart opera and the Broadway musical ofthe

1940s. I think this is a very good way ofseeing it, and ever since I

have been thinking ofthis as a very interesting point ofview when 

I have worked on my operas. The playfulness held together in a

strong dramaturgy is very present in these two forms, and that is

what I value the most in music theatre.

I see Max and Moritz as an absurd piece ofmusical entertainment. The Stravinsky influence is there—the chamber music 

aspect, [as in] The Soldier’s Tale; the musical connotations of

military trumpet, piccolo blasting, [and] romantic cello solos; the 

arias and duets in classical forms. Then there is the Broadway

>3
showmanship that I feel is necessary to highlight the humorous

aspect. The feeling of bursting into song is always a wonderful 

thing to do. This is also a sort of Marx-Brothers way of developing

the music, to suddenly delve into another kind of piece, another

kind ofmusic that came from nowhere but is acted out as the most

natural thing—a game of associating.

Cartoon music is historically linked to opera. The Hollywood

film music tradition came from European romantic composers 

who had written big operas in Vienna and Berlin, and created in

Hollywood, as Korngold said, “little hidden operas.” The way the

music described the action and the emotions was very operatic.

This is developed to the extreme in cartoon music, and following

up the action to the split second—“mickey mousing” —is a fun 

way to create a musical structure that, [if] isolated, can seem very

complex. I use this technique in Max and Moritz. The music

follows the characters step by step with all sorts ofsurprises—

bumps, crashes, horror warnings, yoga chanting, ballet music, and 

lush romantic outbursts. I use a great variety ofstyles—marches, 

waltzes, tarantella, coloratura aria, Jerry Herman-like songs, swing,

Charleston, and a few quotes from Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Verdi.

In collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the New York Opera

Society commissioned Supersize Girl as part ofits new “Music with a Message”

project to reach out to adolescent girls. A comedic representation of a girl’s

journey through the travails of plastic surgery, the opera is intended to counter

the negative media assault against their body image and self-esteem. Documentary filmmaker Greg Vander Veer, (recently selected by the Film Society of

Lincoln Center as one ofthe top twelve emerging documentary filmmakers of

2012) has been selected to document this journey in classrooms and theaters.

14