JESSICA JONES

Acclaimed for the beauty of her voice and her superb musicianship, soprano

Jessica Jones sings with America’s leading opera companies and orchestras,

including the Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies;

Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras; and the St. Paul

Chamber Orchestra.

Jones has sung Ravel’s l’Enfant et les sortileges with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Lorin Maazel, Mahler’s Fourth

Symphony with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and the soprano solos in 

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Florida Philharmonic and the Seattle

Symphony Orchestra. Among her many opera roles are Marguerite in

Gounod’s Faust and Micaela in Carmen, both with Houston Grand Opera,

as well as Fiordiligi in Cosifan Tutte with Seattle Opera.

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 of

the West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

www.nga.gov

The Sixty-ninth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,817th Concert

National Gallery ofArt Orchestra

Bjarte Engeset, guest conductor

Jessica Jones, soprano

A Norwegian-American New Year Concert

January 9, 2011

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Johann Strauss Jr. (1825-1899)

Overture to Die Fledermaus (The Bat), op. 297

Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)

From Norske eventyrbilleder (Scenes from Norwegian Fairy Tales)

Prinsessen kommer ridende (The Princess Riding on the Bear)

Trollenes inntog/Dans av smatroll (Entry ofthe Trolls/Dance ofthe Little Trolls)

Charles Ives (1874-1954)

Country-band march

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Fro Monte Pincio (From Monte Pincio)

Varen (Spring)

En Svane (A Swan)

Dein Rath ist wohl gut (Your Advice Is Well Taken)

Johannes Flanssen (1874-1967)

Valdres-marsj (Valders March)

John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)

Hands across the Sea March

INTERMISSION

Grieg

Praeludium from Holberg Suite

Grieg

Ich Hebe dich (I love thee)

Zur Rosenzeit (At the Time of Roses)

Ein Traum (A Dream)

Grieg

I Dovregubbens hall (In the Hall ofthe Mountain King)

From Peer Gynt Suite

This concert is made possible in part by support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

The Musicians

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART ORCHESTRA

The National Gallery ofArt Orchestra was founded in 1943 by the Gallery’s

first music director, Richard Bales, who inaugurated the tradition of New Year

concerts in 1966, taking a cue from the famous New Year concerts at the

Musikverien in Vienna. This year’s New Year concert marks the end of a sixmonth-long festival of Norwegian culture—Norway Comes to Washington—

which began with jazz concerts by Norwegian ensembles in the Gallery’s

Sculpture Garden and included a major exhibition of prints by Edvard Munch.

It is offered as a heartfelt, musical wish for a happy and prosperous New Year

from the Gallery and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

BJARTE ENGESET

A graduate ofthe Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Norwegian conductor Bjarte

Engeset studied with conductor and composer Jorma Panula. Among the

conductors with whom he has studied and collaborated are Marek Janowslci,

Gustav Meier, Seiji Ozawa, and Simon Rattle. Engeset has been music director

ofthe Tromso Symphony Orchestra and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble and

permanent guest conductor ofthe Flemish Radio Orchestra. In 2007 he was

appointed chief conductor of Sweden’s Dala Sinfonietta. In addition to guestconducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the National Gallery

Orchestra, Engeset has conducted and made recordings with the Bournemouth 

Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic, Norddeutche Rundfunk, and the 

Oslo Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, as well as the Royal

Scottish National Orchestra and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

His discography includes a comprehensive recording ofthe orchestral music

of Edvard Grieg for Naxos. He appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with Pro Arte International Management of Bergen, Norway.

3
Norwegian-American New Year Concert

January 9, 2011

Texts and Translations

Fra Monte Pincio

Bjomstjeme Bjomson (1832-1910)

Aftenen kommer, Solen staar rod;

Farvende Straaler i Rummet henskylle

Lyslasngsel'ns Glands i uendelig Fylde; --

Fjeldet forklares som Aasyn i Dod.

Kupleme gloder, men laengere borte

Taagen langs Markemes blaalige Sorte

Vugger opover som Glemselen for:

Over hin Dal daskker tusind Aars Slor.

Aft'nen, hvor rod og varm,

Blusser afFolkelarm,

Glodende Hommusik,

Blomster og brune Blik. —

Tankeme strseber i Farver og Toner

Trofast mod det, som forsoner.

Stille det bliver, end dunklere blaa,

Himmelen vaager og venter; — opunder

Fortid, som drommer, og Fremtid, som stunder,

Usikre Bins i det rugende Graa.

Men de vil samle sig! Roma fremstige

Lystasndt en Nat for Italiens Rige:

Klokkeme kime, Kanoneme slaa,

Minderne flamme paa Fremtidens Blaa! —

Yndigt om Haab og Tro

Op mod Nygifte to,

Jubler en Sanger til

Cither og Flojtespil.

Stasrkere Lsengsler faar bamesod Hvile; —

Mindre tor vaagne og smile.

From Monte Pincio

Translation by Bradley Ellingboe

Twilight so lovely, sunset so red,

Nowr as the eventide’s luster is streaming

Over the mountains, so brilliantly beaming,

Altering their face to the calm ofthe dead.

Cupolas glowing, yet offin the distance

Rises the fog with a murky persistence,

Paving the valley in vapor so pale,

Cloaking it all with a thousand years’ veil,

Evening falls, red and warm,

Loudly the people swarm,

Mountains and horns above,

Brown eyes flash looks oflove.

Thoughts overwhelmed by sights that are near us,

Sounds of great beauty are striving to cheer us.

Still yet more quiet, the sky darker blue

Shines with the stars that are watching and creeping

Forth from the past toward the future, still sleeping.

Twinkling they wait in the fog’s murky hue,

But Rome shall assemble its numberless legions,

Claiming again the Italian regions;

Cannons shall crash and the steeples shall ring,

Memories ofpast tell what future might bring.

Lightly the music spreads,

Up to the newlyweds,

Gaily a minstrel sings,

Strumming his zither strings.

Italy, hold fast your vision unshaken,

That sweeter longings in time may awaken.
Varen

Aasmund Olafsson Vinje (1818-1870)

Springtide

Translation by Frederick Corder

Enno ein Gong fekk eg Vetren a sja

for Varen a roma;

Heggen med Tre som der Blomar var pa,

eg atter sag bloma.

Yes, once again winter's face would I see

To spring’s glory waning,

Whitethorn spreading its clusters so free

In beauty enchaining.

Enno ein Gong fekk eg Isen a sja

fra Landet a fljota,

Snjoen a brana og Fossen i A

at fyssa og bijota.

Once more behold from the earth day by day

The ice disappearing,

Snow melting fast and in thunder and spray

The river, careering.

Graset det grone eg enno ein Gong

fekk skoda med Blomar;

enno eg hoyrde at Varfuglen song

mot Sol og mot Sumar.

Emerald meadows, your flow’rets I’ll spy

And hail each new comer;

Listen again to the lark in the sky

Who warbles ofsummer.

Eingong eg sjolv i den varlege Eim,

som mettar mit Auga,

eingong eg der vil meg finna ein Heim

og symjande lauga.

Once more I'm drawn to the spring-gladdened vale 

That stilleth my longing;

There I find sunlight and rest without fail,

And raptures come thronging.

Alt det, som Varen imote meg bar

og Blomen, eg plukkad',

Fedemes Ander eg trudde det var,

som dansad og sukkad',

All unto which here the spring giveth birth,

Each flow'r I have riven,

Seems to me now 1 am parting from earth,

A spirit from heaven.

Derfor eg fann millom Bjorkar og Bar 

i Varen ei Gata;

derfor det Ljod i den Floyta eg skar,

meg tyktes at grata.

Therefore I hear all around from the ground

Mysterious singing,

Music from reeds that of old I made sound,

Like sighs faintly ringing.

En Svane

Henrik Ibsen

A Swan

Translation by Bradley Ellingboe

Min hvide svane

du stumme, du stille,

hverken slag eller trille

lod sangrost ane.

My swan, my pale one,

So quiet, so still,

From you no trill,

Nor song, not one.

Angst beskyttende

alfen, som sover,

altid lyttende

gled du henover.

Anxiously watching

For your chick, who is sleeping,

You listen with care

As o’er water you’re sweeping.

Men sidste modet,

da eder og ojne

var lonlige logne,

ja da, da lod det!

But at our parting,

When vows and eyes

Held secret lies,

Oh, yes! Then you sang!
Tak for dit Raad (Dein Rat ist wohl gut)

Bjomstjeme Bj0mson

Tak for dit Raad,

men j eg lsegger min Baad

ind i Braendingens Brus

til det fristende Sus.

Om end Rejsen skal blive den sidste, jeg gj0r,

jeg maa pr0ve, hvad ikke jeg pr0vede for.

Ej blot til Lyst

jeg forlader din Kyst, —

jeg maa Storsj0en naa,

jeg maa Havstyrten faa,

jeg maa Kj0len se, naar det krasngende skjasr',

jeg maa friste, hvorlangt og hvorlasnge det baer'!

Thanks for Your Advice

Thanks for your advice,

But I’ll head my boat

Into the waves’ tempting noise.

Even ifthis voyage will be my last,

I must try what I dared not try before.

It is not for pleasure

That I sail away from your coast;

I must reach the wild sea,

I must feel the ocean spray,

I must see the keel rise out ofthe water,

I must see how long it can last, how far it can go.

Jeg elsker Dig I Love Thee

Hans Christian Andersen (1810-1875) Translation by Nils Lid Hjort

Min Tankes Tanke ene du er vorden, Thou art become the single thought ofmy thoughts,

Du er mit Hjertes forste Kasrlighed. Thou art the first love ofmy heart.

Jeg elsker Dig, som Ingen her pa Jorden, I love thee as no one else here on earth,

Jeg elsker Dig i Tid og Evighed! I love thee for time and eternity!

Zur Rosenzeit (Wehmut)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Ihr verbliihet, suBe Rosen,

Meine Liebe trug euch nicht;

Bliihtet, ach! dem Hoffnungslosen,

Dem der Gram die Seele bricht!

Jener Tage denk’ ich trauemd,

Als ich, Engel, an dir hing,

Auf das erste Knospchen lauemd

Friih zu meinem Garten ging;

Alle Bliiten, alle Friichte

Noch zu deinen Fiifien trug

Und vor deinem Angesichte

Hoffnung in dem Herzen schlug.

Der auf erste Knospchen lauemd

friih zu seinem Garten ging,

ach der Tage denk ich trauemd,

als ich Engel an dir hing.

At the Time of Roses (Melancholy)

Translation by Emily Ezust

You are wilting, sweet roses -

my love could not sustain you.

Bloom for hopelessness then,

for he whose soul is breaking from sorrow!

I think mournfully ofthose days

when I hung on you, angel,

waiting for your first little bud

and going to my garden early;

Every blossom, every fruit

I carried to your feet; 

and before your countenance,

hope throbbed in my heart.

Bloom for him who waits for your first bud,

going to his garden early;

alas, I think mournfully ofthose days

when I hung on you, my angel.
Ein Traum

Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819-1892)

Mir traumte einst ein schoner Traum:

Mich liebte eine blonde Maid;

Es war am griinen Waldesraum,

Es war zur warmen Friihlingszeit:

Die Knospe sprang, der Waldbach schwoll,

Fern aus dem Dorfe scholl Gelaut -

Wir waren ganzer Wonne voll,

Versunken ganz in Seligkeit.

Und schoner noch als einst der Traum

Begab es sich in Wirklichkeit -

Es war am griinen Waldesraum,

Es war zur warmen Friihlingszeit:

Der Waldbach schwoll, die Knospe sprang,

Gelaut erscholl vom Dorfe her -

Ich hielt dich fest, ich hielt dich lang 

Und lasse dich nun nimmermehr!

O friihlingsgriiner Waldesraum!

Du lebst in mir durch alle Zeit -

Dort ward die Wirklichkeit zum Traum,

Dort ward der Traum zur Wirklichkeit!

A Dream

Translation by Peter Low

I once had a beautiful dream:

I was in love with a fair-haired young w'oman;

We were in a green forest glade;

It was warm spring weather;

The buds were sprouting,

the brook was running strong;

The sounds ofthe distant village could be heard;

We were full ofjoy, immersed in bliss.

And even more beautiful than the dream

was what occurred in reality:

It was in a green forest glade;

It was warm spring weather,

The brook was running strong, the buds were

sprouting, the sounds ofthe distant village reached

our ears -I held you tight, I held you long, 

and now will never again let you go!

O spring-green glade,

You will live in me for all time!

That is where reality became a dream

and the dream became reality!