Pierre Boulez, conductor; Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano; Falk Struckmann, bass-baritone

UMS's history with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra dates back to 1892, when the ensemble was in its second season, and UMS in its 14th. Now, some 107 years and 201 performances later, the relationship continues to grow. The CSO's emeritus conductor, Pierre Boulez, returns to Ann Arbor for the first time since 1972 to conduct Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle in concert form. Boulez, a composer, conductor, tireless advocate for new music, and one of the most important musical and intellectual figures of our time, was born in 1925. He was invited to the US by George Szell and subsequently held posts with The Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, where he succeeded Leonard Bernstein. The founder of one of the world's finest contemporary music ensembles, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Boulez conducts a stunning program from the early 20th century: Schoenberg's stunningly beautiful early work, Verklärte Nacht, and Bartók's one-act opera, Bluebeard's Castle, in which the lovely Judith opens the seven doors in her new husband's castle, discovering something horrible and terrifying behind each.

Program · Schoenberg : Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (1917) · Bartók : Bluebeard's Castle (1911)