The colossal season closer features Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 2, celebrating a fallen hero, his meandering retrospect on life, and his final judgement and redemption. While Mahler himself gave the symphony no name, it is known to many as “Resurrection.”

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus

MAHLER  Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection”
I. Allegro maestoso (Totenfeier)
II. Andante moderato
III. In ruhig fließender Bewegung
IV. “Urlicht” (Primal Light)
V. Im Tempo des Scherzos

This performance is made possible by the Michal and Jim Wadsworth Concert Endowment.

About Ilana Davidson
Soprano

Soprano Ilana Davidson has enjoyed a busy schedule of opera, concerts, and recitals, performing repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque to the 21^st century. Her performances have included William Bolcom’s Songs Of Innocence and of Experience conducted by Leonard Slatkin at Carnegie Hall, which earned 4 GRAMMY Awards including Best Classical Album and Best Composition; as well as Mahler Symphony No. 4 with Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (broadcast live), Mozart Arias at the Royal Concertgebouw Hall, Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre in the Netherlands, Krenek’s Das Geheime Königreich in Vienna, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Québec Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include Carnegie Hall performances of Mona Lisa (Von Schillings), Der Diktator (Krenek), Songs From Jewish Folk Poetry (Shostakovich) with the American Symphony Orchestra and TON, a debut with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Mahler Symphony No. 4 with Keith Lockhart at the Brevard Music Festival, Mozart’s Requiem with the Bellingham Music Festival, and numerous chamber music festivals in the United States and Canada.

Recital highlights include a tour of the Lieder of Ernst Krenek, the New York Festival of Song, appearances with the Bard Music Festival, and the Annenberg Center in Palm Desert. Ms. Davidson has performed major works and operatic roles with the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Florida Grand Opera, Nationale Reisopera, Vlaamse Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Berkshire Choral Festival, Harrisburg Symphony, Duke Chapel, Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Krenek Festival Vienna, Innsbruck Early Music Festival, and the Schwetzinger Festspiele.

She has performed Haydn’s Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah with the Berkshire Choral Festival. She has appeared with the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival, Electric Earth Concerts, Monadnock Music, Staunton Music Festival, Ars Antiqua, Saltbay Chamberfest, and Montage Music Society, as well as the Riverdale Choral Society as Anne in Annelies by James Whitbourn.

Ilana is featured on several commercial recordings, including works of Bolcom, Krenek, Weill, Zorn, Britten, Elwood, and more. She was awarded a BRIO award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, received a first prize in the Mostly Mozart Competition of Philadelphia, was a Sullivan Foundation recipient, and has been awarded several Bronx Council on the Arts project grants.

Ilana Davidson received her Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, received her Bachelor of Voice from Carnegie Mellon University, attended the Aston Manga Early Music Academy, and was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center for two seasons. Ilana received her yoga teacher training (RYT 200) in 2018.

From 2011-2022, she served as artistic director and founder of the ClassicalCafé Chamber Music series, dedicated to bringing world-class chamber music to intimate settings. She is currently the artistic director and founder of the Serenata Chamber Series.

Ilana has an active voice studio and created Vocally Mindful, a healing course for singers. She is also the cantorial soloist at Congregation Sons of Israel in Nyack.

About Susan Platts
Mezzo-soprano

British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano, particularly esteemed for her performances of Gustav Mahler’s works. She is a Fellow of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, which gave her the opportunity to work closely with Jessye Norman.

Ms. Platts has performed at Covent Garden, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center, as well as with the Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Minnesota Orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, the symphonies of Montreal, Toronto, American, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Houston, Les Violons du Roy, Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, as well as the Los Angeles and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras.

She has collaborated with many of today’s leading conductors including John Adams, Marin Alsop, Roberto Abbado, Sir Andrew Davis, Ludovic Morlot, Leon Botstein, Josep Caballé-Domenech, Christoph Eschenbach, JoAnn Falletta, Jane Glover, Vladimir Jurowski, Jeffrey Kahane, Carlos Kalmar, Keith Lockhart, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Bramwell Tovey, Osmo Vänska, and Pinchas Zuckerman. Ms. Platts has appeared on many distinguished art song series including Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal, Aldeburgh Connection in Toronto, and both the Frick Collection and Lincoln Center “Art of the Song” series in New York City.

Ms. Platts’ recent opera highlights include Die Walküre with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House, John Adams’ Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony, as well as Britten’s Albert Herring (Pacific Opera, Vancouver Opera), Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold (Pacific Opera), and Bernstein’s A Quiet Place (Montreal Symphony Orchestra).

Ms. Platts’ discography includes a recent release on the Naxos label of La Tragédie de Salomé (Florent Schmitt) with the BPO, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (chamber version) also on Naxos, Das Lied von der Erde (full version) for Fontec Records with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica for Dorian Records, Brahms Zwei Gesänge with Steven Dann and Lambert Orkis, and a solo disc of Lieder by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms on the ATMA label.

In 2021, she pursued her love of baking and wrote a cookbook, titled Aria Ready for Dessert? – A Musician Takes Center Stage in the Kitchen. She also started a food blog called “Baking, Bits & Bobs.”