Sunday, May 7, 2017 • 5:00 p.m
Esther Renee Rayo
Graduate Recital
DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue • Chicago
Sunday, May 7, 2017 • 5:00 p.m. DePaul Concert Hall
Esther Renee Rayo, soprano Graduate Recital Luciano Laurentiu, piano and harpsichord David Sands, cello Jesse Bruer, clarinet PROGRAM George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) “Lascia la spina” from Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Desinganno, HWV 46a (1707)
Luciano Laurentiu, harpsichord David Sands, cello
From Giulio Cesare, HWV 17 (1724) “V’adoro Pupille” “Piangerò la sorte mia”
Luciano Laurentiu, harpsichord David Sands, cello
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965 (1828)
Jesse Bruer, clarinet Luciano Laurentiu, piano
Intermission
Esther Renee Rayo • May 7, 2017 Program Fernando Obradors (1897-1945) Canciones clásicas españolas “La mi sola, Laureola” “Al amor” “Con amores, la mi madre” “Del cabello más sutil”
Luciano Laurentiu, piano
George Gershwin (1898-1937); arr. Robert Matteucci “Someone to watch over me” from Oh, Kay! (1926)
Jesse Bruer, clarinet Luciano Laurentiu, piano
“Summertime” from Porgy and Bess (1934)
Jesse Bruer, clarinet Luciano Laurentiu, piano
Leonard Bernstein (1819-1990) “Dream with me” from Peter Pan (1950)
Luciano Laurentiu, piano David Sands, cello
Esther Renee Rayo is from the studio of Elizabeth Byrne. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Music.
As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.
Esther Renee Rayo • May 7, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) “Lascia la spina” from Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Desinganno, HWV 46a (1707) Duration: 6 minutes George Frideric Handel, German born English composer of the late Baroque period is noted particularly for his operas, oratorios and instrumental compositions. HWV 46a was published in 1707 as Handel’s first Oratorio, and was later revised and reproduced three different times across the fifty years of his career. Pleasure’s aria “Lascia la spina” (Leave the thorn) is the work’s most popular aria, and might sound familiar as Handel recycled this melody many times, which was a common practice for composers of this period.
Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Desinganno, (The Triumph of Time and Disillusionment) revolves around a competition between Beauty, Pleasure, Time and Disillusionment, as we are all young and carefree for only a short time, then comes age and inevitable death.
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) “V’adoro Pupille” from Giulio Cesare, HWV 17 (1724) Duration: 5 minutes One of Handel’s most celebrated and often performed operas is his 1724 Giulio Cesare, HWV 17. This opera seria in three acts was composed for the Royal Academy of Music, and was set to the libretto of Nicola Francesco Haym. Having composed eight arias and two accompanied recitatives for his Cleopatra, Handel provides her character ample opportunity to portray her jestful personality, charm, passion and pursuit.
In pursuit of sole reign over Egypt, Cleopatra will stop at nothing to defeat her brother Tolomeo for the throne. Seeking the help of Cesare, in her chambers and disguised as ‘Lidia,’ Cleopatra uses her charms to seduce Caesar with song. In her aria “V’adoro Pupille”, Cleopatra praises the darts of Cupid that pierce her sad heart, which at every hour, recounts that Cesare is her dearly beloved, and she simply cannot help but fall in love with him.
Esther Renee Rayo • May 7, 2017 Program Notes George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) “Piangerò la sorte mia” from Giulio Cesare, HWV 17 (1724) Duration: 6 minutes When Cleopatra’s brother attempts to assassinate Caesar, word gets back to Cleopatra that Cesare has drowned, leading us into Cleopatra's dramatic lament of sudden loss of love and power in “Piangerò la sorte mia”. However, Cesare is not dead.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965 (1828) Duration: 13 minutes German composer Franz Schubert is known for his ability not only as a pianist, but also as a composer of German lieder (art songs). Having only lived to the age of 31, he managed to compose over 600 lieds throughout his lifetime, in addition to symphonies, operas, chamber and piano works. "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" (The Shepherd on the Rock) is a chamber work for soprano voice, clarinet, and piano, based on texts by the German poet Wilhelm Müller. This is Schubert’s only solo voice composition written for a second instrument, setting it apart from his other lieder. In 1828, during the final months of his life, Schubert wrote this piece for operatic soprano Pauline Anna Milder-Hauptmann, upon her request for a brilliant concert aria which would allow her to express a wide range of feelings. As a result, this piece is more like an operatic aria than it is an art song.
Through its multi-sectional, cantata-like character, the first section is warm as a young shepherd boy stands in the hills, calling out to his love and hearing his voice return back to him through the valleys. The second section turns melancholic as the shepherd boy laments his grief and loneliness, which then leads into the last section of hopefulness for Spring and with it, new beginnings.
Esther Renee Rayo • May 7, 2017 Program Notes Fernando Obradors (1897-1945) Canciones clásicas españolas Duration: 7 minutes Spanish born Fernando Obradors is a 20th century composer of zarzuelas, symphonic works, and most significantly, Canciones clásicas españolas, four volumes of song arrangements for voice and piano. These songs have been favored and performed by nearly all Spanish divas, leading to the songs’ growth in popularity worldwide, and to Obradors’ chief claim to fame.
Obradors' songs are internationally loved and performed because they are the epitome of the popular conception of Spanish style. Composed from folk songs and tonadilla, his arrangements include folk songs from various regions of Spain, each being treated with a personal manner that draws on all the most typical aspects of Spanish music. His texts are drawn from popular songs of the 18th and 19th centuries, and also from literature dating back to as early as the 15th century.
“La mi sola, Laureola” is a ‘solmization villancico’, a type of old Spanish song where the words correspond to the solfege syllables of the musical scale. Derived from the 16th century, “my only Laureola,” says the captivated Leriano, “although my pride is wounded by thy hand, it is the only hand in the world for me!”. “Al Amor” is originally a work of Cristobal de Castillejo, a 17th century composer and poet who strongly defended the Spanish style of verse against the Italian style. Writing three volumes of poetry, this poem comes from the volume specifically written about love. “Give me a thousand kisses and hundreds more, and so no one may know, let’s forget the count and start all over again!” “Con amores, la mi madre” is a traditional spanish lullaby with a melancholic tone, addressing her mother as she reminisces about a past love. “Del cabello mas sutil” is a setting of an authentic folk song, where a young lover wishes to make a chain out of their lover’s hair, to draw them near, and wishes to be a jug so that every time the lover took a drink, they could be one.
Esther Renee Rayo • May 7, 2017 Program Notes George Gershwin (1898-1937) “Someone to watch over me” from Oh, Kay! (1926) Duration: 5 minutes American composer George Gershwin wrote hundreds of popular songs throughout his life, alongside his brother, Ira. Having studied classical music as a young man, Gershwin developed into a composer with an innate ability to write a melody loved by all. “Someone to watch over me” is a song from the 1926 musical Oh, Kay!, based on the play La Presidente by Maurice Hanniquin and Pierre Veber. The plot revolves around the adventures of the Duke of Durham and his sister, Lady Kay, English bootleggers during the American Prohibition Era.
Gershwin had originally written this song as an uptempo jazz tune, but Ira suggested that it might be better served as a ballad, and George agreed. This selection remains very popular in the jazz standard repertoire and American Songbook.
“Summertime” from Porgy and Bess (1934) Duration: 5 minutes After successfully tackling the forms of the rhapsody, concerto, and overture, Gershwin began thinking of writing an opera, and decided for it to be on a play he had seen, entitled "Porgy" by DuBose Heyward. The American flavor of this play, and the poignant story of the love of Bess for the crippled Porgy was the ideal subject for a "native" American folk opera.
Before writing Porgy and Bess, Gershwin lived for several weeks with the Gullah Negroes on the waterfront in Charleston, South Carolina, the location of the story. It took him nearly eleven months to put his work down on paper, and an additional nine to complete the orchestration. "Summertime", one the most famous arias in American repertoire, is only to be expected from a born song writer. Sung by the character of Clara, this operatic lullaby is noted for its slow, churning, bluesy groove, New York jazz tunes and southern black spiritual traditions.
Esther Renee Rayo • May 7, 2017 Program Notes Leonard Bernstein (1819-1990) “Dream with me” from Peter Pan (1950) Duration: 4 minutes Peter Pan is a 1950 musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, with both music and lyrics written by Leonard Bernstein. The production was initially intended as a full blown musical, with a complete score, but many of the musical selections (including “Dream with me” and about 45 minutes worth of music) were cut to accommodate the limited vocal ranges and abilities of the principles. In 2000, conductor Alexander Frey learned about the full score which had been intended by Bernstein, and contributed to a fully scored production, which premiered in the United States.
In the original score, the boy who never grew up shows up to Wendy’s house, and takes the children to a wild, dreamlike fantasy. In the final scene, as the children are back home and under the covers, Wendy sings the enchanting “Dream With Me” song, hoping for her dream to last forever.
Notes by Esther Renee Rayo.