DOCSLIB.ORG

Spring/Summer 2010 a Quiet Place at New York City Opera

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Spring/Summer 2010 a Quiet Place at New York City Opera PRELUDE, FUGUE News for Friends of Leonard Bernstein RIFFS Spring/Summer 2010 A Quiet Place at New York City Opera by George Steel eonard Bernstein himself Lsaid that all of his works - symphonies, piano pieces, songs, all of it - were theatrical. But his works for the stage have a special place in the history of American music. So I am overjoyed to say that New York City Opera will open its 2010-11 season with A Quiet Place, Bernstein's final completed stage work, with a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. It is undoubtedly one of Bernstein's greatest musical achievements. As a composer, LB always sought "undiscovered country." It is so typical of him that a late work like A Quiet Place would be full of struggle and experimenta­ tion. Every note he wrote "cost," as he would say: he paid in sweat and blood (or really cigarettes and Tums) for music that seems inevitable and even, paradoxically, effortless. He completed A Quiet Place through Herculean effort and self-sacrifice. It is an amazing work - and one that we need more than ever. It is not afraid to challenge and to break new ground - and it reaches in some ways further than other Bernstein Music by Libretto by works to integrate his many Leonard Bernstein Stephen Wadsworth musical languages. Bernstein had an uncanny Pro,lwud l1y Houston Grand Opera, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and 1eatro al/a Scala understanding of the theatrical power of music, and all his talent and experience are on display in (continued on page 2) Poster from the Houston Grand Opera premiere production 3 Mass in Virginia 5 Artful Learning Spring 8 In the News Inside ... 4 White Plains West Side 2010 Update 12 Some Performances Story Project 7 Bernstein Beyond the Couch and Concert Hall A Quiet Place at New York City Opera, continued To Our Readers ven now, 20 years since ELeonard Bernstein's death, his presence is ubiquitous. Festivals featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein seem to be sprout­ ing all over the world, from Seattle to Japan. New books, articles, CDs and DVDs are all issuing forth in the coming months. Even psychia­ Dialogue scene from Houston Grand Opera production trists are getting in on the action. (Bernstein would be flattered.) this towering score: the dramatic As the piece grew, Charlie Certain Bernstein works that transformations of the tunes Harmon would send me dis­ are performed less often are suddenly (from, say, a rage aria into a patches from around the world appearing in multiple locations, chorale of sublime remorse); on the progress of composition, including Trouble in Tahiti and Mass. complex multi-layered choral usually including a photocopy of And most exciting of all, Bernstein's and vocal writing (in the funeral a few precious pages of manu­ ambitious opera, A Quiet Place, is readings) that gives Otelia a run script. Finally I had the honor at long last getting its New York for its money; ardent love duets; of working as an assistant to LB premiere, at New York City Opera and just plain gorgeous tunes. during the 1984 production in this fall. I had the great fortune to Washington, DC. Leonard Bernstein used to say be present at the creation of A A Quiet Place has never been he was proudest of his achievements Quiet Place. With hardy others, far from my mind. As I begin my as an educator. If he could see the I shared the agony of LB's dour second season as General Manager talented young musicians benefiting daily procession to the studio in and Artistic Director of New York from the numerous scholarships in Fairfield, CT, where he went to City Opera, I am thrilled to be his name; the workshops for young compose. But I also shared the able to bring this great work to people developed from such works as delirium when he emerged with New York. Incredible as it may Mass and West Side Story; and above something beautiful. seem, our production will be the all the growth of the visionary Artful New York City premiere of this Learning teaching model, he would Incredible as it may seem, signal work. continue to be proud indeed. Christopher Alden, who shares our production will be my passion for bringing A Quiet J.B.• Place back to the stage, will direct the New York City pre­ a remarkable cast: baritones Louis Otey and Christopher Feigum as miere of this signal work. the older and younger versions of Sam, mezzo-soprano Patricia He could be touchingly proud of a Risley as Dinah, soprano Sara bit of composerly craft (the suave Jakubiak as Dede, baritone Joshua preparation of a suspended ninth Hopkins as Junior, and tenor in Junior's entrance music, for Dominic Armstrong as Franc;:ois. example) and also plagued by Jayce Ogren will conduct. uncertainty about tiny details A Quiet Place wi ll open on (whether or not to end Dede's October 27, 2010, with eight per­ garden aria with a "button") or formances through November 21. larger looming questions ("Is it For More information all too difficult to take?"). Or about A Quiet Place visit more happily, he could be certain, www.leonardbernstein.com/ through his unique supernatural works_a_quiet_place.htm • instinct, of the "rightness" of a musical idea. George Steel is General Manager and Artistic Director e of New York City Opera. Mass in Virginia This past spring the Virginia Arts Festival presented Mass, featuring the Virginia Symphony and Chorus. Inspired by the occasion, conductor JoAnn Paletta shared her reactions. by JoAnn Faletta s I approached the great A honor of conducting Leonard Bernstein's Mass, I was reminded so strongly of my personal expe­ riences with this extraordinary man during my student days at Juilliard. The Maestro would come to the school to work with my four colleagues and me - occasions that were filled with the most exalted anticipation and the greatest fear as well. We were amazed to discover that this, the greatest American musician of the 20th century, was a gentle, encouraging conducting mentor. His kindness to us, coupled with his astonishing musical insights, made the sessions with him unforgettable: truly highlights of my artistic life. Underneath the "larger­ than-life" exterior of Leonard Bernstein; under the charm, the overwhelming magnetism, the confidence and love of life, one John McVeigh, Celebrant, at Virginia Arts Festival could occasionally glimpse a trace of sadness. From the distance of it is a true expression of the com­ And, in the final analysis, over two decades, I wonder now poser's own search for meaning. Mass illustrates so clearly that if that was an expression of an Bernstein holds nothing back from Bernstein - with all of his unresolved question, a yet-ro- us: he bares his soul and his pain; connection to the past, present be fulfilled hope, a yearning for he draws us in, battered and con­ and future - looms large as a something never expressed in fused, and wraps his arms around unique artist, and the towering words. As I studied his Mass, I us to comfort us. and unrepeatable figure of our was struck again by Bernstein's In many ways, Bernstein's musical time. No one but Leonard personal quest for answers. What Mass revealed to me even more Bernstein could have written is the meaning of life? Where is powerfully his closeness to two this piece. No one but Leonard God? What is our time here on composers he idolized. Like Gustav Bernstein could have created such earth about? Mahler, Bernstein filled his Mass a vibrant and troubling mirror His Mass broaches those ques­ with the entire world: a huge and of our world. No one but he tions, and shocks us with honesty, kaleidoscopic landscape of every could have loved us enough to with pain, with yearning for emotion, simultaneously irreverent share his most intimate doubts, answers that are always beyond and profound. Like the solitary hopes and dreams with the untold our reach. It echoes all the doubts and deaf Beethoven, he finds in his millions who are the beneficiaries and hopes we have had in our personal anguish the flame that of his incomparable legacy. • own personal lives, even while it has sustained him throughout his is a searing portrait of a time of life: the hope that music will help J oAnn Paletta is Music public turmoil and trouble in our find the answers, that music will Director of Virginia Symphony country. Mass is powerful because make us whole, that music will and Buffalo Philharmonic. draw people together, that music can change the world. 0 White Plains West Side Story Project uick, name this movie! It instead of panning the breadth of sity, youth-police relationships, Q opens with an aerial view New York City and landing on conflict resolution, and youth of a city, then pans down into the Upper West Side, the view is voice (the importance of a youth a schoolyard, where a group of the City of White Plains, NY. presence in civic affairs). Each young men begin to snap their This all began when the US workshop was co-facilitated by fingers. If you said West Side Department of Justice provided a high school student, a police Story, you're right. But not com­ a grant for the City of Seattle's officer, a teaching artist and a pletely, because now there's a new Police Department, 5th Avenue youth worker. The performance DVD, documenting the White Theatre, and Police Foundation showcased the evolution of the Plains West Side Story Project, to use the universal themes of project and featured all original that opens the same way; except West Side Story as a catalyst material produced by the youth for exploring issues of violence, including poetry, dance, song, and youth-police relationships, diver­ theater.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 2005-2006 PPC Recital-Daisuke Sasaki (Double Bass)
    LYNN UNIVERSITY CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC PROGRAM Daisuke Sasaki, double bass Dr. Jon Robertson, Dean PPC Recital Welcome to the 2005-2006 season . This being my first year as dean of the conservatory, I greet the WithYANG SHEN, piano season with unabated enthusiasm and excitement. The talented musicians and extraordinary performing faculty at Lynn represent the future of the performing Tuesday, December 13, 2005 at 7:30p.m. arts, and you, the patrons, pave the road to their Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall artistic success through your presence and generosity. This community engagement is in keeping with the Lynn University, Boca Raton Conservatory of Music's mission: to provide high­ quality professional performance education for gifted young musicians and set a superior standard for music performance worldwide. Sonata in A Major, op.17 •.•..•••••••••••.• Ludwig van Beethoven THE ANNUAL FUND A gift to the Annual Fund can be designated for Allegro moderato scholarships, various studios, special concerts or to Poco adagio quasi andante the General Conservatory Fund. Allegro moderato ADOPT-A-STUDENT You may select from the conservatory's promising Suite No. 3 .....•...........•...•....•..............•........... J. S. Bach young musicians and provide for his or her future through the Conservatory Scholarship Fund. You will enjoy the concert even more when your student Bourree performs. A gift of $25,000 adopts a student for Gigue one year. A gift of $100,000 pays for an education. ESTATE GIFT Intermezzo, op.9 ...•.......•........••.....••.........Reinhold Gliere An estate gift will provide for the conservatory in perpetuity. Your estate gift may be made as a gift of appreciated stock, real estate or cash.
    [Show full text]
  • Jerold Frederic Presents Concert of Gripping Music Philharmonic
    THE% ECHO VOL. XXV TAYLOR UNIVERSITY, UPLAND, INDIANA, SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 5, 1938 NO. 9 Judge Fred Bale Jerold Frederic Mystery Abounds Philharmonic Orchestra Coming Discusses Vital Presents Concert When Dramatists Issues at T. U. Of Gripping Music Thrill Audience All Taylor music lovers were A phantom tiger, a death light, thrilled at the masterful playing a haunted house, a terrific storm of Jehold Frederic as he was pre­ — an ideal setting for a mystery! sented by the Lyceum Committee, In Spiers Hall on January 29th Tuesday evening, January 18th, one of the hit programs of the in Shreiner Auditorium. year was the presentation of His graduation from the "Tiger House", Robert St. Clair's thundering londs to the soft, popular three act. novel comedy. sweet passages, his brilliant tech­ In the minds of the audience nique, excellent tone quality and which crowded the little audi­ keen sense of rhythm held the torium to its capacity, the play audience enthralled during the | ranks high among Taylor's Magic of Murdock G. H. Shapiro and entire program. His powerful, literary productions. No one was His Orchestra to yet gentle fingers brought forth disappointed in the thrilling en­ Provides Thrills his notable creative ability in his tertainment. Appear at Taylor interpretation of Chopin. His Weird fantastical sounds, For Large Group presentation of Liszt himself, tricky movable panels, cruel On February 19, the Lyceum rather than his music, it was as | clutching claws! Was it any Even the "front" seats of Committee is presenting the next if his listeners were for the time wonder onlookers sat on the Shreiner Auditorium were oc­ in the series of programs.
    [Show full text]
  • Classics 3: Program Notes Overture to Candide Leonard Bernstein Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, August 25, 1918
    Classics 3: Program Notes Overture to Candide Leonard Bernstein Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, August 25, 1918; died in New York, October 14, 1990 After collaborating on The Lark, a play with incidental music about Joan of Arc, Leonard Bernstein and Lillian Hellman turned their attention in 1954 to Voltaire’s novella Candide. They thought it the perfect vehicle to make an artistic statement against political intolerance in American society, just as Voltaire had done in eighteenth-century France. After bringing in poet Richard Wilbur to write the lyrics, they worked intermittently on Candide for two years. Enormous amounts of money were spent on the production, which opened in Boston on October 29, 1956. Though many critics called it brilliant, the production failed financially; after moving to New York in December, it was shut down after just seventy-three performances. Everyone had someone to blame, but many thought it failed because of audience confusion about its hybrid nature—was it an opera, operetta, or a musical? Leonard Bernstein: celebrating his The story revolves around the illegitimate Candide, who centennial loves and is loved in return by Cunegonde, daughter of nobility. They are plagued by myriad disasters, which lead them from Westphalia to Lisbon, Paris, Cadiz, Buenos Aires, Eldorado, Surinam, and finally Venice, where they are united at last. Bernstein’s often witty, sometimes tender music has been considered the work’s greatest asset, both in the initial failed production and in later successful versions. The Overture, possibly Bernstein’s most frequently performed piece, perfectly captures the mockery and satire as well as the occasional introspective moment of Voltaire’s masterful creation.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernsteincelebrating More Sides of the Story
    BernsteinCelebrating More Sides of the Story Wednesday 17 October 2018, 7.45pm Holy Trinity Sloane Square, SW1 Chichester Psalms Missa Brevis Choral Suite from West Side Story London Concert Choir Conductor Mark Forkgen Tickets £25 (under-25s £15) to include a programme and interval drink. Box Office (020) 7730 4500, www.cadoganhall.com and at the door A collection will be held in aid of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity One of the most talented and successful musicians in American history, Leonard Bernstein was not only a composer, but also a conductor, pianist, educator and humanitarian. His versatility as a composer is brilliantly illustrated in this concert to celebrate the centenary of his birth. The Dean of Chichester commissioned the Psalms for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival with the request that the music should contain ‘a hint of West Side Story.’ Bernstein himself described the piece as ‘forthright, songful, rhythmic, youthful.’ Performed in Hebrew and drawing on jazz rhythms and harmonies, the Psalms Music Director: include an exuberant setting of ‘O be joyful In the Lord all Mark Forkgen ye lands’ (Psalm 100) and a gentle Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’, as well as some menacing material cut Nathan Mercieca from the score of the musical. countertenor In 1988 Bernstein revisited the incidental music in Richard Pearce medieval style that he had composed in 1955 for organ The Lark, Anouilh’s play about Joan of Arc, and developed it into the vibrant Missa Brevis for unaccompanied choir, countertenor soloist and percussion. Anneke Hodnett harp After three contrasting solo songs, the concert is rounded off with a selection of favourite numbers from Sacha Johnson and West Side Story, including Tonight, Maria, I Feel Pretty, Alistair Marshallsay America and Somewhere.
    [Show full text]
  • ARSC Journal
    LEONARD BERNSTEIN, A COMPOSER DISCOGRAPHY" Compiled by J. F. Weber Sonata for clarinet and piano (1941-42; first performed 4-21-42) David Oppenheim, Leonard Bernstein (recorded 1945) (78: Hargail set MW 501, 3ss.) Herbert Tichman, Ruth Budnevich (rec. c.1953} Concert Hall Limited Editions H 18 William Willett, James Staples (timing, 9:35) Mark MRS 32638 (released 12-70, Schwann) Stanley Drucker, Leonid Hambro (rec. 4-70) (10:54) Odyssey Y 30492 (rel. 5-71) (7) Anniversaries (for piano) (1942-43) (2,5,7) Leonard Bernstein (o.v.) (rec. 1945) (78: Hargail set MW 501, ls.) (1,2,3) Leonard Bernstein (rec. c.1949) (4:57) (78: RCA Victor 12 0683 in set DM 1278, ls.) Camden CAL 214 (rel. 5-55, del. 2-58) (4,5) Leonard Bernstein (rec. c.1949) (3:32) (78: RCA Victor 12 0228 in set DM 1209, ls.) (vinyl 78: RCA Victor 18 0114 in set DV 15, ls.) Camden CAL 214 (rel. 5-55, del. 2-58); CAL 351 (6,7) Leonard Bernstein (rec. c.1949) (2:18) Camden CAL 214 (rel. 5-55, del. 2-58); CAL 351 Jeremiah symphony (1941-44; f.p. 1-28-44) Nan Merriman, St. Louis SO--Leonard Bernstein (rec. 12-1-45) ( 23: 30) (78: RCA Victor 11 8971-3 in set DM 1026, 6ss.) Camden CAL 196 (rel. 2-55, del. 6-60) "Single songs from tpe Broadway shows and arrangements for band, piano, etc., are omitted. Thanks to Jane Friedmann, CBS; Peter Dellheim, RCA; Paul de Rueck, Amberson Productions; George Sponhaltz, Capitol; James Smart, Library of Congress; Richard Warren, Jr., Yael Historical Sound Recordings; Derek Lewis, BBC.
    [Show full text]
  • Composition Catalog
    1 LEONARD BERNSTEIN AT 100 New York Content & Review Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. Marie Carter Table of Contents 229 West 28th St, 11th Floor Trudy Chan New York, NY 10001 Patrick Gullo 2 A Welcoming USA Steven Lankenau +1 (212) 358-5300 4 Introduction (English) [email protected] Introduction 8 Introduction (Español) www.boosey.com Carol J. Oja 11 Introduction (Deutsch) The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. Translations 14 A Leonard Bernstein Timeline 121 West 27th St, Suite 1104 Straker Translations New York, NY 10001 Jens Luckwaldt 16 Orchestras Conducted by Bernstein USA Dr. Kerstin Schüssler-Bach 18 Abbreviations +1 (212) 315-0640 Sebastián Zubieta [email protected] 21 Works www.leonardbernstein.com Art Direction & Design 22 Stage Kristin Spix Design 36 Ballet London Iris A. Brown Design Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited 36 Full Orchestra Aldwych House Printing & Packaging 38 Solo Instrument(s) & Orchestra 71-91 Aldwych UNIMAC Graphics London, WC2B 4HN 40 Voice(s) & Orchestra UK Cover Photograph 42 Ensemble & Chamber without Voice(s) +44 (20) 7054 7200 Alfred Eisenstaedt [email protected] 43 Ensemble & Chamber with Voice(s) www.boosey.com Special thanks to The Leonard Bernstein 45 Chorus & Orchestra Office, The Craig Urquhart Office, and the Berlin Library of Congress 46 Piano(s) Boosey & Hawkes • Bote & Bock GmbH 46 Band Lützowufer 26 The “g-clef in letter B” logo is a trademark of 47 Songs in a Theatrical Style 10787 Berlin Amberson Holdings LLC. Deutschland 47 Songs Written for Shows +49 (30) 2500 13-0 2015 & © Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. 48 Vocal [email protected] www.boosey.de 48 Choral 49 Instrumental 50 Chronological List of Compositions 52 CD Track Listing LEONARD BERNSTEIN AT 100 2 3 LEONARD BERNSTEIN AT 100 A Welcoming Leonard Bernstein’s essential approach to music was one of celebration; it was about making the most of all that was beautiful in sound.
    [Show full text]
  • Leonard Bernstein
    chamber music with a modernist edge. His Piano Sonata (1938) reflected his Leonard Bernstein ties to Copland, with links also to the music of Hindemith and Stravinsky, and his Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1942) was similarly grounded in a neoclassical aesthetic. The composer Paul Bowles praised the clarinet sonata as having a "tender, sharp, singing quality," as being "alive, tough, integrated." It was a prescient assessment, which ultimately applied to Bernstein’s music in all genres. Bernstein’s professional breakthrough came with exceptional force and visibility, establishing him as a stunning new talent. In 1943, at age twenty-five, he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic, replacing Bruno Walter at the last minute and inspiring a front-page story in the New York Times. In rapid succession, Bernstein Leonard Bernstein photo © Susech Batah, Berlin (DG) produced a major series of compositions, some drawing on his own Jewish heritage, as in his Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah," which had its first Leonard Bernstein—celebrated as one of the most influential musicians of the performance with the composer conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony in 20th century—ushered in an era of major cultural and technological transition. January 1944. "Lamentation," its final movement, features a mezzo-soprano He led the way in advocating an open attitude about what constituted "good" delivering Hebrew texts from the Book of Lamentations. In April of that year, music, actively bridging the gap between classical music, Broadway musicals, Bernstein’s Fancy Free was unveiled by Ballet Theatre, with choreography by jazz, and rock, and he seized new media for its potential to reach diverse the young Jerome Robbins.
    [Show full text]
  • BEYOND the BASICS Supplemental Programming for Leonard Bernstein at 100
    BEYOND THE BASICS Supplemental Programming for Leonard Bernstein at 100 BEYOND THE BASICS – Contents Page 1 of 37 CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................. 4 FOR FULL ORCHESTRA ................................................................. 5 Bernstein on Broadway ........................................................... 5 Bernstein and The Ballet ......................................................... 5 Bernstein and The American Opera ........................................ 5 Bernstein’s Jazz ....................................................................... 6 Borrow or Steal? ...................................................................... 6 Coolness in the Concert Hall ................................................... 7 First Symphonies ..................................................................... 7 Romeos & Juliets ..................................................................... 7 The Bernstein Beat .................................................................. 8 “Young Bernstein” (working title) ........................................... 9 The Choral Bernstein ............................................................... 9 Trouble in Tahiti, Paradise in New York .................................. 9 Young People’s Concerts ....................................................... 10 CABARET.................................................................................... 14 A’s and B’s and Broadway ....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2014-2015 Philharmonia No. 4
    Lynn Philharmonia No. 4 2014-2015 Season Lynn Philharmonia Roster VIOLIN CELLO FRENCH HORN JunHeng Chen Patricia Cova Mileidy Gonzalez Erin David Akmal Irmatov Mateusz Jagiello Franz Felkl Trace Johnson Daniel Leon Wynton Grant Yuliya Kim Shaun Murray Herongia Han Elizabeth Lee Raul Rodriguez Xiaonan Huang Clarissa Vieira Clinton Soisson Julia Jakkel Hugo Valverde Villalobos Nora Lastre Shuyu Yao Jennifer Lee DOUBLE BASS Lilliana Marrero August Berger Cassidy Moore Evan Musgrave TRUMPET Yaroslava Poletaeva Jordan Nashman Zachary Brown Vijeta Sathyaraj Amy Nickler Ricardo Chinchilla Yalyen Savignon Isac Ryu Marianela Cordoba Kristen Seto Kevin Karabell Delcho Tenev FLUTE Mark Poljak Yordan Tenev Mark Huskey Natalie Smith Marija Trajkovska Jihee Kim Anna Tsukervanik Alla Sorokoletova TROMBONE Mozhu Yan Anastasia Tonina Mariana Cisneros Zongxi Li VIOLA OBOE Derek Mitchell Felicia Besan Paul Chinen Emily Nichols Brenton Caldwell Asako Furuoya Patricio Pinto Hao Chang Kelsey Maiorano Jordan Robison Josiah Coe Trevor Mansell Sean Colbert TUBA Zefang Fang CLARINET Joseph Guimaraes Roberto Henriquez Anna Brumbaugh Josue Jimenez Morales Miguel Fernandez Sonnak Jacqueline Gillette Nicole Kukieza Jesse Yukimura Amalia Wyrick-Flax Alberto Zilberstein PERCUSSION BASSOON Kirk Etheridge Hyunwook Bae Isaac Fernandez Hernandez Sebastian Castellanos Parker Lee Joshua Luty Jesse Monkman Ruth Santos 2 Lynn Philharmonia No. 4 Guillermo Figueroa, music director and conductor Saturday, February 7 – 7:30 p.m. Sunday, February 8 – 4 p.m. Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center Märchen von der schönen Melusine, Op. 32 Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (2013) Behzad Ranjbaran (b. 1955) Jeffrey Khaner, flute INTERMISSION Harold en Italie, H 68 (1834) Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Harold aux montagnes.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LARK L'alouette JEAN ANOUILH After Centuries of Abuse
    THE LARK L’Alouette JEAN ANOUILH After centuries of abuse, repudiation, prejudice, misunderstanding, and indifference, Joan has been vindicated. The facts are now commonly known. No one in his right mind any longer questions her belief in her sacred mission, her dedication, and her accomplishments. After the Canonization and Shaw’s very credible interpretation, what was left? Only occasional variations on the theme, such as those by Bertolt Brecht and Maxwell Anderson. Before Anouilh, one could well have wondered, as some did, whether another first-rate drama, faithful to the truth about Joan, was possible. But for Anouilh another path opened. Perhaps we had become so absorbed in a cool analysis of the facts that we had lost the spirit of Joan, the sense of wonder and joy in the legend. Anouilh attempted to recapture what we might have been in danger of losing. He wrote The Lark in 1953. The translation used here was made in 1955 for the London premiere by the English poet and playwright Christopher Fry. The American dramatist Lillian Hellman adapted the play for the New York production later in the same year. NOTE The following note by Jean Anouilh appeared in the program of the French production of The Lark: The play that follows makes no attempt to explain the mystery of Joan. The persistent effort of so-called modern minds to explain mysteries is, in any case, one of the most naive and foolish activities indulged in by the puny human brain since it became overstocked with shallow political and scientific notions, and can yield nothing, in the long run, but the nostalgic satisfaction of the small boy who discovers at last that his mechanical duck was made up of two wheels, three springs and a screw.
    [Show full text]
  • Acclaimed Pianist Angela Hewitt Joins the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra for Beethoven's Heroic 'Emperor Concerto'
    PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE Acclaimed pianist Angela Hewitt joins the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra for Beethoven’s heroic ‘Emperor Concerto’ Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra with Angela Hewitt Sunday 28 Oct 2018, 7.30pm Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Edinburgh Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 Images available to download here Sibelius’s visionary Fifth Symphony, plus the musical heroism of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto Following the opening concert from the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, the second concert in the Sunday Classics 2018-19 season sees the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra bring an evening of wonderfully varied music to the Usher Hall. Japanese conductor Yutaka Sado and his Orchestra open with musical heroes not often referenced in the Usher Hall: the three wide-eyed sailors on shore leave in Bernstein’s foot-tapping musical On the Town. His feel-good Three Dance Episodes blend jazz, big band and classical to electrifying effect – and feature Bernstein’s hit tune ‘New York, New York’. The remarkable Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt joins Orchestra and conductor for one of the most heroic piano concertos of them all. Beethoven’s noble Emperor Concerto was the composer’s last for the piano, and is cast on a grand scale, but its brilliant, breathtaking virtuosity melds effortlessly with tenderness and exquisite beauty. The piece is an ideal match for Hewitt’s fresh, elegant, powerful playing. Born into a musical family, Hewitt started her piano education at the age of three and has gone on to win awards and fans across the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Austin Symphonic Band Broadway Romance
    Community In Concert AUSTIN SYMPHONIC BAND PRESENTS BROADWAY ROMANCE February 22, 2014, 8 PM Grace Covenant Church, Austin Texas ASB Board of Directors and Officers Musical Director: Richard Floyd President: Keith Chenoweth Past President: Ron Boerger President Elect: Sally Grant Board of Directors: Scott Hastings Donald McDaniel Bruce Wagner Rob Ward Secretary: Marilyn Good Treasurer: Sharon Kojzarek Librarian: Karen VanHooser Assistant Director: Bill Haehnel Concert Coordinator: Kevin Jedele Transportation Manager: Chuck Ellis Marketing Director: Thomas Edwards Webmaster: David Jones Archivist: Tim DeFries Business Manager: Dan L Wood Thanks to our Austin hosts: Matt Atkinson, Connally High School Director of Bands Rehearsal Space/Equipment Use Austin Symphonic Band PO Box 6472 Austin, Texas 78762 (512) 345-7420 Web site: www.austinsymphonicband.org [email protected] This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Economic Development Department/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com. Music Director In 1983 Richard Floyd was appointed State Director of Music Activities for the University Interscholastic League at the University of Texas at Austin where he coordinated all facets of secondary school music competition for some 3500 performing organizations throughout Texas. He has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphonic Band since 1986. Prior to his appointment at the University of Texas, he served on the faculty at the University of South Florida as Professor of Conducting, and at Baylor University. Mr Floyd became UIL State Director of Music Emeritus in 2013. Mr Floyd has toured extensively as a clinician, adjudicator, and conductor including appearances in 41 states and 9 foreign countries.
    [Show full text]