Serving the Baltimore / Washington Region March / April 2005 INSIDE Circulation: 28,000 6 Somerset Maugham in Life and in The Alien Corn Phyllis Bryn-Julson Page 4 sings her final Peabody celebrates Alan Kefauver and the Pierrot Lunaire 20th anniversary of the Recording Arts & Sciences program By Geoff Himes Page 33 Hajime Teri Murai reflects on Mahler’s tragic Sixth Page 14 Amit Peled performs cello works from Bach to Britten Page 8 Benjamin Pasternack features Piano Works by Nicholas Maw and ...and Raymond Coffer speaks on “Soap Opera Robert Sirota and Genius” in the Second Viennese School Page 12 2 Peabody News MARCH / APRIL 2005 MARCH / APRIL 2005 Peabody News 3 naud Prize (second over all prize) and the special Prize Nadia and Lili PEABODY Boulanger for the best interpretation of a work written between 1900 and Winners 1950. The award-winning newspaper of the Grammy Nominations for Baltimore/Washington Cultural Corridor Richard Crawley sings Peabody Artists Published by the Peabody Conservatory of Three Peabody alumni have been Cavaradossi with San Music, Baltimore. nominated for Grammys by the Francisco Opera National Acad- Richard Crawley (GPD, ‘96) recently emy of Record- found himself stepping in to sing Circulation:28,000 ing Arts and Cavaradossi with the San Francisco Sciences. They Opera Company opposite Carol Editor: are: violist Vaness as Tosca. Crawley, who is in the Young Artist Program with the Anne Garside Kim Kashkash- Angela Taylor ian, (BM ’73) in company, was covering the role when the lead fell ill. Richard, who keeps a the Yego Chamber Competition. She the category also won the Hankook Symphony Assistant Editor and Designer: “Best Instru- home base in Baltimore in Highland- Kim Kashkashian town, coached the role with Peabody Competition that same year. Kirsten Lavin mental Soloist” for her record- voice faculty member Eileen Cornett. Benjamin Kim and Eric Zuber ing of Mansuri- share First Prize in Yale Editorial Researcher: Damon Ferrante Opera an’s “…And A two-act opera by Damon Fer- Gordon Competition Karen Amrhein Then I was in rante (MM, ’04) titled Jefferson and Poe Benjamin Kim, a student of Leon Time Again,” with libretto by Daniel Epstein pre- Fleisher, and Eric Zuber, a student of on ECM New Publishers Representative: mieres at Theatre Project in Baltimore Boris Slutsky, shared first prize in the Series; pianist on April 21, then goes on to New 2003 Yale Gordon Piano Concerto Network Publications, Inc. Mark Wait, Mark Wait York’s Symphony Space on Broadway Competition at Peabody. 11350 McCormick Road (DMA ’76) in for performances on May 7 and 8. As winners, Kim will perform the the category Executive Plaza One, Suite 900 Plans are for it to be seen at the John Brahms Concerto d minor No. 1 and “Best Classical Hunt Valley, MD 21031 Drew Theatre of Guildhall in East Zuber the Rachmaninoff Concerto in d Album” for Hampton, NY State, in mid-July. minor No. 3 with the Peabody Sym- Elliott Carter’s phony Orchestra in the 2005-2006 Portfolio Manager: Piano Concerto Emerging Artists… season. The second prize was awarded on Naxos; and Carey Scanlan Swift In its January-February issue, Sympho- to Hee Youn Choue, a student of conductor ny Magazine has published its “2005 Alexander Shtarkman. Tel: 410/584-1900, ext. 121 Hugh Wolff, Guide to Fax: 410/584-1998 (MM ’77 piano, Hugh Wolff Emerging MM ’78, con- Email: [email protected] Artists.” Includ- ducting) in the category “Best Classi- ed are Svetoslav cal Crossover Album,” for Turnage- Stoyanov (BM Printed by: Scofield’s Scorched on Deutsche Gram- ’03), Homestead Publishing Co. mophon. marimba/per- cussion; Yael Hyunah Yu is among BBC’s Wess (BM ’94), Chen-Ye Yuan Peabody News is published bi-monthly for Best of 2004 piano; Chen-Ye September/October; November/December; Soprano Hyunah Yu, who received Yuan (GPD ’98), baritone; and Chad both her undergraduate and graduate Freeburg (MM ’01, GPD ’02), tenor. January/February; March/April; and degrees at Peabody, May/June. Each issue mails out at least culminating in an Angela Taylor wins 10 days before the first month of the issue Artist’s Diploma in Songwriting Contest date. 2002, was featured A new song by Angela Taylor (BM in the “BBC Voices ’93, flute, BM ’94, recording arts & Programme’s Best sciences, MM ’97, Electronic/Com- Edited for Peabody/Hopkins faculty, exec- of 2004” for the puter Music) titled “Anything” has utive staff, alumni, donors and friends broadcast of a stu- won the 2004 Mid-Atlantic (Pop) dio recital. She and Baltimore/Washington concertgoers. Songwriting Contest. She performed was in good com- Hyunah Yu the song with Sean Finn (BM ’96, pany. Other “Best of 2004” winners French horn, BM ’97, recording arts, Articles, news items and display ads are included Russian baritone Dmitri MM ’00, recording & acoustics.), bass, accepted at the Editor’s discretion. For edi- Hvorostovsky, the folk group Peter, and Rich Radford, guitar, at the Paul and Mary, and the popular torial information contact: awards ceremony on November 21 at British comedians the Goons. the Hard Rock Café in Washington, D.C. Taylor is a Peabody Preparatory Anne Garside Reto Reichenbach wins faculty member. Director of Public Information French Piano Competition Reto Reichenbach (GPD ’98) won Joy Kippum Lee wins The Peabody Conservatory of Music two prizes at the 2004 International Marbury Comeptition One East Mount Vernon Place 20th Century Piano Competition in Joy Kippum Lee, a student of Victor Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Orléans, France: The Chevillon-Bon- Danchenko, was awarded first prize in Tel. 410/659-8100, ext. 1190 the 2005 Marbury Violin Competi- tion at Peabody and played her prize Fax 410/659-8170 Front Cover Arnold Schoenberg’s painting recital on February 4 in Peabody’s E-mail: [email protected] “Blue Gaze” (ASC 64). Repro- Goodwin Recital Hall. A native of duced courtesy of the Schönberg Korea, Ms. Lee has twice been a fea- Center, Vienna, and Belmont tured soloist with the Seoul Sympho- Music Publishing. In February ny Orchestra. In 1998, she won the 2005, Thames & Hudson released Deajun Orchestra competition, and in a catalogue raisonné of Arnold 1999 the Geumho Young Artist Schönberg’s paintings and draw- Recital Competition. In 2000, her ings. quartet was awarded the silver prize at 4 Peabody News MARCH / APRIL 2005 Somerset Maugham in Life and in The Alien Corn In the January/February Peabody News, in an article entitled “A Distant Nightingale: Music in The Alien WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, Corn,” librettist Roger Brunyate dis- 7:30 P.M. cussed the process by which he and THURSDAY, MARCH 10, composer Tom Benjamin turned Som- 7:30 P.M. erset Maugham’s short story into an FRIDAY, MARCH 11, opera. That process is now about to 7:30 P.M. come to fruition as the Peabody SATURDAY, MARCH 12, Opera Theatre presents the world pre- 7:30 P.M. The Peabody Opera Theatre miere of The Alien Corn. Tom Benjamin Roger Brunyate presents the world premiere of Maugham himself would no doubt Encouraged by Somerset, he insists on have been delighted at the turning of going to Munich to pursue his pas- The Alien Corn sion to become a concert pianist. his story into an opera because it was composed by Tom Benjamin in the theatre that he himself first In Munich, George begins to with libretto by Roger Brunyate explore his Jewish roots. When Som- made his mark. Would he also have Garnett Bruce, Stage Director been delighted to find that he figures erset visits him, he presents himself Peabody Symphony Orchestra in a curious old brocade robe with a as a character in the plot? In his JoAnn Kulesza, Conductor short story Alien Corn, Maugham’s fur collar. George tells Somerset that Funded in part by the Maryland he has found the robe in a dusty shop presence is felt only as the Narrator State Arts Council telling the story with detached irony. in the Jewish quarter, along with a Friedberg Hall Jewish prayer shawl, which he has not In the opera, the Narrator becomes $24, $12 Senior Citizens, yet had the courage to wear. Feeling the writer Somerset, a dramatis per- $10 Students with I.D. great sympathy for his young friend, sona based on Maugham himself. Peabody Box Office Somerset talks of the way the writer Therefore, for those attending the Ronald Scarfe cartoon of Somer- 410/659-8100 ext. 1190 premiere, it may be helpful to pro- set Maugham. Used with permission also must create a role for himself in vide a brief biographical sketch of order to discover his true identity. this enigmatic author. It is only in an Epilogue set in William Somerset Maugham writer that decided Winston He wrote his “long” short story Alien Somerset’s rooms in London a few (1874-1965) was born in the British Churchill to send him to the United Corn in 1931 as a social satire, with years later that the audience will learn Embassy in Paris as the sixth and States during the Second World War tragic undertones. Set in England and of the tragic outcome. Somerset mat- youngest son of the embassy’s solici- to carry out propaganda for British Germany from 1928 –1931, the story ter-of-factly tells how George has suf- tor. He learned French as his native interests. The British author found tells of a family of German-Jewish fered a fatal accident. As he mourns tongue but was orphaned at age ten himself dining at the White House origins, living an affluent life as Eng- the boy he has come to love, he slowly and sent to live with his uncle, a with the Roosevelts.