Samantha Schmid , lyric soprano, dedicates herself to communication TURN THE PAGE: A Lyric Love Story and exploring culture. With her enthusiasm towards learning, Ms. Schmid graduated summa cum laude with the Bachelor of Arts degree in music and Samantha Schmid, lyric soprano departmental honors in May 2011. She began pursuing vocal performance Christian Hendricks, piano with the guidance of Debby Lennon at Webster University, followed by private instruction with Professor Christine Armistead of Washington Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) University. During the course of her studies, she also completed minors in Ariettes oubliées Claude Debussy French and German, and has studied Russian and Italian. For her senior thesis I. C'est l'extase (1862-1918) paper, Ms. Schmid discussed Edvard Grieg’s Op. 25 song cycle, Sex Digte af II. Il pleure dans mon cœur Henrik Ibsen (Six Poems by Henrik Ibsen), and the importance of translation III. L'ombre des arbres accuracy for vocalists. IV. Paysages belges: Chevaux de bois As a performer, Ms. Schmid has appeared onstage with Winter Opera V. Aquarelles: I. Green Saint Louis, the Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, and the VI. Aquarelles: II. Spleen Saint Louis Symphony Chorus. With roles such as Augusta’s Friend #2 (Moore, The Ballad of Baby Doe ), Erste Dame (Mozart, Die Zauberflöte ), Magda Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) (Puccini, La Rondine ), Donna Elvira (Mozart, Don Giovanni ), Annina (Menotti, The Saint of Bleecker Street ), and Alice Ford (Verdi, Falstaff ), Ms. Schmid “Solveigs Sang” Edvard Grieg continues to develop as an opera singer and actress. She has received from Peer Gynt (1843-1907) recognition for her artistry, including winning 1st Place in the 2010-2011 Sex Digte af Henrik Ibsen , Op. 25 Webster University Aria Competition, 1st Place at the 2010 Missouri Regional II. En svane NATS Auditions, and 3rd Place at the 2009 Central District NATS Auditions. IV. Med en vandlilje Ms. Schmid actively seeks new opportunities and professional training VI. En fuglevise experience. This fall, she will pursue the degree Master of Music in Vocal Performance at The Boston Conservatory, studying voice with Dr. Kerry INTERMISSION Deal. For more information, please visit samanthaschmid.com . William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Christian Robert Hendricks graduated cum laude from Webster Drei Lieder der Ophelia , Op. 67 Richard Strauss University, St. Louis, where he was commended with Department of Music I. Wie erkenn' ich mein Treulieb vor andern nun (1864-1949) Honors. He majored in composition as a student of Robert Chamberlin, II. Guten Morgen, 's ist Sankt Valentinstag studied piano with Daniel Schene, Ruth Price (both at Webster), and Vera III. Sie trugen ihn auf der Bahre bloß Parkin, and studied voice with Robert Ayllón. With interest and experience in both the opera and musical theatre worlds, Mr. Hendricks aspires to compose Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) works for the stage. In Spring 2014, he will be studying for an MA in Music, emphasis in Contemporary Practice in Music, at Oxford Brookes University in “Pesn' Min'ony: Net tol'ka tot kto znal” Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky Oxford, England. (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt), Op. 6, No. 6 (1840-1893) “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” D. 118 Franz Schubert Notes About Today's Program (1797-1828) The works presented today have been chosen by their literary influences Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) rather than by composer. The words of these poets have been immortalized “Come scoglio” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart within these songs; some have even been translated into countless languages from Così fan tutte (1756-1791) and set by a range of composers as a testament to their impact on culture and society. Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) – Inspired to write at a young age by Charles II. Il pleure dans mon cœur comme II. Tears fall in my heart like rain upon Baudelaire's Les fleurs du mal , Paul Verlaine befriended Parnassian poets in il pleut sur la ville. the city. Paris. Verlaine married and had a son, only to abandon his family for an affair Quelle est cette langueur qui pénètre What is this languor that penetrates my with poet Arthur Rimbaud in 1872. In a drunken fight, Verlaine shot and mon cœur? heart? injured Rimbaud. During his imprisonment, there was a shift in Verlaine’s O bruit doux de la pluie, par terre et Oh, sweet sound of the rain, on the writing style from the stylistic rigidity and emotional abandon of sur les toits! ground and on the roofs! Parnassianism to the fluid Symbolist movement of Baudelaire. The symbolists Pour un cœur qui s'e nnuie, O le bruit For a bored heart, oh, the sound of the aimed to evoke truth from indirect descriptions, often including synesthetic de la pluie! rain! compilations of scent, sound, and color. Il pleure sans raison dans ce cœur Tears fall without reason in this Originally published as Ariettes, paysages belges et aquerelles (Songs, Belgian qui s'écœure. sickened heart. Landscapes, and Watercolors) in 1888, this group of songs was never meant Quoi! nulle trahison? What! No betrayal? to be a song cycle. The republished version titled Ariettes oubliées appeared in Ce deuil est sans raison. This sorrow is without reason. 1903. The first song in the set, "C'est l'exstase langoureuse," takes advantage C'est bien la pire peine, de ne savoir It is the worst sorrow to not know why, of all the dreamy, rich vowels of the French language. Verlaine's sensual pourquoi, poetry resonates well with the melody Debussy has paired with it. The poem sans amour et sans haine, mon cœur without love and without hate, my heart as a whole discusses the lull after intercourse through a variety of metaphors. a tant de peine. has so much pain. The narrator confesses their love and asks the other individual if they feel the Debussy prefaced the third song in this collection with a quote from Cyrano same way. de Bergerac: "The nightingale who looks down from such a high branch, I. C'est l'exstase lang oureuse, I. It's th e dreamy ecstasy, believes to have fallen in the river. It is perched at the highest point of the oak c'est la fatigue amoureuse, it's the amorous fatigue, tree and is always afraid of drowning." The Verlaine text can be interpreted c'est tous les frissons des bois it's the rustling of the woods literally; however, it can also be interpreted as a metaphor for those parmi l'étreinte des brises. amongst the embrace of the breezes. individuals who appear to be "perfect, beautiful, talented, etc..." and feel C'est, vers les ramures grise, It's, through the gray boughs, completely overwhelmed with the expectations of those surrounding them, as le chœur des petites voix. the choir of little voices. if they are drowning. O le frêle frais murmure, Oh, the frail, fresh murmur, III. L'ombre des arbres dans la III. The shadow of the trees in the cela gazouille et susurre, it twitters and whispers, rivière embrumée misty river cela ressemble au cri doux it resembles the gentle cry meurt comme de la fumée, dies like smoke, que l'herbe agitée expire. that the ruffled grass exhales. tandis qu'en l'air, parmi les ramures while in the air, among the real Tu dirais, sous l'eau qui vire,– You said, beneath the water that eddies,– réelles, branches, le roulis sourd des cailloux. the muted rolling of pebbles. se plaignent les tourterelles. the turtledoves lament. Cette âme qui se lamente The soul that mourns Combien ô voyageur, How, oh traveller, en cette plainte dormante, in this dormant lamentation, ce paysage blême te mira blême toi- this palid landscape wanly mirrored you. c'est la nôtre, n'est-ce pas? it is ours, isn't it? même. La mienne, dis, et la tienne Mine, say, and yours, Et que tristes pleuraient dans les And how you cried sadly in the high dont s'exhale a l'humble antienne, which breathes this humble anthem, hautes feuillées,– foliage,– par ce tiède soir, tout bas. on this warm evening, so softly. tes espérances noyées. your hopes drowned. "Il pleure dans mon cœur" describes the instability of depression, while the Victor Hugo's line "By Saint Gille, let us go my agile Alezan!" precedes the piano evokes the sound of falling rain. The speaker believes there is no viable fourth song in the set, where the word "alezan" translates to "chestnut," a reason for their grief; yet the pain in their heart does not go away. This song is term often used in literary reference to horses. This particular song describes introduced with a quote from Arthur Rimbaud: "It rains softly upon the city." a day at a Belgian fair, where people flock to the carousel. At this time, carousels required someone to operate them manually via a cranking mechanism. The horses charge steadily in a circle, as indicated by the initial allegro ma non tanto tempo marking, the pulse of the thirty-second notes in the In Verlaine’s poems, he favored certain words for the way they sounded when piano portraying the sound of their hooves. The tempo slows, following the spoken. For this reason, he chose English titles for the next two poems, narrator's distracted thoughts of the serene surroundings at night. “Green” and “Spleen.” Members of their own grouping called “Aquarelles,” IV. "Paysages belges: Chevaux de bois" or watercolors, these two poems also reflect the sensual nature of Verlaine’s Tournez, tournez, bons chevaux de Turn, turn, good wooden horses, poetry. “Green” tells the story of someone who offers gifts of nature to their bois, beloved, including their love.