The songs are famously erotic, and singers now tend to present them in a rather sultry tone—but this actually goes against Debussy’s intentions. The singer who he selected to premiere the piece, Blanche Marot, was actually selected for her virginity.
Read MoreAs our country once again reacts to a horrific act of violence, I found myself coming back to Dylan’s “Masters of War,” performed by the incredible voice of the civil rights movement, Odetta.
Read MoreMy favorite singer of all time is Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Watching Lorraine in this performance, I’m awed once again by the depth of the connection between her body, heart, and voice. To me, her sound is like the voice of the earth and of our deepest humanity.
Read MoreThis piece is by John Taverner, a very early British composer who lived 1490-1545. It’s an Easter piece, depicting the moment just before Mary Magdalen discovers that the stone of Jesus’s tomb has been rolled away – so even though it’s for Easter, the music still is filled with the bleakness of Holy Week, with plangent trebles soaring high above the altos.
Read MoreI fell in love with this recording of Dawn Upshaw’s Naumberg Recital with Margo Garrett on the piano when I was a student at Juilliard. It was actually Steve Blier who divined that this song would turn out to be a life-changingly meaningful piece for me, and assigned it to me to learn when I was studying with him there.
Read MoreOne of the anomalies of my life as an artistic director is that I have to think about Christmas in June. Our annual Goyishe Christmas program at Henry’s is set for December 12, and it would be smart to get a cast assembled sooner than later. It’s been a little easier to turn my mind to GC this year because it has been so cold outside. I seriously thought about wearing a scarf on Wednesday, and now wish I had
Read More“Song to the Seals” is one of those simple tunes that can create a magical aura. Tenor Robert (“Bobby”) White turned me on to it and gave me the music. The first time I programmed it was just after Lorraine Hunt Lieberson died in 2006. It tells the story of a woman who sings with so much power and feeling that all the creatures of the ocean gather around to hear her. Lorraine was that kind of musical enchantress too, casting spell after spell with her voice.
Read MoreTrawling through YouTube I found the recording Darius de Haas I and I made of Adam’s song “Hero and Leander,” from “Myths and Hymns.” If Fauré and Stevie Wonder had had a baby, this is the music that blessed child would have written.
Read MoreTchaikovsky could spin out melodies with the ease of Richard Rodgers (another composer on my desk this summer). This graceful song, which has the lilt of a ballet piece, also has a strange gravity. My brain can’t figure out where it comes from, but my soul feels it.
Read MoreWe’re commissioning Gabriel Kahane to write us a song cycle for a February premiere. I have had some great experiences playing Gabe’s music and I am thrilled he agreed to give us something new. He combines too-cool-for-school Brooklyn hipster with a sweet tenderness that I find endearingly old-fashioned.
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