{"id":21683,"date":"2015-11-05T11:45:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T18:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/?p=21683"},"modified":"2015-11-05T11:56:08","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T18:56:08","slug":"up-and-coming-new-york-festival-of-songfrom-russia-to-riverside-drive-rachmaninoff-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/2015\/11\/up-and-coming-new-york-festival-of-songfrom-russia-to-riverside-drive-rachmaninoff-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Up and Coming:
New York Festival of Song
From Russia to
Riverside Drive:
Rachmaninoff & Friends<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Concert<\/p>\n

From Russia to Riverside Drive:
\nRachmaninoff & Friends<\/em>
\nRachmaninoff’s ravishing romanticism and his American contemporaries
\nSongs by Rachmaninoff, Ellington, Gershwin, Schillinger<\/p>\n

New York Festival of Song<\/a>
\nSteven Blier, Artistic Director
\nMichael Barrett, Associate Artistic Director<\/p>\n

with
\nDina Kuznetsova, soprano
\nShea Owens, baritone
\nDalti Warshaw, theremin
\nSteven Blier and Michael Barrett, pianists<\/p>\n

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum<\/a>
\nBoston, MA
\nSunday, November 8, 2015, 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Presented as part of the New York Philharmonic’s
\nRachmaninoff: A Philharmonic Festival<\/em>
\nTuesday, November 10, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
\nMerkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67th Street<\/p>\n

PROGRAM<\/p>\n

RACHMANINOFF AT HOME:
\nNo Prophet, I
\nAs Fair as Day in Blaze of Noon
\nHarvest of Sorrow
\nIn the Silence of the Night
\nMelody
\nSpring Waters
\nTo Her
\nWere You Hiccupping, Natasha?<\/em><\/p>\n

INTERLUDE: MANHATTAN
\n2 Vocalises (Schillinger)
\nOn a Turquoise Cloud (Ellington)
\nLittle Jazz Bird (Gershwin)
\nBy the Waters of the Minnetonka (Thurlowe Lieurance, arr. Zez Confrey)<\/em><\/p>\n

RACHMANINOFF: ESCAPE
\nA dream (Op. 8)
\nBeloved, Let Us Fly
\nDream (Op. 38)
\nA-oo
\nVocalise<\/em><\/div>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sergei<\/a>
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Another fascinating offering from the brilliant, distinguished and totally fun group of musicians from New York who bring classical and popular vocal music together in inventive ways.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) has been around for over twenty-eight years. Under the distinguished and talented artistic leadership of Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, NYFOS offers a distinctive combination of traits. At once, it provides first class musicianship, imaginative programming which brings together classical and popular motifs in engaging ways, and interspersed commentary, often by Steven Blier who is a wonderful musical scholar and a first-rate raconteur. <\/p>\n

(For a great taste of the Blier style, check out his blog on the NYFOS site<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Barrett and Steven Blier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The current program brings together two packages of Rachmaninoff songs, sandwiching others, including a Gershwin and an Ellington, that are characterized under the heading “Interlude: Manhattan.” It’s pure NYFOS genius to put things together in this way, and it’s likely to create a spicy mixture that wouldn’t quite be the same without either counterpart.<\/p>\n

Frankly, I can’t wait to hear Were You Hiccupping, Natasha?<\/em> and A-oo<\/em>, testament to some of Rachmaninoff’s own wit and sense of humor, which will no doubt be honored resplendently by the NYFOS gang.<\/p>\n

\"Hiccups\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And how fantastic to hear a real-live theremin!<\/p>\n

\"Leon<\/a>
L\u00e9on Theremin with his eponymous invention<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
L\u00e9on Theremin (1896-1993!), Russian inventor of the eponymous electronic instrument, was an amateur cellist.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s a tasty preview from NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier (come to the concert and you’re likely to get much more of the same brilliance and charm, live):<\/p>\n

Listening to Rachmaninoff\u2019s songs all summer has been like gorging on blini, caviar, and sour cream, without their unfortunate side-effects. We think of Rachmaninoff as a crowd-pleaser, with his huge melodic span and sensual harmonies. And it\u2019s true: his songs satisfy so deeply because he knew how to exploit both the voice and the piano to thrilling effect. But I also became aware of his depth of feeling, delicacy, and sensitivity to poetry. He was friends with both Stanislavsky and Chekhov; their theatrical ethos finds its way into Rachmaninoff\u2019s high-flown romanticism, side by side with the sounds of Russian liturgical music, the filigree of a piano concerto, and the full-throated cry of operatic voices. <\/p>\n

After he left his homeland in 1917 Rachmaninoff kept his Russian musical flame alive by writing instrumental and choral works\u2014including one of his signature pieces, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. But he never returned to Moscow, and he never wrote another song. He became a Manhattan celebrity, attending some of the legendary concerts of his time, including the premiere of Gershwin\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue and (alongside Toscanini) the first presentation of the theremin, an other-worldly electronic instrument invented by a fellow Russian. Rachmaninoff found himself enchanted by American dance music. Our concert will feature some of the American songs he loved, and give our audiences a rare chance to hear the theremin in music by Schillinger (one of its co-inventors and a teacher of Gershwin), Duke Ellington, and Rachmaninoff himself.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was born in Starorussky Uyezd, Russia, died in Beverly Hills, CA and is buried in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, in Westchester County, NY. He was 6’6″ tall!<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s an imprimatur of NYFOS from Opera News<\/em>:
\nUnder the inspired vision and thoughtful approach of artistic directors Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, a NYFOS concert is always a revelation and a joy to experience, with artists of the highest caliber, whether well established or newly emerging.<\/em><\/p>\n

And another glowing report from Opera News<\/em>:
\nBlier loves the thrill of musical discovery, loves to share his cleverly designed programs with his audience, which responds by hanging on every word of his savvy blend of erudition and plainspoken cool.<\/em><\/p>\n

For those in New York, here is a list of upcoming NYFOS Mainstage Concerts:<\/p>\n

\nTuesday, December 8, 2015, 8:00 pm
\nSchubert\/Beatles
\nSongs by Franz Schubert, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison
\nSari Gruber, soprano; Paul Appleby, tenor; Andrew Garland, baritone; Charles Yang, violin
\nSteven Blier and Michael Barrett, pianists and hosts
\nMerkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center <\/p>\n

Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 8:00 pm
\nAt Home
\nMusic by Saint-Sa\u00ebns, Bernstein, Poulenc, Balfe, Montsalvatge, Bucchino and more
\nCaramoor’s 2016 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars
\nSteven Blier and Michael Barrett, pianists and hosts
\nMerkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center<\/p>\n

Tuesday, April 26, 2016, 8:00 pm
\nCompositora:
\nSongs by Latin American Women
\nSongs by Mar\u00eda Grever, Violeta Parra, Odaline de la Mart\u00ednez, Ernestina Lecuona,
\nChabuca Granda, Susana Baca, Joyce Morena, Beatriz Lockhart
\nMar\u00eda Vald\u00e9s, soprano (NY debut); Efrain Sol\u00eds, baritone (NY debut)
\nSteven Blier and Michael Barrett, pianists and hosts
\nMerkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Don’t miss it!<\/p>\n

– BADMan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Concert
\nFrom Russia to Riverside Drive:
\nRachmaninoff & Friends<\/em>
\nRachmaninoff’s ravishing romanticism and
his American contemporaries
\nSongs by Rachmaninoff, Ellington, Gershwin, Schillinger
\nNew York Festival of Song<\/a>
\nSteven Blier, Artistic Director
\nMichael Barrett,
Associate Artistic Director
\nwith
\nDina Kuznetsova, soprano
\nShea Owens, baritone
\nDalti Warshaw, theremin
\nSteven Blier and Michael Barrett, pianists
\nIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum<\/a>
\nBoston, MA
\nSunday, November 8, 2015, 1:30 p.m.<\/strong>
\nAnother fascinating offering from the brilliant, distinguished and totally fun group of musicians from New York who bring classical and popular vocal music together in inventive ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-concerts","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21683"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21893,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21683\/revisions\/21893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}